The Titan's Curse

sniffled. “So annoying.”
    “I wish she were here,” I said.
    The others nodded. Zoë was still looking at us strangely, but I didn’t care. It seemed like cruel fate that we’d come to Hoover Dam, one of Annabeth’s personal favorites, and she wasn’t here to see it.
    “We should go up there,” I said. “For her sake. Just to say we’ve been.”
    “You are mad,” Zoë decided. “But that’s where the road is.” She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. “And so, sightseeing it is.”
    We had to walk for almost an hour before we found a path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river. Then we straggled back toward the dam. It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world’s most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam’s vents.
    Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn’t say anything, but I knew he smelled monsters.
    “How close are they?” I asked him.
    He shook his head. “Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us . . . the scent can probably carry for miles. But it’s coming from several directions. I don’t like that.”
    I didn’t either. It was already Wednesday, only two days until winter solstice, and we still had a long way to go. We didn’t need any more monsters.
    “There’s a snack bar in the visitor center,” Thalia said.
    “You’ve been here before?” I asked.
    “Once. To see the guardians.” She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings.
    “They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built,” Thalia said. “A gift from Athena.”
    Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues’ feet.
    “What are they doing?” I asked.
    “Rubbing the toes,” Thalia said. “They think it’s good luck.”
    “Why?”
    She shook her head. “Mortals get crazy ideas. They don’t know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there’s something special about them.”
    “When you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?”
    Thalia’s expression darkened. I could tell that she’d come here before hoping for exactly that—some kind of sign from her dad. Some connection. “No. They don’t do anything. They’re just big metal statues.”
    I thought about the last big metal statue we’d run into. That hadn’t gone so well. But I decided not to bring it up.
    “Let us find the dam snack bar,” Zoë said. “We should eat while we can.”
    Grover cracked a smile. “The dam snack bar?”
    Zoë blinked. “Yes. What is funny?”
    “Nothing,” Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. “I could use some dam french fries.”
    Even Thalia smiled at that. “And I need to use the dam restroom.”
    Maybe it was the fact that we were so tired and strung out emotionally, but I started cracking up, and Thalia and Grover joined in, while Zoë just looked at us. “I do not understand.”
    “I want to use the dam water fountain,” Grover said.
    “And . . .” Thalia tried to catch her breath. “I want to buy a dam T-shirt.”
    I busted up, and I probably would’ve kept laughing all day, but then I heard a noise:
    “Moooo.”
    The smile melted off my face. I wondered if the noise was just in my head, but Grover had stopped laughing too. He was looking around, confused. “Did I just hear a cow?”
    “A dam cow?” Thalia laughed.
    “No,” Grover said. “I’m serious.”
    Zoë listened. “I hear nothing.”
    Thalia was looking at me. “Percy, are you okay?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “You guys go ahead. I’ll be right in.”
    “What’s wrong?” Grover asked.
    “Nothing,” I said. “I . . . I just need a minute. To think.”
    They hesitated, but I guess I must’ve looked upset, because they finally went into the visitor center without me. As soon as they were gone, I jogged to the north edge of the dam and looked over.
    “Moo.”
    She was about thirty feet below in the lake, but I could see her clearly: my friend from Long Island Sound, Bessie the cow serpent.
    I looked around. There were groups of kids running along the dam. A lot of senior citizens. Some families. But