In Deep Dark Wood by Marita Conlon-Mckenna Page A

giant’s wife peered at it closely.
    ‘I’ve got to find Mia,’ declared Rory. ‘She’s caught up in something dangerous. This proves it.’
    ‘You’re right, boy. I’ll call a meeting at Giants’ Cave,’ said Bran Bigg seriously. ‘Someone may be able to help you in your quest. But now you look tired, tonight you must get some rest.’

Chapter 14
The Journey
    R ory slept fitfully, curled up on a cushion in the corner. His mind was in turmoil, giants and dragons and witches all haunting his dreams, terrifying him. How had he fallen into this strange world? What had Mia got him involved in? There was no sense or logic to any of this. It was as if everything he had refused to believe in had suddenly come to life, challenging him.
    He had managed to sneak a look at a few more pages of the book, which had given him some idea of the giants’ history. They seemed a gentle people who had farmed and worked hard for centuries, creating a fertile land for themselves. Then things changed, and war came. The giants were used as weapons, striding into battle in heavy armoury, or used as carriers to bring other soldiers to the front. Many seem to have died that way judging by the illustrations in the Chronicles. The pictures changed as giants became the slaves of men, used to build castles and forts and temples and monuments. Familieswere destroyed. Rory was saddened by what he read and saw. Only a few giants survived, crossing deep swamps and hiding in the grey mountains and hillsides, blending with the caves and rocks which became their refuge and their home. Here they took to tilling the soil once again. It was a sad but honourable history.
    When he woke, the book was gone, deposited back on the high shelf where it would be impossible for him to reach it without a ladder.
    The giants were very kind to him and took care of him well. Bran proudly showed him their farmlands, where giants laboured in the rolling fields and hillsides, tending their crops. Rory was amazed to see tomatoes the size of footballs, runner beans like green moving chains that clambered up huge canes towering above him, and apples like heavy, green cannon balls.
    Birch followed him around, prattling on and on, reminding him of his sister. She insisted on showing him off to a group of shy friends, as if he was a new toy. Her friends’ shyness soon gave way to curiosity and they quizzed him about his country.
    When they left, he asked Birch if she had a map of the region.
    She obliged him by unrolling a huge map across the kitchen table.
    Rory walked across the map, from one corner to another, trying to make any sense of it. Birch’s chubby finger pointed out Giants’ Cave where she lived. Rory tried to memorise the geography of the region spread out before him.
    ‘What is this?’ he asked, pointing to the word Terra writtenin the top right-hand corner of the map.
    ‘That is where we are! Our farms and lands are part of the territory they call Terra,’ she replied.
    ‘What lies beyond?’
    She shrugged. ‘Swamps and forests, the deep woods. I have only heard tell of them – the other territories.’
    She blushed deeply, and he could tell that she thought she had said too much.
    Rory sighed. So this was only a small part of it. There was still much he needed to learn.

    The sky outside the cave was dark and the night was cold. Frost covered the ground and Rory’s breath almost froze as he walked along beside Birch. Huge figures formed a semicircle on the dark hillside, where the giants were gathered around a glowing fire. One giant face after another turning to stare at him as he approached.
    ‘’Tis the boy!’ Bran drew Rory into the circle of enormous men, women and children. ‘This is Roree Murfee, a human. The Dragon Woman has taken his sister, spirited her away!’
    A rumble of gossip rippled round the fire at the mention of the Dragon Woman.
    ‘But the Dragon Woman died hundreds of years ago with all the dragons – every Giant knows