8 Hard Labor

CHAPTER 8

Hard Labor The prince and Clara slept on beds of straw and woke to the smell of baked bread and mulled cider. They followed the delicious smells into the cave kitchen. The giant children, Tublock, Thea, and Farfalee, showed Lucas and Clara to a pair of very tall chairs. They had to climb ladders to get to their seats. "Father, may I harvest ice too?" asked Tublock, the oldest giant child. Gumlock smiled at his son's offer. "Not this time," he said. "I want you and your younger sister and brother to take Ruskin to the obstacle course for training." Tublock clapped his hands. "Oh, I'd love to do that!" he cried.

Lucas and Clara wanted to go with the children, but they knew they had to go with Gumlock. It was part of their punishment. After breakfast Lucas and Clara helped load a sled with pickaxes and shovels. Another giant, a cousin, named Huffie, joined them, and off they slid toward the lake. The sled glided into a wide-open snowfield. Windswept snowdrifts stretched out before them.

"I feel like I'm on top of the clouds!" Clara exclaimed. "Me too," said Lucas. A snow-covered lake sparkled in the morning light. Gumlock handed Lucas and Clara shovels. Then they scooped the fresh snow off the ice. When they had cleared a large patch of snow, Gumlock marked a checkerboard pattern on the ice. Then Gumlock and Huffie chopped at the ice with pickaxes. Lucas and Clara cleared more snow.

"This is tiring," said Lucas. "You said it," agreed Clara. "This is called hard labor," Gumlock said. "And you two are doing very well for your first time." This made Lucas and Clara feel better about what they were doing. They began to appreciate what the giants did for the castle. No wonder Cook had been so angry about the melted ice. Cutting ice blocks wasn't easy.

As the sun went down, Gumlock and Huffie loaded the blocks of ice onto the sled. Then they covered them with hay. The hay would keep the next layer of ice blocks from sticking. Back at the cave, Lucas and Clara devoured bowls of stew served in giant thimbles.