Erik took his horse shortly before sunset to his neighbor’s home.  Erik knew of a way the giants could have safe passage to his home without having the eyes of the village upon them.  As he rode through his orchard, he noticed quite a few ripe apples on the top most branches.  The giants can pick from those while Maria busily cooks over the hearth.  The blacksmith’s property connected to the carpenter’s small patch of land so it would be easy for the giants to travel without being seen.

Erik had a few of his trusted hands that stayed late to help him clean out one of the barns so that his friends could have security of a shelter as he felt a storm brewing far off.  The barn was also much bigger than Ansel’s.  Erik wanted to see if maybe the two giants would be more comfortable there.  He knew Marta’s answer but Jakob was a whole other issue.  Erik felt that the giant didn’t completely trust him in which he understood.  Erik hadn’t known the giants very long.

As Erik rode to the barn he noticed Jakob crawling out the door on his hands and knees.  At that moment Erik realized just how massive the giant seemed.  Jakob heard the padding of horse hooves on the dirt and ground.  Jakob let out a sigh of relief when he saw Erik riding in on his gray mare.  Jakob gave the man the best smile he could muster despite his slight distrust of the little man.

“Hello friend,” Erik said with a smile trying not to show his fear of the giant.  “I have come with an invite for you and your fair sister.”

“An invite?” Jakob rightfully questioned and then he saw a frown play upon the little man’s lips.  Sympathy showed in Erik’s eyes as Jakob managed to stand on his weak legs as a grumble of hunger roared from his stomach.  Jakob refused the last of the dried fish Marta had packed for their journey so that his sister may eat.  The two giants had also refused to eat of their parents’ supply of food and had been carefully rationing their own.

“Aye, I have some apples that are much too high for my hands to get to safely.  We have picked all we need and I was wondering if you and the fair lady would be interested in cleaning out the rest of my trees?  You may keep whatever you pick otherwise they will all rot on the branches,” Erik said, smiling up at the giant.

“Jakob?  Who is here?”  Erik heard Marta’s soft voice say.  Then he saw the giantess crawl out of the barn just as her brother had.  Even in the moonlight, Erik could see that she wasn’t at all healthy.  Both Marta and Jakob had bags under their eyes and their garments fitted loosely on their tall frames.  This made Erik sad to see the two giants in this condition.

“It is Erik sister, he has offered us an invitation to pick from his trees,” Jakob tells his sister as he helps her to her feet.  “He said that we may keep whatever we pick.”

Marta smiled.  “I am still so hungry,” Marta said as she clutched her stomach.

“As am I sister, we must make the journey back soon or we will starve,” Jakob said as he sadly looked to his sister and then he looked down at the little man.  “We accept your kind offer, Erik.”

“Good, I have told my sister of you two so that she may not be alarmed and I have prepared a place of shelter,” Erik said with a smile looking up at the two hungry giants.  “Follow me, my home is not far and we can travel unseen,” Erik then said as he pulled the reigns of his mare…

Marta delighted as she picked apples and put them on her gown that she held like a makeshift basket.  Once in a while she and Jakob popped the small fruit into their mouth like pieces of candy.  The apples were roughly the size of berries to the two giants.  Erik smiled as the two giants helped themselves to his orchard.   Erik felt happy to have appeased the giants’ appetites if even a little. 

Jakob picked the last apple and put it in Marta’s makeshift pouch of her gown, pleased with all the apples they had collected.

“That is not all, my friends.  I have more waiting near the house if you will follow me,” Erik said as he looked up at the two happy giants.  Jakob still seemed unsure of the little man but Marta was more than willing to follow.  Jakob followed his sister to make sure she is safe.

Marta marveled at the two story home she used to admire from afar as a child but as she got closer, she could see that both her and Jakob now stood almost taller than the stately home.  The house once belonged to a wealthy old merchant that would always chase the children off his land.  The man had sold the house to Erik for a bargain as the once stately home fell into shambles.  Erik cleaned up the house and made it a home for both him and his sister so that they may care for his motherless daughter.

A small blond woman stood in the glow of an open door.  Erik had all the hands light up the lanterns before he dismissed them back to their homes for the night.  The woman wore an apron and looked as though she had been slaving over the hearth.  She too did her best to show no fear as she saw the two giants approach the house.  Maria put on her warmest and kindest smile as she looked up at the lofty creatures standing outside her kitchen door.

“Welcome to our home.  You must be Marta and Jakob,” she spoke to them as if they were any other ordinary person at her steps.  “I am Erik’s sister, Maria.  Elisa is asleep.  There is no need to worry; no one else is here but us.”

Marta lowered her head away shyly and Maria just smiled warmly while Jakob seem a bit bolder than his younger sister.  “Thank you for inviting us,” Jakob said and returned Maria’s smile as he eyed the pretty little lady with the full lips and pert nose.

“Erik, I have everything prepared,” Maria tells her brother, completely amazed at the size of the two giants.  Jakob caught her eye with his strikingly handsome face and curly dark hair.  What struck Maria’s attention the most was the shy and quiet demeanor of the two giants.  Maria could tell they haven’t had contact with other humans in a long time.  She also understood her brother’s generosity as well.  The two giants appeared to be malnourished with their thin and gaunt appearance.  Maria felt bad for the two souls.

“Follow me,” Erik tells the two giants.  Erik leads them to a barn that is a little bigger than Ansel’s.  Lanterns lit up the interior revealing a bed of straw in one corner and a small meal set out in another.  The meal appeared to be a feast to a normal person but to a giant it looked like a small meal.  “Maria has prepared a meal for you.  Since the sky looks  like a storm is approaching I thought it would be best to serve the meal in here,” Erik said with a welcoming smile but Jakob frowned.

“Erik, this is so kind of you,” Marta said but Jakob looked unhappy.

“Is this a trap?”  Jakob finally said and Erik gave him a surprised look.  “Are you going to lure us in here and lock the doors?  I am not a fool,” Jakob said, tapping his foot.

“Jakob,” Marta said in an unhappy way.  “Erik is a friend.  He wouldn’t trap us.”

“That is quite all right, Marta.  I will join you if you want trust,” Erik said as he entered the barn and sat on the floor next to the food.  The aroma caught Jakob’s nose as he watched Erik crew on a piece of beef.  Jakob barely remembers the taste of cow; it had been long ago since he last tasted beef.  He held Marta back until he could see no ill effects of poison strike the man.  That was when both gianst cautiously entered the large barn and joined Erik.