Read Online The Giants and the Joneses by Julia Donaldson - Free Book Online Page A

give them any lunch again.
    ‘We’ll have to eat something from the running-away collection,’ said Colette. But there were only a few giant sugar grains left: the two hungry children had eaten all the cornflakes and raisins.
    Colette was trying to decide whether to give in to Poppy’s demands for ‘more sweeties’ when they heard Jumbeelia come into the room.
    ‘I expect she’ll feed us now,’ said Colette.
    But the girl giant’s footsteps thudded towards a different part of the room.
    Poppy’s face fell. ‘I still hungry,’ she said miserably.
    ‘It’s no use telling me that,’ snapped Colette. Then she saw that Poppy was nearly crying. ‘Come on,’ she said, more gently. ‘Let’s go and show Jumbeelia how hungry we are. Practise clutching your tummy.’
    They found their way to where Jumbeelia was lying on the floor by a sheet of polythene.
    ‘Big girl got snails like ’Lette,’ said Poppy.
    And so she had. At one end of the polythene sheet were some giant leaves and blades of grass, and at the other end were three gigantic coiled shells.
    ‘Wunk, twunk, thrink, GLAY!’ shouted Jumbeelia.
    A rubbery head protruded from one of the shells, and two transparent horns with eyes at the end of them quivered. The giant snail slithered a few inches along the polythene. Jumbeelia clapped her hands.
    ‘I think it’s supposed to be a race,’ said Colette.
    Jumbeelia noticed them then. ‘Wahoy, iggly plops,’ she said.
    ‘ Now , Poppy!’ ordered Colette.
    She and Poppy clutched their tummies and made what they hoped were hungry faces.
    Jumbeelia laughed. ‘Heehuckerly iggly plops!’ she said. Then she turned back to the snails.
    ‘I know!’ said Colette. ‘Let’s pretend to eat the grass. That should give her the idea.’
    They grabbed two blades of the giant grass and began to nibble.
    Jumbeelia did take more notice then. ‘Roopy iggly plops! Glay jum,’ she said. She picked them up, one in each hand, and took them back to the doll’s house.
    ‘Dinner coming now!’ said Poppy. And it was – but not the sort of dinner they wanted. Instead, Jumbeelia pushed a bundle of grass in through the doll’s-house door.
    ‘Beely strimp!’ she said, and went back to the snails.
    ‘Oh no!’ said Colette. ‘Now she thinks we really like grass.’
    She tried not to cry – she wanted to be as brave for Poppy as Stephen had been for her – but she couldn’t help it. She was hungry and she was missing Stephen, but what made the tears come so fast was the feeling that Jumbeelia didn’t seem to care about them any more. Compared with Zab, Jumbeelia had been almost like a friend: she was a fellow collector, and such a kind and gentle one, or so it had seemed. Why had she let them down like this?
    ‘Cheer up, ’Lette,’ said Poppy, stroking her leg. This just made Colette burst out into louder sobs.
    ‘Jumbeelia’s so heartless !’
    But as she said the words she knew in a flash that they weren’t true, that Jumbeelia didn’t really mean to be cruel or unkind. ‘No, she’s not heartless – she’s just like me.’
    Colette remembered how her mother always accused her of losing interest in her collections. In just the same way, Jumbeelia was losing interest in them. But as she forgave the girl giant, Colette found herself feeling worse instead of better. Supposing Jumbeelia forgot to feed them ever again? What hope was there for them?
    Poppy interrupted her thoughts. ‘I thirsty,’ she said.
    Colette stopped crying then, not because she felt better, but because she suddenly felt cold all over.
    She knew that people could go without food for days, weeks even. But if you don’t have anything to drink, you die.
    ‘Go in garden, find Stephen, get puddle water,’ said Poppy.
    If only it was that simple! Even though Jumbeelia didn’t often play with them now, she was still careful to keep her door closed, especially at night, when the monster kitten slept on her bed.
    Thinking about the kitten