Chapter 52

Roger and Freya arrived at Portland about mid-afternoon and once again, a truck had been rented and brought to the airport.

This time, two library volunteer helpers came with the truck and the transference of boxes from plane to truck took little time.

Hopping into his van with Freya riding shotgun, Roger followed the twelve foot truck back to the library.

Where in addition to unloading the boxes, he picked up another three bundles of book boxes, 75 in all.

Tossing the bundles into the back of the van, Roger commented,"That should be enough!"

The library book and document curator commented,"Such a quick turn around this time, you must've had help!"

Roger grinned at him,"Yes, we did. Y'see there's a new family coming to live in Induna's old cottage, a family with a baby on the way and a husband with a skilled trade. Those are always welcome addition to a Jotun community."

The curator grinned,"I think those things would be welcome in any small community, especially one living as close to nature as they do."

"True that." replied Roger.

"So what's next?" Asked the temporary curator.

"We go back tomorrow for another full load and then one last load that may be only a partial load, depending on how many of these boxes get filled. After that, we're going to Arizona for a few days."

"You taking the seaplane?"

"Nope, that thing costs a fortune to fly and it would be hard to justify using it for a pleasure trip. We'll just have to take a commercial flight and deal with the stares."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes, and no. Freya's gotten used to it, though she would rather not travel that way if she can go another way." Replied Roger.

"The main issue is her size, she's seven foot eight now, she can barely fit on an airliner as it is. Putting her in an economy seat is akin to torture, we'll have to go first class for the leg room."

"Ah"

That evening, they went to the bulk club warehouse where Roger bought 100 Lbs of Russet potatoes, 50 Lbs of large yellow onions and 10 Lbs of bell peppers.

On the way back home, they stopped at the local family owned burger stand where Freya polished off two of their one pounder burgers, while Roger contented himself with a much smaller meal.

Tony, the proprietor grinned and said,"I haven't seen mucha youse lately, everything okay?"

Freya grinned back," E'erythin's guid, we've been up in Canada at me haem. We're headin' back oan th' morrow...Dinnae fret nain, Ah still loove yoor burgers!"

Tony grinned and thanked her for her endorsement.

Freya was one of his regulars, stopping by about once a week.

There was even a picture of her standing next to Tony, who at 5 foot 4, was dwarfed by Freya's seven foot seven height.

He, the son of Greek immigrants, born and raised in Jersey City, now living in Portland, Oregon with his family and her, the daughter of Jotunheim, a land once thought to be a myth, now known to have been a reality.

The next morning, the anonymous plane watchers were once again, treated to the sight of the Martin Mariner roaring into the sky and heading north.

As had become their custom, Freya flew the aircraft while Roger monitored the engines and kept an eye out for other planes.

The flight was fairly routine, no surprises no worries.

The plane flew very nicely with all the upgrades working as intended.

Shortly before noon, Freya lined up the heavy plane with the long axis of the chill lake and eased the bulky seaplane onto its placid surface.

Interestingly, there was a Cessna float plane near the dock and Roger could see Sigurd and Eric Ericsson talking to some campers there while their giant wolves lolled nearby.

Sigurd waved and smiled as Freya eased the plane by the dock and shut off the engines.

Eric smiled and applauded her performance and Freya grinned, she had decided she liked her aunties paramour, he kept her from grabbing up Roger and kissing him like she used to.

They exited the plane after activating the cool down system, and while Freya greeted her dad with a big hug.

While Roger was carefully tying the seaplane to the dock so it wouldn't drift away like once before.

Roger then opened the side cargo door and began hauling the bags of produce out of the plane and handing them to Sigurd, who then stashed them in his cart along with the bundles of folded boxes they'd brought with them.

Roger always got a kick out of seeing Sigurd handling a 100 Lb sack of potatoes like it was a child's school lunch bag, he made it look so easy.

With the plane unloaded, Roger locked it up and they made ready to leave.

One of the campers grinned at Roger and said,"I sure never expected to see something this big landing here!"

He glanced over at Freya, "And she's the pilot no less, how cool is that!"

Roger chuckled and replied cheerfully, "It's very cool actually, we trade off flying chores and just cruise along enjoying the view."

The camper grinned and commented, "Yeah, it's hard to beat a good float plane up here, they're like flying Jeeps!"

He pointed at the old Cessna 195 Businessliner, "My dad and I found that up in the Yukon, it was way up in a coupla trees and was in pretty good shape, all things considered. We rented a Skycrane and recovered it fairly easily."

Roger 'Hmmphed!' and asked,"What was it doing up in those trees?"

The man grinned and replied,"We figured the pilot landed it there after the engine had quit on him."

"Funny thing though, there was a 1960's account of a bush pilot being found nearly starved to death at a hunting camp some 200 kilometers south of where we found the plane."

"I wonder if there's any connection?" muttered Roger.

"I'm not sure but I wouldn't be surprised. There's lots of things living in the woods, things city folks never hear about."

He jerked a thumb at the Jotun trio patiently waiting for Roger,"Take them fr'instance!"

Roger grinned and said, "Speaking of 'them', I gotta run, they're waiting on me."

The two men shook hands and Roger said, "Name's Roger Tate, pleasure talking to you!"

"Barney Phillips, same here!"

Soon, the four of them had left Ape lake far behind them.

Striding purposefully alongside his towering companion, Roger said, "Barney, the man I was talking to, thought it was very cool that you were flying when we landed."

Freya smiled and said, "Ah think sae too!"

Roger continued,"He told me he and his dad found their plane stuck in some trees up in the Yukon. I thought I heard something about a wee man living with a Jotun woman in that area, at the tavern recently. One of the visitors said something like that...Do you think that maybe there is a connection?"

Freya squeezed his hand and said, "Ah woodnae be surprised, Ah foond ye didnae Ah?"

He squeezed her hand back and grinned.

After returning to the cozy dell, Roger and Freya took the bundles of book boxes down to Induna's cottage and left them for the wood elves to deal with.

They knew that by morning, the rest of the books would be packed up and ready to go.

Wood elves could be quite energetic when there was work to be done, they just needed a little direction sometimes.

Dena and the wood elf family back home had nearly cleaned up the entire mansion by themselves, all while staying out of sight of the various work crews blundering about the place with all their racket.

Dinner was good and after a relaxing pint of ale, Roger called Rachel Thompson, his boss.

"What a surprise, hearing from you!"

Commented Rachel when she answered her phone.

"Just reminding you that I'm still here...Freya and I are up at her folks and we're moving a whole lotta books. In fact we're almost through and the last of the books should be packed up tonight, or very soon." Replied Roger.

"Wow! That's quicker than we had thought it would take, is someone helping you out?"

With a chuckle, Roger replied,"Not just someone, but several someones. Some of Dena's relatives are helping out, they've been packing books, sealing the boxes and stacking them neatly."

"I haven't met this Dena yet." remarked Rachel.

"The solution to that is to come up to Portland to see how we're getting along. You can meet Dena and Sasha our giant wolf." Replied Roger with a grin.

"I'll have to see about that, George and Mia are keeping me fairly busy with their growing family, they're expecting again and it's twins, again. Mia's sister Katherine is now married and she too, is expecting. So I'm kinda thankful you two aren't very dramatic, and I mean that in a good way!" Replied Rachel with a laugh.

Roger smiled to himself and replied,"Well, I guess we'll have to come down to Phoenix then. We'll be coming by a commercial airline though, the Martin Mariner is very expensive to fly and this would be a pleasure trip."

"You guys're coming down?"

"After we're done here, yes. Freya wants to see Natalie and Zenobia and she wants to learn how to drive a truck."

"A truck? Why a truck?" asked Rachel.

"Mia's dad said he would teach her how to drive his big truck next time we came down, it just took a bit longer than I anticipated."

Rachel just laughed and remarked,"I've seen that thing, it's a beast!"

"That would be the one!" replied Roger, "Well, I gotta run, I'll talk to you later!" "Same here, bye now!"

Concluding his call, Roger rejoined the evening's festivities.

The next day, a visit to Induna's cottage revealed that all the rest of the books were now in sealed boxes, numbered and ready for shipment.

Roger and Freya stood hand in hand, quietly surveying the last pile of boxes before them.

Roger noted that they would fill the cargo cage and hold to capacity and was about to comment on that when Freya murmured, "Ah ne'er thooght Ah'd see th' last ay aw 'er books packed up tae move."

She squeezed his hand and said quietly,"Thes cottage wull suin hae a noo family abidin' in it, an' it wull be theirs."

Letting go of his hand, Freya gently took him in her arms and simply held him closely, for a long moment.

Neither of them spoke, the warmth between them was sufficient.

Separating reluctantly, Roger looked up at his towering companion and said,"I didn't think we could do this so quickly either. I think we could do this in one load. The cage will be full admittedly, but any overage can be secured with our cargo nets. The plane can lift a lot more weight than we have been subjecting it to."

Freya smiled weakly and muttered, "We might as well get it o'er wi'. Let th' noo family hae it wi' nae auld memories in it."

Once again, Freya enlisted the aid of half the residents of the tiny hamlet she had grown up in.

In the morning they would meet up at Induna's cottage with their carts ready to move the rest of the boxes down to the placid lake.

Rising at dawn, they enjoyed a final hearty breakfast cooked for them by Gudrun.

Afterwards, they met up with everyone at Induna's cottage and began loading the carts and wagons with boxes and scrolls.

As a group, they pondered the departure of Induna's books.

Many of them had had little idea of just how many books she had possessed and the main reason for her wisdom and depth of knowledge.

Almost all of the entire tiny hamlet joined the trek to say farewell to Freya and her 'wee cheil' as Roger was known among them.

The gaily dressed throng accompanied by several of their gigantic wolves, trooped down to the lake and saw the brightly colored tents belonging to Barney Phillips and his family.

Approaching the rudely built dock, Roger saw Barney standing outside with a cup of coffee in his hand and a smile on his face.

He waved as he spotted Roger and Freya among the crowd of giants.

Roger waved back and the two shook hands in greeting.

Barney grinned and remarked, "I hope they don't want coffee, I only brought enough for me."

Roger chuckled and replied,"They're not so much coffee drinkers as they are beer drinkers. If it had been beer they wanted, you could be in some trouble."

Barney shrugged and replied,"Never developed a taste for beer or alcohol for that matter, no reason really, just never got into it."

"No real loss, moderation in all things is not a bad idea to live by." replied Roger.

By now the assembled Jotuns were gathered around while Freya explained the Martin Mariner to those who had not seen it before.

Barney murmured,"To think these people lived right under our noses all this time, what else is living with us, just out of sight?"

Roger merely smiled, "That's what we're trying to find out!"

For emphasis he pointed out the museum's logo painted on the fuselage of the bulky Martin Mariner.

"Museum of Cryptozoology" Barney read aloud, "So that's really a thing, eh?"

"Yep, we are a real museum and we do have a research facility. That's where all those boxes of old books are headed. They'll be sorted by subject and topic and kept in a climate controlled storeroom. The books will be accessible to scholars and linguists alike." replied Roger cheerfully.

"Wow, that's interesting, so this plane is owned by this museum then?"

"Oh gosh yes, I couldn't afford to fly this monster on my salary. A fill up costs thousands. Avgas is very expensive, as you well know."

Freya's whistle interrupted their conversation, Roger glanced over at her and saw her making a turning a key motion with her right hand.

Barney chuckled and said, "Well, I better let you go, duty calls!"

They shook hands and wished each other well before Roger trotted over to where Freya was waiting for the keys to the aircraft.

Loading up the boxes took a bit longer than before because the extra boxes had to be carefully stacked and secured by the cargo netting they had in a storage locker.

Securing the netting to the d-rings set in the flooring, Roger stepped back and surveyed his handiwork, it all looked good to him.

He smiled when he noted that the plimsoll markings on the fuselage were still well above the water line.

The plane could haul a lot more weight and still be safe.

There was quite the round of bone bruising hugs and handshakes and a resounding kiss from Barbara who grinned and said,"Thooght Ah'd forgotten didnae ye!"

Roger grinned bravely and replied drily,"I was hopin'"

She smiled and said, "Tak' caur ay me oanly niece noo, dornt be makin' 'er cry."

Roger smiled and replied cheerfully,"You know I will, I'm not stupid, I know when I have it good!"

They boarded the plane and at a signal from Roger, long poles were used to push the seaplane out into the lake before starting the engines.

The engines started right up and were soon at a busy idle while they finished warming up.

The oil preheater added recently added at the suggestion of the Commemorative Flight Museum, really cut down on warm up times and saved at least 50 gallons of fuel per flight in fuel consumption.

With Freya at the controls, the heavy sea plane taxied to the northernmost end of the lake and came about.

A few minutes later, the assemblage of Jotuns and a human family watched as the heavy Martin Mariner roared across the water and clawed its way into the sky and soon, was gone from view.

They all applauded and nodded their approval, one of their own was flying an airplane.

Barney Phillips smiled at Sigurd who was beaming quite proudly that his daughter was at the controls of that mighty aircraft.

Barney extended his right hand and said cheerfully, "Hello again! Is this everyone?"

Sigurd smiled, shook his hand and replied,"Nae, thes is oanly th' maur spry ay us. Th' verra yoong an' verra auld ur still at uir haem, near th' fire."

Barney smiled and asked, "Did you read the pamphlet I gave you, the one about our Lord and savior?"

Sigurd reached into his pouch and pulled out the document in question, he handed it to Barney with the words,"Ah did read an' Ah hae tae say, Ah am nae interested in yoor hanged god. Ef he coodsnae save himself frae th' cross, how can he save onieone else? Whaur was thes god ay yoors when we fled frae th' wee scandis wi' their sharp spears an' bright swords? When we left uir haem tae cross th' briny an' cam tae thes noo lain. Thoosands ay us perished, whole families frae th' auldest tae th' yoongest bairn gone 'neath th' waves fore'er."

With a sigh, Sigurd remarked, "We ur nae interested in thes god ay yoors."

Barney took back the pamphlet and said quietly, "Well, it is your choice and I appreciate your honesty."

Hours later, after the Jotuns had gone back home, Barney and his family broke camp, loaded up their Cessna and flew back home.

In his video camera, were hours of footage of the gigantic Jotuns gathering at the lake to greet an airplane piloted by one of them coming in for a landing, and more hours of a throng of them wishing one of theirs, a fare thee well, before she climbed into the seaplane and flew it away.

He was happy and disappointed at the same time.

His none too subtle efforts at evangelizing the forest dwelling Jotuns had been gently rebuffed.

The anonymous plane watchers were one last time that summer, treated to the sight of the bulky Martin Mariner coming in for a landing and taxiing to the end of the runway and onto a side road.

Shutters snapped and captured images of the bulky plane touching down and scrubbing off speed before exiting the runway and following a ground support vehicle to its hangar and shut down procedure.

As before, a twelve foot box truck and crew was in place and once the huge propellers had ceased their whirling, Roger quickly exited the aircraft and opened the side doors.

The driver of the truck exclaimed, "Damn...That's a lot of books! This is the biggest load yet, how many more are there?"

Roger grinned at him and replied,"This is it, no more books are coming down. We've got them all!"

The driver grinned and remarked, "Now we can get to sorting them!"

Transferring everything to the truck took more than an hour because everything had to be handled gently and properly secured before the short drive across town.

Following the truck in his van, Roger smiled at his towering companion and asked,"Looking forward to seeing your friends?"

Freya smiled and replied, "Aye, Ah am lookin' for'ard tae playin' ball wi' them again."

Roger laughed and commented, "Once they see how much you've grown these past two years, they may not take yo up on your offer."

Freya shrugged,"Ah'll play them twa tae one then."

She muttered, "Ah'm jist nae lookin' for'ard tae flyin' oan an airliner wi' aw those fowk starin' at me."

Roger replied glumly, "I'm not real keen on flying commercial either, but that seaplane is crazy expensive to fly on a pleasure trip. Taking a commercial flight would be much cheaper."

He paused,"Unless I can wangle a twin engined private plane for a week. Let me look into that idea before I book a flight."