p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;" align="center"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Chapter Two/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The tremors turned into thuds, and the thuds became heavier, shaking the counter and rattling the glass jars all around her as it grew closer and closer from what she assumed was the back door on the other side of the house. It made it into the kitchen, growling under its breath. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Her heart beat so fast inside her chest now that she thought it would burst. Surely the beast could hear it? The legends said they could smell a human from miles away, her quickened heart probably smelled delicious. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Shoving those unhelpful thoughts aside, Rory turned slightly to peer around the jar – /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"And her sword emtinked/em against the glass./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory froze as ice flooded through her body. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMentally she berated herself, why didn't she move more carefully? She wanted to find the girl, not confront a creature hundreds of times her size in a fight. She definitely wasn't getting paid enough for that. But maybe it hadn't heard, she reasoned. What was one tiny emtink/em in a ginormous room of things? The Giant's own thunderous footsteps probably drowned it out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"It took her a second to realize those footsteps had paused. The grumbling had stopped, too. As if it was listening for something./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Listening for her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"'emMaybe I can creep to the back of the counter, and try to find a hole to get into the wall,'/em Rory thought, trying to concentrate despite her prey animal-like drive of flight trying to kick in. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"But before she could even act, the whole counter shook as the Giant stepped closer to her hiding spot. Silence descended again. But not quite silent – her flesh prickled as she realized she could hear its breathing. Then she stumbled to the side as the jar she'd been leaning against suddenly fell away as it was yanked up, breaking open the expanse of the entire room before her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The entire body before her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"A cry escaped her lips before she pressed them closed, stumbling back even further to put some space in between this impossibly large creature of horror. Nothing should be that big. Rory's brain almost couldn't comprehend what was happening./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Setting the glass jar to the side with a thump, the Giant's horrible eyes fell on her, pinning her in place with the weight of its gaze. It… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He? The Giant was a He. A man. A Giant, who was a man. Her brain sputtered the information uselessly. From the description from the stories, Rory had expected Giants to more closely resemble the earthy looking trolls and ogres she'd battled in the past, with faces only their own mother could love, and the bad breath and manners to match. They terrorized villages and growled and bellowed inhumane screams. Giants, the legends said, were like them but much, much worse. More barbaric, more disgusting, more blood-thirsty. So what if there had never been a Giant sighting on human land for decades? They were in the sky and they would descend and wreak havoc again if given the chance./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"But the creature she stood staring up, and up, and emup/em at did not resemble a troll or an ogre. It resembled a man. A man whose every detail she could see due to his impossibly large scale, but still a man. His hair was dark and curly, and the eyes that still held hers were an earthy brown to complement his dark brown skin tone, and a pair of black spectacles sat perched on his nose. He wasn't clothed in rags, but rather, he wore a deep mahogany sweater against the slight chill of the changing seasons. If she passed him on the streets, she would have considered him quite distinguished looking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"But he wasn't a normal man passing by on the street. This was a Giant. Whose face now crowded her vision as he leaned slowly down to be level with her eyesight./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"They both took a minute to stare at each other. The silence tense./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Well, this is awkward," his thundering voice rumbled out, shaking her in her boots. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"It took Rory a second to realize he said actual words. He could talk. Giant monsters wore glasses and could emtalk?/emspan style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" The legends didn't mention that at all./span But the split-second passed and survival took over. With his incredible size, she only had the element of surprise to save her. At the moment he looked just as baffled by her existence as she was his – it was her only chance./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Taking a running leap, Rory reacted first and decided to think later, and propelled herself towards his face, sword ready to strike. He flinched in surprise, his hand coming up to shield his face in an instant, jolting Rory off course so her body crashed into his glasses instead of stabbing her sword into his face. His glasses crunched at her impact, and she kicked off, falling back onto the counter with an audible emoof/em as the air left her body. Her sword clattered down next to her, barely within reach. She felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest. Shoving herself back up, she scrambled for it, fingers curling around the hilt. She brought it up just as one of his hands came crashing down to crush her and the Giant monster let out a groan of surprise and pain as the sword stabbed deep into the meat of his palm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory tried to jerk her sword back, but he whipped his other hand up and grabbed the part of the blade that wasn't embedded in his flesh. She tried to keep her grip on her only weapon, but he jerked his hands away and she had to let go or risk being pulled up in the air with it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The Giant plucked her trusty sword out of his palm with what sounded like a hissed curse of pain. It looked like a pathetic toothpick in his grasp. He tossed it onto the table behind him, making it impossible to reach. She was vastly over her head with this job. Blood welled from his stab wound and began to fall in huge, crashing droplets down to the counter, almost dousing her with the warm blood before she dodged out of the way, only getting some splashed up her trousers as she ran toward the edge of the counter./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"With him distracted by his wound, Rory quickly climbed down/slid/fell with a thump to the floor. If she could only get to the door, then she could hide in the tall grass somewhere until he gave up his blood-thirsty rampage. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Breath coming out ragged, her vision pin-holed at the splintered crack in the bottom of the door she'd come through. Her escape. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Before she made it halfway across the floor, his thundering footsteps shook the earth as he came upon her again. A dark shadow passed as the Giant stepped over her racing form to make it to the door in no time and block her exit. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"His black booted feet shuffled in front of the crack. "Now, see here - !" The Giant's voice rumbled from high above, but Rory didn't stick around to hear what he had to say. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"There had to be a second exit, he came in from somewhere in the back. If she couldn't find the door, she could just get under one of his chairs by the fireplace. Without her sword's weight, she found running a little easier, but though she tried to keep to the edge of the room, the earth began to shake again with his colossal movements as he gained on her. The shadows of the low sitting chair were almost in reach to crawl under./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She turned to look over her shoulder just in time to see one of his booted feet coming toward her. In her panic, she tripped over an uneven piece of floor and cried out in horror as she lost her footing. Pain cracked through her head as she fell and smacked the back of it onto the stone floor. His feet came crashing down on either side of her – emTHUD. THUD./em – and she turned away to try desperately to crawl under the chair. She couldn't give up, it wasn't in her nature, even though she knew resistance was futile. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"His great shadow dwarfed her as he crouched, and she felt the heat of his approaching hand seconds before his tree-trunk-like fingers curled around her legs. Rory cried out, afraid he would shatter her bones with one pressing snap, but he only pulled slowly to drag her out from under the confines of the chair. Her fingernails smarted as she tried to dig into the floor to keep herself from being dragged, but it was no use. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"His hand paused its pulling, almost as if he was assessing her, though terror didn't allow her to look at his face. Then his fingers pressed further up her body, covering her from her legs to her chest, only leaving one arm free. The heat of his flesh sunk into her clothes as she struggled against his fingers, trying to shove them off as they clenched more firmly around her. Trapped inside a massive fist. What a way to die./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Her stomach plummeted to the floor as he stood, the sudden motion making her nauseous and unwilling to look at the height at which he dangled her over the stone floor. Her struggles ceased, if only because the thought of his hand opening now caused a greater fear of death by dashing against the stones if she fell. Now she realized, finally looking over his giant knuckles to meet her soon-to-be murderer, that he held her a little higher than his face to inspect her in better light. It was also a good angle to lower her kicking and screaming into his mouth whenever he pleased./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Please don't eat me!"/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;" Rory couldn't help that desperate plea ripping from her. Her chest heaved against the confines of his crushing fingers, her body already aching from their fight. She hadn't stood a chance. His pointer finger was taller than her, why did she think she could defeat him? All she could think of now was not getting dropped into his monstrous mouth. Giants were notorious for eating humans, they were considered a rare delicacy, so the stories were told. Maybe if she threw the last of her dignity away and begged, he would let her go./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The huge face before her scrunched into a frown as he took her in, no doubt reveling in the way she pitifully squirmed in his grasp. But his thundering words surprised her. "I'm not going to eat you." His frown turned into a grimace. "Why would you even think that? That's disgusting."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory blinked up at him, her struggles fading for a moment at his words. Again, she was shocked to realize he could talk so fluently instead of grunting and growling at her. "Giants eat humans," she said dully, her brain slogging to come up with coherent thoughts against her fear. "Because you're savage."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""No, we don't," he retorted. "We've never eaten humans, and no one would eat one alive. Think of the diseases you probably carry. The Giant species are much more civilized than humans."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She glared at him. "Then why did you attack me?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Detain you – not attack." He looked affronted, and his fingers twitched around her. "And only because you tried to emkill/em me!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I was only trying to kill you because you were trying to kill emme!/em"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I most certainly was not trying to kill you! I was minding my own business in my own home, you're the one who was breaking and entering, and then you stabbed at my face." He huffed out a breath, making the loose hair around her face blow back. "I was having a perfectly lovely day, thank you very much. Oh, and, you broke my glasses, by the way, and now I'm going to have to travel into the village square to purchase a new pair. Are you happy?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory didn't know what to say. Her mind was whirling as well as throbbing from when she had smacked it against the floor before he dragged her. This was all happening very fast. First, she found the legends had been very wrong about Giants, and second, from what he said, this land was big enough for an entire Giant village. The thought of that made her blood run cold. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm here to rescue a little girl," she finally said, trying to explain. "I'm a Jack. I'm here to save her. Your beanstalk disrupted a whole town. Destruction at every turn led back this way."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Heroes-for-hire of each kingdom were called Jacks, named after the original Jack who slayed a Giant and saved all human-kind. It was a title that was usually met with admiration. But as his face darkened and fingers tightened unconsciously around her, Rory realized too late that declaring her status as a Giant slayer and beast hunter wasn't the best idea. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""A Jack, you say? And why, pray tell, is a emhero/em creeping into my home and accusing me of stealing a child? I lost one bean seed over the edge, but that's not a crime. I'm a connoisseur of the vegetable, I have no interest in human children." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Not you, then," she stumbled out, "Another Giant, maybe? You said there's a whole village – maybe another one took her."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We have been keeping ourselves away from humans for a millennium. Why would a Giant break that peace just to steal a child?" He shook his head. "Sorry, you're on the wrong trail."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Giants love children," Rory couldn't help but accuse. "What if one of your kind saw the beanstalk as a way to finally get one?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Oh dear lord, my grandfather was right, humans are nothing but racists!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory's mouth opened in disdain. "I resent that! It can't really be racism if they're not in your race, anyway."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Species-ism, then – is that a word?" His eyes narrowed in thought. "Fine, prejudice. Humans are all prejudice."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We are not!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""And you're mean. My grandfather warned me never to trust a human. You might look small and helpless, but you take any chance to strike. Stretch out to take a human's offered shake of peace, and they cut your artery! Safer to never go near one."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She couldn't quite process what he was saying, this giant man before her who currently had her captured in his fist. "You're… afraid of humans?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What?! No. Not afraid… I've just never met one in person other than the stories. Those tales can give you quite the heebie jeebies. I think it's healthy to a have a wary disregard."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory went still in his grasp, eyeing her sword on the table very far away from her. "So, if you're not going to eat me… What are you going to do with me?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He turned, whipping her around with him, and her heart plummeted into her feet at the sudden motion. "I am going to relocate you out of my house, about a good two miles away in a remote area to prevent you from returning."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So, you're treating me like a mouse you found in your walls?" Rory couldn't help but say in disbelief. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Oh please, mice don't cause near as much trouble as you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Faster than she had ever hoped to cross, his impossible strides took him to the front door in seconds. Light from the sunny day outside made her blink and squint as he opened the door and made his trek a good two miles away toward a remote area./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Despite the fear still clenching her chest and the actual clenching in her chest by his grip, she eyed the huge vegetable garden as he passed, and couldn't help her inquisitive nature from rearing its head. "'Vegetable connoisseur?'"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yes," he replied somewhat briskly above her, as if to try to stave off any teasing about it. "It's my life's work. I've been dedicated to growing the best. I normally spend my time out there when I'm not having someone attempt to murder me in my own home./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory nodded somewhat absently. A monster who had a vegetable garden and lavender hanging in his cottage. Though it was so impossible to believe, she found herself grateful she hadn't found him to be like the folklore depicted./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""All righty then," he said after walking a little way further and stopping to assess the area. "I think this is a good enough stretch away." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The world blurred and her stomach dropped again as he knelt to the ground. The pressure of his hulking fingers released from around her, and she almost let out a yell before she felt solid ground pressing into her boots. The air suddenly felt cooler without his grip around her body, and all her aches and pains returned tenfold now that she wasn't distracted by dangling high in the air. She stumbled a bit before regaining her footing, and glanced around to find he'd placed her down into a patch of tall grass. Steeling her nerves, she let her gaze rise up, and up, to meet his./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The Giant's face held a hint of uncertainty as he watched her exhausted motions, but he seemed to decide he was doing the right thing by leaving her here. His glasses did hang a little pathetically off his face from where she'd crashed against them. At least she'd made a little impact in their fight. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He broke her gaze, clearing his throat. "Right. Beanstalk isn't too far away, you should be able to make it there after you get some time to rest." And with that, he pressed his massive hands against his massive knees and pushed up out of his kneeling to tower above her again. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory faltered back a few steps, remembering the crashing thud of those boots on either side of her, narrowly missing her small frame. Seemingly catching her unease, he stepped back too and gave her a small wave before heading back the way he'd come./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Wish I could say it was a pleasure," he said, over his shoulder. "But it was mostly traumatic."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The tremors turned into thuds, and the thuds became heavier, shaking the counter and rattling the glass jars all around her as it grew closer and closer from what she assumed was the back door on the other side of the house. It made it into the kitchen, growling under its breath. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Her heart beat so fast inside her chest now that she thought it would burst. Surely the beast could hear it? The legends said they could smell a human from miles away, her quickened heart probably smelled delicious. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Shoving those unhelpful thoughts aside, Rory turned slightly to peer around the jar – /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"And her sword emtinked/em against the glass./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory froze as ice flooded through her body. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMentally she berated herself, why didn't she move more carefully? She wanted to find the girl, not confront a creature hundreds of times her size in a fight. She definitely wasn't getting paid enough for that. But maybe it hadn't heard, she reasoned. What was one tiny emtink/em in a ginormous room of things? The Giant's own thunderous footsteps probably drowned it out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"It took her a second to realize those footsteps had paused. The grumbling had stopped, too. As if it was listening for something./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Listening for her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"'emMaybe I can creep to the back of the counter, and try to find a hole to get into the wall,'/em Rory thought, trying to concentrate despite her prey animal-like drive of flight trying to kick in. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"But before she could even act, the whole counter shook as the Giant stepped closer to her hiding spot. Silence descended again. But not quite silent – her flesh prickled as she realized she could hear its breathing. Then she stumbled to the side as the jar she'd been leaning against suddenly fell away as it was yanked up, breaking open the expanse of the entire room before her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The entire body before her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"A cry escaped her lips before she pressed them closed, stumbling back even further to put some space in between this impossibly large creature of horror. Nothing should be that big. Rory's brain almost couldn't comprehend what was happening./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Setting the glass jar to the side with a thump, the Giant's horrible eyes fell on her, pinning her in place with the weight of its gaze. It… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He? The Giant was a He. A man. A Giant, who was a man. Her brain sputtered the information uselessly. From the description from the stories, Rory had expected Giants to more closely resemble the earthy looking trolls and ogres she'd battled in the past, with faces only their own mother could love, and the bad breath and manners to match. They terrorized villages and growled and bellowed inhumane screams. Giants, the legends said, were like them but much, much worse. More barbaric, more disgusting, more blood-thirsty. So what if there had never been a Giant sighting on human land for decades? They were in the sky and they would descend and wreak havoc again if given the chance./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"But the creature she stood staring up, and up, and emup/em at did not resemble a troll or an ogre. It resembled a man. A man whose every detail she could see due to his impossibly large scale, but still a man. His hair was dark and curly, and the eyes that still held hers were an earthy brown to complement his dark brown skin tone, and a pair of black spectacles sat perched on his nose. He wasn't clothed in rags, but rather, he wore a deep mahogany sweater against the slight chill of the changing seasons. If she passed him on the streets, she would have considered him quite distinguished looking./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"But he wasn't a normal man passing by on the street. This was a Giant. Whose face now crowded her vision as he leaned slowly down to be level with her eyesight./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"They both took a minute to stare at each other. The silence tense./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Well, this is awkward," his thundering voice rumbled out, shaking her in her boots. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"It took Rory a second to realize he said actual words. He could talk. Giant monsters wore glasses and could emtalk?/emspan style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;" The legends didn't mention that at all./span But the split-second passed and survival took over. With his incredible size, she only had the element of surprise to save her. At the moment he looked just as baffled by her existence as she was his – it was her only chance./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Taking a running leap, Rory reacted first and decided to think later, and propelled herself towards his face, sword ready to strike. He flinched in surprise, his hand coming up to shield his face in an instant, jolting Rory off course so her body crashed into his glasses instead of stabbing her sword into his face. His glasses crunched at her impact, and she kicked off, falling back onto the counter with an audible emoof/em as the air left her body. Her sword clattered down next to her, barely within reach. She felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest. Shoving herself back up, she scrambled for it, fingers curling around the hilt. She brought it up just as one of his hands came crashing down to crush her and the Giant monster let out a groan of surprise and pain as the sword stabbed deep into the meat of his palm./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory tried to jerk her sword back, but he whipped his other hand up and grabbed the part of the blade that wasn't embedded in his flesh. She tried to keep her grip on her only weapon, but he jerked his hands away and she had to let go or risk being pulled up in the air with it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The Giant plucked her trusty sword out of his palm with what sounded like a hissed curse of pain. It looked like a pathetic toothpick in his grasp. He tossed it onto the table behind him, making it impossible to reach. She was vastly over her head with this job. Blood welled from his stab wound and began to fall in huge, crashing droplets down to the counter, almost dousing her with the warm blood before she dodged out of the way, only getting some splashed up her trousers as she ran toward the edge of the counter./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"With him distracted by his wound, Rory quickly climbed down/slid/fell with a thump to the floor. If she could only get to the door, then she could hide in the tall grass somewhere until he gave up his blood-thirsty rampage. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Breath coming out ragged, her vision pin-holed at the splintered crack in the bottom of the door she'd come through. Her escape. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Before she made it halfway across the floor, his thundering footsteps shook the earth as he came upon her again. A dark shadow passed as the Giant stepped over her racing form to make it to the door in no time and block her exit. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"His black booted feet shuffled in front of the crack. "Now, see here - !" The Giant's voice rumbled from high above, but Rory didn't stick around to hear what he had to say. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"There had to be a second exit, he came in from somewhere in the back. If she couldn't find the door, she could just get under one of his chairs by the fireplace. Without her sword's weight, she found running a little easier, but though she tried to keep to the edge of the room, the earth began to shake again with his colossal movements as he gained on her. The shadows of the low sitting chair were almost in reach to crawl under./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She turned to look over her shoulder just in time to see one of his booted feet coming toward her. In her panic, she tripped over an uneven piece of floor and cried out in horror as she lost her footing. Pain cracked through her head as she fell and smacked the back of it onto the stone floor. His feet came crashing down on either side of her – emTHUD. THUD./em – and she turned away to try desperately to crawl under the chair. She couldn't give up, it wasn't in her nature, even though she knew resistance was futile. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"His great shadow dwarfed her as he crouched, and she felt the heat of his approaching hand seconds before his tree-trunk-like fingers curled around her legs. Rory cried out, afraid he would shatter her bones with one pressing snap, but he only pulled slowly to drag her out from under the confines of the chair. Her fingernails smarted as she tried to dig into the floor to keep herself from being dragged, but it was no use. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"His hand paused its pulling, almost as if he was assessing her, though terror didn't allow her to look at his face. Then his fingers pressed further up her body, covering her from her legs to her chest, only leaving one arm free. The heat of his flesh sunk into her clothes as she struggled against his fingers, trying to shove them off as they clenched more firmly around her. Trapped inside a massive fist. What a way to die./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Her stomach plummeted to the floor as he stood, the sudden motion making her nauseous and unwilling to look at the height at which he dangled her over the stone floor. Her struggles ceased, if only because the thought of his hand opening now caused a greater fear of death by dashing against the stones if she fell. Now she realized, finally looking over his giant knuckles to meet her soon-to-be murderer, that he held her a little higher than his face to inspect her in better light. It was also a good angle to lower her kicking and screaming into his mouth whenever he pleased./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Please don't eat me!"/span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;" Rory couldn't help that desperate plea ripping from her. Her chest heaved against the confines of his crushing fingers, her body already aching from their fight. She hadn't stood a chance. His pointer finger was taller than her, why did she think she could defeat him? All she could think of now was not getting dropped into his monstrous mouth. Giants were notorious for eating humans, they were considered a rare delicacy, so the stories were told. Maybe if she threw the last of her dignity away and begged, he would let her go./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The huge face before her scrunched into a frown as he took her in, no doubt reveling in the way she pitifully squirmed in his grasp. But his thundering words surprised her. "I'm not going to eat you." His frown turned into a grimace. "Why would you even think that? That's disgusting."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory blinked up at him, her struggles fading for a moment at his words. Again, she was shocked to realize he could talk so fluently instead of grunting and growling at her. "Giants eat humans," she said dully, her brain slogging to come up with coherent thoughts against her fear. "Because you're savage."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""No, we don't," he retorted. "We've never eaten humans, and no one would eat one alive. Think of the diseases you probably carry. The Giant species are much more civilized than humans."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She glared at him. "Then why did you attack me?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Detain you – not attack." He looked affronted, and his fingers twitched around her. "And only because you tried to emkill/em me!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I was only trying to kill you because you were trying to kill emme!/em"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I most certainly was not trying to kill you! I was minding my own business in my own home, you're the one who was breaking and entering, and then you stabbed at my face." He huffed out a breath, making the loose hair around her face blow back. "I was having a perfectly lovely day, thank you very much. Oh, and, you broke my glasses, by the way, and now I'm going to have to travel into the village square to purchase a new pair. Are you happy?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory didn't know what to say. Her mind was whirling as well as throbbing from when she had smacked it against the floor before he dragged her. This was all happening very fast. First, she found the legends had been very wrong about Giants, and second, from what he said, this land was big enough for an entire Giant village. The thought of that made her blood run cold. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""I'm here to rescue a little girl," she finally said, trying to explain. "I'm a Jack. I'm here to save her. Your beanstalk disrupted a whole town. Destruction at every turn led back this way."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Heroes-for-hire of each kingdom were called Jacks, named after the original Jack who slayed a Giant and saved all human-kind. It was a title that was usually met with admiration. But as his face darkened and fingers tightened unconsciously around her, Rory realized too late that declaring her status as a Giant slayer and beast hunter wasn't the best idea. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""A Jack, you say? And why, pray tell, is a emhero/em creeping into my home and accusing me of stealing a child? I lost one bean seed over the edge, but that's not a crime. I'm a connoisseur of the vegetable, I have no interest in human children." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Not you, then," she stumbled out, "Another Giant, maybe? You said there's a whole village – maybe another one took her."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We have been keeping ourselves away from humans for a millennium. Why would a Giant break that peace just to steal a child?" He shook his head. "Sorry, you're on the wrong trail."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Giants love children," Rory couldn't help but accuse. "What if one of your kind saw the beanstalk as a way to finally get one?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Oh dear lord, my grandfather was right, humans are nothing but racists!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory's mouth opened in disdain. "I resent that! It can't really be racism if they're not in your race, anyway."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Species-ism, then – is that a word?" His eyes narrowed in thought. "Fine, prejudice. Humans are all prejudice."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""We are not!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""And you're mean. My grandfather warned me never to trust a human. You might look small and helpless, but you take any chance to strike. Stretch out to take a human's offered shake of peace, and they cut your artery! Safer to never go near one."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"She couldn't quite process what he was saying, this giant man before her who currently had her captured in his fist. "You're… afraid of humans?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""What?! No. Not afraid… I've just never met one in person other than the stories. Those tales can give you quite the heebie jeebies. I think it's healthy to a have a wary disregard."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory went still in his grasp, eyeing her sword on the table very far away from her. "So, if you're not going to eat me… What are you going to do with me?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He turned, whipping her around with him, and her heart plummeted into her feet at the sudden motion. "I am going to relocate you out of my house, about a good two miles away in a remote area to prevent you from returning."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""So, you're treating me like a mouse you found in your walls?" Rory couldn't help but say in disbelief. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Oh please, mice don't cause near as much trouble as you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Faster than she had ever hoped to cross, his impossible strides took him to the front door in seconds. Light from the sunny day outside made her blink and squint as he opened the door and made his trek a good two miles away toward a remote area./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Despite the fear still clenching her chest and the actual clenching in her chest by his grip, she eyed the huge vegetable garden as he passed, and couldn't help her inquisitive nature from rearing its head. "'Vegetable connoisseur?'"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Yes," he replied somewhat briskly above her, as if to try to stave off any teasing about it. "It's my life's work. I've been dedicated to growing the best. I normally spend my time out there when I'm not having someone attempt to murder me in my own home./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory nodded somewhat absently. A monster who had a vegetable garden and lavender hanging in his cottage. Though it was so impossible to believe, she found herself grateful she hadn't found him to be like the folklore depicted./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""All righty then," he said after walking a little way further and stopping to assess the area. "I think this is a good enough stretch away." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The world blurred and her stomach dropped again as he knelt to the ground. The pressure of his hulking fingers released from around her, and she almost let out a yell before she felt solid ground pressing into her boots. The air suddenly felt cooler without his grip around her body, and all her aches and pains returned tenfold now that she wasn't distracted by dangling high in the air. She stumbled a bit before regaining her footing, and glanced around to find he'd placed her down into a patch of tall grass. Steeling her nerves, she let her gaze rise up, and up, to meet his./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"The Giant's face held a hint of uncertainty as he watched her exhausted motions, but he seemed to decide he was doing the right thing by leaving her here. His glasses did hang a little pathetically off his face from where she'd crashed against them. At least she'd made a little impact in their fight. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"He broke her gaze, clearing his throat. "Right. Beanstalk isn't too far away, you should be able to make it there after you get some time to rest." And with that, he pressed his massive hands against his massive knees and pushed up out of his kneeling to tower above her again. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Rory faltered back a few steps, remembering the crashing thud of those boots on either side of her, narrowly missing her small frame. Seemingly catching her unease, he stepped back too and gave her a small wave before heading back the way he'd come./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 150%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;""Wish I could say it was a pleasure," he said, over his shoulder. "But it was mostly traumatic."/span/p
