28

Will

SIR WILL HAD BEEN MARCHING FOR A WHILE. HE GRIPPED HIS sword—the beige and cracked and knobby one that some might mistake for a precious heirloom, or even a hairpin—and plopped himself down on a rock on the banks of River Street. It was awfully tiring, all this marching, especially when you’d gone and lost one of your shoes. And he missed his trusty steed, Sally. And he hadn’t even seen any giants yet. Or monsters. Or cake.

He heard it before he saw it—the loud hissing, like a furious creature sucking in an enormous breath of air. A monster! At last! Sir Will’s eyes darted toward the noise.

But it was no monster, only a boring old bus, doing what boring old buses always did—letting off passengers at the bus stop.

And then off stepped a giant.

* * * 

“Can I help you, young man?”

To Will’s delight, the giant was even more impressive up close. A real-life, humongous giant, talking to him. Knots of all sorts poked beneath the bottom edge of the giant’s gray suit jacket.

“Young man?”

Will could barely remember how to blink. “I’m on an adventure,” he breathed. He clutched his hairpin sword a little tighter, wishing Sally were with him.

“Life is the grandest adventure one can go on, isn’t it?” the giant said kindly (he seemed to be a very friendly giant). “What else could a person ask for than just to be alive?”

Will knew exactly what else a person could ask for. “Monsters,” he said. “And cake.”

The giant grinned a sideways sort of grin, a grin that suggested he knew more about the world than he was letting on. “Well,” he said slowly, “I don’t know about cake, but . . .” This was the part where the giant was going to ask if Will was lost, if it might be a good idea to try to find his parents. Grown-ups were always trying to find Will’s parents. “I just so happen to know where there are quite a lot of monsters.”

The giant held out his hand, which was nearly as big as Will’s head. “Shall I take you?” he asked. “It’s near the balloon repair shop, not even a bit out of my way.”

Will thought about that, gazing at the man’s mammoth hand. His parents had always been very clear that he should never, ever go anywhere with strangers.

But they’d never said anything about giants.