Changing the Future

Chapter 24

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!"

I pulled out an unopened bag of beef jerky from my bag, earning me a weird look from Clarisse. I tore open the packaging with my teeth before shouting, "Tyson, catch!" throwing the beef jerky at Tyson. "Throw the jerky to the other side of the island, as far away as you can!"

Tyson did just that, pulling out strands of jerky, throwing them back in the direction of Polyphemus's lair, far away from us. The carnivorous sheep took off, trampling over one another as they tried to get some of the jerky.

"We need to move while the sheep are gone," I told the others.

"Do you just casually carry around beef jerky?" Percy asked as I turned my bag back into a charm, no longer needing anything from it.

"Yes. Hey, I learned in college that someone is always hungry, so I started carrying around snacks with me just in case. But now isn't the time." I turned to Annabeth. "Keep the Fleece around you; you're not close to being healed. Can you stand?"

Annabeth tried, but her face instantly turned pale and clammy again. "Oh, definitely can't stand."

Clarisse took a knee and felt her chest, making Annabeth gasp. "Ribs broken," Clarisse said, standing up again. "They're mending, but definitely broken."

"How can you tell?" Percy asked.

"Because I've broken a few, runt! I'll have to carry her."

"Let me," I said, stopping before Clarisse could toss Annabeth over her shoulder like a sack of flour. "We'll need your hands available if Baby Blue comes back."

I got Annabeth onto my back. Although she weighed about seventy pounds heavier because of the Golden Fleece, I didn't think it was all that hard as I began walking down the cliffside, making sure to keep my steps as even as possible to not jostle Annabeth around more than necessary.

When we got to the water's edge, Percy's face took on a look of concentration, which I knew was him trying to get his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, to appear. A few minutes later, an old pirate's ship appeared in the water.

"Incoming!" Tyson yelled. He was bounding down to join us, the sheep about fifty yards behind him, bleating as they probably wanted more jerky. Such a shame that I only had that one pack, or else we wouldn't have to worry about these dumb sheep.

"They probably won't follow us into the water," Percy told us. "All we have to do is swim for the ship."

"With Annabeth like this?" Clarisse protested, gesturing to the daughter of Athena, whose body was trembling from shock.

"We can do it," Percy insisted. "Once we get to the ship, we're home free."

We almost made it, too.

We were just wading past the entrance to the ravine when we heard a tremendous roar and saw Polyphemus scraped up and bruised but still very much alive, his baby-blue wedding outfit in tatters, splashing toward us with a boulder in each hand.

"You'd think he'd run out of rocks," Percy muttered.

"Swim for it!" Grover said.

Clarisse, Grover, and I plunged into the surf. The two of them swam ahead while I had to use the water to keep Annabeth and me afloat. Annabeth was trying to help by paddling with one hand, but the wet Fleece was weighing us down even more.

"Annabeth, I won't let you drown," I promised her, making sure the water was helping Clarisse and Grover as well.

While Percy and Tyson fought Polyphemus on land, I made sure we all got onto the Queen Anne's Revenge. Once I was on the deck, I set Annabeth down, telling her not to move to give the Fleece a chance to heal her ribs.