C5 Chapter 5

“Egil,” said Winsnes. “Not that I know how he’s doing it but we’ll be sure to catch him. It has to be Egil.”

But Winsnes’ voice was completely drowned out by the roars coming from the two brothers. Ingvar threw himself on Ellen, who fell down the stairs. On her way down, she threw the envelope to Nataniel but nothing could stop her, she was falling much too fast. She fell on top of Bent who toppled over, and then she ran like the wind towards the stern, while Nataniel and Ingvar, and Bent behind them, began the pursuit. Winsnes did the most sensible thing: he took upon himself the seemingly hopeless task of steering the Stella clear of the breakers by the spit.

Nataniel was slowed down by Ingvar, who threw himself on him, clearly leaving it to Bent to pursue the girl. Neither of them had noticed that Nataniel now had the envelope safe and sound in his pocket. Ellen was the one they were after.

Ingvar had a firm grip on Nataniel and was clearly trying to push him overboard, or at least pretend that was what he was doing.

And all the while they heard the frightening footsteps that didn’t sound as if they belonged anywhere in the world. How does he do that? Nataniel thought in a haze as, moaning with pain, he attempted to get to his feet. And what’s happening to Ellen?

They had forgotten all about Tova – so typical, Nataniel thought later on – and she was concentrating on what she could clearly see: Ingvar’s attack on Nataniel. She didn’t have time to come up with any niceties but merely put out her hand in an authoritative gesture, whereupon Ingvar pulled back as though he had just received an electric shock. Unfortunately, she hadn’t been as careful as she should have been, so Nataniel also received some of the shock. And Ingvar was the first to recover and resume his pursuit of Ellen.

“Darn, I made a mistake,” said Tova.

But Nataniel’s life had been saved and right now that was the most important thing.

Ellen had let go of the guard rail. Now she was creeping around the back of the wheelhouse, holding on to whatever she could find. Just as she heard Bent coming out on the afterdeck she popped around the corner. She had planned to barricade herself in the cabin, but Ingvar came from the opposite end of the gangway, and she continued to the forecastle instead. In a flash she saw that the cliff was dangerously close; the foaming breakers were so high that it was almost concealed by them. Ellen ducked under some boxes under the bridge, found an iron rod that was bolted to the deck and clung to it. At that very moment such a huge wave hit that the Stella almost tipped over. But the ferry slowly returned to an even keel. Water poured across the deck and Ellen gasped for breath. Egil stopped his meaningless pounding and the only thing that could be heard were the roaring breakers.

Nataniel, Ellen thought in despair. What’s happened to him?

The ship whirled around out of control and the flashes of light from the lighthouse seemed to be coming from every direction. There was nothing Ellen could do now but remain where she was and just hope.

Nataniel had already searched the afterdeck and discovered that Ellen wasn’t there. She wasn’t in the stern lounge either. He wasn’t so worried about Tova, she had probably remained with Winsnes in the wheelhouse, but Ellen ... Ellen ...? His heart was heavy with fear. It was true that Bent had finally returned to his senses and gone back to the engine room, but Ingvar and Egil were still lurking. And Ellen was so small and helpless in the face of all this – the desperate brothers and the rage of the elements. Nataniel had saved himself from the gigantic wave but had she managed to do the same?

He staggered haphazardly across the forecastle but had no hope of finding her there, and all at once a frightening clawing and scraping sound could be heard from the Stella’s depths. The uncontrollable thrusts back and forth on the waves ceased. The ship tilted slightly and stayed there. Stella had run aground.

Goodness, thought Nataniel, are we really that close to the cliff?

Not until then did he realize that they were still in the middle of the crushing, breaking waves. After the initial paralysing shock, the Stella began to rock back and forth, helplessly impaled on an underwater rock. Soon the water would start streaming in ...

The foam sprayed across the forecastle. Nataniel shuddered when the ice-cold water washed over him and he was unable to see anything. Then suddenly he thought he heard a faint little voice calling his name. But that couldn’t be possible, could it? Was it Ellen?

Yes, there she was! A boundless feeling of joy washed through him. She was standing upright clinging to an iron rod. She was as wet as she could be, but there she stood, alive and well.

Now Nataniel caught sight of what Ellen had thought were flashes of light from the lighthouse appearing everywhere. It wasn’t just the lighthouse: a boat was making its way towards them and from the speed at which it was going Nataniel concluded that it had to be the lifeboat. The coastguard had presumably suspected that there was something wrong when Winsnes failed to call them from the islands – or perhaps Mary had notified them. She knew that odd things were destined to happen on this, final voyage of old Stella’s.

Everything turned ecstatically light within Nataniel. For a while he hadn’t been able to see his way out of the situation they had found themselves in, but now everything had changed. While the Stella had a relatively quiet moment, Nataniel rushed across the forecastle to Ellen.

He embraced her and held her tight.

“Oh, I was so afraid, dearest,” he shouted in her ear as another wave washed over them. “I thought you were dead.”

His cheek was wet, cold and salty but Ellen sensed a deep warmth that defied all the external cold. His strong arms held her and he was with her, which was the most important thing to her.

“I thought you had disappeared,” she whimpered back to him.

Now she became aware that it was almost impossible for her to get her practically frozen fingers free of the iron rod. She had to force them up.

He turned his head and looked at her face close to his. The sense of joy he felt was so enormous that he was overcome with dizziness.

During a brief interval between the heavy breaking waves he shouted to her: “The coastguard is on its way. Soon everything will be fine, you’ll see.”

“What about Tova?”

“She’s safe, I think.”

Her smile was sparkling both from happiness and relief, as well as from the splashes of salt water. But suddenly Nataniel saw her face freeze. She opened her mouth to scream but never got it out.

She had seen Ingvar Strand, like a shadow in the darkness, emerge behind Nataniel, his arm lifted in a frightening manner. Nataniel turned around in fear but didn’t manage to escape the blow from a thin iron pipe that landed on his shoulder and upper arm. The pain was so intense that he let go of his grip on Ellen and the iron rod behind her. At that very moment the Stella lurched once again to the side. Nataniel and Ingvar Strand fumbled to grab hold of something and managed to do so, but Ellen was hurled head first overboard and into the cold, raging sea.

Nataniel had landed on his injured shoulder. As he held on to a chain with his other hand he felt everything start to go black. He struggled with all his might to remain conscious.

We got much too close. I didn’t kiss her, but had we not had to fight for our lives I would have. And if it doesn’t take more than thoughts and feelings then the evil prophecy has been fulfilled.

And now I know who Stella’s last victim was going to be.

And knowing that was so painful it was practically unbearable. Things started to go black again, until his fingers released their grip on the chain and he lay motionless.

With great effort the coastguard’s boat managed to dock next to the now almost waterlogged Stella. They just had time to observe a strange-looking girl binding a man tightly with a chain. Then she stood above another man on the forecastle, looking as though she intended to throw him overboard. But then she caught sight of the coastguard’s boat and before they managed to get on board she had disappeared.

Captain Winsnes had descended from the bridge to meet them. Not one unnecessary word was uttered as they couldn’t waste a second.

“It was Mary Johnson who sounded the alarm. How many?” the chief asked as his men freed Nataniel from the chain and took him and the semi-conscious Ingvar on board.

“We were seven in all,” Winsnes answered. “I’m afraid one of the girls has perished. She fell overboard about a minute ago.”

Bent Strand squeezed past them and made his way into the motor boat. He was badly injured because he had been in the engine room when the Stella ran aground. The water had flooded in and he had only just managed to get out in one piece.

“That’s four,” the chief shouted to Winsnes. “So the two girls are missing. My men are searching for the one who fell overboard but it seems hopeless. But what about the other girl? Where is she? And what about the seventh one?

Finally, they managed to find Egil.

The freezing water paralysed Ellen completely and her clothes pulled her down. For a brief moment she managed to resurface in order to catch a breath with great effort. But then came another wave and pulled her along. However, she managed to register that she was being pulled towards the Stella and not away from it.

And that gave her renewed hope. She was able to wriggle out of her boots, which helped immensely. The next time she was pulled back by a wave, she didn’t resist it but allowed herself to be pulled towards the Stella.

But what good did that do? She was thrown forcefully against the side of the ship and the guard rail seemed at least a kilometre above her. She slid away again, beaten and sore.

She was beginning to run out of energy because the water was very cold, and she started sinking helplessly.

No, no, I don’t want to, she thought in despair. I don’t want to die, not yet, not now. Even if I can never have Nataniel, I want to be able to stay alive. Just knowing that he exists will bring me joy. No, I want to live!

Once again, she felt that she was being pulled towards Stella, but there was nothing she could do. The next wave would most certainly pull her past the shipwreck.

Then she was hurled against the side of the boat again, painfully hard. She let out a small whimper. Her last thought was of Nataniel.

In a brief flash she saw something that resembled a boathook protruding from the Stella. Two hands were holding it, but it was too late, she had been washed past it.

She could no longer hold her breath. Underneath the waves there was only water, but she needed air.

Just as she was about to be washed away by another wave she felt someone grab her from behind. But she was too weak to be able to do anything herself, she had water in her mouth and her ears were buzzing.

Semi-conscious, she sensed someone helping her, lifting her up, and she both coughed and breathed at the same time, which didn’t work at all. She was dragged along the side of the boat until she reached the boathook, which was suddenly right in front of her face. Her cold hands automatically fumbled for it and she managed to grab hold ...

She got assistance, both from above and below. Together they managed to get her up to the guard rail, where she remained slumped as she painfully coughed water out of her lungs. It didn’t sound exactly pretty, but slowly she managed to regain consciousness and had the energy to move again.

She tried to crawl the last bit across the guard rail and down onto the deck, but now there was no one there to help her. She let out a feeble whimper. So close ...

“Oh, thank goodness, there’s one of the girls,” Winsnes exclaimed. “Come, where have you been?”

“On the other side,” gasped Tova. “Over there ... there ...”

She collapsed into the arms of one of the coastguards, who wanted to help her into the motorboat but she resisted.

“The other side ...”

“Do you mean starboard?” Winsnes shouted as he held onto a post and a new roaring wave washed over him.

“How the hell should I know what it’s called? I’m not a damn sailor,” Tova hissed.

The motorboat, which had been stationary with its motor idling while they were searching for Ellen, was already on its way round to the starboard side of Stella.

“Captain, look there!” shouted one of the men.

He gesticulated wildly with his arms.

The chief shouted: “Searchlights! Quickly!”

The strong lights lit up the sadly dilapidated Stella. Across the guard rail hung a pathetic looking figure that crawled down onto the deck and staggered onto its feet, only to be tossed back and forth. The chief coastguard rushed towards Ellen and carried her the rest of the way.

“What in the world ...” he stammered. “She wasn’t there a moment ago.”

The men looked at her in amazement. They, too, had thoroughly searched that deck and could have sworn that she hadn’t been on board.

Ellen, who had regained enough strength to stand on her own, looked at them hazily. She couldn’t see Nataniel anywhere.

“He’s over in the motorboat,” Winsnes said quickly. “And we should probably hurry over there now.”

The last passengers were helped on board the coastguard’s boat. Finally, the two captains left the Stella, and the motorboat swung out to sea.

Winsnes sighed heavily and cast a long glance back towards his beloved Stella, the ship graveyard’s most recent prey.

Nataniel groaned and woke up to a merciless reality. But the first thing he saw when he grudgingly opened his eyes was a dishevelled, soaking wet little figure, going into a cabin to put on some dry clothes.

It was as though Nataniel’s lungs were emptied of air from sheer relief.

“Ellen!” he managed to say with great effort and with such incredulous joy in his voice that the men couldn’t help laughing.

“Winsnes?” he said nervously as he tried to sit upright. “It was Ellen who went in, wasn’t it? But ... I saw her fall overboard. And someone has perished, I know it, I can feel it, I saw her fall ...”

“So did Ingvar and I,” said old Winsnes, as he gently pushed him back down on the plank bed. “But she reappeared. Don’t ask me how. I’ve never heard of anyone getting thrown back on board so I don’t think that’s what’s happened. However, I can’t find any other explanation. She was in the water for several minutes, which is more than an ordinary person can handle. I simply don’t understand it at all!”

Nataniel’s expression was like a puzzle. His eyes were suspiciously bright with joy, but at the same time he was gravely serious.

Tova entered the cabin wrapped in a big woollen blanket. She looked happy. Nataniel was too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice her, so he didn’t register how the joy in her eyes faded. She sat down quietly on the bench.

“No, you’re playing a joke on me,” Nataniel insisted. “One of us is to die, I’m certain of that. I had a vision long ago in which one of us became a victim on board the Stella before she sank. And I can sense that death is near. I know it. It wasn’t Ellen who went through there just now. Because she’s dead!”

He buried his face in his hands.

Winsnes shook him gently. “I believe you when you talk of visions, because you are the strangest person I’ve met, apart from the young lady over there, who breaks all records,” he said, giving Tova a strange glance. “But all of it is true, just not the way you think. It wasn’t Ellen who was destined to die, but someone else.”

“Who?”

“Look down at the floor next to you.”

A bundle lay wrapped in an oilskin coat. But Nataniel was able to recognize the figure.

He was so cold that his teeth were chattering and the bench he was lying on was drenched in freezing cold water. He got up and moved away from the unpleasant area to a drier spot.

Winsnes grew agitated. “Egil, you see. It was Egil Strand. They found him hanging outside the guard rail below the afterdeck. His foot was entangled in a rope from which he was hanging. He has been dead for a long time according to the men. Probably about three or four hours.”

“In other words, he died on the outward journey?”

“Yes, do you recall the screams?”

Nataniel grew quiet. A lot of strange thoughts passed through his mind.

The glance he gave Tova was very long, scrutinizing and thoughtful. And when she met his gaze with fury and guilt it made him angry. He had to compose himself in order not to fly into a temper and shake her like a ragdoll in desperation.

But then Ellen came in and he lit up. He put out his hand and Ellen sat down next to him. Without exchanging any words they squeezed each other’s hands. They were both much too moved to be able to say anything.

At last, Ellen spoke. “Don’t you think you should put on some dry clothes?”

The clothes she was wearing were much too big: they were a man’s Icelandic sweater and a pair of trousers, the bottoms of which had been rolled up. Nataniel nodded and stood up, staggering somewhat. While he went into the cabin to change his clothes Ellen was given a cup of hot bouillon, which tasted incredibly good.

When Nataniel returned, dressed more or less like Ellen, though he was better able to fill the clothes, they had almost reached the town pier. They disembarked and went into the coastguard’s office.

When they had sat down Winsnes said: “There is much that is strange about this story.”

“Yes,” said the captain. “That’s why we’ve gathered you here before we let you go home. I’ve called the police, but I’d like to clear up a few things first.”

“Let’s start with this key, then,” said Nataniel.

He threw the envelope on the table. The two Strand brothers, who were sitting at one end of the room, half rose from their chairs but were signalled to sit back down.

“Who has the right to open this envelope?” asked Nataniel.

“We do!” said Ingvar hotly.

The coastguard commander grew pensive. “I doubt that. I think Winsnes should do it. It’s his boat, after all.”

The old man was touched that he was being given a final chance to be the captain of his own ship. With trembling fingers, he tore open the envelope and a key fell onto the table with a clattering noise. A scrap of paper was tied to it. The commander picked it up and read out: “Safe deposit box 193, Vestkyst Bank.”

Bent Strand let out a long string of hateful curses.

“The papers,” said Nataniel. “What do they say?”

They said a lot. But gradually, as the commander read – for Winsnes had left his glasses on board the Stella – it became apparent that the envelope belonged to Frederiksen; that he had bequeathed everything he owned to his daughter Bjørg; that the will was to be found in the safe deposit box, along with his pools dividend, which the girl was also to inherit. And the dividend wasn’t small at all! He had won two twelvers, plus a number of elevens and tens.

There were other papers in the envelope as well. It was clear that he had consulted a lawyer when he stopped in town on his last trip. There were prescriptions for the medication he took for his liver condition and many other things.

The coastguard commander put down the papers. “I see,” he said to the Strand brothers. “Something tells me that Frederiksen jabbered away on this trip. He had probably had too much to drink as usual and he confided in one of his nephews. Isn’t that right?”

They didn’t answer but their silence spoke volumes.

“And then he got scared. Something about their behaviour frightened him. In desperation he hid the envelope under the seat on board the old, dilapidated Stella. And he hadn’t misunderstood his wonderful nephews. The guard rail on the boat wasn’t in such bad shape that it would actually give way, but you could help it along, couldn’t you?”

“Frederiksen was murdered in the stern lounge,” Nataniel interjected. “It was his blood that Tova and I saw. Then he was thrown overboard.”

“Oh shut up!” Ingvar said gruffly. “You can never prove any of that!”

“But then for the brothers it was a matter of finding this letter and the key. And that’s why they made up that story about the ghost, a washed-up body from the ship graveyard. That would keep people away from the boat so they could search for the letter in peace,” the commander continued, unaffected by the previous protests.

The two brothers opened their mouths to object but Winsnes was faster. “Wait a moment, Captain. The nephew!”

“Yes, the one who disappeared. Should we assume that he wasn’t sufficiently cooperative?”

“Oh yes,” said Bent with a childish look on his face. “He wanted a percentage.”

He fell silent abruptly.

Idiot, Nataniel thought.

“It seems that the police are here now,” said one of the coastguards. “I guess it’s off to the slammer, guys!”

“Well, at least that’s better than being around her. She’s crazy!” Ingvar was pointing at Tova, who sat quiet and gloomy in the corner.

“She’s dangerous,” Bent agreed. “You wouldn’t believe what she tried to do to me!”

“I’ll have a word with her afterwards,” Nataniel said quickly. “Let’s stick to the topic.”

They heard the police car stop outside. A couple of police officers entered and the commander told them what had happened and asked them to wait until they were finished with the interrogation of the parties involved. The Strand brothers were put in lovely handcuffs and then they waited for the officers.

Ellen had been sitting completely still, in a very tense state. She knew that there was still a lot left to say.

The commander looked at her. “How come you were able to find the letter so quickly when three or four men had spent an entire week searching for it?”

Ellen couldn’t answer him. She felt Nataniel’s hand clasping hers and he calmly answered on her behalf. “Ellen has a unique talent, you see. And last night someone sought her assistance and received it.”

Everyone could see how pale she looked. She didn’t like it but was grateful that Nataniel had taken over for her a little.

“Ellen saw the drowned man this evening, or rather, she heard him. We, too, heard the heavy footsteps later in the evening. But the first time she was the only one who heard them. We assumed it was just Egil playing games with us, even though we couldn’t understand how he could do it. It would have been impossible. Had Egil been the one who had produced such thundering sounds then everyone would have heard them the first time, but we didn’t. Ellen noticed the footprints that many others had seen earlier, and they led her to the stern lounge. Egil saw her go down the stairs and locked the door after her ...”

Nataniel fell silent. Oops, something didn’t add up.

At that point Egil had been out searching for the envelope. Why would he have locked the door to the stern lounge, which would have been an obvious hiding place since that was the very spot in which Frederiksen had been murdered?”

“Would you mind waiting a moment while I confer with my cousin Tova?” asked Nataniel with an ominous sound in his voice. “Come, Tova, let’s go outside for a moment.”

He didn’t want to risk having to reprimand her in front of all these strangers. First, he wanted to get a little clarity over what had happened.

Because the car was parked relatively close by, Nataniel took Tova there. He pulled her along with him, holding her firmly by the wrists, and practically hurled her into the car. He slammed the doors furiously.

“I want to know right now exactly what you were doing on the ferry,” he exploded. “And spare me your lies, thank you!”

“Me?” said Tova innocently. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You were always lurking about somewhere,” he pointed out.

“You never took any notice,” she hissed at him. “You never inquired about me!”

Nataniel could not think of a reply. Instead he said, “The Strand brothers shouted something about us having no idea what you had done. What did they mean by that?”

“Umm,” said Tova, with a shrug. “Nothing special. I threw Bent’s crate of beer, which was practically full, overboard. Was that really such a bad thing? But he did get angry, of course,” she said, smiling at the thought of it. “And then I conjured up a lobster in his pants because he called me a monstrosity.”

Nataniel couldn’t object to that.

“Go on,” he said brusquely. “Ingvar Strand was also angry with you, wasn’t he?”

“Oh, that’s just trivial. Magic as needed.”

“You’ve got to be more careful with that stuff,” Nataniel said sternly. “They may not burn witches anymore but you still risk being punished. Which brings me to Egil. Please tell me the truth!”

Tova became angrily silent.

He tried again. “Egil wasn’t the one who locked Ellen up. You were, weren’t you?”

She remained silent.

“Why must you act like that towards Ellen?” he blurted out. “What has she ever done to you? It upsets her, don’t you see that?”

Tova looked out of the car window. Her shoulders drooped a little, but other than that her attitude was rather dismissive.

“You’ve given me nothing but trouble on this trip,” Nataniel said in a tired voice. “So tell me everything now. You locked Ellen’s door. To get rid of her, I presume?”

“Perhaps,” said Tova.

That was her first sulky admission.

“And afterwards? What happened then? Where does Egil come into this?”

She sighed impatiently before telling him the whole truth. “He came just as I had locked the door. I saw him and ran but I took the key with me.”

“And that way you actually managed to protect Ellen, even though that wasn’t your intention. Go on!”

“He caught up with me on the afterdeck. He wanted the key ...”

“Yes, so that he could search for the envelope down there ...”

“At one point I thought he was going to hit me so I threw out a rope for him to trip over, which he did. Then I tightened the rope around his foot. It wasn’t my fault that at that very moment he was tossed overboard because the boat happened to tilt. Afterwards I put the key back in the keyhole of the door.”

Nataniel scrutinized her for a long time. He knew she was lying, a man couldn’t possibly be thrown overboard in that way, especially since he had fallen and was lying on the deck.

Finally, he took a deep breath. “I’d like to take your word for it. For the sake of your mother and father. But now I’m so terribly tired of you that I don’t want to even have to look at you. I don’t want you to be present during another interrogation. God only knows what else will be brought to light. You’re to wait here in the car until we return, is that understood?”

“I don’t want to see you, either, you stick-in-the-mud!” she shouted. “You can keep that old shrew of a woman, Ellen, all to yourself. I don’t give a screw about any of you!”

He grabbed hold of her arm. “Just stop bothering Ellen,” he hissed between his teeth. “I’ve been patient with you, but there is nothing but evil in you, you accursed little devil!”

He got out of the car.

“I don’t want anything to do with you!” she shouted at him. “You can go to hell!”

Nataniel banged the car door shut and walked back inside, taking long, angry strides.

In the entrance hall he had to stop for a moment and take a deep breath in order to regain his composure. Then he entered the office.

“Well, shall we continue?” he asked with forced composure.

“Yes,” said the commander. “You said that someone had been seeking Ellen Skogsrud’s help – and received it. Could you expand on that?”

“Yes, well, it’s that strange talent Ellen has. It’s unpleasant for her. In part, she belongs to the same family as Tova and me, and in that family there are many clairvoyants. There are those who can see deceased individuals and make contact with them. Ellen is one of them. On top of that, she has another trait, in that she has a compulsion to help those who are in need. Now, everyone knows that ghosts tend to haunt certain places because they are suffering. I can tell by the looks on your faces that you are sceptical, but it’s perfectly true, and the Stella was haunted – Frederiksen was the one haunting it. No one understood what it was he wanted. But he wanted someone to find the envelope in which he left everything he owned to his daughter and not to the Strand family. He managed to contact the sensitive and susceptible Ellen, whom he lured to the stern lounge. Was it hard to find the envelope, Ellen?”

“No, not considering how tired I was. I went straight over and found it.”

Nataniel nodded. “The Strand brothers claim to have seen the ghost on several occasions. Which is most likely not true because Frederiksen would never have led them to the envelope. But they noticed what other people said about heavy footsteps and footprints and worked everyone up into thinking that there were ghosts on the ferry to scare people away so they could search in peace.”

“But what about Mary?” asked Ellen.

“Yes, well, Mary is Bjørg’s mother, and she saw someone right by the bench where Ellen found the envelope. Frederiksen sought help from Mary but she probably wasn’t susceptible enough. Ellen, on the other hand ...”

Winsnes interjected: “Are you saying that the heavy footsteps we heard ... and the footprints we saw ... didn’t derive from Egil or his brothers?”

“No, they didn’t.”

It grew very quiet. A shudder went through the group.

“But, Ellen Skrogsrud,” began the coastguard commander, “we’d like to know how you managed to get back on board after falling into the frothing sea. That was a real miracle!”

“Yes, it was a miracle,” she said quietly.

She hesitated for a moment, then she continued. “At first I was certain that one of your men had jumped in to save me. Because someone came from behind and pulled me up to the surface when I had no more energy left. I sank deeper and deeper and no matter how hard I struggled there was nothing I could do, but then a pair of hands grabbed me under the arms and pulled me up. And then a boathook was extended from the Stella that I could grab onto. So that was how I got back on board.”

They stared at her, dumbfounded.

“But who was it who pulled you back up to the surface?” Winsnes asked, his mouth agape.

“I was wondering about that myself,” said Ellen. “But Tova saw him. She told me who he was.”

“Tova?” asked Nataniel. “When did she say that?”

“Inside the cabin in the motorboat. When we were putting on dry clothes.”

“But how could she know ...?”

“Because, dear Nataniel, she was the one holding the boathook!”

He was speechless.

“I thanked her warmly, of course, first in the cabin, because I had seen that she was the one who had pulled me up. It made her so happy and we became good friends there ...”

Nataniel could feel the tears welling up inside him.

One of the men from the coastguard added: “Yes, and when we anchored by the Stella the first time we saw her securing you with a chain. You were unconscious.”

The others nodded. No one mentioned that she might have been busy throwing Ingvar Strand overboard. They couldn’t be a hundred per cent certain of that ...

Only almost ...

Suddenly things became complicated for Nataniel.

Winsnes asked in confusion: “So who was it, then, who helped you up?”

“A ghost,” answered Ellen. “A man wearing oilskins and a sou’wester. Most probably Frederiksen. Afterwards he disappeared.”

“You can probably consider it a thank you for your help,” said Winsnes, and the others nodded solemnly.

Nataniel finally woke up. “Are we finished here? Good, I’ll go out to the car, then. Ellen, come with me.”

They made a speedy farewell, and after having submitted their addresses and signing something that they hadn’t looked through all that thoroughly, they ran out.

The car was empty. In the driver’s seat was a scrap of paper.

I’m taking the night train. I’m as through with you as anyone can be, you confounded stick-in-the mud. How in hell you of all people have been selected to be the Chosen One is beyond me. Consider our “lessons” over. You can go to hell!

Irreverently,

Tova

“And I deserved it, Tova,” Nataniel murmured to himself as they heard the train rattling out of the station. “I’ve neglected you in a most unforgivable way.”

“Yes, in favour of me,” said Ellen. “Oh, Nataniel, it pains me to think how egocentric we’ve both been!”

“I was the one who was egocentric, not you. But you were right about another thing. How could I possibly be the chosen one? I can’t do anything. Tova is capable of much more.”

“But you’ve never tried,” Ellen consoled him. “You don’t know what you’re capable of.”

He was sceptical but he didn’t pursue it. Right now, the most important thing was the fact that at this very moment they would be forced to go their separate ways.

He drove her home and they quickly took leave of one another without touching. Nataniel was going to try to reach Oslo ahead of the night train.

Ellen watched the car until it finally disappeared. It was as though she was gradually being drained of life each time she met Nataniel.

The sense of emptiness she felt when she stuck the key into the door of her small flat was huge. Nataniel should have been there with her, they should have been together ...

But it was impossible for them.

Nataniel didn’t get there in time to meet Tova. When he was halfway there he felt that he had to rest, so he stopped and lay down in the car to sleep.

But it was completely impossible to get hold of Tova. As soon as she heard Nataniel’s voice on the phone she hung up. His letters were returned unopened. He drove out to Rikard’s house but Tova was not at home. He waited as long as he could but was forced to leave again empty-handed.

He couldn’t say anything to her parents, for Rikard was a police officer, and were he to start informing him it might force Rikard to have to consider certain situations, and Nataniel wanted to shield him from that.

He understood Tova. He understood her much too well.

And now he had lost her trust and her friendship. Because despite their eternal quarrels their friendship had been a fine one.

But now he had nothing. No relationship with Ellen, and none with Tova. Could anyone be more lonely?