Chapter 26

Once outside the stony slope the house of Sigurd and Gudrun was tunneled into.

Roger called Rachel..."Hello? Roger? What's up, how did the funeral go?" she asked.

"Funeral went well, we gave her a good send off and everyone is still hung over a bit." he cheerfully replied.

Getting down to business Roger asked, "Could you check on a large property right behind the house and see if it might be available?"

"I can do that, why do you ask?" replied Rachel.

"I've met a couple of very interesting people and that land would come in mighty handy." he replied.

"Okay, I'll bite...What are you up to?" asked his ever so patient boss, Rachel Thompson.

"What I'm up to, is finding a suitable home for a wood wife and her giant lupine companion. The house is plenty big, but they need a place to roam and twenty-five acres ought to be big enough." Enthused Roger with a boyish grin.

"Wood wife? Giant lupine companion? What have you found this time?" asked a suddenly cautious Rachel.

Roger grinned at the phone and he said happily, "Give a me a couple of minutes here and I'll show you!".

Quickly scrolling through his photos, he found the image he was seeking, it was a picture of Freya sitting on a bench as she brushed out Sasha's luxurious tail while Dena sat next to her and watched.

Hitting 'send' he sent the image on its way and waited a few moments... "Holy Crap! That's a wolf?! And who's that little girl next to Freya?" issued suddenly from his satellite phone.

Roger put it back to his ear and asked innocently, "Well? Whaddaya think?"

"I think they're amazing and how come we didn't see them before?"

"You'll have to ask them I'm afraid, I only recently saw them myself for the first time. Apparently, the little woman attached herself to Induna and the wolf bonded with her as well." replied Roger.

"Okay, so you're going to bring them down to Portland?" asked Rachel with a tinge of concern in her voice.

He smiled and said, "Nothing's been decided yet. The family's going to have a meeting to decide on how to disperse Induna's effects. There is talk of giving her library to Freya and I've already informed them of the limitations of the plane I borrowed, so I won't be loading it up with books and scrolls just yet."

"What about the girl and her wolf?" asked Rachel.

"That hasn't been decided yet, I just want to know if that land is available so I do have a bargaining chip."

Roger heard a big sigh coming from Rachel and she said, "Remind me to choke you the next time I see you!"

"Sorry..." he replied.

"I'll look into it but, I make no promises, are we clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Replied a grinning Roger Tate.

Resuming his seat Roger announced, "I spoke with my boss and she's going to look into a piece of land behind our house to see if it's for sale. It's about twenty-five acres of unspoiled woodland that has a high fence around it. I can't make any promises, but we are looking into it."

He looked around at his audience of four people and a giant wolf, "I'll know more in a couple of days or so."

Olaf asked, "Ur thaur onie sort ay buildings oan thes lain ye mentioned?"

Roger shrugged and replied, "I haven't seen anything, although I know someone who might know."

With that, he looked pointedly at Freya who squirmed a little bit and replied testily, "Ah was only in thaur a wee while an' Ah didnae see much, it's bonnie thick in thaur an' gettin' aroond wasnae easy, e'en fur me!"

He grinned at her and said, "So you did climb that fence, I'd suspected as much."

Seeing the look of surprise on her face, he commented, "I'm not mad or anything, just don't be climbing over fences when you don't really know what's on the other side."

He grinned and said, "I did that once and got a real good thumping for my pains, what the dog didn't bite, the owner put lumps on. Not one of my brighter moves, that one."

Freya looked steadily at Roger and asked, "If ye can gie thes lain yoo're talkin' abit, ur ye intendin' oan bringin' Dena an' Sasha tae bide wi' us?"

He smiled at her and replied carefully, "I am thinking about it. Although if they choose to stay here or if it will cause problems for us, I won't pursue it any further."

Roger smiled at the tiny girl sitting cross legged so prettily on the table while she nibbled on her food and he murmured, "I wish I knew what you are thinking about all of this."

Dena smiled at him, dabbed at her pretty mouth with her tiny napkin and in a voice that was more of a squeak than a speaking voice, she said, "Ah kin 'at ye ur thinkin' ay takin' me wi' ye when ye lae.

"Sasha an' Ah ur boond taegaither fur 'er lifetime, we main nae be separated.

We took caur ay Induna as she took caur ay us, 'er death ended 'at attachment an' we main attach uirselves tae Gudrun if she wants us tae bide."

Freya burst out laughing at the look of astonishment on Roger's craggy face.

When he recovered his composure, he laughed and said to Dena's smiling face, "Well Dena, you certainly pulled a good one on me.

"I wasn't sure if you could talk, now I know you can. Even if it cost me some of my tattered dignity to find out!"

Dena smiled and said, "Ye hae bin kin' tae me an' fed me, Sasha lochs ye tay.

If th' quine ay yer hoose didne min' we woods gladly attach uirselves tae yer hoosehauld an' gang wi' ye."

Roger blinked a couple of times at her comment and without thinking, asked, "And who would be the queen of my household?"

Freya flushed a bright scarlet color and she blurted out hotly, "Ye great daft man! Hoo dae ye thenk is livin' wi' ye?" as she rose and stormed out of the kitchen.

Roger grimaced and facepalmed himself before saying grimly, "God, I can be so dense sometimes. I can't believe I just asked that stupid a question!"

Dena smiled and said gently, "She diz loove ye e'en if she wullnae admit it."

He slumped down a bit and said softly, "You're not the first person to tell me that.

I was asked to take her with me originally because her parents sensed her attachment to me even though I was too dumb to see it. I sure didn't mean to hurt her feelings."

Gudrun at this point said quietly, "Her feelings ur strang an' she is confused by them. Gie 'er some time tae thenk abit things, she'll be fine."

Dena stood up to her full height, all two feet of it and said amiably, "Ah will gab tae 'er an' lit 'er decide if she wants us tae come wi' ye."

She hopped off the high table and with Sasha's great lupine form right behind her, she left the kitchen to Roger, Gudrun and Olaf.

Olaf rose from the table and placed his dish in the sink, he turned to Roger and said,"Me sister can be bonnie dense 'erself sometimes. She knows 'at she is th' quine of yer hoose. Lit 'er cool doon a bit afore ye gab tae 'er."

Roger smiled at him and replied, "Thanks Olaf, her reaction kind of surprised me that's all. I've talked to many other women in her presence without that kind of reaction from her, so I was caught flat footed."

Gudrun commented, "Ye did show quite an interest in wee Dena an' wuid wives can bond fur life wi' someain if they like them. P'raps Freya felt ye showed too much interest in Dena?"

Roger smiled at his giant hostess weakly and replied earnestly, "I work for the Museum of Cryptozoology, I collect stories about legendary peoples and I look for the sources of the legends.

"It's what I do.

"Freya herself is a legendary person, she is a frost giant.

Although most people now think she's just an incredibly tall girl.

"Seeing Dena brought out the scientist in me, the collector of stories and peoples.

I couldn't help being fascinated by her.

I'm sorry that Freya misunderstood my intentions."

"An' Ah'm sorry tae. Ah ken perfectly well whit ye dae an' Ah ne'er shoods hae doobted ye. Ah'm jist a silly lassie."

Roger looked over at the doorway to see Freya standing there with little Dena perched on her left shoulder and Sasha's great shaggy head peering around her tall, slender form.

Without hesitating, Roger stepped up to her and hugged her very closely while she also slipped her long arms around him.

For a long moment neither of them spoke, the lingering hug was their sole means of communicating.

Separating again, Roger looked up at his towering young companion and said, "Still best buds?"

She grinned and replied, "Ay coorse we're still buds." he grinned at her and was about to say something when Dena said, "Whit abit me, arenae we friends noo?"

Roger smiled at the little doll of a girl and said with a wink, "Yeah, I suppose we could call you a friend now."

He reached down and scratched Sasha behind one of her ears, "And you too, Sasha!"

Her response was to nuzzle Roger's hand to ask for more, so he indulged her by digging both hands into her dense fur and giving her a really good rump scratching until Dena laughed and said, "Cannie noo, she'll want tae bond wi' ye. Unless 'at's part ay yer gam plan, gie in guid wi' Sasha an' Ah come wi' 'er."

"It never crossed my mind." Replied Roger with a very obvious wink and a nudge to Freya.

Finishing up with Sasha, Roger said simply, " You are new to me and if you heard my earlier comments about what I do, you'll know that I want to study you and observe you and learn more about how you and your people are connected to the Jotuns."

He grinned and quipped, "And if we become good friends, then it's all to the better!"

He looked at Freya and said softly, "I already can't imagine life without this amazing girl being in it and adding you and Sasha to my circle of friends will be a lot of fun."

Freya gently took his hand and said, "Ah've changed me min' let's tak' a look in Induna's cottage thes efternuin, sae thaur wull be less tae dae afore we have tae leave tomorrow efternuin."

Roger grinned at her and held up his satellite phone saying, "Not saying I don't trust anybody, but I want to take a few pictures of her things as they are, so we can get an idea of how many books and scrolls and odd papers she had."

Olaf chuckled and said, "Nae worries abit anyain takin' 'er library, Freya was th' book worm ay th' fowk."

Freya stuck her tongue out at her older brother and they left the house with Dena riding atop Sasha's great lupine form.

A short time later, they stood outside Induna's cottage, reflecting for a few moments before entering what had been her home for many years.

Freya muttered, "Ah'd hoped tae show 'er me high skale diploma efter Ah'd graduated. Ah wanted tae mak' 'er prood ay me."

Dena said cheerfully, "She was huir uv prood ay ye. She talked abit whit ye waur daein' an' showed me th' letters yoo'd sent 'er. She kept every a body ay them in a box oan 'er desk."

Roger squeezed her hand and said, " Of course she was proud of you, you've done something no Jotun has done in centuries. Live among the 'wee folk' and make friends."

They held hands and stepped up to her cottage door, Freya slid the bolt aside and the stout door opened with a creak.

The interior was softly lit through the windows and Roger lit a couple of lamps while Freya opened up the curtains some more.

Roger began taking photos of the cluttered interior while Freya sat down at the desk and opened the box of letters she'd sent her grandmother.

Roger silently took photos and made mental notes of Induna's library that took up fully half of the cottage's interior.

Induna had essentially lived in a book case with the shelves groaning under the weight of many ancient volumes of lore.

He heard a soft sniffling sound behind him and he turned to see Freya holding tiny Dena while the two of them shared a good cry.

Sasha stood anxiously nearby, wanting to comfort her tiny companion and her master's grandaughter and all she could manage was a soft whine in her throat.

Not wanting to interfere, he continued taking photos of the books.

He laid several old maps out on the kitchen table and photographed them individually before putting back in their places.

Freya and Dena looked over the letters she had sent to Induna and occasionally wept softly.

Sitting in a small pocket on her desk was a letter addressed to Freya, it was from Induna.

Freya looked it over for a few moments, then she began reading aloud, "Tae me precious granddaughter, Ah cannae teel ye hoo prood Ah am ay ye, ah fin' Ah lack th' words.

Ah fa hae lived by words mah whole life, am at a loss fur them noo.

"Me time is drawin' tae an' end an' Ah fear Ah willnae be able tae advise ye fur much langer. Ah hae decided tae gie ye me library in th' hopes 'at within' its volumes ye will fin' th' widom tae help ye in life.

"Aw tay suin, ye will be declarin' yer hearts desire, at th' risk ay bein' thooght ay as a meddlin' auld hen.

Ah woods hope tha' ye choose tae declaur fur th' fine man ye ur livin' wi'.

He mauna be a Jotun, but he is true tae ye an' 'at is mair important than bluid lines.

"Ah loove ye sae huir uv a much dearest Freya an' 'at will lest forever...Grandma."

When she was finished reading, she looked up from the letter with tears trickling from her bright blue eyes and in a voice thick with emotions, said, "Ah guess th' library is mine then, an' th' rest gaes tae th' family."