"This way!" Brody shouted. He grabbed Julia, who seemed to be frozen with terror, and yanked her into motion.
Markos was already sprinting ahead of them, away from the charging metal bull.
"What is that thing?" Julia cried as she ran alongside Brody.
"The bull is made of metal, but it acts like it's alive! That's so weird!"
Brody shot her a surprised look. "Now you think things are weird?" he said.
"You didn't seem to think it was weird to ride in a flying chariot. Or to travel back in time either."
"Please," Markos called over his shoulder. "There is no time for talking right now!"
Brody saw that the sheer rock wall continued to their right for as far as he could see.
So did the thorny thicket on their left. Just ahead he spotted a forest.
"Keep going," Brody said. "Maybe the bull can't fit between the tree trunks."
Brody was right—sort of. The metal bull was still charging after them.
But when the kids darted into the forest, the bull halted, roaring with fury.
"Clever strategy, Brody!" Markos cried breathlessly. "We stopped him."
Julia gasped. "No, we didn't—keep running!"
The bull was already ramming its way forward.
Tree trunks cracked and fell in every direction.
Soon the kids found themselves running out of the far end of the forest.
Once again they were trapped in an open area between the high rock wall and the thorny thicket.
"What are we going to do?" Julia glanced over her shoulder at the bull.
"Run faster!" Brody yelled back.
"Easy for you to say, champion," Markos grumbled breathlessly.
Brody didn't answer. He'd just spotted something ahead. "Uh-oh."
The others looked ahead too. "Oh no!" Julia cried.
A short distance from them, the rock wall curved out, blocking their way completely!
"What are we going to do?" Julia cried again.
"We'll have to try going back through the thicket," Markos said. "Perhaps that will slow the bull."
"That won't work," Brody pointed out. "That metal bull won't feel any scratches.
It will charge through faster than we can go."
They reached the rock wall and skidded to a stop.
Julia stared up at the sheer cliff. "What other choice do we have?" she said.
Brody glanced at the bull, which was still coming at them. "I don't know," he said, feeling frantic.
The cliff didn't have a single handhold that he could see—they couldn't climb to safety that way.
He looked around for a sturdy branch or anything else he could use as a weapon.
Maybe he could fight off the bull long enough for Julia and Markos to crawl through the thicket to safety.
"Hello down there!" a voice called from overhead. "Look up! I'm throwing you a rope!"
Brody gasped and looked up. A face was peering down at them. It was Heracles!
"Hurry!" Another face appeared beside Heracles—his brother, Iphicles.
"The bull automaton will reach you in a moment!"
A thick rope dropped down near them. Heracles was holding the other end.
"Grab hold of it," Heracles called. "Now!"
"All of us?" Markos looked worried. "But how can you . . . you can't possibly—"
"Hurry!" Iphicles yelled. "It's coming!"
He was right. The bull was charging toward them.
"Oh well," Brody said. "Here goes nothing."
He grabbed the rope with both hands. So did Julia and Markos.
"We're ready!" Markos called.
"They can't do this, can they?" Julia's voice was shaking.
"They can't possibly lift all three of us at once. Not all the way up that cliff!"
"Heracles lifted that wagon by himself," Brody reminded her. He tried to sound confident.
But inside he was just as scared as Julia looked.
What if Heracles dropped them when they were halfway up that cliff? They could all be killed!
Then Brody would never get to be in the Olympic Games. He'd never return home.
He'd never play football again, or see his parents, or . . .
Brody was so busy worrying, he almost didn't notice when his feet left the ground.
He snapped back to reality when Markos shouted in his ear.
"Hurry!" Markos yelled, sounding terrified. "It's almost here!"
"Brody," Julia said. "Lift your feet! Quick!"
Brody did as she said. He felt something swish past under one sandal.
When he looked down, he gulped as he realized it was one of the bull's sharp metal horns.
Up above he could hear Heracles grunting with effort as he slowly, slowly pulled them up.
Finally Brody and the others were safe at the top of the cliff.
"Thanks, dude!" Brody said to Heracles. "Hera and Hephaestus tried to kill us with that bull statue!"
"It's an automaton—that's an animated statue.
Hephaestus frequently creates them." Iphicles peered down at the bull.
"We should get away from here," he added.
"If the automaton returns to Hera and Hephaestus, they could come looking for us."
"Good thinking, brother." Heracles smiled at the others.
"Are you strong enough to walk, or should I carry you?"
Brody blinked. Heracles might be even stronger than Brody had realized, but that didn't mean Brody was a wimp!
"No, we're fine," he said quickly, and his friends nodded.
Iphicles was already hurrying off. Brody and the others followed, not talking much until they'd walked for at least twenty minutes.
Finally Heracles stopped his brother with a hand on the shoulder. "Let's rest here."
Brody looked around. They were in a pleasant clearing with a babbling brook running through it.
He walked over and splashed cool water on his face.
The kids all sat down together. For a few moments, nobody seemed to know what to say. Brody felt awkward.
Heracles was supposed to be his enemy, but he'd just saved Brody's life.
Now what was Brody supposed to think of him?