Chapter 27

After closing and bolting Induna's cottage door, Freya reached out and took Roger's hand and the four of them walked back to her parent's house.

Once back inside, she showed the letter to her parents and brother Olaf.

Sigurd and Gudrun both studied it for a while and asked Olaf to go fetch Gudrun's sister, Barbara.

Shortly after that the kitchen was filled with the giant forms of Freya's parents and her auntie Barbara all sipping tea and looking at the letter from Induna.

Barbara finally set down her tea and said quietly, "Thes is bonnie clear, th' library gaes tae Freya an' th' rest tae th' fowk."

"Ah agree" remarked Gudrun, "Ah see nae disputes haur. Freya was aye in 'er grandma's books wa shooldnae she gie them?"

Roger said quietly, "I did notice that many items in her cottage had labels on them, perhaps the labels will have the recipient's name on them?"

Barbara asked him, "Did ye look at onie ay th' labels?"

He replied, "No, not really. I was busy taking photographs of the books and the old maps. I just happened to notice that there were labels on some things."

Freya glanced at Roger and asked, "Hoo lang dae we hae th' use ay 'at airplane?"

He replied, "Five to seven days at most, after that we have to pay a rental fee. We wouldn't be able to haul any real loads of books or even Dena and her friend Sasha in that small of a plane, it's too light for the load."

Freya knitted her brows in thought and said quietly, "We'll hae tae come back wi' a much bigger plane then. Hoo lang afore that big plane ye an' Henri brooght back frae Brazil is flyable?"

"Several months at least, perhaps we can 'borrow' a big cargo helicopter like we did in Algeria." replied Roger.

"Algeria?" asked Gudrun.

"It was before I met you guys, remind me to tell you about it sometime." replied Roger

"Ah"

"In the meantime, we can leave the books where they are, and I suppose Dena and Sasha can keep an eye on things for us until we can make the necessary arrangements to move them."

He glanced over and saw little Dena smiling happily, then she said in her squeak of a voice, "Ah woods be glad tae watch o'er Induna's things. Ah'll keep everythin' in order, an' th' cottage ready tae be lived in."

Barbara smiled at the tiny wood wife and said, "That woods be verra kind ay ye wee one. Ye gae comfort tae uir mammy in 'er later years an' we uir verra grateful tae ye."

Roger woke the next morning, the family discussion about Induna's things had gone on long into the night and he had grown sleepy so he had excused himself.

The last he remembered was that they had pretty much decided to leave her library in place for the time being and divide up the personal effects she had left to the various members of the family.

He sat up in bed and realized that he was not alone.

Sasha's giant form was stretched out on the floor as she slept quite soundly.

Roger looked the enormous wolf over, she easily stood about four feet tall at the shoulders and had to weigh some four hundred pounds, spread out over her nearly ten foot long frame.

Rising from his bed, Roger carefully stepped over Sasha's giant lupine form and made his way past Freya and Dena as they slept like babies in her bed.

He found his way into the kitchen and Gudrun greeted him with a smile and a cheery, "Guid morrow, woods ye loch some breakfast?"

He nodded a 'yes' and she served him up some porridge and a slice of grilled meat followed by a cup full of a broth she had warmed up.

"They still sleepin'?" asked Gudrun, he set down his cup of broth and said, "Like logs, even Sasha barely stirred when I stepped over her."

Gudrun smiled and remarked, "Puir lassie, her granny dyin' loch 'at took 'er by surprise an' she jist wasnae 'er ususal sunny self."

"No kidding! Her getting all bent out of shape at Dena the other night scared me, she doesn't realize how strong she is, and I don't know what I would've done had she really gone after Dena. They seem to be friends now so I'm not going to dwell on it, but I was pretty concerned there."

Gudrun smiled and replied,"Dinnae worry none, Ah woold've stopped 'er if it had come tae 'at. We Jotuns arenae violent by nature an' Ah doobt she woods hae tried tae really hurt 'er."

She sat down across from him with her own breakfast, a meal that could have sustained Roger for a couple of days and as they ate, Roger said quietly, "We are going to have to leave in the next day or so, I borrowed the plane we used to get up here on such short notice and if I take too long in getting back, the owner will cheerfully feed me to the lions. And if I crash it, well, I might as well throw myself under it before it hits to save him the trouble of choking me to death."

She smiled at him and remarked cheerfully, "Weel noo, we cannae hae 'at! Ah'll prod Freya intae gettin' ready tae leave, Ah wooldnae wan' 'er tae be responsible fur yer untimely demise!"

She winked at him and said, "Ah'll hae 'er ready tae leave oan th' morrow. That'll gie 'er time tae visit wi' 'er friends."

"And me time to get some idea of how much storage space I'm gonna need for all those books I saw." quipped Roger.

Roger was about to comment further when he noticed a twinkle in Gudrun's blue eyes and a cold wet nose suddenly pushed against his neck, "Aaack!" he yelped and Gudrun burst out laughing, Sasha had entered the kitchen unbeknownst to him and pressed her nose against his exposed neck.

"Don't do that! Damn near gave me a heart attack!" he exclaimed to Gudrun's amusement.

Sasha nosed him again and whined while looking towards the outside door.

Roger grinned at the enormous wolf and said playfully, "You wanna go outside?"

She barked once and gently took his arm in her massive jaws, jaws that could splinter a heavy beef bone with utter ease.

Tugging gently on his arm, Sasha induced Roger to let her outside to relieve herself.

Following her outside, he enjoyed the morning air while Sasha sniffed around to find the right spot to pee.

He was smiling at one of the Jotun children as he walked by following his towering mother carrying a hand basket with a cloth draped over it.

When the insistent chiming of his satellite phone interrupted his musings. It was Rachel.

"Roger!" she began, "I looked into that property you told me about."

"And?" he replied.

"It seems it belongs to a friend of George and Mia's. An author named Anna Karlsen."

"Okay, so is it available?"

"Well, sort of..."

Roger raised one eyebrow, "Sort of?"

"The story I was told is that she 'inherited' it from an ancestor of hers, an immigrant minor noblewoman named Anna Karlsen."

"Okay, she inherited it, why did you emphasize 'inherited'?" Asked Roger.

"Because she is, this Anna Karlsen. The Anna Karlsen I'm speaking of, is over two hundred and fifty years old...Hello?"

"I'm still here!"

Roger turned away from everyone and whispered hoarsely, "Are you saying that Anna Karlsen is a..."

"Yes, she's a vampire, a responsible one I might add." added Rachel.

Roger almost blurted out a sarcastic comment, but caught himself and said quietly "How th' eff did George and Mia get tangled up with a..."

"Vampire?"

"Yeah, that!" demanded Roger.

"Never mind that for now, to keep it short, the property is not for sale, however we can utilize it for as long as we want, so long as we allow her access to our notes and findings."

Roger grinned and replied, "Fair enough. Though it'll take us a little while to get all of Induna's library moved down to the house and then there is the question of where we'll put it all."

A few moments later Rachel asked, "How big of a library?"

"I'm not sure really, I looked it over while Freya and Dena were going over a few things,"

"Dena? Who's Dena?"

"Dena is the wood wife I sent you a picture of earlier. She and Freya are now friends and that makes me her friend too."

"Okay, you're all friends now, that's good."

"The library has to be several thousand volumes in book and scroll form, there is also a number of old maps and other items. I'm not sure the house could take it all without it taking over at least half of the house."

"And that brings us to the best part..." remarked Rachel, "There is a large house on the property, it needs work. Probably a lot of work, but I'm told it has nice high ceilings and about eight bedrooms."

"We'll have to take a look at it when we get back." Commented Roger, "We'll be leaving for home tomorrow morning. Dena and Sasha will stay here for the time being and they'll keep an eye on Induna's cottage while we're gone."

"That works for me." replied Rachel, "I'll talk to you when you get back to Portland."

"Catch you later!".

Ending his connection, Roger saw Sasha sitting patiently on her haunches waiting for him to open the door to Freya's house.

He grinned at the giant wolf and said cheerfully, "Now, I suppose you want back in?"

Her grin and wagging tail told him 'yes'.

He took hold of the big door handle and pushed open the twelve foot high door for Sasha who wasted little time in finding her life's companion, Dena the wood wife.

Following the massive wolf inside, he found them all sitting at the kitchen table eating their porridge and grilled meat then washing it down with a cup of Gudrun's heart warming broth.

"Hey there sleepyhead!" he said cheerfully to Freya, "I'm planning on us flying out of here in the morning, so go visit with your friends while I get a better idea of just how many books Induna had."

Freya nodded in reply then swallowed her bite of food to ask, "Whit abit 'at property near uir hoose? Hae ye heard anythin'?"

Roger grinned at her and replied, "It's not for sale, but the owner is willing to let us use it for as long as we want. It seems the owner is a friend of George and Mia's, though not anyone either of us have met."

Freya said, "Okay, dae we jist cut th' lock oan th' gate?"

"It's a little more involved than that, it seems there is a large house on the property with several out buildings. The house has about eight bedrooms and supposedly high ceilings, we'll find out more once we've seen the place."

Freya looked a bit surprised and said, "Huh, Ah ne'er ken thaur was a hoose oan th' property, it's all sae overgroon Ah couldnae see onie hoose."

Roger simply shrugged and remarked, "When we fly back to Portland, we'll circle over the property and take a look see to get an idea where the house might be."

Dena at this point, spoke up, "Wull ye be needin' me help? What if ye see a wolf ur somethin'?"

Roger sat down next to Dena and said quietly, "I'm afraid we can't take you and Sasha with us at this time, the airplane I borrowed just isn't big enough to take you two in."

When she pouted as only a two foot tall, very pretty wood wife can, Roger chucked her under her tiny chin with his forefinger and said gently, "C'mon now, that's not playing fair, I'd love to take you two with us and I will take you guys with us at a later date...I promise!"

He made a crossing motion over his heart as he said it for emphasis.

She flashed him a dazzling smile and said happily, "Aam lookin' forward tae it!".

While Freya went to visit her friends, Roger and Dena went into Induna's cottage while Sasha lay outside in the sun and dozed.

He had never really looked around in Induna's cottage before and he slowly realized that her library literally filled at least two of the rooms.

Dena could easily slip between the stacks of books and poke around inside the rooms he simply couldn't squeeze into.

He heard her tiny sneezes from time to time as she shined the little flashlight he'd given her, into the darker corners of the cottage while he waited outside, hoping she didn't meet with any accidents.

When she reemerged from the book filled rooms all covered in dust and cobwebs, she grinned at him and said, "Th' rooms ur foo ay books, e'en Ah couldnae fit in some ay th' places Ah saw in thaur."

Roger smiled at his tiny friend and said, "It seems that Induna could not say no to a book and kept them all. Clearing out this cottage is going to take some time..."

Her tiny sneeze interrupted him and he grinned, "Let's get you in a bathtub, we'll talk about this later!" he stooped slightly to scoop her up and they went outside to lock the door and fetch Sasha.

The gigantic wolf sniffed at Dena a few moments and promptly sneezed as only a giant lupine companion can.

Even Roger flinched at the sight of her powerful sneeze.

Few minutes later they were back inside Freya's parent's house and filling the enormous bathtub from the wall mounted spigot and adding steam kettles full of hot water to warm it up a bit.

Roger straightened up from adding another kettleful of hot water and saw Dena standing there, wearing only one of her bright smiles as a garment and removing any lingering doubts as to her femininity.

Roger could only shake his head and mutter to himself, "What is it with you legendary creatures and your casualness about nudity?"

Dena giggled and said in her pipsqueak of a voice, "If Ah didne loch ye, ye wooldnae see me at aw, lit aloyn see me naked!"

Roger could only roll his eyes at her response and say, "I had to get used to Freya walking about in the house naked, now I guess I'll have to get used to you being a little nudist also."

"Takin' a bath, can Ah join in?"

Roger looked over at the sound of her voice and saw Freya standing in the doorway to the bath room.

Before he could respond Dena squeaked, "'at woods be verra nice!" and Freya began peeling off her clothes just like she would do at their house.

Moments later, she stepped into the tub with Dena and the two began scrubbing, from his perspective it looked for all the world like Freya was bathing with a doll, a living, breathing doll.

Roger beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen with the small bundle of Dena's dirty clothes where he showed them to Gudrun.

She took one glance at them and asked, "Is she takin' a bath aloyn?"

"Nah, Freya's in there with her." he chuckled and said, "She looks like she's a human girl taking a bath with a plastic doll, only she's over seven feet tall now and the 'doll' is a wood wife."

Gudrun smiled at his words and commented,"They've become guid friends 'at's a guid sign. Dena was sich a big help tae me mammy in 'er final years, an' Ah'm glad she's decided tae stay wi' us."

Gudrun placed Dena's clothing in a bowl and poured hot soapy water over it to let it soak.

She asked Roger, "Whit time ur ye twa leavin' tomorrow?"

He replied, "I want to leave here at dawn as it takes a few hours to get to the lake. I hope to be back in Portland by late afternoon, early evening. That way she can get to bed early enough to be fresh for school on Monday."

"Makes sense tae me" remarked Gudrun and she asked, "Woods ye loch tae help me prepaur uir dinner?"

Roger grinned and replied, "You sure you want me loose in your kitchen?"

"Freya tells me ye dae most ay th' cookin' at haem, sae why nae?"

Roger smiled and soon he was peeling and slicing up some of the potatoes he'd brought with him while Gudrun scrubbed one of her iron cooking pots to bake dinner in.

He cut up one of the glazed hams into bite sized chunks while Gudrun boiled the potatoes a bit before mixing them with the pieces of ham.

Everything was mixed in the iron pot and it was covered with grated cheese then popped into the massive stone and iron oven to bake.

Freya, now freshly scrubbed and with her hair nicely braided by Dena, came in, set up the table and carried Sasha's food outside for her to eat after Gudrun had explained, "Sasha jist willnae fit in th' scullery wi' all ay us thaur at once."

An hour later and all seven of them were gathered in the kitchen when Gudrun removed the iron pot from the oven, and they all could smell the ham and potato bake with the pineapple slices laid over its top.

The fresh salad was quickly polished off and the main dish was quickly served up while Sigurd carefully poured the ale.

Gudrun's sister Barbara eyed the main dish and said, "Ah cannae say Ah'v e'er tasted pineapple afore an' ham is sich a rarity tae me. It smells wonderful!"

Roger smiled at her and replied, "I learned the recipe from a friend's mother while I was visiting them for a week-end furlough. She said it was nothing special, but for a boy who grew up in foster homes, it was delicious!"

Barbara took up a small bit of the food and took a taste, her face a study in curiosity.

Roger thought it best not to chuckle at the sight of a nine-foot tall giantess daintily trying out a new taste.

Her face went from curious/dubious to delighted at the taste of the pineapple slices and she pronounced the food to be 'tasty'.

Sigurd boomed a laugh and raised his ale to say, "Haur's tae me sister-in-law, may she always approve ay yoor cookin'!"

They all took a drink at that and dug in with gusto.

After dinner Sigurd poured another round of ale and they talked.

Barbara grinned at Roger and said teasingly, "Ye dae realize 'at me niece will gie as big as me, sae ye think ye can handle 'er?"

Roger grinned back and replied, "I think we're doing okay." he smiled at Freya and said, "We both have had a lot of fun together and we do get on each other's nerves sometimes, but doesn't everybody do that?"

Barbara only smiled and nodded knowingly.

"Sae yoo're leavin' in th' morn?" asked Olaf, "Whit abit Granny's things?"

Freya replied, "Ah already took th' things she gae tae me, th' rest is fur everybody else, except th' books ay coorse."

He nodded his acknowledgement of her remarks.

After Roger finished his second tankard of ale, he turned it over to signify that he was done for the night and a puzzled Sigurd asked, "Yoo're drinkin' lightly tonicht ?"

"'fraid so big guy, I have to fly tomorrow and need all the skills I can get!"

Sigurd smiled at his reply and said, "Ah'm guessin' flyin's a bit mair complicated than walkin' 'en?"

"Quite a bit more my large friend, quite a bit."