A Big Girl comes into his life

by Claidheamh Mohr

An Investigator for the Museum of Cryptozoology gets lost in the Canadian woods and meets a girl. A frost giant's daughter, here are their adventures.

122. Chapter 122

College life begins.

With only weeks to go before the fall season started at Portland U. Roger surprised Freya with her own car.

It was a modified 1960's Dodge M-37 3/4 ton army truck.

To accommodate her height, first the bed was shortened, the cab was then lengthened almost two feet and the roof raised about a foot.

Her seat was about where a passenger would sit in the back of a normal four passenger vehicle and on the passenger side, there was two seats, one behind the other, allowing her to take a couple of passengers with her.

The original Dodge flat head six cylinder and manual transmission had been replaced with a modern Jeep 4 liter six cylinder and automatic transmission.

In keeping with the rest of the changes, modern suspension, forty inch tall tires and disc brakes had been fitted.

Painted in a glossy olive drab, it was guaranteed to stand out almost as much as Freya did.

Roger and their neighbors at Troutdale airport had worked on this truck in secret for several months and it had been completed in time for her to drive it to school in the fall.

It was given to her when they drove down to Troutdale airport to work on Moby Dick a bit.

While Roger was checking over the electrical systems, their neighbors were all busy on their own project, a B-17 bomber that had once sat atop a filling station and was now nearing completion.

The surprise came when Freya had gone over to see how the old bomber was coming along.

The grandfather asked her when she was going to take her truck home with her and at her mystified look, he pointed out the M-37 hidden under a drop cloth and said, "That truck!"

Lifting a corner of the drop cloth she gasped and uncovered the gleaming Dodge military truck.

Standing there looking gape mouthed, Freya looked the truck over and asked, "Whaur did thes, cam frae?"

"Oh, here and there." replied Roger who had come up behind her.

Freya rounded on him and said, "Who did thes?"

Roger grinned, gestured around and said cheerfully, "We all did, the truck was sitting around rotting away in back of a surplus yard, the rest was found here and there. These characters did much of the body and mechanical work while I scrounged up funds...Whattaya think?"

Freya looked around at everyone and said thickly,"Ah'm stunned, Ah dornt ken whit tae say 'cept thenk ye frae th' bottom ay me 'eart!"

With that, she went from guilty party to guilty party and gave each one of them one of her memorable hugs.

To a man, they agreed that one of her hugs was not to be easily forgotten!

As Roger followed her home he grinned to himself, the truck was almost exactly what she liked, and had liked ever since she'd driven Phillip Dexter's cut down 5 ton army truck that had been converted to a huge 4X4 and rolled on fifty inch tall tires.

His ribs still felt a bit creaky after her bone bruising hug, something he had accepted as a part of living with a young frost giantess.

Hardly had they gotten home when Freya all but dragged him out of the house and took him downtown in her new truck.

She went straight to the Yamada ramen house to show Lorna her truck.

Lorna was impressed by the beastliness of her modified army truck and said, "Yep, this is you all right. I can't see you driving anything smaller, that's for sure!"

A moment later, she was all business again, "So, what'll you have?"

Roger grinned and ordered a curry ramen with extra bean sprouts and pickled ginger to spice things up a bit

Freya as usual, ordered enough to feed a small family.

Mako Yamada made it a special point to stop by and say 'hello!'

She smiled and said, "Lorna had an amazing time flying about the Pacific and Meiko was quite impressed by her friend Christina, and hopes she can come back to Hokkaido for a longer visit next summer."

She glanced over at Lorna who was busy taking a large order and said in sotto voce, "She felt that Christina was a good influence on Lorna as she was less rambunctious than usual."

Roger smiled at her comments and refrained from mentioning any of the times he'd had to be the killjoy, by warning off any would be lotharios hoping to make a play for the two young lovelies in his care.

He certainly was not about to mention the 'skinny dipping incident' at Wake island.

The food arrived and they happily dug in but not until after Roger had ordered a large chicken ramen to go for the folks at home.

Heading home after enjoying their ramen, Roger enjoyed the view while Freya maneuvered her new truck through downtown Portland's traffic.

There was a brief moment when a young man in his lifted Dodge Power Wagon looked Freya's truck over and gave it his thumb's up of approval before the light turned green and he peeled rubber as he took off in a cloud of burnt rubber and blackened diesel exhaust.

Freya merely shook her head at his motorized antics and muttered, "Must be nice tae be able tae afford tae waste money loch 'at!"

Roger could only shrug at her remark, she was right.

Returning home, the ramen was greatly appreciated by all concerned and quickly disappeared.

Anita grinned when she saw Freya's new truck and said, "I'm sure the four by guys'll appreciate this!"

She smiled and said, "Monday's the big day, our first day in college!"

Roger smiled and said, "It'll be completely different than high school, none of the taking role or needing an absence excuse if one is out for any reason and best of all, no queen bee types, that all ended when you guys left high school behind."

Anita rolled her eyes and said, "I sure won't miss that nonsense, or the stupid jock types who played up to them in hopes of getting a sniff!"

Roger burst out laughing at her salty comment and said, "That too!"

In the fall of her seventeenth year Freya entered Portland University near Portland, Oregon.

Like so many other students she had enrolled online and gotten a test date for her entrance exam.

On her test date she caused jaws to drop when she arrived in their tall van, and got in line just like anyone else.

She scored quite well in the exam and was soon enrolled as a freshman.

Today was her first day as a student and she was up and ready before a sleepy eyed Anita came down stairs.

Muttering about a 'plot bunny at three A.M.' she tucked into her breakfast courtesy of Silky, who hovered about to make sure everything was ready for their first day in college.

With almost an hour to go, they left the big house, climbed into Freya's modified Dodge M-37 and drove off.

Feeling somewhat like an anxious parent watching their child entering their new school for the first time, Roger stood outside the front doors and watched them leave.

Going back inside, he saw Silky start preparing their dinner while Flora was eating her own breakfast before she would begin her own daily tasks, which were mostly taking care of Samson and Moonbeam Stormwind, the great white stag, now living with them with Titania's approval.

Finishing up the dinner preparations, Silky placed the roasting pan inside the oven and set the timer.

By the time Freya and Anita came home with their appetites, it would be ready to serve.

With the mundanities out of the way, Silky took up her sewing while Roger returned to his studying of a few of the ancient scrolls and books Induna had given to Freya upon her death.

These scrolls contained the stories of Freya's people from before their first encounters with the small, fierce people they called the Scandis.

The scrolls told a long tale of a slow retreat from the spear carrying, warlike southrons who became known as the vikings.

A retreat that ended when the Jotuns had no where else to go and were crowded into what was called Jotunheim by the southrons.

The epic tales of exploration and discovery of a new land far from the terrible Scandis and a voyage across storm tossed seas to a new home.

All of these lay within the age stained scrolls whose copies he had borrowed from the library and were now lying on his desk in the study.

Hours later, the timer's chiming interrupted his work and he lay down his pencil to check on the pot roast.

When he entered the kitchen, Silky had opened the oven door and pulled out the heavy roasting pan.

It smelled wonderful and she cut off a sliver of the meat for him to taste.

Smacking his lips at the flavor, he smiled at the diminutive house spirit, "Yep! She'll like this!" he thought as she smiled back and slid the pan back into the oven to keep it warm.

Roger laid out a couple of place settings on the high dining room table built to accommodate the original occupants height of eight feet.

With Freya now at full growth, they no longer ate in the cozy breakfast nook, much to her annoyance.

She had always enjoyed eating a snack and curling up with a book, in the snug breakfast alcove, now mostly used by Silky when she was sewing a garment for someone.

He glanced around the dining room and the out sized table and chairs built for her family's needs.

He and her friends all sat on normal sized chairs with extended legs.

Hearing her truck pulling up in front of the house, Roger looked out the window and saw her sitting in her specially modified Dodge.

The roof had been raised nearly a foot and the driver's side seat was now in the back seat area while the door and window had also been enlarged to match.

Her door opened and he saw her incredibly long legs first, then she emerged from the Dodge and stood alongside it.

Naturally, she was wearing shorts and Roger smiled at the memory of his comment to Mia's mother, Ayesha about him being a 'leg man'.

Ten years later, he was now a companion to a young frost giant who had been declared a goddess by leg lovers the world over.

The passenger side door opened and Anita got out first, then Christina emerged.

Dressed in a similar manner, she was quite the contrast to Freya's imposing stature.

Christina was a tiny Filipina who barely stood four foot six inches tall, just about half Freya's height.

"The tall and the small" Roger had dubbed them and the term stuck.

Moments later, Freya was looming over him as she squeezed him in her shapely arms and kissed him lightly.

She happily showed him all the additional books she had gotten from the student store.

Roger grinned and commented, "You got enough to last you quite awhile, at least through the coming school year!"

He glanced at Christina and asked, "Are you staying for dinner? Silky made a pot roast!"

The tiny girl grinned at him and said, "Yes, I am, I love her cooking!"

While Freya laid out another place setting for Christina, Roger carved up the roast and served their portions.

Minutes later, they were perched in their high chairs and happily tucking into the pot roast.

After dinner, they compared notes from their physical anthropology class.

Professor Higgins had taken one look at Freya's towering, nine foot two inch tall frame when she entered the classroom and happily declared, "You just got a hundred points for simply being here!"

He then had gotten up from behind his desk and walked around her, looking up and down at her as if he wanted to put her in a display case.

Stepping back behind his desk he turned to the class and said cheerfully, "I never thought I would actually have a Jotun student in my class. Welcome to my class!"

When Christina stepped up for her enrollment slip, he smiled at her and said with a wink, "And you, must be the other end of the size range for humans in all of my classes!" as he stamped her enrollment slip.

He chuckled when he saw Freya unlimber her portable desk and sit down with her notebook open.

He said, "I wondered how you were going to find seating. Instead, you brought it with you!"

Freya grinned at him and replied, "Me companion made it fur me back when Ah was in high skale."

He smiled and replied, "He sounds like a clever fellow."

Freya smiled and said, "Och aye he is, he an' a friend retrieved th' airplane we travel in frae an' airfield doon in Brazil an' flew it tae Texas tae be rebuilt. Lest summer, we flew it across the Pacific tae visit a number ay islands. We can land it anywhaur we like wi' all th' lochs up in Canada, an' other parts ay th' warld."

One of the other students turned around and looked at her curiously before he asked, "What do you have, a sea plane?"

She smiled and replied, "Och aye, it's a Martin Mariner. Me companion an' Ah use it tae fly tae field trips all o'er th' warld."

He gaped and commented, "You guys own the Martin Mariner down at the Troutdale airport? How'd you get so lucky?"

Freya shrugged and replied, "We dornt own th' plane, it belangs tae th' Museum ay Cryptozoology an' we gie tae fly it."

He squinted slightly at her and asked, "What d'you mean by 'we get to fly it'?" Without a hint of boastfulness in her voice, Freya replied, "We baith fly it, Ah've had a pilot's license since Ah was twalve."

The student looked at her skeptically and said, "This sounds a little hard to believe!"

Christina suddenly spoke up and said, "Freya does have a pilot's license, I went with her on that trip across the Pacific and we saw some very cool places, places like Wake island, Guam, the Phillippines, Hahajima island, which is the southern most occupied Japanese island and Hokkaido, Japan. Freya did much of the flying on that trip."

Professor Higgins chuckled and remarked, "Well, it seems our largest student has led an interesting life. What does your 'companion' do for this museum you mentioned?"

Freya replied, "Roger is a field agent an' a researcher, he goes in th' field an' looks fur th' soorce ay myths an' legends. That was hoo we first met."

Higgins smiled and asked, "Roger...?"

"Ah'm sorry, Roger Tate is his name." replied Freya hastily.

"I've heard of him, he's been responsible for greatly expanding the parameters of humanity with his discoveries of previously unknown or perhaps I should say, unacknowledged, species of humans such as the Jotuns, lamias and arachnes. You, yourself being a splendid example, Miss Sigurdsdottir."

He paused briefly and asked, "Would it be possible for Roger to come in and give a little talk about what he does?"

"Ah kin ask, Ah mak nae guarantees."

Higgins smiled and said, "That's fine."

Freya's other classes were mostly an English language course, two library science courses and Phys ed.

Naturally, the Portland Pilots volleyball team swooped in and snatched her up.

Walter Phillips, their former head coach, upon hearing she was enrolled at Portland U. Came out of retirement, grinning the whole time.

He finally had his dream center on his beloved team.

Her first day in the Library Science 101 class, she saw that Anita was also taking the class and smiled at the diminutive young woman

Their professor Ruth Steiner, a shriveled up prune of a woman looked askance at Freya's height and said quite frankly, "I'm not sure if this course is where you need to be, at your size where would you find work?"

Freya looked down at the woman barely half her height and replied,"Ah've bin helpin' it at th' Karloff Research Library since Ah was thirteen. Ah translate th' books frae me grandmother's library an' help catalog them."

The woman squinted at her reply and said, "How many books are there in your grandmother's library and what language are they in?"

Freya paused a few moments, then said, "Close tae twintie thoosain books, maps, an' scrolls. Some ur quite ancient an' need tae be scanned wi' a particle beam afore translatin' as th' scroll is too ancient an' wull crumble if unrolled."

She smiled and said, "Th' language they're written in is cawed Jotnar, 'at is th' language ay th' Jotuns, me fowk."

There was a moment of hushed muttering going around the classroom at what Freya had just said.

On one hand her claim to being a frost giant would explain her towering height, on the other hand, frost giants were straight out of Norse mythology, yet she was a very real person in the well rounded flesh.

Professor Steiner looked up at her with a gleam in her eyes, "Would you mind showing us a sample of your writing?"

Freya smiled amiably and stepped over to the white board.

Taking up a black marker, she began writing a long string of what appeared to be Norse runes in neat rows across the white board.

After a few minutes she stopped, capped the marker and set it down again.

Stepping away from the white board she smiled at professor Steiner and said cheerfully, "Was 'at enaw?"

Professor Steiner squinted at her writing and remarked, "You say your grandmother's books were all written in Norse runes?"

Freya smiled and replied, "Th' Scandis learnt th' runes frae us, they had nae writin' ay their own when we mit them."

"Scandis?"

"Uir nam fur the Norse, who cam frae th' sooth when th' ice retreated, an' druv us frae uir haems. 'Tis verra sad. We left th' auld warld an' cam haur tae Canada o'er twa thoosain years agone."

Professor Steiner smiled and remarked, "Is there any chance of this class getting a tour of this library of yours?"

Freya smiled and replied, "Ah dornt see why nae? Ef Ah cannae lead th' tour, Anita o'er thaur can!"

Anita nearly spluttered at her name being mentioned and professor Steiner looked her over before asking, "You work at this library as well?"

Anita smiled and replied,"Yes, we both have been helping out up there since middle school."

"Are Miss" she paused at Freya's last name and ventured,"Sigurdsdottir's grandmother's books the only ones there?"

"Oh no, there's a lot of books, maps and scrolls many of them have no living speakers of the languages they are written in, but their books survived and we can parse out what they say. Once we've made a copy or two."

"A copy or two? What do you mean by that?"

Anita paused and replied, "We have a couple of book making machines that can print and bind a usable copy of the work in question. This allows the original to remain undisturbed while the copy gets picked over by our translators."

"What else does this library of yours do?"

Anita paused and replied,"We have several hot houses where rare medicinal herbs are grown for herbalists to purchase. The Portland Science Fantasy Society has their weekly meetings there and every year the library sponsors a traditional Celtic Samhain festival and observance. We're fairly busy up there!"

Professor Steiner smiled, which according to school legend was a rarity in itself, and remarked, "It sounds like you two have had quite a leg up, experience wise in Library science. I presume you are familiar with the Dewey decimal system at least?"

Both Freya and Anita smiled at her remark and Anita replied,"The head librarian insists on using it!"

Unsaid was the fact that Anita Larsen was herself, an author of several books now and with more in the works and others still gestating, her own contribution to literature was steadily increasing in size and scope.

Freya's first day on the courts was a bit contentious, for starters she was ten minutes late as finding a parking spot for her modified M-37 truck had proved difficult, then there was getting a locker that worked.

Upon her entering the gymnasium for the first time as a student, silence fell across the highly polished wood floor of the gym.

She was easily two feet taller than anyone else there and simply dominated the floor by her presence alone.

The tiny Filipina in attendance who stood barely half Freya's height began laughing and called out, "Hey Freya! Catch!"

Freya turned towards the sound of her voice and the tiny girl dashed across the gym floor before leaping into the air and executing a perfect landing on the palm of Freya's outstretched hand.

Freya smiled at the tiny bundle of energy perched on her hand and said, "When did ye get enrolled in thes class?"

Christina grinned at the young giantess who then tossed her into the air, whereupon she somersaulted neatly and stuck her landing without a single wobble.

"Just last Friday, good thing I preregistered online!" replied the grinning Filipina cutie.

Coach Phillips blew his whistle sharply and called out, "All right ladies, show's over, we're here for God's gift to sports, Women's volleyball!"

He grinned at Freya and Christina and said cheerfully, "Since you two have energy to spare, why don't you, show the rest of the class the way around the long track. Not the track everyone else uses, the one we use!"

He blew his whistle again and pointed out the gym's double doors.

Freya merely grinned and set out at an easy jogging pace with Christina right alongside her towering form.

They heard him call out "A coupla laps ought to do it!"

Freya grinned, the long track as he referred to it was some two and a half miles long and was really more of a cross country run with hills in the form of bleachers to run up and down before heading across campus and circling the grounds just inside the fence.

To make it more interesting, there was a few obstacles thrown in just to keep the runners awake.

One was a large pond with a row of stout three foot high pillars marching across it and spaced about five feet apart.

While the water wasn't very deep it was chilly, and falling in meant a long, wet jog back to the locker room.

Another was a long horizontal ladder with its rungs spaced about three feet apart.

It was a part of the Portland U. ROTC program's obstacle course and used by special permission from their commandant.

This bright fall morning, the class of new cadets and their drill instructors got treated to the sight of the Portland Pilots volley ball team led by a giantess, cheerfully swarming across their horizontal ladder and onto the next stop on their long run.

The ROTC commandant was heard to mutter, "She's back!"

Freya entered her English Language History class and smiled to see Anita already in her seat.

Stepping to the back of the class, she set up her portable desk, took her seat and politely ignored the curious looks she was getting.

Curious looks had been a fact of life for her ever since she came down from Canada.

At one minute past the bell, the professor came in and Freya's heart sank.

It was her old nemesis from high school, newly transferred to Portland U's English language department.

Doctor Richardson

The gaunt, white haired man with thin lips, a prominent chin, an aquiline nose, bushy eyebrows and piercing, deeply set blue eyes looking out through wire rimmed bi-focals, stood in front of the class and glanced over his new students.

He smiled thinly and intoned, "Welcome to English Language History 101"

His eyes briefly looked over Anita's slight form and with the merest flicker of a smile he said, "I see a familiar face, two faces in fact."

He looked away and said, "For the rest of you, I am Doctor Richardson, you may call me Doctor, but never Doc. My doctorate is in English language history and as two of my former students will no doubt attest, I am a stickler for details in any papers handed in to me for grading."

He smiled, "We will be looking into the earliest parts of English literature and yes, Beowulf will be a part of this course. We will be comparing different translations of the poem and...Is something amusing to you Miss Sigurdsdottir?"

Freya sat up straight and with a perfectly straight face replied,"Nae Doctor Richardson, 'tis naethin' funny."

"Then why the smile?"

Freya smiled and replied,"It jist sae happens 'at we hae been warkin' oan a scroll 'at may be a verra early version ay Beowulf in th' Jotnar language."

"Who's we?"

"Anita an' meself up at th' library we wark at."

Doctor Richardson looked at both of them and said quietly, "Please see me after class, we have much to discuss."

They nodded their acknowledgement of his request and he continued on with his course introduction.

When the class was dismissed for the day, Anita and Freya waited while the rest of the class filed out.

Doctor Richardson looked both of them over and finally said,"Believe it or not, you two were a couple of my shining example students and while it may have seemed that I was singling you out for special treatment, I was doing it because I knew you could rise to the challenges I placed before you."

He smiled at Anita, "You Miss Larsen, are a brilliant writer with a long and productive career ahead of you. While I personally would prefer you wrote more serious literature, I cannot fault your skills as a writer practicing your craft."

He looked at Freya's towering form with her red-gold hair twisted into two long braids, her pale skin and bright blue eyes and said,"You Miss Sigurdsdottir, I do believe that you were made specially to challenge me, to make me push my own boundaries, to find my limitations, to make me grow as a scholar in my own right."

Ignoring Freya's puzzled look, he stood up, stepped over to the white board and began writing rapidly.

Freya smiled as she saw the long string of runes his swiftly moving hand was leaving behind.

When he finished, he set down the marker turned to face her and said, "My first impression of you was that you were a girl of Norse ancestry who was suffering from giantism because of your size. I thought your name was interesting as it is a patronymic name that used the suffix 'dottir' instead of the more usual 'son'.

Smiling, he continued,"I'll never forget the first time I saw you taking notes in my class. The sight of you writing in runes was not something I had expected and when I looked at them, I realized they were in a language I didn't understand. As I had no way of knowing what you were writing, in my ignorance I asked you to stop and for that, I apologize."

With a surprisingly boyish grin he said, "You said you are working on what may be an early version of Beowulf, may I ask how you came by this version?"

Anita at this point said, "I've got this!"

She reached into her bag of holding and withdrew a gleaming Chromebook.

Placing it before herself, she opened it up and turned it on.

Moments later, she said,"I have a copy of the scanned document in here so I can show you what we're working on."

Pulling up an image, she turned the Chromebook around and showed Dr. Richardson the page in question.

He pushed his bi-focals up on his prominent nose and peered through their lenses at the image Anita had pulled up.

After several moments, he muttered, "This appears to be very early but I am not certain of the name given here. Sil`e I do not recognise as Anglo Saxon."

Anita smiled and replied, "We think it is an early form of Sheila and thus far, the document appears to describe events very much like those described in Beowulf. Only they are taking place much earlier and are written in an early form of Jotnar, Freya's native tongue."

She said brightly, "We have quite the collection of writings in this language in our rare books vault."

Doctor Richardson peered over his bi-focals at her and asked, "This library you've mentioned, may I see it?"

He looked from Anita to Freya for a reply and smiled when Freya said, "Ay coorse ye can see it, we can shaw ye aroond th' stacks, scrolls an' maps onie time ye'd loch!"

That Saturday, a vintage Jaguar Mk II sedan pulled up in front of the imposing Karloff Research Library and shut off.

Moments later, the driver's side door opened and the gaunt form of Doctor Richardson got out.

Looking every inch the eccentric, tweed wearing English Language History professor that he is, he stood looking up at the former mansion turned library, his piercing blue eyes taking in every detail of the massive building before him.

As he had arrived a bit early, he took a moment to look around at the grounds.

On either side of the short walkway leading up to the library itself, a towering Rowan tree stood guard and he thought he heard a faint tittering sound as if a number of tiny birds were cheeping amongst themselves among the looming Rowan tree's branches.

Looking away from the library itself he saw a well built wooden stage standing to one side of the wide greensward dappled with myriad wildflowers adding their cheery colors to the otherwise green of the grassy expanse.

Behind him he heard, "Doctor Richardson, I presume?"

He turned to see a somewhat portly gentleman with a distinctly leprechaunesque look about himself, striding towards him with a smile on his rounded face.

Walking beside him in addition to Anita was the largest wolf he had ever seen, in fact she was impossibly large, like something out of mythology itself.

The man drew near and with hand extended said, "Doctor Richardson, Hello, I'm Warren Johnson, I'm the head librarian for the Karloff research Library and Anita here is one of my assistants. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Doctor Richardson smiled at Warren and said, "Like wise I'm sure." He glanced at the enormous wolf and asked, "What kind of a wolf is she? I've never seen her like before."

Warren smiled and replied, "This is Astrid, she is my companion wolf and her kind is a great guardian wolf of the Jotuns."

He grinned, "Her brother Axel is Anita's companion wolf and is likely snoozing in the front parlour down at the house."

Doctor Richardson tentatively extended a bony hand for Astrid to sniff and after a brief introductory moment he found himself digging his hand into her deep fur, while she smiled as only a gigantic wolf can.

Reluctantly removing his hand from Astrid's deep fur, Doctor Richardson smiled and said softly, "She reminds me of a dog I had when I was just a lad of ten, we went everywhere together and had our fair share of adventures, the two of us!"

He sighed and murmured, "She passed away while I was at school, rabies unfortunately, caught it from a rabid fox she'd fought off."

Giving the enormous wolf one last caress he said, "Right, I came to see about a library!"

Warren grinned, "And so you shall! If you'll come this way we can begin."

For the next two hours Warren and Anita led Doctor Richardson through the museum first where he saw the exhibits on the beings represented in the museum's stacks.

He saw the videos of Jotun life and in some of them he recognized his two students interacting with the towering Jotuns.

Seeing videos of lamias with their human husbands and families caused him to mutter, "I never really took these sort of videos seriously as they had such a fantastical aspect to them, so sensationalist they seemed. These videos seem so...Ordinary, they're just people going about their daily lives."

Anita smiled and remarked, "These are documentaries, nothing less, nothing more. Fortunately for us, there are those who can read, write and speak their languages as each lamian community has its own language because of the isolation they experienced while hiding for so long."

Wearing cotton gloves to protect the aging volumes, he saw ancient scrolls undergoing restoration, preservation and recovery efforts.

He saw the scans taken via a particle beam accelerator that could retrieve the hidden images and text trapped inside the fragile remains.

He gazed in wonder at maps drawn of western Europe during the heights of the last ice age.

Pinpointed here and there with markings that indicated a population center or a path to take when traveling between destinations.

He marvelled at the book making machine as it printed and bound a copy of a book he had admired in the collection.

Lunch was served down at the house Roger and Freya lived in.

The experience was not what Doctor Richardson had expected.

The walk down to the big house led through the sprawling gardens and planted areas, all carefully groomed by Roger, Freya and Flora.

Rows and rows of stone fruit trees were laden with ripening fruit waiting to be picked by the volunteers for the food pantry.

Others were to be canned or made into preserves and sold at a farmer's market.

Doctor Richardson asked, "This is all organically raised? How do they control the weeds and insect pests?"

Warren grinned, said, "Observe!" and held up a finger.

Moments later, there was a faint whirring of tiny wings and a tiny sprite child landed on his outstretched finger.

Doctor Richardson's eyes grew wide as he beheld for the first time in his life a being out of fantasy.

The tiny girl was dressed in a gauzy outfit made from cobwebs and her lacy wings were folded away while she stood on Warren's finger.

On her tiny face was a bright smile and she opened her mouth to say, "Choclit?"

Warren smiled and said, "What do we say?"

The tiny girl giggled which sounded much like a cricket's chirrup and said, "May Ah hae some choclit please?"

"She spoke!" gasped Doctor Richardson, "My God, she can talk!"

Anita smiled and said, "April, I'd like you to meet Doctor Richardson, he is our English language history professor at school."

April smiled at Doctor Richardson, did the spritely equivalent of a curtsy with her lacy wings fluttering slightly and said,"A pleasure tae meet ye Doctor Richardson!"

Not to be outdone by a tiny sprite, Doctor Richardson drew himself up to his full height, bowed towards her slightly and said softly, "And a great pleasure it is to meet you Miss April, a great pleasure indeed!"

April smiled at him and grinned as she was told by Warren, "I don't have any chocolate with me, but I can give you some at the house, we're headed down there now!"

"Hokay!" she said brightly and flitted away on her lacy wings.

There was a brief pause as Doctor Richardson processed what he had just seen until finally, he said, "That was a female sprite I saw just now wasn't she?"

Anita smiled and replied, "April is one of the many sprites we have living here with us, she is our most familiar sprite as she was born in Roger Tate's bedroom and is most often seen near him."

"What do these sprites of your do?" asked the good doctor.

"They tend the gardens and fruit trees by eating any insect pests, bees and other pollinators they leave alone. We give them bits of chocolate as rewards for eating the bad insects."

Anita added, "They also let us know if something bad is about to happen. They and the woolybugs will act as if they are afraid of something, letting us know something is up."

"Woolybugs?" asked Doctor Richardson with one bushy eyebrow raised quizzically.

"A type of 'neighbor' that gives this very fine wool like fleece that can be made into very fine sweaters and scarves. We have a flock of them living up by the barn where Samson and Moonbeam Stormwind both live."

Anita grinned "I'll show them to you after lunch!"

Resuming their stroll, they saw Freya off in the distance working with Samson, the enormous draft horse, he was pulling a log behind him with contemptuous ease.

Warren chuckled and remarked,"I see this winter's yule log is getting readied."

The good doctor squinted and remarked, "You honor the old ways here, don't you."

"Freya sure does, she's been holding a winter solstice event for as long as I've known her and one never knows who might show up!"

"Sounds like quite the event!" muttered the good doctor at Anita's remark.

Entering the big house Doctor Richardson immediately noted the height of the ceilings and doorways and at his questioning look was told, "The house was built for a retired circus giant couple, they both stood just about eight feet tall."

"Ah, I see."

Walking into the dining room where their luncheon was laid out, Doctor Richardson could see into the front parlour where he saw the massive forms of several giant wolves lying in repose before the cheery fire.

He smiled and was about to look away when he noticed the tiny Polynesian doll perched on the red leather chair as if she were reading a book.

As he looked closer, she turned a page on her book and kept on reading, her tiny face a study in concentration.

He gaped and blurted out, "That doll in the parlour, she's reading a book!"

Warren glanced over in time to see Lana closing up her book and slipping off the overstuffed chair.

He said, "Hi Lana, joining us for lunch?"

"Yep!" she squeaked in reply.

Doctor Richardson stopped in his tracks and watched in amazement as Lana walked past him on her way to the dining room, climbed up the special chair for her and sat next to an equally tiny doll with blonde hair.

Mutely he entered the spacious dining room and sat in the chair pointed out to him.

Seated at the head of the table was a lean, sandy haired man with a perpetually sunburnt look about him, his blue grey eyes had the look of a man who had seen things and lived to talk about them, if he chose to do so.

Sitting on this man's shoulder was the tiny sprite he'd met earlier, this had to be Roger Tate.

The towering form of Freya Sigurdsdottir came in and with a cheery, "Guid morrow e'eryone!" took the seat at the other end of the big table.

She was dressed in the largest coveralls he'd ever seen and her red-gold hair was in its usual twin braids.

Anita and Warren took their usual seats and a moment later, a young woman entered the room with the soft clopping sound of cloven hoofs announcing her presence.

Dressed in a simple white buttoned up blouse with short sleeves and a pleated skirt, she smiled shyly as she sat across from the good doctor.

And to his incredulous eyes, she had two horns that soon split into four curving horns arcing back from her brow and ending just behind her luxurious chestnut hair.

Her lustrous dark eyes had a hint of mischief in them and her marvelous lips scarcely hid the smile or the laugh just moments away.

Only momentarily distracted by the ever silent silk clad house spirit that placed his lunch before him, Doctor Richardson strove mightily not to stare at the exotic beauty seated across from him.

Anita's voice came to his rescue, "Doctor Richardson? I'd like you to meet the gang, so to speak."

He looked at her and she continued,"Seated at the head of the table is Roger Tate, he is pretty much the head of this family, April you've met!"

Roger nodded at her remarks and said, "Pleasure to meet you Doctor."

"Seated about the middle of the table are Dena Greenwood and Lana Llacuna. Dena is a woodwife who came down from Canada and Lana is a menehune who came from O'ahu Hawai'i and may be distantly related to Dena."

Doctor Richardson smiled at the two and said, "The pleasure's all mine!"

"And last but definitely not least is Flora Oakenwood, she is a northern wood nymph who came from under the hills and not to be confused with a pan!"

Flora smiled at him and in her rich, contralto voice said gaily, "No goat will ever catch me!"

Doctor Richardson laughed before he could stop himself and he said, "Of that I have no doubts!"

He looked at everyone and said, "Today has been one of the most interesting days of my long life and not one I can talk about among my colleagues, as I'm fairly certain they would think I had finally lost my mind! Thank you one and all for such a memorable experience and glimpse into the world of those who live beside us."

Lunch was a simple sandwich and a bowl of freshly made leek and potato soup served with a cup of herbal tea.

For such a simple meal it was one of the most satisfying and delicious meals he'd had in a long time, thought Doctor Richardson.

As he ate, he listened to the conversations going on around the big table.

Warren was talking about some new scrolls they had gotten from a source in Egypt and how delicate the ancient papyrus was proving to be.

While the hieroglyphs were easy enough to parse out, the fragile material was defying their efforts to scan the writing and so, they were going to scan them with a particle beam rather than inflict further damage to the ancient scrolls.

The interesting thing about some of the scrolls is that they described several oases where 'snake bodied women lived.' however the scrolls were lacking in describing where the oases had been.

Roger simply smiled at Warren's remarks and said,"Many of the old oases have disappeared because the water table changed and the water source dried up. When we found the Dexter family it was because they were living in an oasis far from the original location, the ancient village of In Azboua. All we found there was windblown ruins."

He smiled at a memory and said, "It was while we were backtracking and had stopped at the unmapped oasis we'd found that we, or rather George struck gold and met two live lamias. A mother and her youngest daughter."

He smiled and said, "George ended up marrying the oldest daughter and to make room for her in our Unimog, we gave everything we didn't absolutely need to her family and drove straight back to our drop off point and sent the happy couple on their way to the U.S."

Doctor Richardson quietly asked,"How did you know to look at this In Azboua village you mentioned?"

Roger replied, "Our oldest sources mentioned that place as being known for 'gigantic snakes with human heads' and that was where we started looking in earnest."

He smiled, "It paid off quite handsomely and ultimately led to a real increase in our funding and legitimacy among scholars."

Roger grinned, "Our lamia family is now living on a ten thousand acre ranch within a nature preserve. George and Mia now have six kids and all three of her sisters are married now with kids of their own. Phillip and Ayesha have many grandkids to spoil now and now I'm 'Unca Roger' to a mob of young lamias."

At his remarks, Freya smiled and said,"Ayesha also looves tae tease Roger by telling heem we woods mak a guid couple some day."

Roger in turn flushed slightly darker as she made her comment

At her remarks, Doctor Richardson idly noted the unspoken rapport that went on between the two and thought, "They already are a couple'.

After a very pleasnt luncheon, Roger, Freya, Anita and Warren escorted Doctor Richardson back to his car.

In no hurry to get there, they strolled past the coppice where an inari shrine was being built.

Just inside the coppice they could see several Japanese workmen at their labors in transforming a coppice into a place suitable for an inari shrine.

The coppice had been carefully trimmed and shaped into a lovely place to sit and admire the beauty of the setting.

The building itself was already finished as was the stepping stones and gravel pathway leading to the small shrine.

Doctor Richardson remarked, "I see you acknowledge many sources of the myths and legends here at this library."

Roger smiled and replied, "It's our mission, our raison d'etre so to speak. Focusing only on one branch of mythology, while ignoring all else is hardly good scholarship, wouldn't you agree?"

The older man smiled and remarked, "I chose English language history while at Cambridge, never in my wildest imaginings did I expect to have a student who was not only a person out of mythology, but one who was also conversant and literate in a language that preceded even early Anglo-Saxon. Yet here she is walking alongside you, as big as life itself!"

Roger chuckled at his comment, if anything, Freya had the big part down to a science!

His next remark was directed at Anita, "When you were a student of mine, I was impressed by your writing skills, but never suspected that you were an author of several popular young adult books. It wasn't until after you had graduated that I found out just who you were, literature wise and after reading several of your books, I have to take back most of what I said about young adult literature being mostly a waste of time. Your books are skillfully written, well crafted and after seeing where you live and with whom, I can easily see why your stories have an authenticity to them so many others lack. You've lived it and seen it and it shows!"

He smiled warmly and said, "I am proud to have been your teacher at one time."

Without breaking stride he declared, "However, I will not be going easy on you two, I will accept only first class work from the two of you, now that I have seen how you live, with so many 'neighbors'!"

Freya merely rolled her bright blue eyes at Doctor Richardson's remarks.

He grinned and added, "I will be expecting progress reports on your translating the early pre Beowulf scroll you've mentioned earlier. That alone is worthy of a rewrite of a few textbooks to include your findings."

Arriving back at the library building, they paused a few moments for Doctor Richardson to look the former manse over before he smiled and said, "Now that I know of this library, I plan on visiting here regularly for research purposes."

He held up his copy of the book that had been printed up for him and grinned, "I fully intend on enjoying my new book, even if it was first written almost a thousand years ago!"

Taking out his keys, he opened his vintage Jaguar Mk II and after a flurry of handshakes all around, he stepped into it and started it up.

The six cylinder 3.8 liter double overhead cam engine purring smoothly.

He slipped it into gear and motored away.

Roger said quietly, "There goes a man who knows his car, probably bought it new and never felt the need to change anything or buy something newer."

After several weeks of practice, the Portland Pilots hosted their first home game of the season.

Coach Phillips was all smiles, he finally had his dream girl on his team, Freya was now a student at Portland U. And she was on the Women's volleyball team.

The opposing team was from another member of the Big Sky conference of thirteen universities that made up that league.

Cal Poly, out of San Luis Obispo, California was last year's league champions and they brought with them a powerhouse team.

In accordance with the rules, two of their team players were men, obviously borrowed from the basketball team as they were both just over seven feet tall and between the two of them, could block many of the shots made by an opposing team.

They did not know about Freya.

Roger and Anita were seated in the bleachers to show their support for the home team.

Looking around at the noisy crowd packing the stadium, Anita commented, "Bread and circuses time."

Roger, getting her inference merely smiled and said, "First time at a big game?"

"How'd you guess?"

He chuckled and remarked, "Your wide eyed expression was my first clue."

"Was I that obvious?"

"Yeah, you were, not that it's a bad thing, I just noticed it that's all."

Anita shrugged and replied, "Organized sports was never my thing, P.E. In school was merely a chore to be endured by me. I did take the martial arts training seriously, because knowing how to defend myself was a survival skill that came in real handy, a couple of times."

She smiled to herself and said, "I'll always cherish that look on the queen bee's face when I took out her bully girl with a kick to the head, then said, 'you're next!'"

Roger smiled at her remarks, the slightly built girl was stronger than she looked.

What most people saw was a slender, pretty girl, what they hadn't seen was her slenderness was really a lithe mucularity in surprisingly good shape.

The crowd roared and the opposing team came out on court and took their places on their side.

Seeing the two seven footers were male, Roger glanced at Anita with raised eyebrows, "Those are men, is that legal?"

"Apparently it is, see how Coach Phillips isn't reacting? He expected this."

Moments later the crowd roared even louder as the home team came out on court to take their places.

There was a moment of stunned silence on the Cal Poly side of the bleachers when they beheld Freya's towering form.

At nine foot two, she was easily two feet taller than the two big men on the Cal Poly team, and she was definitely a girl!

What was worse, she was light on her feet and her reach was off the charts.

The great unknown was, how high could she jump when it came to blocking a shot?

From their seats, Roger and Anita could see the looks on the faces of the Cal Poly team, clearly they had not expected a true giantess to be playing against them.

The Cal Poly coach approached Coach Phillips and began talking in earnest.

Roger smiled to himself and said to Anita, "Wouldn't you like to be listening in on that, conversation?"

She replied, "Coach Phillips has his rule book out, you're right it would be an interesting confab, wouldn't it?"

Having come to a compromise, the two coaches shook hands and separated.

Coach Phillips called Freya to the sidelines while the Cal Poly coach called one of the two men to their sidelines.

Freya listened quietly to Coach Phillips, nodded then sat on the team's bench until called.

Meanwhile the Cal Poly player argued with his coach until the coach pulled rank and ordered him to the bench.

Having reached an agreement, there was a pause while everyone rose to their feet and the national anthem was played.

Once the final notes had been played, the head referee blew on his whistle and cried out, "Play ball!"

Seeing Freya sitting on the team bench Roger muttered, "She must be so disappointed, getting benched like that."

Anita leaned towards him and remarked,"I think she kinda expected this, after all, she does have that height and strength advantage."

"Maybe so, she can't be happy about this, she's worked as hard as anyone on the team and never missed a practice match. She was so proud to wear the team colors around campus, even had a jacket made just her size."

The crowd roared as a critical point was scored by the visiting team, the remaining seven footer had the reach and the height on his opponents.

This caused Roger to mutter, "Freya would've stopped him!"

Moments later the Portland Pilots scored points, despite the seven footer's best efforts.

He hadn't expected tiny Christina to slip a ball over the net by leaping high into the air and slamming the ball to the floor.

Her years of being a cheerleader and learning how to jump real high were paying off nicely.

Her parents went nuts and could be heard cheering and clapping quite enthusiastically!

Roger could see Freya laughing while the benched seven footer scowled and begged to be sent back into play.

Once again, he argued with his coach while Freya was clapping and cheering her team on.

Even benched, she was having a good time.

By mid game the scores were pretty even and it didn't look as if there would be a clear winner at this point, the two teams were that evenly matched.

At this point, the two seven footers traded places and one of the home team's star centers took to the bench with a tweaked ankle.

Being six foot seven meant leg injuries were taken seriously and so, Freya entered the game at last

She grinned at the seven footer standing on the other side of the net from her, he scowled in reply.

Up close, he could see just how much bigger she was than him, and he didn't like it.

His server began the play and his team passed the ball from player to player in an effort to keep Freya guessing.

In a brilliant move the ball glanced off one player's hand and was deftly slammed to the floor by the seven footer only for it to get intercepted by Christina, who dived under it and passed it to Freya who returned the favor by slamming it to the floor practically at the seven footer's feet, before he could even react.

With a slightly goggle eyed expression at her speed and power he attempted to crowd the net to keep her from getting another shot like she'd just done.

His strategy failed because with tiny Christina being so agile, she could easily get a shot over the net for another point while he was trying to keep Freya from making her own shots for points.

He also learned to his sorrow that he could not get a shot past Freya as somehow, she could seemingly reach across the court and block his shots.

Even going high failed to work as her jumping ability allowed her to reach up well over twelve feet high to block a high angle shot and the inevitable return shot over the net at high speeds rarely failed to score.

By the end of the season's first game, the Portland Pilots had successfully defended their home court and scored a decisive victory over the highly favored team from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Postgame there was the inevitable photos taken with the various team members and Freya as usual, ended up posing for quite a few pictures.

Even the two seven footers asked to pose with her as one of them said, "My parents will not believe me when I tell them I met a girl who is much taller than I am!"

The other one said, "You're one hell of a ball player, I thought you'd be clumsy with your size and all. Boy did you prove me wrong!"

They parted as friends.

The next game was an out of towner at Cal State U in Sacramento, California and the team would be riding in a bus to get to the game.

With the post game festivities winding down, Freya joined Roger and Anita for a ride home.

She was still pretty amped up from the game, so they stopped at the Yamada Ramen house for a celebratory bowl of ramen.

When they entered the bustling ramen house, Mako greeted them with a smile and grinned at the sight of Freya's team uniform before asking, "How did the game go?"

Freya grinned and said, "We won by ten points!"

Mako looked slightly puzzled and said, "That's good, right?"

Lorna spotted them and came up with a grin on her pretty face as she said, "Congratulations on your first win of the season!"

Mako asked, "How did you know about their win?"

"Christina texted me after the game, before her parents took her out for some Filipino food." replied a grinning Lorna.

Mako smiled and said, "Show them to a table and take their order, then you can talk!"

As Lorna led Freya and Anita away, Roger winked and said drily, "How's that making her into a proper Japanese girl, working out for you?"

Mako smiled and replied, "It may be a forlorn hope, but I still have hopes!"

They shared a laugh and Roger strode after them to take his seat.

Freya ordered a large beef curry ramen with a side of potstickers and hot green tea to wash it down.

Roger and Anita ordered regular sized ramens and Roger ordered a regular vegetable curry ramen and a small beef curry ramen to go, for Flora and Dena to enjoy as they would be waiting up in the house for their return.

The small shrine was nearly complete, the visiting Japanese craftsmen had transformed the coppice into a place of tranquil beauty.

A series of irregular flagstones marked the pathway to the first torii gate erected just outside the coppice.

Between the uprights of the torii gate was laid a flagstone wide enough to cover the entire span, thus allowing visitors to avoid walking in the middle of the gate as that was reserved for the kami or visiting gods.

The next gate was just inside the coppice and between the two were placed more of the wide flagstones.

Once inside, the pathway narrowed slightly and was divided into three.

The center was reserved for visting kami while the outer two were reserved for mortal visitors.

The pathway ended at the small shrine which had been custom made and assembled on site.

It was a small shedlike structure measuring a meter and a half tall, a meter wide and was two meters long.

It had white stucco walls and the wood work was painted with red lacquer, the pitched roof was made of greyish tile.

The door hinges and locks were made of bronze and the locks could be opened from the inside.

One side had the double doors built into it and just inside there was a small inner door to allow access to the enclosure in back.

Watching over this were the two inari statues Roger had brought back from Hokkaido.

The back enclosure was reserved for the visiting kami and was left mostly empty on purpose, the sole exception being the little doll made from Kuroshima's hair and placed inside the small shrine.

Placed just beneath the spreading oak tree's branches, the small shrine looked quite inviting to both visitors and kami alike.

A low wall had been built encompassing the interior of the coppice and it was covered with white stucco and capped with red bricks.

Watching over this were two inari statues wearing their bright red yodarekake bibs, provided by the Nichi Ren Buddhist temple.

The next game was held at Cal State U, Sacramento, California and it meant Freya would be gone over the weekend.

The team bus left Thursday afternoon with all the girls on board with the intentions of being in Sacramento by early Friday morning.

The game would on Saturday and they would head back Sunday morning.

Roger would be alone that weekend, or so he thought.

Dena, had other ideas in mind.

It seemed that Lana and one of Dena's many grandsons, or was it great grandsons? Were going to marry and it was happening that particular week end!

When Roger was told of this, he could only marvel at how quickly Lana had found herself a husband among the many wood elves living at the library complex.

He asked,"How am I getting involved in all this?"

Dena simply declared,"Yoo're th' a body 'at foond 'er an' brooght 'er haur. T'is oanly fittin' 'at ye gie 'er awa' at 'er weddin'!"

Saturday morning Roger found himself wearing his best suit as he escorted tiny Lana who was wearing a little traditional Hawai'ian white outfit Anita had whipped up for her, the week before.

In keeping with the Hawai'ian thing, she was barefooted.

Standing before the Inukshuk Freya had put up shortly after coming to Portland, was the young groom, also barefooted and wearing a white morning suit and top hat also whipped up for him by Anita.

Witnesses included, Warren, Anita, Flora, Silky, many of the groom's relatives and a tittering of sprites perched on the Inukshuk

Dena, dressed all in white and another Anita original, was the matron of honor while Roger was representing Lana's family in absentia.

Coming to the place where he'd give her away, Roger and Dena watched as Lana went to meet her future husband.

They joined hands and stood before the older Wood elf conducting the ceremony.

The ceremony itself was short, sweet and mercifully brief.

With no religious undertones, it was a declaration of the love they felt for each other and an expression of their wish to live together as one, to make a home and a family together, now and for always, as a couple united in marriage.

Hearing a soft weeping and sniffling by his side, Roger stooped slightly, took up a crying Dena and cradled her in his arms.

Rocking her gently as he would with a crying babe, he smiled at his tiny woodwife companion and murmured, "You're more of an old softie than you let on."

Through her tears and sniffles she managed to reply, "Ah cooldnae help it, weddings always make me greit."

She smiled at him and wiped away her tears, then said, "Ah'll cry at yer weddin' when ye an' Freya tie th' knot!"

He rolled his eyes and muttered, "You and Ayesha, always conspiring to get us married!"

She grinned at him, dabbed at a fresh tear trickling down her cheek and said,"We jist want ye twa tae be happy, an' Freya does loove ye sae."

Roger sighed and said quietly, "I have feelings for her too but I've had to be the responsible adult in our relationship. She's so trusting of me it's almost scary and if I were any other man, she would have lost her virginity a long time ago, Lord knows she's more than big enough! I know that you sleep with us to keep things honest, but you haven't always been there and I've had to be the one to resist just how tempting she can be."

Dena smiled at him and said,"It cannae hae bin easy sleepin' next tae sich a lovely yoong hen loch 'er. Yoo've shoon sich a strength ay character in nae takin' advantage ay 'er trustin' nature."

Roger chuckled and remarked, "You have no idea! Even if she wasn't a Jotun girl, she would still be a knockout, looks wise. Don't think I haven't seen the other men, and a few women, checking her out because she is so eye catching."

He sighed and murmured, "Truth be told, I sleep very well lying next to her. In her arms, the nightmares stay away."

"Nightmares?"

"I've been in combat, I've seen men die violently and some of them were killed by me. In my dreams, I sometimes see their faces twisted in their agonies, the accusations coming from their dying eyes. Why did I survive and they didn't, what made me so special?"

He held Dena closely and whispered, "I'll sleep well tonight, with you beside me to keep the bad dreams away."

"That's wa Ah'll be wi' ye always, tae keep th' bad dreams awa'."

A chorus of 'Woo Hoo's!', a whirring of tiny wings, the joyous tittering of many tiny voices and a smattering of applause interrupted their musings, and they looked to see Lana and her newly wedded husband, indulging in their first kiss as a married couple.

Handfuls of bird seed were scattered as the young couple turned to face their well wishers, and beamed in their happiness.

Musical instruments appeared and soon a lively reel was being played.

Lana and her Husband began the first dance, they circled the impromptu dance floor once, twice and were joined by the others before their third encirclement was completed.

Even Warren got into the dance with Flora as his dance partner, she was smiling radiantly while she danced with him, her joy apparent to all.

When the first dance was over, Warren led Flora from the dance circle and thanked her before he retrieved his tankard.

Anita was recording everything she saw for posterity and there was a likelihood it would be incorporated into one of her future books.

She grinned at Roger and Dena and said cheerfully,"Things I've seen around here go into my books and because they're in the fantasy genre, that's what people assume. Little do they know that I'm merely chronicling much of what I've seen and heard right here at home, I just place everything in a fantasy world!"

They glanced over and saw Warren standing among a group of wood elves, all hoisting foaming tankards of ale and toasting the health of the young couple.

Except for the size difference, Warren may as well have been one of them, dressed as he was in the greens and browns so often worn by the wee men of the forest.

Looking for all the world like an overgrown leprechaun, Warren was talking to the wood elves with a big smile on his rounded, bewhiskered face.

Anita chuckled and remarked, "If Meredith was here she'd be right next to him enjoying this moment, like he is."

She grinned, "He really is like an overgrown leprechaun, he loves interacting with the wood elves."

Roger smiled and said, "I have noticed that he goes through a firkin of Jotun ale rather quickly, I imagine it's from keeping all those tiny whistles wet!"

"He'll probably find himself living with a woodwife like I do."

Anita smiled knowingly and remarked, "I don't recall you ever complaining about it, especially when one considers just how pretty Dena is."

Roger laughed and retorted, "Only a thick headed fool would complain about living in a dream."

He smiled at his tiny burden nestled in the crook of his arm, "Dena and I have been through a lot together, I see no reason to mess with a good thing!"

He sighed and remarked, "I do wish Freya could have been here for this, after all who better to represent the Jotuns than her?"

Anita smirked and said teasingly, "Are you sure you're not missing her because you sleep together? That big bed of hers has got to feel pretty empty when she's not in it."

Roger merely grinned at her in response.

While she was right, he wasn't about to admit it, Freya's huge bed did feel empty when she was not in it with him and having a curvy little wood elf like Dena in bed with him, did little to change that empty bed blues feeling.

Roger noticed the tall young man with a gymnast's build standing just outside the wedding party and craning his neck,Raphael, Anita's paramour was here.

Roger smiled and cleared his throat to get her attention.

Anita glanced at him and he merely pointed at her young man.

She grinned and said, "Thank's Rodge!"

With a smile on her pretty face, Anita left the party to join her long time paramour.

They embraced warmly and she turned to wave good bye to Roger before they left arm in arm.

Her slender, delicate build, a sharp contrast to his athletic muscularity and height.

Doubtless, he had been the inspiration for one of Anita's more popular male characters!

Dena stirred herself and commented, "Noo he's a bonnie lad, sae tall an' strong an' fair tae look upon!"

Roger chuckled at her frank remark about Anita's long time paramour and said, "I'm glad you approve!"

Dena shrugged in her adorable way and replied,"He's a guid match fur 'er an' 'e treats 'er proper. Ah cannae object tae heem bein' wi' 'er."

Roger smiled, he was well aware of their relationship and had he felt the need, he would have intervened on her behalf.

Anita in her own way had become almost like a daughter to him over the years, even though his chief responsibility had been to safeguard Freya's health and welfare.

Once Anita had moved into the house with them, his protective instincts had expanded to include the slightly built teen ager.

Turning their attention back to the post wedding festivities Roger and Dena saw Warren talking to a wood wife unfamiliar to Roger, but Dena certainly knew her and asked to be set down.

Moments later Roger was grinning while Warren was being properly introduced to the newly arrived wood wife.

Dena seemed to be doing most of the talking while Warren and the new girl smiled and nodded at each other.

They shook hands and Warren reached down to pick up the new girl and carefully placed her upon Astrid's deeply furred back.

He looked a bit goggle eyed after that brief exchange.

Moments later Dena was standing in front of him and wanting back into his arms.

While she was settling into the crook of his arm Roger asked, "So what was all that about?"

Dena said happily, "'Twas abit me findin' a place fur me granddaughter an' Ah thooght Warren needed a companion, tae keep heem company."

"And he was okay with you arranging this?"

"Wa woodnae he be okay wi' it? It's fur hees own guid tae hae a woodwife abidin' wi' heem."

Roger could only shrug in response to Dena's logic, afterall hadn't she taken care of him when he underwent a long recovery after getting shot?

Roger smiled at the sight of Warren looking slightly baffled at the sudden change in his 'lifestyle', he was clearly pondering the changes he was about to experience and how would he accommodate his new found companion?

An almost frantic Warren came over to Roger and Dena and said, "It seems I now have a wood wife living with me!"

Gesturing to the tiny blonde perched atop Astrid's furry rump he said, "This is Helga Greenwood, she is one of Dena's granddaughters and came here only recently from Canada."

Roger glanced at Dena with a raised eyebrow and asked, "So now all of your relatives are calling themselves 'Greenwood'?"

Dena smiled, "Wa nae? Ah was given me lest nam an' it noo applies tae aw me family."

"Works for me!" replied Roger with his trademark crooked grin in place.

He turned to Helga and said, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Helga."

The tiny wood elf smiled at him and replied in her squeak of a voice, "The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Tate!"

Roger grinned and said, "Just Roger will suffice, Helga."

Helga smiled and nodded at his remark, she was fine with his informality.

Roger paused a moment then said,"I can't help noticing how different your accent is from Dena's, is there a reason?"

Helga grinned and said,"I live around humans who speak English, my 'accent' if you will comes from them."

"They know about your kind?"

Helga giggled adorably and said, "No they don't, and we plan on keeping it that way!"

Helga smiled at Warren and said, "I wish to see our cottage."

Warren smiled and he said, "You heard the lady, I must be off!"

Roger chuckled and said, "May as well, the party seems to be winding down now that the newly weds have departed!"

A few moments later Roger and Dena stood watching as Warren, Astrid and now Helga headed for hearth and home.

Dena murmured, "Ah'm sleepy noo, let's gae haem!"

Leaving the remaining celebrants to their festivities, he carried Dena back to the house much as he would a suckling babe.

The next morning, Roger quietly slipped out of his bedroom, leaving a sleeping Dena snuggled up amidst the sheets and blankets.

"Let sleeping Dena's lie." he thought as he went downstairs and to his mild surprise he found Anita seated in the breakfast nook sipping her coffee.

Silky was at the stove manipulating a skillet and a couple of spatulas while making an omelet of impressive size.

Nearby were two plates partially laden with bacon and toast, one was obviously his and a quick shake of Silky's head warned him off adding anything to her culinary efforts.

Contenting himself with a mug of fresh coffee suitably dosed to his liking, Roger sat down across from Anita and said, "I'm a little surprised to see you here this morning."

She grinned at him and replied, "We had an early evening last night as he has to study up for an anatomy exam and I have a deadline to keep abreast of, no time for fun I'm afraid."

At her remark Roger could only smile and say, "Adulthood does tend to do that to us, intruding on our playtime like a killjoy."

The sweet tinkling of Silky's tiny silver bell announced that their breakfasts were ready and were now getting cold.

Roger rose to his feet, retrieved the two food laden dishes and set them on the breakfast table.

Anita smiled as she placed her slender hands together and murmured "Itadakimasu!"

Roger was buttering his toast when he remarked,"Warren now has a wood wife living with him!"

Anita paused, her omelet laden fork in mid air as she digested his comment before saying, "Whaaat?! When did this happen? How did this happen?"

Popping her food into her mouth she waited for Roger to elaborate while she chewed.

He took a deliberate bite of his toast and thoughtfully chewed until Anita rolled her pale blue eyes and grumbled, "Out with it man!"

Roger grinned and replied,"One of Dena's granddaughters came down from Canada and Dena kind of pulled a matchmaker's trick by introducing her to Warren after you two had left."

"And?" Said Anita while gesturing for him to pick it up a bit.

"Her name is Helga Greenwood...It seems Greenwood is now the family name, thanks to Danny Chen inadvertently bestowing a last name on her when he sent her that box of clothing some years ago."

Anita pondered his remarks a bit then asked hesitantly, "How's her accent?"

"Generic Canadian actually, less chance of a misunderstanding."

"Any idea of what she's like?"

Roger merely shrugged and replied,"Can't really say, I met her only the once and it was kinda brief as she wanted to see their cottage and Dena said she was tired and we came home ourselves."

"Where is she now? Dena I mean."

"Conked out in my bed, last I saw."

Anita smirked and said coyly, "She had you all to herself last night..."

Roger flushed and muttered, "You need to wash your mind out with soap, young miss!"

Anita merely smiled as she sipped her coffee, she knew Roger wouldn't do anything untoward when it came to either Freya or Dena.

Freya was out because she was in his care, even though she was certainly large enough and almost old enough!

Dena at two feet tall and weighing all of ten or twelve pounds, was simply far too small even though she was definitely curvy and more than old enough!

They both heard the kitchen door open and close before they heard the sound of Astrid's paws heading into the front parlour and its cheery blaze, then Warren's voice saying, "We'll be eating here most of the time, when everyone's here it can get a little hectic in the kitchen especially during the holidays."

A piccolo of a voice replied, "That explains why your kitchen isn't really in use. I can cook you know, that's a part of my job."

Warren and Helga came into the kitchen and he said, "Good morning Silver lady! This is Helga, she will be living with me from now on."

The silk clad house spirit looked down at the two foot tall wood elf and nodded her acknowledgement.

Helga smiled at Silky and squeaked, "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Silver Lady."

Silky smiled back and nodded in reply.

Silky then turned and handed Warren a spinach and feta cheese omelet fresh off the huge stove's grill.

Moments later she handed Helga a small omelet of her own, Helga broke into a brilliant smile and said, "Thank you!"

Clearly the silk clad house spirit was more on top of things than Warren had guessed!

Joining Roger and Anita, Warren set his plate down then fetched a booster seat for Helga.

Setting it down he took Helga's tiny plate, placed it on the table then reached down, picked up Helga and carefully plunked her tiny form into the booster seat.

Having done all that, he turned to Anita and said, "Anita, I'd like you to meet Helga Greenwood, she is one of Dena's granddaughters and we are now living together."

"Helga, this is Anita Larsen, she is our resident author and scribe and all around good person to know!"

The two women smiled at each other and mutual "Pleased to meet you's" were uttered.

Anita smiled and said, "I can't help noticing your accent is much different than Dena's."

Helga grinned and in her piccolo of a voice she replied,"The people I lived around spoke English, while my gramma lived amongst the Jotuns and picked up their manner of speaking."

Anita grinned and asked, "Did they know of you?"

Helga scoffed and said, "As if! Most humans are fairly clueless about what goes on around them and my family was no different.

"I heard about this place and thought I'd come visit my gramma...Next thing I knew I was talking to Warren here, she saw us talking and pounced!"

Anita laughed and said, "Dena is a force of nature around here, I'm not surprised she did that."

Out of the corner of Roger's left eye he saw Dena's tiny form entering the kitchen in time to receive her own small plate of food from Silky.

He rose to his feet and fetched a booster seat, then plunked it next to him.

Not bothering to look he reached down, took Dena's plate and set it on the table before reaching down a second time and lifting her up so she could take her seat next to him.

Dena set her brimming coffee mug down and smiled at everyone there before saying, "Guid morrow e'ery one!"

She smiled at her granddaughter, "Hoo dae ye loch abidin' wi' Warren noo?"

Without batting a lash Helga replied,"It'll be just fine once I've got things organized!"

Warren merely shrugged at her comment, it seemed he was fine with her wanting to make a few adjustments, so long as she didn't go overboard about it.

Anita asked Roger, "Have you heard from Freya yet?"

"Not today, she did mention to me last night that the team they're playing against balked at her playing when they first saw her."

He said quietly,"I was afraid of this sort of thing happening because of her size."

Anita sighed and remarked,"We tend to forget just how much bigger she is than everyone else because we're familiar with her. I can only imagine what the opposing team's coaches thought when they first saw her towering over everybody."

"I'm sure he had a 'holy shit!' kind of a moment, then had to figure out how to say 'ixnay onyay ethay iantessgay' without looking like he's prejudiced or something." Muttered Roger.

"What's going on with Freya?" asked Warren.

"She's at an away game down in Sacramento, California. It seems the coach down there balked at letting Freya play because of her size."

"That sucks, how did she take it?"

Roger said quietly,"She wasn't too surprised and had kind of expected a reaction like that."

He sighed and remarked, "I'm a little surprised it didn't happen sooner. Although at the rec center, she has no problem finding people to play basketball with."

He grinned, "There it's more of a challenging the 'Giantess of Portland' to a game of one on one, just to be able to say they've done it!"

Anita chuckled at his comment and said,"She still plays with Lorna Yamada and Deirdre Shannon, then afterward they head down to her folk's ramen house for some fresh gyoza!"

Warren smiled and remarked, "I've seen Deirdre dancing at Faire, she's quite the eyeful with her long legs and fiery medusa of hair!"

Roger chuckled and said, "It does seem that pretty legs with extra joints in them are a requirement for Irish dancing!"

"And triple jointed ankles!" declared Anita "Have you seen that trick with the ankle flipping and kicking?"

Roger grinned, "That's half the charm!"

At that last remark both Roger and Warren hoisted their tankards in a toast while Anita merely rolled her eyes.

That evening Freya called Roger while he was seated at his cluttered roll top desk.

He answered almost immediately and asked, "How did it go? Did you get to play?"

Freya replied,"It went well an' Ah did get tae play efter coach Phillips spoke tae their coach."

She chuckled and said, "They had their tallest girls placed tae block me shots, fer aw th' guid it did 'em!"

Roger guffawed at her comment then said,"I wish I could've seen that!"

Freya then asked,"Hoo's things at haem?"

Roger began with, "Hoo boy, where do I begin? First off Lana got married to one of Dena's many grandsons, or is it great grandsons? I can't remember which.

Then Warren now has a woodwife named Helga Greenwood living with him, it seems she's yet another grandchild of Dena's."

"Whaaat?" cried Freya, "They cooldna wait fur me tae be thaur?"

"I don't get it either baby girl, I was a little surprised at the suddeness of it all, but they had their reasons I guess."

Freya sighed and muttered, "Ah am a bit saddened tae hink they cooldnae wait another coupla days, whit was th' rush?"

Moments later, "Whaur did Helga cam frae?"

"Somewhere up in Canada where the people she grew up around speak English, without that Scottish sounding accent thrown in."

"She was at Lana's wedding, Warren got to talking to her and you know Dena, she pounced and matched them up in a heartbeat."

"When are you gettting back?"

"Sunday e'enin', Ah left me truck at skale an' wull drive it haem when we get back."

Then she said, "Ah'll ban Dena frae uir bedroom fur a coupla days fur forgettin' tae invite me."

Roger chuckled slightly and said, "I'm sure that will go over well. Although in her defense, I'm sure it wasn't intentional and if it was, I can't imagine why."

Freya purred, "Ah dornt hink it was intentional either, Ah jist want tae tweak her a little bit."

"Is this your evil side coming out, I hear?"

"P'raps..."

Roger laughed and said, "I'll see you Sunday then!"

Hanging up the phone, he glanced at his little clock set into the massive oaken desk and thought, 'Eighteen more hours 'til she's home...'.

Sighing, he took up the report he'd gotten from his contacts inside Russia's Siberian forests.

It seemed a small colony of Jotuns had come out of hiding and wanted to be repatriated to Norway, where the newly reestablished Jotunheim was located.

While the Norwegian government was receptive to the idea, the Russian government as it was now, was hostile to the idea and claiming the Jotuns had come from Russia to begin with.

A claim the Jotuns strongly denied, citing numerous historical references to the Jotuns as being a race described in Norse, not Russian mythology.

How to resolve this, he thought.

Perhaps the Laplanders and their Siberian connections could smuggle them out a few at a time.

He didn't think they would trek clear across the Russian territory to slip across via the Bering strait.

Then he remembered, they were the Jotuns afterall, what was a real hardship for humans seemed to be only an inconvenience for them, if Freya was any example of their resiliency.

He decided to contact Sigurd and let him know about the likelyhood of Siberian Jotuns slipping across the Bering strait during winter time.

Looking at the clock once more, he noted morosely, sixteen more hours 'til she came home.

When had he fallen in love with Freya? When did he come to miss her so much? He wondered.

He had been apart from her before but had been too busy to think about her as much.

He looked at his small desk calendar and noted the dates circled in mid September, the dates she would travel to her home village, for that was what it had grown into since he'd met her.

There, she would declare her heart's desire as a now fully grown Jotun woman.

That night he slept fitfully, despite having Dena's curvy little form snuggled against him, he held the tiny woodelf closely as always but still, the huge bed felt empty.

The next morning after a communal breakfast with Warren Johnson and Helga Greenwood, Flora Oakenwood and Anita Larsen and Dena Greenwood of course.

Roger went out in front of the big house and began tending to one of the garden plots needing a bit of weeding.

Losing himself in his menial labor while he worked, he quickly lost track of the time and was still at his labors when Silky came out of the house with a wicker basket to bring him his lunch.

He only looked up when she resorted to clearing her throat to get his attention.

Roger looked up and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you coming, I was kinda lost in thought."

Silky merely smiled slightly and handed him the wicker basket before she bowed slightly and headed back into the looming house.

Roger smiled at her retreating silk clad form and called out, "Thank you dear heart!"

Without looking back, she waved a silk glove clad hand at him before she slipped back inside her domain.

Mere moments later he heard the faint buzz of insect wings and felt the tiny presence of April settling onto his left shoulder.

Her tiny voice chirruped, "Choclit?"

Roger chuckled and said softly, "Let's see what Silky brought me for lunch before we talk about chocolate!"

"Hokay!" chirruped the tiny sprite as she made herself comfortable on his shoulder.

Stepping over to a nearby bench he sat down and opened the basket.

Inside were a tuna sandwich made with homebaked rye bread, an apple, a couple of cookies that were still warm from the oven, a flask with hot coffee and last, and certainly not least, a tiny wooden cannister filled with chocolate morsels for April's enjoyment.

Roger chuckled when he saw the little cannister, did Silky know April or what?

April clapped her tiny hands in her delight, a big smile lighting up her spritely face.

With a smile on his own face, he took out the little cannister and opened it.

Yep, it was full alright, he held it out to April and she made a bit of show as she persued the chocolate morsels being offered to her.

With one tiny hand to her dainty mouth, she reached out and paused a moment or two before looking up at Roger who murmured, "You get two! I don't need a lecture from your mom about spoiling your appetite."

April's tiny shoulders and insect like wings sagged slightly as she pouted and sighed, "Awww!"

Before she quickly plucked the allowed two chocolate morsels from the small container, then flew up to his shoulder again to sit and nosh on her chocolate morsels.

Replacing the small cannister, Roger took up the well stuffed tuna salad sandwich and began noshing.

As always, it was very good and he ate every bit of it before reaching for the bright red apple from one of the several apple trees growing on the estate.

As he took a bite from the crisp apple, April squeaked proudly, "That came frae one ay th' trees Ah tend tae!"

Roger grinned at the tiny sprite and said cheerfully, "That explains why it tastes so good!"

He polished off the remainder of his lunch and had poured himself a cup of coffee, when he heard the sound of Freya's truck coming up the road and slowing for their driveway.

He watched as she pulled into the driveway and parked alongside Roger's miniature Japanese truck before shutting it off.

Not being able to help himself, he rose to his feet and was halfway to her truck before she had even opened her door.

No sooner had Freya stepped out of her truck than Roger had glomped onto her almost fiercely before she too, glomped onto him and held him tightly against her towering form.

His head only coming up to her flat belly as she wrapped her long, lithe arms around him in return.

Silently they held one another, simply enjoying the warmth of their hidden feelings for each other, feelings that were never spoken of, yet existed all the same and were obvious to everyone around them.

Their relationship was once described by Anna Karlsen, the author as 'The most platonic love affair I've ever seen!"

Reluctantly they released each other and Roger looked up at her to say, "Glad you're home safe."

She smiled at him and replied, "A'hm glad tae be back."

She grinned "An' Ah'll be glad tae kip in me own bed once more efter kippin' oan th' floor fur twa days."

Roger couldn't help smiling at her remark, the girl had been way too tall for most beds since she was a girl of twelve summers, and now that she was nearly eighteen summers and fully grown, she was too tall for most houses!

Freya turned to grab her sports bag while he quickly gulped down his nearly forgotten coffee, retrieved the lunch basket and with little April perched on his shoulder rejoined her, before they headed back into the huge house they shared with so many others.

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