The Titan's Curse

moving.”
    She navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoë sat up front with Thalia. Grover and I sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca.
    My hand closed around the little figurine that had cost her life. I still couldn’t even tell what god it was supposed to be. Nico would know.
    Oh, gods . . . what was I going to tell Nico?
    I wanted to believe that Bianca was still alive somewhere. But I had a bad feeling that she was gone for good.
    “It should’ve been me,” I said. “I should’ve gone into the giant.”
    “Don’t say that!” Grover panicked. “It’s bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if . . .” He sniffled. “Do you think anybody else would be my best friend?”
    “Ah, Grover . . .”
    He wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had on war paint. “I’m . . . I’m okay.”
    But he wasn’t okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico—whatever had happened when that wild wind blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. I was afraid to talk to him about it, because he might start bawling.
    At least there’s one good thing about having a friend who gets freaked out more than you do. I realized I couldn’t stay depressed. I had to set aside thinking about Bianca and keep us going forward, the way Thalia was doing. I wondered what she and Zoë were talking about in the front of the truck.
    The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended.
    Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. “Great. What now?”
    I scanned the horizon. There wasn’t much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn’t very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below us.
    “There’s a path,” Grover said. “We could get to the river.”
    I tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. “That’s a goat path,” I said.
    “So?” he asked.
    “The rest of us aren’t goats.”
    “We can make it,” Grover said. “I think.”
    I thought about that. I’d done cliffs before, but I didn’t like them. Then I looked over at Thalia and saw how pale she’d gotten. Her problem with heights . . . she’d never be able to do it.
    “No,” I said. “I, uh, think we should go farther upstream.”
    Grover said, “But—”
    “Come on,” I said. “A walk won’t hurt us.”
    I glanced at Thalia. Her eyes said a quick Thank you .
    We followed the river about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but I left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying IOU two canoes .
    “We need to go upstream,” Zoë said. It was the first time I’d heard her speak since the junkyard, and I was worried about how bad she sounded, like somebody with the flu. “The rapids are too swift.”
    “Leave that to me,” I said. We put the canoes in the water.
    Thalia pulled me aside as we were getting the oars. “Thanks for back there.”
    “Don’t mention it.”
    “Can you really . . .” She nodded to the rapids. “You know.”
    “I think so. Usually I’m good with water.”
    “Would you take Zoë?” she asked. “I think, ah, maybe you can talk to her.”
    “She’s not going to like that.”
    “Please? I don’t know if I can stand being in the same boat with her. She’s . . . she’s starting to worry me.”
    It was about the last thing I wanted to do, but I nodded.
    Thalia’s shoulders relaxed. “I owe you one.”
    “Two.”
    “One and a half,” Thalia said.
    She smiled, and for a second, I remembered that I actually liked her when she wasn’t yelling at me. She turned and helped Grover get their canoe into the water.
    As it turned out, I didn’t even need to control the currents. As soon as we got in the river, I looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring at me.
    They looked like regular teenage girls, the kind you’d see in any mall, except for