Lund Drottning

Chapter 7

Monday, October 4, 2004

I bid Jasper and his coven goodbye as I help Luna into the Jeep after school. We stop at the border to La Push and park to the side of the road. Stepping into the woods is wonderful. It feels like home. We walk through the woods for a moment as I wonder what I could do the have this feeling and my Jasper. I have to believe that it will work out in the end, but I just can't see how. Vampires are not allowed inside of La Push. I could build a house on the edge of the border, but would that anger the Spirits?
Ten minutes into our hike I realize that we have walked farther from the beach. We have in fact walked outside of the border, but the lands feel the same. It shouldn't. Borders are very distinct to those of magic. How can this land feel like Quileute land? "Sister? Have you noticed?"

"I was waiting for you to notice, Sister. I have traveled these woods before. In fact I think we should continue in this direction. There is something which belongs to you ahead." I turn to look at her as I continue to walk. Ahead is a house. It is a sprawling affair built of logs and rounded polished stone. It's beautiful. The foundation of the house is made of large stones and mortar, while the walls are thick logs stacked and molded together. The roof is brown shingles interrupted by dormers. The house has a wrap around deck, and the area surrounding is has almost been reclaimed by the forest with the exception of a patch of land just in front of what looks like the main door.

"Wow, Luna, look at this. Do you think they're home?" I turn to look at her and see that she has an eyebrow raised at me. "What? What did I do?"

"I told you there was something here that belonged to you. Your mother stayed in this house until she married your father. She didn't like you grandfather's rules though. She moved to your father's house out of spite. Most of the town has never even seen it. I don't know that she ever invited your dad. The sprites have been whispering to me since we came into the woods. The house is lonely. It needs love, but you are the owner and didn't know it existed. I told them that I thought we might go inside to see what was left for you."

"Wouldn't Renee have been the last one to stay here?"

"No. Your Grandfather has visited over the years. The town had a lot to say about the fact that Renee's father visited so often. It's likely that he stayed here while visiting." Luna looks off into the forest for the moment before looking back to the house. I nod and we walk up the steps to the porch and into the house. The inside is beautiful. The floors are stained almost black and the walls are all the same sealed natural color as the outside, a range of red from the western red cedar warms the house even without the massive fire place in the center. The fireplace is built of stone like the foundation and spans a nine foot square with all four sides sporting a seven foot wide arched opening. The openings seem to be about three feet tall at the tallest point, and the whole massive fireplace is situated on a square hearth ten feet wide and a foot above the floors. It has to go all the way to the ground. It must be ridiculously heavy. I look around to see that the kitchen and dining room span the back half of the house towards Forks, while the front of the house is dedicated to what would make a massive communal area. There are doors leading off of the main room that Luna drags me toward.
We explore the first two stories of the house to find eight rooms that could be used as bedrooms and six bathrooms. It's a log mansion hidden in the woods. There is what looks to have been a dirt driveway that has grown up in the absence of upkeep that I fully intend to follow. The most interesting part of the whole find is the attic stacked full of trunks. You can walk through them as if they are a library, but they are also familiar. These are the trunks that we gathered before we left our first world.

"Luna? What should we do?" I turn to find her holding a letter.

"I think we should read this letter." She unfolds it as I walk closer to her.