Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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75 but if he heard us , we couldn ' t tell .
Even if by some miracle we managed to kill Polyphemus , it wouldn ' t do us any good . Grover and Clarisse would die inside that sealed cave . The only way to move the rock was to have the Cyclops do it .
In total frustration , I stabbed Riptide against the boulder . Sparks flew , but nothing else happened . A large rock is not the kind of enemy you can fight with a magic sword .
Annabeth and I sat on the ridge in despair and watched the distant baby-blue shape of the Cyclops as he moved among his flocks . He had wisely divided his regular animals from his maneating sheep , putting each group on either side of the huge crevice that divided the island . The only way across was the rope bridge , and the planks were much too far apart for sheep hooves .
We watched as Polyphemus visited his carnivorous flock on the far side . Unfortunately , they didn ' t eat him . In fact , they didn ' t seem to bother him at all . He fed them chunks of mystery meat from a great wicker basket , which only reinforced the feelings I ' d been having since Circe turned me into a guinea pig — that maybe it was time I joined Grover and became a vegetarian . " Trickery ," Annabeth decided . " We can ' t beat him by force , so we ' ll have to use trickery ." " Okay ," I said . " What trick ?' " I haven ' t figured that part out yet ." " Great ." " Polyphemus will have to move the rock to let the sheep inside ." " At sunset ," I said . " Which is when he ' ll marry Clarisse and have Grover for dinner . I ' m not sure which is grosser ." " I could get inside ," she said , " invisibly ." " What about me ?" " The sheep ," Annabeth mused . She gave me one of those sly looks that always made me wary . " How much do you like sheep ?"
" Just don ' t let go !" Annabeth said , standing invisibly somewhere off to my right . That was easy for her to say . She wasn ' t hanging upside down from the belly of a sheep .
Now , I ' ll admit it wasn ' t as hard as I ' d thought . I ' d crawled under a car before to change my mom ' s oil , and this wasn ' t too different . The sheep didn ' t care . Even the Cyclops ' s smallest sheep were big enough to support my weight , and they had thick wool . I just twirled the stuff into handles for my hands , hooked my feet against the sheep ' s thigh bones , and presto — I felt like a baby wallaby , riding around against the sheep ' s chest , trying to keep the wool out of my mouth and my nose .
In case you ' re wondering , the underside of a sheep doesn ' t smell that great . Imagine a winter sweater that ' s been dragged through the mud and left in the laundry hamper for a week . Something like that . The sun was going down . No sooner was I in position than the Cyclops roared , " Oy ! Goaties ! Sheepies !" The flock dutifully began trudging back up the slopes toward the cave . " This is it !" Annabeth whispered . " I ' ll be close by . Don ' t worry ." I made a silent promise to the gods that if we survived this , I ' d tell Annabeth she was a genius . The frightening thing was , I knew the gods would hold me to it .
My sheep taxi started plodding up the hill . After a hundred yards , my hands and feet started to hurt from holding on . I gripped the sheep ' s wool more tightly , and the animal made a grumbling sound . I didn ' t blame it . I wouldn ' t want anybody rock climbing in my hair either . But if I didn ' t hold on , I was sure I ' d fall off right there in front of the monster .
" Hasenpfeffer !" the Cyclops said , patting one of the sheep in front of me . " Einstein ! Widget — eh there , Widget !"
Polyphemus patted my sheep and nearly knocked me to the ground . " Putting on some extra mutton there ?" Uh-oh , I thought . Here it comes . But Polyphemus just laughed and swatted the sheep ' s rear end , propelling us forward . " Go on , fatty ! Soon Polyphemus will eat you for breakfast !" And just like that , I was in the cave .