by John Mallon
Chapter 6
When he had returned home late the night before Braddle had not mentioned to his mother or Uncle Malik that he had just met a giant (his mother had been too distraught and had sent him straight to bed after he had told her that he had gotten lost) but, when he awoke, he decided that he should mention it now. The fact that giants existed, that they lived close by and that one of them could destroy everything around him as easily as half a million soldiers or fifty thousand sprongers was a fact too big to keep quiet about. He dressed quickly and headed for the kitchen. His mother was stirring a pot on the stove; Uncle Malik was sitting at the table with his jacket on.
“So it’s certain that Counsellor Pulter has disappeared?” his mother asked.
“Seems so. They say he went missing yesterday afternoon but Drostfur didn’t find out till late last night. He has ordered General Stoo to conduct a search. The soldiers are still looking but he hasn’t turned up yet.”
“You don’t think there’s a connection with the disappearance of…”. His mother had turned to face her uncle but saw Braddle standing in the doorway. She stopped talking and smiled at him.
“Come here and give me a hug” she said.
Braddle went to her and he put his arms tightly around her waist.
"You must be hungry. Sit down. Breakfast is ready" she told him.
As he ate, Braddle thought about what his mother and uncle had said. Someone important had vanished, just like his father. He now knew that there were giants in the world and it was possible that they had something to do with it. He had to tell them but it was strange that they did not know, or seemed not to know, that giants existed already.
“Last night,” Braddle said, “I saw a giant.”
His mother and uncle stopped eating and looked at him.
“It was probably Melp” said his uncle. “He’s on the tall side but I wouldn’t exactly call him a giant though.”
“No. It wasn't Melp. I mean that I actually saw a giant. He was as tall as the sky and had a hand twenty times as big as this house.”
His mother and uncle looked at each other. After a moment’s silence it was Uncle Malik who was the first to laugh. Braddle sat quietly and let them laugh. Eventually, his mother said that it was probably his imagination; that he was lost in a strange place in the dark; that giants most definitely did not exist.
“Besides, if creatures that big existed we would most certainly know about it. They would be hard to miss, I should think” his uncle added.
“But it is true. A giant saved me from Naster and his friends.”
“What has Naster got to do with it?” his mother asked.
“I went to the yellow flag, close to the mountain, and came across Naster, Horit and Blug. They insulted father and so I gave Naster a kick and took off through a tunnel in the mountain wall.”
He looked at his uncle and said, “There were too many of them to fight.”
His uncle nodded.
“As they chased me a big hand came down and scared them away.”
“I’ve had enough of this” his mother said angrily. “I’ve had enough of this Stoo family. Who do they think they are? How dare they attack my boy?”
His mother stood up. “Braddle wait here with your uncle. I need to have words with General Stoo.”
"Not a good idea Frey. Storming in making accusations would just make it easy for him to defend himself and come out the winner as usual. Besides, he’s busy with the search. Wait until you calm down, at least."
His mother took a deep breath.
"You are right. I'll wait a little longer" she said.
“In the meantime, there is work to be done" Uncle Malik added. "We need to get more supplies for the roof. Braddle come with me. And Braddle, whatever it was that stopped Naster chasing you, it couldn’t have been a giant.”
It took two trips to the Building Materials Repository to get all of the supplies needed for the roof. When they were laid out neatly on the ground in front of the house Uncle Malik told Braddle to grab a hammer and some nails. “Time for a building lesson” he said. Braddle worked all morning hammering pieces of wood onto other pieces of wood in an arrangement made by his uncle. During one of his breaks he happened to look down and noticed the girl next door going out with her mother. She looked up at him as she walked past and smiled. He turned away quickly. He felt as if he was in school and an unexpected question had suddenly exploded within his daydream and he was desperately searching for an answer. He told himself he should have smiled back but it was too late. At midday the work was finished. His uncle told him that he could have the rest of the day to himself, unless his mother had a job for him. His mother hadn’t and so after lunch he told her that he would go and see how the Arena was coming on.
“Don’t be late and don’t get lost” she told him.
The new Arena was going to be bigger and better than the last one. It was rumoured that it would have seating for two hundred thousand people, have a roof to protect them from the rain and have enough space in the centre for three Grem pitches. It took an hour to reach the Arena site. Its construction had not yet started but an outline of it had been marked out with posts and tape. At least one of the rumours had been true, thought Braddle. The Arena was going to be huge. His excitement quickly disappeared though.
"I bet a giant could crush it easily with one foot" he said to himself. "How come no one knows that giants exist? It doesn't make sense."
He looked to his left and saw in the far distance the yellow flag he visited the day before. Maybe he should speak to Drostfur about it. Yes, that's what I'll do, he decided. Before he did, it might be a good idea to find out more about them. The more information he could give Drostfur the better. He picked up a stick that was lying on the ground, pushed it through his belt and set off for the yellow flag.
Braddle stood where he had placed his dagger on the floor the night before. It was gone. The giant must have taken it, he thought. He looked around but the giant could not be seen. At the far end of the path he could see a spronger making a web. Best go no further he told himself. In the place where he had seen the giant he could see things, enormous things, in the distance. It was hard to make out what they were but it was clear that, whatever they were, they were not moving. He waited a little while but the giant did not appear. No point waiting longer he said to himself. He would come back tomorrow. Besides, that spronger looked hungry. He turned to go. At first he was unsure what it was. He had to step backwards as far as he could go and then crane his neck upwards. He started to laugh. It was amazing. It was astonishing. It was astounding. The giant had left him a message:
HELLO MY NAME IS ALFIE WHO ARE YOU
When he had finished laughing, he looked around for something with which he could write a reply. On the ground there was a stick. It looked like one of the sticks carried by Naster and his friends when they were chasing him. This should do, he thought. I could write with this. Now to find some ink.