RED ¹ / Percy Jackson !

49

"TYSON, THANK THE GODS, VIVIENE IS HURT !" 

"You thank the gods she is hurt?" Tyson asked, puzzled.

"No!" Percy knelt beside Viviene and was worried sick by what he saw. The gash on her forehead was worse than he'd realized. Her hairline was sticky with blood. Her skin was pale and clammy.

Grover, Percy and Annabeth  exchanged nervous looks. Then an idea came to him. "Tyson, the Fleece. Can you get it for me?"

"Which one?" Tyson said, looking around at the hundreds of sheep.

"In the tree!" Percy said. "The gold one!"

"Oh. Pretty. Yes."

Tyson lumbered over, careful not to step on the sheep. If any of them had tried to approach the Fleece, they would've been eaten alive, but Percy guessed Tyson smelled like Polyphemus, because the flock didn't bother him at all.

They just cuddled up to him and bleated affectionately, as though they expected to get sheep treats from the big wicker basket. Tyson reached up and lifted the Fleece off its branch. Immediately the leaves on the oak tree turned yellow. Tyson started wading back toward Percy , but he yelled,

"No time! Throw it!"

The gold ram skin sailed through the air like a glittering shag Frisbee. Percy caught it with a grunt. It was heavier than I'd expected-sixty or seventy pounds of precious gold wool.

He spread it over Viviene, covering everything but her face, and prayed silently to all the gods he could think of, even the ones he didn't like.

Please. Please.

The color returned to her face. Her eyelids fluttered open. The cut on her forehead began to close. She saw Grover and said weakly, "You're not... married?"

Grover grinned. "No. My friends talked me out of it.

"Red," Percy said, "just lay still."

But despite their protests she sat up, and Percy noticed that the cut on her face was almost completely healed. She looked a lot better. In fact, she shimmered with health, as if someone had injected her with glitter.

Meanwhile, Tyson was starting to have trouble with the sheep. "Down!" he told them as they tried to climb him, looking for food. A few were sniffing in our direction. "No, sheepies. This way! Come here!"

They heeded him, but it was obvious they were hungry, and they were starting to realize Tyson didn't have any treats for them. They wouldn't hold out forever with so much fresh meat nearby.

"We have to go," Percy said. "Our ship is..." The Queen Anne's Revenge was a very long way away. The shortest route was across the chasm, and they'd just destroyed the only bridge. The only other possibility was through the sheep.

"Tyson," Percy called, "can you lead the flock as far away as possible?"

"The sheep want food."

"I know! They want people food! Just lead them away from the path. Give us time to get to the beach. Then join us there."

Tyson looked doubtful, but he whistled. "Come, sheepies! Um, people food this way!"He jogged off into the meadow, the sheep in pursuit.