The Giant on the Beach Chapter 4

In which Henry is freed and has an argument with Johnathan

Johnathan’s brothers were pleasant enough, but with the exception of Fred, Henry had a feeling that they had harbored an extreme dislike for him from the very beginning, and that his hiding Johnathan had not helped matters. All four were dark haired and wore swords, like Johnathan himself, and they were all marginally taller than Johnathan, although none of them exceeded three inches. Henry judged them to be between twenty and thirty years of age.

After the introductions, and after Henry renewed his promise to be extremely careful around the tiny people, both Johnathan and Fred drew their swords. Henry tensed involuntarily, but relaxed a little as they cut into the threads binding him, rather than into him. He held as still as he could until the diminutive duo stepped away. Then he inquired, “Done?”

Johnathan nodded. “I’m pretty sure we got them all,” he said. “Go on, get up!”

Henry rolled over onto his side, taking care not to roll on top of anyone, and then pushed himself to his feet. Down on the ground, he could hear Alfonzo making inarticulate sounds, and Erik remarking to Dan, “He’s taller than I’d first thought.”

Henry stretched his stiff and sore muscles, and then crouched down again. “Thanks,” he said. “You can’t imagine how very uncomfortable I’d gotten, lying there.”

“No problem,” said Fred, who suddenly looked very nervous indeed. He tried to smile and failed. “You really are big, aren’t you?”

Henry found his face contorting into a wide grin. “Not where I’m from,” he said. “I’m fourteen, but hardly five feet tall.”

“No, you’re not,” contested Johnathan, getting over his own amazement in a hurry. “I stand five foot seven, and you are most definitely not shorter than I am.”

“No,” agreed Henry, “I’m not shorter than you, but I can say with certainty that I’m five even. We measured every two weeks, you see. And as for you being five foot seven, I’m afraid I must disagree. I’d say you’re much closer to three inches tall.”

“Three inches?” exclaimed Johnathan. “If I were a mere three inches tall, I doubt you would even be able to see me!”

Before Henry could respond, Fred stepped between the two. “Well,” he said, hoping to avert their argumant, “it makes sense that our scales would be different. So, Henry, we seem to be about three inches tall to you?”

Henry nodded. “A bit less, actually,” he confessed. “Johnathan’s about, oh, two and three quarters of an inch tall. You’re closer to three inches, though.”

“And for us, Johnathan’s five seven, and I’m about three inches taller than that. So that means…” Fred trailed off, and, frowning, looked at his feet. Suddenly he glanced up at Henry. “Two feet for us is merely one inch for you!” he exclaimed. “That means everything is twenty-four times as big for us as it is for you!”

“Wow,” said Henry, impressed. “That-that’s a lot.”

“Henry?” asked Johnathan. He sounded a little worried. “You aren’t sick, are you? I can’t think of another reason for a person to sleep all day.”

“How about pure exhaustion?” asked Henry mildly. “I didn’t sleep any last night, so I was pretty tired. I’m all right now.”