mastermind - percy jackson

ix. stables

"she's been sending me iris-messages"

Geryon had some kind of trolley- like those kiddie trains that take you around zoos. It was painted black and white like a cow's hide. The driver's car had a set of longhorns stuck to the hood, and the horn sounded like a cowbell.

Nico sat in the back, probably to keep an eye on his self-declared enemies. Eurytion crawled in next to him with his spiked club and pulled his cowboy hate over his eyes like he was going to take a nap. Orthus jumped in the front seat next to Geryon and began barking happily in two-part harmony.

Cassandra and her friends took the middle two cars.

"We have a huge operation!" Geryon boasted as the moo-mobile lurched forward. "Horses and cattle mostly, but all sorts of exotic varieties, too."

They came over a hill, and Annabeth gasped. "Hippalektryons? I thought they were extinct!"

At the bottom of the hill was a fenced-in pasture with a dozen super weird looking animals. Each had the front half of a horse and the back half of a rooster. Their rear feet were huge yellow claws. They had feathery tails and red wings. As Cassandra watched, two of them got in a fight over a seed. They reared up on their back legs and whinnied and flapped their wings at each other until the smaller one galloped away, its rear bird-legs putting a little hop in its step.

"Rooster ponies" Tyson said in amazement. "Do they lay eggs?"

"Once a year!" Geryon grinned in the rearview mirror. "Very much in demand for omelets!"

"That's horrible!" Annabeth said. "They must be an endangered species!"

Geryon waved his hand. "Gold is gold, darling. And you haven't tasted the omelets."

"That's not right" Grover murmured, but Geryon just kept narrating the tour.

"Now, over here" he said, "we have our fire-breathing horses, which you may have seen on your way in. They're bred for war, naturally."

"What war?" Percy asked.

Geryon grinned slyly. "Oh, whichever one comes along. And over yonder, of course, are our prize red cows."

Sure enough, hundreds of the cherry-colored cattle were grazing the side of the hill.

"So many" Grover said.

"Yes, well, Apollo is too busy to see them" Geryon explained, "so he subcontracts to us. We breed them vigorously because there's such a demand."

"For what?" Cassandra asked, glaring at the ranch owner.

Geryon raised an eyebrow. "Meat, of course! Armies have to eat."

"You kill the sacred cows of Apollo for meat?" Cassandra asked, through gritted teeth. "That's against ancient laws."

"Oh, don't get so worked up, Miss. Regalia. They're just animals."

"Just animals!" Grover said in disbelief.

"Yes, and if Apollo cared, I'm sure he would tell us."

"If he knew" Percy muttered.

Nico sat forward. "I don't care about any of this, Geryon. We had business to discuss, and this wasn't it!"

"All in good time, Mr. di Angelo. Look over here; some of my exotic game."

The next field was ringed in barbed wire. The whole area was crawling with giant scorpions.

"Triple G Ranch" Percy said. "Your mark was on the crates at camp. Quintus got his scorpions from you."

"Quintus..." Geryon mused. "Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?"