The Thief and the Beanstalk by P. W. Catanese

Author:P. W. Catanese
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fables, Legends, Action & Adventure, Juvenile Fiction, General, Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore
ISBN: 9780689871733
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2005-04-25T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Nick had no choice but to do what the giantess said. She didn’t seem murderous, like her sons. In fact she gave him an encouraging smile. She looked like a lonely soul who was glad to have some company. The best course of action, he decided, would be to win her confidence and wait for his chance to escape. Nick chose a spot just out of her reach and sat.

The giantess had been leaning on her elbow. She sat and crossed her legs, and her ancient bones creaked like a tall ship’s timbers. “You came from down there, didn’t you? From the land of little people.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Nick.

“Did a strange vine bring you—a beanstalk?”

Nick nodded. “How did you know?”

The giantess raised her hand, dipping into one of the shafts of sunlight that entered through the broken ceiling. She looked at the shadow of her hand on the floor. “I should have guessed sooner—when the shadows stopped dancing”

Nick understood at once the strange behavior of the ogres—why they had stared at the ground and looked to the sun, apparently confused. This was a cloud they lived on, not the solid and stable earth, where the sun and the stars navigated fixed and predictable courses. In this unearthly land, the sun was a nomad, its position forever changing as the cloud drifted and spun before the wind. How strange and beautiful it must be, thought Nick, to sit outside at night and watch the stars swirling around overhead.

On the cloud island, the sun wandered and the shadows danced—until the beanstalk rose out of the ground and summoned the island, seizing it and mooring it to one place.

“But why are you here, little man? Have you come to steal our precious things?”

“No, ma’am,” Nick lied.

“Humph. That’s what Jack said.”

Judging from the tone of her voice, Nick thought it would be best not to mention his connection to Jack. He watched the giantess use one hand to rub the other, trying to soothe some ache, and noticed how damaged her hands seemed to be. The skin was cracked and dry, the joints badly swollen.

“Tell me your name, boy, and I’ll tell you mine.”

“My name is Nick.”

“Mine is Gullinda.”

A fat crow swooped over Gullinda’s head. With alarming speed, she snatched the bird from the air. She popped it into her mouth, crunched it between her teeth, and swallowed it with a grimace.

Gullinda looked down at Nick. His hands were over his mouth and his eyes were bulging.

“Sorry. Woeful manners,” she apologized. “I haven’t had much in the way of food lately. But don’t fear. I have no appetite for little people.” A little black feather flew out of her mouth as she spoke. Nick watched it flutter down and land at his feet.

He took his hand off his mouth to ask a question. “Are … are you a prisoner here?”

The giantess nodded. “A prisoner and a slave, I am afraid.”

“But who imprisoned you here? Not your own sons?”

Gullinda put her hands to her face, and nodded from behind them.

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