8. Visitors

Raven swooped onto the window's edge as sunlight streamed into the kitchen. "We have company. Humans, I think. I was circling the mountain this morning and I saw a small group in the north part of the forest, heading this way."

Cranch dipped a large plate into a tub full of soapy water. "You missed breakfast."

"Can you blame me?" Raven adjusted his wings. "Those sesame rolls were hard as rocks, I couldn't even peck through them. Now listen, what are going to do about these humans? I don't know what they want, but at least one of them has a gun. He took a shot at me as I flew overhead, but he missed."

"He probably heard you trying to sing," Cranch replied, wiping the plate dry. "Your talents are legendary around these parts..."

"Cranch, I mean it. What are we going to do?"

"Well, if we're having visitors, we might as well show them a little hospitality." he walked over to a corner of the kitchen, into which a deep but narrow dry well had been dug. It was his late brother's wine cellar. Cranch was indeed small for a giant, but he was nevertheless able to lower himself down into the pit, choose his wine, and hoist himself back up onto the kitchen floor. He placed two bottles on the table, as well as a large burlap sack that smelled like cheese.

"White or red?"

"CRANCH! Stop it!" Raven screeched and flapped his wings in anger. "We're in a serious situation here, now WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!"

"Raven, calm down," the giant soothed. "We don't know if these people are coming in peace or not. If they mean us no harm, then we'll feed them, provide them shelter and rest, and send them on their way. If that's not the case, then..." he reached into the burlap sack and pulled out a long, well-oiled double-barreled shotgun..."we'll just send them on their way."

Raven looked relieved. "Alright, at least you're prepared this time. Better make sure that thing's loaded, I've got a bad feeling about this bunch. I'll be back soon, I'm going to track their progress and let you know what's happening."

"Be careful," Cranch warned, "They might try to take another shot at you. And you're ugly enough as it is without them trying to burn a hole in your tail feathers."

Raven grinned. "You be careful yourself. And if you decide not to use your gun, let them smell your cooking. That oughta scare 'em off."

And away he flew.

9. Good and Bad

"Curse you!" Jack slapped Julima hard in the face. "Why'd you do that! That black bird could be a spy for the giant! I could have killed him if you hadn't pushed my arm away like that!"

The wild-haired woman held her cheek, feeling the painful sting and trying to control her anger. All eyes were on her, and their disapproval was tangible.

She spoke quietly. "You shouldn't have shot the gun at all, the giant can hear that. Now he probably knows we're here. But if that raven had been a spy, and you had killed him, the giant would know he was missing and would have come to look for him. And then he'd find us." She had to think of a reason why she'd stopped him from shooting the bird. Of course, she couldn't let him know that ravens were traditionally on friendly terms with wolves, and she just couldn't allow herself to let one be killed.

Her excuse seemed to make sense but Jack was still angry. "You made me waste a bullet. You do that again and I'll shoot you myself."

"Why are you so trigger-happy anyway? You sure like to kill things. You go around saying how bad the giant is, but you're the one stealing from him and trying to murder him, and not only that, you're dragging us all along with you." She looked to the others for support, but the pigs were merely bemused at the whole exchange, and Red Riding Hood seemed uneasy.

Jack threw Julima a look of pure hate. "You wouldn't understand, because you're a freak," he spat the words at her. "People like me are supposed to kill giants. Because they're evil." He grew frustrated. "I'm good, don't you get it? It doesn't matter if I kill a bad person, sometimes good people have to do bad things for good to things to happen. And if the bad things are done to bad people, then they're actually good." There was no answer. "Oh, forget it," he cried, exasperated.

"But how do you know the giant is bad?" Julima should have held her tongue but she couldn't help herself.

"Because he is. He's a giant. They're all bad. Now I don't have time to explain this any further," Jack said, turning away from her. "Let's go, everyone, we're losing precious minutes." He started towards the direction of the castle, then looked back at Julima and snarled, "If you're having doubts, go run off and make friends with the giants and ravens and wolves and witches. For those of you who want to be heroes… and rich ones at that… follow me." And he marched off, with the three little pigs in tow.

Red Riding Hood turned to Julima and said, "Look, we're all very nervous right now, and your arguing doesn't help. Just follow along with us and try not to upset Jack anymore, alright? It'll be over soon."

And she took off after the others.

Yes, it will be over soon, thought Julima to herself. And I'll make you pay for everything. What you've done to me, to my family, and what you're about to do to the giant. I'll make you pay for all of it.

And she ran to join them.

10. The Castle

The giant was alone, with nothing left to do but wait. The rifle was oiled, loaded, primed and ready. So, too, was a sumptuous spread of wine, cheese, cold meats, and several freshly baked fruit pies, still warm from the oven. This was if they intended to come in peace. In either case, he was ready.

Suddenly he heard a scuffling noise just outside, as if someone was scaling the castle walls. It traveled all the way up to the roof. Somebody was climbing up there. Then came a loud knock at the front door. He walked over, peered through the eyehole, and the blood in his veins turned to ice. On the other side of the door stood an angelic-looking little girl and a much older boy, who he immediately recognized as the scoundrel who'd murdered his brother. He could hear scurrying feet on the rooftop and knew there were others. Dust and soot were beginning to fall down into the fireplace; someone was trying to come in through the chimney. There wasn't much time. He quickly ran to the fireplace, threw some tinder beneath a half-burnt log and struck a match. Soon a small fire blazed.

The children waited outside for what seemed an eternity. "What's taking so long," muttered Jack, and banged the heavy oak door again. This time, it swung in.

But there was no one there. Jack crept over the threshold clutching his pistol, with Red Riding Hood close behind. "Hellooooo!" he called out. "Anyone there?"

The door slammed behind them, revealing the giant's hiding place. They whirled around just in time to find themselves staring at the two barrels of his shotgun.

"Hello, Jack," Cranch spoke softly. "Nice to see you again." He cocked the trigger. "Now, before we get started, please put your gun down over there on the table. That's it. Now step away. Alright... how many more of you are there? I heard somebody on the roof."

As if on cue, there was a yell from the chimney, followed by a terrible rumbling which grew louder and louder and ended in a bloodcurdling scream as Julima crashed right onto the burning logs. Cranch wheeled to face her and Jack, seeing his chance, grabbed his pistol again and aimed it at the giant.

Julima was actually fortunate to have the logs break her fall, and although she was painfully singed she was nevertheless able to spring out of the fireplace in time to avoid any real damage. Still smoking, she staggered to her feet, brushed herself off and cursed roundly. "Owwwwooo! I knew coming down the chimney was a bad idea!" It was then she realized that Cranch had a gun pointed at her head. His face was stone.

"Jack, I'm warning you ... put the gun down now or I'll blow this woman's head off."

"Go ahead!" Jack dared. "She's been a problem to us all along anyway. And it'll just give me the perfect opportunity to do away with you!"

They were all tense, none of them really wanting to be the first to start a gun battle.

"Hold it right there!" The three little pigs filed in through the front door. The oldest carried a large cage, with Raven huddled inside.

Cranch's heart sank. "Noooo," he moaned softly.

"I believe you'll want to put that rifle down now," the pig addressed the giant, "if you want your friend here to stay alive."