“Thank you, Bud. That’s perfect. I’d like you to take a look at something else we bought. Have you ever done any restoration on grave art?”
Bud gave a little shrug. “I don’t know. They bring it in, I weld it. What’s grave art?”
“It’s a tribute for a grave, a statue or some kind of decoration chosen by the family. Commonly they’re made of marble or granite, but this one is metal.”
“What is it? An angel or something like that?”
“No, it’s a fish.”
“A fish?” Both Andrea and Hannah spoke at once since Bud appeared to be rendered speechless.
“I believe it’s a walleye pike. It’s not so unusual if you consider that families like to personalize the graves of their dearly departed.”
“I assume so, dear. We have several examples of grave art at the shop. They’re from the family mausoleum section of Spring Brook Cemetery and they date back to the eighteen hundreds.”
“They’re tearing down part of that section, aren’t they, Mother?” Andrea asked.
“They’re relocating it, dear. The city council feels that the crypts are in such bad repair, they could be dangerous.”
“How could they be dangerous if everyone who’s in them is dead?” Hannah asked.
Andrea and Bud burst into laughter, and Hannah noticed that Delores did all she could do to keep a straight face. “That’s not very nice, dear,” she chided her eldest daughter.
“But it’s funny,” Bud said, still chuckling.
“And it’s true,” Andrea added.
“Well, be that as it may, the council decided to take down the crumbling mausoleums and relocate the… um…contents.”
“All of them?” Hannah asked, remembering how she used to ride her bike out to the old part of the cemetery and walk past the giant stone angels and carved headstones. “I used to love the pink granite mausoleum with the columns in the front.”
“That belongs to the Evans family and Florence has agreed to repair it. Four generations of her family are buried there. The problem the council had was with some of the other mausoleums. At least a dozen were unclaimed. Either the families moved to parts unknown, or there are no living relatives.”
“Those are the ones they’re tearing down?” Bud asked.
“That’s right. But some of the grave art can’t be moved to the new gravesites. Either it’s in bad repair or it’s simply too large. Carrie and I are taking whatever we can salvage to sell at Granny’s Attic and we’ll donate the proceeds to the relocation fund.”
“That’s nice of you, Mother,” Andrea said. “But do you really think that anybody will buy a walleye for a grave?”
“It’s already sold, dear. Winnie Henderson is buying it for her family crypt. She’s kept it up over the years, but she never got around to ordering any kind of decoration.”
“And she wants the walleye?” Bud looked astonished.
“Yes. One of her husbands just loved to hunt and fish. I think it was the third one?”
“I thought it was the fourth,” Hannah said.
“Whatever. Winnie said his fishing buddy wanted all his fishing tackle, so she couldn’t put any inside. All she had were his hunting things.”
“She put those inside?” Andrea asked.
“Yes, and that’s why she wants the walleye. Winnie wants everyone to know that he was a great fisherman as well as a good hunter.”
“Sounds like what the Egyptians did with the pyramids,” Bud commented. “Does Winnie believe he’ll use them in the afterlife?”
“I don’t know, Bud. Winnie has some strange notions and I didn’t really get into it with her.”
“Wait a second,” Bud said, looking a little worried. “She didn’t put any guns in there, did she?”
“Heavens, no! She kept the guns. She said you never know when you need firearms out on the farm. She shot a lynx last year, right before it attacked one of her calves.”
“Is a lynx the same as a wildcat?” Andrea turned to Hannah. “I always get those two mixed up.”
“A lot of people do. The bobcat’s genus is lynx, but if you’re thinking of the Canadian lynx we see here in Minnesota, they’re twice as big as bobcats, and they have snowshoe paws.”
Delores laughed. “I don’t think Winnie got close enough to examine its paws.”
“But was the bobcat Winnie shot a Canadian lynx?” Andrea asked.
“Probably,” Bud answered her question, “especially if it was attacking something as big as a calf.”
“Maybe it was a cougar, or a…a mountain lion.” Andrea was obviously struggling with the nomenclature. “Or don’t we have any of those here?”
“I think cougars are another name for mountain lions,” Hannah told her. “And if I remember correctly, they’re lumped in there somewhere with pumas and panthers.”
“But do we have mountain lions here?” Andrea repeated her question. “We don’t have any mountains in Minnesota.”
“You’re right,” Bud said. “Most of them are farther west, but they migrate over here once in awhile. They’re adaptable, and if there’s not enough food where they are, they go in search of it.”
“Then you think the big cat that Winnie shot might be a mountain lion?” Hannah asked him.
“I doubt it. If you spot a big cat here, it’s probably a Canadian lynx.” He turned to Delores. “Tell me more about that walleye. What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s missing one of its fins. That’s why I asked if you’d ever done any restoration work. Do you think you could fabricate a fin and weld it on?”
“Yes, but only if you dance with me.”
“What?!”
“Only if you dance with me. This is our song…remember?”
Delores didn’t say a word, but she got to her feet and took Bud’s arm. Hannah noticed that her mother’s cheeks were bright pink as Bud led her to the dance floor and took her in his arms.
“I wonder if Bud’s an old flame,” Andrea mused.
“He could be. Mother told me she dated a lot in high school.”
“You mean our mother played the field?”
“You could call it that, I guess. I know she wasn’t serious about anyone until Dad came along.”
Both sisters were silent as their mother danced by with Bud. Then Andrea turned to Hannah. “I wonder if she feels lonely now that Carrie’s married again.”
“I don’t know. She hasn’t said anything about it. Then again, she probably wouldn’t. Do you want me to ask her?”
“No! That’ll only make her think about it, if she’s not thinking about it already. It’s just that…I was wondering if we should keep an eye on her…just in case.”
“Just in case what?”
“Just in case she falls in love again. Remember what happened with Winthrop?”
“I’ll never forget it, but I really don’t think that’ll happen again.”
“Why not?”
“Because Mother’s wiser now, and there aren’t any new, fascinating men with British accents who’ve moved to Lake Eden. Mother’s known all the eligible local men for years.”
“I know that, but…”
“Besides,” Hannah went on, “Mother doesn’t seem interested in anything but friendship. And the men seem to feel exactly the same way.”
“Really?” Andrea nudged Hannah and gestured toward the dance floor. “Take a good look and tell me that again.”
Hannah scanned the couples on the floor and located Delores dancing with Joe Dietz. Their mother was looking up at Joe and smiling in what Hannah thought could be a mildly flirtatious way. “What’s Mother doing with
