{BOOK 2} Percy Jackson's Sister

Percy Adopts a Mutant Cow

       Porkpie was indeed awake when I had gotten to the stables. As quietly as I could, I let him out of the stables and climbed on his back.

      "Follow Blackjack," I told him.

      You got it, he galloped into the air and followed my brother on his steed.

       The pegasi stopped somewhere way off the shore of the beach. I had to admit, I was kind of upset when they stopped. The feeling of riding in the sky, the saltwater lightly splashing your face, was thrilling.

      Here, Blackjack said. Straight down.

     "Thanks," Percy said, as he dove in.

      We'll be waiting for you to surface, Porkpie lightly nuzzled his head into my shoulder.

      "Thanks," I jumped off and my body hit the cold water.

       The darkness should've made it hard to see but I knew perfectly where everything was. I willed the waters to propel me next to Percy.

      There, Percy's voice spoke in my head. When we were underwater, we could telepathically communicate, which was one of my favorite abilities.

      Percy and I got closer to the three hippocampi who were making circles around a small shipwreck.

      They look agitated, I noted.

      Maybe it's because you're here, Percy suggested.

       I made a face at him and he smiled, trying not to laugh. I pushed myself closer to the hippocampi.

      Save it, m'lady! The hippocampi sounded desperate. Save it!

       Save what? I asked.

       Instead of answering they just whinnied nervously. Free it, lord, they told Percy.

       We moved forward and there, in a fishing net, a small animal struggled to get out. The shipwreck seesawed dangerously above the creature.

       A hippocampus was trying to cut the ropes with its teeth but it didn't seem to be working.

       "Moooooo!"

       Did that thing just- I asked.

       Percy nodded. I heard it too.

      As we got close enough to touch the net, I could see it was a cow. Well, half cow anyway. The backend was sort of like a serpent. It was small, a baby cow-snake thing. It was starting to get agitated and struggled even more, causing the boat to move more, threatening to crush the cow and take us along with it.

     "Whoa, little one," Percy said out loud. "Where did you come from?"

     I don't think anybody else would've understood him underwater, but the cow and I seemed to.

      "Moooo!" It cried.

      I can't understand it, I told Percy

     He looked at me in confusion. Me neither.

    I thought we would be able to understand any aquatic animal but this just sounded like a really distressed baby cow to me.

     We don't know what it is, one of the hippocampi said. Many strange things are stirring.

     "Yeah," Percy muttered. "So I've heard."

       Percy slipped his pen from his pocket and uncapped it. It grew to his sword, shining in the darkness of the water.

      The cow serpent (cowpent?) squirmed even more violently, its eyes widened in fright.

     "Whoa!" Percy said. "I'm not going to hurt you! Just let me cut the net."

      The cow didn't seem to understand us any more than we understood it. It continued to try to get as far from Percy as possible.

      "Put the sword away!" I yelled at Percy. "You're freaking it out."

     "Okay, okay!" He capped the sword and slipped it back in his pocket. He held up his hands to show he was completely unarmed now.

     "It's cool," he assured the cow. "It's cool. No sword. See? No sword. Calm thoughts. Sea grass."

     "Mama cows," I suggested.

     "Vegetarianism," Percy said.

      Vegetarianism? I questioned.

      Hey, it worked! He protested.

     He nodded towards the cow and it was starting to calm down. His movements were less frantic and the hippocampi had slowed down.

     They kept pleading at us to free it with lots of "lords" and "m'lady"s but Percy told them to be quiet. He rubbed his forehead, trying to form a plan.

     "Okay," he said. "First things first, I don't want to get crushed by that boat. Let's push it out of the way."

     We positioned the hippocampi evenly around the boat and told them to push on Percy's command. Percy and I willed the wave currents to push the boat as hard as possible. It took a lot of strength but the hippocampi definitely made it less work.

     Once that was taken care of, we brought our attention back to the entangled creature.

     Percy held up parts of the net in his hands and that gave me an idea.

     "Percy," I said. "You know how you taught me to untangle the video game cables?"

      His face brightened in understanding. "You're a genius!"

      "Tell me something I don't know," I said, helping him with the net.

       After a while we had managed to completely untangle the net from the cow.

      "It's okay, Bessie," Percy said, as we got the last of it off of her. "Good cow. Nice cow."

      "Bessie?" I judged.

      "You have a better name?" Percy challenged.

       I looked between him and the creature.

       "Alright, Bessie, it's off," I said.

       Immediately, Bessie swam circles of gratitude around Percy and I.

      Thank you, lord! The hippocampi's mood had definitely brightened up. Thank you, my lady!

      The cow nuzzled us each, probably it's way of hugging.

     "Yeah," Percy said. "That's okay. Nice cow. Well... stay out of trouble."

      "Moooo!" It said. I still couldn't understand her, but her eyes seemed to convey the message. Try taking your own advice.

       Percy and I said goodbye to Bessie and to the hippocampi, shooting to the surface. Sure enough, Porkpie and Blackjack were waiting there for us. We climbed on our respective pegasi.

     Success, boss? Blackjack asked.

     "Yeah. We rescued a baby... something or other. Took forever. Almost got stampeded."

      As we flew back to camp, something caught Percy's attention, something in the dining pavilion.

      "Go to the cabin," Percy told me.

      "Where are you going?" I asked.

      "Dining pavilion. I'll meet you at the cabin before you leave for the quest."

       "You're not coming?" I don't know why I was so hurt. He wasn't allowed on the quest, it shouldn't have bothered me as much, but still I felt I shouldn't go on this quest without him.

       "I'll meet you at the cabin," he assured.

       I watched him fly to the pavilion as Porkpie dropped me off at our cabin door. I walked in to get everything I needed to leave.