THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

4.

 Arabelle scrambled to thetop , then peered toward the river."That's not good." 

"What?" I asked. She helped me up.

From the summit, I could see the whole course of the river stretched outbefore us. The Achelous poured into the cavern from a crevice in the northernwall, then cascaded down a series of rocky ledges before widening andmeandering across the plains. Everywhere you might be able to access thebanks, in every shallow pool or swimming hole where you might want towash off a grungy shield, the water was full of snakes. Hundreds ofthem. 

"You know what, 21 hours on a bus doesn't seem so bad now!" I said. "I say we turn back around and tell Aphrodite to find another demigod to do this and-" 

Arabelle cut me off. "There." She pointed to thenorthern end of the cave, where the river carved a ravine through jumbledheaps of granite. "That's where the water will be cleanest. No easy accessfor snakes. Probably the current is too treacherous for them."

I frowned.  "I guess it's worth a shot."

"Except there's no way we can make it all the way over there withoutgetting spotted. And if the snakes start chasing us . . . how fast do you thinkthey can go?" 

I shivered. "Through this grass? A lot faster than we can."

"I have an idea." Arabelle said. "But you're not going to like it." 

"If it involves me singing to the snakes forget it." 

She crossed her arms. "Fine, have any other bright ideas?" 

"Still working on them" 

"Listen Princess," She said. "You're a natural snake attractor and can charm them with your singing. That'll give me time to slip into the clean river and wash the shield." 

I wish Jasper was here. He wouldn't have made me do this. He would've killed any snake that dared to look at me. 

"Alternative plan." I said. "You're really fast. So why don't you get the snakes' attention and have them chase you around, while I wash the shield." 

"And if they catch me?" 

"I'll tell Camp you died a hero." 

"That's not funny." 

I thought it was a little funny. 

"We're not getting anywhere." I said frustrated. Arabelle scowled at me. 

"Fine." She didn't look happy about it. "I'll get chased by the damn snakes." 

I gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. "You're the best!" 

I climbed down the rocks and waded through the grass. I heard Arabelle shout in the distance and she disappeared from the rock. Within a few yards, the grass was over my head. The jagged reeds toreat my clothes. Every time I moved, the stalks swayed and rustled. 

I used the sounds of the waterfall to navigate north. I kept my eyes onthe ground, trying to make each step as careful and quiet as possible. Iwalked so slowly I wanted to crawl out of my skin from impatience. It didn'thelp that I kept imagining snakes darting out of the grass, sinking their fangsinto my ankles.

I flashed back to all times I'd been faced with snakes. Come to think ofit, I'd spent entirely too much of my life playing hide-and-seek with deadlyreptiles. 

It felt like it took me approximately twelve years to reach the river. Finally, I emerged from the grass near the base of the waterfall. Iclimbed a series of boulders until I stood on a slippery ledge overlooking awide pool twenty feet below. The water was as clear as glass, free of snakes, and just begging to be cannon balled into. On the downside, it was ringed bysheer cliffs, with no obvious way to get out again unless I wanted to ride therapids downriver through Serpent Splash Town.