The woman I want to protect.
Isaac is in London or somewhere nearby. His sister is still here while her pirate goes on some mission to somewhere north and the world for once seems to be taking a day off from crises. I yearn for more of the feeling of a calm breeze.
My father is at the entrance to the maze, wrapping what looks like fairy lights around two old elms that stand guard at the entrance. His face is frozen in concentration and he doesn’t look too different from when he first started to work here.
“Need a hand?”
He looks over at me and passes the wire. “Never say no when someone offers to assist.”
I’ve heard it all before but it still makes me smile.
“How’s work?” He takes a step back while I pull over his step ladders and sort the lights out.
“Busy. I went to Riga the other day.”
“Riga. Somewhere I’ve never been.”
“You should. It’s an interesting city.” He should but he won’t. My father hates leaving Scotland.
“Maybe one day.”
“Looks like Majken’s spent some time there. Saw her plant on a desk.”
“Oh really?” He never presses for information about Majjie and I’ve never known why.
“What do you know about her job?”
“Financial management.”
“How often do you speak to her?”
“What’s with the inquisition?”
I come down from the ladder. “I didn’t see Majjie. I met an acquaintance of hers who suggested that you weren’t her father.”
He stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Let’s walk to the loch.”
We say nothing as we walk. An osprey swoops down to the water for its breakfast and one of the wildcats stalks us for a few footsteps, but there’s no noise from us other than our footsteps.
There’s a bench my father made from scratch a few years back, just before I left. One night when it was still new, me and Blair came down here and used it as a place to hide and spend time together. Underneath our initials are carved into the wood, a childish gesture, but one I remembered.
“Majken isn’t my daughter. I met your mother when Majjie was eighteen months old.” He stares at the water.
“How come I didn’t know?”
There’s a shrug. “Not sure there was any reason. She knew her father, who he was, but it was a non-issue.” He turns to look at me. “I know what she’s involved with, Ben. You don’t have to protect her.”
“Have you given her any information?”
“She never asked and even if she did, I wouldn’t. This family has done a lot for me while your sister hasn’t. Loyalty gets you thicker blood, no matter what anyone says about blood being thicker than water.”
“How often do you hear from her?”
“Every Sunday at nine am. I think it’s a timed message she sets up from somewhere. Always bright and breezy, as if there’s nothing wrong in the world. She’s in Barbados at the moment.”
I feel a sense of relief. As much as my sister is an albatross around my neck, I’d rather not deal with her death.
“And I have a feeling she had you go on a wild goose chase to Riga.”
