me,” Peter said, finding nothing suspicious. “No time to argue!”
Peter walked with quiet, light steps. From time to time, Vlad had to break into a trot to keep up with him.
The forest was old, deep and impenetrable. The path was littered with dead and wind-fallen trees blocking the way. The boys had to crawl under or climb over them, or even walk around. At first sight, the hill was not far, only within a half an hour walk, but they were approaching it very slowly.
“Hold on!” Peter said in a hushed voice and froze.
Vlad stood still and pricked up his ears.
“I can’t see anything,” he whispered.
“We are not alone,” Peter said. “Let’s change the route.”
“You make it sound like we have to split up.”
Vlad began to worry in earnest, but Peter had already stopped listening. He was anxiously peering at every bush, every tree, as if he was looking for something dangerous hiding there. Only when he made sure that nothing posed a threat to them, Peter gave a signal, and they moved on.
Vlad felt the waves of fear and anxiety coming from Peter and was reflexively hiding behind his back. Anyway, Peter was at home, or rather close to his home, in the place he knew, though only by hearsay. As for Vlad, it was his first time in this forest, and he had no experience or knowledge about anything of the kind.
His companion was right: After spending a few minutes in this wondrous forest, the excitement he felt at first oozed away. Now he was in no mood for marveling at splendors of nature: He could savor his memories about the place later. Right now, he had to get out of there, safe and sound.
Vlad was about to ask another question, but Peter hushed him up. He turned his head and put a finger to his lips so slowly, as if the movement could make noise.
It was something like a blast of wind, short and whistling.
The next instant the forest grew gloomy. The sky became dark with clouds; it was suddenly dreary and cold. The forest, dispiritingly silent just a moment ago, was now filled with mysterious sounds and alarming noises. Birds and wild animals were first to sense impending danger, warning out the rest of the forest inhabitants.
“With dangers awaiting you at every turn, I should have stayed at home,” Vlad said to himself.
Peter, as if responding to Vlad’s thoughts, stopped so suddenly that Vlad bumped into him. Vlad wanted to walk him around and took a step to the side, but Peter grabbed him by the arm.
“Stand still, don’t move,” he ordered, and suddenly there was a hint of steel in his voice.
“What’s happened?” Vlad was taken aback.
Peter pushed him down.
“Be quiet!”
They crawled several meters forward and hid behind a big snag.
“What’s going on?..” Vlad tried to peep out, but Peter put his hand over Vlad’s mouth and put a finger to his lips again.
Vlad sensed rather than heard the earth tremble rhythmically, as if it was struck with an enormous hammer. The boys peeped out warily from behind their cover.
Next moment Vlad saw it.
A giant was moving through the trees, towards them. It was of the four-story building height.
“Don’t move and be quiet,” Peter said, sounding quivery and strained.
“How long?” Vlad asked beneath his breath.
“Until it goes away.”
“Are you sure it will go away?” Vlad asked worryingly.
“It is hunting, stalking its prey,” Peter assured him. “It has other things to worry about rather than us.”
He was right, the giant was not strolling leisurely through the forest. It was walking slowly, watching its step closely, and constantly sniffing and blowing heavily through its nostrils.
“What does it prey on?” Vlad asked.
“Everything that runs, crawls, and flies!” the reply wasn’t comforting.
“Does it mean we can also be its prey?” Vlad opened his eyes wide, disconcerted.
“Yes, it does, a big game!”
Suddenly a bird flew up, squawking, from the branch above their heads.
The boys froze.
The giant turned towards the sudden noise, and only then Vlad saw that it had two heads. One head was male, with a shiny bald pate and an underhung lower jaw. The other was female, with greasy long black hair and big hungry eyes. Both faces were disgusting.
The monster took a whiff and took a few uncertain steps towards the boys’ hiding place.
Peter and Vlad pressed themselves to the ground and held their breath. However, their position was untenable: The wind was blowing right into the giant’s faces, and it must have already smelled the prey. Both pairs of its nostrils flared like a blacksmith’s bellows, and its feet smashed bushes and fallen trees.
The giant came up so close that the boys could smell its stinky breath. All it had to do was look behind the snag, pull apart the old roots over the boys’ heads and get them. But the stupid monster didn’t have the wit to do it. What was wrong? The smell of the prey was inches away, tickling both noses and making both mouths water, but there was nothing to be seen!
The giant roared with disappointment, shook its heads and flapped its arms. It was beating its chest and tramping its feet. The earth was quaking. Eventually, it kicked the old snag that was hiding the boys, and went its own way.
A cloud of dust and clods of earth were kicked up. The saving snag landed far away in the forest, as if it was featherlight.
Having no cover, the boys were paralyzed with fear, being aware of their vulnerability, but then they realized that the giant was going away. Their joy didn’t last long though. One of the four eyes of the giant noticed the prey. Both gruesome faces broke into a broad hungry grin of delight, and the giant began to turn back.
“Run!” Peter cried out.
The boys ran as fast as they could.
The earth was trembling underfoot. The monster rushed after them, anticipating a hearty meal. The boys could hear its roar and its breath, heavy of running. It could run them down any time now.
“Let’s break up!” Vlad came up with the idea.
The boys went their own separate ways.
The giant was mechanically running straight for a while. One head was watching Peter, and the other was watching Vlad. But even though the giant had two heads, it had only two legs. Its heads being in disagreement were of little help: One head insisted on turning left and the other wanted to go right. The giant couldn’t be everywhere at once. Neither could it resolve the problem: Which head was right? And that was why the giant stopped in uncertainty, turning a huge pile of dirt upside down with its horned feet.
The male head was looking toward Vlad and smacking lips; the female head was looking toward Peter and drooling over. Not knowing who to choose, the giant was twitching from side to side.
“Let’s get the shorty! He has tender meat!” the male head uttered, gnashing its teeth.
“No! Let’s get the one who’s taller!” the female head objected.
“He’s nothing but skin and bones!” the male head protested. “No meat at all!”
The giant took a few steps in Vlad’s direction but then stopped again.
“We’ll do as I say!” the female head barked out. “I am the boss!”
“Since when are you the