Chapter 4

That night, Gudrun sat with Sigurd at the great table set up outside for all to sit at.

She stood and cleared her throat to speak, the murmuring voices fell silent as she waited for their attention.

"Me guidman an' Ah hae made a decision, we hae asked uir wee guests tae tak' uir precious lass, Freya wi' them.."

The silence was almost palpable as the announcement sunk in, then... "Whaatt?!" or a variation of it burst forth from the assemblage.

Drowned out by the great voices around him, Roger's own squawk went unnoticed.

And Freya's face broke out into a big smile while Henri grinned.

When the uproar had calmed somewhat, Gudrun spoke again, "We did'nae mak' thes choice lightly, but Freya is uir yoongest bairn an' she can learn th' ways ay th' wee folk, she can tell them ay us an' uir story."

Roger was frantically waving his hands for attention until Gudrun asked, "Is thaur somethin' ye'll be wantin' tae say?"

Roger stood up and blurted out almost hysterically, "Where is she going to stay? Who is she going to stay with?"

Sigurd smiled at him and in his basso rumble of a voice said, "Wa, wi' ye ay coorse!"

Roger gaped and was about to object when Freya's hand sought his and squeezed it gently, the girl had hardly left his side since he'd met her.

"She's fond ay ye an' trusts ye." Rumbled Sigurd.

Roger finally got his voice back and he almost wailed, "I'm old enough to be her father, I've been married and divorced twice now, believe me, I am not domesticated!"

Gudrun laughed and said playfully, "We're nae askin' ye tae marry 'er, we ken yoore much aulder, we're askin' yer tae be loch 'er faither an' tak' care ay 'er amang th' wee folk."

Roger looked frantically at Rachel and she said simply, "They have a point Roger, how much longer before someone else stumbles across them? Circumstances then might not be so favorable, this way we have more access to them and through our connections with the Canadian government. We can work towards establishing this forest as a world heritage site."

Roger sat down heavily and grumbled, "I'm gonna have to get a bigger place to live in then, my little one bedroom ain't going to be near big enough for two of us, and she's a growing girl. My ceilings aren't gonna be near high enough for her at full growth!"

He looked at Freya for a long moment and said firmly, "You're going to have live by my rules, bedtime's at ten and no snacking between meals!"

The girl broke out into a big grin and hugged him spontaneously.

Roger turned beet red at her hugging him, Henri broke out in laughter and said playfully, "Roger, always such a ladies man before, now this. Tamed by a young giantess!"

After a night of feasting and listening to Induna the keeper of the scrolls, telling tales from the ancient days when the frost giants were earth lords and respected. They all went home to bed.

During the feast, Roger and his two co-workers had listened to and recorded everything they heard.

The gray light of dawn found the giants clustered around the 'wee ones' as they were called and wished Freya well in her journey from hearth and home.

Hoisting the bundle of Freya's things to his massive shoulders, Sigurd and Gudrun led the party back to the lake shore and the waiting helicopter.

There was a round of bone bruising hugs from both parents and her brothers, then Freya boarded the helicopter and dabbed at her tears while Henri went through the preflight checks.

The spinning rotors gained speed as her family stood watching the lift off.

Freya was after all, the first Jotun to ever fly in a helicopter and they were determined to see her off safely.

The chopper rocked slightly as it parted ways with the rocky shoreline and rose into the bright morning sky.

Henri flew the chopper to Ocean Falls airport which was about an hour's flight away from the lake. There they transferred to the private jet on loan from the hidden realm and were soon on their way south.

Once they reached cruising altitude, the seat belt lights went out and Rachel came over to Freya with some paperwork to give her.

"This is your entry visa, we got your birthdate from your parents. Officially, you're a Canadian citizen and you're here as a transfer student. We have a school we can enroll you in so you'll meet other children your own age and make some new friends."

Rachel studied Freya's expression for a moment then said seriously, "You are going to stand out Freya, you're already six feet tall and you're still a child. Some kids might say mean things to you and might even try to hurt you, remember that you are a Jotun and will always be bigger and stronger than your fellow students. Roger will be your foster parent during all of this and he will deal with any problems you might have in school."

Freya smiled shyly at her and replied, "Ah'll remember 'at ma'am, Ah mustnae play tae rough wi' th' wee bairns in me noo skale."

Rachel grinned widely and remarked, "Something like that!"

Roger cleared his throat and said pointedly, "Speaking of all that, I'm gonna have to find a bigger place. A one bedroom is not acceptable for this arrangement, Freya needs a room of her own. She deserves better than sleeping on my couch and living out of a suitcase."

Rachel smiled slightly at him and replied, "I already have some people looking into that right now. So far, they've found a nice craftsman bungalow with six bedrooms, three baths and lots of closets, it's near the edge of town and right near the school Freya will be going to."

They landed at the airport outside of Portland, Oregon.

Getting through customs went smoothly and soon, they were settled into a shuttle van and bound for Roger's apartment.

Surprisingly, Freya attracted little more than a cursory glance, mostly because of her hand woven clothing more than her height.

The customs agent seemed to completely miss that she was so young for being six feet tall.

Arriving at his apartment, Roger opened the door and stepped to one side to allow Freya to enter first.

What she saw was organized chaos, book cases lined the walls and groaned under the weight of many thick volumes of forgotten lore.

A large roll top desk was partly hidden by the thick file folders stacked semi-neatly on it.

Near the front door, a deeply patinaed shell casing from a huge German railway gun held Roger's collection of umbrellas and walking sticks, while a massive pair of elk antlers supported his many hats.

Roger hastily cleared the couch and gestured for Freya and Rachel to sit.

He swept into the kitchen and in moments, had water heating for tea or instant coffee.

Glancing up from the tray he was arranging, Roger declared, "As you can see, I don't get many visitors here and I've not shared my place with anyone in years."

Rachel smiled slightly at him and remarked candidly, "Honestly, your place is nice, it's what I would expect an adventurer-scholar to live like actually!"

Roger grinned back at her and remarked,

"I used to have a lot more stuff in here before I signed up with the museum. Much of my collection is now in the museum on a long term loan."

Coming out of the kitchen, he set the well laden tray on the coffee table and sat down across from his guests.

There was a brief interlude while Rachel and Freya availed themselves of the proffered beverages and sweets.

With steaming mugs in their hands they sat back and sipped at the hot beverages.

Freya sipped at her hot cocoa and her face lit up in delight.

"Och! T'is a wonder! Ah've ne'er tasted anythin' loch thes. Whit is it called?" she cried happily.

Roger grinned and replied, "It's just some instant hot cocoa, it's nothing really. I just didn't want to give you coffee just yet." still grinning, he shrugged and remarked, "I guess you've never tasted hot cocoa before. Well, little lady, you will be experiencing a lot of new tastes living here with me."

Afterwards, Roger showed Freya about his apartment, he showed her the bathroom and demonstrated how to turn on the water in the sink and the shower, he flushed the toilet and explained that the shower was for washing overall, the toilet was for relieving herself and the sink was for washing her face and hands.

Taking her into the bedroom Roger declared firmly, "You'll be sleeping in here for now and I'll sleep on the couch. Once we get a bigger place, you'll have your own bedroom all to yourself."

Rachel said pleasantly, "In the morning we can go check out that craftsman bungalow our people found."

Roger asked, "Where is this place you've mentioned?"

"It's towards the western side of town, it's fairly rural and the bungalow sits on a two acre lot with lots of trees."

Roger woke to the sounds of quiet conversation emanating from his kitchen, remembering that he had guests, he rose from the couch and slipped into bathroom to grab a quick shower.

Standing in the warm stream cascading down his nakedness, Roger scrubbed away the remaining accumulation of grime from his woodland adventures.

While he was washing his sandy colored hair, the water suddenly turned ice cold and he yelled as he frantically dodged the frigid stream, "Hey! I'm in the shower! Turn that off!" moments later, the water became warm again and he heard Rachel calling out, "Sorry! Didn't know you were up!"

Having finished dressing, Roger entered the tiny kitchen and joined his guests.

Freya was smiling at him as he came into the kitchen, "Guid morrow!" she said, "'tis a fine day today."

Roger grinned widely at his towering young guest and said cheerfully, "It is a good morning Freya, did you sleep well last night?"

The girl looked thoughtful and commented, "'twas verra quiet, me faither an' brothers snore verra loudly an' it was 'most tay quiet!"

Roger's eyes met Rachel's and she said, "It was pretty quiet for me too, my husband does snore a bit while you hardly snore. What's your secret?"

Roger laughed and got out the orange juice to pour some for everybody, "I wish I knew, none of my ex's ever remarked about my snoring, that's for sure. They found plenty of other things to complain about!"

Sitting down with the others, Roger began tucking into his breakfast while Rachel announced, "We're going to look at this craftsman bungalow I mentioned, I think you'll like it. The whole ground floor has twelve foot ceilings and the second floor has ten foot ceilings. There is a work shed behind the house and everything sits on a two acre lot right near the woods."

Roger grinned and remarked, "Freya will like that, a woods she can go walking in."

A half an hour of driving later, they pulled into a long driveway, drove up to the house and stopped.

Roger whistled softly and said quietly, "Talk about understatement, this house is great!"

He glanced at Rachel and muttered, "why is it so cheap for its size?"

She smiled at him and replied, "The house was built for a retired circus giant couple and because it is a historical landmark, it cannot be torn down or remodeled to any real extent."

"Ah!"

They met with the realtor and she let them enter the house, once inside, practically the first thing Roger noticed was the display cases built into the walls with storage cabinets right underneath them. Roger commented, "I like the display cases and all the book cases."

Freya was fascinated by all of the leaded glass windows and the high ceilings with the high windows letting in plenty of light.

She commented, "'Tis sae mony windows an' sae much light comin' in, 'tis loch hoo Ah dreamt a faerie hoose woods look loch inside!"

She craned her neck and looked up at the high ceiling, declaring happily, "Me faither coods stan' up straight in haur!"

The realtor glanced at her curiously and said to Roger, "Your daughter has quite an imagination!"

Roger just grinned at her and replied, " She's not my daughter, I'm her foster father, she came from Canada."

"Oh" replied the realtor.

The grounds were what sold the house to Roger, there was room for a large vegetable garden and several fruit trees promised a bountiful crop of peaches and nectarines come the fall.

Glancing around one last time Roger looked at Rachel and said, "I like it, we will be very comfortable here. The grounds are large enough for a bit of privacy and growing things. The neighborhood seems to be nice and the nearby woods is the best part."

Rachel smiled at him and replied, "We'll get it then." She turned to the realtor and declared, "We'll take it, how soon can we move in?"