Chapter 32

Returning home, Roger pulled up and paused until Josephine's rental car parked alongside him.

As they entered the house, Anna said with a sigh, "Two down and two to go, then I'm going to relax for a couple of days before heading home and back to work."

Josephine began loosening Anna's corset while she carefully peeled off her opera gloves.

Freya had momentarily disappeared and Roger was in the kitchen heating up a kettle of water on the stove.

By the time he had put together a tea tray and was bringing it out, Anna had doffed her attire and was now in her pajamas and slippers.

It was quite the change from earlier in the evening when she was all corseted up.

Roger set down the tea tray and poured the water into the tea cups, stirring the tea leaves slightly for better mixing.

Freya returned and was wearing a long nightshirt and slippers, inadvertently showing off a pair of incredibly long, slender legs.

In one hand she had an old book and she curled up with it under the strong reading light next to the overstuffed leather couch.

Anna peered curiously at the title on the spine until she finally asked, "Is that book written in runes?"

Freya looked up from the book, "Aye, it cam frae me granny's library, most ay 'er books ur written in runes."

Anna smiled, "Norse runes?"

Freya frowned slightly and replied patiently, "Nay, Jotun runes. Th' Norse learnt them frae us, they had nae written language when we first met them."

Josephine at this time, came bustling back into the parlour and saw Freya's book, she too peered at it and commented, "Runes?"

"Jotun runes apparently." replied Anna.

"Ah, that's nice. Are they anything like the runes Tolkien used?"

Freya grinned and replied merrily, "Whaur dae ye think Tolkien got them frae?"

Anna sat down with her tea and asked, "I don't mean to keep interrupting your reading, but would you like to see my great grandmother's house tomorrow morning? I think it would make a great library for your grandmother's books."

Freya's big grin was all the reply she needed, "I'll take that as a 'yes'!"

7 a.m. the next morning and the kitchen was crowded as Roger finished up making breakfast and began serving it up.

Josephine chuckled and remarked, "So much energy this morning! I hope you'll save a little bit for tonight Anna."

Anna grinned at her publicist and replied cheerfully, "You're welcome to join us!"

Josephine laughed and said cheerfully, "Thrashing blindly about in that thicket next door, is not my idea of hiking. Give me a carefully manicured hiking trail any day!"

Roger just smiled and remarked, "Breaking bush in rough country is an acquired taste I'll admit, but sometimes, ya just gotta!"

"Well, I don't hafta! Just bring my author back in time for her to wash up and get ready, that's all I ask." Josephine retorted with a grin.

Anna smiled in amusement as she watched Freya carefully slather herself with a high SPF sunscreen before donning a big hat.

"I don't feel so odd now, after seeing you applying all that sunscreen before you leave the house."

Freya shrugged and remarked, "Ah didna ken Ah burned sae easily until Ah went tae Arizona durin' a sprin' break. Ah had blisters oan th' back ay me neck."

They simply followed the rusting fence separating the properties until they came to the weed and brush choked remnants of a driveway and a rusting iron gate next to their house.

It was securely chained and a large brass padlock held it in place.

Anna produced a heavy iron key and inserted it into the padlock.

Turning it back and forth finally resulted in a 'spang!' sound from within the lock and the hasp slipped open.

A few moments of clattering and unwinding the chain later and the heavy gates groaned as their long dry hinges cried out in protest at being disturbed after so long a rest.

Stepping through the heavy gates, they pulled them closed behind them and relocked the ancient lock.

Following the driveway proved to be fairly easy, as all they had to do was stay between the heavy curbstones lining it.

A growing sense of unease finally got to the point where even Freya muttered, "Ah cannae gang onie farther, Ah dunnae ken wa, Ah jist cannae tak' another step in thes direction."

"What she said!" commented Roger grimly.

Anna smiled at them and said amiably, "I'm glad to see my repulsion charm is still working after all these years."

She stepped forward a couple of paces and faced the source of the charm, she said three little words, "I have returned!"

Both Roger and Freya suddenly felt the powerful sense of dread vanish without a trace.

Freya suddenly laughed and she scooped up a startled Anna and spun her around once before setting her back down on her feet.

Anna quickly readjusted her big hat and remarked breathlessly, "You're welcome...I think!"

Freya smiled at her and replied, "Ah dunnae ken wa Ah did 'at, Ah jist felt it was th' thin' tae dae!"

Roger smiled and remarked, "I can understand why she did that. As soon as you said "I have returned!" It was like all the cares I ever had in this world, suddenly vanished without a trace."

Anna sort of half shrugged and said, "Sorry, I should've warned you guys."

"It's nae problem, nae harm done!" replied Freya with a laugh.

With the psychic barrier gone, they continued following the faint driveway until they rounded the last corner and saw the house.

Or what they could see of it with all the trees that had grown up around it, forming a visual and physical barrier to further exploration.

Ivy had covered the walls to the extent that parts of the house resembled a vast heap of crumbling stone and rotting timbers.

Roger whistled softly and remarked, "I hope it looks worse than it is, ivy can really dig into a masonry wall and loosen the stonework."

They found the front door after pulling away some of the overgrowth and saw the doors still standing firm after nearly a century of neglect.

Anna dug around in her pouch and pulled out a smaller version of the heavy gate key, she was about to insert it when Roger commented, "Maybe we shouldn't open it up just yet, that lock could be very rusty and you could break the key off in the lock. We can come back tomorrow with some penetrating oil and oil up the locks and hinges."

Anna looked at him for a moment and said agreeably, "Okay, we can do that. We'll come back tomorrow with that oil you mentioned."

Freya was peering in through one of the windows and she said, "It looks loch all it needs is a guid cleanin', th' furniture is all covered up wi' sheets ur somethin'."

Anna stepped over to her and Freya lifted her up so she could see for herself.

After a few moments, Anna nodded and Freya set her back down again.

"I've seen enough, we'll come back tomorrow with some tools and that oil of yours Roger."

They soon returned to the point where Anna had lifted the repulsion charm, she stopped and said to them, "I'm going to restore the charm, walk on ahead a little way so it doesn't hit you too hard."

Roger reached out and took Freya's hand then they walked off a little ways and stopped, still holding hands.

Anna faced the house and said firmly, "I am leaving!"

Immediately, the feeling of unease and revulsion returned in force and they squeezed each other's hands for reassurance.

They stood there still putting on their brave faces when Anna walked up to them and smiled reassuringly, "You guys going to be all right?" she asked.

Roger grimaced and replied, "We'll be just peachy once we get away from here! That charm of yours packs quite a wallop!"

Anna smiled and said, "I can fix that." she stepped closer and gently touched both of them at once while saying, "You are always welcome here!"

The feelings of unease and revulsion ceased at once.

Roger chuckled and remarked, "I am glad you're on my side, I hate to think what you could do to someone you don't like."

Freya simply had a look of amazement on her pretty face.

Returning to the house, Anna went to bathe and get ready for the book signing at her next stop, Cameron's Books, one of Portland's oldest bookstores.

They left the house a bit early to get set up for the signing event leaving Roger and Freya to spend the evening at home.

That evening was spent quietly, Roger was working on a report for the museum, his notes about meeting Dena and her giant wolf Sasha were being polished into a report for for the archives.

Freya was curled up underneath the reading light and nose down in her grandmother's book of old tales from Jotunheim.

The muted 'tick-tock, tick-tock' of the huge grandfather clock in the living room being the only sound amid the stillness.

Roger saved and closed up his report then turned his PC off and headed out to the garage to look for the penetrating oil he'd mentioned earlier.

He also put together a few tools he thought he'd need and placed them in his tool pouch along with the oil he'd found.

He came back in just in time for Freya to hug him goodnight and leave a little kiss on his cheek.

He watched her towering frame as she climbed the stairs two at a time, he belatedly noticed that she was looking more mature with each passing day.

He had only a few more months until she became a teenager and she would start growing in all sorts of wonderful ways.

It was just about midnight when Anna and Josephine returned to the house.

Roger opened the door for them and they swept into the house in grand fashion.

Anna was humming a little tune from an old musical and smiling quite happily.

Roger smiled and asked, "I take it, it went well?"

Josephine smiled and replied, "It was very nice. I wish all book signings went so nicely. We had a few glitches, but they were minor and not worth stressing over. The crowd was very nice, except for one well meaning individual who handed out bible tracts to everyone there."

He chuckled and said, "Wowzers always mean well while getting on your nerves."

"Wowzers?"

"An Australian term for holy rollers." replied Roger.

"Ah"

He smiled and asked, "Would you ladies like a little chamomile tea before bed? I have hot water all ready to pour."

"Thank you, that would be very nice." replied Anna with a smile.

A few minutes later, Roger set the well stocked tray down on the coffee table in the parlour, he poured the water over the loose tea and said, "Give it a couple of minutes and it'll be ready to drink."

Josephine sat and smiled at him as she said cheerfully, "I can't believe you're not married. You always say and do the right thing to make a lady feel comfortable around you."

Roger grinned and replied ruefully, "Unfortunately my taste in women leaves much to be desired, I'm a terrible judge of character in that regard. Married and divorced twice over, no kids, thank goodness. Gave it up as a bad idea."

Josephine looked around the parlour and gazed at the many items on display in the glass cases lining the walls.

Finally she looked up and noticed as if for the first time, the twelve foot high ceiling.

"Oh my"she exclaimed, "I just noticed how high the ceiling is, is the whole house like this? With all the high doorways and extra wide hallways?"

Roger grinned and replied, "The high ceilings are what really sold me on this house. It was custom built for a retired circus giant couple who both stood about eight feet tall, so everything was scaled up for them."

Josephine looked at him and asked curiously, "So, it was going for a pretty good price then?"

"Oh yes, it was surprisingly reasonable because it couldn't be torn down or remodeled due to a historical landmark status or something."

He looked around the craftsman home and commented, "I rather enjoy living in this big, old house, and as Freya grows to adulthood, it'll still be big enough for her."

Josephine looked puzzled and asked, "You say she's only twelve? I mean she's so tall and didn't you say she worked out with the senior women's volleyball team at Portland U?"

"She's twelve going on thirteen."

Josephine gaped and Anna chuckled, "She hasn't even hit puberty yet? How much bigger will she get?"

Roger sipped at his tea and replied, "At least nine feet tall, possibly taller, her mom is nine feet plus and her dad is well over ten feet tall."

"How?!"

Anna smiled at her publicist and said amiably, "Freya is a frost giant. Yes, a frost giant from Norse mythology. Didn't her size and her reading a book written in ancient runes tell you anything?"

Anna squeezed her hand and said gently, "You're a great publicist and you take really good care of me, but sometimes, you can be a little clueless."

Josephine closed her eyes and massaged her temples for a moment, then she opened them and said, " I didn't even think about the frost giant angle and I've seen so many young women that are quite tall, especially in sports. I just thought she was an exceptionally tall girl."

She looked at Anna, smiled and asked somewhat innocently, "So...How long before you get a story idea about her?"

Anna merely smiled and Josephine grinned.

Josephine turned her attention to Roger and asked, "So how did you meet her? Frost giants aren't exactly common."

Roger opened his mouth to reply when Anna suddenly held up her hand and he closed his mouth again.

"Hold that thought!" Anna commanded and she quickly got up and dashed out of the parlour, her lithe form disappearing down the hallway.

Moments later, she returned with a note pad, a mechanical pencil and a digital recorder.

Sitting down again, she smiled at Roger and said cheerfully, "Now talk! I want to hear everything!"

He smiled and replied amiably, "I do have my notes for my report."

"I'll look at them later, first, tell me all about it!"

Roger smiled and he proceeded to tell the story of his adventures amongst the hidden giants of Canada.

Anna's hand flew back and forth across the pages of her note pad as she quickly recorded his story in shorthand.

Pausing only occasionally to sip at her tea or for her to flip over another page, Roger talked for the next couple of hours while Josephine sat quietly listening to his story and replenishing the tea as needed.

When he was finished, Anna shut off the recorder then looked over the many pages of shorthand scribbling she had written down and remarked, "I wish now I had talked to you when I first started writing that novel about George and Mia Bryce, you're quite the story teller in your own right."

Roger found himself stifling a yawn and he said apologetically, "I'm sorry ladies, it seems my desire to sleep is overwhelming my desire to stay up and chat some more. I'll bid you a good night while I am still somewhat coherent!"

He rose from his chair and as he reached for the tea tray, Anna said quickly, "I'll get that for you, you get to bed and I'll see you in the morning!"

Roger bowed slightly to her and Josephine, "Good night ladies. Sleep well!"

As he walked away, he distinctly heard Josephine mutter, "He'd make a perfect butler, that girl has no idea of how lucky she is to be living with him."

Anna chuckled and replied softly, "Oh, I think she has an idea, they're a lot closer to each other than you may realize."