Chapter 39
Helen blinked at her a couple of times, then asked hesitantly, "Live steel, as in sharp?"
Sheila grinned and replied, "Oh no, our blades are dulled on purpose. We wear armor and padding to protect against injury, but we can and do get hurt sometimes. Bruises and broken bones are fairly common!"
For emphasis, Sheila pulled up her left sleeve and showed off a rather impressive bruise in its fading to yellow stage.
"I got this at a match last week. The axe blow splintered my shield and I had to borrow one to finish the match."
Helen just shook her head and chuckled as she remarked, "I should be grateful my Anita is a little too lightly built for that sort of thing. She's into the Goth-loli look which is a lot less dangerous!"
Sheila was about to mention the different weight classes in live steel sword matches when she saw Anita frantically trying to keep her from saying just such a thing.
She merely smiled at Helen's response, to Anita's great relief.
The girl silently mouthed 'thank you!' to Sheila and she smiled slightly back at her.
Helen smiled at Anna and asked her, "So how long are you going to be in town this time?"
Anna replied, "Probably a few months, I need to be here to watch over my great grandmother's house as it gets fixed up and converted into a research library."
She grinned at Anita and remarked, "Plus, I want to see how my favorite fan is coming along with her writing."
Anita's pretty face broke out into a big smile at that and Helen replied, "She's been pretty busy with that actually and I've only been allowed to see bits and pieces of her new stories."
Anita grinned at her mother and replied, "That's because they're not ready yet!"
Anna chuckled and said to Helen, "Don't feel badly, I also get pretty secretive when I'm deeply involved in a story. I don't want any distractions, I'll work on a computer that is not connected to the internet and I'll turn off the phone...I turn into a real hermit!"
Helen laughed and commented with a wink, "I have considered having her bedroom door fitted with one of those small slots to slide the food tray through, that way I won't have to knock and ask if she's hungry!"
"Mom! I'm not that bad!" howled Anita in protest while Anna laughed.
The next day after a light breakfast, the four of them went up to Anna's old house.
They got fairly close before Sheila commented, "I see you've got a repulsion charm on this place."
Anna slapped her forehead and said apologetically, "Sorry! I forgot that I hadn't welcomed you here yet."
Roger chuckled slightly and remarked, "You did pretty good, the first time we came up here, we were in pretty bad shape by the time Anna welcomed us. When did you first notice the charm?"
Sheila smiled slightly and replied matter of factly, "I noticed it last night when we first got here."
She looked over at him and said pleasantly, "I can sense things, kind of like reading an aura is the easiest way to describe it."
Anna smiled and chimed in, "It's a little disconcerting sometimes, she'll spot a bad person right away just from the vibes they put out."
Sheila chuckled and retorted, "If you think I'm bad, wait'll you see Galatea in action, she can read someone across a continent. We used to call her "God Eye Galatea" for a very good reason."
Roger smiled and remarked, "My buddy George told me about her, she sounds like quite a lady!"
They paused in their idle banter while Anna officially welcomed Sheila to her old house and continuing on, they soon stood outside the large building, looking it over.
Anna remarked, "You didn't remove any of the trees, I thought you would have cleared several of them away by now."
Roger jerked a thumb towards the house and replied,"I kinda got overruled by a tiny girl and her giant wolf."
Sitting on the front steps of the big house were the enormous wolf and the tiny, doll sized girl in question.
Anna grinned at the pair and said cheerfully, "So now you're in charge of things?"
The girl stood up and stoutly declared in her squeak of a voice, "Ah wanted tae bide until yoo've hud a chance tae swatch th' hoose o'er afore we removed onie trees."
Dena hopped down from the broad steps and walked towards the four of them.
"We've bin haur since loom o'morn workin' inside doon th' scullery. Noo 'at yoo're aw haur, we can gie some wark dain!" she declared.
Sheila looked over at Roger, he grinned and replied, "Dena is always serious when it comes to work, she's cleaned up much of the downstairs all by herself. Though I suspect she may have coerced a couple of the local wood elves into helping her out."
The soft crunching of gravel under tires came from behind them and soon after, Anita rolled up on her bicycle, looking a bit red faced from pedaling uphill the whole way.
"'Morning!" she cried out, "I stopped at the house and saw you were all gone, so I came up here."
She grinned at Dena and said cheerfully, "I brought some chew bones for Sasha and some goodies for your friends!"
Dena smiled at her and said, "Mah friends will loch 'at an' thenk ye fur th' chew anes."
Roger gazed curiously at Dena and with one eyebrow raised asked, "Friends?"
Dena smiled at him and replied, "They bide near haur an' speart if they coods help. Ah figured wi' th' comin' winter, thes big auld hoose woods be perfect."
Anna shrugged and replied, "I certainly don't mind a few extra house guests."
Dena broke into a big grin and she turned around to let out an amazingly loud whistle, then cried, "Cam oan it noo, th' quine ay th' hoose wishes tae meit ye!"
A few moments later , there was a faint rustling in the verdure nearby and out popped five tiny people.
There was a tiny brown man with large hands and feet, he was all dressed in brown and standing two and a half feet tall.
Beside him was a tiny woman with blonde hair and bright blue eyes dressed in a blue dress with a green bodice and a red jacket.
Peeping shyly from behind her dress were three little faces, a boy and two little girls all dressed in brown.
The children were all only a little over a foot and a half tall or so and quite shy.
Anita knelt down and said softly, "Hi guys! I brought you something you might like."
She reached into her back pack and handed them snack sized boxes of raisins and nuts.
Then she handed the adults some cloth all neatly folded up.
They smiled at her and thanked her with tiny, squeaking voices.
When she straightened up again, Roger couldn't help asking her, "How long have you known about these people?"
Anita smiled at him and replied, "A coupla weeks now, I met them kinda by accident. I was helping Dena with an old crate and when I lifted the lid off of it, they were inside looking very scared. Dena called out to them and they all began talking really fast. Freya didn't even faze them and it seemed like they were relieved to see her and Sasha."
Roger glanced at his towering companion and remarked, "Were you planning on telling me about this, or just waiting until I saw them for myself?"
Freya grimaced and replied, "Ah thooght ye knew abit them, tae be honest."
He just shrugged and remarked, "Oh well, no harm done. The more the merrier I guess."
He paused a moment and asked, "Don't they have a guardian wolf or something to protect themselves with?"
The tiny man grinned and he placed his fingers in his mouth then blew, the whistle was beyond Roger's hearing range apparently as he saw only the little man's cheeks puff up when he blew the note.
Moments later, a family of raccoons scampered out of the growth and gathered around the tiny family, eyeing Roger suspiciously.
He noted that they ignored Freya and seemed to like Anita who grinned and handed them some doggie treats.
Dena said, "Thaur ur nae wolves doon haur, sae they hud tae make dae wi' raccoons."
Roger commented, "The local wolves have likely all been killed off by now. We try to discourage Sasha from howling at the moon so's not to draw attention to her."
He grinned at the giant wolf relaxing nearby, "So far, she's been a good sport about it."
Hunkering down, Roger said softly, "Hello everyone, my name is Roger. It is a pleasure to meet you!"
The tiny woman smiled at him and said, "An' it is uir pleasure tae meit th' laird ay th' hoose!"
Taken aback, Roger chuckled and replied, "I'm hardly the lord of the manor. Anna here is the lady of this house, I live next door with Freya and Dena," he glanced at Sasha and added, "and Sasha of course."
The tiny woman shifted her weight to one leg, put her hand on her tiny hip and with tiny blonde eyebrow raised, commented," We ken huir uv a weel owns thes hoose, we also ken 'at yoo're th' a body ay fa takes caur ay Freya, Dena an' Sasha. Tae us, ye ur th' laird ay thes hoose e'en if ye dornt ain it."
She turned towards Anna and bowed then said, "An' ye ur th' quine ay thes hoose e'en if ye dornt bide haur anymair. We ken ye did at a body time."
Anna smiled at her and replied, "That was my great grandmother who lived here, I'm told I look just like her. I will be staying with Roger and Freya while this house gets repaired and converted into a library."
The tiny couple looked at each other briefly and the woman turned to Anna again and said, "We main excuse oorselves, we hae a lot ay wark tae dae today."
They bowed to her once again and seemingly vanished before their eyes.
Anna blinked a couple of times before she remarked in amazement, "I was looking right at them and they just went 'poof!', I am impressed! I sure wish I could pull off that little trick!"
Turning around, Anna looked at the young trees growing nearest the house and asked, "Won't these affect the foundation? Shouldn't we remove them?"
She looked at Roger who wore a somewhat pained expression and asked him, "Are you alright? Is something the matter?"
Roger hesitated a moment then replied, "I have reason to believe there may be a dryad or two living amongst these trees."
"A dryad or two? How do you figure?" Asked Anna with arched eyebrows.
She squinted and looked closely at the trees, "I don't see anything, have you seen something?"
"No one thing in particular, it's little things mostly."
"Little things? What little things? I'm listening." remarked a plainly skeptical Anna.
Roger pointed at some of the younger trees and remarked, "These trees in particular, they used to be right up against the house and I had planned on cutting them down. Now they are several feet away from the house, it's like they moved or something, they somehow sensed that they were in danger and moved out of danger."
"That's hardly what I'd call a 'little thing' Rodge, trees are supposed to be stationary and you're telling me that some of these moved themselves?" exclaimed Anna.
"That's the only way I can explain it Anna, they must've moved somehow. No giant came along and moved them, they had to have moved themselves." replied Roger with a perfectly straight face.
Anna looked at him for a long moment and thoughtfully remarked, "You seem to be becoming quite the 'sensitive' when it comes to dealing with special people. You live with a frost giant girl, a wood wife and her giant wolf companion. Your best friend is married to a lamia and you know a young arachne girl. You're also friends with a vampire and an age old warrior and now you're telling me you think there's a dryad or two living here? Wow, is all I can come up with!"
Roger could only shrug helplessly at her comments and reply, "I haven't actually seen any dryads yet, but with everything else I've seen, why wouldn't they also exist?"
Anita had been standing and listening to their exchange when she raised her hand a moment for their attention and asked, "What would a dryad look like if they existed?"
Roger paused and thought a few moments then replied, "Honestly, I have no idea...I suppose the wood elves might know, only they haven't volunteered anything, and I don't recall hearing anything about dryads from the Jotuns. I guess Induna's library might have something in it. Which makes it even more imperative that we get those books down here in a proper library building!"
Freya cleared her throat and remarked,"We hae stories aboot tree spirits but naethin' aboot dryads, which Ah think ur Greek mythology."
Roger shrugged and replied drily, "I used the term 'dryad' in a generic sense rather than a specific term."
Looking around, Roger commented, "Whoever did the original landscaping here must've had tree spirits in mind, many of these trees are associated with faeries and are reputed to to have healing and medicinal properties."
"Many of these trees were imported from northern Europe as saplings in large boxes. I wouldn't be surprised if the tree spirits didn't come with them and are now here in the new world." Remarked Anna.
Anita smiled and said dreamily, "That would be so wonderful! Tree spirits living here with us."
Anna said quietly, "I guess the trees can wait until we find out more about how they were moved. Shall we go inside and see what we find?"
Anna took out her key and opened the double doors, they opened silently and she grinned, "Much better, no more groaning hinges to wake the neighbors!" then stepped inside with Sheila close behind.
The five of them entered the huge house and Anna stood smiling as she looked around.
The house was now dust free and the floors were spotlessly clean, causing Anna to comment, "Maybe we should leave our shoes outside, we wouldn't want to undo all their hard work!"
A few moments later, five pairs of stout shoes were sitting outside and their owners were wandering about the house in their stocking feet, playing their flashlights over the walls, floors and ceilings.
When they entered the grand ballroom, Anna and Sheila stood in the doorway while Roger, Freya and Anita happily pulled open the heavy curtains letting daylight fill the great room once more.
Anna clapped her slim hands and said happily, "It's so beautiful! I can't believe how much you have done!"
Anna began humming a popular waltz to her herself and she danced around the grand ballroom with her eyes closed and a smile on her beautiful face.
She leaped like a ballerina, landed en pointe, slowly pirouetted and bowed to an imaginary audience.
Anita began clapping and the others joined in enthusiastically as Anna straightened up again and grinned at them.
She smiled sadly and said wistfully, "Before I transitioned I was studying the ballet, then I met Viktor Orloff, and things were never the same again."
It was late afternoon when they left the house in the care of the little wood elf family and made their way back down the hill.
As Anita and Freya walked ahead of them with Sasha and Dena, Roger asked quietly, "Does she know of your true nature?" while jerking his thumb at Anita's slim backside.
Anna leaned closer to him and murmured, "She is under a charm not to think my being a vampire is unusual. In fact, she thinks nothing about them. I can talk about them right in front of her and it just doesn't register that it is odd."
"Hiding in plain sight?" winked Roger.
"Yep!" replied Anna with a grin.
Sheila murmured, "I've asked her to help me cover up when I'd forgotten myself and let a friend see just how strong I am. Her ability saved me a lot of explaining that day!"
Anna smiled and said,, "That's why I am grateful to have friends that I can be myself with. Having to hide my true nature at all times can be so wearying."
She reached out and took both Roger's and Sheila's hands and squeezed them briefly in hers.
They went through the gate Roger had put in and as he closed it up again, Anna said, "I've been meaning to ask...Just what is that carefully arranged pile of rocks for? I noticed it the last time I was here but didn't have time to ask about it."
Roger looked over and saw that she was pointing at the inukshuk Freya had insisted on building shortly after she had moved in with him.
He smiled at her and replied, "That, is an inukshuk and Freya wanted to build it to make her feel at home down here. We built a second one in Arizona as a tribute to a friend's family and I imagine, we'll build another one when your house gets refurbished as a tribute to Induna."
Roger grinned at Anna's expression and said cheerfully, "It's a Jotun thing, get used to it!"
He smiled as he felt Freya's long arms slip around him from behind as she squeezed him against her budding bosom.
Freya said pleasantly, "Me fowk have a lang tradition ay building these markers tae guide uir way athwart th' land an' tae mark th' places dear tae us."
Anna smiled at the towering young woman and replied, "I think that's wonderful and I look forward to seeing the one you'll build for the library!"
"Ahm lookin' for'ard tae it too!" replied Freya as she squeezed Roger once again before releasing him.
They entered the kitchen door and began preparing dinner.
As Roger washed his hands, he asked Anita, "You staying for dinner?"
"I'm staying the night!"
At her enthusiastic response he replied, "Good,you can set the table!"
Anita grinned at him and washed her hands before handling the dinner plates.
Anna declared she would help and the two set to laying out the place settings on the large table in the formal dining room.