Free In Deep Dark Wood by Marita Conlon-Mckenna Page A

wondering when he would come across a farmhouse or a village. Finally, he spotted a plume of smoke in the distance and some kind of stone-built settlement. Perhaps someone there might be able to help him.
    Hiding in the long grass, he decided to watch and discover what kind of people lived here.
    ‘Got you!’
    Rory nearly died with fright at the booming voice. Then along arm and big hand grabbed him and pulled him out of his hiding place. His heart thumped with fear and he struggled wildly to escape. It was a girl – a giant girl! At least three times his size! She held him firmly.
    ‘Well, look what I just found for myself!’ she laughed, poking him with her finger and prodding him like he was some sort of toy doll. ‘Wait till Father sees what I caught today!’
    Rory blinked. He didn’t believe it. A giant standing before him – he was seeing her with his very own eyes. The girl bent down towards him excitedly. He tried to turn and run, but she blocked his escape, laughing at his attempt to get away from her. She had a big, round face and deep blue eyes and her long fair hair was in two thick plaits that hung like ropes on either side of her head.
    ‘Boy! You are small!’ she said, poking at him again with her finger, which felt like a thick tree-branch sticking into his ribs.
    ‘Are you a dwarf?’
    Rory stood up tall and straight. ‘Me? A dwarf?’ he declared fiercely. ‘It’s you who’s far too big!’
    She began to giggle again. ‘Thank you! That’s a nice thing to say.’
    ‘Where am I?’ he asked, trying to keep the tremor out of his voice.
    The girl wrinkled up her face and eyes, peering at him in disbelief. ‘You’re in Giants’ Cave, of course,’ she explained.
    ‘Giants’ Cave? Is this where my sister is? Have you seen her?
    The giant girl looked puzzled. ‘I have no idea what you aretalking about, stranger.’
    Keeping it simple he tried to explain about Mia’s disappearance, while the girl sat on the ground listening to him.
    ‘Birch!’ A loud voice broke into his story and summoned the girl home. ‘Come in here this instant, Birch, there’s work to be done before your father arrives.’
    The girl hesitated, and Rory knew that she was trying to decide what to do about him.
    ‘Don’t be scared!’ she whispered reassuringly, lifting him off his feet and carrying him in through the cave entrance, along a stone passageway and down into the kitchen where her mother was busy attending to a huge range where pots boiled fiercely, filling the air with steam.
    ‘Ma! Look what I found outside!’
    The giant mother turned around quickly, and almost dropped the pot she was stirring.
    ‘Oh, my! Birch, what is it? A nasty dwarf or a goblin of some sort? Take care, it might bite or scratch you!’ she warned, coming closer to him to get a better look.
    ‘He’s a boy, Ma! A small sort of one, but he’s a boy.’
    ‘Be careful of him, Birch, there’s no telling what he might do. You know you can’t trust them. Your father’s warned you often enough. Put that willow basket over him, then I can keep an eye on him till your father gets home.’
    Rory sat totally still, the strips of the willow basket imprisoning him, as the giant mother and daughter worked at setting the table and filling a jug with a red berry juice andchopping raw vegetables into a huge bowl. They both wore shapeless grey dresses that at times almost camouflaged them against the grey stone wall of their home.
    Birch placed a large loaf of fresh, crusty bread on the table, and Rory longed for a small piece of it to fill his empty stomach.
    A short time later, Rory’s heart nearly stopped beating with fright as the dwelling rumbled and echoed with the sound of huge heavy steps – Birch’s father! The moment he entered the kitchen he spotted Rory and came over to peer at him.
    ‘Where did you find him, Birch?’ he asked his daughter anxiously. ‘You didn’t go out across the fields mouse-catching, I hope!’
    She