The Puzzle Master

by Heather Spiva

  Marshall frowned. “If he’s going to take care of you now, he needs to be careful what he feeds you.”

  “Marsh, I’m a big girl. I know what to do. Besides, I’m still so sick of salads and healthy food. When I was in treatment, that was all I ate. Good stuff—all the time. Not to mention, weren’t you the one just feeding me ice cream?”

  Marshall didn’t react to her comment and said, “I was thinking, we should look for a bike for you and then we could go to the river together.”

  “There’s a river around here?”

  “Uh yeah, it’s the one they found gold in, you know, like the Gold Rush fever back in the 1800’s?” She nodded and pressed her lips together in thought.

  Just then, they heard Luke. “Hey, what’d you do to the back room?” He approached them, his face grim, waving the air in front of him with his thick hands.

  “We glued the pieces of the puzzle together. That way they won’t come apart now.”

  “You could’ve told me. Smells like you could’ve fried your brains in there.”

  “Sorry Uncle,” Iris said walking closer. “That’s why we left.”

  “Hey, Mr. Luke, do you have a bike around here, say something that would fit Iris?” Luke thought about it for a moment and raised his eyebrows.

  “Believe we do actually, just got it last week.” He headed off toward the front of the store and stopped. “Why, what are you thinking of doing?”

  “Just want to go the river, show her where I used to go fishing.”

  Luke scratched his chin. “Just as long as neither of you go in the water.”

  “Yeah I know, I know. Mom’s the same way. We won’t.”

  Luke turned back again and they went to a place that housed about twenty bicycles.

  “Wow,” Marshall said slowly, “I didn’t even know this was here.”

  “That’s the wonder of this store,” Luke said, moving some boxes out of the way and setting them on top of other large boxes. It was a matter of time before Luke would find himself smashed to bits from the weight of all the things in there. One tiny earthquake and he’d be buried alive.

  A medium-sized, old and scratchy pink bike sat quietly in front of them, as soon as Luke pushed the rest of the bikes aside. “There she is, just where I remembered her,” said Luke. “Why don’t you go try her out, Iris.”

  Iris walked to the bike. She sat down on it, put her fingers gently on the handlebars and smiled. “I think it’ll work.” Her ringlets bobbed up and down in excitement with every head movement. She checked out the pink and white streamers coming from the handle bars. Marshall thought she might think the streamers too childish, but she pulled her fingers through the streamers and bent down to check out the spokes. She was enthralled.

  “Okay,” said Luke, “But I’ll pick you up in an hour at Marshall’s house, after I shut the store. Remember, no games, be careful and no water.”

  They promised, and took her bike out of the store. Luke went back to his newspaper.

  “When does he eat?” Marshall asked, noticing his curt remarks.

  “I don’t know. Sometimes he forgets. I think it’s the smoking, he sort of loses his appetite with those things.” She shook her head from side to side.

  Marshall tested out her tires, squeezing them between his fingers. They seemed okay. “Don’t worry Iris. Your uncle is fine.” They walked their bikes to the front of the mini mart.

  “I don’t think he’s fine.”

  Marshall had to stop himself from saying she was crazy. But then Iris wasn’t like everybody else. In fact, Marshall had never met anyone like her ever before. She had no one to call family, and if she did have family, they were all sick. She was as abnormal as anyone got.

  “Well, I’m positive Luke’s fine,” Marshall said resolutely. “You’ll be with him for years, and then we can go to college together.” She seemed to like that and smiled again.

  They headed for the water, exactly where he was eight hours ago. A few fishermen were just setting up their gear. They were the smart ones; they knew when the salmon would bite. In about an hour, the sun would be down, and the fish would want to eat like crazy, jumping for mosquitoes. Marshall wished he had his fishing pole. He could imagine the tug of the pole in his hands, just like it was yesterday with him and his dad.

  They parked their bikes, and walked. Marshall thought for a moment that maybe she was too fragile to be climbing on the huge river rocks. What an idiot he was, Marshall thought.

  “You okay?” he asked, trying to be as casual as possible, hoping she wouldn’t fall and break an ankle.

  “Course I am,” she said. “What, you don’t think I can climb on rocks?”

  “No, just don’t want you to hurt yourself is all. All I need is your uncle saying I can’t hang out with you ever again.” They walked over to where he had been when he’d seen the white crane. The water was smooth as glass. It seemed even slower now than it was in the morning, and the setting sun made the water look like gold.

  Marshall picked up a small stone and skipped it across the water. It flew effortlessly and skipped six times.

  “How’d you do that?” Iris asked, perplexed at his movement. She picked up a smooth stone, and studied it.

  Marshall frowned. “You haven’t skipped rocks before?”

  She shook her head no. “I’ve been too sick to learn,” she said matter-of-factly. And without a father or mother, who would have taught her how to skip stones? Marshall felt dumb, again. He was always saying the wrong thing to her. He had to remember his manners.

  With the remainder of light from the setting sun, they skipped rocks across the water. She tried to flick her wrists they way he taught her, but she would forget to let the rock go at the right time, and it would go flying directly toward him.

  “Are you trying to kill me?” he asked her.

  She laughed and clutched her stomach. “No honest, I’m not,” she said between giggles. “You should’ve seen your face that time.”

  “Cause that’s like the hundredth one aimed right at me.” He took her wrist in his hand and held it like it was his own hand. “You got to hold the rock like it was a hot piece of glass, see.” Her wrist felt like a tiny fishing pole that would snap if he held it wrong. Her pale skin revealed the blue veins, looking like the way water looks on a map, twisting all over and forking into opposite directions.

  “You pull back, and then whip it out,” Marshall said, flinging the stone. They watched the rock shimmy across the water, bounce four times, and sink below the surface.

  “Okay, I got it,” she said licking her lips. She picked up a flat rock and held it in her fingers. Then snap, she flicked it out, and it skipped twice, sinking only a few yards from them. She turned to him with a smile.

  “I did it!” she yelled. “I did it!” She jumped up and down and clapped her hands.

  The sun was down below the horizon now and Marshall knew they had to get to his house before Luke got there. But he didn’t want to. He’d never seen Iris look so pretty. She was alive with a fire inside of her. He wanted to watch her clap her hands and smile, to stay on that shore forever.

  But the sun dipped away and they rode back to his house.

  Chapter 8: Alone Again

  Monday came. But Iris wasn’t at school. Marshall wasn’t sure what to think. He hoped maybe she was sick with a simple cold, or that she skipped school cause she felt like it. It wasn’t like her not to tell him that she wasn’t going to be there though. Maybe she slept in or maybe she was at Luke’s working on the big one. He hoped not. No way would she start that one without him.

  Today was the day they were going to begin. There were ten thousand pieces to put together. During Math class, he doodled some numbers on a page. He figured this was as good as any class to work out the numbers to the puzzle. With ten thousand pieces and roughly one hundred days until Christmas, that meant they had to complete at the least one hundred pieces a day.

  He pondered that number, and circ
led it a dozen times, absorbed in what that meant. It was crazy. No wonder Luke made the bet. Could they actually finish it on time?

  Marshall circled the number once more. One hundred. That meant they each had to connect fifty pieces daily. Marshall looked at Michael, who was flicking spit wads into Greg’s hair. No. He had to get the pole, or win it, or say he’d won it. He’d have the best prize out of the whole stupid club, even if there were a thousand people in it.

  As soon as the last bell rang, Marshall ran straight to Luke’s. He ran fast, paying little attention to the voices around him. Had he listened, he would’ve heard Michael say, “Where ya going Marsh?” But he didn’t. All he could think about was how upset he would be if she had started the puzzle. She had started the other ones without him, what would keep her from not doing this one? The anxiety was killing him.

  He picked up speed and ignored the funny feeling rising in his chest. He couldn’t let it bother him now. He had to get there, before she began. He had to make her stop. It wasn’t fair. The burning and scratchy feeling rose higher, until it was in his throat. His lungs burned, he had to stop. He instinctively reached for the inhaler. This was such bad timing, he thought. He’d made it all the way to the top of Devil’s Hill without needing it, so why did he need it so badly now?

  He stopped in front of Luke’s store. He had to take a breath of it now. Marshall held the inhaler to his lips and depressed the medicine. It coated his throat, and pushed away the tightening that was tearing away at the insides of his lungs.

  His breathing slowed, the air cleared, and he was himself again.

  He stuffed the thing back into his pocket and walked in. Luke wasn’t at the counter. The air wasn’t as smoky as before, but country music was still blaring through the store though, so he knew he couldn’t be too far. But where?

  “Mr. Luke?” Nothing. He headed toward the back room and unhitched his backpack from his shoulders. “Luke, hey it’s Marshall. Where are you?”

  He peered into the bathroom. He wasn’t there. He walked to the back room. The door was closed. He growled inwardly and reached for the handle. Iris better not be in there, working on that puzzle without him.

  Marshall was about to open the door, when heard Luke’s voice high and troubled coming from within the room. He couldn’t make out any words at all, only that he was talking to someone.

  Marshall stopped. He couldn’t go in. If Iris was in there and she and uncle were arguing about something, that would be way too awkward.

  He tiptoed out to the back door. Her new old bike wasn’t there. He walked back in. He figured she would’ve been using the bike to get here, but then maybe she came with Luke. Suddenly, he heard loud, distinct words: “That’s not how it’s supposed to be!”

  Marshall froze. What should he do? Was something bad happening in there that he needed to be a part of?

  Just then, a customer walked into the store. It was an old man. He went straight to the old book shelves stuffed with paperbacks and began flipping through them, looking for something specific. Where was Luke? Why was he still back there?

  Suddenly, the door swung open, and Luke came barging through the tiny walkway, knocking over boxes and running into bins and birdcages. He still hadn’t seen Marshall.

  “Hey Luke,” Marshall said. He was over by the crates of jelly jars, acting like he was looking for a specific size, even though he’d really been eaves dropping. What use did he have for jelly jars? He didn’t. If Luke asked, he would have to say his mom was looking for some.

  “Oh,” Luke grunted, running a hand through his hair. “Marshall.”

  “Is Iris here?”

  “No, no she’s not.” Luke said this in a hurry and became very busy with some papers at the counter. He still hadn’t lit up. Marshall put down a jelly jar and walked to him.

  “Well, where is she? She wasn’t at school today.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that. Guess we should’ve mentioned it to you. She uh … she had a checkup at the doctor’s today in the bay area.”

  Marshall nodded. He remembered her saying something about that. He didn’t think it was going to be this soon. Why hadn’t she said anything to him before this?

  “When’s she get back?” he asked.

  Luke was staring into space, out the window.

  “Luke?”

  “Huh? Oh, uh she’s supposed to be back in a couple of days.”

  “A couple of days?” Marshall couldn’t believe it. “If it’s just a checkup, what’s she doing there for a couple of days?”

  “They want to hold her for observation and everything.” Luke shrugged and then laughed, but he didn’t sound happy about it. “It’s just how the checkup goes I guess. She’ll be back here in no time.”

  Marshall nodded again. They were supposed to start on the puzzle today. It seemed so strange that she wouldn’t tell him; that she wouldn’t have called him or even told Luke that that those were the plans. Now she was in a hospital, or wherever, letting doctors check her out for an extended amount of time.

  “I’ll be in the back then,” said Marshall with a sigh. Luke was in the middle of lighting up, and nodded. He was puffing on the thing like it was about to disappear in two seconds. Something weird was going on. It was all wrong. Everything. The store, no Iris, Luke’s behavior.

  The door tinkled again and someone else walked in. Marshall turned around to see Michael walk through with Greg and Justin. Shoot, he thought, just who I didn’t need to see.

  “Hey Marshy,” said Michael, “What’chya doing here?”

  “Come here after school all the time.”

  “To be with that Miss Iris?” Greg and Justin sneered at the comment, but Michael looked like he was actually serious.

  “She’s not here right now. What’s it to you?” They better leave him alone. He was in no mood to talk to a bunch of idiots about Iris. They had no idea what sickness was and he didn’t care how they took his answer.

  Greg and Justin wandered off to look at some old comic books, but Michael didn’t move. He stared at Marshall, and Marshall felt like he could read his mind. Michael’s lips were set together, arms crossed and one of his eyebrows raised. He wanted some answers and he was going to get them.

  “I saw you running like mad to get here,” he said. “What’s so important?”

  “Why do you care Mike, it’s just a store. I thought Iris was going to be here is all.”

  “I also saw you take a breath on your inhaler.”

  Ah man, he saw that too? “Yeah, so what?”

  “So, I haven’t seen you use that thing in ages. Didn’t know you still had the asthma.”

  “I don’t really, just … sometimes I have a flare up.” He could feel his body temperature rising. The air conditioning that had felt good a couple of minutes ago was suddenly not cool enough. A flush creeped up his cheeks.

  “Why are you asking me these questions?” Marshall turned around and looked at a bag of purses and ladies wallets, old and wrinkly leather that looked like they had been on a cow a hundred years ago.

  “I don’t know, just wondering. You gonna show me your best toy soon? You do want to join the club right?”

  Marshall had to say yes, that of course he did, even though he thought Michael’s club was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard of. He didn’t want to join; he didn’t want to show them the cool fishing pole he was going to get. He wanted Iris, here in the room, and them in the back starting the big puzzle.

  “Sure, just waiting to find the right one is all.” Michael nodded and grinned and seemed satisfied that Marshall was planning on joining. Michael turned away, watching Greg rifle through a box of books. Justin was trying on a pair of seventies sunglasses.

  “So, she’s not sick?”

  “Why do you care?”

  “Maybe I don’t.”

  Marshall sensed compassion within the confines of Michaels’ words, but just when Marshall thought he’d hear more of it, Michael was his old self again. He sno
rted, and a limp grin splayed across his thick cheeks.

  “Alright Marshy, see you later.” Marshall didn’t reply. Michael gathered his pals, and they left the store. Luke was at the counter reading a book titled, How to Hunt Whitetail Deer, but Marshall had caught him peeking a glance at them when they were talking.

  “That kid much trouble for you?” he asked.

  Marshall walked over to the counter. Smoke was billowing softly into the cool air, and somehow, it was comforting. Walking into Luke’s store without the smoke was like listening to a pig without the snort. They were one and the same, together forever. That was comfortable.

  “No trouble. Just dumb.”

  Luke laughed loudly.

  “Does anyone else know about Iris’ cancer thing she’s got?” Luke finally asked. Marshall shook his head no and leaned on the counter. He looked at the fishing pole, its shine gleaming back at him from the mother of pearl handle.

  “No. Just me. But, I don’t plan on telling anyone about it.” Marshall looked at Luke, whose eyes were soft and watery. “As far as I’m concerned, she doesn’t have it anymore, and no one needs to know.”

  Luke sighed with relief. “You’re a good boy, you know that right? A good kid and friend to Iris. She asked about you on the way to the doctor, you know.”

  Marshall brightened. “Really?”

  “She did. She hoped you knew that she really wanted to start on that puzzle today, and wants you to start it without her.”

  “She does?” Marshall was surprised to hear that. “But …”

  “No, she said that. Besides, if you ever plan on getting this thing,” and he pointed to the glass case, “you better get a move on it.”

  Marshall grinned. Iris was smart. She seriously wanted him to win that bet. He hoped she was reading another medical journal so she could get that Nobel Prize.

  He headed to the back of the room and grabbed a bag of chips. The mound of pieces was still as they left it. It was intimidating, now that he thought about it. It told him that they were crazy for even trying this one. He picked up a piece. It was a red bit of one of the tons of barns in the photo, which meant major work in trying to figure out which barn was which. He sighed. This was going to be hard. But he’d taken the bet, so at the very least, he needed to get going.