#rivervale_lodge

anndn out the window, Jelly beans fall

And a faint, growing louder, 'aaaaaaaaaaa....'

"aaaaaa" "Crrrraaap"

"iiiiiiiiiiiiiiincooooooooooooomiiiiiiiiing............"

"What on earth?!" Kerri sets down her (empty) glass and hurries through the kitchen towards the back yard.

Siv follows

"Re-entry!" Lane yelps

"Oh!" Kerri hurries to catch whichever childling she can get to first.

She grabs Lane. Siv catches Jack

"Where's connor?" SHe looks up "Oh crud" She holds out the oher hand

Kerri sets Lane down quickly (but safely) to try to catch Connor.

"Whoop!" He gets caught! A wedgie perhaps, but better than splatter!

She makes sure that all three are safely on their feet amid the heaps of jelly-bean-fall. "What were you doing up there? I told you that you were not to climb the beanstalk without supervision!"

Connor shuffles his feet a little. "Jack, did we climb the beanstalk?" He asks, getting around his prohibition of speech.

"We totally did not CLIMB the beannstalk" Jack nnods

Kerri looks from one to the other, and then to Lane.

He nods!

"Lane?"

"Ddinnn't CLIMB it..." She nods

but looks ready to break

"But...?"

standing in line with the other two, stalwart, stalwart as Musketeers!

"But... you might want to cut it down now."

"I mean, it's the end of the season?" Looking to Jack. "And the beans all fell off."

As though this happened spontaneously!

"Yup" Jack nods

Kerri gives them all a measuring look, and then looks up the beanstalk to see how high up they might have gotten.

Leaves and beans appear to be stripped off all the way from the top.

something is coming down the stalk, somehtin small too small to see from here.. and something big

"Uh. Um."

He fidgets.

Something is not quite right. He's here, Jack is here, Lane is here.

Kerri stares. "What did you do?" she says in a low tone.

He sniffs the air.

"We didn't TAKE anything." Not having to be a Gwydion to smell at least half a lie there.

Lane's lip quivers!

He looks at Lane. "We didn't?!

"Siv, find your mother, she's on patrol. Or Dagmar. Somebody good with an axe!" Kerri has only a belt dagger, but she hurries to the base of the beanstalk and starts cutting. "Jack, go to the kitchen, fetch me the big cleaver! Be careful, it's sharp!"

Connor still squints upwards. What IS the little dot. "Mister FishFish?" He wonders.

"It's the giant, she's PISSED at us" Lane breaks "Hurry hurry"

Jack races to the kitchen

Siv races out to see if she can find dagmar

"What's the little dot?" He says, worried. "Jack, don't you have those.. little tomato nippers?" Connor carries no blade!

Jack returns with the BIG Cleaver

Fortunately, while the Barn is close - horses are even closer.

they cann't make it out.. the small one... but the big one looks like... is that McGillicuddy?

Kerri takes the cleaver from Jack and looks up the beanstalk again before starting to chop. And that sight causes her to pause.

"Dagmar, fly swatter, big stalk.. somethin coming down"

A shocked look at the childlings. "Is that Mrs. McGillicuddy?!" she demands, pointing at the giant form approaching.

Connor doesn't trust his eyes, so he uses his sniffer instead.