Hercules and the Geek of Greece Read Online Free PDF

to Xumonia in plenty of time before the next full moon.
    But then again, maybe not. . . .
    They stopped for lunch just as the sun was overhead. Hercules unraveled XL from his golden reins. The steed took a drink of water from a nearby stream, then wandered away to graze. Hercules had conditioned himself not to eat much on the trip, so he dined on an apple picked from a nearby tree.
    Geekus, on the other hand, had produced an enormous meal from his backpack. Bread, jam, a fish burger, two pears, an apple, and a bag of pine nuts. The boy gobbled all this down in less time than it took Hercules to eat his apple.
    Hercules watched him as he ate, sitting under a tree some forty feet away. He was sure that the girls in the nearby villages didn’t even acknowledge Geekus’s existence, even though he was the queen’s nephew. His sniffling, runny nose, thick eye specs, and his absolutely stupid way of dressing was probably too much for even the most generous girls to be friends with him.
    Hercules wondered what it would have been like if the poor kid had turned out to be handsome. He would have been by far the most popular kid in the land.
    Looks shouldn’t be everything,
Hercules thought.
    Now, as he watched Geekus stuff his face, lost in a world of his own, Hercules was surprised by something: he would have thought that Geekus would have talked his ear off already. But in amongst the tripping episodes, the dropped glasses, and the sniffles and wheezes, the fact was, he hadn’t said a word to Hercules the entire journey. And in some small way, this made Hercules have a small measure of respect for him.
    Very small.
    Hercules signaled it was time to go by packing up his bags. Geekus silently packed his own belongings and waited for Hercules to rein XL.
    Then they started off again.
    Still, not a word passed between them.
    Now the road began to twist through some of the deepest forests in the land.
    The forest became so dark at one point that Hercules could barely see his hand in front of him. He had to lead XL inch by inch, and did so very carefully. If the magnificent steed stumbled or got hurt, then they’d all be in big trouble.
    It was so dark, in fact, that when they came to the roadblock, Hercules nearly walked right into it!
    They’d just passed over a shallow stream and turned a bend when they first saw it. It was made of tree trunks, mud, and stone, and looked like it had been blocking this part of the road for years.
    â€œOh, this is just great!” Hercules murmured when he first realized what it was.
    The blockade had been well-placed. To the right was a sheer cliff, straight up. To the left, a steep drop straight down into an even darker part of the forest.
    There was no way to go around the roadblock. And because it was so high and covered with jagged stones and metal, there was no way they could climb over it, either.
    â€œBy the gods, we spent a whole day getting here, and now this,” Hercules exclaimed. “It’s impossible.”
    â€œNo, it isn’t,” Geekus said quietly.
    Hercules spun around. Was the kid actually speaking to him?
    â€œIt isn’t?” Hercules asked him sternly.
    â€œNo,” Geekus stated.
    â€œWell?” Hercules asked, getting into his face. “What can
you
do about it?”
    Geekus took a few steps back and studied the roadblock for a moment. He pulled on his chin in thought.
    â€œLet’s see,” he murmured. “It’s about thirty-five feet high, don’t you think? Maybe thirty paces wide?”
    Hercules just rolled his eyes and plopped to the ground.
    â€œOh, brother!” he groaned.
    Geekus did the rest of his figuring silently. Then he came up to Hercules and took off his travel bag and gave it to him.
    â€œI’ll be right back!” he said.
    With that, he disappeared around the bend and splashed across the stream.
    Hercules just shook his head and sank farther to the ground.
    â€œHow did I