Cerberus’s heads stopped fighting and looked at her.

The ball was wedged between two of his

teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, then dropped the ball, now
slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth’s feet. ‘Good boy.’She picked up the ball, ignoring
the monster spit all over it. She turned towards us. ‘Go now. EZ DEATH line– it’s faster.’ I said,
‘But–’ ‘Now!’She ordered, in the same tone she was using on the dog. Grover and I inched
forward warily. Cerberus started to growl. ‘Stay!’ Annabeth ordered the monster. ‘If you want
the ball, stay!’ Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was. ‘What about you?’I asked
Annabeth as we passed her. ‘I know what I’m doing, Percy,’she muttered. At least, I’m pretty
sure…’ Grover and I walked between the monster’s legs. Please, Annabeth, I prayed. Don’t tell
him to sit again. Wemade it through. Cerberus wasn’t any less scary-looking from the back.
Annabeth said, ‘Good dog!’ She held up the tattered red ball, and probably came to the same
conclusion I did– if she rewarded Cerberus, there’d be nothing left for another trick. She threw
the ball anyway. The monster’s left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by
the middle head while the right head moaned in protest. While the monster was distracted,
Annabeth walked briskly under its belly and joined us at the metal detector. ‘How did you do
that?’I asked her, amazed. ‘Obedience school,’ she said breathlessly, and I was surprised to see
there were tears in her eyes. ‘When I was little, at my dad’s house, we had a Dobermann…’
‘Never mind that,’Grover said, tugging at my shirt. ‘Come on!’ We were about to bolt through
the EZ DEATH line when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three mouths. Annabeth stopped.
She turned to face the dog, which had done a one-eighty to look at us. Cerberus panted
expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet. ‘Good boy,’Annabeth
said, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain. The monster’s heads turned sideways,
as if worried about her. ‘I’ll bring you another ball soon,’ Annabeth promised faintly. ‘Would
you like that?’