The Giant from the Fire Sea, page 20
Newton sniffed the stump. “This is still old, but less. Weeks less? But what is that other smell? Melted glassss? Do you smell it?”
“No, but … NEWTON! LOOK OUT!”
Jat saw it first, since he was already looking up at the giant. Newton felt the shadow that spilled over him. He scooped up the boy and dove to the edge of the clearing. The dragon floated down on quivering, outstretched wings. A sinuous neck snaked down to bring its scaly face level with Newton’s. The giant looked into the golden eyes of the great winged creature. Newton began to feel sleepy. He tried to lift his feet, but he couldn’t move. It is doing this to me. It is like holygiant magic. The dragon’s eyes went from gold to fiery red. It opened its mouth.
“Run, Jat.”
“Can’t.”
A stream of flames washed over Newton’s face and chest. The giant began to turn. But why is there fear? They are only flames. He smelled something burning. It is not me. Is it my shirt?
Newton leaned forward. “STOP!”
The dragon startled and pulled back its head. Then it let loose another torrent of flames.
“Are you still down there?” the giant called down to Jat. He was afraid to take his eyes off the creature.
“Nope,” came a voice from the woods. “You may want to run, too.”
Newton was starting to feel the heat, hot enough to burn an unburnable shirt. It was approaching the level of the Makers’ Voice. “I SAID STOP!”
Once again, the dragon’s mouth snapped shut. It tipped its head and gazed at the giant with a look of confusion. Newton lurched forward and wrapped his arms around the dragon’s mouth, holding it closed.
“Stop! Please. Are you the dragon on that tree? With my friend—another giant?”
The beast struggled to pull free, but Newton held on tightly as he was lifted off his feet. Smoke began to pour from the dragon’s nostrils as it gathered heat for another blast.
“No! Wait! Where is my…” A pair of hands grabbed the giant’s ankles and yanked him to the ground. He landed hard, facedown. Newton rolled over and kicked blindly in the air. His foot caught the attacker’s stomach.
“OOOPH!” it grunted, and doubled over. It was another giant. It was …
“Pryat?”
The other giant straightened up and looked at his old friend. “Newton?”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Old Friends and New
Pryat picked up his friend and squeezed him mightily in his arms.
“Cracking … my … bones…”
He let Newton down. “Sorry, my friend. You are here! You found me! How did you know where I went?”
“Some help from Marlite. Some help from you—your scratchings. They are very good! Your arms bend!”
Jat stepped into the clearing.
“What is that?”
“A mans,” said Newton. “His name is Jat, and he has been of great help to me since I stepped out of the flames of the sea. He is this giant’s friend.”
“Did you know there’s still a dragon sitting right there?” asked the boy.
“Elea,” said Pryat to the dragon, “this is my friend. And his pet.”
“NOT PET!” shouted Jat.
“No,” added Newton. “Mans are as small giants. Or giants are as big mans. He is my friend just as Pryat is my friend.”
The dragon bowed her head toward Newton and Jat.
“She thought you might be Crag. Or one of the others who went after you. I believed too many seasons had gone past for it to be you. Did they find you? What are you doing here? Newton, you are HERE! Where were you?”
“There will be time for tales of wandering giants, my friend. But know that this giant is well. Hungry, but well.”
“And the Makers’ Voice…? Does it still…”
Newton smiled. “It is gone. You will smile when this giant tells you where it went.”
“Your words find a welcome home in my ears,” said Pryat. “This giant is well, too. And hungry.”
“When were you not hungry?”
“HA! Once, but it was before…”
“… you were born,” finished Newton. “And probably…”
“… not even then,” laughed Pryat. “Has not a day passed since we were giantlings?”
“Many, Pryat. And too much has happened since those days. We are no longer those giantlings.”
“Who would wish to be?”
“This giant … sometimes.”
“So are dragons friendly?” asked Jat. “We were trying to stay clear of them.”
“No, we are not,” said Elea.
“You talk?”
“It helps to get one’s thoughtss across, mansss.”
“Elea is not as other dragons. She saved this giant from them,” said Pryat. “And because of this, she is hunted by her kind. She saw you at the shore. I was of a thought it was not you but one of the giants who went after you. I was of a thought it would be best to not be found.”
“This giant wishes you were NOT of that thought! It would have spared me another long journey in search of you!” Newton stood up straight and faced the dragon. He lowered his head and touched a fist to his chest. “My friendship is yours until the mountains turn to sand, Elea.”
The dragon dipped her head. “May we fly that long.”
“But the tree scratchings. They were for me, yes?” asked Newton.
“Oh, yes, but those are old. Before you came here. This giant was always of a hope you would find this place. As small of a hope as it was. And I knew the others would not know what to make of them. I was of a thought it might even scare them off.”
“It brought me a great joy, Pryat.”
“Come with us,” said his old friend. “This giant yearns for tales of wandering giants. And your blundering friend has a few of his own.”
Elea took to the air, and the three walked through the forest until they came to the edge of a deep ravine. The dragon was waiting. Two deer lay at her feet. Newton gasped. They were larger than a giant’s oxes.
“Are those for…”
“A meal to pay for the flamesss I set upon you,” said Elea.
They were gone in six swallows.
“One of those was for me, I thought,” muttered Pryat.
“It is my regret,” said Newton. His smiling face showed little regret, though. He felt a happiness he had not felt … ever. His belly was full. He had found his old friend. His new friend was safe beside him. And he now had a dragon bringing him food. Sated, he finally took in where he was.
The sun was just rising. Snow-topped mountains awash in gold, the gold of a dragon’s eye, stretched on and on, growing paler in the distance. Sounds of waking birds rang in the valleys. Below, a wild river roared, loudly tumbling boulders of ice.
“This is where we stay now,” said Pryat. “The sound of the river hides our own. Someday we will travel to the mountains. Elea says there are many different creatures there. This giant would like to meet them.” He leaned toward Newton with a big grin. “Some sound like ridgebears!”
“When will you learn to stop getting thrumped by ridgebears?”
“When this giant stops getting thrumped by ridgebears.”
“So we’re safe from other dragons here?” asked Jat.
“We do poorly in the cold,” said Elea. “Our wings ssstiffen and we cannot fly. This is the edge of our land. Few dragons come here.”
“Yes,” said Pryat. “We would have to walk to the mountains, since she cannot fly where there is snow. It will take a great span of time, but we have a wealth of it!”
“It is of great beauty here,” said Newton. He filled his lungs with air and exhaled slowly. “In many ways.”
“I am of that thought,” said Pryat.
“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” said Jat.
“So where has my friend been since jumping into the sea?” asked Pryat.
“Let us sit,” said Newton. He told of his journey across the Great Sea. Of spinning waters that carried him to the Fire Sea. Of new friends in the land of mans. Of skies free of skyfire. Of giants battled. Of the giantess who saved him. Of a journey with a little stone friend in his pocket. Of a sail that pulled two travelers across the white sea like seeds in the wind.
“You would be the most famous of giants if anyone knew where your boots have been,” said Pryat.
“You know that is not a thing this giant wishes. No, Pryat. This giant has always wished to live as one unseen. Those who do not know about Newton cannot grow angry with him.”
“I am pleased Marlite is Marlite again.”
“Yes,” sighed Newton. “Yes. Marlite is Marlite. But also, she is not … And now what of your story?”
“Another day, my friend. We will have many days. For as long as Elea is here, this giant will be here. And as she cannot leave, this is my home.”
“Why can’t you leave?” Jat asked the dragon.
“My wings will not carry me over a cold sssea. Pryat, I have told you more timess than even you should need to hear, ‘Do not ssstay for me.’ I did what I did for you because it was right. It was not my desssire to bind your fate to mine.”
“But you did bind our fates, Elea. This giant is not wise like the one sitting there. He is not as powerful as the dragon who saved him…” Pryat looked down at Jat. “And he is not as … erm … small? squeaky? as this mans…”
Jat laughed. “Yup. That’s me. Small and squeaky.”
“But this giant is loyal. It is what makes Pryat, Pryat.”
“I know this to be of truth, Elea,” said Newton. “He is not going anywhere. The two of us together could not move him.”
“And where would I go? Why would I go? Yes, dragons—other dragons—are a thing to be feared, but do not all lands have a thing to fear? Look at what happened in our own. Oh, and I do not really fear dragons.”
Elea snorted. “Even a dragon would hesssitate to bite down on a big rock giant.”
“Hush,” scolded Pryat. “It was not this giant’s proudest moment.”
“I would stay, too, if I am welcome,” said Newton.
Pryat smashed his fist into Newton’s shoulder, knocking him onto his back. “Do you have more oafish words? Do you really think you would not be welcome?”
Newton sat up again, rubbing his shoulder. “This giant forgets that you do that…” Pryat smiled innocently. Newton continued. “There are walls for my stories. Sand for glassss. There are stones to build a furnace. And when my boots walk outside my head, there is a great sky above to welcome them. And a friend below to welcome him also.” The giant stopped and looked down at the boy. “Oh. I cannot say this without knowing your wishes, Jat. You have been my guardian and friend since I left the Fire Sea. This giant is loyal to his friends, too.”
“Okay, well, first, I’ve never felt so tiny in my life. And second, when I am famous, and yes, I want to be, imagine what they will say about the man who was a friend to giants and dragons. But the real reason? Things seem to get better for me when I’m with you. And I think we’re just getting started.”
“So,” asked Newton, “are we home?”
“Yes,” said Jat. “We are home.” He looked up at his friend and added a grin. “For now.”
Newton laughed. “‘For now’ is good.” The giant sighed and watched the last star of dawn fade into the morning light.
“For now” is of a good time to stop running—to be home …
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It began with a frenetic flock of chickens coming to the rescue of a family of farmers. Chickens to the Rescue was my foot in the door with Henry Holt & Co. and my introduction to a remarkable woman who would play a very big role in my career. Throughout the dozen or so picture books later, I have had my editor Kate Farrell to thank for shepherding my stories through the briars, hills, and valleys of publication. She saw something in this latest tale I had sent her—a story about a curious giant—and worked with me to make it better so others would see that something, too. It took a while, but she got me there, ever patient, ever encouraging. For over a dozen years I have benefitted from her gift of knowing how to draw from an author his or her best. Every book I’ve done with Holt has been a true and joyful collaboration with Kate.
Thank you, Kate, again!
When I asked my wife, Betsy, what she thought about me taking a gamble to spend months (and months and months) writing, to the exclusion of all else, a novel about a boy and giant, she didn’t hesitate. “Go for it!” she said. She always says that. It’s why I’ve been able to keep at this. Betsy continues to have a faith in my career I sometimes lack. It is an invaluable quality for which I am eternally grateful.
Thank you, Betsy, again!
My son, Jeff, is an artist. For years we have been trying to find a project we could work on together. His artwork has always blown me away, from his grade-school science-fiction drawings to today. Being an artist myself, I find it difficult to hand the illustration duties over to someone else. But I knew at the onset this one would be for him. I could not have done what he did with it. One of the biggest joys in my life was having him stay with us for two weeks while he created sketches for this book at our dining room table. It was he who figured out how a giant would actually use a teleoscope. He also has a keen ear for what makes a story work and provided some very key elements for this one.
Thank you, Jeff. Let’s do this again!
In 2014 I started a critique group for children’s book writers and illustrators in my hometown of Killingworth, Connecticut. A good number of these people are diving into an area that is new to them. This is not an easy thing to do. Their dedication and passion for the art is contagious, and they inspired me to push myself to try my hand at a new genre.
Thank you, my Thursday-night author/illustrator buddies! (We need a better name…)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Himmelman is the author and illustrator of more than seventy-five books for children, including the Bunjitsu Bunny chapter books and the picture books Floaty, The Cow Said Meow, Chickens to the Rescue, and Duck to the Rescue. He lives in Connecticut with his artist wife, Betsy. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
One. A Boy in the Flames
Two. The Willowhock
Three. Gooses and Muddleducks
Four. Newton’s Peoples
Five. The Makers’ Voice
Six. Soup Pots and Dragons
Seven. Mans-Eating Giant
Eight. Isaac Newton
Nine. Glassss
Ten. Teleoscopes
Eleven. The Stonehall Blunge
Twelve. Blackpoint Falls
Thirteen. A Balance Made
Fourteen. Constable Stoggin
Fifteen. Over
Sixteen. Thunder in the Mountain
Seventeen. Ring Around the Moon
Eighteen. An Unexpected Friend
Nineteen. A Few Happy Memories
Twenty. Chasing Bonnie
Twenty-One. Three Giantlings
Twenty-Two. A Sandgnat’s Drop
Twenty-Three. Beneath the Fire Sea
Twenty-Four. Blue, Red, Black, White, Nothing
Twenty-Five. The Ice Sea
Twenty-Six. A Giantess Follows
Twenty-Seven. Not a Nannytale
Twenty-Eight. Old Friends and New
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Text copyright © 2019 by John Himmelman
Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Jeff Himmelman
Henry Holt and Company, Publishers since 1866
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010 • mackids.com
All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition of this book as follows:
Names: Himmelman, John, author. | Himmelman, Jeff (Jeffrey), illustrator.
Title: The giant from the Fire Sea / John Himmelman; illustrated by Jeff Himmelman.
Description: First edition. | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2019. | Summary: When a giant named Newton emerges from the Fire Sea, where Jat is gathering coal, they begin a friendship and an adventure in which both try to protect Jat’s village.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018038758 | ISBN 9781250196507 (hardcover)
Subjects: | CYAC: Giants—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | Bullying—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.H5686 Gi 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018038758
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eISBN 9781250196514
First hardcover edition 2019
eBook edition May 2019
John Himmelman, The Giant from the Fire Sea
