Giant Cowboy Murder Mystery: Chapter 2
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4,014 words
warnings: language, & mild mentions of nudity
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The sleep was not restful, but it was the first semi-decent stretch of shut-eye that she’d had in at least two days. She was warm, swaddled in a scratchy cloth, lying atop a hard surface. It was nothing like her bed at home, but it was a bed. At least, she assumed it was a bed. Wakefulness was slow to come. Her head felt full of fog, and her body was heavy. Groggy limbs stretched in time with a groan. She’d had the worst nightmare…
Giant man.
She bolted upright, as if struck by lightning, suddenly very awake. It wasn’t a nightmare. No––she’d been running through a forest. The soreness and the abrasions that ravaged her body were proof enough that the past couple of days had been real. She’d been running through a forest… she’d been chased by the biggest bear she’d ever seen… and there was a giant horse-thing. And a giant man. As memories flooded back, her heart started to pound; her breath became shallower, quicker.
The room around her was huge. It only further proved that what she’d seen last night was more than a figment of her imagination. Everything around her looked like normal furniture in every way, save for the fact that it was all massive. What she now realized was a giant-sized bed was pushed into a corner. Directly to the right of it was a nightstand and an oil lamp. Against the opposite wall stood a wardrobe about as tall as a house, and there was a door just next to it. A few sparsely-decorated shelves lined the walls. There was an old rug on the floor. Most striking, though, was the mounted body of a ferocious-looking beast that the woman could not identify, hung just above the door. It looked like some sort of reptile, armed with claws, teeth, spines, and a whip-like tail.
Sitting on the giant bed, the woman couldn’t help but imagine that this is what it felt like to be a toy doll. Her anxiety did not appreciate it.
Voices reached her ears, spoken as whispers, but still plenty loud. They came from just beyond the door. It was ajar, though not enough for the woman to get a good look through from her vantage point.
“…can’t stay here.” That voice sounded familiar.
“Love.” That one didn’t.
“She’ll… I dunno, get stepped on.”
“Love.”
“Slayne.”
“What’s her name?”
“Dunno. She wouldn’t talk before she passed out.”
It felt weird, uncomfortable to be spoken about. The woman grimaced, hands rubbing her shoulders. Her fingers brushed over the bare skin, reminding her that she was still very naked. She lifted the heavy, scratchy blanket to pull it up, but paused when she spotted something underneath. Pooled in her lap was the handkerchief––the one that the giant man had dropped onto her. He’d spoken to her, too, right? Of course––that’s was his voice in the other room. But she couldn’t recall what he’d said. All she could really remember before she’d fallen unconscious were his piercing silver eyes, and his overwhelming presence.
“Er… ma’am?”
The woman yelped and pulled the handkerchief to cover her chest. She looked up to see a giant man––a different one than last night. This one had bushy, bright red hair. For a moment, she thought he had a beard, but she realized that it was a scarf covering the lower half of his face, almost identical in color to his hair. He stood in the doorway awkwardly, a tray in his hands. His head was turned, eyes downcast, pointedly looking away from her.
“Um… pardon, ma’am. I should have––I mean, I thought you were still––er…” He bumbled and tripped over his words, and the woman just stared, clutching the handkerchief to her chest. “Here. I brought you… something to eat. I tried to cut the pieces small for you.”
The second his boot left the floorboards for that first step towards her, the woman screamed. She scrambled out from under the blanket, still clinging to the handkerchief, and scooted backwards. The giant flinched, and almost seemed to cower, like he was somehow afraid of her as well.
“I’m sorry! Miss, please––I promise I’m not gonna hurt you! Look, here, I can just…” He took another tentative step, which got another scream from the woman.
“Suns in the sky, what is going on in here?” The door swung open, and through it stepped another unfamiliar giant. This one had dark, wavy hair, dark skin, and even darker eyes that seemed to scorch whatever they landed on. They also wore a mask, yellow in color, that stood out against their black and grey outfit.
Why were all of these giants covering their faces?
“Ah––Mx. Slayne! I was just bringing the human some food, l-like you asked. I barely took one step before she started screaming.” The yellow-masked giant––Slayne––looked between them, a brow raised. The woman shrank back, feeling even smaller. One giant was stressful enough; now there were two.
And then a third stepped into the room behind the second. He was taller than both of the other two, and seemed older. The moment his silver eyes landed on the woman, she knew exactly who he was.
He was the one that she met in the forest.
The woman felt a weakness in her muscles. There were three larger-than-life giants in front of her, all staring at her.
Slayne cleared their throat, making the woman flinch. “Gaffin, the tray.” The red-headed one––Gaffin––bobbed his head and took another step towards the bed. She wanted to scream again, even opened her mouth to do so, but no sound came from her. Gaffin set the tray down at the foot of the bed, then retreated behind the other two giants. On the tray was a plate of bread, fruits, and meat, all cut into small, almost-human-sized chunks. To the left of the plate was what looked like a giant-sized shot glass full of water. To the right was a bowl, its contents steaming. The woman gave the dishes a quick glance, but didn’t move from her spot.
“You wanna tell us your name?” Slayne asked. They crossed their arms over their chest and looked at the woman expectantly. “Love says he found you like this–––” they waved a vague gesture at her, “–––in a tree last night. Weird to have a human running around these parts, let alone a naked one.”
She wanted to speak. She wanted to say something to them––anything! But the words wouldn’t come. It was just like last night, with the silver-eyed giant.
“Told you she doesn’t talk much,” silver-eyes said. Slayne rolled their eyes and gave him an exasperated sidelong look.
“Gaffin,” they said. “See if you can find her some clothes. Or… make her some.”
“Yes sir.” He bobbed his head again, then shuffled past the other two and disappeared through the door.
“You should eat. Get some water in you. The bowl’s to clean yourself off.” Slayne paused and studied the woman for a moment. Their features seemed to soften. “You can stay in here until you’re ready to talk. Love is gonna check up on you later.”
Silver-eyes’ brows shot up in bewilderment. “Conn––” He tried to protest, but Slayne shoved a hand in his face and pushed him back through the doorway. They gave the woman one last look, then disappeared with him and closed the door. Once again, the woman was alone. She gasped belatedly. In the absence of the three giants, she felt like she could breathe again, and felt like she could collapse, which she did, right onto her knees. Her knuckles, she realized, were white, her fingers stiff, from how hard she was clinging to the handkerchief.
Love. Slayne kept saying “love.” The way they said it made it sound like a name. “Love” found her; “Love” was going to check up on her.
Was “Love” the silver-eyed giant’s name?
***
Eli retreated from the room––his room––and from Slayne’s hand. “Conn, you can’t–––”
“Hup. Not here.” They dropped their hand to his chest and pushed again, guiding Eli away from the room. Begrudgingly, he complied, and turned towards the kitchen. Upon entering, he leaned against the countertop, arms crossed, and scowled at Slayne.
“Conn, you can’t do this to me.”
Slayne looked unbothered. They shrugged their shoulders and mirrored Eli’s pose on the counter opposite of him. “Don’t think she’d do well sharing a room with five giantfolk. And Smart snores.”
“So you’re putting her with me?” His bewilderment was palpable. To make things worse, he knew that Slayne was enjoying it. There was a smugness in their voice.
“Well, she’s not staying with me,” they said, matter-of-fact.
Eli dropped his head and pinched his brow. He breathed in five beats, and out five beats. It was all he could do to unclench his jaw when he spoke. “Why not?”
“Because you made me the boss, and I say she’s your responsibility.” They weren’t even bothering to hide their amusement. Eli didn’t need to see their mouth to know that they were grinning. “Besides, she’s clearly got some sort of connection with you already.”
Eli looked up, brows furrowed. “What?”
“As soon as you stepped in behind me, she didn’t take her eyes off of you. You’re the one that found her, so my guess is that she’ll talk to you before the rest of us.”
His head dropped again. He questioned the universe’s will. Why would it drop a human that’s terrified of giants into giant lands and have him—a grumpy, anti-social, taciturn giant—find her?
And why the fuck would Slayne put her in his care?
(Because they thought it was funny. That's why.)
Eli sighed out his exasperation, the tail-end turning more into a groan. This wasn’t a fight he was going to win. “Sometimes I regret putting you in charge,” he grumbled. Gathering his composure, Eli pushed off of the counter and made for the hallway, headed to the outside.
“Don’t I know it,” Slayne said after him, still grinning away.
***
The woman could still hear the giants talking in the other room, but, this time, they were too far away for her to make anything out. Silver ey––Love didn’t seem too happy about Slayne’s decision. To be honest, she didn’t care much for it either. She didn’t like the idea of being “checked on”; it made her feel like a pet.
She sighed and turned her attention back to the tray. The food called to her. Just looking at it made her stomach rumble in anticipation. She secured the handkerchief around herself to free up her hands, then moved to stand. As soon as she put any weight on her left foot, pain shot up through her leg, making her gasp and fall back down. Her ankle had some swelling around it, and was hot to the touch. She hadn’t noticed it until now, too distracted by the giants. Apparently she’d messed it up pretty badly when she took that fall in the forest. Annoyed, but undeterred, she gathered herself up and got on her hands and knees and tentatively crawled to the tray. First she started with the bread, tearing off a chunk. After a few bites to reinvigorate her appetite, she scarfed down as much as she could eat, and followed up with a few handfuls of water. Some of it spilled through her fingers and dripped down her arms, lifting some of the dirt that caked her skin.
Oh, gross. The woman grimaced. She should have washed up first. She glanced at the door, a little nervous that another giant might pop in at any moment, then tugged the handkerchief off and let it fall around her. Carefully, she scooted up to the bowl, still steaming, and peered in. The water smelled of soap and herbs, sharp, but pleasant to the senses. The steam alone soothed her aching skin. She dipped her hand in to test the temperature––hot, but not uncomfortable––then awkwardly shimmied her way into the bowl and settled down with her legs crossed. The water stung at her wounds, but the heat seeped into her muscles, providing some much-needed relief. She sighed and let her shoulders slump for the first time in days.
Once she was washed up, the woman half-crawled half-flopped out of the now murky water and rewrapped herself in the handkerchief. She wasn’t sure just how clean it was, but it was the best thing she had to cover herself. She’d had enough of being naked in front of giants for a lifetime.
Next came the question: what was she to do now? Even if she managed to get off of the bed, which would be an ordeal in and of itself, the giants had closed the door upon their exit. She was stuck in here until one of them came back. With a grumpy sigh, the woman sat down and crossed her arms. She closed her eyes, bowed her head, and tried to think.
Where was she? How had she ended up in the giant woods? Why had she been naked? These questions and more filled her mind. The lack of answers left her with a feeling of dread.
Something had happened to her. She wasn’t sure what, but… but people didn’t just end up in these situations by accident.
***
“So, when do we get to meet the human?”
“Is she nice? Is she cute?”
“Gaffin says she’s afraid of giants. Did you do something to her?”
By the Suns. Eli clenched his jaw and focused on stripping his saddle down, trying desperately to ignore the three Mels sisters’ onslaught of questions. He wasn’t surprised that they’d found out about their unexpected guest, but he’d been dreading their curiosity regardless. He snapped his fingers and pointed to a bucket out of his reach. One of the sisters grabbed it, but She didn’t hand it to him immediately. Eli gave the sister, Masen, an exasperated look.
“Don’t bother her. She needs rest.”
Masen frowned. Clearly that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Eli flexed his fingers, and she dropped the bucket handle into his hand.
“How long was she out there?”
“Is she from Melody? That’s the only smallfolk town nearby that I know of.”
“And even that’s quite the trek for a human.”
Eli set the bucket down and dipped a sponge into the warm water. He wrung it out between his hands and gently started running it over the worn leather. “Don’t know. She’s not talking.”
“I saw Gaffin sewing some stuff. That for her?”
Eli grunted in affirmation.
“No way. Humans aren’t that small… are they?”
“How would you know? You’ve never been near a human.”
Eli’s fist tightened around the sponge. He glanced over his shoulder at the sisters. All three of them looked nearly identical. It made sense for the older two, Jacen and Masen, since they were twins; but the youngest Mels, Colby, could easily be mistaken for a triplet.
“Don’t you three have work to do?” He asked. It took quite an effort not to speak through his teeth.
The sisters exchanged disappointed glances, and reluctantly sulked out of the shed, leaving Eli to clean his saddle in peace. Truth be told, he had just as many questions as they did. He didn’t expect to get any answers by overwhelming the woman, though. She needed space. Then she’d talk. Hopefully.
In the meantime, Eli had other things to worry about. There was still the matter of the bear so close to the ranch, and the ungodly smell in the forest. He still figured that it was a dead animal––something big, going by the sheer power of the stench. He needed to find it, and the bear, and deal with them both, before they became a bigger problem.
***
A few hours had passed when Eli returned to his room to check up on the woman. He hesitated at the door, unsure of how to approach. Normally, he wouldn’t think twice about just opening the door. But that was before he had a guest. Tentatively, he knocked, waited a few seconds, then entered the room.
The woman was still on the bed. She sat upright, alert, eyes wide, when he walked in. He couldn’t deny the awkwardness he felt at being the object of her fixation, if what Slayne said was to be believed.
“Uh…” Elli struggled to find the words to say. He wasn’t much of a talker to begin with, much less an ambassador to humankind. “Gaffin made you something to wear. The, uh––the giant that was in here with the red…” he gestured to the top of his head, referring to Gaffin’s hair. The woman just stared. “Anyway. Clothes. Here.” He ignored how she flinched as he stepped forward, and dropped a simple, hand-sewn dress in front of her. He glanced down at the tray left earlier, noting that she had fed and bathed herself. That was good at least. The last thing they needed was a mysterious human dying on the ranch.
The woman looked at the dress, then back up at Eli. He raised a brow. Conn had been right: she did stare at him a lot.
“Something to say?” he asked. Her lips thinned, and a troubled expression crossed her features. Clearly she did, but she couldn’t––or wouldn’t––spit it out. Eli crossed his arms and stared at the wall. “I’m gonna get you some more water. You dress yourself; I’ll be back. I’d like my handkerchief back.” Red bloomed on her cheeks from embarrassment, but Eli paid it no mind. He took the tray in one hand and exited the room, bringing it to the kitchen.
When he returned with only the refilled shot glass, the woman was sitting on the bed, inspecting how the dress fit on her. It was a little big and boxy, but it did the trick for now. He made a mental note to get her some string that she could fashion into a belt. Alarm flashed in her eyes when he entered. Quickly, she gathered up the handkerchief, made an attempt to fold it, and held it up to him. Her arms shook as she did so. Eli was sure she’d lose her nerve and shrink back, but, to his surprise, she held her ground as he took the cloth back.
“Right,” he said, stuffing the handkerchief into his breast pocket, “need anything else?” She shook her head. “Alright. I’ll check back later.”
He turned to leave, but a soft voice made him pause abruptly. “Gwenyn,” it said. She said. Eli looked back over his shoulder and regarded the woman with one silver eye.
“Come again?”
She fidgeted with her sleeve. “Um… I said… Gwenyn. My name. It’s Gwenyn. Lebenz.”
Well damn. Conn had been right again. They were going to be insufferable when he told them about this later.
Eli faced the newly-designated Gwenyn, head tilted and thumbs hooked into his belt. Her voice was hoarse from all the screaming and distress she’d been through.
“And you’re… Love?”
Hunh. He’d never introduced himself. It must have slipped his mind in the midst of… everything else. Eli nodded and tipped the brim of his hat. “That’s right. Elijah Love.” He took a moment to study her. Now that she was cleaned of grime, he could see that she had freckles—lots of them. Her dark auburn hair was a surprise; he’d thought that she would be a brunette.
“Wanna tell me how you got into… this whole situation?” He slacked his shoulders and leaned against the doorframe.
Gwenyn shook her head. “I… I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about it and I… I really can’t remember.”
Eli raised a brow. He wasn’t sure if he believed her or not. “Alright… You from Melody?”
Her features pinched in confusion. “I don’t know what that is.”
“The smallfolk town? Nearest one ‘round here.” Suns, this was just getting more and more strange. “If you’re not from Melody, then where are you from?”
“Lakenear,” she said.
Eli gave her a skeptical look that made her squirm even more. It bothered her enough that, for the first time since they started interacting, she pointedly looked away from him.
“That ain’t a real place,” he said flatly.
Gwenyn’s cheeks reddened. She almost looked indignant. “Yes it is. It’s in the East.”
“The East? Where in the East?”
“Um… south of Lakeover… north of Lakeunder…”
“Stop,” Eli said, holding a hand up. He shook his head and swiftly exited the room, leaving the door open behind him. Gwenyn blinked, alarmed, and pushed herself to stand. She grimaced at the bloom of pain in her ankle, but she lifted her head to try and see where he went. His heavy footsteps echoed down the hall, fading, and then returning. When he appeared again, he held a large piece of folded parchment. He started unfolding it and set it down on the bed in front of Gwenyn, making her fall back on her bum and scoot away.
“Show me.”
She looked nervously between Eli—much less comfortable with him now that he was close—and the paper. It was a map. A huge map. It detailed the whole country. She’d never seen one so large before. Tentatively she crawled forward, skirting the edge. She hesitated when she neared his right hand, and looked uncertainly at it. Eli suppressed his exasperation and moved it without a word, letting her continue.
“It’s… over here,” she said, pointing to an unmarked lake in the far east. There was nothing written that would indicate a town near the lake, either. Eli did not look impressed.
“Miss, I think you might be mistaken,” he said. “Ain’t nothin over there but—“
“No, it’s here!” Gwenyn insisted. She pointed more fervently, circling areas around the lake with her finger. “Lakenear is right here. Lakeover is up here, & Lakeunder is just beneath. I know the shape of our lake.”
Eli remained unconvinced. He leaned back, skeptical, and eyed the lake in question. “Your people ain’t too creative when it comes to naming your towns.”
Gwenyn’s cheeks reddened further. “It’s real. It’s where I grew up.”
“Well,” Eli cleared his throat. He dragged his finger from the lake to their current location, across the continent. “You’re right here,” he said, tapping the area named “Irons Ranch.” Gwenyn turned her head left and right, looking between the two points with clear bewilderment.
“That’s… that can’t be,” she said, her voice just barely above a whisper. “There’s no way…”
Eli was inclined to agree. There’s no way that she could have made it across the continent on her own without remembering it. The conditions that she would have had to be under to leave her memory blank… he couldn’t even fathom it.
“We can, erm, help you get back. If there is something out there, we can help you get back. But it’s gonna take a while.” Eli leaned back, a hand to the nape of his neck. “However, not even us giantfolk would make a trek like that this late in the season. The cold’ll be coming here soon. Trips to the next town over’ll be scarce, let alone a trip across the whole damn country.”
Gwenyn slumped her shoulders and looked forlornly at the map, at her unmarked lake. Eli noted her dejected demeanor and furrowed his brow. With a sigh, he straightened and gathered the map up, folding it back along its worn-in creases.
“Erm… or we could take you to Melody, if you wanted to be with your own kind,” he offered.
Gwenyn pulled her knees to her chest. Her eyes went unfocused, staring off into the distance. “...Maybe. I’ll… I’ll think about it.”
Eli studied her for a moment. Her crawling and stumbling hadn’t gone unnoticed. He’d assumed that she’d just been cowering in fear. Looking at her now, though, he could see the angry red on her ankle. That looked like a nasty sprain. He’d have to get her something for that.
“Right,” he said. “Just… let me know.”
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