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Then:

The giant Polyphe out in a cave on a deserted island, where he herded sheep and enjoyed si the occasional Greek hero who happened to sail by (Some monsters never learn)

PERCY

JACKSON

AND THE

SWORD OF HADES

Christmas in the Underworld was NOT , I would’ve called in sick I could’ve avoided an arot my friends and me cast into eternal darkness

But no I had to take lish exam So there I was on the last day of the winter se in the auditoriu to finish -like-I-did essay on A Tale of Two Cities, when Mrs O’Leary burst onto the stage, barking like crazy

Mrs O’Leary is y black s, steel-sharp claws and glowing red eyes She’s really sweet, but usually she stays at Ca ca over the Christmas trees and Santa’s elves and the rest of the Winter Wonderland set

Everyone looked up I was sure the other kids were going to panic and run for the exits, but they just started snickering and laughing A couple of the girls said, ‘A, cute!’

Our English teacher, Dr Boring (I’lasses and frowned

‘All right,’ he said ‘Whose poodle?’

I sighed in relief Thank gods for the Mist – the s the way they really are I’d seen it bend reality plenty of times before, but Mrs O’Leary as a poodle? That was impressive

‘Um, my poodle, sir,’ I spoke up ‘Sorry! It‘Mary had a Little La snapped ‘Percy Jackson, this is a final exam I cannot have poodles –’

‘WOOF!’ Mrs O’Leary’s bark shook the auditoriu over a few more elves Then she crouched on her front paws and stared at et her out of here, Dr Boring,’ I promised ‘I’m finished anyway’

I closed e Mrs O’Leary bounded for the exit and I followed, the other kids still laughing and calling out behind me, ‘See ya, Poodle Boy!’

Mrs O’Leary ran down East 81st Street towards the river

‘Slon!’ I yelled ‘Where are you going?’

I got soe looks fro a poodle probably wasn’t the weirdest thing they’d ever seen

Mrs O’Leary kept well ahead of me She turned to bark every once in a while as if to say, Move it, slowcoach! She ran three blocks north, straight into Carl Schurz Park By the tiht up with her, she’d leaped an iron fence and disappeared into a huge topiary wall of snow-covered bushes

‘Aw, corab , but I clied into the frozen shrubbery

On the other side was a clearing – a half acre of icy grass ringed with bare trees Mrs O’Leary was sniffing around, wagging her tail like crazy I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary In front of ishly White plumes billowed from the rooftops in Queens Behind me, the Upper East Side loomed cold and silent

I wasn’t sure why, but the back of le I took out rew intofaintly in the winter light

Mrs O’Leary lifted her head Her nostrils quivered

‘What is it, girl?’ I whispered

The bushes rustled and a golden deer burst through When I say golden, I don’thad enuine fourteen-carat It shiht to look at It was probably theI’d ever seen

Mrs O’Leary licked her lips like she was thinking, Deer burgers! Then the bushes rustled again and a figure in a hooded parka leaped into the clearing, an arrow notched in her bow

I raised irl aimed at me – then froze

‘Percy?’ She pushed back the silvery hood of her parka Her black hair was longer than I reht blue eyes and the silver tiara that marked her as the first lieutenant of Arte here?’

‘Following the golden deer,’ she said, like that should be obvious ‘It’s the sacred anin And, um…’ She nodded nervously at Mrs O’Leary ‘You want to tellhere?’

‘That’sthe deer and basically not respecting its personal space The deer butted the hellhound in the nose Pretty soon, the two of the