The Fire Witness

143

Flora is sitting absolutely still, watching as the detective closes the door behind him. A chair creaks as he sits down in the pantry, and then there’s silence. She doesn’t hear anything, not even the sound of a dog barking or a car driving past and nothing more from the room where the inspector is sitting.

Now she can feel how exhausted she is.

Flora does not know what to do. Should she light a candle or burn incense? She closes her eyes for a moment. Then she looks at the drawing.

She remembers how her hand shook as she drew what she’d seen and how she had trouble concentrating. She glances around the room to see if the ghost has come back and looks at her picture again. She’s not good at drawing, but she can see that the girl is lying on the floor. She sees the small crosses and realizes she was trying to draw the fringe on the bathroom rug.

Her hand had been shaking, so one of the girl’s legs was as thin as a bare bone. The fingers are just lines. She can see part of the straight mouth behind them.

She hears the chair in the pantry squeak.

Flora blinks and stares at the drawing. It seems as if the fingers have spread. Flora can see one of the eyes.

The girl is looking at her.

Flora jumps when there’s a rattling in the pipes overhead. She looks around the room. The sofa is black with shadows and the table is hidden in a dark corner.

She looks back at the drawing. The eye is gone. A crease in the paper runs over the face.

Flora’s hands are shaking as she tries to smooth the drawing. The girl’s thin fingers are hiding her face and she can only see part of the mouth on the grid paper.

The floor creaks behind her and Flora whirls around.

No one is there.

She looks back at the drawing and tears come to her eyes. The heart next to the girl’s head is becoming blurry. She looks at the tangled hair and then again at the fingers in front of the face. Flora jerks her hands back from the drawing when she sees that the mouth is open. She can tell it’s screaming.

Flora stumbles to her feet as she stares at the screaming mouth and is just about to call for the detective when she really does see the girl.

She’s climbed into the cupboard and is trying to shut the door behind her, but it won’t close while she’s inside. It swings open. The girl is standing still and her hands are in front of her face. Then her fingers glide open and she looks at Flora with one eye.

Flora stares at the girl.

She’s saying something but Flora can’t make out the words.

Flora walks closer and says, “I can’t hear what you’re saying.”

“I’m pregnant,” the girl says. She takes her hands away from her face. She touches the back of her head in surprise, brings her hand back, and stares at the blood. She sways. Blood has started to flow from her head down her back and onto the cupboard floor.

She opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, her head shakes and her thin legs give way.

Joona hears something crash in the room next door. He rushes in and sees Flora lying on the floor in front of a cupboard that has fallen over. She sits up and looks at him in confusion.

“I saw her. She’s pregnant.”

Joona helps Flora to her feet.

“Did you ask what happened?”

Flora shakes her head and looks at the cupboard.

“Nobody is allowed to see anything,” she whispers.

“What are you trying to say?”

“Miranda said she was pregnant.” Flora is crying now and starts to walk away.

She dries her tears, looks back at the fallen cupboard, and abruptly leaves the room.

Joona takes Flora’s coat from the chair and follows her. She’s already halfway up the stairs to the street.