The three Johnson family members walked in the front door, and stopped to survey the small sandwich shop. It was clean, with lots of pictures on the wall behind the counter of the various food items offered. A large tabby cat sat by the door, licking its paws as the men walked in.
Axl took a deep breath and walked up to the counter where the old lady stood smiling at him.
"You again!" she beamed up at him from her full five feet. He hadn't noticed before, but her hair was a beautiful silvery gray and her eyes were a bright blue. She was probably something special in her younger years.
"Yup. Err, me again! Hey, um, do you remember when I was in here earlier?" His hands in his front pockets, Axl tried to approximate what a calm person might look like. He was failing.
"Yes dear… that's why I said 'you again.' Are you ok? You didn't take a spill, too, did you?" The woman peered up at Axl.
"No, he, ummm," Mike stepped up to the counter to take control of the situation. "No, he's fine. But he told us that a woman was in here earlier, and she fell and might have hit her head…?"
The old woman's face hardened a bit, "She's not looking to sue, is she? That floor wasn't wet at all! That was her own negligence…"
"No! No, no I don't think she's looking to sue," interrupted Mike, and the woman's face relaxed back into what looked like a sweet grandmother.
"What's your best sandwich?" Asked Olaf, who had sauntered up next to Mike. He looked over the meat items behind the counter, and examined the menu. He squinted a little bit, and then glanced at the old woman again, who smiled radiantly. Axl again thought that this woman was probably stunning in her youth. Her eyes were so clear, like ice water in a fjord he'd never seen.
"Well, our meat patties are pretty fine! And we do a great mutton sandwich. I get all the meat myself from local farms. It's just delicious!"
"Olaf, we're here to find out about the gi…." Mike began, but he didn't get a chance to finish.
"Yup, I'll take two meat patties and that lamb sandwich. And maybe a beer." Olaf began to turn away from the counter, but then turned back and fixed his gaze on the old woman's face, "and we'll need about 15 minutes of your time, if you don't mind, Skadi." The old woman froze and a veil seemed to fall from behind her eyes, something Mike and Axl didn't even realize was there until it was gone, exposing something more powerful than an aging sandwich maker. She could claim ignorance, but the impulse was fleeting; something told her there was little point in the pretense if the bald man already knew so much. She sighed.
"I'm not Skadi anymore, you probably know that, too. But you'll have your 15 minutes. And your patties." She gently smirked to herself as she turned and walked to the far end of the restaurant, through a door to a back room. She returned a few minutes later and a young man began taking orders from other customers. The old woman grabbed Olaf's food and ushered the three men to an empty table where they could speak without being overheard.
"So," she began, "how did you know who I am… was? And who are you three?"
"I'm Mike. I was Ullr, god of the hunt and games."
"Olaf, also known as Baldr, and oracle to my family."
"And I," said Axl, trying to summon up an air of authority and presence, "am, WAS, Odin. God of, you know, everything, pretty much." Skadi's eyes flickered over all three as they introduced themselves, but rested on Axl for a moment longer before she glanced to her left briefly to ensure no one was close enough to overhear them. She leaned back in her chair, let out a deep exhale, and turned the conversation once more to Olaf, who had opened one pattie and a beer while the introductions had been going. He tucked into his pattie while she spoke.
"So, I haven't knowingly met another god or goddess in fifteen years. To what do I owe the pleasure of three holy lads on this clear, bright day, hmm? You," she pointed to Axl, "I remember you from earlier. You here to tell me you didn't like my food? Because the way your friend here is tucking in…"
"No! I.. No! It was great!"
"...you'd think I was hiding gold in there!" Skadi finished, gesturing at Olaf who had finished the first meat pattie and was onto his second.
"This is," Olaf swallowed his mouthful, "this is really good!"
"No, we're here about the girl, earlier. The one who passed out in your shop when my brother came in." Mike leaned forward, grabbing the old woman's attention. "Do you remember her, Skadi?" She crinkled her face and sat up straight.
"I'm old, not completely senile, boy! And my name is Margaret, not Skadi. Not anymore, like I said." Something dark fluttered behind her eyes so quickly, for a moment Axl thought he had imagined it. "I remember the girl. Foreign. Nice, but a little off. Walks in, slips and falls," Mike shot Axl a glance behind Olaf's back, "then leaves almost as quickly." Margaret sat back in her chair again, as if having told a long and exhausting tale. She looked over at Olaf and a grin broke through the surface of her face. A wicked gleam caught her eye.
"Like my patties, eh? I'm good with meat." Axl coughed, trying to cover a laugh at the half-hidden double-entendre. Whatever her age, it was unlikely she was older than their grandfather, who was coming up on his 99th birthday, but that didn't mean he wanted a shag that might end in her needing hip replacement. Olaf felt a swig of beer he'd taken try to make a hasty exit via his nose.
"Look, Margaret," Mike tried to take control of the situation, fearing where this conversation could go, "the thing is, we really need to talk to that girl. Now, I'm betting you know something, something that could help us." Mike smiled, flirting a bit with the woman in hopes of pressing his mortal luck.
"Sorry," she sighed, sounding legitimately remorseful, "but she was in and out. I never got a name, and she didn't buy anything with a card, so I couldn't help you there." The opened her hands as if to say that her resources were as empty as her roughened palms. Mike hung his head, and Axl and Olaf let out breaths they didn't know they had been holding. They got up, and Mike offered his hand to Margaret to shake.
"Right then. Well, thanks anyway," he said, as the men got up to leave. Margaret rose from her chair, looking the men over. She started walking towards the back of the store.
Axl gently nudged Mike's arm as they put their jackets on to leave. "Good try."
"Eh?"
"Good try," Axl repeated, "with the, 'I bet you know something' trick. If you'd been full on god powers, we might'a had something."
"Oh. Right." Mike cleared his throat and briefly studied his shoes while he pulled on his coat.
"Hey! You lot, wait!" Axl shot Mike a quick and slightly quizzical glance. Margaret was flapping her hand high in the air and scurrying toward them like they'd stolen her best cleaver. Her chest puffed a bit when she got to them, and Olaf took a moment to remind himself that women aged like wines, and sometimes that wine was made from ripe, round grapes that appeared to be shocking firm for their age.
"Did you remember something? Her name?!"
"No, no! Nothing like that!" Margaret shot Axl an annoyed glance, as if his stupidity was wasting whatever time she had left. "I told you, she never gave me her name!"
"Then…. what?" Mike asked, not sure what could have made the woman act like she had the winning lotto numbers.
"When she fell, I remember thinking how lucky it was that I didn't see her in a car, because she was in no condition to drive." Margaret's face beamed at the three men, who simply stood and looked at her in dumb silence. She sighed. "We're not directly in front of any major transportation lines. Odds are, she stumbled across this shop. Without a car, that would mean wherever she's staying, she's within walking distance." Margaret leaned in a bit, this time waiting to see if gods really were as daft as she had heard, or if they would be able to ride the logic train from there. Mike's eyes were the first to light up, followed by Axl's. Olaf simply reached out to take Margaret's hand, and lifted it gently to his lips.
"That is tremendously, tremendously helpful, Maggie. Thank you." He glanced up into her face as his mouth covered her knuckles slowly. She smiled a deep smile as their eyes met. " You wouldn't happen to like grapes, would you?"
"Ho! We should be leaving!" announced Mike, clearing his throat and grabbing one of Olaf's arms.
"Yup! Ok, gramps!" Axl grabbed Olaf's other arm, and tried very hard not to consider what the family patriarch would do with Margaret the sandwich shop owner, grapes, and an hour or two alone. Mike and Axl spun Olaf around and marched him out front to the car park.
"Ok, that was weird," Axl broke the silence once the three men were in the quiet confines of the truck. "So, who is Skadi, again? Is she the goddess of meat patties or something?"
"You're not too far off," began Olaf. "Did you feel anything when looking at her?" His voice didn't contain even a hint of teasing, which was the only reason Axl took a second to really consider the question before turning his head to look into the back seat.
"No, grandpa! Ew! I mean, I'm sure she's a hot number on the geriatric circuit… you sure took a fancy to her... but I like girls who are more… not your age." Olaf chuckled, and it hurt Axl's heart a little. His grandfather sounded more and more like an old man every day.
"Well, if you didn't feel anything for her, that would be a bit of a surprise. Skadi is the goddess of bowhunting, so it's not surprising that she has a meat shop," Olaf began.
"I'm the…. I was Ullr, the god of hunts and games. Why don't I have an obsession with leather jackets, or eat steak every night, then?" Mike cut in.
Olaf puffed some air out in a frustrated sigh, "From what I recall, the godly powers manifest somewhat differently with each human host. Maybe a previous host to Ullr was a furrier, or a cattle rancher. I don't know." Olaf turned his attention back to Axl, "But you, in particular, should have felt something. Skadi is a goddess, but she is a halfbreed. Her father was a jotnar. She and Odin were married, and it is said that they had many, maaaaaaaany children." A mischievous smile swept across Olaf's face as he awaited the reaction he knew was coming.
"What? With her?! I was married to her?!" Axl cringed and looked a bit green.
"Hey, it's not so bad," Mike chimed in with a smile as he started up the truck, "Just think if the situations had been reversed: Hanna could have been Skadi, and Margaret could have been the Frigg."
"Does that mean you and Maggie would be living together now, Mike?" Axl turned to his brother with a sarcastic tone and glint in his eye.
"We… should probably get going." Mike turned the key and jammed the truck into gear, as both Axl and Olaf smiled to themselves. "What about you, grandpa? You seemed to take a liking to her."
"It's the meat. Skadi is a skilled huntress, and it's said that the taste of her meat can make anyone, god or man, fall in love with her."
"I'll leave that one completely alone, thanks," said Axl to himself. Mike drove back to the building site as all three men pondered the scenario in silence. They had learned a lot at the sandwich shop, and each of them knew that whatever was going on, it was all bigger than one foreign girl taking a tumble. Gods and goddesses; sometimes it felt like they were never going to leave.
