Pandora shook her right wrist out from under the piles of
bangles. At the very bottom, clipped tightly to her skin, was a cuff.
Pandora opened the oval face to reveal that the cuff was actually a
wrist-locket, something Helen had never seen before. Inside was a
picture of what Helen first thought was Hector, tickling the daylights
out of a little girl with short dark hair.
?My brother Ajax,? Pandora said wistfully. ?He always had time
for me, which is a big deal when you?re in a family as large as ours.
It?s easy to get lost in the shuffle, especially when you?re the littlest.
I used to follow him around everywhere he went, begging him to
give me jobs to do. He started calling me ?Squire? and I loved it.?
Helen looked at the joyful little girl squirming under the giant
hand of her big brother, and then up at Pandora?s glistening eyes.
?Even just looking at this picture I can tell he loved you very
much.?
?He did, and I loved him. I used to pretend he was a glorious
knight and I was his only trusted sidekick, and he played along. He
was so patient. He used to send me on dangerous quests to find his
car keys or summon the elevator. I was seven when he died. I
wasn?t supposed to be following him that night, but I was. I was
there when he was murdered.?
Helen was about to speak, to say something comforting if she
could, but Pandora changed abruptly, and continued. ?He was like
Apollo himself,? she said with a bright, although slightly forced,
smile. ?Like Hector in a lot of ways . . . only sweet, and not a cranky
wiseass. Don?t get me wrong, I love my nephew, but damn! He can
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be a such a grouch.? They both broke into a much-needed laugh at
Hector?s expense.
?I wish I?d met him. Your brother, I mean,? Helen said, and was