GENTLE GIANTESS
By Paul Bunyan

     Dalton was only eighteen years old but his sorrows were as great as
any man's could be!  One of eight children, his parents could not
support them all!  He was not the eldest son and so would not be the one
to inherit his father's farm.  He would have to make his own way in the
world.  When he was thirteen, he married a girl of twelve from a
neighboring farm.  The marriage had been arranged by his parents and
her's.  They were sent off to build and start their own farm.
     It was rough going!  They managed to build a shaky structure but it
didn't do much to keep out the cold weather!  They had one child, a boy,
the first summer.  But the crops they planted didn't grow so well that
year.  During the winter, the infant died of cold and malnutrition.
Within a few months, his wife, Maria, was pregnant again.  This time,
she miscarried!  Both she and the unborn baby died!  Dalton was left
alone with his grief!
    Janna stumbled down the mountainside, overwhelmed with grief!  Her
clan had cast her out!  She was about four decades old but, among the
long-lived race of giants, that was considereed young.  In human terms,
she looked no more than twenty years old.  Her crime had been an act of
mercy.  A human child had gotten lost and somehow found his way up into
the mountains.  When Janna first saw him, he was struggling for his life
in a river.  Janna strode into the river and easily lifted him to
safety.  The boy began to panick at the sight of the giantess, but he
was becoming numb from the cold and was near to going into shock.  She
carried him to shore and quickly started a fire.  She wrapped him in a
blanket from the gunnysack she had been carrying slung over her shoulder
by a strap and used the fire to dry his clothes.  During this time, two
other giants saw what she was doing.  They insisted that she should have
let the boy drown rather than make contact with a human.  They wanted to
remedy the situation immediately by killing the boy but Janna refused.
They relented when they saw that they would have to fight her to get to
the boy.  Giants are not all the same size or even close to it.  There
is considerable variation.  Janna was almost twice the size of either of
these male giants.  She took the boy down the mountain to a clearing
just a hundred yards from his family's home.  She watched him run home
and be hugged by his mother.  She ducked away just as the boy started
gesturing in her direction.  However, when she got back up the mountain,
she found that a meeting had already been convened.
     "Janna," the leader of the clan said, "You've been warned about
this before!  Humans are our enemies!  We must avoid them!"
"But we are humans!" Janna had said.  We're just bigger than they are!
Even we have great variations in size.  Humans are just the smallest
branch of our race!"
"But they will never accept that!" he said.  "Reminding them of our
existence will eventually bring their wrath down on us and, need I
remind you, they have us hopelessly outnumbered!  You must be taught
that we are serious about not having any contact with humans!  You are
banished for two years!"
     If the leader had known what Janna was going to do, he might not
have banished her.  She wandered around the high mountains by herself
for a while, but her lonliness finally overcame her and she decided to
travel down the mountain.  She journeyed for several days before coming
to the edge of a forest and seeing a farm.  A young man was kneeling
before two wooden slabs set into the ground.  It took a few moments
before she realized that they were grave markers.  Out of respect, she
waited until he stood up and started to walk away, then she stepped out
where he could see her.
     Dalton had heard of the race of giants.  Once, when he was a boy,
he had even seen one at a distance, moving through the woods, towering
above some of the trees.  But now, he was in his own yard and
confronting one with nowhere to hide.  What he saw was a woman standing
at least twenty-five feet tall, the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen
in his entire life.  Her figure was perfect with the most toned, solid
muscles he had ever seen on a woman.  She had wide hips, a slim waist by
comparison, and large, full, voluptious breasts.  She was beautifully
tanned by the sun as she wore virtually no clothing.  A loincloth was
her only clothing and, over her shoulder, she carried a gunnysack that
looked small compared to her but was probably almost as big as he was.
She had long, red hair flowing down to her waist and piercing blue
eyss.  She smiled at him with her full red lips and tentatively said,
"Hello!  My name is Janna!"
     One of the instincts that Dalton was experiencing was the instinct
to run.  The other was the overwhelming male instinct to keep looking.
Had this been a giant rather than a giantess and a gorgeous and
seemingly rather shy one at that, his reactions might have been very
different.  For a moment, he actually considered the comical scenario of
running backwards or even running forwards but constantly looking over
his shoulder, not just to see how close she was getting, but just to see
her.  A smile slowly, inexorably rose to his lips.
"Hello!" he stammered.  "I'm Dalton!"
"Uh, I assume that this is your farm?" she said.
"Yes!" he said.  "For what little it's worth, it's mine!"
"Uh, I don't mean to pry," she said, "but, uh-"She gestured toward the 
graves.
"Oh!" he said, his mood completely changing.  "My eldest son is that one
and my wife and unborn child-  My wife and-  My wife-"
He burst into tears.  Hands going to his face, he fell to his knees in
front of the graves, his body wracked by his sobbing.  When his tears
finally subsided, he looked at where the giantess had been but she was
gone!  A slight movement caught his attention.  He looked to his right
and behind himself.  Janna was kneeling, head bowed.  At his movements,
she looked up.  Tears were running down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry for your pain!" she said.  "I am also alone!"
In spite of his own grief, he saw how miserable the beautiful giantess
was.  Instinctively, he held his hand out to her.  She took it, her
thumb and fingertips covering his hand.  He stood up and realized that,
even though she was kneeling, her buttocks resting on her heels, his
eyes were still below the level of her breasts.
"Please!" he said.  "I'd ask you to come inside and talk but...
"She giggled.
"But I'm bigger than the house!" she laughed.
"Well, I guess my situation is rather self-explanatory!" Dalton said.
"What about you?"
     After Janna had related her story, Dalton said, "That's rough!  Uh,
what will you be doing now?  I mean, do you have a place to stay?"
"No!" she said, perhaps a little too anxiously.
Her need for companionship was clearly as great as his was.
"Then please!" he said.  "I would be honored if you would stay here!"
She looked him in the eyes and smiled.  But her eyes carried a fearful
question.
"For as long as you want to stay!" he said in answer to her unspoken
question.  "I don't have much food.  I'm afraid you're on your own
there.  But if you just need someone to talk to..." Janna looked about 
herself.
"For right now, I'll forage for my own food.  But, in the long term, I
think we can get this farm up and running!"
     That night, Janna slept in the yard.  Dalton couldn't resist
looking out the window of his small home from time to time to admire the
beautiful, sleeping giantess.  He felt the pangs of guilt for feeling
this way, as if it was a betrayal of his wife.  But it had been so long,
almost three years, since he had experienced even the most cursory
contact with another human being.  He realized that this giantess was
just a large human being as far as he was concerned.  She spoke with
him, thought like a woman, had the feelings of a human and most
assuredly looked like a woman- the very epitomy of a woman, in fact!  In
the morning, the first thing he did was to look out the window and make
sure she was really there, that it hadn't all been a dream!  She was
there, just awakening and stretching sensously as she did so.  Dalton
felt emotions he'd only felt for one woman ever before.  He sighed.
This was impossible, of course.  She was a twenty-five foot tall
giantess!  The idea that he might be having romantic inclinations was
silly.  Such a romance couldn't happen.  Besides the obvious
impossibility of coupling, she probably regarded him as nothing more
than a friend, a companion in her lonliness.  Physically, she probably
looked upon him the way a girl would look upon a doll.  Still, at least
for a while until she chose to leave, he had a friend and companion.  He
stepped out of his hovel and looked upon his new friend in the light of
day. 
"Good morning!" he said pleasantly.
She shook her hair to get it behind her.  He couldn't help but respond
emotionally to the sensous movement, but he tried not to let it show on
his face.  It would be rude and he certainly didn't want to do anything
that might cause her to leave.
"Good morning!" she smiled.  "If you don't mind, I saw a lake not far
from here.  I like to freshen up in the morning.  When I get back, I'll
start helping you with the job of really getting this farm going!"
As she walked away, he wondered how she could possibly do that!
     As Janna bathed in the nearby lake, her thoughts were of Dalton.
He was a handsome young man in spite of the life he had led.  She could
see that he was attracted to her but was intimidated by her size and the
fact that any kind of standard coupling would not be possible.  Still,
she found him far more interesting than any of the male giants.  They
tended to be disfigured and, more importantly, stupid!  Rare was the
male among them that did not suffer from one ailment or the other.  For
instance the leader, while having all of his mental facilities, was
disfigured in the face.  That wouldn't have been so bad, but he also had
a cruel streak.  But this little one, this Dalton, she found to be kind
and gentle as well as small and cute.  It was clear that he was
considerate and sensitive to her feelings.  Whatever the limitations of
such a relationship might be, she definitely felt that it was worth 
pursuing.
     When she returned to the farm, Janna spent most of the day building
a device.  She started by ripping up a good strong tree and then using
Dalton's farm implements to shape it.  The work was difficult because
the tools were too small for her hands.  The object she was constructing
was so big that she was well on her way to finishing it before he
recognized that it was a hoe- an ordinary farm implement except that it
was built to her scale.
"Tomorrow," she said, "I'll show you how much I can improve things!"
     Janna had foraged for food on her way back from the lake.  Now, she
picked up her collection of fruits and began to eat them as Dalton ate
his meager meal.
"I haven't eaten all day!" she said.  "I got too obsessed with building
that hoe!"She was sitting in the yard and Dalton was sitting on the steps 
of the porch.  Seeing the meager amount that he had to eat, she said, "I 
have more than enough.  Here!  Have some!"
She held out her hand, containing a dozen berries.  He thanked her and
started to take them.  Then, on an impulse, he ate them from her hand as
she held them in her fingertips.  She smiled knowingly, the moreso over
the fact that he used eating the berries as an excuse to kiss her
fingertips.  She enjoyed the sensation of being kissed on the fingers by
his small lips.  When he was done, she offered him more berries and he
again ate them from her hand.
"My goodness!" she said.  "After we eat, I'll have to take you to the
lake and wash you up!"
She winced even as she said it.  Because of his size, she had spoken to
him as though addressing a child.  She had meant it in a teasing,
loveplay sort of way.  But would he take it that way.  He didn't seem to
be responding negatively.
"I, uh, generally go to the lake after dinner anyway and clean up!" he
said.
She hesitated, but said, "It's almost two miles away.  I can save you a
lot of time if I, well, carry you there!  I mean, then I'd come back
here and wait for you!  You could walk back!"
He smiled and she instinctively smiled back.
"Thanks!" he said.  "I'd appreciate that!"
     Janna carried Dalton to the lake and left him there.  She only
needed fifteen minutes to stride back to the farm.  Dalton returned
about an hour later.
"Well," he said, "it's getting dark and we have a long day tomorrow.  I
guess I'll just say goodnight!""Goodnight!" she whispered.
He started to go inside, but then turned back and said, "Janna!  I'm
really glad you're here!"She smiled."I'm glad to know you too!" she said.
That night, though they slept separately, they slept with the
peacefulness of two people who know that they are not alone anymore!
     The next morning, they awoke and ate.  Then Janna said, "I guess
it's about time I start earning my keep!"
She strode to the field with the hoe.  Then she started working.  Dalton
could only stare in awe as her powerful muscles drove the hoe into the
ground and pulled, digging deep clefts into the Earth.  Belatedly, he
began moving along behind her, doing his planting.  After a row was
planted, she would go back along it, filling it in.  Dalton realized
that a team of oxen pulling a plow could not have done more work in a
day than she was doing.  He realized that, with her help, the farm
really would be up and running in no time.  Her help more than
compensated for the pieces of equipment he couldn't afford.
     The two of them worked like this from dawn to dusk each day.  Yet,
within a week, there was so much work done that they could afford some
leisure time.  They sat around a fire out in the yard that night and
Dalton suddenly asked a question that surprised her.
"Tell me about your beliefs!" he said.  "What sorts of religions do
giants believe in?""What an interesting question!" she said, looking at 
him with admiration.  "Generally, we believe that there is a Great 
Mother, a Supreme Goddess who encompasses all of creation!  Out of 
herself, she begot a male deity.  They coupled and she begot a giantess 
and then a giant.  They then copulated and created the race of giants.  
From the giants were eventually born all of the other races: dwarves, 
elves and, of course, humans!"Dalton thought for a few moments.
"That's very interesting!" he finally said.  "But what does it mean?  In
other words, if it is true, how are you any different as a person than
you would be if it weren't true?"Janna smiled.
"You'll get any number of answers to that question!" she said.  "My
answer is that we are meant to protect the little people and that the
world would be a far better place if we giants and the other races would
accept that!"
     After that, they sat for a while, discussing various aspects of
religion, both giant and human, as well as other races.  It was well
past nightfall and Dalton hadn't gone to the lake yet.  Yawning, he
said, "Maybe I'll just skip it for tonight!  I really don't feel like
walking back here!"
"You'll be miserable trying to sleep with all that grime on you!" Janna
said.  "I have an idea!"
With his permission, she carried him to the lake.  When they got there,
she set him down and then said, "I'm going to go around the next bend in
the river and wash.  I'll be back within a few minutes."
     While Janna was gone, Dalton washed the grime off of himself while
standing in the river.  Within a few minutes, he saw her appear around
the bend, trying not to look in his direction.
"Are you- how do you humans say it- decent?" she asked.
He had just finished getting his pants back on."Yes!" he called.
She looked his way.  He was shirtless and, for one fleeting moment, he
hoped she might find him attractive.  The life he led had made him quite
muscular.  But he believed it was hopeless.  After all, what was his
muscularity to her?  He was almost the size of a doll next to her!
Little did he realize two things!  Firstly, she found his doll-sized
muscularity both genuinely attractive and genuinely cute!  Secondly,
what he looked like was close to the last thing she was concerned with.
She found him to be the most interesting male she had ever met!
     As Janna strode up to him, Dalton said, "You're going to carry me
back, then?"
"I was wondering!" she said hesitantly.  "Listen for a moment!  What do
you hear?"He listened and heard the sounds of the river.
"It sounds nice," he said.  "Peaceful!"
"Just listening to it makes you sleepy, doesn't it?" she hummed.
"Yes!  But it's too cold out here!""May I put my arms around you?" she 
asked.
He was startled for an instant.  It was as if his greatest wish were 
coming true.
"Y-Yes!" he stammered.
She knelt down in front of him and reached out to take him under the
arms.  Her beautiful breasts were in front of him, huge and
intoxicating.  She set him on her knee and then started rummaging
through her gunnysack until she pulled out a huge blanket.  She lay on
her back, using a boulder as a pillow.  She dug herself into the sand
until she was comfortable.  She placed Dalton on her stomach and then
threw her blanket over him.  Lifting it, she looked down and said, "How
are you doing?""Well," he said, "it's a little difficult to breathe in 
here!"
"Oh, of course!  I'm sorry!" she said.
She took him by the underarms and pulled him up between her breasts so
that his head rested above the blanket."Is that better?" she asked.
"Er, yes!  Much better!" he said."You're warm enough?" she asked.
"Oh, very warm!" he said, almost implying more than one meaning.
"Good!" she said.  "Goodnight then!"
She kissed him, her lips completely covering his cheek, then settled in
to go to sleep.
     They lay silently for several minutes.  Then Dalton whispered,
"Janna!  Are you still awake?""Yes!" she whispered.
"The sound of the water is beautiful!" he said.  "You were right about 
that!"
"Thank you!" she said."Thank you for all the help you've given me!" he 
said.
"You're welcome!" she said as she stroked his hair.
After a moment's hesitation, he said, "You know, it's been a long time-
a long time since I've been, well, close to anyone, since anyone's
cared, since I've felt-"
He was stumbling over the words, sobs choking his throat as he tried to
express the feelings that were finally overwhelming him.  She held him
close and kissed him again.
"You aren't alone anymore!" she whispered.  "You don't need to feel
alone anymore!"
He snuggled closer and soon drifted off to sleep as she stroked his hair
and kissed him on the cheek, holding him close all the while.
     Days turned into weeks and weeks into months as the farm became
ever more succesful and Janna and Dalton became ever closer.  They
worked together, ate and drank together and, while they hadn't actually
had sex together, they most assuredly were sleeping together.  The very
night after they had slept by the water, he had taken her hand and said,
"Would it be, well, alright with you if we did the same thing we did
last night?  You know, sleep togther, except without having to stay by 
the lake?"
She smiled and he said, "I don't want to be alone anymore, especially
not at night!"However, one day, she noticed a troubled look on his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked."Oh, it's nothing!" he said.
"Please tell me!" she said.  "It's about us, isn't it?"
"Well," he admitted, "yes!  I mean, do you ever think that what we're
doing, or not doing as the case may be, the relationship we have is, 
well-"
"Abnormal?" she finished for him."Well, yes!" he admitted.
"Answer me one question!" she said.  "What do you feel about me?"
"I, uh, I'm a little afraid to answer that question!" he stammered.
"Just tell me the absolute truth!" she said.  "Please!"
He looked her straight in the eyes."I love you!" he said.
He dropped his eyes, fearing he had said too much.
"I know!" she said.  "I love you too!"He looked up at her, his eyes 
questioning.
"Not like a woman loves a cute little boy!" she said.  "I love you as a
man!  "That's what you are, after all!""And yet, we can't-"
He gestured, indicating the act of having sex.
"Is that what makes our relationship fulfilling?" she asked.
"Of course not!" he said.  "It's already fulfilling!"
"I'm sure we can think of something to do together!" she said.  "But my
point is that it doesn't matter!"
"But I want to make love with you!" he suddenly blurted.  "I mean, I 
really do!"
She laughed."So you're horny?"
"With a gorgeous woman like you with me all the time, how could I not 
be?"
"Keep talking!" she teased.  "You're doing great!"
He held out his hands and she put her right hand into them.  Her hand
was easily far bigger than both of his hands put together were.  Slowly,
almost reverently, he bent and kissed her fingers, letting his lips
linger for long moments.  He then kissed her fingers several more times
before he looked up to see her smiling at him, compassion and love in 
her eyes.
"Whatever you want!" he said in a husky voice, heavy with love.
He gave her a mischievious grin.
"Your wish is my command!" he said.  Then, dropping the grin, he said,
"However you want this to go, that's what I want!"
She picked him up and held him to her breasts, the intent not being to
tease him- much- but to hug him.  She caressed his face.  He took her
hand again and, this time, kissed the palm.  They stayed like that for
hours, Janna rubbing his back, stroking his hair and kissing him, Dalton
kissing her hand and each individual finger.  They finally fell asleep
that way.  They were content.
     It was an idyllic situation.  Perhaps it was inevitable that
something would finally happen to ruin it!  The nearest farm to Dalton's
was several miles away through the woods.  But someone from that farm
finally made the journey to visit him.  When the man walked into the
yard of the farm, late in the day, the sight that greeted his eyes made
him freeze in his tracks.  There was Dalton, out in the field,
apparently working with a giantess!  The first thought of the visitor
was that she was attacking him.  Rather than considering the possibility
of helping, he ducked back into the woods.  Then, when Dalton was
obviously still alive, his next thought was that the giantess was
holding him aginst his will, enslaving him.  But then he saw them
kissing and cuddling after the work was done.  He told himself how
disgusting it was that any human male would ever have such inclinations
toward a giantess.  All the while he was telling himself this, he was
feeling stirrings in his own groin at the sight of this gorgeous giant
woman.  Something had to be done about this, he told himself.  He had to
gather the people from the other farms and do something!  Such an insult
to nature as this relationship could not be allowed to exist!
     The farmers decided that approaching at night would be the best
course of action.  It had taken over a month to gather them for this
assault.  The would-be leader of this ragtag army had told them that the
giantess would be sleeping in the yard.  But, as they observed from the
woods, she was nowhere to be seen.  Then they noticed that there was a
new addition to Dalton's farm, an edifice such as none of them had ever
seen before.  It was a log cabin, but on a scale beyond belief.  It was
probably thirty feet high, with the length and breadth being three times
that distance.  Dalton's old cabin now looked like a small woodshed
attached to this huge new edifice.
"Well, what are we going to do now?" one of the farmers asked.  "She's
probably in that cabin!  I'm not going in there in the dark, not knowing
the layout!"There was a murmur of agreement.
"All right!" the leader said.  "We'll wait until first light!  But keep
those bows at the ready!"
     Inside the large section of the cabin, Janna slept peacefully.  Her
bed was thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.  The embers in the
fireplace were beginning to fade but it would take some time for the
heat to dissipate.  Besides, several thick, heavy blankets covered her.
Dalton lay snuggling in her arms, his head resting on her left
shoulder.  With the blankets over him and pressed against Janna, he
slept more warmly and comfortably than he could ever remember having
slept without her.  The two of them were fully clothed, although what
constituted full clothing for Janna was not much by human standards.
Their decision to share the same room and bed was for one all-important
reason- they loved one another!  There was also the fact that neither of
them wanted to be alone in the night!  And so, despite initial
discomfort with the situation, they had adapted.  There were, of course,
biological realities.  There were times when Dalton, within the privacy
of his old, human-sized section of the house, quite literally took
matters in hand and satisfied his physical needs, his mind filled with
thoughts of Janna as he did so.  Although she did it less frequently
than he did, there were times when she took her privacy and relieved her
needs as she thought of him.  It wasn't that they hid these activities
from each other.  Why they were keeping the relationship at this level
at all was something neither of them could fully explain.  They weren't
sure if it was just that the time wasn't right or if the time might
never be right!  They had reached the stage where it almost didn't
matter.  They were happy and content as they were!
     Dalton awoke at first light, as was his habit.  He yawned and did
what he had found himself doing every morning of late.  He just lay
there looking at Janna, admiring her beauty and coping with the love he
felt for her.  She awoke within a few minutes.  Opening her eyes, she
slowly turned her face toward him and smiled.  He thought his heart
would explode.  She reached up and caressed his face with her right
hand, then leaned over and gently kissed him.  It would have probably
looked comical to an outsider.  Her size, compared to his, was greater
than that of an adult compared to a baby.  However, their closed eyes
and the looks upon their faces revealed that this was by no means a
childlike kiss although they both held back the true passion they felt
the desire to put into the kiss.  When it finally ended, Dalton didn't
move for several seconds as he tried to retain the lingering sensations
of the kiss.  Then he looked her in the eyes and said what he said every 
morning.
"I love you!" he tenderly whispered."I love you, dearest Dalton!" she 
replied.
She held her hand out for him to kiss, knowing how much he enjoyed
giving her that sign of his devotion.
     Their habits had somewhat changed.  Since she and Dalton shared the
same bed, she was in the habit of washing in the evening.  However, she
still liked to wash first thing in the morning, before beginning the
day.  Dalton shared her trip to the lake and washed himself.  As they
stepped out into the yard, they were not aware of the presence of the
farmers.  Several bowstrings were drawn taut.  As Janna was about to
lift Dalton in order to carry him, six bows twanged and six arrows sped
through the air.  Both Janna and Dalton had spun at the sound of the
bowstrings.  Fortunately for Dalton, all of the arrows were aimed high,
at the towering target that was the giantess.  The fact that she bent to
lift him just as they fired caused two of the arrows to fly harmlessly
overhead.  Three others impacted her right side, which was toward the
attackers.  Two of these arrows snapped and spun harmlessly away.  One
stuck for a moment, little more than a pinprick to Janna, before
falling.  But Janna had been about to lift Dalton.  Her hands were under
his arms and covered the upper parts of his sides.  One of the arrows
pierced completely through his upper left arm.
It would have pierced into his upper torso from the side.  Instead, It
stuck into Janna's hand.  It pierced her hand slightly, but was quickly
stopped by the thick skin, incredibly thick muscle fiber and bone
structure of the giantess's hand.  She quickly grabbed the arrow with
her other hand and freed it from the hand it was stuck into.  She spun
to see that two of the archers had dropped their bows and were running
for the woods.  The other four were desperately trying to notch new
arrows.  She charged and slapped the bows from their hands.  Two others
drew swords.  They probably could not have done her more than
superficial damage.  But she ran and picked up the hoe that she spent
her days working with.  Seeing that she now had a weapon that exceeded
the length of theirs by about ten times, the remaining farmers turned
and ran.  Janna turned back to Dalton.  She snapped off the back of the
arrow.  After making sure that it had broken cleanly, she pushed it the
rest of the way through.  She treated the wound as best she could but
her hands and fingers were far too large to treat it as meticulously as
was needed.  There was only one thing to do.  She picked up Dalton and
headed toward the nearest human village.
     Janna's arrival was a surprise, to say the least.  Most of the
farmers that had attacked earlier had retreated to the village.  But
none of them had expected her to pursue them, not right into a human
village.  She was in the middle of the town before anyone realized what
was happening.
"There must be healers in this town!" she demanded.  This man needs help 
now!"
She looked about."It was you that did this to him!  Now help him!"
Two elderly people in the crowd, standing with a boy, were particularly 
startled.
"My God!" the man said.  "That's Dalton!"
"Please!" the woman said.  "Don't hurt our son!"The boy ran toward the 
giantess.
"No!  Come back!" the woman cried.
But the boy paid no attention.  He ran right up to her, yelling, "It's
you!  It's you!"
Janna looked genuinely puzzled for a moment.  Then she recognized him.
"I remember you!" she said.  "You're the little boy who likes to fall
into rivers!"
"She's the one who saved me!" he proclaimed.  "I told you there was a 
giantess!"
"And now I'm trying to save this man!" she said.
"Everyone put down your bows!" the man said.  "That's my son!  They both 
are!"
     A healer was found and Dalton's wound was properly treated.
Afterwards, Janna cradled him in her arms, gently kissing his face and
telling him that everything would be all right.
"What will you do now?" Dalton's father said.  "Where will you go?"
The questions carried the clear hope that she intended to leave.
"I'll take Dalton back to our farm!" she said.  "And that's where we'll 
stay!"
As Dalton's parents walked away, his mother turned to his father and
said, "Do you think it's a good idea for him to be staying with someone
like her?  I mean, you don't think that they're actually, you know,
sharing the same bed, do you?"
"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" he said.  "Look at the size of her!  She's
just convenient for him because she can do so much work!"
However, as they walked away, Dalton's father looked back and the wry
smile on his face said, "I know what's really going on and I should be 
so lucky!"
     Janna carried Dalton home, where he spent the next few days in bed,
recovering.  One morning, he finally felt strong enough to climb out of
bed.  Janna propped herself on her elbow and gave him his morning kiss.
This time, the kiss became deep and passionate.  Dalton looked at her,
surprise and hope in his eyes.
"My dear, sweet little man!" she said.  "I almost lost you!  Now I know
that this is the right time!""How are we going to do this?" he asked.
"The same way we've done everything else!" she said.  "Together and
differently than anybody else!"