A big girl comes into his life
Chapter 1
Roger Tate was lost! His only clue to his whereabouts was that he was near a place called "Ape Mountain" on the map of British Columbia, Canada.
Days before, his Canadian guide had slipped away while Roger was asleep.
The guide had left the map and a compass but not his rifle, leaving him nearly defenseless.
Hoping to avoid any bears, Roger had tied a small bell to his pack frame, figuring the tinkling it made would alert a bear to his presence and he wouldn't surprise it.
Determined to find his quarry, Roger stubbornly forged ahead only to wind up hopelessly lost.
He only knew he was somewhere along the creek that came out of the valley below Ape Mountain, but little else.
The aerial survey map had showed a small lake there and a bit of a clearing in the dense woods, he figured on making it to the lake and contacting his boss, Rachel Thompson.
She could make the arrangements for a helicopter to extract him from the forest that stretched in seemingly endless miles all around him.
With only the creek bed and his map as a guide, Roger toiled his way deeper into the trackless forest, all the while clinging to the hope of finding the small lake in the next few days.
On the seventh day after his abandonment by the feckless guide, Roger had rounded a large berry thicket when the forest opened up and he saw open water, the lake!
Grinning like an idiot, Roger let out the first real laugh he'd enjoyed since he and George had said farewell after the birth of George's twins.
Briefly, he wondered how George and Mia were managing, then he shook his head to clear his mind, "Back to reality fellah!" he muttered glumly.
Reaching the lake was about another half hour of walking, then he stood on the rocky shoreline briefly admiring the view.
While glancing around, Roger spotted a pair of pine trees that had toppled and in so doing, had created a den of sorts. Looking closer, he saw that with a lttle bit of work, he could make a defensible shelter to wait in until the helicopter arrived.
"First things first!" he muttered while setting up a solar cell array to charge up his satellite phone. Then with his survival hatchet, he made an opening in the tangle of branches, crawling inside he soon had cut out and smoothed off an area large enough for him to sleep in.
Two of the straighter branches were sharpened into crude spears and set aside, lastly he arranged stones into a shallow fire ring to build a fire in.
With the satellite phone now fully charged, Roger opened up his armored phone and punched in a series of numbers, hit "send" and waited.
A few rings later, Rachel answered breathlessly, "Roger?! Is that you?"
Roger chuckled softly and said, "I'm at the lake, the damn guide ditched me seven days ago. Aside from wanting to choke me a Canuck right now and starving for a burger, I'm okay!"
Rachel replied grimly, "The little bastard's in jail right now, he came out of the forest telling some wild tale about bears attacking and you got eaten and he ran for his life."
Roger grumbled, "He's gonna wish a bear had eaten me when I get back! He took my granddad's rifle, the one he used when he lived up in Alaska."
Rachel said pleasantly, "We have the rifle, he tried to pawn it and we got it back for you."
He smiled and said happily, "Well, that is good news! Any how, I'm at the lake near Ape Mountain and I'll stand by until the helicopter gets here."
Rachel said, "That's good, stay put okay? The helicopter will departing as soon as we can arrange for one."
Roger put away the phone and got out his fishing gear, the lake had to have trout in it he figured and after turning over a few pieces of driftwood, he found enough worms to have bait.
The fish were biting and Roger soon caught a couple of sleek lake trout in short order.
After cleaning them, he built a small fire, and tied the fish to a thin branch to prop over the fire and roasted the fish.
After eating, Roger carried the remnants off into the forest and dropped them to the ground.
Coming back to camp, Roger was startled to see he had a visitor.
Noiselessly, he slipped behind a tree and peeked around its trunk to get a better look at his guest.
He couldn't see its face just yet, but it stood about his own height of six feet and was covered in fur. Watching it closely, Roger soon realized the fur was its clothing and not its own skin.
Tentatively he called out,"Hello?! Who are you?" and he stepped out from behind the tree.
The figure turned around and he saw looking out from beneath the furred hood, a fair skinned face with blue eyes, even features and an open, almost childlike expression.
The two stood facing each other, Roger slowly moved to one side to give his visitor a clear way out, the visitor made no effort to move and eyed him curiously.
Roger pressed his hands to to his chest and said slowly, "My name is Roger, I am called Roger. What is your name?" he finished this by pointing with the back of his hand facing his visitor instead of pointing with his fingers.
His visitor smiled slightly and queried politely, "Ur ye an 'Mericain?" In heavily accented English.
Roger grinned crookedly and replied pleasantly, "Yes, I am an American."
The visitor grinned back and said cheerfully, "Me name is Freya Sigurdsdottir, me kinfowk sent me tae meit yer."
Roger looked around curiously and asked, "People? I'm afraid I don't see any people. Of course with your clothing, it would be real easy for you to hide from me."
Freya gestured towards the dense forest behind him and replied matter-of-factly, "Me faither an' brothers be watchin' us reit noo."
Roger smiled slightly and remarked, "I too, have someone coming to get me in a helicopter and they will be here in a few hours, if I am intruding I apologize, and I will leave as soon as they get here."
Freya looked a bit puzzled and she asked slowly, "Hel, i, cop, ter? Whit is a hel, i, cop, ter?"
Roger puffed out his cheeks and muttered to himself, "Hoo boy! How do I explain this?"
Then he said carefully, "A helicopter is a thing that flies through the air over great distances, one is coming to get me today, to take me home, to America."
Freya looked at him steadily and said simply, "We wull wait tae see thes hel, i, cop, ter ye speak ay."
Roger could only shrug and he said hopefully, "Well, I can't offer you anything to eat or drink except berries and lake water; or maybe we could catch some more fish and eat them, if you'd like that?"
Freya looked at him with a puzzled expression and asked, "Hoo wull ye catch fish? Ah dinnae see nae fishin' spears ur nets."
Roger grinned happily at her and said cheerfully, "Watch and learn!"
He dug into his pack again and assembled his fishing pole and reel, Freya looked at his fishing rod curiously and gently touched it with a finger.
Roger grinned at her and said cheerfully, "It was my grandfather's fishing rod, then it was my father's and now it is mine, it has served me well."
Roger gathered some more worms and soon had cast his line into the water.
He stole a glance at Freya and saw that, while she wasn't what he would call a raving beauty.
She certainly wasn't ugly either.
Her face was well formed and would be comely if she had a little make up on and she was wearing something less shapeless.
Dressed in street clothes, she would blend right in except for her being his own height, tall women got noticed by virtue of their height alone.
Freya laughed in delight when he hooked a fish and she said eagerly,"Ah can clean th' fish whilst ye catch 'em!" soon, she was busily cleaning it a short ways off.
Roger quickly hooked a second fish and Freya began cleaning that too.
Roger got the fire going again by fanning the coals and adding more twigs and small dry branches.
While the fish roasted over the crackling fire, Roger asked her in earnest, "Should we invite your father and brothers? Perhaps they'd like some fresh trout?"
Freya smiled shyly at him and said mysteriously, "Ur ye ready tae meit me father an' brothers?" Roger shrugged and replied amiably, "Sure, why not? No sense in them sitting in the forest while we eat and talk to each other."
Freya grinned broadly at him and stood up, she faced the forest and waved at it at first, then she beckoned to it.
She glanced at him and said mildly, "They'll be haur in a few minutes."
Roger got a good look at her while she waved at the forest and realized that she was indeed quite shapeless underneath her furs, and her voice seemed just a little too childish for a young adult.
So he came right out and asked her, "Freya, I don't mean to be nosy and ask you any embarrassing questions, but just how old are you?"
Freya smiled at him without guile and replied innocently, "Nine an' a half summers... Wa dae ye ask?"
Roger's heart nearly skipped a beat and after collecting his wits again, he replied, " Woah, there is more to you than meets the eye! I came here because I belong to an organization that looks for legendary creatures or people in your case..."
Freya suddenly called out joyfully "Faither!" and dashed towards the forest.
There, emerging from the gloom, were five of the largest humans Roger had ever seen and each of them was carrying a large bundle on a pack frame.
Freya ran towards the largest man and flung herself into his massive arms, he lifted her up and placed her upon his shoulders as if she were a small child.
On either side of him were two slightly smaller, slightly less hairy versions of himself.
Roger smiled tentatively as they walked up to him and stood looming over him.
Her father had to stand at least ten feet tall, while her four brothers ranged from seven to nine feet tall.
The huge man eyed Roger calmly and finally said in a deep voice, "Ah am called Sigurd an' hoo ur ye called?"
His voice was like the bass notes on a pipe organ, Roger felt it as much as he heard it.
Roger smiled pleasantly at him and replied, "I am named Roger Tate, Tate being my family name and Roger being my given name. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir!"
Sigurd smiled at him through a very impressive, reddish blonde beard and replied in that pedal section of a voice, "It be a pleasure tae meit yer tay, Roger Tate. Freya tells me ye shared a scran wi' 'er as a gesture ay friendship. Amang me kinfowk 'at coods also be a marriage proposal!"
Roger flushed slightly and replied hastily, "I didn't mean for it to be misunderstood! I was unaware of Freya's youth at the time I offered her food. I did not know I was talking to a frost giant's young daughter!"
Sigurd smiled slightly at him and rumbled, " Och? Sae ye've heard ay th' lain ay Jotunheem?"
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