The highest point on the island was only a short distance away, and they cast glances left and right as they walked. Once they reached the top of the hill, they’d have a view of almost all of Gråskär. But they were moving cautiously. They didn’t know what sort of state of mind Nathalie was in, and she had a gun. The question was whether she was prepared to use it. The cloying smell of the corpse still clung to their nostrils. They were all thinking the same thing, but none of them dared say it out loud.
They climbed up to the crest of the hill.
They had arrived by boat, just as she thought. She heard voices from the dock, voices from the house. Their escape route from the island was blocked. She couldn’t get to the boat to flee. She and Sam were caught.
Nathalie had thought that Erica was on their side, but then she tried to push her way into their world. So she had been forced to act, and she had done the right thing. She had protected Sam, just as she had promised him she would, the instant he was placed in her arms at the hospital. She had promised not to let anything bad happen to him. For a long time she had been a coward and failed to keep her promise. But ever since that night, she had been strong. She had rescued Sam.
Slowly she moved further into the water. Her jeans felt heavy against her legs, dragging her forward. Sam was so sweet, lying quietly in her arms.
Someone came over to her, wading alongside her and following her into the water. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the woman holding up her heavy skirts. After a moment she let her skirts drop so that they floated in the water all around her. She had her eyes fixed on Nathalie. Her lips were moving, but Nathalie refused to listen. If she did, she wouldn’t be able to protect Sam any longer. She shut her eyes to make the woman go away, but when she opened them, she couldn’t help glancing in that direction again, as if something were forcing her to look.
Now the woman was carrying a child in her arms. He hadn’t been there a moment ago. Nathalie was sure of that. But now he too was looking at her with big, pleading eyes. He was talking to Sam. Nathalie wanted to put her hands over her ears and scream to shut out the voices of the boy and the woman. But her hands were holding Sam, and the scream stuck in her throat. Her shirt was starting to get wet, and she gasped for breath as the cold water reached her stomach. The woman was walking very close. She and the boy were both talking at once – the woman to Nathalie, and the boy to Sam. Against her will, Nathalie started to listen to what they were saying. The voices forced their way in just like the salt water was soaking through her clothes and reaching her skin.
They had come to the end of the road, she and Sam. Any minute now, those people would find them and finish what they’d begun. The memory of the blood spattering the wall and colouring Fredrik’s face flashed through her mind for a moment. Nathalie shook her head to make those images go away. Were they dreams or fantasies? Or were they real? She no longer knew. She remembered only the icy feeling of hatred and panic. And a fear so great that it seized hold of her, leaving only the most primitive and furious of reactions.
When the water came up to her armpits, she could feel how light Sam was in her arms. The woman and the boy were very close. Their voices were close to her ear, and she clearly heard what they said. Nathalie closed her eyes and finally relented. They were right. A sense of certainty filled her body and made all fear disappear. She knew that they wished her and Sam well, and she stood there, letting a feeling of calm wash over her.
Far behind her, she thought she heard other voices. Others who were calling her, who wanted something, and who were trying to get her to listen. She ignored them. They were less real than the voices so close to her ear that were still talking.
‘Let him go,’ said the woman gently.
‘I want to play with him,’ said the boy.
Nathalie nodded. She needed to let go. That was what they had wanted the whole time, what they had tried to explain. He belonged to them now. He belonged to the others.
Slowly she released her hold on Sam. She let the sea take him, let him disappear beneath the surface to be carried away on the currents. Then she took a step forward, and another. All the voices were still talking. She heard them both near and in the distance, but again she chose not to listen. She wanted to follow Sam and be one of them. What else should she do?
The woman’s voice was pleading, but the water rose up over her ears, drowning out all sounds and replacing them with a roar, as if from the blood that was rushing through her body. Onward she went, feeling the water closing over her head and the air being pressed out of her lungs.
Then something dragged her upwards. The woman was surprisingly strong. She pulled her to the surface, and Nathalie felt anger rise up inside of her. Why wasn’t she allowed to follow her son? She fought back, but the woman refused to let go and kept dragging her back towards life.
Another pair of hands grabbed hold of her body and pulled her up. Her head broke through the surface and her lungs filled with air. Nathalie uttered a scream that rose up towards the sky. She wanted to go back under the water, but instead she felt herself being dragged towards land.
Then the woman and the boy were gone. Just like Sam.
Nathalie felt herself being lifted up and carried away. She gave up. They had found her at last.
The party went on all evening and well into the early morning hours. Everyone enjoyed the excellent food, the wine flowed, the guests of honour and the locals mingled, and new friends were made on the dance floor. In other words, it was a very successful event.
Vivianne went over to Anders as he stood leaning against the railing, watching the couples dance.
‘We’ve got to leave now.’
He nodded, but something in his expression made her feel more uneasy than ever.
‘Come on.’ She tugged at his sleeve. Without looking her in the eye, he turned and followed her.
She had hidden her suitcase in one of the rooms that wasn’t reserved for guests. She picked it up and headed for the door, ready to leave.
‘Where’s your suitcase? We have to leave in ten minutes, otherwise we might miss our plane.’
Anders didn’t reply. Instead he sank down on to the bed and stared at the floor.
‘Anders?’ She had a tight grip on the handle of her suitcase.
‘I love you,’ whispered Anders. Those words suddenly sounded ominous.
‘We have to go,’ she said, but she knew in her heart that he wasn’t going with her. In the distance they could hear the thudding music. She set her suitcase on the floor and sat down next to him.
‘I can’t.’ He looked at her. His eyes filled with tears.
‘What have you done?’ She didn’t want to hear what he said, didn’t want to know that her worst fears had come true. But she couldn’t stop herself from asking the question.
‘Done? Good Lord, did you think I was the one who …?’
Anders shook his head and began laughing as he wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. ‘Good Lord, Vivianne. No!’
She felt enormously relieved, but in that case, she really didn’t understand what was going on.
‘Why then?’ Vivianne put her arm around her brother’s shoulders, and he leaned his head against her. That conjured up so many memories of all the times they had sat like this, with their heads close together.
‘You know that I love you.’
‘Yes, I know that.’ And suddenly she understood. She straightened up so she could get a proper look at him. Gently she took his face in her hands. ‘My dear brother, have you fallen in love with someone?’
‘I can’t go with you,’ he said, his eyes again filling with tears. ‘I know that we promised each other that we’d always stay together. But you’ll have to make this trip without me.’