Page 105 of Peasants and Kings
The children surrounded Hadrian in the center of the big field. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin. Hadrian flipped it and when it landed on the ground, Bran and his teammates yelled in excitement.
A smile floated across my face when I looked at Hadrian. He laid his mock disappointment at the coin toss on thick, but then he turned to the few kids near him and said something which caused them to shout in a sportsmanlike war cry.
I wasn’t a sports enthusiast by any means, but even I could tell that Hadrian was skilled. He wove and dodged, but he held back and mostly toyed with the kids to make them feel like they were beating him because otherwise there wouldn’t have been much of a game.
“Eden,” Ingrid called as she strode toward me with two clear plastic cups in her hands. She gave me one and then leaned against the wall to watch her grandchildren.
“Thanks,” I said, taking a sip.
“Who’s winning?” she asked.
“I think Hadrian’s team, but I’m not sure. Sports aren’t really my thing.” I was spending more time watching Hadrian than following the game.
She gestured with her chin to the field. “Bran is really good, actually. I think he might be able to play professionally one day.”
“Is he on a team now?” I asked. “I mean, he lives here. You all live here. How do you handle the isolation?”
“We take the helicopter,” she said easily. “Anytime we need to go to Lerwick. We’re not as isolated as you think. Besides, this is something of a paradise. If you haven’t already noticed.”
She called out to a weathered looking man who wore a cream-colored fisherman’s sweater. He sauntered toward her and came to stand by her side. “This is my husband, Elgin. He doesn’t speak a lot of English.”
He was tanned from the sun, with crinkle lines at the corners of his eyes. The affection between them was obvious, and when Ingrid looked at him with love and devotion, something in my heart caught.
Elgin kissed his wife’s cheek and then wandered toward the table laden with food.
“He’s Hadrian’s fisherman,” Ingrid explained. “And more comfortable with fish than with humans. Don’t take his lack of interest in talking to you personally. We’re married, and though I know he loves me deeply, he hardly says more than a handful of words to me on any given day.”
“I won’t hold his tacit greeting against him,” I assured her. “How long have you been married?”
“Forty years.”
“That’s—wow. That’s not the norm.”
“I know.” She smiled at her fortune. “It takes a lot of work, a lot of patience, and a lot of humor.”
I shook my head. “And being married to the right person.”
“Yes, that does have something to do with it.” Her gaze roamed back to her husband and she stared at him, seemingly lost in the feelings of a shared life.
“How did you meet Hadrian?” I asked suddenly. “I never thought to ask—and your whole family is here, living and working on his islands. It’s got to be a good story.”
She paused for a moment and then said, “Elgin and I used to own a fishing business in Norway. We only had three boats, and we were one bad storm away from losing everything. My children, their spouses, we were all dependent on good weather and a good haul year after year. Some years that didn’t happen and profit was thin. We were a small, family run business. Over time, we simply couldn’t compete with the bigger companies. We didn’t have the capital to pour back into the business and buy more boats unless our prices went up, and since we couldn’t produce like our competitors, we couldn’t keep prices low. The profit margin was simply too small to stay afloat, let alone to turn a decent profit.”
She stared at the field where her grandchildren played, her smile soft and dreamy. “Hadrian was dining at the nicest restaurant in Bergen when Elgin was trying to get the head chef to buy fish on contract to save the business. Hadrian was seated at a private table in back and overheard enough to ask Elgin to sit and speak with him. By the end of their conversation, Hadrian made him an offer to come here and work for him doing what he loved to do. When Elgin explained about the rest of the family…” She shrugged and smiled. “Hadrian told him to bring everyone and placed no restrictions on Elgin. As long as Hadrian has fresh fish to eat, Elgin can do what he wants. Sell the rest, trade it, whatever. My children didn’t know anything about livestock or growing food when we came here. We were fishermen at heart, but we learned. We all learned. We were about to lose everything we had ever worked for. He saved us and gave us a new life.”
“I know what that’s like—to constantly be worried about money. You get a pit in your stomach. Right here.” I pressed my fist to the spot below my ribs. “You wake up in the middle of the night, wondering which utility you’re willing to have shut off until the next pay day.”
She looked at me. “You’re not what I expected.”
“What were you expecting?” I asked with a smile.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Something else.”
We fell silent and continued to watch the game. When Bran scored a goal, Hadrian dropped to his knees and gave a dramatic yell of defeat.
Bran ran around, high fiving his siblings and cousins as he crowed his triumph. When he was within range of Hadrian, Hadrian moved quickly and scooped up the boy and turned him upside down, causing Bran to shriek with laughter.
“He’s good with them,” Ingrid said.
