Chapter 8

It had been over three hours since Fitzhugh lost sight of the Giant boy as he ran with his captured mates. But the lad's trail was easy to follow. Finally he reached the house where they were taken. Scurrying up to the door he slipped through its gap at the bottom and explored the house cautiously, as he tried to locate the two missing women.

For the next hour he saw no sign of them, nor the boy that had taken them. He was about to give up and look elsewhere, when out of a sealed doorway came the very boy that he was looking for.

'He must have them in there, ' Fitzhugh deduced.

He waited patiently for the teenager to disappear. As soon as he was out of sight, the rotund man ran across the floor to the huge door. He expected that he could get in as usual by sliding under the door. But it wasn't until he got to the door that he realized that it was completely sealed to prevent his entering.

But he wouldn't give up. Not yet anyway. He looked around for another access. He saw an air vent nearby and tried that. This too proved useless. It lead into the room's vent, but that too was sealed to prevent entry by him.

He then decided that there was only one hope. He would hide near the door until morning and when the lad went back inside, he would rush in and hide nearby before being spotted. It was a bold plan, but it was the only one that he could come up with, in such short notice.

So he found himself a hiding place, not too far from the door and settled himself for yet another night away from the camp.

Meanwhile, back at the 'Spindrift', the remainder of the group had returned some hours hence from their own search. They spent a restless night after determining that the two women of their groups were now also missing.

The next morning, Fitzhugh woke at the crack of dawn. He waited patiently for the Giants to get up. He had to wait another forty minutes before the parents of the Giant family came out of their room and made their way towards the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Another fifteen minutes went by before a little girl came out, about six or seven he guessed. She was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes with a doll in her arms. But the teenaged boy that he was searching for was still missing.

The lad came down the hallway, half-dressed. He was busily trying to tuck his shirt inside his pants has he hurried to the kitchen.

'Finally, ' Fitzhugh sighed in relief.

He could hear the clutter, as utensils were being used on porcelain plates. He took a strong whiff of the air and savored the smell that reached his nostrils.

'Oh god!' He gasped. 'Fresh coffee, (sniff) and pancakes. God I miss that.'

His stomach grumbled in protest. Only then did he remember that he hadn't eaten anything for the last thirty-six hours. Even in the most desperate of situations, his appetite would manage to surface. On more that one occasion over the past eight years had this placed him, and the others, in danger.

The Giants continued eating their breakfast while talking about family matters. The father would complain about the heavy workload that was waiting for him, the mother about her lecherous boss. While the two children would tell their parents about what was planned for school today.

Fitzhugh waited impatiently underneath the telephone table that he was hiding under for them to finish. He kept pacing back and forth for over half an hour before he heard the dishes being put away in the sink.

Realizing that the time might be approaching for his bold plan, he scurried nearer to the target door. While remaining behind one of the tables thick legs for cover.

With his eyes, he followed the Giants as they headed for the door. The father kissed his wife goodbye and pecked his daughter on the cheek and left.

"Glivard," the mother called out. "Don't be late for school, dear."

"I won't," he promised.

Then the mother also left with his baby sister in arm. She would be dropped off at a day care unit on her way to work.

Making sure that everybody had left, Glivard returned to the kitchen and came out with a plate of pancakes and a glass of milk. He was coming towards the concealed Fitzhugh. Or more specifically, towards his lab.

He was sure that his two tiny guests must be hungry by now. He got to the locked door and placed the plate of hot food on the tabletop above Fitzhugh's head. After unlocking the door, he turned back to pick up the plate and go inside.

This was the opportunity that Fitzhugh had been waiting for. In a mad dash, he scurried to the open door and made his way inside. He looked around the room desperately for somewhere to hide. Seeing a stack of metal containers, he ducked behind them an hid from sight.