Chapter 75

Silky woke to a quiet house.

With Roger, Freya, Anita and Sasha, the giant wolf all gone up to Canada for a fortnight, the usual tumult and commotion was replaced by stillness.

Even the noisy Dena was quiet, her grandchildren were keeping her very busy these days or was it great grand children?

Dena herself didn't really know.

Wood elves live such long lives and could have many descendants calling them "Grandma! or Grandpa!"

Silky started her day by retrieving the fresh pint bottle of heavy cream from the cold box in the kitchen.

Every day, a fresh bottle of cream would be delivered right to her door...How very convenient!

This was a good home she was in.

Her family was quite thoughtful and had provided for her during their absence.

Next, she stripped down to her undershirt and pantaloons and proceeded to sweep and mop all the hallways in the house.

A task that would occupy her for the rest of the day and partly into the night.

Her labors were briefly interrupted by the arrival of Hazel, the centaurian fae postal carrier.

He presented her with two letters, one from the spriggan that was accompanied by a freshly cut flower.

The other was a note from Roger himself, he was letting her know that they were safely landed in Canada and were with Freya's family.

Sasha was now mated and would be returning with her new mate.

Sasha would be teaching him the rules of the house, among them being the rule not to annoy the Silver Lady of the house.

Silky smiled shyly at Hazel and he tipped his hat to her before trotting off to his next delivery.

She took a brief cream break and gave a couple of chunks of hardwood to the salamander living in the front parlour fireplace.

He sighed happily as he began feeding on the chunks of applewood. (Old fruit trees made for good eating, according to salamander lore.)

Resuming her task, she really made the dustbroom fly and the mop swing as she put her back into it.

Shortly after evening's fall she was finished and stood admiring the gleaming, freshly dusted and mopped floors.

Woe to any man, beast or fae who trampled muddy footprints into her house!

The huge grandfather clock downstairs tolled the hour of eight.

She put away the cleaning equipment and Silky sat down in her usual spot in the front parlour with her sewing kit.

Her latest project, a lovely embroidered vest for Freya. Made of silk spun by Zenobia and designed to allow for growth, it was made with replaceable panels and borders so it would continue to fit her.

Very clever indeed.

Her crafting was briefly interrupted when she had to put a stop to a gremlin's illicit tinkering with the boiler down in the basement.

One well aimed glare from her was sufficient to scare the little tinkerer off.

One did not annoy a silky in her own home, it could be hazardous to one's health!

The soft fire in the front parlour fireplace crackled as the salamander curled up amongst the glowing embers and drifted off to sleep.

Silky yawned as the huge grandfather clock tolled the midnight hour.

She put away her sewing project and quickly checked all the doors, windows and appliances to make sure everything was secured.

Silky stripped down to her silken undergarments and got into her bed.

In the morning, she would reply to the letters she had gotten that day.

She smiled as sleep gently came over her, it had been a good day.

Anita woke to her very first hangover.

The ale she had tried the night before had knocked her for a loop.

She vaguely remembered falling asleep alongside Freya at the big table everyone was sitting at.

Now she lay in an enormous bed, looking up at a rocky ceiling and her mouth tasted like an army had marched through it, even her eyes hurt.

There was a glass of water on the stand next to the bed and a note, it read:

"When you get up, come into the kitchen and my mom will give you something for your headache...Sorry I didn't warn you about our ale...It's pretty strong. F."

Rising almost painfully, Anita drank the glass of water in one go.

She toddled into the bathroom and just managed to use the straddle toilet there.

Washing up afterwards with soap and cold water out of a basin, Anita felt only slightly better.

Still barefooted, Anita followed the cooking smells and found herself in the heart of Freya's home, the kitchen.

She stood there blinking at the sight of her towering friend, now dwarfed by her ginormous mom and auntie, all busily cutting up a carcass.

Roger and Sasha were nowhere to be seen.

Gudrun looked over at her and smiled, she said gently, "Woods ye loch a bit ay me herbal tea fur yoor headache? It's jist th' thing fur hango'ers."

Anita nodded slightly, (Her head hurt too much for anything more vigorous.) and said weakly, "Yes, please!"

Gudrun patted a high chair and said cheerfully, "Ye jist hae a seat right haur an' Ah'll brew it right up!"

Climbing into the high chair, Anita could see better what Freya and Barbara were doing.

She watched in fascination as Freya deftly maneuvered the very sharp knife and separated a limb from the body of the animal with appalling ease.

Barbara smiled at her and said, "Elk, Roger shot it thes mornin' oan his first hunt wi' Sigurd an' Olaf, Elise's guidman. He waur reit ootwith th' dell an' Roger got heem. Elise is warmin' up 'er smoker reit noo an' thes'll get smoked."

Gudrun set a steaming mug before her and said softly, "Haur, thes'll help clear yoor head a bit."

The scent of the herbs steaming in the mug was already making headway with the cobwebs in her poor brain and with each sip, they cleared rapidly to Anita's great relief.

By the time she got to the bottom of the mug, she felt much better.

Freya and Barbara were now finished cutting the meat into strips and coating them with herbs and spices.

Freya smiled at her diminutive friend and said, "Feel up tae gaein' o'er tae Elise's an' helpin' 'er load 'er smoker?"

Anita smiled and replied, "Lemme get my shoes an' I'll be right with you!"

A few minutes later, she found herself carrying a large stainless steel bowl lined with herb and spice covered meat strips.

Freya and Barbara were carrying their own large bowls and soon, they were approaching Elise's house.

Anita vividly remembered it from the day before, when she had come flying out of her house with broom in hand to encourage her children to go visit their grandmother, or else!

Elise was outside, standing at the business end of an impressively large smoker made out of stone slabs all carefully fitted together and sealed with mortar.

Over this was a thick layer of earth, all carefully packed down and overgrown with ivy to keep it all together.

Elise was loading a metal frame work with various sized roasts while other frames were to be loaded with the meat strips to make jerky for long trips.

She smiled at them and said cheerfully, "Guid morrow!"

She gestured at the empty frames, "These ur fur makin' jerky, we'll put them deep inside sae they can smoke langer."

She smiled at Anita and said, "An' how ur ye feelin' today? Old Harald's ale was a bit tay much fur ye Ah see."

Anita smiled weakly and replied, "You can say that again! I feel much better now, thanks to Gudrun's herbal tea. It really helped!"

Elise smiled at the girl and remarked, "Gudrun is verra guid at makin' herbal teas an' poultices an' she's pretty guid at settin' anes tay."

Anita grinned and replied cheerfully, "So I've heard, with four older brothers, Freya learned how to play rough with the best of 'em."

Elise smiled at her and replied, "We aw learnt tae play rough, 't'was to ensure uir survival as a people. We'd hidden fur sae lang we didnae ken onie other way ay livin'"

She glanced over at Freya who was deftly hanging strips of elk on the metal framework, "Then Freya mit Roger an' brooght heem haem."

With all the meat now hanging on the frame, Elise gently eased it deep inside the smoker and pushed it into place with a stick.

Next she placed the roasts nearer the coals and set the falling weight mechanism, the roasts began to slowly rotate and Elise closed the main door.

Anita grinned and remarked, "I like that, you don't have to sit and watch it, it turns by itself!"

Elise smiled and replied, "th' weight takes abit an hour tae fall an' when me timer gaes aff, I cam back an' reset it. Thes gives me time fur other things."

Elise pulled a pocket timer out of her apron and gave it a twist before slipping it back into her apron pocket.

She smiled and said, "Noo, aff tae me gardenin'"

Barbara grinned at the two girls and said, "Let's see hoo uir own garden is camin' alang!"

With bowls in hand, the four of them trooped down to the garden patch tended by the Jotuns.

It was on a gentle slope that had been terraced into numerous garden plots and surrounded by a stout fence meant to keep wandering bears and browsing deer and elk out of the gardens.

At night, some of the younger wolves guarded the gardens from night raiders.

Anita took in the general layout of the gardens in a single glance.

A large compost heap fed with kitchen scraps and plant cullings provided fresh soil for the gardens and a simple shed housed the tools and some of the other supplements added to the soil at intervals.

A rather convenient spring provided the water.

Anita and Freya were set to work pulling weeds and tossing them onto the compost pile.

Working alongside her large friend, Anita couldn't help marveling at Freya's strength as she easily pulled out weeds Anita couldn't even budge.

Meanwhile, Barbara and Elise were digging up a plot of potatoes, knocking the soil loose and tossing them into the gleaming metal bowls.

By midday, Anita was very hungry, her hangover was gone and she was tired.

She and Freya had pulled weeds, picked carrots and harvested onions.

The bowls were now filled with potatoes, carrots and onions.

Barbara and Elise had refreshed the soil and had planted the next crop of potatoes and onions.

The carrot patch now had turnip seeds planted in it for the fall harvest.

They trudged back to the house laden with the bowls now filled with their hard earned harvest.

Elise thanked them for their help and continued on to her house and her smoker.

They came home to find that Gudrun had a hearty lunch all prepared for them and the aroma of dinner roasting in the oven was mouth watering.

She smiled at Anita's expression and asked, "Did me sister tire ye oot?"

Anita grimaced and replied, "I've helped Freya with her own gardens back home but here, even the weeds are huge! Freya'd just pull them out like it was nothing while I can barely pull a single one of them. I don't know if it's the weeds, the soil or just me. I know I'm gonna be real sore tomorrow. Today it was a hangover, tomorrow it'll be sore muscles!"

This time Barbara laughed and said, "Ye did pretty guid fer someone yoor size, ye've nae tae be ashamed ay!"

She glanced at the coo coo clock Roger had given them and remarked, "Jist like th' men fowk tae be oot huntin' while th' womenfowk ur daein' th' real wark!"

Freya spoke up suddenly, "Roger takes verra guid caur ay me an' th' rest ay us. He built th' pottin' shed and th' winter garden beds behin' th' hoose. He helped me build an Inukshuk tae remind me ay me haem."

She smiled and said quietly, "He woods make a verra guid guidman."

Barbara smiled knowingly and said quietly, "Dae ye hink yoo'll be declarin' fur heem when ye cam ay age?"

Freya flushed a bright red to Anita's amazement, she had never seen her so flustered.

Freya suddenly blurted out, "Ah'm only a lass ay thirteen, Ah'm far tay yoong tae be thinkin' abit marriage!"

Barbara unable to resist, said teasingly, "Ye woodnae be th' first Jotun lass tae loove a wee man. Ah heard tell ay a Jotun girl who lives wi' a wee man tae th' north ay haur."

Again, Freya flushed a bright red and looked very uncomfortable.

Gudrun placed a full bowl of freshly washed potatoes before her sister and said firmly, "Instead ay ye teasin' yoor niece, peel these p'taters instead!"

Gudrun smiled at the two girls and said pleasantly, "Yoo've don enaw wark fur today. Gie ootwith an' show Anita around an' let 'er meit yoor mukkers."

Moments later Anita found herself outside the house waiting for Freya to calm down.

She muttered, "Me auntie always teasin' me abit Roger, she'll pick heem up loch he's a toy an' kiss heem jist tae annoy me. She's e'en wondered what he'd be loch in bed. Ah'd hoped when she had a noo loover she'd stop. Ah ken she's me auntie an' aw, Ah jist wish she'd stop!"

Anita kept quiet, remarking to her about her sleeping with Roger to the extent that even Anna had once muttered about 'when they were gonna admit they loved each other' was probably not a good idea at this time.

Freya finally smiled and said cheerfully, "Cam, Ah'll show ye aroond!"

Anita smiled back and said gaily, "Lead on!"

Then she readied her smartphone to take pictures.

Anita laughed at the antics of the Jotun children as they played among the giant wolves guarding them, one toddler had even fallen asleep snuggled up against the great furry body watching over her.

Freya led her to one of the more deeply buried structures, outside of it was a tidy garden being carefully tended by a Jotun girl about Freya's age.

The girl looked up from her labors and flashed a big smile as they approached.

She stepped out of the garden and hugged Freya quite happily, the girl laughed and said cheerfully, "Look at ye! Almost grown an' still sae skinny!"

She playfully grabbed Freya's buttocks and declared, "Still nae meat oan ye, ye ur yoor stoatin' granny's bairn awright!"

Freya smiled at her long time friend and retorted, "Ah loch bein' skinny!"

Freya turned to Anita and said happily, "Thes is Ingrid, Ingrid Petersdottir. We grew up taegaither. Ingrid, thes is Anita, Anita Larsen, she an' ah gae tae th' same skale taegaither an' right noo we're livin' taegaither."

Ingrid smiled and extended a work hardened hand in greeting.

As they shook hands, Ingrid said with a grin, "Ah'm pleased tae meit yer!"

She smiled and said, "Ur aw th' wee fowk lasses yoor size? Yoo're verra small!"

Anita flushed and replied, "Not really, I'm kinda small anyway. A lot of Freya's other friends are into sports and are much bigger than I am. Freya's probably the tallest person in Portland, so it's a little strange to see her no longer the tallest person in the room."

Ingrid laughed which made her impressive bosom shake.

While she may have been the same age as Freya, she was more robust with firm, full breasts and swelling hips with the promise of many healthy children from her loins.

Taking their leave of Ingrid, the two continued on 'til they stopped at a cottage somewhat apart from the rest of the hamlet.

It was surrounded by well tended vegetable gardens and had its own smoker and baking oven.

A clothesline laden with freshly scrubbed laundry swayed slightly in the gentle mountain breezes while two small children played catch with a ball.

A woman came out of the cottage and stopped short when she saw Freya and Anita looking at the cottage.

She paused and finally said, "Ye main be Freya, Induna's granddaughter!"

"Aye!" replied Freya, "Ah've cam up fer a visit an' thooght Ah'd cam see me granny's auld cottage."

She smiled and said to the woman, "Ah'm glad tae see it bein' sae full ay life!"

The woman smiled back and replied, "Aye, that it is! Me name's Helga an' me guidman's name is Peter Ericcson. He's nae haur right noo, he's ootwith some ay th' menfowk an' a wee man wi' a rifle."

Helga came up to them and as they all shook hands, she grinned at Anita and said, "Sae yoor th' wee lass Ah've heard tell ay!"

Freya remarked, "Anita is me mukker frae doon south, we gae tae th' sam skale taegaither."

Helga looked Anita's tiny frame over and remarked, "Ah dornt pure techt tae pry, but ur aw wee lasses as tiny as ye?"

Anita laughed and replied gaily, "Heavens no! I'm considered tiny even by 'wee fowk' standards. Lot's of women are much bigger than me."

Helga smiled and said pleasantly,"Sae Ah've heard, Barbara's shown me pictures ay Freya an' 'er wee mukkers doon south."

"Helga!" a great voice boomed, "Start up th' smoker, we hae meat!"

They turned to see a huge young man with a large bundle over one massive shoulder.

He was grinning through his bushy, reddish beard and his eyes shone in his excitement.

Helga broke out in a big smile and she called to her children, "Papa's Haem! We must get th' smoker started up."

Freya grinned and said quickly, "Woods ye loch a hain wi' th' smoker?"

Peter, Helga's husband came up to them with his bundle resting on his great shoulder.

Anita noted that there was blood dripping from one end of it.

He grinned at his wife and declared, "Tha' wee man gae me hees portion ay th' meat he'd shot. Said Ah needed it mair than he did."

Helga's pretty face lit up and she clapped her hands together in glee at the news.

She cheerfully declared, "We main invite heem tae tatties an' neebs, tae say thenk ye!"

Peter paused a moment and said to Freya and Anita, "Woods ye an' yer cheil loch tae hae supper wi' us?"

Freya flushed slightly at his choice of words and replied, "Wa we'd loove tae!"

Peter grinned at her and said,, "We'll get th' smoker aw set up an ye can help me wife wi' cuttin' up th' elk."

While Freya and Helga cut the carcass into manageable chunks of meat, Anita helped Peter get the smoker going.

He quickly got a fire going and Anita carefully stacked the wood like she'd seen Elise do at her own smoker.

Peter grinned at her and remarked, "Yoo've done thes afore?"

Anita chuckled and replied, "Not really, I watched Elise and Freya working on her smoker and saw how she did it. I just copied her!"

Peter just laughed and replied, "Yoo're a quick young lassie, Ah loch ye!"

Freya and Helga brought the cut up meat chunks over and carefully hung them on the hooks before the frame was slipped into the smoking chamber and the heavy door closed tightly.