Chapter 14

After a long uphill slog, the ground leveled out and they strode along enjoying the desert scenery.

Phillip pointed out a dark opening in a rocky slope to their left and said, "See that old mine shaft? That's where Zenobia lived before we met her. Sadly, her parents and siblings are all buried in there, they were killed in a rock fall deep inside the mine."

Freya suddenly stopped and said stoutly, "Ah must pay me respects!" her facial expression left no room for an argument so they walked over to the gloomy tunnel entrance.

Freya paused and stood with her hands pressed together, her head bowed slightly, her bright blue eyes closed and her lips moving silently.

Straightening up again, Freya said quietly to Roger, "Ah wish tae build an inukshuk haur, fur 'er family."

Phillip raised one eyebrow and asked, "What on earth is an inukshuk?"

Freya replied mildly, "Inukshuk ur stone structures me fowk built tae mark their ways athwart th' northlands. Th' wee red men adopted them an' built their own."

Phillip blinked for a moment and asked, "Stone structures... You mean like, stonehenge type stone structures?"

Freya merely smiled in reply and Phillip laughed, "So it was your people who built all those megaliths across northern Europe?"

Freya's broad grin was all the reply he needed and he said cheerfully, "Okay, let's build an inukshuk!"

He held up a finger and said firmly, "But, not today! I want all of us to help with this, so we will all have a hand in this tribute to Zenobia's family."

Freya smiled and impulsively hugged Phillip in her enthusiasm, to which he replied, "Damn...You're pretty strong for such a slender girl."

Crossing the rest of the level area, they stopped at the edge and saw the lamia houses all neatly laid out below them.

On the basketball half court near George and Mia's house, they could see Natalie and Zenobia darting about playing one on one basketball.

Roger smiled and said playfully, "We could have just climbed this hill and saved ourselves a lot of walking!"

Phillip chuckled and retorted, "And where would be the fun in that? Think of all the things you wouldn't have seen otherwise."

Stepping forward, they began their cautious descent down the long slope, mostly trying to avoid dislodging any rocks that could go tumbling down the slope.

Part way down, Phillip pointed out a notch in the edge of the level area and said, "Zenobia had a spider-hole right there so she could watch our daily comings and goings. When she first saw Mia, she was so surprised that she dislodged a boulder and its crashing down the slope, alerted us to her presence."

Roger chuckled a bit and remarked, "So I'd heard, George sent me a email describing their meeting her. Glad to see she decided to stick around."

Phillip smiled and remarked, "So am I, she and Natalie have become good friends and Natalie has helped her overcome some of her shyness."

Roger smiled and remarked, "Considering that she has what looks like a brown recluse violin mark on her lower abdomen, I'd say shyness is in her nature, most likely."

Once they got to the bottom of the long slope Freya asked if she could go talk to Zenobia about her idea for building an inukshuk near her family's rocky tomb.

Roger gave her a nod and she quickly kissed him on his slightly grizzled cheek and dashed off to see her new friends.

Phillip watched her flying form as she ran and commented, "That girl is going to be quite the looker with those long legs of hers and her general Norse goddess look."

"Don't remind me!" muttered Roger, "I've seen the way men will check her out until they realize she's only a child. I can only imagine the attention she'll get at full growth!"

Phillip smiled at him and remarked, "You have my sympathies, let me buy you a beer!"

Roger smiled back and replied with a grin, "I must warn you, I'm not a cheap date!"

Phillip just laughed and retorted, "As if! I just want to do an internet search and see what the hell an inukshuk actually looks like."

"Does this mean I don't get a beer after all?"

Phillip grinned and replied, "Of course, I'd hate to see a grown man cry!"

As they got closer to the house, two tiny lamias came slithering out of the house and sped towards them with big smiles on their little faces.

Grampa was back!

Phillip stooped slightly and scooped up the first one, she grinned happily and twined herself around his upper body, looking for all the world like a large python attached to a toddler about nine months old.

Moments later, it was Roger's turn as he too, scooped up a baby girl and he too, got the sensation of having a toddler sized python twining herself around him and snuggling.

Mia came outside, grinned and exclaimed, "So that's where you two little scamps have gotten off to! I wondered why you two suddenly took off like you did."

She laughed and said happily, "They certainly do like you Rodge!"

Roger shrugged as best he could with a young lamia wrapped around him and replied with a grin, "Little kids and puppy dogs, they can't resist me!"

They all came inside the house and while Phillip was carefully extricating himself from a tiny lamia's coils, Roger asked, "Can we borrow your computer for a few minutes?"

"Of course, it's right down the hall in the study."

Mia sinuated up to him and said, "Here, give me the kid and you can use the computer without any distractions."

Roger chuckled and gently uncoiled the tiny lamia wrapped around his upper body while Mia gently coaxed her into letting him go.

The little girl made a series of "Thbbbbft!" noises to express her opinion about being foisted off onto her own mother, until Mia opened her top and exposed a milk laden breast, whereupon the wee lass began suckling upon the proffered nipple.

A quick search later and Phillip was looking at images of various inukshuks that had been put up around the world.

He glanced at Roger and said, "So this is an inukshuk? Seems simple enough to build."

Roger smiled and replied, "I thought so too, until I had to help Freya build one in our backyard. They're quite the balancing act done with stones. She had all of us sorting through this big pile of rocks looking for that perfect piece!"

Phillip studied the images and scribbled down some notes, then commented, "Finding these sort of rocks might be a little tricky around here, they seem to be mostly made out of flat stones laid together. It might take a couple of days before we can find the rocks she wants to use."

Roger shrugged and replied, "We got the time, she doesn't have to go back for three more days, if that helps."

Phillip grimaced slightly and commented, "That's cutting it a little fine timewise."

Roger thought for a bit and said, "I don't think she expects it to get it put up in one attempt, but we can gather the stones she'll want, then the next time we come down, we can work on it some more."

Freya literally came bouncing into the house and she impulsively glomped onto Roger before cheerfully declaring, "Zenobia lochs mah idea! She says she kens whaur we can gie some stoatin stones fur it too!"

Phillip blinked a couple of times before he asked, "Okay, will we be able to use a truck to get these 'stoatin stones' you're referring too?"

Freya furrowed her brow in thought for a moment and she replied, "Ah'm nae sure, she said she ken whaur tae get th' stones, Ah didnae ask aboot onie trucks."

Roger smiled and said, "We can ask her, she's coming in right now."

They turned to see the double doors opening and Zenobia's arachnid form entering the house.

Seeing them all looking at her in anticipation, Zenobia paused and said hesitantly, "I'm sorry, am I interrupting anything?"

Phillip smiled at her and replied, "No dear, you are not interrupting. We just have a couple of questions to ask you. You told Freya, you knew of a source for stones, and we just want to know if we can get to it with a truck or two?"

Zenobia's multiple eyes blinked rapidly and she said quietly, "I'm not sure, I've never thought about getting any of them before. Freya told me what she wants to do and I just thought of those rocks. I guess you could get a truck in there, if you really wanted to."

Phillip smiled at her and asked, "Would you like to show us where these stones are?"

Zenobia smiled hesitantly and replied, "Okay."

"Is tomorrow morning okay? Asked Roger.

"Yes, after breakfast?" Replied Zenobia.

Roger grinned at the shy arachne and said cheerfully, "Of course! We wouldn't want you going hungry over some rocks."

The next morning after a nice breakfast, Phillip led Roger, Freya and Zenobia to his truck, a cut down army surplus 5 ton truck.

Roger laughed and commented, "And here I thought that Unimog we drove in Algeria was a monster! I haven't ridden in one of these in years!"

Zenobia climbed into the rear bed and hunkered down while Roger and Freya climbed into the passenger compartment.

After a brief warmup, Phillip put the heavy truck in gear and with Zenobia giving directions, they drove off into the desert to gather stones for Freya's project.

Phillip used the truck's massive torque and huge tires to power his way over the hills and across the flats until Zenobia cried out, "We are here!" and they stopped at an out cropping of sandstone that tended to split neatly in layers and made good paving stones.

Phillip grinned and said, "Now I know where to go next time I need some paving stones." Exiting the bulky truck, the four of them began searching or rather watching, while Freya picked out the stones she wanted and they loaded them into the bed of the truck.

Roger and Phillip sometimes waited while Freya and Zenobia conferred on a choice between several different stones.

Phillip said quietly to Roger, "She takes this inukshuk thing pretty seriously doesn't she?" Roger smiled as he watched his ever growing young companion pondering a stone and where it could go, then replied. "She does take things fairly seriously, especially something like this. I've learned to just stay out of her way when she's got an idea like this."

Phillip briefly gaped when he saw Freya lift a large stone with little effort and place it in the truck before returning for more stones.

Roger said softly, "She's also very strong, all jotuns are. One of her aunts lifted me like I was a small boy again, it was a little disconcerting and Freya wasn't too happy about it." Phillip lifted one eyebrow and commented, "Was it the lifting you part or was it the part that followed?"

Roger muttered, "It was the kissing me part she objected to."

Phillip grinned at him and said playfully, "Playing with a giantess' heart could be a bad idea."

Freya's voice broke into their exchange when she said, "Come give us a han' wi' these stones instead a gabbin' aboot naethin'."

The two men grinned and began hefting the stones Freya had laboriously picked out for her project.

They handed them up to Freya and she wrestled them into place in the truck's bed.

When the last of the stones had been loaded, the three of them stretched to unkink sore muscles.

Meanwhile Zenobia quickly wove a net over the stones carefully placed in the bed of the ex-military truck.

Within a few minutes, she had woven an effective cargo net and was now perched on top of the pile of stones.

She smiled at them before saying, "All tied down, we can go now if you like!"

Phillip smiled at his daughter's young friend and said, "I'll go slow so you can relax back there."

Zenobia smirked and replied, "Go as fast as you like, I can hang on with ease!"

Phillip grinned and was about to retort when Freya said firmly, "An ye'll dae naethin' ay th' kind, Ah went tae some trooble tae get these stones an' ye'll not bang them aw up wi' yer crazy drivin'!"

Phillip chuckled and replied with a grin, "Yes, ma'am!" as he climbed into the cab of the truck to start it up.

The drive back to the house was faster once Phillip got onto one of the dirt roads and followed it back to the house, rather than breaking bush as he had on their way to the stone quarry.

Parking the truck in front, they exited and went inside to wash up before eating.

Ayesha was inside the house with Mia and George and their children.

The twins quickly twined themselves around Phillip and Roger much to George's amusement, as they had been twined around him when they came in.

George grinned and commented drily, "I do hope my girls get a better taste in men when they come of age."

Roger chuckled and retorted, "Oh, they'll figure me out before too long." he made a silly face at his tiny, serpentine companion, who giggled and imitated his silly face before happily making a "Thbbbbft!" noise.

Mia smiled and said cheerfully, "Dinner will be ready in about thirty minutes. So if you want a beer or something before then, you're on your own!"

Roger smiled at her and said, "I really just want some cool water, the beer can wait."

He rose with a small serpentine person still twined around him and got himself some water before returning to the living room.

Dinner was a large tamale pie and a southwestern salad made from recipes Mia had gotten from Rosa Ortiz.

Baked in a large, cast iron dutch oven, it made a filling and easy to make meal and was enough for everyone including Mia's three sisters.

Served out on the patio where there was plenty of room for five adult lamias, an arachne, a young frost giantess and the human men who loved them.

The meal went nicely and for George, Roger and Phillip the beer was a welcome addition. Meanwhile, the adult ladies all had a sangria dessert wine served chilled, with slices of oranges floating on top of the potent beverage.

The youngsters all had a fruit punch, to Freya's dismay as she sometimes had a small glass of ale with her dinner and was a bit non plussed at the beverage offered to her.

When she gave Roger a questioning look, he simply replied, "Their house, their rules." and she drank her punch without comment.

The sun was just over the eastern horizon as they pulled up to the mine entrance and stopped.

Zenobia climbed down from her perch on the truck while Phillip, Roger, George and Freya exited the cab.

Today, they were going to start building an Inukshuk as a tribute to Zenobia's family who lay buried in a rock fall deep inside the old mineshaft they had called home.

They emptied the truck and laid the stones out for Freya to pick over as she built the Inukshuk.

At her direction, George and Roger leveled off a couple of areas to lay the stones upon and began stacking the heavy stones as she selected them.

When the two stacks reached the height she wanted, a much larger slab was chosen to bridge the space between the stacks.

There was a halt in the work as she stood with furrowed brow pondering her next move. Freya stared at the rock pile as if by sheer force of will, she could shape the very stone she wanted.

Sighing in frustration, Freya looked about the area until she spied a large, squarish stone and smiled.

Pointing at it she declared, "Ah want 'at stone!" and she strode over to it and stood it on one end to Phillip and George's amazement.

George exclaimed, "Jeeze girl, take it easy, you could hurt yourself!"

Roger just laughed and commented, "Who do you think built all those megalithic structures all across Northern Europe and Canada? It's a jotun thing. They all do it!"

Phillip shrugged and brought over a couple of stout planks for them to lay the heavy stone on.

Taking hold of the ends, the four of them carried the stone over to the Inukshuk and heaved it into place on top of the cross piece.

Freya stepped back to critique her work, after a few moments she took up a four pound hammer and large chisel.

Placing the chisel where she wanted it, she swung the hammer and knocked a nice chunk of the stone to the ground, then with a few more blows of the hammer, she finished shaping the stone to her satisfaction.

Next, she picked out two flat stones and asked George and Phillip, "Coolds ye please hold these stones taegaither fur a few moments?"

When they held the stones together like she had asked, she asked Roger, "Lend me a han' will ye please?"

And together, they heaved a large flat stone on top of the two stones placed together end to end. Lastly, Freya selected a smaller squarish stone and after turning it round and round, she placed it on top of the whole stone structure. She stepped back and admired it for a few moments before turning to Zenobia with a smile and saying, "Ah am finished, hoo dae ye loch it?"

Zenobia's multiple eyes began blinking rapidly and she flushed slightly and scuttled forward to hug Freya before saying very softly, "I love it, thank you very much!"

Freya squeezed her gently and replied, "Ahm glad, Ah felt sae badly when Ah learnt ay yer family's fate an' wanted tae dae thes in their honor."

They were about to say more when the sinuating forms of Mia and her little twins followed by her sisters and mother came into view.

Mia carried a large basket and had a big smile on her beautiful face.

Natalie carried in her hands a basket with tools and some cactus in it.

She smiled at her friend and sinuated over to the Inukshuk.

She placed her hands together briefly and closed her amber eyes for a brief prayer.

She dug a couple of small holes and carefully planted the cactus at the base of the monument to Zenobia's lost family.

The lamias sinuated around the stone structure singing softly in their almost forgotten language, then each of them laid a small token at the base of the structure in respect before leaving the circle to hug Zenobia.