The Puzzle Master

by Heather Spiva

  “No!” she said, now fully irritated. “I’m a princess of course.” Marshall just nodded, and tried to appease her again-wounded ego, already extremely large at five years old. She poured cereal into her bowl and chewed hard, watching Marshall digging at the o’s again.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  Marshall sighed. What did she want now? Was she going to tell on him for not smiling at her?

  “Nothing.”

  “You seem kind of sad. Is Iris okay?”

  “Of course she is!” he blurted. “Why wouldn’t she be?”

  Leila shrugged and kept quiet. She didn’t yell back, she didn’t leave her chair to tell on him … she was being thoughtful almost; kind, as if she cared. Marshall looked at her, her tiara hanging off of her head about ready to splash into the milky cereal.

  “You just seem sad is all,” she said to her bowl.

  “Well, I’m not. I’m seeing Iris today. We’re supposed to work on the puzzle.”

  “You aren’t taking me trick or treating?” she asked slowly, swallowing a huge mouthful.

  “Dad is, like always,” said Marshall. “He’ll take you.”

  She squirmed in her chair and looked around the room. “But dad’s working tonight. He’s not home remember?” Marshall had to think hard. Dad had been gone so many days lately it was difficult to remember when he was coming home or when he was leaving. It annoyed Marshall to have to think about it.

  “Oh, I guess so. Then what about Mason? He’ll take you.”

  “Mason has a game tonight, Marsh-mallow,” she said deliberately, frustrated that she had to tell him that information as well. “And after that, he’s going to a Halloween party. He won’t be home until late.”

  “Then what about mom? She’ll go with you.”

  “But I don’t want her to go with me. I want you to go with me, like we used to do when you trick or treated.”

  Marshall squinted in disbelief. “You want me? Why do you want me? You never want to be with me anymore.”

  She dug another scoop of cereal and stuffed it into her mouth. Then he saw her watery eyes. “Oh Leila, really?” he asked, and slumped into his chair.

  “If it’s too much for you, I’ll ask mom,” she said, tears starting to splash onto her cheeks. “I-can-go-with-her-if-you-can’t,” she said hiccupping in gasps between words. She looked back into her bowl and leaned on one hand. Marshall knew that the tears were real. Had they been fake tears, she would’ve been out of her chair whining at their mother in her best nasal voice.

  “Oh Sheesh, Leila, stop crying.” He was stuck. He knew he wanted to be with Iris, and work on the puzzle, but he also felt obligated to be with Leila. Not to mention, she actually wanted to spend time with him. It was so unusual it was scary. Maybe they could do the puzzle on Sunday instead. Maybe mom would be okay with that, if he’d take Leila trick or treating.

  That just might work. “Sure, I’ll take you. But,” and he pointed a finger at her, “you have to let Iris come along too.”

  Leila’s eyes were bright and clear again and she dove into her cereal with renewed hope. “Okay. I like her.”

  Marshall snorted. “You’ve only met her once.”

  “I know but I like her.”

  Marshall left the table to talk to his mother about the arrangement. Then he packed up a lunch and left for Luke’s store. Iris was on the phone when he walked in. But she said goodbye and hung up quickly, meeting Marshall with a small hug. She held on for a few seconds, to where it was awkward and Marshall finally put his arms around her too.

  “Um, did I do something wrong?” he asked, peering at Luke with his eyebrows raised.

  “No,” she whispered and then let go. “Just happy to see you.”

  “I’m happy to see you too. Let’s get started.” She nodded with excitement and they walked to the back room. Marshall tossed his brown bag lunch in the mini fridge and the pair got down to business, he in one chair, and she in another and picked a specific section to work on for an hour. After that hour, they switched places. Then they took a small break and chose completely new sections.

  They talked about their farm and barn, and had picked out the barn and home in the center of the picture as the one they both wanted to live at, because it looked like it had the most land, which meant absolute freedom—the most room to spread out, fully engaged in their farming lifestyle. They talked about school, homework—especially the algebra that Marshall had trouble with—and eventually got to the subject of Halloween.

  “I know I was supposed to work on this with you tonight, but I have to take my sister trick or treating. I’m the only one available really, and she actually wants me to take her. But I was wondering,” Marshall flicked his eyes her way and then back to the puzzle, which was now about half way finished, “Do you want to come with me? You know, walk from house to house while my sister gets all the candy she can handle?”

  “Yeah sure,” she said, “Just as long as we can snag some of the candy too.”

  Marshall grinned. “My thoughts exactly.”

  ***

  At lunchtime, they left Luke’s and went to Fool’s Landing. They’d been doing this practically every Saturday for the past month, and it only felt right to do it from now until they finished the puzzle. They had to sit on the same rock, overlooking the same spot of river. The sun wasn’t as warm as they were used to, and the rock took forever to heat up. Iris shivered a lot and goose bumps covered her arms, but she didn’t say a word. Marshall wished he’d brought his jacket and wanted to smack himself for not thinking about her in advance. She looked chilled to the bone and it was in the seventies, but here she was freezing to death.

  The crane hadn’t shown itself since that day in August, and Marshall hoped to see it again. So far, it didn’t want to dine with them. Only the pesky crow. It showed up, and always wanted Iris’ chips.

  “I don’t think uncle is well, Marsh,” she finally said, after they’d eaten their sandwiches and orange soda. “He’s coughing way too much. He sort of handles it at work, so you can’t hear him, or he goes out back, but I think he’s getting worse.”

  “Is he going to go see the doctor or something? I mean, he’s gotta get better.”

  She nodded absentmindedly. “Hopefully this next week. I convinced him to go in for a checkup at least, and threatened him with telling Aunt Norma how his condition really is. She’d send back for me to stay with her in a flash; even if it meant staying with her at the nursing home.” She looked at Marshall, curls bouncing and swaying. “I hope the doctor catches the drift. And I’m going in with Luke. I don’t care how much he protests, I’m going in too so I can tell the doctor how bad it really is.”

  Marshall thought about Luke. The coughing hadn’t seemed so bad lately. But maybe Iris was right that he had hid it. But why hide it? He had Iris to take care of. He had to know she was concerned about where she would end up if something happened to him.

  An uneasy feeling prickled in his lungs and he breathed deep. He hadn’t needed his inhaler for weeks. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d used it, it had been so long. His throat started to squeeze and his lungs felt tender. Breathe in, let it out. Breathe in, let it out.

  “You okay?” Iris asked. She could tell he was having trouble. Marshall thought it was stupid that she could read everything about him. She could probably tell if he was getting a cold just by looking at his eyes.

  “Yes Dr. Iris, I’m fine,” he lied.

  “I don’t think so, you’re breathing funny. Did I say something wrong?”

  “No Iris, no, it’s nothing. I’m fine. Really, just don’t think about it.” He turned away from her and stood up. Stupid girls, always reading minds and stuff. “Hey, let’s go to Devil’s Hill,” he said. He had to distract her. He had to distract himself.

  She stared at him incredulously. “You’re serious?”

  “Yeah, come on. It’ll be great. You haven’t even been down it and you’ve got a bike. You
have every reason to say yes. And you have to say that you’ve been down it once, you know, now that you’re living here.”

  She stood up too and tossed her last chip to the crow. The remains of her sandwich fell to the rock. It was barely touched.

  But Iris grabbed the sandwich and stuffed it into her bag, probably thinking Marshall hadn’t seen it. “Tasted funny today,” she mumbled. “And sure,” she said with a smile, “Let’s do it.”

  He was sure she pulled the same move he just tried to pull on her; the distraction technique. What was she hiding? What didn’t she want to tell him?

  They walked to their bikes, and pedaled past his home. He could see Leila through the front window prancing around in her princess gown.

  “We just have to go up this hill first!” he yelled back to her. Iris was keeping up with him and he was glad. Maybe she wasn’t as frail as he thought?

  The burn began in his chest half way up the hill.

  He couldn’t breathe, it was like all the oxygen in the world wouldn’t help him, couldn’t help him. But how could he stop? Iris was right behind him. And why now? He’d been inhaler-free for weeks. Iris had to go down Devil’s Hill. But the pain, the intense restriction in his throat was tighter than ever.

  Back and forth, his mind contemplated his decision. He couldn’t die on his bike. She would be furious. And then suddenly, the decision was made for him; he couldn’t pedal anymore. His legs stopped moving, his arms couldn’t hold the bars. His body needed oxygen. And then he was falling, tripping, fumbling over his bike. It seemed to happen in slow motion, and yet Marshall knew it had been a very quick transaction. He hit the pavement with a thud.

  Iris was right behind him and jumped off her bike. It crashed to the ground, and she pulled Marshall off the road onto a neighbor’s front lawn. She put herself on top of his legs, straddling him to keep him from moving, or getting up. He put a hand on his chest and the other one at her “No!” he gasped. He pushed at her; he had to keep her away from getting the inhaler. He didn’t want or need its help.

  But she didn’t budge, and did what she had planned on doing. She kept him down by sitting on him. It was a new move for Iris, and the image of it alone almost made him stop protesting.

  “Where’s your inhaler?” she demanded. He watched her curls frame her face, and hang down toward him like life-saving ropes. He nodded his head no, and mumbled random words. But she didn’t listen. She continued to sit on top of him and reached into his pockets.

  She found the inhaler and brought it to his lips.

  “Now breathe Marshall!” she said. “Breathe!” and she depressed the inhaler. Marshall gulped in the cool air, and it showered his lungs with freshness.

  “Marshall,” she said climbing off of him, “You are the stupidest kid I’ve ever met!”

  “Me?” he asked in shock. He moved his fingers open and then into a fist and back open. He could feel his legs. Everything was returning, well, everything except for his bike. It was in a heap by the curb.

  “Do you think I want you to die? You have to use your inhaler.”

  “But I haven’t needed it in weeks,” Marshall retorted. “I’d made it up the hill before without it and I was fine.”

  “You weren’t fine there,” and she pointed at the bike. She was mad; furious. He’d never seen her like this before. In fact, he had no idea she could get so angry. “If you ever do that again, I won’t let you go anywhere with me without having a backup inhaler. Do you realize that if you hadn’t had this in your pocket you could’ve died?”

  “You don’t know that Iris, I just needed to get off of the bike is all. Besides, you could’ve called on a neighbor’s phone or something.”

  She didn’t respond and got up to get her bike.

  “Are you mad at me?” he asked. “I mean really, I’m fine. You don’t have to be so angry.”

  “I’m angry because you’re being stupid Marshall!” she yelled. “You’re the only thing I have here. You can understand that, can’t you?”

  He was an idiot. She was right. “I’m sorry. I won’t …” Marshall fished for the right words, but Iris found it.

  “You won’t let your pride make you do stupid things.”

  “I won’t let my pride make me do stupid things,” Marshall repeated.

  “You better not.” Marshall picked up his mangled mess of a bike and inspected the rim in the back tire. It was bent in half. He sighed in frustration. Now they couldn’t go down the hill, all because he didn’t take a breath on the inhaler.

  They walked down the hill, past Jerry’s house and his pool, past the Williams twins’ house to his house. He parked his bike in the garage, and frowned.

  They hadn’t spoken to each other the entire trip back. Her silence was irritating and only reinforced how careless he had been.

  “You still want to come trick or treating with me later?” he asked, when Leila danced through the garage happy to see Iris, and flitted back in to eat her egg salad sandwich. “If you don’t come, she’ll be broken hearted. She likes you, you know.”

  “If I don’t go, it’s your fault Marshall. Don’t pin this on me.” She crossed her arms. Her eyes were still flashing, and she looked like she could hit him. “She likes me because she’s smart—unlike you.”

  Marshall put his hands up in defense. “Fine, I know. It’s entirely my fault.” He sighed and bowed to her. “I apologize, Dr. Iris. Do you accept my apology? Or do I need to do penance and finish the puzzle by myself?”

  A flicker of a grin spread across her face and disappeared. “Yes. As long as you always take my medical advice.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.”

  Marshall extended his hand and she grasped it. It was cold and clammy and felt perfectly comfortable in his hot and sweaty one. And she left him to ride back to the store promising to meet him later that night for Leila’s sake.

  ***

  At seven o’clock, when Iris should’ve been at the house, he got a phone call.

  “Marshall, it’s me.” Iris’s voice sounded hurried and hushed. “I can’t make it tonight.”

  “What? I don’t understand. Are you still mad at me?” he asked.

  “No, it’s nothing like that. I wanted to be there. But uncle, well, he’s been coughing so much tonight that I’m forcing him to go to the emergency room at the hospital. I’m really worried about him.”

  “Okay, that’s alright. Take Luke. Go. We’ll be fine. I mean, Sheesh, it’s my sister. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” she said quietly, “But you have to promise something. You have to promise me that you’ll take me down Devil’s Hill soon. I want to go down it.”

  Marshall laughed. “Of course I will. Tomorrow. I’ll talk to you and we’ll go down it with my inhaler and everything. I’ll use Mason’s bike too.”

  She chuckled, but her laugh sounded strained, as if it hurt her to talk. “See you soon,” she said.

  “See you.”

  There were no goodbyes, because none was needed. Iris had always said that goodbye sounded sad and stupid, so they stopped saying it. Instead, it was “see you soon,” and “talk to you later.” No bye, no goodbye. And that was it.

  Marshall left with Leila and they hit all the houses until nine o’clock that night. Afterwards, Leila spread out her candy loot on the floor, and divided it in half.

  “This is for you Marshmallow. You’ve earned it.”

  Marshall grinned. “Thanks. Are you sure?”

  “Yup. Absolutely. You look sad. I want you to be happy. I think this will help.”

  His sister was more insightful than he had thought and he unwrapped a piece of chocolate and tossed it into his mouth. She smiled and skipped her way to her room. His mother mouthed a “thank you” at him and he headed to his room. In a way, tonight had been like old times, when his dad had been home more, and they used to go fishing.

  Marshall lay down on his bed and rolled to his side. He couldn’t stop thinking
about Iris and about the way her voice sounded on the phone.

  She had sounded so far away.

  Chapter 12: Thanksgiving

  By November, things were cold. The rains had started and it had made the week before Thanksgiving miserable. Because of the dry summer, the playground was a muddy sinkhole, and every trip to Luke’s was like walking through a trench. The ground was so ready for rain that it made mud of out anything and everything and it covered Marshall when he got there.

  Most days, he and Iris would walk there together and talk about the puzzle. They had almost two thirds of it finished and Marshall was so ready for it to be over with he could literally feel the fishing rod in his hands, ready to cast off into the river.

  Iris would update him on how she felt uncle was faring, and whether or not death was calling him.

  “He looks awful you know,” she’d say as if it was common knowledge. But Marshall honestly hadn’t noticed. Luke looked the same, for all he could tell. And as for the cough, it hadn’t sounded any worse. He wasn’t sure what Iris was getting at, or if she could just tell things better than him because she was practically a doctor.

  Due to the cold weather, Luke had a coffee pot going all the time in the back room.

  “You’re free to have a cup of that stuff anytime,” he’d tell them, but they never could bring themselves to drink it. Iris once picked up the glass container and poured some of it into a Styrofoam cup. It was so thick and dark, it looked like syrup. They took turns smelling it, and she even dared him to take a sip, but he couldn’t do it. He knew the burnt rubber band smell had to be far worse going down his throat than the smell coming up his nostrils.

  “It might interfere with my breathing,” Marshall said with a smile, and handed the cup back to her.

  Iris smirked. “Yeah, okay.” But she never took a sip either, and most times, they made themselves instant hot chocolate. The back room was cold all the time now, and the heat wasn’t hooked up like it was in the main room. But they didn’t care. What mattered was that they had their own room, with their own puzzle that was almost finished.