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While all this was happening, Charles remained inside and going through all the paperwork that the Martel family had. He could see all the money coming in and out of the household and it surprised him. He could see several places where they could save some money and help towards other things that the family needed.

He was beginning to see how Maxine's finances were in such a bad way before she had met him. It seemed to be something that ran in the family, being huge and strong was one thing but counting the coins was something beyond them. It seemed like a good thing that he was there to do this work for them.

Charles continued on for another half an hour or so before everyone came back into the house. Most had been working away in the fields while some of the younger members of the household had been simply playing around. All of them were hungry and thankfully for them it was lunchtime.

Rather than having a full feast like they did the previous night it was just sandwiches that were in order for lunch. Each member of the family stated what kind of sandwich that they wanted. Like before it was Carrie who mainly made the sandwiches and she would give each of them what they had asked for. When it came to the women of the family, they ate a lot more due to the fact that they were so tall and most were still growing. Even Maxine thought that she hadn't quite stopped growing yet and that she might still have a couple of inches to go.

One thing that Maxine did do when she was given her sandwich was to open it up and check that Carrie hadn't placed anything unwanted inside. From what she could see there was nothing that looked unusual and because of this she cautiously took a bite. From what she tasted, everything was fine. But it didn't mean that she had to stop being vigilant, whenever Carrie was involved Maxine would always have to keep her guard up.

Charles mostly ate his lunch at the table where he had been working at. For his sandwich he had requested a simple cheese sandwich which he had received. He was eating away while some of the other family members were eating theirs outside. Since it was a warm and sunny day, they wanted to take advantage of the weather.

One solid rule that had been placed on the girls was that they were not allowed to change size while they ate. This was because it took so much food to feed them that eating at any enlarged size would be a waste of food. Because of this they would ensure that their sizes were kept to a minimum at all times.

Like before an unexpected arrival came to the table that Charles had been working at. His first thought was that Carrie had returned in order to cause some trouble but much to his surprise he discovered that it was Sir Tucker. This made him nervous as he was remembering that he had to treat this man with the greatest respect. If he didn't, he feared that Maxine would show up and strike him again, although she had apologised before it didn't mean that she wouldn't do it again.

Sir Tucker sat down on a chair that was opposite to where Charles was sitting. Like Jessica he was a man approaching his forties and his black hair was beginning to show a minute amount of grey. It was somewhat hard to believe that Maxine looked up to him so much when he looked to be just a normal person.

"Hello there Charles," said Sir Tucker. "We really haven't had the time to sit down and have a chat, have we?"

"N-No Sir Tucker," replied Charles. He stopped and quickly looked around. He could see no sign of Maxine so he didn't know whether what he had said was right or not. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Well mostly about my daughter of course, would you mind enlightening me on how you two first met?"

For the next couple of minutes Charles explained to Sir Tucker the circumstances of how he met Maxine. This seemed to impress the knight and Charles also mentioned some of the events that they had been through together. He didn't mention every detail but enough to give him a picture of what had been happening.

"So rather than getting her armour repaired while we were there, she decided to have it done here as well," said Charles as he finished what he was saying.

"I can understand why," replied Sir Tucker. "I love my daughter dearly but sometimes I have to admit that she can be quite stubborn. And you say that it was damaged due to a cannonball?"

"Yes, although I wasn't there to witness it myself. From what I was told the cannonball wasn't all that large but it was still enough to damage her armour and even cause her some damage. While she was recovering, I had to tend to her, she was thankful of course but I feared what could have happened. If the cannonball had struck her in the head she would have surely perished."

"But thankfully she didn't." During Charles's explanation he had told Sir Tucker about the Mayor's Daughter and how she had been kidnapped by the group of bandits. He was more than impressed that his daughter had been able to rescue the poor girl and return her to her father. "And what about you, what do you plan on doing?"

"Not much really, for the time being my only goal is to serve Ms Maxine until my debt has been paid. After that I'm not entirely sure what will happen, either I remain by her side or we go our separate ways."

"I see, may I give you a small piece of advice."

"If you want to sir." He remembered this little curtesy not only because of the fact that Sir Tucker was a knight but also his host.

"I'd advise you to stay with her, not entirely for your benefit but for hers as well. If I know anything about my daughter, she is a woman filled with a lot of pride. Unfortunately, that pride can get one into trouble from time to time. I can't be there to make sure that she doesn't make any mistakes but you can. You're an intelligent man, it's plain for me to see. I need you to be the voice of reason to Maxine when she begins to allow her pride to cloud her judgement. Is that something that you can do?"

"Well..." He thought for a moment and he imagined a very angry Maxine standing over him. This did make him fearful of what would happen if he tried to tell her something otherwise. But with Sir Tucker sitting there and showed genuine concern for his daughter he couldn't say no to him. "I will do as you ask sir."

"Good, with you watching her back I won't have to worry about Maxine getting over her head."

They talked for a few more minutes, the conversation eventually moved onto the paperwork that Charles had been going through. He was pointing out where the family was overspending their money and by implementing a few things they could save up to a quarter. This was something that Sir Tucker wasn't expecting as he thought that his expenses were high due to his very large family. The fact that they could save so much money also helped them out considerably.

Meanwhile outside, Maxine was keeping her promise with Jaime. Since she had finished milking the cow and a couple of other jobs, she had found time to play with him. This mainly involved him riding on her shoulders, thanks to the size difference between the two she could hardly feel the weight of her brother. He also seemed to be enjoying being so high up, he still held onto his sister and would chuckle every now and again.

At one point she even took him to an apple tree where he could pick an apple from it. He had been lifted high enough to grab it but Maxine made sure that he didn't try and eat it. The apple was likely to not be safe to eat at that moment in time. But he did throw it down to the ground, he was hoping that it would grow into another tree.

"Maxine are you staying now?" asked Jaime as he hoped that his eldest sister wouldn't be going anywhere. While she had been gone, he had missed her and he felt very happy seeing her again.

"Unfortunately, no," replied Maxine. She looked up at Jaime who was still on her shoulders. "As soon as Uncle Mike as finished with my armour I need to leave."

"But I don't want you to go." He hugged her head and lay his own head on top of it. "I want you to stay here."

"I can't sweet Jaime." She took him off her shoulders and then placed him down onto the ground. She then squatted down to him so that she didn't seem so tall. "You know how daddy was able to have his adventures?" Jaime nodded but for the moment didn't say a word. "Well I'm having my own adventures, when I'm done, I can come back here and tell you all about them. Like when I fought a dragon and recused a princess from a tower, you'd like to hear them, wouldn't you?"

"Y-Yeah." The thought of his sister leaving again did make him sad but he did like the idea of her slaying dragons and carrying princesses away from towers.

"And when I come back, I'll tell you all about them."

"Yay, I can't wait for that."

He chuckled for a moment and they saw someone approaching them. As Maxine turned her head to look at the person, she could see that it was Alison who until recently had been the youngest girl in the Martel household. Now thanks to baby Rina she had lost this title but she seemed glad to see them there. Jaime also seemed to be excited to see his sister as well but for the moment Maxine wasn't sure what was happening.

"Maxine," said Alison. She seemed to be a little nervous and she watched as her sister stood up to her full height. "There's something that I need your help with."

"And what would that be?" replied Maxine. She was curious as normally if it was something physical that Alison would have just gone to one of other sisters. In fact, Alison would likely be able to deal with the situation herself as unlike Maxine she could grow in size whenever she wanted.

"Mommy said that I needed to bring Sebastian into the stable but he's stuck in the mud. Can you help me?" Sebastian was one of the horses on the farm and was quite important in some of the tasks.

"Can you not just grow and pull him out yourself?"

"I-I haven't gotten the hang of that yet." She felt a little embarrassed for saying this but she knew that Maxine would understand.

"Fine, where is he?"

Alison led both Maxine and Jaime to the spot where Sebastian was stuck. The house had found a patch of ground that was very muddy and he had gotten himself stuck in it. The creature was struggling to get out but all of his efforts seemed to be for naught as the more he struggled the more he seemed to get stuck. He began to fear that if he didn't get out soon, he would die.

Carefully the nine-foot, muscular woman stepped towards the trapped horse and even stepped into the same mud as well. Thankfully unlike Sebastian she wasn't stuck and at first, she tried to pull him out using the reins that he was wearing. Unfortunately, this was no good as his feet were just too stuck for him to be able to move.

This was when Maxine knew what she needed to do. Carefully she positioned her shoulder underneath the horse and began to lift. Using all of her strength she slowly began to stand up more. She could feel the weight of the horse and it made the task very difficult, her face was beginning to turn red from the effort that her body was going through.

As she continued her effort she began to grunt loudly as she tried to lift Sebastian out. Both Alison and Jaime continued to watch what was happening and with one final grunt she felt the horse's hooves pull upwards from the mud.

It was a sight to behold seeing Maxine lifting a fully-grown horse out of the mud. The body of Sebastian was on her shoulder and she took several deep breaths as she felt that she had demonstrated her brute strength. Her injured chest didn't help with matters but in her mind, nothing would take away this moment.

Before Maxine could decide what to do with Sebastian, she saw herself get engulfed by a huge shadow. Then a giant hand came down and effortlessly picked up the horse from Maxine's grip. She looked up and could see the gigantic figure of Carrie who made what for Maxine was a very difficult task look incredibly easy.

The towering giantess chuckled down at what to her was the very small but muscular woman as she lifted Sebastian up into the air. To her it had been a very simple task while to her older sister it had taken a great amount of effort. That fact wasn't lost on either woman as Maxine glared up at her sister.

The younger sister looked to be at least a hundred feet tall, even though she was squatting down. This made her gigantic but she was also not at her limit as she could make herself even taller if she wished.

"You know Maxine you could have just grown and picked Sebastian up like this," said Carrie who knew full well that this was something that her older sister was incapable of doing. "It would have been so much easier."

"Do not mock me in my moment of triumph," replied Maxine with an annoyed tone. Their two younger siblings watched on. Jaime didn't really remember what their arguments were like but Alison did. That was why she stayed close to her little brother, to ensure she could move him away if things got a little hairy. "There was no need for you to do that, I had completed the task by myself."

"And what a great job you did. Even from my vantage point I can see how red your face is, it's the same colour as your hair."

Since Maxine was the only one of the Martel children to have red hair Carrie had suggested on more than one occasion that she was not actually a Martel. Having a red-haired child was something not too far out of the ordinary as Jessica had a deceased aunt who also had red hair so this gene was in the Snape genome. It didn't stop Carrie claiming that Sir Tucker was not Maxine's biological father, this was something that even her parents were annoyed by. But it was more to mock her than anything else.

"Why didn't you just grow and pick him up?" asked Carrie. She could see Maxine getting more annoyed with each passing moment. "Oh wait, you can't do that can you? I forget these things sometimes."

"You haven't forgotten," replied Maxine who pointed her finger up at her giant sister and gave her a very angry look. "You're just reminding me in order to mock me. I swear that you'll regret every word that you just muttered and for taking away my sense of triumph." Her body was filled with a lot of anger but no means of channelling it.

"I highly doubt that, you might be big." She then lowered her hand and flicked Maxine so hard that it made the muscular woman fall back into the mud. A normal man would have been sent flying. "But to me you're nothing more than a mouse."

Carrie began to laugh as she stood up and walked away. Maxine found herself in the mud but unlike Sebastian was able to get herself up and out of it. But by now she was covered in mud and extremely angry about what had happened. She also felt great shame for what had happened, when she was on her journey, she would be the largest person in any given area. Here she was smaller and weaker than she would have liked.

Slowly she began to stand up and she could still see Alison and Jaime standing there. They were just watching what had happened, they had not tried to get in-between their oldest sisters but they could see that Maxine was very upset. They watched as she turned around and began to walk away.

Rather than walking back towards house she instead walked away from the farm completely. She didn't mutter a single word and instead just kept walking, Jaime called out to her but she simply ignored him. Her body was completely filled with both rage and shame over what had happened. The fact that she didn't try to clean herself up after being knocked into the mud only showed her thought process.

Inside Charles had no idea what was going on and instead he was still showing Sir Tucker some of the ways that he was going to save money for the entire family. The knight seemed to be intrigued with everything that was being said as he knew that saving any kind of money in this household would be a big help. His family could eat enough to feed a small village so saving money was always a good thing.

"And if you look here if you can save yourself a small fortune simply by switching from regular to economy," said Charles as he began pointing to a few things written down on a piece of paper.

"I see," replied Sir Tucker. "But doesn't that mean that it won't last as long?"

"Yes, but for the money that you're spending it is worth it. It lasts roughly fifty percent longer but costs you twice as much. Over a long period of time you are paying more than you should."

"That does make sense." Before they could continue on with their talk, they noticed both Alison and Jaime entering the room. This was something that they didn't expect, he could see the look on Alison's face and he soon realised that something had happened. "What's going on?"

"Daddy," replied Alison. She had Jaime with him but he didn't say anything as he let his sister do all the talking. "Maxine got really upset and she stormed off."

"Upset? What was she upset about?" Like Jaime for the time being Charles wasn't going to say anything but he was very interested. Anything to do with Maxine would be a concern for him.

"She had another argument with Carrie and was knocked over into the mud. After that she just walked off without saying a word. Daddy, I'm worried about her."

"Not this again." He gave a sigh as this was something that he had dealt with too many times for him to remember. "It's always something between them pair." He then looked over at Charles who had been sitting there and listening. "I need to discuss something with my wife for a moment, would you kindly go and bring my daughter back here please?" His voice was calmer than Charles had expected.

"B-But I don't know where she's gone sir," replied Charles.

"There's a tavern called the Spindler's Wheel, she'll likely be in there drinking again. I need you to bring her back here, there's something that we need to sort out here. Would you be able to do that?"

"I-I guess I can." He was surprised that Sir Tucker wasn't going to the tavern himself or sent another member of the Martel family. In his mind there were others who were probably more suited for the task.

"Good, thank you for everything that you've done but this is something of great importance. You'll find the tavern just west of here, follow the path towards Flea Bay and you'll find it without a problem."

For the moment Charles said nothing as he knew that this was a serious situation. He remembered when Maxine had been insulted by Laurence Brees. Since she had not been able to correct his arrogance due to his status, she had drunk heavily to nurse her pride. A similar situation was taking place in his mind and this meant that she was likely drinking heavily once again.

Charles did not leave the house immediately. He still picked up a couple of things, this included some of his hard-earned gold as he suspected that Maxine didn't take any with her when she stormed off. He made sure to take a fair amount as the tab for her would most likely be very high. It went hand in hand simply due to the fact that the wannabe knight was such a large woman.

However, before he could walk out of the door to leave, he was approached by Adam. He still had a couple of bruises from his sparring match with his sister but he too wanted to go along with Charles. At first, he didn't think that it was a very good and he was willing to bring him, that was until Jessica caught wind and immediately forbade her eldest son going. Even though he was only a few years away from becoming a man she still didn't want him putting himself into unnecessary danger.

With that out of the way Charles began his walk towards the tavern. He wasn't sure what was going to happen when he arrived but he knew that he would have to be careful with his words. When Maxine was in such a mood, she was likely to vent her anger and frustration onto him. He would just have to remain calm and deal with her the best that he could. Or else he might end up losing everything.

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