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The Lightning Thief Illustrated Edition

Page 29

by Riordan, Rick


  Annabeth said, “I told you…”

  “I’m fine,” I insisted. I didn’t want to lie in bed like an invalid while Luke was out there planning to destroy the Western world.

  I managed a step forward. Then another, still leaning heavily on Annabeth. Argus followed us outside, but he kept his distance.

  By the time we reached the porch, my face was beaded with sweat. My stomach had twisted into knots. But I had managed to make it all the way to the railing.

  It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun.

  “What are you going to do?” Annabeth asked me.

  “I don’t know.”

  I told her I got the feeling Chiron wanted me to stay year-round, to put in more individual training time, but I wasn’t sure that’s what I wanted. I admitted I’d feel bad about leaving her alone, though, with only Clarisse for company….

  Annabeth pursed her lips, then said quietly, “I’m going home for the year, Percy.”

  I stared at her. “You mean, to your dad’s?”

  She pointed toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia’s pine tree, at the very edge of the camp’s magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted—two little children, a woman, and a tall man with blond hair. They seemed to be waiting. The man was holding a backpack that looked like the one Annabeth had gotten from Waterland in Denver.

  “I wrote him a letter when we got back,” Annabeth said. “Just like you suggested. I told him…I was sorry. I’d come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided…we’d give it another try.”

  “That took guts.”

  She shrugged. “You won’t try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least…not without sending me an Iris-message?”

  I managed a smile. “I won’t go looking for trouble. I usually don’t have to.”

  “When I get back next summer,” she said, “we’ll hunt down Luke. We’ll ask for a quest, but if we don’t get approval, we’ll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?”

  “Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena.”

  She held out her hand. I shook it.

  “Take care, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth told me. “Keep your eyes open.”

  “You too, Wise Girl.”

  I watched her walk up the hill and join her family. She gave her father an awkward hug and looked back at the valley one last time. She touched Thalia’s pine tree, then allowed herself to be led over the crest and into the mortal world.

  For the first time at camp, I felt truly alone. I looked out at Long Island Sound and I remembered my father saying, The sea does not like to be restrained.

  I made my decision.

  I wondered, if Poseidon were watching, would he approve of my choice?

  “I’ll be back next summer,” I promised him. “I’ll survive until then. After all, I am your son.” I asked Argus to take me down to cabin three, so I could pack my bags for home.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Without the assistance of numerous valiant helpers, I would have been slain by monsters many times over as I endeavored to bring this story to print. Thanks to my elder son, Haley Michael, who heard the story first; my younger son, Patrick John, who at the age of six is the level-headed one in the family; and my wife, Becky, who puts up with my many long hours at Camp Half-Blood. Thanks also to my cadre of middle-school beta testers: Travis Stoll, clever and quick as Hermes; C. C. Kellogg, beloved as Athena; Allison Bauer, clear-eyed as Artemis the Huntress; and Mrs. Margaret Floyd, the wise and kindly seer of middle-school English. My appreciation also to Professor Egbert J. Bakker, classicist extraordinaire; Nancy Gallt, agent summa cum laude; Jonathan Burnham, Jennifer Besser, Sarah Hughes, Stephanie Lurie, and the whole team at Disney Hyperion for believing in Percy. And last but not least, John Rocco, who brought Percy’s adventures to life with his unforgettable artwork.

  Also by Rick Riordan

  Percy Jackson and the Olympians

  The Lightning Thief

  The Sea of Monsters

  The Titan’s Curse

  The Battle of the Labyrinth

  The Last Olympian

  The Demigod Files

  The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel

  The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel

  The Titan’s Curse: The Graphic Novel

  Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods

  Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes

  The Percy Jackson Coloring Book

  The Kane Chronicles

  The Red Pyramid

  The Throne of Fire

  The Serpent’s Shadow

  From the Kane Chronicles: Brooklyn House Magician’s Manual

  The Red Pyramid: The Graphic Novel

  The Throne of Fire: The Graphic Novel

  The Serpent’s Shadow: The Graphic Novel

  The Heroes of Olympus

  The Lost Hero

  The Son of Neptune

  The Mark of Athena

  The House of Hades

  The Blood of Olympus

  The Demigod Diaries

  The Lost Hero: The Graphic Novel

  The Son of Neptune: The Graphic Novel

  Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard

  The Sword of Summer

  The Hammer of Thor

  The Ship of the Dead

  For Magnus Chase: Hotel Valhalla Guide to the Norse Worlds

  The Trials of Apollo

  The Hidden Oracle

  The Dark Prophecy

  The Burning Maze

  From Percy Jackson: Camp Half-Blood Confidential

  The artist would like to thank Lucas, Paloma, and Val for acting out the adventures of Grover, Annabeth, and Percy. The artwork in this book was created with pencil, watercolor, and digital paint.

  RICK RIORDAN, dubbed “storyteller of the gods” by Publishers Weekly, is the author of five New York Times #1 best-selling middle grade series with millions of copies sold throughout the world: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Heroes of Olympus, and the Trials of Apollo, based on Greek and Roman mythology; the Kane Chronicles, based on ancient Egyptian mythology; and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, based on Norse mythology. Rick is also the publisher of an imprint at Disney Hyperion, Rick Riordan Presents, dedicated to finding other authors of highly entertaining fiction based on world mythologies. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter @camphalfblood.

  JOHN ROCCO studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and the School of Visual Arts. In addition to writing and illustrating several of his own picture books, including Blizzard and the Caldecott Honor–winning and New York Times best-selling Blackout, he has created the cover art for Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, and Trials of Apollo series. He collaborated with Rick on two New York Times #1 best-selling collections of Greek myths for the whole family: Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods and Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes. Before becoming a full-time children’s book creator, he worked as an art director on Shrek for DreamWorks, and for Disney Imagineering. He lives in Los Angeles. For more information, go to www.roccoart.com.

 

 

 


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