Broken Angels

59

Anne Lisbeth sits in the boat, wearing her dress-a midnight blue. She has stopped struggling against the ropes.

It is time.

Moon pushes the boat down the tunnel that leads to the main canal-the 0STTUNNELEN, as his grandmother used to call it. He dashes out of the boathouse, past the Elfin Hill, past the Old Church Bell, all the way to the schoolhouse. He loves to watch the boats.

Soon he sees Anne Lisbeth's boat come into view, floating past the Tinder Box, then beneath the Great Belt Bridge. He recalls the days when the boats passed by all day-yellow and red and green and blue.

The Snow Man's house is empty now.

It will soon be occupied.

Moon stands with the rope in his hands. He waits at the end of the last canal, by the little schoolhouse, surveying the village. So much to do, so many repairs to make. He wishes his grandfather were there. He recalls those cold mornings, the smell of the old wooden toolbox, the damp sawdust, the way his grandfather would hum "I Danmark er jeg fodt," the glorious aroma of his pipe.

Anne Lisbeth will now take her place on the river, and they all will come. Soon. But not before the last two stories. First, Moon will bring the Snow Man. Then he will meet his princess.