Author's Note:
Welcome to the third and final chapter in the saga of Ree the goblin. I have to admit, I had a blast writing this story – it was a lot of fun to depart from some of my earlier writing. It would be interesting to write a sequel, but maybe not for a while yet. Again, many thanks to the author Karaline – without her support, insight and editing the story would have been way worse off. And as always, thank you to the readers for your kind words of support and encouragement in your comments and emails.
This chapter contains scenes of violence, nudity and bad language. Viewer discretion is advised.
**
"Maybe it is the human way," Freida said. "Maybe humans do not like babies."
Ree considered the giant's words as she hurried to keep pace. It was late afternoon and the two of them were walking across the field towards Freida's home in the barn. Ree carried an armload of twigs for kindling, while Freida dragged an entire tree with one hand and didn't look bothered by the weight. The ogress had felled the towering birch with two strokes of the huge axe she carried slung over her shoulder.
"There are many humans. They must like babies," Ree reasoned. "Maybe humans do not like goblin babies."
After Ree had announced she was carrying Edward's babies, the rest of the meal had been spent in silence. The humans were not excited by the news. Later, while Ree did the dishes, the humans went out to the porch and spoke in low voices. Ree could hear them talking – goblin ears were good at hearing quiet things – but couldn't make out the words. The bad feeling she had during dinner only got stronger throughout the evening as she did her chores and retired to her chambers to sleep. Somehow, the whole situation left her feeling afraid.
"I have never seen goblin babies," Freida said. "Why would humans not like them?"
"Goblin babies are good. They are small and quiet. They drink mother's milk. They sleep all day. They are good-smelling." Ree tried to come up with more to tell Freida about goblin babies but that was all there was to say. Goblin babies were simple to explain.
Freida dropped the tree on the ground outside the barn, then hefted the giant axe. Ree wisely moved to a safe distance – even a glancing blow from the axe would have cut her in half. She dropped the twigs in a heap, relieved to be free of their weight.
The ogress made short work of the tree trunk and in a few minutes the old birch was reduced to fireplace-sized logs, which the two of them stacked inside the barn to keep the wood dry. Then Freida sat on the tree trunk she used as a bench and began sharpening the axe with a stone. Out of habit, Ree looked around the barn for something to clean but there was too much to choose from. Ogres did not care if things were untidy – they were sensible creatures.
"Ree?" It was Lenore's voice, and it sounded close to the barn. Freida stopped sliding the stone over the axe and looked in the direction of the voice.
Ree stood up and smoothed down her dress. It wasn't her regular housekeeper dress – that would get too dirty in the barn – it was just a gray smock that ended below her knees. Ree liked wearing it because it was light and not too hot in the summer.
Satisfied that she looked as neat as could be she hurried outside to meet Lenore. Freida stood and shambled along behind her.
Lenore was wearing a long, white dress with ties down the middle, and sandals. She carried a bag on her shoulder. Her green eyes were pretty and her smile made Ree feel good. Ree liked Lenore.
"Ree, there you are! Edward said there was a place where we could-"
Lenore went quiet, her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open as Freida came into view behind Ree, still carrying her giant axe. Probably Lenore had never seen an ogress before. For that matter, Freida might never have seen a human female before. The Master's female guests did not go out to the barn where Freida lived.
Luckily, Ree knew what to do. She dropped into a perfect curtsy. "Mistress Lenore, may I present Freida the ogress. Freida, this is Mistress Lenore, a female human."
For a few moments there was only silence. Lenore gaped up at Freida with big eyes. Freida stared down at Lenore and fingered the newly-sharpened edge of the axe.
Lenore recovered herself and dipped into a brief curtsy of her own. "Nice to meet you...uh...Miss Freida. You look...even stronger than Edward described."
It was the right thing to say. Ogres liked that kind of talking. Lenore was so smart!
Freida dipped her head and snorted her approval then turned and loped back into the barn to continue her sharpening. Lenore watched her go with wide, green eyes.
"Freida is kind. She is a good friend, even though she is much bigger and stronger," Ree said.
"She's truly remarkable."
"Is it time for me to cook lunch?" Ree asked, wondering why Lenore had walked all the way out to the barn. Usually Edward just shouted from the house.
Lenore shook her head. "Edward said you know a good place to bathe, so I thought we might wash together. It's hot today and a cool bath would be refreshing, don't you think?"
Ree considered, then nodded. "There is a place by the river."
"Will you show me?"
**
"This is the rock where we can lie in the sun," Ree said, gesturing to the flat rock on the riverbank. "The water here is shallow. It is good to bathe here."
"And the trees shelter it from the house, so no one can peek at us while we're undressed," Lenore added, then winked at Ree.
Ree nodded her understanding. "Humans only like to see faces and hands. It is important not to be naked."
Lenore chuckled, then began to loosen the ties on her white dress. "In the city, there are bath houses where many people bathe together. The men and women bathe separately, but some men are always trying to sneak into the women's part of the bath house."
Following Lenore's lead, Ree removed her own gray smock, then hung it on a nearby branch to keep it out of the sand. She tried to imagine a lot of humans having a bath together in a house. It would certainly create a mess.
When Ree was naked she looked on in interest as Lenore disrobed – she'd never seen a human female with no clothes on. Lenore's skin was pale – almost as white as it was pink. Ree's eyes were drawn to Lenore's chest bumps – they were big! Even a goblin with many babies would not have chest bumps as big as Lenore's were. Human females must make a lot of milk. The points where babies were supposed to suck were pink, not dark.
Overall, except for a patch of black hair over her female parts, Lenore's body had only fine, light-coloured hair – so thin and sparse Ree had to look closely to see it.
"I guess you've never seen a woman's body before," Lenore said, and Ree realized she'd been staring. Master had told her not to stare at guests – it was bad manners. She hoped Lenore would not scold her.
"I'm sorry," Ree said, turning away to look at the river. Ree was tempted to jump into the water but hesitated. There were likely Human Rules about bathing with other people. She decided to wait for Lenore to tell her the right thing to do. Lenore had told her how to do human-style eating; she would know how to do human-style bathing as well.
"Don't apologize – I don't mind. It's natural to be curious. I'm curious to see your body too. I've never seen a goblin's body before. Besides, we're both women, right?"
Ree looked back at Lenore and found her smiling, which gave Ree a good feeling. She felt comfortable around Lenore. Lenore was easy to talk to, like Freida.
"Your chest bumps are big. How many babies do you have?" Ree asked.
Lenore's eyebrows raised at the comment, then her smile widened. "They're called breasts, not chest bumps. And I don't have any babies. This is just the size they are. I think human women have larger breasts than goblin women do."
