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Arteisma snuggled closer to my side. “Were you really sad?”
“Yes, very much so.” He nodded. “My sadness affected everything I did. I ended up making some extremely poor decisions, decisions that kept me from spending time with you and your sister.” Einar looked at me, his eyes glistening. “Decisions I mean to rectify.”
My heart pounded wildly in my chest. It was all I could do to regulate my breathing, counting through each deep inhale and long exhale to keep from teetering on the edge of panic.
Einar went on with his life’s story, though I heard only bits and pieces at first. Eventually, his deep, steady voice seemed to soothe my anxiety, and like everyone else in the cookhouse, I was soon caught up in his tale.
He and hissakanahad had quite an adventurous life. During war times, they’d been spies and secret message couriers between troops and had led refugees out of war-torn lands. He reached into his pocket and retrieved two small objects he sat on the table in front of him—hand-carved wolf figurines.
“For the first leg of the journey, I’d lead with Segrid in her wolf form. Halfway across the mountains, I would leave the refugees with instructions that a woman with a wolf would meet them and guide them the rest of the way to safety.” He picked up the two little figurines and gazed at them as he slowly turned them in his hands. “On each trip, Segrid would carve a new wolf and hide it somewhere along the trail for other wolves to follow. Many years after the war, we walked the trail and picked up all the carvings we could find. Only a few were missing, but we’d heard from others that the scent trail Segrid had left helped many wolves find their way to freedom. When we came here to the States, we settled and were eventually blessed with two offspring, twin daughters, Alvee and Erika, who are both still alive and living in Canada. We passed two little figurines to them and then to their offspring and all those descendants who came after them.”
He placed one figurine in front of each of the twins. The detail was incredible.
“I’ve been holding these for you.”
Arteisma picked up the little wolf, her dark eyes wide with amazement. “It’s so beautiful.” Quiet wonder in every word.
Nereida touched her figurine with the tip of her finger, then looked at Einar. “Did you give one to Vera?”
His brows pinched together as a flash of confusion flickered in his pale eyes. “We certainly did. Vera was not much older than you when Segrid and I gave it to her.”
“Thank you.” Nereida took the carving in her hand and tilted her head to inspect it. “Vera never showed us the one you gave her. She never told us about you.”
“I am sorry, dear one.” Einar’s face softened as he sighed. “Vera had good reason to be angry with me, and I am sorry for that as well.”
She glanced up at Seff, then back to the figurine in her hand, then whispered, “I think I’m supposed to say I forgive you, but I don’t know why.”
Einar reached across the table and patted her hand. “You don’t need to forgive me. I just needed to say it.”
For the next few hours, Einar told of his and Segrid’s world adventures, their amazement at every fantastic new invention, their first car, their first telephone, and first motion picture they attended—a silent film, the name he couldn’t recall.
My dad leaned back in his chair. “I remember the first movie I saw in a theater,Lost Horizon. Going out to see a moving picture was a damn event. Lines around the block waiting to get into a place that was more like a concert hall with hundreds of seats.”
Seff whispered, “We need to get the twins to bed.”
I looked down to find Arteisma had fallen asleep against my side, and Nereida was blinking sleepily leaned up against Seff.
I nodded and pulled Arteisma into my arms to settle against my shoulder. Einar stood from his chair and came around to our side of the table.
“May I help?”
I opened my mouth to say I had her, but the look of longing in his eyes made the words die on my tongue.
“Of course.”
I passed Arteisma into his waiting arms, and he settled her against his shoulder, his cheek pressed to her head. I realized it was the first time he had held his granddaughter, the first time he’d been allowed to share his love. My heart hurt for him.
Seff’s warm hand took mine as we led the way out of the cookhouse to my yurt.
Once inside, Einar followed Seff up the spiral staircase into the loft. I stayed at the foot of the stairs. They tucked the twins into their beds, then the two males left them to sleep. After their adventure in the wilds, Arteisma and Nereida must have been exhausted. I wasn’t sure I’d had even four full hours of sleep myself the last two nights, and Seff hadn’t slept while on their trail.
“I’m happy to see they have a place they can retreat to.” Einar took my hand in his. “Do you know why Vera and Jack gave them up to your pack?”
I shook my head. “I’m sure I don’t know the entire story.” Though I understood it had something to do with him making demands regarding their children who were not even born yet.
“Can we sit down?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
