Chapter 124 - Hello, Father... (1/2)

”There's someone I want you to meet...” Jean said when they entered the car. He drove his vehicle out of the village to a winery located at the foot of the hill, then stopped in front of a farmhouse.

”Whose house is this?” Finland asked in a hoarse voice.

”I managed to find your father's tracks here and met his best friend who was with your father at his last moment.” Jean helped Finland get out of the car and knocked on the front door.

The door opened, and Finland saw a rather bulky man in his 50s. His face looked very friendly.

”Eh, Jean Pierre, it's nice to see you come here again. Come on in.”

”Good evening, Monsieur Fournier. This is my best friend, Finland. She is the daughter of Aleksis Makela.” Jean helped Finland, who still looked absent-minded, to go inside and sit on the couch. Monsieur Fournier looked surprised to see Finland.

”Oh... welcome, ma cherie. I was your father's friend. Call me Uncle Etienne.” Monsieur Fournier hugged Finland tightly for a few seconds then rubbed his wet eyes. ”Ah... I didn't expect to meet Aleksis' child after decades...”

He prepared some glow wine and cakes and asked a lot about Finland. With difficulty she tried to answer, but tears welled up and she finally could only shake her head.

”Sorry... I am so sorry, Uncle Etienne... I just found out that my father is dead. I am still in shock... I thought he left us because he did not want us. My mother did not know that he was gone...”

”Sshhh... don't apologize. I'm sure this must be very hard for you. Too bad I didn't have Laura - your mother's contact at the time... I couldn't pass her the news of his passing. She must have been very sad because she didn't hear from Aleksis for decades... That was how it was in the past, there was no internet, we could only rely on postal mails and telephone...”

”Why did father leave my mother?” Finland asked after a short pause. This was a question that had been troubling her mind for years. She wanted to know why her father left...

Uncle Etienne took a deep breath.

”Aleksis was an adventurer... He wanted to travel around the world and write his adventure books. We traveled together around Europe, China and down to India. We parted in India, where I returned to France, and your father continued his adventure to Southeast Asia with our friend, Lauriel.

I didn't hear from him again, until he came to my house 24 years ago. He told me that he fell in love with a girl in his travels and wanted to marry her... Unfortunately, before he could take care of everything, his mother fell seriously ill and he had to go back to Helsinki.