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SANTA MADRE, CHILE
(6 MARCH, 1943)

Gonsalves and the archeologist flew down to Valparaiso aboard a Fokker trimotor monoplane that Aleman had privately chartered in Venezuela. From Valparaiso, the two men were then driven northward by a stake truck owner who still owed Gonsalves mucho dinero from a certain game of poker. With the trucker and the bounty hunter ultimately agreeing that the trip would wipe the slate clean.

Upon reaching the ramshackle mining community, Gonsalves led the way to the local police station. And, upon recognizing his old drinking companion, the police chief hugged the bounty hunter like a long-lost brother, before the latter introduced the archeologist and explained their mission.

"We are looking for Marisol Herrera. A mujer of Easter Island descent. About ten or fifteen years younger than me. And approximately...dos y medio meters tall.* "

"Dos y medio?!" echoed the police chief: "If I did not know you better, I would swear you were boracho! But, you never drink when you are on the hunt. And, as it happens, there is such a mujer working in the mine's laundry. Between her height and the color of her dress, even your new amigo here wouldn't be able to miss her!"

The three men shook hands. Then, after re-donning their Panama hats outside (because it was approaching the hottest part of the afternoon), Gonsalves guided Aleman toward their next stop. Sure enough; there she was! A Polynesian beauty, seven feet tall, wearing a short-sleeved dress of purple plaid that fell to her knees.

"Marisol Herrera?" Gonsalves called out when he got within three paces of her back.

The young woman turned about, saw Gonsalves, and started to smile. But, the moment she saw Aleman standing behind him, that smile vanished faster than a re-elected politician's memory. And, even more incredible than that was what happened next.

Her dress tore to pieces as she instantly shot up to thirty feet in height! Causing the bounty hunter to curse under his breath as he quickly drew his 9mm Browning Hi-Power, and began firing at the under side of the canoe-sized right foot descending towards him and Aleman!

Unfortunately, the bullets only seemed to have the same effect on her as a pebble in a shoe might have on a normal-sized person. The stark naked giantess merely hopped up and down on her left foot before deciding to take advantage of a woman's age-old prerogative. More specifically?

She changed her mind about crushing them and ran off into the Atacama Desert.

Everyone else who had witnessed these proceedings were still astounded by what had happened. The men shouting and pointing in the direction of the giantess' escape. The women crying at the top of their lungs and blessing God that only one or two building corners had been crushed in the process of that escape!

Gonsalves, however, just stood there in open-mouthed shock. That is, till Aleman tapped him on his right shoulder.

"Senor Gonsalves? Senor Gonsalves??"

The bounty hunter's initial response was to give the archeologist a left upper-cut. Then, he pointed the Browning Hi-Power downward at Aleman's forehead.

"Pendejo idiota! Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you for not telling me she could do that."

tbc
Chapter End Notes:
*Dos y medio: two and a half.
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