Rick Riordan The Battle of the Labyrinth - 04
“ Sunset ,” Geryon reminded me . “ No later .” He laughed at me once more , sounded his cowbell horn , and the moo-mobile rumbled off down the trail .
Chapter Nine
I Scoop Poop
54
I lost hope when I saw the horses ’ teeth .
As I got closer to the fence , I held my shirt over my nose to block the smell . One stallion waded through the muck and whinnied angrily at me . He bared his teeth , which were pointed like a bear ’ s . I tried to talk to him in my mind . I can do that with most horses . Hi , I told him . I ’ m going to clean your stables . Won ’ t that be great ? Yes ! The horse said . Come inside ! Eat you ! Tasty half-blood ! But I ’ m Poseidon ’ s son , I protested . He created horses . Usually this gets me VIP treatment in the equestrian world , but not this time . Yes ! The horse agreed enthusiastically . Poseidon can come in , too ! We will eat you both !
Seafood !
Seafood ! The other horses chimed in as they waded through the field . Flies were buzzing everywhere , and the heat of the day didn ’ t make the smell any better . I ’ d had some idea that I could do this challenge , because I remembered how Hercules had done it . He ’ d channeled a river into the stables and cleaned them out that way . I figured I could maybe control the water . But if I couldn ’ t get close to the horses without getting eaten , that was a problem . And the river was downhill from the stables , a lot farther away than I ’ d realized , almost half a mile . The problem of the poop looked a lot bigger up close . I picked up a rusted shovel and experimentally scooped some away from the fence line . Great . Only four billion shovelfuls to go .
The sun was already sinking . I had a few hours at best . I decided the river was my only hope . At least it would be easier to think at the riverside than it was here . I set off downhill . *** When I got to the river , I found a girl waiting for me . She was wearing jeans and a green T- shirt and her long brown hair was braided with river grass . She had a stern look on her face . Her arms were crossed . “ Oh no you don ’ t ,” she said . I stared at her . “ Are you a naiad ?” She rolled her eyes . “ Of course !” “ But you speak English . And you ’ re out of the water .” “ What , you don ’ t think we can act human if we want to ?” I ’ d never thought about it . I kind of felt stupid , though , because I ’ d seen plenty of naiads at camp , and they ’ d never done much more than giggle and wave at me from the bottom of the canoe lake . “ Look ,” I said . “ I just came to ask —” “ I know who you are ,” she said . “ And I know what you want . And the answer is no ! I ’ m not going to have my river used again to clean that filthy stable .” “ But —” “ Oh , save it , sea boy . You ocean-god types always think you ’ re soooo much more important than some little river , don ’ t you ? well let me tell you , this naiad is not going to be pushed around just because your daddy is Poseidon . This is freshwater territory , mister . The last guy who asked me this favor — oh , he was way better-looking than you , by the way — he convinced me , and that was the worst mistake I ’ ve ever made ! Do you have any idea what all that horse manure does to my ecosystem ? Do I look like a sewage treatment plant to you ? My fish will die . I ’ ll never get the much out of my plants . I ’ ll be sick for years . NO THANK YOU !”
The way she talked reminded me of my mortal friend , Rachel Elizabeth Dare — kind of like