Chapter 49
The next morning, Peter showed up as he had promised.
Gudrun promptly invited him in for a hearty breakfast and quickly commandeered his backpack, saying she was going to wash his clothing while gently chiding Freya for not having invited him to stay with them during the night, as there was plenty of room with three of the brothers now off with their own families.
Roger sat quietly listening while Sigurd asked Peter about himself and when Peter declared that he was a carpenter by trade.
Sigurd grinned and remarked,"Yoo'll find plenty ay wark tae dae haur! Yoor skills wull be welcome haur."
Peter grinned and replied,"Ah'm looking for'ard tae puttin up me shop tae hoose me tools!"
After Gudrun's hearty breakfast and a cup of coffee as provided by Roger.
Freya had developed a fondness for coffee and they had brought a two month supply with them.
The three of them trooped down to Induna's cottage with Peter in tow.
Freya opened it up and Peter went inside to look around as best he could while the two of
them stacked up a small pile of book boxes for filling.
Peter came back outside after a few minutes and remarked,"Whit Ah can see looks guid sae far. Me guidwife wull loove it haur an' thaurs room fer 'er gardenin' an' a smoke shed."
He gestured towards the trees, "Me wark shop can gae o'er thaur whaur Ah can hae th' room fer me wood pile."
Peter stood smiling at Freya and asked, "Noo, who dae Ah speart with abit movin' intae thes cottage?"
Freya smiled back and replied,"Me mammy's th' one ye'd be wantin' tae speart with abit thes cottage."
She grinned at him and said, "Cam oan up tae th' hoose wi' me an' ye can speart wi' me fowks."
Leaving Roger to his devices, Freya led the towering Peter up to her parents house so he could talk to her parents about Induna's cottage.
Inside the cottage, Roger began filling book boxes.
He quickly realized that Induna had used no real system of organizing her books and they tended to be stacked in neat little piles, the theme of the pile depended on what she had been reading at the time the pile was formed.
He simply filled a box with the contents of the stack he chose to work on and when the box was filled up, he sealed it with tape and wrote a number on it.
Continuing on, he had filled up several boxes with books by the time Freya returned from escorting Peter up to her parents house.
Freya came back into the cottage bearing a wicker basket with delicious aromas emanating from it.
She grinned at him, placed it on the dining table and said cheerfully, "Uir lunch an' a snack!"
Roger smiled at his youthful companion, "We'll have to get our drinks from your uncle of course."
Freya smiled and nodded in agreement, a visit to Old Harald's was a given.
Roger straightened up a bit and asked, "Did Peter and your folks come to an agreement?"
Freya smiled and replied,"Ay coorse, Peter has awreddy left fer haem tae fetch his family an' Olaf went wi' heem tae help oowith."
They labored for the rest of the day, filling up box after box, sealing them, numbering them and adding them to the growing pile of boxes.
Lunch was eaten at Harald's and washed down with a foaming pint of his ale.
Their snack was half a mince pie, also eaten at Harald's and washed down with another foaming pint of his ale.
It was quite dark out when Roger looked up from his box of books and said, "I think we got a pretty good start on this, shall we call it a day?"
Freya added one last strip of tape to her box, scribbled a number on it and capped the marking pen.
She smiled at him and said cheerfully, "Shaw we see whit me mammy's made fer dinner?"
Roger grinned at his companion and did a quick count of the boxes they had filled so far.
After a few moments, he commented, "We almost have fourth of a load, based on the volume of these boxes. Assuming we don't run into any problems, we could have enough for a load by the weekend. Maybe we could fly a load down south by Monday."
Freya smiled at him and said softly, "Ah dornt mind if we take a bit langer tae moove these auld books ay me granny's."
Roger grinned at her and said, "While we do have all summer long, we do need to have the place ready for Peter and his family when they get here."
They locked up the cottage and trudged up the hill to her parent's house where they were greeted by a delicious smell from Gudrun's kitchen.
Returning the wicker basket to her mom, they went and washed up before returning to the warmth of the kitchen.
Joining her parents, Roger realized that Sigurd had a sort of funny look in his eyes as he looked at Freya and said wistfully, "Ye ur th' last ay uir bairns, uir yoongest wee babe. Noo yoo're aff livin' doon sooth wi' a wee cheil, an' it's jist me an' yoor maw once again. Olaf's gang aff wi' Peter tae his haem tae help ootwith heem bringin' his kin back haur an' p'raps he wull meit a yoong lass ay marriageable age."
Sigurd chuckled softly and said wistfully, "Dornt min' me ramblin'. Ah'm jist feelin' a mite sentimental thes e'enin'."
Freya got up from her seat and stepped over to her massive father, she put her arms around him and said, "Ye'll always be me faither an' nae matter whaur ah may gae in thes wide warld, a wee bit ay me heart wull always be haur wi' ye an' me mammy."
Roger felt Gudrun's great arms slip around him and as she gently squeezed him, she murmured, "Ye hae uir thenks fer takin' sooch guid caur ay uir dochter. She has grown sae much Ah hardly ken 'er noo, yet she is still me yoongest bairn an' always wull be."
The rest of the evening was spent quietly listening to Sigurd telling stories of the Jotuns while Roger took copious notes about what he heard.
When it was time for bed, Roger toddled off towards Olaf's room now that it was unoccupied.
He was about to enter it when Freya called to him, "Yoo're nae sleepin' wi' me noo?"
Feeling a bit lame, he replied, "I figured that since this room is now empty, I could..."
"Wull ye figured wrong, 'at's still Olaf's room an' yer still stayin' wi' me." replied Freya in a manner that left little room for an argument.
Roger slept in her room, as always.
By the weekend, they had filled a goodly number of boxes and had slowly cleared part of Induna's living room of books.
The pile of boxes had grown substantially and it was decided to load up the seaplane and fly a load of books south.
Several sturdy carts were borrowed and with the help of several of Freya's friends from childhood, they trundled the boxes down to the lake.
To Roger's annoyance, the Martin Mariner had gotten loose and was adrift upon the lake.
While he muttered about failing to make sure the plane was properly secured, Freya and her friend Ingrid Haraldsdottir, simply doffed their clothing and began swimming out to the drifting seaplane, pulling a long rope behind them.
By the time he realized what they were doing, it was too late for him to object, the girls were already in the frigid water and swimming rapidly towards their goal.
A few minutes later, Freya had tied the rope to the seaplane and her friends were steadily pulling the bulky airplane to shore.
Before long the seaplane gently scrunched up against the tires hanging off the rough dock and Roger inadvertently got an eyeful of Ingrid's naked body as she climbed onto the dock.
While the same age as Freya, she typified the Jotun ideal of being more robust and curvy in her build.
The lack of an embarrassed reaction from the other Jotuns, told Roger that casual nudity was not an issue among the frost giants of Canada.
With the plane now secured, it was opened up and the book boxes were carefully stowed aboard the plane in the special framework made just for them.
After the boxes were stowed, Roger idly noted that the plimsoll markings on the hull of the plane were nowhere near at maximum, the plane could take a bit more of a load but he wanted this first run to be an easy one.
No surprises were allowed!
After carefully locking up the plane and double checking the mooring line.
They all made their way back up to the hidden hamlet in the shadow of Ape mountain.
While plodding along with her, Roger out of long habit, took Freya's hand and strolled alongside his companion.
Oblivious to the exchanged glances of the other Jotuns, the two walked together in their own little world of happiness.
Once back at the cottage, Roger began filling even more boxes in preparation for the next load while Freya went to her folks house and returned with the now familiar wicker basket filled with good food.
They took a meal break and enjoyed Gudrun's cooking yet again.
Roger took a moment to get out his satellite phone and call home.
Anna answered the house phone surprisingly quickly and asked, "How's everything going up there?"
Roger chuckled and replied,"We've already got a load packed up and loaded on the plane for the you rent a fair sized truck for us? The van won't hold all the boxes we've loaded and a truck will let us haul everything up to the library in one go."
"What time do you think you'll be getting here? I think I can get one of the neighbors to help me with the truck."
"If we leave no later than seven A.M. We can be there about ten A.M. It doesn't take all that long to fly here, about three hours tops." replied Roger.
"Let me call around and I'll call you back... Keep the phone on!" admonished Anastasia Karloff, AKA Anna Karlsen.
Freya lit a couple of lamps and they resumed packing boxes and sealing them by lamplight.
An hour or so had passed, then the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"I got us a truck, the rental agency will deliver it to the airport right about the time you get here."
"Okay, coolness! We'll see you tomorrow then."
"Be seeing you!"
Roger turned off his phone then muttered, "Shit! I forgot to ask her how things are going at the house!"
Freya shrugged slightly and remarked, "Ah think if things waur gang badly, she woods hae said something."
Roger sighed and commented, "You're probably right. Still, I should have at least asked if everything was okay."
Freya rolled her bright blue eyes and said teasingly, "Me companion, th' warry wart!"
They packed boxes for another hour or two and when Roger tried to suppress a yawn, Freya grinned at him and said, "We can sleep haur tonight ye know."
Not willing to argue against her suggestion, Roger nodded in agreement and set down his roll of tape.
Leaving a single lamp still lit, Freya pulled down the bedclothes on Induna's bed and they undressed for bed.
The unheated cottage grew colder as the night progressed and Roger was quietly thankful for Freya's much larger body that warmed the bed for both of them.
Even if her near nudity was a bit too cozy for comfort, he still slept quite soundly while snuggled against her swelling bosom.
The morning was crisp and clear, a typical Canadian mountain summer morning.
Getting out of bed was the hardest part, it was nice and warm under the covers and the thought of hopping out of the nice warm bed to hurriedly pull on cold clothing from the night before was definitely unappealing.
Freya finally threw off the warm covers and hopped out of bed, her pinkish nipples perking up from the chilly air.
Roger followed suit and grumbled as he hastily pulled on his cold clothing and shoes.
Locking the cottage door, they practically trotted to her parents house and washed up and changed before breakfast.
A hot meal warmed Roger up and soon they were striding along on their way to the lake.
A low fog shrouded the lake and the two opened up the bulky Martin Mariner to climb inside.
While Freya went down the list of pre flight checks, Roger cast off the mooring line and using an oar from the life raft, pushed the heavy plane away from the primitive dock.
Resuming his seat, the engines were started and allowed to warm up a bit, the rumble from the eighteen cylinder Curtiss-Wright engines echoing across the formerly silent lake.
At a nod from Roger, Freya throttled up the engines a bit and eased the plane out onto the lake itself.
She cruised the bulky seaplane towards one end of the lake and brought it about to line it up with the long axis of the lake.
Setting the variable pitch propeller to neutral, Freya throttled the engines up to maximum and after a long moment, engaged the propeller.
The heavy seaplane surged forward and gathered speed as it tore along the placid lake's surface.
A few moments later, Freya eased back on the wheel and the plane broke free of the watery surface.
She flashed Roger a big grin as the plane climbed higher and higher.
Aiming the plane towards the south, she gently banked the seaplane towards Portland, Oregon and home.
Once they were at cruising altitude, Roger called Anna.
When she answered the phone Roger smiled and called out, "The book express is on its way! We should be there in another two and a half hours or so."
Anna chuckled and replied cheerfully,"Great, I'll hide all the silverware!"
Roger groaned and retorted, "You've been talking to Henri haven't you!"
He heard a giggle, then she replied,"Actually, I spoke to his lovely wife Miriam and she related to me the tale of the missing silverware."
"Good, then you know it was all a simple misunderstanding."
"Of course, silly! I just wanted to tease you a little bit." replied Anna with a suppressed giggle in her mellifluous voice.
"Anyway, the truck'll be there at the airport and we can load it up once you arrive."
"Great, I'll see you then...Oh, I almost forgot...Are they behaving themselves?"
Anna chuckled and replied, "If you're referring to Sasha and Dena, yes they are...Strange, I know, but Sasha's being very good and Dena seems a little subdued, if you can believe such a thing."
Roger laughed and retorted, "I'm flying in a world war two seaplane, loaded with books belonging to a young frost giantess and I'm talking to a living, breathing 250 year old vampire about how a woodwife and a giant wolf are getting along in my absence. Yes, I think I can believe such a thing!"
Anna giggled and remarked playfully, "I'm really almost 260 now, but thanks anyway!"
"Yeah, yeah! See you then!" replied Roger as he ended the call.
Freya simply rolled her bright blue eyes and kept her eyes scanning the horizon for other planes.
Roger resumed his vigil of scanning the horizon on his side and glancing down at the ground below them.
He smiled as they crossed over into Washington state and continued south towards Portland, Oregon.
When they were still about an hour away, Roger contacted the control tower at Portland airport and they began vectoring into the Portland air traffic pattern.
Before long Freya was gently banking the heavy seaplane as she flew it around the entry pattern before lowering the landing gear with it's noisy clunks and bumps as the wheels settled into place and locked in.
The final approach went quite smoothly and soon, the heavy plane was slowing down and preparing to exit the runway.
A few minutes later, the seaplane was parked outside its storage hangar and they were going through the shut down procedures before shutting off the engines.
A white panel truck was parked nearby and Anna climbed out of it with her trademark big hat and sun blocking clothes protecting her from the warm sunlight.
She came up to them and hugged each of them in turn as a greeting and welcome home gesture.
After she and Roger separated, he opened up the side cargo door and they began unloading the boxes of old books.
Working steadily, it took them a little more than an hour to transfer all the boxes from plane to panel truck.
Roger called the ground support outfit for the airport and arranged a fuel fill up and oil level check, the bill would be settled in the morning.
With the plane locked up, they piled into the panel truck as best they could with Freya's long limbed self taking up quite a bit of space.
Anna drove the truck right up to the library and parked it outside the main building entrance.
Dena herself came out and glomped onto Roger with a look of great joy on her pretty face.
Roger dutifully picked her up and kissed her right on her lips before hugging the two foot tall wood elf.
Holding her in the crook of one arm, Roger opened up the back door to the panel truck and stepped aside.
Dena looked into the panel truck and said in puzzlement, "'at cannae be aw ay them, Ah ken thaur waur far maur books than thes!"
Roger grinned at his tiny passenger and replied, "This is only the first load, there're several more coming. After we unload this truck and spend the night here, Freya and I will be heading back to Canada to get more books. We'll be doing this until we're finished."
Dena nodded her pretty little head in agreement and he set her down gently.
Dena whistled sharply and several flat carts came rolling out the front doors of the library with sturdy wood elves pushing them along.
With Roger, Freya and Anna humping the boxes, the flat carts got filled up fairly quickly and Dena guided them into the building.
As the last of the flat carts disappeared inside, Anna remarked, "My queen will be delighted to hear that we are now moving the books into this library. She has a team of scholars who are literally itching to see these books."
Roger smiled at her and remarked, "They'll flip when they see the old maps I found, I didn't dare try opening them up as I'm afraid they'll crumble. We have some manuscript conservators who can examine them without opening them up so we can see what part of the world they depict."
Anna smiled at him and remarked, "Most likely it will be the northern world, they were after all, the frost giants and today they continue to live in the colder parts of the world. I know Freya certainly likes it cold!"
Roger chuckled and remarked, "You haven't been here for one of her midwinter's solstice observances. She'll invite her friends to join her and they'll all be bundled up to their eyes while she is wearing little more than a gauzy nightgown. Makes me cold just looking at her!"
To celebrate the successful first load, they all piled into Roger's van and drove down town to the Yamada ramen shop.
Lorna looked up at them in surprise and blurted out, "I thought you guys were up in Canada?"
"We jist got back wi' uir first load ay books an' we'll be leavin' again in th' morn. We'll be daein' thes until aw ay me grandmother's books ur doon haur." Replied Freya.
Lorna just laughed and remarked, "Yep, you were in Canada alright, your accent always gets thicker after you've been around your family!"
Freya just stuck out her tongue in reply then Lorna led them to their seats and brought them some fresh, hot green tea to sip while they looked over the menu.
Freya ordered a beef curry ramen with extra beef while Roger ordered a pork bone ramen with extra pickled ginger.
Anna ordered a small chicken curry and hot green tea.
"So you're flying back in the morning? How soon do you expect to take before you return?" Queried Anna.
Roger swallowed his spoonful of broth and remarked, "It took us a couple of days just packing book boxes before we could think about taking them down to the lake...Give or take a couple of more days for dealing with things popping up, a week, week and a half...Maybe."
He grinned, "Unloading the plane took us far less time than loading it, that's for sure!"
"Well, it's a good thing you're not in a real hurry to get those books, afterall you do have most of the summer months." Remarked Anna.
Freya swallowed her bit of ramen and commented, "We dae hae tae clear out me granny's cottage afore th' faa sae th' new family can move in. Ah've agreed tae let a yoong family hae th' use ay 'er cottage as ah willnae be needin' it an' they will."
Anna looked at Freya for a long moment and remarked drily, "Now I see what Lorna meant, your accent does get thicker when you've been around your family. I did get what you said, once I thought about it."
She smiled and said cheerfully, "That's pretty cool, your letting them use your grandmother's cottage. Is this family anyone you know?"
"Nae, they're movin' haur frae th' great lakes region. Me youngest brither went wi' heem tae gie them a hain comin' back haem." replied Freya.
She grinned and said gaily, "Mom's hopin' he'll meit a lassie while he's awa'"