Page 14 of The Fighter
Erika’s Puzzle
Raven
Mila and I found Erika doing a jigsaw puzzle.
“Hey, darling, are you here to help me?”
“Sure. Do you mind if Raven helps too?”
“Of course not.”
Erika smiled and waved for us to take a seat at the table, where only the frame and a quarter of the puzzle had been assembled. “I might have been a bit ambitious with this one – it’s four thousand pieces and I’ve been working on it for more than a week.”
Picking up the box, I looked at the cover picture. “I’ve seen these people before?”
“Yes, they are some of our founding fathers.”
Studying the picture, I saw antique motorcycles and a group of twelve sinister-looking men in leather jackets.
“Why did you choose this motif? Why not one of a beautiful forest or flowers or something.”
“Because I’m a patriot at heart.” Erika pointed to one of the bikers. “And I’ve always thought he was very handsome.”
I scrunched my nose up. “Really? He doesn’t look like he’s any fun.”
Erika gave me a small wink. “I think I could have had a lot of fun with him. Except, we were born in different centuries.”
Mila snatched the box from me. “What does fun have to do with handsome anyway? It’s like your comment about Leo not having any humor. I’m sure Leo would laugh if he felt relaxed but even if he doesn’t, he’s still an impressive man.”
Erika tilted her head. “Are you talking about Leo, the policeman?”
“Yes.” I picked up one of the pieces of the puzzle, letting my eyes search for its place.
Mila’s finger tapped on the box with the image of the bikers. “I would say that he’s even more handsome than these men.”
“I’ll agree that Leo is strapping, but I’m sorry, girls; no one compares to John Hanson.” Erika gave a last look at the box and sighed. “If only we had time machines.”
I smiled at her. “It’s funny because we actually came to talk to you about something from the past.”
“You are interested in the history of the Northlands? That’s so nice to hear.” Erika lit up as she said it.
“Yes; more precisely we are interested in knowing what happened to your daughter, Dina.” I looked down at the puzzle as I asked the question, but even so, I felt Erika stiffen.
“Raven, we don’t speak about her.”
Mila reached out her hand and placed it gently on top of Erika’s. “Grandma, why don’t you ever talk about Dina and why did Marcus erase all signs of her?”
It took Erika so long to answer that I thought she might not want to answer at all, and when she finally spoke it was in a low voice. “Marcus was always protective of me. We people of the North are not as accustomed to discussing our emotions as you people from the Motherlands. He did what he thought was right.”
“But if you didn’t talk about your emotions, then how did you deal with your grief?”
There was a trembling in Erika’s voice. “We moved on. What choice did we have?”
“But why did you move on like Dina never existed? Didn’t you feel the need to honor her memory?”
“It was Marcus’s decision to remove everything that would remind us of her. He said he did it for my sake, but to be honest I think it was as much for his.” Erika paused and her fingers played with the puzzle piece in her hand. “People think Marcus was a cold and ruthless man but they never understood him the way I did. He wasn’t always like that.”
Mila leaned in and squeezed Erika’s hand. “Who was the Marcus that only you knew?”
