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Rory didn't know what to expect when they arrived at Polyphemus' island. Maybe she thought it would have craggy rocks and bones scattered on the beach like the island of the Sirens.
The Cyclops' island was nothing like that. Sure, it had a rope bridge across a chasm — which wasn't a good sign — but except for that, the place looked like a Caribbean postcard. It had green fields and tropical fruit trees and white beaches. As the three sailed toward the shore, Annabeth breathed in the sweet air. "The Fleece," she said.
Rory nodded. She couldn't see the Fleece yet, but she could feel its power.
"If we take it away, will the island die?" Percy asked.
Annabeth shook her head. "It'll fade. Go back to what it would be normally, whatever that is."
"Probably dead," Rory mumbled.
In the meadow at the base of the ravine, several dozen sheep were milling around. They looked peaceful enough, but they were huge — the size of hippos. Just past them was a path that led up into the hills. At the top of the path, near the edge of the canyon, was a massive oak tree. Something gold glittered in its branches.
"This is too easy," Percy said. "We could just hike up there and take it?"
Annabeth's eyes narrowed. "There's supposed to be a guardian. A dragon or..."
That's when a deer emerged from the bushes. It trotted into the meadow, probably looking for grass to eat, when the sheep all bleated at once and rushed the animal. It happened so fast that the deer stumbled and was lost in a sea of wool and trampling hooves.
Grass and tufts of fur flew into the air.
A second later the sheep all moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. Where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.
Rory glared at her friends. "You two just had to say something."
"They're like piranhas," Annabeth said.
"Piranhas with wool. How will we—"
Rory cut Percy off by gasping, grabbing his arm. "Look."
She pointed down the beach, to just below the sheep meadow, where a small boat had been run aground... the other lifeboat from the CSS Birmingham.
The three decided there was no way that they could get past the man-eating sheep. Annabeth wanted to sneak up the path invisibly and grab the Fleece, but in the end Rory and Percy convinced her that something would go wrong. The sheep would smell her. Another guardian would appear. Something. And if that happened, they would be too far away to help.
Besides, their first job was to find Grover and whoever had come ashore in that lifeboat — assuming they had gotten past the sheep.
They moored the Queen Anne's Revenge on the back side of the island where the cliffs rose straight up a good two hundred feet. Percy figured the ship was less likely to be seen there. The cliffs looked climbable, barely — about as difficult as the lava wall back at camp. At least it was free of sheep.
