The red pyramid by Rick Riordan

Author:Rick Riordan [Rick Riordan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Jeunesse
ISBN: 9781410425362
Published: 2010-10-15T07:00:00+00:00

Finding the airport was easy. Reagan National was so close, I could see the planes landing across the Potomac.

The hard part was remembering what I was doing. Every time I saw a mouse or a squirrel, I instinctively veered toward it. A couple of times I caught myself about to dive, and I had to fight the urge. Once I looked over and realized I was a mile away from Sadie, who was off doing her own hunting. I had to force myself to fly next to her and get her attention.

It takes willpower to stay human, the voice of Horus warned. The more time you spend as a bird of prey, the more you think like one.

Now you tell me, I thought.

I could help, he urged. Give me control.

Not today, bird-head.

Finally, I steered Sadie toward the airport, and we started hunting for a place to change back to human form. We landed at the top of a parking garage.

I willed myself to turn human. Nothing happened.

Panic started building in my throat. I closed my eyes and pictured my dad’s face. I thought about how much I missed him, how much I needed to find him.

When I opened my eyes, I was back to normal. Unfortunately, Sadie was still a kite. She flapped around me and cawed frantically. “Ha—ha—ha!” There was a wild look in her eyes, and this time I understood how scared she was. Bird form had been hard enough for her to break out of the first time. If the second time took even more energy, she could be in serious trouble.

“It’s all right.” I crouched down, careful to move slowly. “Sadie, don’t force it. You have to relax.”

“Ha!” She tucked in her wings. Her chest was heaving.

“Listen, it helped me to focus on Dad. Remember what’s important to you. Close your eyes and think about your human life.”

She closed her eyes, but almost instantly cried out in frustration and flapped her wings.

“Stop,” I said. “Don’t fly away!”

She tilted her head and gurgled in a pleading way. I started talking to her the way I would to a scared animal. I wasn’t really paying attention to the words. I was just trying to keep my tone calm. But after a minute I realized I was telling her about my travels with Dad, and the memories that had helped me get out of bird form. I told her about the time Dad and I got stuck in the Venice airport and I ate so many cannoli, I got sick. I told her about the time in Egypt when I found the scorpion in my sock, and Dad managed to kill it with a TV remote control. I told her how we’d gotten separated once in the London Underground and how scared I was until Dad finally found me. I told her some pretty embarrassing stories that I’d never shared with anyone, because who could I share them with? And it seemed to me that Sadie listened. At least she stopped flapping her wings.

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