Jack and the Beanstalk (Faerie Tale Collection) Read Free

skills were good too, and he was a simpleton indeed to believe she could not out-master a dimwitted giant. He took another long drink and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Glancing over, he saw the pout upon Jill’s lips as she sat back on the settee, and attempted to appease her a bit by distracting her with one of her favorite subjects. “That witch our parents speak of was purely wicked to have thought to eat them, and ruin Grandfather as she did.”
    “Yes.” Jill did not look up.
    Goodness, she was certainly in a mood. “Well now, I did not take you for a little child,” Jack said as he walked into the living area.
    She folded her arms, still not meeting his eyes. “You have no right to exclude me and yet you will, simply because I am a girl.”
    He stepped directly in front of her, his boots touching hers. “No, you are wrong. If I would not have allowed you to go, it is because I did not want you to die. It has nothing to do with you being a girl.”
    “I am seventeen!” she exclaimed. “Well old enough to be considered for adventures.”
    “Yes, you are,” he said simply. “Which is why I have decided to let you come.”
    She glanced up at him. “What did you say?”
    He shrugged and grinned at her. “Besides, I need my navigator. Who would I turn to if I got lost?”
    She laughed. “Yes, you do need me.”
    “Yes.” He took a deep breath. “Thank you for being willing to support me.”
    Rolling her eyes, she stood up, causing him to move back a few paces. “Do not become all mushy and sentimental now. Let us wait until we find ourselves in that kingdom, and then you can thank me all you wish.”
    “We need magic. It will be the only way.”
    “Aye, I was thinking the same,” she muttered as she brushed past him. “Where could we even begin to look for such a thing? Who do we know with access to it? Without magic, we will by no means be able to reach that kingdom. Even though I have never heard of a giant living in the clouds, there must be someone who has.”
    “Yes, I believe so too. This cannot be the only time he has made his way to our land.”
    “So where do we go to find a person who could help us?”
    “Perhaps they will come forward, now that word is out that Miss Rachel is missing.”
    “No!” Jill spun on her heel and turned toward him. Her face held an expression as if she had remembered something. “No! That is not the answer. We do not wait for the person to find us—we must go to the place where the magic was created. The only place we know where true enchantment lies.”
    Jack’s gaze met hers. “You do not mean …”
    Her smile beamed. “Of course I do! Where else would all the answers we seek be buried but in the Larkein kingdom?”
    “Mother’s castle.”
    “Precisely. It is the perfect place to begin looking.”
    “Jill?”
    “Hmm?”
    “You are brilliant!”
    “I know.” She laughed. “So are you coming or not?”

CHAPTER THREE
    BY THE TIME THE two had packed their belongings and gathered up the maps and necessary food to make the trip, their parents were walking in the door.
    “Pa!” Jack exclaimed. “I am so glad to see you. Jill was about to go find you both to let you know what we are planning to do, but you made it home.”
    “And what is this?” Gretel asked as she took off her blue knit shawl, hanging it in the front closet. “Are you two off to find this giant, then?”
    Jack nodded. “Aye. We hope to—I must do something.”
    Hansel shared a look with Gretel before saying, “I want you to be careful.”
    “I know it would be useless to tell you no when it is Miss Rachel Staheli involved,” his mother said, “but for your own sakes, be safe.”
    “Where are you planning to go? Do you have an idea about how to reach the giant’s kingdom?” his father asked.
    Jill smiled. “Well, we have heard of your adventure often enough. Jack and I have figured our best chances of finding anything at all of the giant’s home and