Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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" You saw the Sopwith Camels?" Dr. Chase said. " How many were there? What formations did they fly?" " Sir," Thalia broke in again. " Annabeth is in danger." That got his attention. He set the biplane down. " Of course," he said. " Tell me everything." It wasn ' t easy, but we tried. Meanwhile, the afternoon light was fading outside. We were running out of time. When we ' d finished, Dr. Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands. " My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry." " Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said. " And we need it immediately." " I ' ll drive you. Hmm. it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two." " Whoa, you have an actual biplane?" I said. " Down at Crissy Field," Dr. Chase said proudly. " That ' s the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel—"
" Sir," Thalia said. " Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It ' s too dangerous.".
Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. " Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I … I can ' t just—"
" Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced. She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanutbutter-and-jelly sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Thalia and I inhaled a few cookies while Zoe said, " I can drive, sir. I ' m not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car." Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. " What ' s this about?" " Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. " On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but … apparently it ' s no place for mortals." It sounded like it was really hard for him to get that last part out. I waited for Mrs. Chase to say no. I mean, what mortal parent would allow three underage teenagers to borrow their car? To my surprise, Mrs. Chase nodded. " Then they ' d better get going." " Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. " My keys …" His wife sighed. " Frederick, honestly. You ' d lose your head if it weren ' t wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door." " Right!" Dr. Chase said. Zoe grabbed a sandwich. " Thank you both. We should go. Now " We hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind us. " Percy," Mrs. Chase called as I was leaving, " tell Annabeth … Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that." I took one last look at the messy living room, Annabeth ' s half brothers spilling LEGOs and arguing, the smell of cookies filling the air. Not a bad place, I thought. " I ' ll tell her," I promised. We ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down. I figured we had less than an hour to save Annabeth.
" Can ' t this thing go any faster?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. " I cannot control traffic." " You both sound like my mother," I said. " Shut up!" they said in unison. Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway. The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn ' t slow down at all. " Why does everything smell like cough drops?" I asked. " Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around us. " The stuff koala bears eat?" " And monsters," she said. " They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons." " Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?"