C10 Chapter 10

But Nataniel had actually heard her cries for help.

He had immediately called Vinnie. Where was Tova?

In Oslo, staying with a friend. She was supposed to be gone for a few days.

What was the name of the friend?

Vinnie didn’t know.

No, of course not, Nataniel thought, because Tova didn’t have any friends.

Vinnie thanked him for keeping an eye on Tova. The lessons she had had with him had been some of her happiest moments.

What was he supposed to say? It had been a long time since they had had their “classes” together. Tova didn’t want anything to do with him after what took place aboard the Stella, when she had saved both his and Ellen’s lives and he had merely scolded her afterwards.

But now Tova was seeking his help.

He considered it to be a matter of honour to assist her.

The only question was, where exactly was she?

Vinnie was unable to help him. Tova was a very uncommunicative girl who tended to go her own way.

Nataniel, tall and handsome and with an innate look of sadness in his eyes, got up from his chair and paced back and forth in the room a few times.

Ellen?

No, she couldn’t help him, she was in Western Norway and hadn’t had any contact with Tova either since the episode aboard the Stella.

Nataniel didn’t want to worry Rikard, Tova’s father, unnecessarily. At least not yet. The police could report her as missing but that could take several days and the girl needed his help now.

Nataniel stopped pacing abruptly.

Dan-no-ura.

He grabbed the telephone book determinedly and called the Japanese embassy. He got a man on the other end.

“Is there a place in Japan known as Dan-no-ura?”

“There was once,” said the man from the embassy in excellent English.

Nataniel asked him for an explanation. Was it a place name that was familiar to people?

“To a great extent. It means a lot to us Japanese. There was a naval battle there in 1185; it was one of the battles that ended the dominance of the nobles who had ruled up until then and marked the subsequent commencement of the samurai period.”

How had Tova managed to sniff that out?

“Who was fighting one another? The Chinese and the Japanese?”

The embassy official replied: “No, it was an internal clash between the two biggest clans. There is an epic poem that deals with the battle at Dan-no-ura. It’s usually performed to the accompaniment of a biwa.”

Biwa! That was it!

“The battle was between Minamoto and Taira,” continued the Japanese man. “And Taira was completely annihilated.”

Taira. And that had been another of the words he had heard in his dream.

“Tell me,” Nataniel said carefully, “does the name Heike come up in connection with that?”

“Oh, yes. Heike is just another name for Taira.”

“In other words, it’s the name of a clan?”

“Yes, just as Minamoto is also known as Genji.”

“Thank you,” said Nataniel.

“I would be happy to send you a message with more information about the battle if you’d like?”

Nataniel thought for a moment. “Yes, thank you, I would appreciate that. Thanks again for your help!”

He remained sitting deep in thought, still wearing his pyjamas – he hadn’t got any further than that with his day.

What in the world did Tova have to do with twefth-century Japan? And why was she so anxious?

In a vain effort to locate Tova he called his mother, Christa. Had she heard from Tova lately?

No, not at all. But he could try asking at Linden Avenue.

Which he did. No, Tova’s grandmother, Mali, hadn’t seen the girl, but Tova had visited the Volden family as recently as the previous day. Mali had been a little hurt by the fact that she hadn’t been in to see them while she was there.

The Voldens? They might get him on the right track to something. He called them.

Yes, Jonathan knew very well where Tova was. Or at least where she had spent the previous night: in Lisbeth’s apartment.

It was all beginning to fall into place now!

But what did she mean by saying that she couldn’t get back?

“Jonathan, I think Tova is in great trouble. Do you have a key to Lisbeth’s apartment?”

“Yes, we have a spare key here. I’m going there right away. Should we meet there?”

“Yes, thank you. I won’t say anything to Rikard and Vinnie yet, or to Tova’s grandparents or Benedikte. See you later.”

Finally, Nataniel put on some clothes and had something to eat. Just as he was about to leave, the message arrived from the Japanese embassy. Nataniel thanked the courier and put the message in his pocket. But he didn’t manage to make it out of the door before the telephone rang.

It was Vinnie.

“Nataniel, my friend Una just called. Tova visited her yesterday or the day before. I forgot to ask exactly when it was.”

“I see. What was she doing there?”

“I asked exactly the same thing! Una said that it had just been a friendly visit. That sounded a bit strange to me, so I asked a bit more about it. The only strange thing about Tova’s visit seems to be the fact that she wanted the name of a parapsychologist whom Una had talked about.”

“A parapsychologist? What for?”

“Una mentioned him when she was visiting here the other day. He knows something about the transmigration of souls.”

“I’ll have to ask you to explain!”

“Yes, well, reincarnation. He gives people the chance to experience glimpses of their past lives.”

That rang a bell in Nataniel’s mind. The visit to Mrs Karlberg’s in Blåsvika in Western Norway. Tova’s strange infatuation with the transmigration of souls and previous lives ...

“Thank you, Vinnie, you’ve given me some ideas. What’s the name of this parapsychologist?”

“Actually, Una didn’t know.”

All hope died once again.

“But what does all this mean?” Vinnie asked anxiously.

“Nothing important. By the way, I’ve found Tova. At least I know where she is. And it was precisely the transmigration of souls I wanted to talk to her about,” he said, happy at not having to lie.

“Yes, you have so many strange tasks ahead of you,” Vinnie laughed. “Anyway, Una gave Tova the name of her friend who had been to see the man.”

Nataniel didn’t give up until he also had the name of that friend. Inger Hannestad. After saying a few comforting words to Vinnie, he ended the conversation.

He found Inger Hannestad in the telephone book and called her. But there was no answer.

Fifteen minutes later he stood waiting outside Lisbeth’s apartment.

Since he would probably have to wait a few moments for Jonathan to arrive, he took out the letter from the embassy and began to read it. It was in English, but Nataniel was good at that language. The few expressions he didn’t know, he was able to guess the meaning of.

First there were descriptions of the time period, the imperial house, the nobility and the clans of the warrior classes. He read about Heike-Taira and Genji-Minamoto. He read about the young Yoshitsune who passionately wanted to bring about the downfall of Heike. None of it made it any clearer to him how Tova was involved in all this, but he continued reading. Yoshitsune had won a battle somewhere else and together with his men, among them a giant named Benkei, he sailed across a bay to join forces with his oldest brother, who was now Genji’s senior leader. The brother’s name was Yoritomo.

At the same time a fickle high priest in the region was busy deciding whose side to be on. The Heike clan had done a lot for him, but he had doubts about their strength in battle. For seven days he prayed and danced holy dances. In response, he was informed by an oracle to side with the white flags – Genji’s colour. Heike’s colour was red. The high priest still wavered, because among Heike’s allies was the emperor himself. So he arranged a cockfight in front of the altar with seven red and seven white cocks. All the red cocks lost and fled, so he finally decided to side with Genji. He sailed off with two thousand men distributed aboard two hundred warships. He had placed a picture of his deity on board his ship and painted the deity’s name on the flag. As this ship approached the fleets of Genji and Heike at Dan-no-ura, both parties greeted it very respectfully, but when it joined forces with Genji’s armada Heike couldn’t conceal his bitterness. On top of that, the entire force from Iyo province joined forces with Genji – one hundred and fifty big warships.

Now Genji had over three thousand ships while Heike had only a thousand. On the 24th day in the third month of the year 1185, at Dan-no-ura in the province of Nagato, the actual battle between Genji and Heike began.

The battle was hard, bitter and terrifying. No one was willing to give a single inch. But Heike had the emperor on its side. The eight-year-old emperor was endowed with the Ten Deeds. That is to say, he could never be accused of committing any of the ten sins: killing a living being, lying, speaking obscenely, stealing, commiting infidelity, swearing, speaking with a forked tongue, being gripped with passion, anger or folly. He led the force bearing the imperial regalia of Japan: the sword, the mirror and the jewel. In the face of his authority, things started badly for Genji, and their hearts began to tremble.

Then they saw something that resembled a cloud. But it turned out to be a white banner that was carried down from the sky by the wind. It finally fell on one of Genji’s ships and hung there.

When Yoshitsune saw this, he interpreted it as a sign from the god of war. He and all his men took off their helmets, washed their hands and bowed deeply before the banner. At that very moment a school of several thousands of dolphins passed by. They were heading straight towards Heike’s ships. One of the leaders asked a soothsayer what it meant. “If they turn around,” said the soothsayer, “Genji will be destroyed. But if they manage to come all the way out here we will be in great danger!” Even before he managed to finish his sentence the dolphins dove underneath the Heike fleet and continued.

That was when one of Heike’s most loyal leaders left the clan and deserted to Genji with his ships.

That leader gave away Heike’s military plans to Genji. Then the warriors from Shikoku and Kyushu also went over to the side of the enemy. Suddenly Heike’s most loyal servants were turning against their own masters with swords or bows and arrows. The large coastal waves struck the cliffs of the strait, preventing any form of landing. On the other coast stood the enemy’s soldiers, armed with bows and arrows.

So the power struggle between Heike and Genji was finally settled.

The Genji warriors were now everywhere on Heike’s ships. They jumped from one ship to the next, striking down any opposition.

On board the emperor’s ship, all the ladies-in-waiting wept bitterly. But the proud Lady Nii, the emperor’s mother, put on a mourning robe of dark grey silk. She picked up the sacred treasures – the jewel, the sword and the mirror – and then she took the little emperor in her arms and said: “Even though I am only a woman I refuse to fall into the hands of the enemy. I will follow His Majesty. Those who wish to can follow me.” And with those words she went over to the rail.

The emperor was a very beautiful child. There was an aura of distinction surrounding him, and his long black hair hung down his back. “Where are you taking me?” he asked in surprise.

She turned to the young ruler, the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Turn to the east and bid farewell to the gods there! Then turn to the west and implore Buddha and the Holy Ones to welcome You to the Pure Land. Below the waves there is a clean land of joy, another city where there are no sorrows. That is where I am going to lead my Ruler.”

She consoled him and tied his long hair to her teal blue dress. Blinded by tears, the child emperor pressed his hands together and turned to the east and then to the west. Nii pulled him towards her and they both sank down into the waves.

Nataniel returned to reality on the prosaic street in Oslo. It was grey and dirty; the fronts of the houses could have used a little brightening up with lighter colours, the street could have been swept more thoroughly. He felt strange, as though he had returned from a fairytale land. Yet still he understood that it was history, that it was something that had actually taken place if you just peeled away the superstition and the heroism.

But how Tova came into the picture he still couldn’t understand.

Then Jonathan arrived. He must have driven fast into Oslo.

“What’s going on?” he asked as they climbed the stairs.

“You can ask that again,” said Nataniel. “I sincerely hope that Tova’s in that room.”

She was, but it didn’t help them much.

Tova lay underneath the blankets, completely motionless on her back, her eyes closed. She was breathing extremely slowly, but it was utterly impossible for them to make contact with her.

“Catalepsy,” said Jonathan, who had worked in healthcare.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a symptom of mental illness. The patient becomes stiff and immobile and doesn’t respond to anything, either being spoken to or to pinpricks or anything.”

“Is that really true?” said Nataniel. “Tova may be strange, but she isn’t mentally ill.”

“I never thought so either,” said Jonathan. “But what else could it be?”

“I don’t know. I don’t understand a thing.”

Then he told Jonathan what he knew. It was wonderful to be able to share his concerns with someone.

Jonathan shook his head. “How strange! What does she have to do with ancient Japan? Except for the name Heike?”

Nataniel looked down at the sleeping girl in the bed. He thought she looked pathetic. Little, ugly and helpless.

What was it she had actually done?

Unexpectedly, he felt a deep sense of tenderness for her. How often had he not raged against her wild whims, her devilry and evil ways? Now he just felt sorry for her and had a strong urge to help her.

“What do you think? Can we just let her lie there?”

“That’s probably the best thing. We could take her to Linden Avenue but it isn’t far to the hospital from here ... but what do you intend to do?”

“I’d like to look up this parapsychologist Tova was so interested in meeting.”

Jonathan nodded thoughtfully. “I think that would be a good idea. You go off, then. I’ll stay here and look after her. If her condition turns critical I’ll get her admitted to Ullevål hospital.”

“Good! See you soon!”

Nataniel found a telephone booth and called Inger Hannestad. This time she was at home and she readily gave him Dr Sørensen’s name and address.

Doctor? thought Nataniel. That’s quite something.

Since Sørensen lived close by, Nataniel didn’t think it was necessary to call him before going there. This was urgent, so he went straight to the address and rang the doorbell.

A sober and distinguished looking gentleman, somewhere between middle age and old age, opened the door. Nataniel introduced himself and asked whether the doctor had been visited recently by a Miss Tova Brink?

He just hoped she hadn’t used a false name, or hadn’t even been there.

But the distinguished gentleman raised his eyebrows. For a brief moment he looked somewhat ill at ease, but then he asked Nataniel to come in.

Yes, she had been there a few days ago. The man looked as though he had a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I am a relative of Tova’s,” Nataniel explained.

“Oh, one of the Ice People? Those eyes ...”

“Exactly. So she mentioned the Ice People, did she? That’s not something we normally do. Anyway, I’m sure that you observe medical confidentiality, but something has happened to Tova and I need to know whether it could have anything to do with her visit here. Did anything in particular happen while she was here?”

The doctor motioned Nataniel to take a seat in a dark brown leather chair, in what seemed to be a library. He himself sat down in the other chair.

“I have a counter question. What has happened to Tova Brink?”

“It would seem that she is suffering from catalepsy. I’m not accusing you of anything but we need to know the background to what has happened before we can help her.”

The doctor thought for a long time. “Tova Brink made a ... huge impression on me.”

“That’s not unusual. Dr Sørensen, I think I can sense that you have been unpleasantly affected by something. I think that, for Tova’s sake, you ought to tell me what happened. She’s not exactly an ordinary person, you know.”

“No, she most certainly isn’t,” the doctor sighed. “And neither are you, it seems?”

“No, that’s true,” Nataniel admitted.

Sørensen seemed to have gained confidence in his guest. Nataniel was a different, more trustworthy guest than the dangerous Tova Brink.

“Yes, something ... very alarming took place while she was here. Perhaps you already know what my area of research is?”

Nataniel thought that the word “research” was a bit grandiose but he merely nodded. “Yes, incarnations. Previous lives. Why did Tova seek you out? I know that she is interested in the transmigration of souls, but was that really the only reason why she wanted to consult you?”

“That’s what I thought at first. But then it was as though ... No, I have to start from the beginning. The entire sequence of events was extraordinary. Extremely peculiar. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”

Nataniel settled himself in the chair to demonstrate that he was prepared to listen. He thought guiltily of Jonathan whom he had left behind with the unconscious Tova, but right now this was more important, for her sake especially.

Then Dr Sørensen explained that one is hardly ever reincarnated within one’s own family. In fact it is highly unusual. But in Tova’s case it was exactly the opposite. She never seemed to escape her family, the Ice People.

He told Nataniel about the stricken who were stillborn. Nataniel listened, frowning, because he suspected that they were supposed to have been born alive but hadn’t succeeded until Tova’s birth. That it had actually been the same soul every single time.

But when Sørensen started talking about Tova’s only real incarnation, Hanna, Nataniel started.

“But that means that Tova and Hanna are the same person!”

“Yes and no. Not physically but perhaps mentally. Tova is Tova and Hanna is Hanna, but they are made from the same mould, like identical twins, except that there are four centuries between them.”

“My goodness,” Nataniel murmured.

“It was Hanna within Tova who wanted this transmigration of souls to take place. It was Hanna who wanted to be heard again. That’s what she said with that terrible, distorted voice that suddenly arose. A real witch’s voice ...”

“Hanna was a witch,” Nataniel nodded. “What did she say?”

Sørensen shook his head excitedly. “Mr Gard, it was the most frightening experience I’ve ever had. Oh, to see that young girl being transformed into an old ... yes, precisely, a witch! The voice – it was so hoarse and ancient sounding. What did she say? Well, something like: ‘I have finally succeeded in being reborn! They have strangled me time and time again at my birth, but twenty-two years ago Tova was born and I was released from captivity. She is my only incarnation since my miserable time in the Valley of the Ice People. It’s a good thing that she’s following in my footsteps.’ Something along those lines.”

“Oh no,” said Nataniel.

“It gets worse. It’s horrible to have to admit, but I didn’t manage to get her back again.”

Nataniel looked at him anxiously. I can’t get back, she had said. Was that where she had ...? No, that couldn’t be true, because where then did ancient Japan enter the picture? Hanna lived in the Valley of the Ice People in Tröndelag.

The doctor continued and Nataniel listened again.

“I became so horrified that I rushed out of the room to call a colleague. He wasn’t there –but I could hear the sound of unpleasant whispering through the door.”

“Do you recall the words?”

“Not entirely, but something along the lines of: ‘There is a pot in the Valley of the Ice People. It is guarded by the spirit of our ruler.’ Whatever she meant by that. ‘But I know the way to the water of evil.’ I’m terribly sorry if it sounds peculiar, but that’s what she said.”

“It doesn’t sound in the least peculiar to me. Please continue.”

“Yes, well, what was it she said? She called it a long detour.”

“Interesting!”

“Then she said, ‘I want a drop of the water because then I’ll gain access to all the ... cruel secrets of the world. And I will become stronger than all other witches. You have to find the origin. You have to follow ...’ And then she mentioned a name which I can’t recall now. Something to do with ‘the Evil’.”

“Tengel the Evil?”

“Exactly! That’s what it was! ‘You have to follow his path back in time. All the way back to his ancestors. He has no weaknesses or he wouldn’t have been able to reach the source, but perhaps his father had some!’ Then she said something about the misdeeds, or the deeds, rather, of his ancestors that might be held against him. Which really amused her. And my God, you should have heard her laugh, Mr Gard! A shiver ran down my spine. Yes, well, then she said – this creature who wasn’t Tova Brink – that she would try to see if she could get past his spirit in the Valley of the Ice People. That she could fling this knowledge about his parents right in his face and thereby paralyse his spirit. I know, it sounds completely crazy. But her words and the entire experience made a huge impression on me. She also said that all she wanted was a single drop and no more, because she wouldn’t be able to tolerate more. She hadn’t been through any tests in any caves, I didn’t understand that. But she had been waiting for centuries to get hold of the jar.”

Nataniel had listened with an increasing sense of horror. He was beginning to see a pattern.

“And what happened then?”

“Yes, well, when I re-entered the room Tova was awake and alert and back to her old self. I can’t tell you how relieved I was.”

“I understand. Tell me, did you and Tova talk about going on such transmigrations on her own? Without your assistance?”

The doctor thought for a moment. “Yes, we did, in fact. She sounded very interested in it.”

“Then that’s what she’s done. That crazy girl, she was trying to seek out Tengel the Evil’s parents on her own! How could she possibly have come up with that idea? It’s fatally dangerous! And now she can’t return to the present. But what is she doing in Japan?”

“Would you please explain that?”

Nataniel told him about his dream, about the floating, unhappy women’s faces, about the voice that talked about Heike and Taira and Dan-no-ura. About the biwa and about Tova’s desperate cries to Nataniel for help because she couldn’t get back. They were cries that made him understand that this wasn’t an ordinary dream. That she had truly contacted him.

Then Nataniel added the information he had received from the Japanese Embassy, how all the names added up, despite the fact that Nataniel had never read about ancient Japanese history. He knew quite a bit, of course, about the samurai, but this was the era prior to the samurai.

Then he concluded by explaining how they had found Dr Sørensen. After having tracked down Tova and found her in a coma.

The doctor stroked his well-groomed head of hair. “She’s done it! She’s mad! But we must succeed in getting her back!”

“Unless she is being held back in that era by something that I cannot mention by name,” muttered Nataniel. “Frozen in time magically somehow. But, of course, that’s impossible. Dr Sørensen, do you think you can help us? She isn’t far from here – one of our relatives is watching over her.”

“I don’t have any clients today, so as far as that goes ... but what if we don’t succeed? It could go very badly for me. I have certain enemies who disapprove of my profession, you see.”

“If we don’t succeed in waking her then I see only one solution,” said Nataniel. “And that is that you put me in a trance in the same way that you did her and I’ll see if I can follow her.”

The doctor had put on an exquisite camel-hair coat. “But that’s impossible! I can only transport you to your own past lives. I doubt that they will coincide with hers in time and place.”

“No, I understand. We’ll see. I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

Out in the street Sørensen asked somewhat anxiously, “Um ... the relative who is attending to her now ... Is he also ... one of you?”

“You mean one of the Ice People? Yes, but Jonathan isn’t like Tova or me. He is completely normal. He just tends to have a one-track mind, always wanting to talk about his experiences during the war.”

“Well, then he’s totally normal!” said the doctor, laughing. “And very Norwegian!”

“I’ll say,” said Nataniel gruffly. “A Swede I was talking to the other day claimed that we Norwegians will never be through with the war. You’d think it had been the Norwegians who had won the war alone and under unbearable hardship.”

“That’s probably true for those who don’t experience much in their everyday lives,” said the doctor. “And in retrospect, the war has been lucrative for artists and others. How many authors have profited from it? Embellished some insignificant event and become rich and famous as a result? What in the world would they have done without the war as a source of inspiration?”

“That’s probably true, but I can hardly recognize Jonathan in that. He’s probably just naively absorbed with the excitement it provided, even at the age of thirty-five.”

They had reached the house.

Jonathan answered the door and greeted the doctor. Tova hadn’t moved since Nataniel had been there last.

Sørensen took a look at her, checked her pulse and looked very concerned.

“She isn’t in a normal state of unconsciousness,” he whispered in a low voice, as though he didn’t want to disturb her. “If it didn’t sound so silly I would say that it is the sort of slumber that the Sleeping Beauty slept for a hundred years.”

“So what do we do?”

“I will, of course, try all the methods I know of to wake her, but as you may know, I don’t hypnotize my clients: they don’t sleep and they aren’t really in a trance of any kind. We call it trance, but in reality they are just so relaxed that they reach another state, or however you want to express it. They disconnect all their thoughts from the present world. But this ... this is completely different.”

“Should we call a doctor?” Jonathan wanted to know.

Dr Sørensen looked concerned. “Not yet. I don’t think there is much a doctor can do. And ... if it is any consolation, my doctorate is actually genuine. I have a degree in medicine and practised in a hospital until I discovered this profession, which is more satisfying – in every way. But the established medical world has not looked upon my decision favourably,” he concluded dryly.

“Well, it’s comforting for us to know that Tova is in good hands,” Nataniel replied.

He and Jonathan retreated to the little drawing room, which didn’t contain anything but a three-piece suite, most likely brought from the store of discarded furniture up in the Voldens’ attic. Lisbeth’s apartment was small and sparse, but it served its purpose.

After an hour Sørensen had to give up. He joined them.

“I’ve done everything I could. I’ve tried waking methods, therapy, medications. None of it has prompted the least response from her. It’s horrible, it’s making me so miserable! She must, of course, go to hospital, but I doubt that they can do anything for her.”

“And what’s the alternative?”

The doctor shook his head. “I can’t point to anything. All we can do is hope that she wakes up on her own. She’ll need to be kept alive through intravenous feeding, of course, and be cared for day and night.”

What horrible prospects! And to think that no one knew whether she would ever wake up again!

“What about electroshock?” asked Jonathan.

“No, I’m afraid that won’t be of any use here. Anyway, we’ve moved away from that sort of treatment.”

“Well, then we’ll have to try my suggestion,” said Nataniel. “I mean, that you put me into a trance and I try to follow her.”

“But as I said earlier, that’s impossible. These are her experiences. You can’t enter a chain of events that are taking place in her mind. That’s almost like having had a dream about someone and then scolding them next day for what they did in the dream!”

They smiled absentmindedly.

“Nataniel can do a lot of things,” said Jonathan, “Let him try.”

“How? How do you envision that he will find her? No, it’s impossible!”

Nataniel stated resolutely: “You’re right, I doubt I’ll succeed. But first let me go back to my latest incarnation. Then I’ll have had that experience and after that we can try to come up with something brilliant.”

“Gladly. We can use the couch here.”

Jonathan sat down on a chair in the background and followed what was going on. Tova lay in the little bedroom, still motionless.

It wasn’t hard for Nataniel to pick up the technique the doctor used in his experiment. He had once before tried relaxing his body totally so that all its functions were practically at zero. It was the time in the crypt in England. He did the same thing now and he was soon ready for the doctor to talk to him.

Jonathan sat in complete silence.

“We are now in the year 1850. Walk through the door in front of you. Yes, exactly, are you out now? What do you see?”

“Light,” said Nataniel after a long pause. “Grey clouds. Friendly people. I am free.”

“That is no incarnation. You are in the place Tova referred to as ‘the other world’. You could also call it the waiting space. It’s a pleasant place, isn't it?”

“Yes, very. I want to stay here.”

“Everyone does. There is no need to fear death. But we need to go farther back in time. To 1790.”

It took a little while before the doctor got Nataniel to that year, but the result was the same as before: nothing, just a euphoric state between life and death.

“What in the world?” said Sørensen.

They took a random test between those two years but there was nothing. And neither was there in the year 1900, which they tried right after that. The doctor was confused.

“Let’s go farther back in time, then: 1750!”

Once again, there was nothing but the calm and delicate atmosphere.

Sørensen, who feared that Nataniel might have the same experiences as Tova with stillborn infants, made spot tests at regular intervals just to be on the safe side, but everything was silent and dead.

1700. 1675. 1650. The doctor couldn’t believe what he was seeing. And Nataniel began to doubt the doctor’s abilities. Perhaps Tova and the other patients had merely been bluffing the whole time?

But then, finally, 1625!

“Yes!” said Nataniel. “I see something!”

“Thank goodness,” muttered the doctor, and Jonathan felt more comfortable in his seat.

“I’ve never experienced such a huge leap in time!” said Sørensen. “Well, tell me, what are you experiencing?”

Nataniel spoke slowly and deliberately. He wanted to be sure he got his impressions right.

“The sound of thunder from cannon ... there is a battle going on around me. I am lying on a bench. It’s rather dark and a little cool. I’ve crawled over here to rest a little but ...”

He let out a gasp. “Someone is crawling up the hill. It must be the war’s most horrifying ghost, the devourer of corpses.”

“Oh my,” said Jonathan in a low voice.

Sørensen frowned. “What’s your name?” he asked Nataniel.

“Tarjei. Tarjei Lind of the Ice People.”

“Oh no!” the doctor moaned. “The Ice People again!”

“I’ve got to get away or it’ll take me!” Nataniel gasped. “Oh, no. It’s not the devourer of corpses, it’s Trond, my own brother! He ... No, Trond, you’re mad, the treasure of the Ice People doesn’t belong to you, you ...”

Nataniel collapsed. “Oh God, he got shot. Trond! Trond!”

The man on the bed who was both Nataniel and Tarjei started to weep. The doctor brushed his hand across his eyelids and spoke to him gently.

“The image is gone now. You are back in your own era. Breathe calmly. Like that, yes. Stretch your body. Open your eyes.”

Nataniel exhaled. “Phew, that was a horrible experience.”

“But perfectly accurate,” said Jonathan, who had got to his feet. “We have always expected a chosen member to emerge in the Ice People. It was supposed to be Tarjei, but he died.”

“There? In the war?”

“No, no, it happened ten years later.”

“And do you know how it happened?”

“Yes, yes, he was killed by one of our own. By one who was stricken, like Tova.”

“I understand. So we can’t use this Tarjei’s death scene since you already know how it happened. But go on. You said that it was ‘perfectly accurate’ that Nataniel had once been Tarjei?”

“Yes, Nataniel is now the chosen one. There hasn’t been anyone else in the meantime.”

The doctor shook his head in dismay at all these strange stories. “And no one before him?”

“We don’t know for certain, but we don’t think so.”

Nataniel was now sitting upright. “We could try.”

“As you wish,” said the doctor. “Which century?”

Nataniel thought for a long time. “Tova had tried to find out whether Tengel the Evil’s parents ... I’m going to bet on that era,” he said. “If we assume that Tengel the Evil was born in the year ... let’s see ... he was in the caves in 1130. No, I want to land before his time. I don’t want to run into him. Let’s say 1080.”

Here Nataniel was thinking in exactly the way Tova had. But she had chosen the year 1075 and ended up in Japan. He had chosen to arrive five years later, but he knew nothing of what she had done.

He lay back on the couch and let himself be lulled into a relaxed state once again. But nothing happened. He just ended up in the same empty space as before.

“What do we do now?” he asked in a panic. “I don’t want to enter the era when Tengel the Evil was alive on earth, and what can I do if I go further back in time?” He raised himself on his elbows. He was eager now. “I really do want to go to the year 1080!”

“But you don’t have an incarnation in that year so you can’t get there.”

“Don’t say that,” said Nataniel, his teeth clenched. “You are a skilled parapsychologist and I have special gifts. I want to go back to the year 1080 to the place where Tengel the Evil’s parents were. And that has to be somewhere in Siberia.”

The doctor rolled his eyes. “Siberia of all places! Couldn’t you have chosen a smaller area?”

“My power of thought is vast,” said Nataniel. “If I am to find Tova I must follow in her footsteps, and she emphasized the fact that she intended to find Tengel’s parents. The year 1080 must be the right year for that. The problem, of course, is finding the place itself. We know nothing about his parents. Only that they travelled with a small group of people from the east. The Altai Mountains have been mentioned, but that’s probably more of a guess than a fact.”

“Is there no one from the family there ...?” Jonathan began.

“Not even the shaman Tun-sij of the Taran-gai family knew where the tribe came from. The only thing we know is that they used the yak horn as their totem.”

“Oh,” said the doctor. “Yaks weren’t all that widespread. Shall we try? You might get an impression along the way.”

“Yes,” said Nataniel. “So I would like to be transported to the dwelling place of Tengel the Evil’s parents in the realm of the yak in the year 1080.”

“No, no no,” the doctor protested. “You can’t go back on such random premises! You don’t have an incarnation there.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s Nataniel,” said Jonathan.

“I’m going to try,” said Nataniel. “If it works it works. And ... Jonathan ... if things go just as badly for me as they did for Tova, then please call on Gand. Will you do that?”

“I don’t know how to do it!”

“Then ask Benedikte to do it.”

“But you’re not to end up like Tova, or I won’t let you go!”

“But who else can help Tova?”

“Can’t Gand?”

“You know that he isn’t allowed to be in the same place as Tengel the Evil. Tengel isn’t supposed to know that he exists.”

Jonathan sighed but accepted the situation and sat down. Nataniel lay down and the seance resumed.

There wasn’t a sound to be heard in the apartment. Dr Sørensen concentrated on the most important assignment of his life: transporting a person to an era to which he had no ties, to a place he didn’t know.”

That was how Nataniel’s journey through time and space began in his search for Tova – a journey that would horrify them all.