The Fire Witness

154

The sun is setting behind the evergreens when Elin turns off the highway at Jättendal and parks behind Daniel’s car. Daniel is waiting for them, a pink cooler by his side. He waves and they get out of the car and stretch their legs. Daniel unpacks the cooler, and they each have a cheese sandwich and a bottle of Trocadero while leaning against the car and gazing over the train tracks to the fields beyond.

“I called my substitute at the house up there,” Daniel tells Vicky. “She doesn’t think it’s a good idea for you to come inside because of the other girls.”

“What harm would it do?” asks Elin.

“I don’t want to see them anyway,” Vicky says. “I just want my stuff.”

They get back into their cars. A winding road leads them past lakes and Falun-red cottages and barns, through the forest, and to the coast.

They park outside the house where the girls from Birgittagården are staying. On the other side of the road, a World War II naval mine is standing beside an old gas pump. Seagulls are perched on the telephone poles.

Vicky unfastens her seat belt but stays in the car. She watches Elin and Daniel head straight toward the house and disappear behind the lilac bushes.

Just ahead, where the road forks, there’s an old midsummer pole and the harbor lies beyond. Vicky looks out over the calm surface of the water, then she takes the new cell phone Elin has given her out of its box and peels the plastic from the screen.

The girls are standing by the window when Daniel and Elin walk up the steps to the large veranda. Daniel’s substitute, Solveig Sundström, is already standing outside the front door. It is clear that she’s not happy to see them. She tells them that they are not welcome to stay for dinner.

“Could we come in and say hi at least?” asks Daniel.

“Preferably not,” Solveig replies. “It would be better if you tell me what you need and I go to look for it.”

“There are quite a few things-” Elin begins to say.

“I can’t promise I’ll find them all.”

“Just ask Caroline, then,” Daniel says. “She usually has things under control.”

While Daniel asks how the girls are doing and what they are up to, Elin is looking at their faces in the window. They’re pushing one another and she can hear their voices through the glass although she can’t make out what they are saying. Indie and Nina are standing next to each other, and Lu Chu pushes herself to the front of the pack and waves. Elin waves back. The only girl that Elin can’t see is little red-haired Tuula.

Vicky is putting a SIM card into her cell phone. She looks up. A shiver goes down her back. She thinks she’s seen someone moving outside the car. Maybe it’s just the wind tossing the leaves of the lilac bushes.

It’s twilight now.

Vicky looks back at Daniel’s car, at the midsummer pole, the fence, and the lawn in front of the dark red house.

A light is shining on the mast of a boat moored far out on the pier. Its reflection quivers on the black water. Frames used for cleaning fishing nets, abandoned long ago, stand in the meadow near the harbor like soccer nets lined up in a row. Hundreds of iron hooks are still fastened to them.

Vicky catches sight of a red balloon rolling along the lawn in front of the house where the girls live.

She gets out of the car and walks slowly toward the house. She stops and listens. The light from the windows is falling on the birch tree’s yellow leaves.

She can hear mumbling and wonders if someone is out there in the darkness. She leaves the gravel path. The balloon rolls past a volleyball net and finally stops when it gets tangled in a hedge.

“Vicky?” a voice whispers.

Vicky whirls around but sees no one. All her senses are heightened.

The settee creaks and starts to swing. The old weathervane turns in the wind.

“Vicky!” A sharp voice close beside her.

Vicky turns to the right and stares into the darkness. It takes her a few moments before she sees Tuula’s narrow face peeking out from among the lilac bushes. She’s holding a baseball bat. It is so heavy that the tip of the barrel is resting on the ground. Tuula wets her lips and stares at Vicky with bloodshot eyes.

Elin leans against the veranda railing and looks to see if Vicky is still in the car. It’s too dark to make her out. Daniel is talking to Solveig. Elin listens to him explain that Almira needs to continue her therapy and that she reacts badly to high doses of antidepressants. He asks again if he can come in, but Solveig says that the girls are now her responsibility. However, she lets Caroline come out on the veranda. Caroline hugs Daniel and greets Elin.

“I’ve packed all of Vicky’s things,” she says.

“Is Tuula inside?” Elin asks. Her voice is tense.

“Yeah, I think so,” Caroline says, surprised. “Would you like me to get her?”

“Yes, please get her,” Elin replies. She tries to look calm.

Caroline goes back inside and calls for Tuula. Solveig looks at Daniel and Elin with mistrust.

“If you’re hungry, you can have some apples. I’ll tell one of the girls to get some,” she says.

Elin doesn’t reply. She walks down the steps into the garden. Behind her, she can still hear Caroline calling for Tuula.

It is so dark now that the ocean is invisible. The settee squeaks as it swings.

Elin is trying to be quiet, but her high heels clatter on the paving stones as she hurries around the corner of the path. The lilac bushes are rustling. It sounds like a rabbit running away. The branches move and Elin almost runs into Vicky.

“Good God!” Elin exclaims.

They look at each other. Vicky’s face is pale in the weak light. Elin feels her pulse beat in her temples.

“Let’s go to the car,” she says, leading Vicky away from the house.

Elin glances over her shoulder and sees Caroline running up to them. She’s holding a big plastic bag.

“I couldn’t find Tuula,” she says.

“Thanks for your trouble,” Elin replies.

Vicky takes the bag and looks inside.

“Most of your stuff is there,” Caroline says. “But Lu Chu and Almira used your earrings to bet with when they were playing poker.”

As Vicky and Elin drive away, Caroline stands and watches them go. Her face is deeply sad.