"will this rain ever stop ? "

This plaintive query came from Valerie Scott as she attempted to adjust the makeshift hood over her auburn hair. She and Mark Wilson had been on the trail since dawn. The rain had started mid-morning and showed no signs of stopping this side of nightfall. It was making the ground treacherous, with trickles turning into torrents, and causing the mud to suck at their already worn footwear. Moving to higher ground in search of anywhere drier was not an option when you are surrounded by 1000 foot trees, and being bombarded by droplets the volume of a small spa-pool. In fact, avoiding the giant droplets was fast becoming a preoccupation for Valerie, after several dousings that totally overwhelmed her meagre protection from the elements. Mark fared only slightly better, but they both needed to get out of the rain soon. The low regrowth around the base of the monstrous trees provided some relief with the taller ferns breaking up the water, but it was not enough for a campsite.

Since landing of this Giant's world over 2 years ago, the "little people" , made up of the crew and passengers of the downed spacecraft The Spindrift, had survived the mild winters well. It would seem that their ship had the good fortune to crash in an area where the climate was relatively equitable, with only the occasional storms to challenge their ability to survive. Now, however, it would seem that the planet had entered a rainy cycle with no end in sight for relief on the ground. The only bonus to this weather system appeared to be the reluctance of the Giants to venture out after the Little People, preferring to keep at home. Consequently life was fractionally less stressful for all on the Spindrift. But of course perversity chose that time to throw a new set of challenges in their path instead. The most pressing of which was the search for food. With the Giants staying away from the woods and parks, and no picnic's or lunchbreaks to scavenge food scraps from, things for the hapless travellers were becoming more desperate. The local foodmarket had, for awhile, been an excellent source of dry-goods and hardware, but after an unfortunate incident with a flour barrel, resulting in an incriminating trail of footprints, the proprietor had decided to install a cat to deter further nocturnal visits. That avenue, as a food source, was now no longer so easily accessible.

Dan, the co-pilot, had had considerable success in growing a green crop, much to everyone's surprise, although Fitzhugh claimed that given better soil and seed he could have done the same. Dan produced a fair facsimile of a lettuce, which tasted alot like celery, and was most welcome by all his friends. Keeping the insects away from them, particularly the local equivalent of a snail, was proving to be problematic. Given that the snails were as big as Earth cows, the only deterrent was an electric barrier devised by Mark. This proved excellent, until a tree branch smashed the fence and the crop was lost.

After that, the search for food became almost an obsession for all of them, which in turn created a conflict between the repairs to the ship, which was strongly argued by Mark, Fitzhugh and Valerie, against the need for food collection and storage, argued by Steve, Dan and Betty. Barry very wisely stayed right out of the arguments, leaving the decisions up to the grown-ups. He and Chipper kept busy sniffing out edible fungi, and Chipper was quickly developing a highly selective nose for the job.

With tempers becoming frayed it was decided to give everyone a break, and teams were formed to go out further afield and explore the outer reaches of the woods. It was hoped they would find useable resources for the ship and the people aboard her, as well as providing a much needed physical outlet for all the excess energy. Steve and Dan, with Betty's help had elected to stay with the ship. They would attempt to effect repairs to the lean-to and outdoor sleeping accommodations. This had deteriorated over the last two years, and was now taking a battering from the weather. The ship also needed minor repairs and overhauls that could be best completed by Steve with Dan's help. Betty wanted to overhaul some of the clothes that had come off the worse for wear from some of the more perilous adventures in Giant land, so she was glad of the opportunity to take over the passenger area of the Spindrift, uninterrupted by everyone else. Fitzhugh, after much grumbling had agreed to take Barry and Chipper on a camping trip to become better acquainted with the many aspects of fishing in the local ponds. This would also give Fitzhugh the perfect excuse to do nothing, while being seen to do something. Barry was just glad to get away from all the squabbling. Which left Valerie and Mark to make up the remaining team, with the express purpose of exploring as far as possible, and hopefully discovering new foods, and even maybe resources that could be used for the ship and environs.

Wet weather gear had been improvised from plastic wrappers, most probably from sweets, that made excellent ponchos, and combined with tents and sleeping bags made from a canvas bag found discarded by a camper, Mark and Valerie felt well equipped for the journey. A travois had also been constructed from drinking straws found near a picnic ground, which made a lightweight but strong frame to carry their provisions. Mark pulled the gear with help from Valerie over the rough spots, and together they were now into their third day away from the camp. Initially the novelty of being away from the confines of the camp had kept Mark and Valerie's spirits high, but with the onset of the rain, and the gradual deterioration of the ground they were both more than ready to turn around. It was only the thought of having to go over the same ground, only now muddy and wet, that prevented Valerie from pushing for a turn-around. She was enjoying the time spent with Mark, and if only the rain would stop, she would be enjoying the new surroundings as well.

They had stopped frequently during the morning because the ground was so slippery, and having to cross the now numerous streams was sapping Marks strength. Even with Valerie to help, the travois was starting to feel as if it was loaded with rocks, not just their provisions. It was on one of these breaks that Valerie made her plaintive request about the rain. She didn't really expect an answer from Mark, and wasn't surprised to only receive a grunt in reply. It was hours yet till dark, but Valerie figured they would have to find shelter soon. With that in mind, she scanned the surrounding area in search of a likely direction to look.

On the surface it seemed an odd pairing of the Society girl with the Millionaire Engineer, but surprisingly Mark and Valerie worked well together. Mark provided a quick mind when it came to problem solving, and he was always ready to pitch in with whatever physical demands were made. Valerie was also first on the scene with suggestions and solutions, but she had also discovered a talent for picking the right direction to produce the best results, either when searching for shelter, or looking for food. Valerie had no idea why she had so much success with this "women's intuition" but it had saved them on several occasions by turning up unexpected shortcuts, or bountiful provisions. Now she surveyed the dripping greenery with a view to a dry night's rest, but the options were not exactly cheering. Mark had propped the sledge on a rock and was taking a drink from the canteen, in preparation of radioing Steve back at camp with an update of their progress that day. Even though it wasn't quite noon by their watches, it was close enough, and the rest was welcome. Despite every attempt to make pulling the framework as effortless as possible with a system of shoulder harnesses, it still required a great deal of physical effort. Today, with the rain, it seemed to take twice at much, despite Valerie's best efforts at finding a smooth trail.

Mark looked over at Valerie and marvelled anew at how she had changed over the two years he had known her. When they had first landed, she had tried to play him off Steve with some success. But that had quickly become a dangerous pastime, after it caused a near disaster involving a Giant gun and a bounty hunter. Since that incident, Valerie had been much more open and honest with everyone. Providing a refreshingly different point of view when he and Steve were stuck with some problem that had no obvious solution.

She had also lost all her affectations of a Society Girl, and was now as ready as anyone to be counted on to do her share of the more dangerous or just plain difficult physical requirements of living in a Giant world. They had all, in fact, had to develop skills and muscles that were never used on Earth. The ability to climb a rope or cord became apparent early on, and being able to haul ones own body weights over a ledge became a necessary skill. Steve and Dan, being an ex-jock and Olympic athlete respectively had found this aspect of their lives relatively easy, but for Mark, who had never considered himself unfit ,it was a very sore first few months after the crash. Valerie and Betty had been the same, and Fitzhugh, being the eldest had had the hardest time of all. Barry seemed to almost treat it all as a huge adventure playground and coped with the physical stress with ease. Now all the group had become honed and well able to deal with whatever challenges the Giant planet had to throw at them, whatever it may involve. Up until recently the only activity they hadn't had to get involved in was swimming. That looked as if it was about to change, if this weather system persisted for much longer. The Spindrift sat in a slight, sloping depression, and Steve and Dan were hoping to use this to their advantage by building the lean-to in such a way to allow the excess water to drain away freely. That was the plan atleast. Mark was looking forward to seeing how it had been executed when they finally got back to camp, sometime in the next week.

His contemplative stance was drawing amused glances from Valerie, and Mark realised he had been staring at her for sometime. He quickly looked away and busied himself with scanning the surrounding plants for anything that would make a quick lunch. He noticed a new bush, with bunches of fruit, that looked alot like grapes but brown in colour. He approached the fruit with caution, as with anything unknown it was wise to use common sense. Several previous experiences with exploding seed pods had shown Mark that a cautious approach was necessary to stay alive. These didn't look as though they were going to explode, in fact they hung like round, soft looking, water bags. The skin looked almost like leather, and when he pushed his hand against the skin it gave, and the fluid inside sloshed freely, making the fruit sway on the stalk.

"Hey Val, take a look at these, I can't remember ever seeing these before, or heard the others mention anything like this. Do you ?"

Valerie stepped around the travois for a closer look and peered over Marks shoulder as he crouched down in front of the lowest berry.

"I can't recall anyone mentioning these, and no-one has ever brought one back to camp. I wonder what the juice is like inside...seems really liquid, like there's no seeds or sections inside, kinda like a seedless grape"

Mark was thinking along the same lines.

"I'm going to separate one from the bunch and cut if open. See if you can find a suitable rock to use as a cutting board and look around for any evidence that these are eaten by the local animal or bird population, that would be a good indicator of its toxicity"

" Okay , I think I saw just what you need, over behind that tree root"

Valerie set off to scout around, and soon her shout directed Mark to a flat rock just made for a dissection. Mark had cut the round fruit from the bunch and found that handling the globe just reinforced his assessment of its leathery like skin. The juice inside slopped around freely, seeming to beg for release. Mark placed the fruit on the rock and indicated for Valerie to stand well back. His hatchet made a small but substantial gash in the skin and immediately a dark viscous fluid poured out of the wound. Mark had jumped back, and seemingly just in time, as the rock and small plants around the base started to smoke from contact with the juices. Valerie coughed and Mark hurriedly pulled her away, back towards their gear. The fruit quickly emptied of its burden, folding in on itself like a popped balloon, taking on the appearance of a sealskin. Mark and Valerie waited for the vapour to dissipate before approaching to see the end result of their experiment.

"Well I don't see us using that as a pre-dinner cocktail, do you Mark ?"

" No, I would guess it's more suited as a cleaning agent for heavily greased engine parts. Its certainly acidic enough to dissolve the most stubborn grease" Mark quirked a small smile at his little joke. Valerie was using a stick to poke at the collapsed shell.

" I guess it would make great footwear, being impervious to water and strong acids.....if we could only clean it out" she continued to poke at it until Mark removed the stick from her hand.

"If you poke it full of holes it won't be much use for anything"

Valerie gave him a look, and started back to the makeshift rest stop.

" Well I for one think we should be more concerned about finding somewhere to camp tonight, this rain may be slacking off, but it'll be the devils own work to find any dry timber for a fire, and I don't want to be putting these wet clothes on again tomorrow" Valerie stood and faced Mark, challenging him to refute her statement. Mark just smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I guess the rest stop is over then ??" he quirked an eyebrow and Valerie's lips twitched in reply.

"I guess it is" she said," so come on and help me haul this contraption, I'm sure we'll find somewhere suitable soon"

" Another of your hunches Val ??" Mark queried as he adjusted the straps of the harness, after depositing the empty brown fruit shell onto the travois. Valerie had already attached another rope and together they hauled their load down a slight incline and onto a seemingly flat pathway, in reality a small animal trail, but easier going with the mud and water allowing the sled to slide smoothly.

"Oh you know me Mark, I always listen to the little voices in my head, they make for intelligent conversation at least" at that comment Mark laughed loudly, it was an ongoing joke between them.

Between his genius level IQ and Valerie's society repartee they often had rapid and amusing conversations that ended in them both laughing at the absurdity of their present situation.

" Well lead on Val, I'm all for intelligent conversation, especially when it could mean a dry bed for the night."

Valerie ignored his comments and took the strain on the rope, together they set off at a steady, or atleast as steady as possible, pace. Before long they reached the end of the trail and Mark stopped to catch his breath and to give Valerie a chance to point out their next direction. Valerie was looking very closely at a grove of trees not far away.

" Mark, do those trees look kinda funny to you ?"

" Funny how ?" Mark scrutinised the trees, but couldn't see what obviously Valerie did.

" Well, they look as if they've been planted, rather than growing wild....they look set out in a line, doncha think ?" Mark followed the direction Valerie was pointing .

" They do look sort of orderly...do we have any information about this area of the woods ?? I know we are supposed to be exploring new territory, but we may have passed through here at some time" Mark wiped the rain from his eyes and turned to Valerie

" Well according to Steve, we have passed through this general direction, but he couldn't be exactly sure, given that it was during one of our early forays, and we weren't keeping records then, which is one of the reasons Steve wanted us to come this way" Valerie peered out from under her hood towards the suspect trees.

"Okay, I can see that....so what does he remember ?" Mark could feel a drip working its way down his back.

" He did remember it as a heavily wooded area, with the possibility of the occasional shack"

" So what we are seeing could have been planted around a hunters shack ?" Mark was keen to move on and shifted the weight ready to move off again.

" Yes that's a definite possibility, we should be able to make it over there well before dark. Ready to set off again ?" Valerie was as keen as Mark to get dry.

" Let's haul then...watch out for that puddle up ahead, I can't see how deep it is from here".

They travelled for another hour and finally reached the trees Valerie had spotted. They certainly looked as if they had been planted as an avenue leading to a house. By now it was starting to get darker, so it was decided to press on in the hopes of finding the building before full dark.

The last of the light illuminated the front of a ramshackle hut. It hardly qualified as a house, but all Mark and Valerie saw was a refuge out of the rain. Fortunately there were no steps to speak of, and they were able to pull the sled right into the interior through the partly rotted door.

They looked around in the diminishing light and saw several pieces of rotten furniture, covered in dust and cobwebs, but no obvious signs of recent occupation by Giants or large rodent activity.

" Its not exactly the Carlton, but I reckon it will do nicely" Mark groaned as he released the shoulder straps and straightened. He carefully lowered the frame to the floor and sorted out the necessary items needed to start a fire. Light was at a premium so they would need a fire quickly so they could further explore their shelter for the night.

" I don't see any evidence of rodents or cats, looks like we lucked out this time. I'll gather some cobwebs and splinters so we can have some torches" Valerie moved away to gather the webs as Mark rooted through the packs for his lighter. They had given Fitzhugh and Barry the battery torches as they felt well able to fend for themselves with whatever became available. Mark started to gather together wood shards left on the ground. They were under the shelter of a large table, just in case there was a leak in the roof, and there were plenty of broken pieces of timber, rotted but perfectly dry. Valerie had found a couple of spent matches and was wrapping cobwebs around the end in readiness for Mark. The webs made an excellent firestarter and Mark had a blaze going in no time. Their clothes quickly began to steam and they shucked their ponchos and held out their hands to the fire grateful for the warmth before they started the job of setting up the tent and thinking about their evening meal.

" We should explore a bit more before we settle down here" Mark had stacked the packs and tent by one of the table legs. He took the future firebrands from Valerie so she could shed her poncho and heavy overcoat.

" Shall we split up ?" Valerie didn't fancy exploring the spooky shack on her own, but they would cover more ground that way.

"No, I'd rather we stay together until we're sure we're alone in here, so keep your ears and eyes open for any movement, especially any flash of light reflected from any eyes" Mark held the brands to his fire and they caught quickly. The wind had picked up outside and a brisk draft blew through the door, making their shadows dance over the walls. Valerie held her brand high in an attempt to see the state of the roof, but given the lack of water on the floor it looked as if their luck was holding with an intact shelter. Mark moved off towards the back of the room, sweeping the brand back and forth to clear the cobwebs hanging off the dilapidated furniture, Valerie followed close behind checking behind occasionally as the draft caught her flame and made it shift eerily.

They seemed to be moving a long way from their camp site, but Mark suddenly stopped so that Valerie almost bumped into his back.

" What's the matter ?" Valerie tried to peer around Mark to see what had caught his attention.

" Do you see that, over there by the back wall...." Mark extended his arm to maximise his circle of light.

" I see something, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at " Valerie peered hard into the gloom and finally caught a reflection that seemed to flicker back at them.

" Its a mirror, at ground level, it must have fallen off the wall, amazing that its not broken, must have been protected by the heavy frame...lets get closer" Mark moved off at a jog and his lights reflection bobbed in the mirror like a jack-o-lantern. Valerie hung back, quite sure she didn't want to see the ravages of two years spent on the Giant planet.

" I'm not sure I want to see it, Mark...lets move on" but Mark had reached the mirror and was waving the torch around to clear the surface of webs and dust.

" I wonder if it has silver oxide on the reverse, if it does we could scrape some off and take it back, I'm sure Steve and Dan could think of a use for it" Mark was eager to look at the back, Valerie hung back and looked towards the flickering camp fire behind them.

" Come on Mark, let's get back to the fire, we can explore more in the morning. I'm beat and damp and I want to remedy both....right now"

Valerie turned around and started to walk slowly back they way they had come.

" All right Val, I guess it will wait until then, lets get back and set up, I'd like to fix up a windbreak for the tent and hit the sack...what do we have for supper tonight" Mark finally turned around and started to follow Valerie back. Suddenly there was a scuffling noise in the far, dark, corner. Valerie stopped and turned back to Mark.

" And just what the hell was that ?" Valerie looked alarmed. Mark turned in the direction of the noise and caught a quick flash of reflection and a flick of a long tail before the shadow raced out of the broken front door.

" Whatever it was, it's gone now, let's get back and settled in...come on, its not far " Mark gently grasped Valerie's arm and felt it tremble slightly, for all her bravado she still had a deep rooted fear of small rodents, even more so now that it was possible for them to make a meal of her.

Mark tugged her gently around and they set off again for the campfire, picking up the pace as they got closer.

Once there, they quickly piled more wood on the fire, doused the brands and set about erecting the tent. Driving in the stakes proved easy in the rotted wood of the floor, but the draft was a definite problem. Mark found a lid of a box and secured this to the leg of the table behind the tent, then while Valerie set out their meal for that night, Mark put the sleeping bags in the tent. While there, he changed out of his wet clothes. Valerie had done that already while he fixed the windbreak and had hung her damp outer clothing on the tent lines to dry out.

Supper was slightly stale bread from 3 days ago, and some pear-like fruits that were surprisingly creamy. They had been picked the previous day at a rest stop. Finally it was time to turn in, Mark checked the tent lines and the windbreak while Valerie got herself ready for bed. They had already decided where each latrine would be, and Valerie was busy brushing her teeth using the water bottle to rinse. Despite the rain, clean drinkable water was still in short supply so it was used sparingly. With her hair tied back with a ribbon and her face scrubbed clean of makeup Mark thought she looked very young and untouched, at odds with what he knew she was capable of . Mark waited until she was inside the tent before he performed his own ablutions then it was time to turn in. They had decided early on that the usual proprieties were more likely to work against them, so sleeping in the same tent, albeit in separate blankets, made the best use of their body heat....well that was how he justified it too himself. He actually looked forward to sleeping with Valerie in the tent with him, it helped to ease the aching loneliness of their situation, having another human body breathing the same air. How Valerie felt about their unusual closeness was still a mystery, but as she hadn't made any protest to the arrangements he figured that she must feel the same way. After all, she was not backward in making her feelings known, and wasn't shy about voicing her opinions, so her reticence in this instance screamed of acceptance. Mark certainly wasn't going to argue. In fact he was starting to wonder how he was going to sleep without her when they finally got back to camp.

Relationships among the group had largely been ignored on a sexual level because of the extreme danger of their situation, and the group had functioned well with the level of intimacy born of close friendship and shared crisis. But now Mark felt that things might just be moving closer between Valerie and himself, largely because of this trip. Up till now it had only been occasional touches, finding that he wanted to be the one that helped her up or down whatever obstacles were in their way. In fact he was starting to feel positively territorial where Valerie was concerned and Steve and Dan obviously saw this, as they made no move to dissuade or compete with him. As for Valerie, she had been sending mixed signals for some time, but certainly didn't seem to object to his invasion of her personal space on more than one of a hundred occasions. In fact, it seemed to Mark that she welcomed his touch on her arm to guide her, or his back to lean against, and he often found himself looking at her, to see her reaction to some statement from another member of the group, just to look at her face and read her expression. If he wasn't careful this could lead to all sorts of trouble. But maybe trouble was just what they both needed to survive. For now though, they had both had a hard physical work out and sleep, not talk, was a necessity for them both, so Mark banked the fire to make sure it didn't spread and then crouched down at the opening of the tent. From the sound of soft breathing coming from Valerie's side she had clearly already dropped off, which allowed Mark the luxury of looking at her without being caught out. Her hair was tousled and he reached out and touched it, it was surprisingly soft, and although ragged from infrequent haircuts from Betty, it still curled softly around her head. He had kept his own hair short, more from habit than practicality and to give Betty the practice. All the men kept their hair short and faces clean shaven more from habit than necessity, it gave them the sense that they were still going to be going home to Earth sometime soon, although it was fast becoming more of a fantasy than a probability. But no one was ready yet to face that emotional minefield. So they kept up appearances, although their clothes were becoming ragged, and their footwear ready to give out anyday. It had been fortunate that they had all had luggage with them when they crashed, it had allowed them to maintain a certain level of civilisation that would have been impossible otherwise. It also forestalled any problems with their teeth and general health, which given their precarious situation was to be encouraged. Tiny dentists being in short supply on this planet.

Mark eased himself into his blankets beside Valerie who had curled up on her side, facing him. He gazed at her relaxed features in the light of the dying fire and sighed to himself. The time was coming when he would have to have that talk with her. With that thought in mind, Mark turned into the blankets and was soon sleeping as peacefully as his tent mate.

Outside the wind raged, and rattled against the walls of the shack.