Pegasus and the Flame by Kate O'Hearn

Author:Kate O'Hearn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781444904673
Publisher: Hachette Children's Books
Published: 2011-02-03T08:00:00+00:00

17

It seemed to take half the night to work their way to where Emily used to play with her family in Central Park. Emily was back on Pegasus and trying to lead the group. But without a flashlight, and still no city lights to guide them, the way was dark and treacherous. The constant sound of the helicopters was a reminder of the danger they were in.

‘You sure you know where you’re going?’ Joel asked.

‘Not really,’ Emily admitted. ‘It’s been years since I’ve been up this high in the park. But it shouldn’t be much further.’

As they picked their way through the trees, Pegasus suddenly stopped. His dark ears sprang forward and he pawed the ground. Diana also stopped. She held up her hand and listened.

‘There is someone moving ahead,’ she said softly as she raised her brother’s spear and prepared to fight.

‘Em?’ a voice called softly. ‘Is that you?’

‘Dad!’ Emily responded. ‘Dad, we’re here!’ Weak with relief, she reached forward and patted Pegasus’s neck. ‘It’s all right, Pegs,’ she said. ‘It’s my dad.’

Forgetting her wounded leg, Emily slid off the stallion’s back. But when her feet hit the ground, her leg gave out and she fell. Her father was at her side in an instant, taking her in his arms.

‘Oh, Em, I’ve been so worried about you!’

Emily put her arms around him and immediately felt better. ‘Dad, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you what was happening.’

‘What is happening?’ he asked. ‘Em, the city’s in an uproar!’ He looked at her bandaged leg. ‘And what happened to you?’

‘Do you remember the night of the big storm?’ Emily asked. ‘Not long after the Empire’s top blew up, Pegasus was hit by lightning. He crashed down on our roof. That’s how I got my black eye. When I went to help him, his wing accidentally hit me.’

‘Pegasus?’ her father repeated. ‘That winged horse I heard about was the actual Pegasus from the Greek myths?’

‘Roman,’ Joel corrected, stepping out of the shadows. ‘And they aren’t myths, they’re all real. I’m Joel, sir. A friend of Emily’s from school.’

Emily’s father shook Joel’s hand. Joel indicated Diana. ‘Officer Jacobs, I’d like to introduce you to another Olympian. This is Diana.’

‘Diana? The Great Hunter?’ Emily’s father asked as he studied the tall woman.

Diana nodded formally. ‘Officer Jacobs. It is an honour to meet the father of Emily.’

‘Call me Steve,’ her father said a little helplessly. He looked back to Emily. ‘I don’t understand any of this,’ he said. ‘What’s happening here? How and why are there Olympians in New York?’

Emily and Joel tried to explain as best as they could, right up to the point of being in the park.

‘It’s hard to accept any of this.’ Steve stared at Pegasus and shook his head. ‘I’d heard it was a white stallion you were riding today. What happened to him?’

‘He was white,’ Emily said. ‘Too white. As he got better, Pegasus was starting to glow. So we dyed him black to try to hide him from the CRU.

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