Christmas Island

by Natalie Normann

  ‘Are they all in Norwegian?’ Holly put down the one she was holding.

  ‘Not usually. Tourists like them. Perhaps there’s no tourists at the moment.’ He smiled at her. ‘Except for you.’

  ‘Too bad.’ Holly put down the book. It was far too expensive for her budget. She looked up at Tor. ‘Did you find something for your mum or do you want me to help?’

  ‘I have it. Mamma wanted this thriller, so I’m sure she hasn’t read it yet. She usually gives me a list of ten titles, and I can pick two. That way she’ll still be surprised and not disappointed.’

  ‘Smart system,’ Holly said.

  ‘Smart mamma.’ He waved another book. ‘I also got one for her partner. He likes history and this has just arrived. I’ll go pay for them.’

  Holly looked around. ‘Is there an English section here?’

  ‘Over there, in the corner.’

  Holly grabbed his arm. ‘Come. I love looking around in bookstores. There is always something to find that surprises you. Do you read much?’

  ‘I have attended school from an early age, and mastered the art of putting letters together in meaningful sentences,’ Tor said, looking pleased with himself when she burst out laughing.

  ‘Of course you have, but do you also read books for fun? Any particular kind?’

  ‘Yes, I do. My house has wall to wall bookshelves.’

  ‘You only have one bookshelf at your house,’ Holly said.

  ‘Not this house. I mean my house in Oslo. Only it’s not a house, it’s a flat.’

  ‘Oh, I thought you had moved to the island. Are you here for a holiday?’

  ‘Not really. I needed a quiet place to work for a while and I found it here.’

  He seemed to be trying to avoid answering and Holly got curious. Before she had a chance to ask him again, he’d paid for the books and led her to an electronics store.

  ‘Kari wanted something too,’ he said, looking as if she had never asked him a question.

  Holly decided to keep her curiosity to herself. If she tried to pry, he might do the same to her, and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to talk about the hospital right now. She just wanted to have a fun day.

  She tagged along while Tor roamed the electronic store before heading over to the desk where three young people looked efficient and in good moods despite the blinking reindeer headbands they were all wearing.

  A short conversation with one of the reindeers, during which the only thing Holly understood was his name, ended with him producing a package from under the desk and handing it to Tor.

  Tor gave Holly a triumphant smile and showed her what he had bought. ‘This is perfect.’

  ‘It’s pink, with cat ears. I thought you were buying a present for the mother of the girls.’ Holly wasn’t sure about it.

  Tor admired the bright neon pink headset. ‘That’s the whole idea. She almost exclusively wears black and, although she always looks good, I’ve hardly seen her wear anything else. So, pink it is.’

  He stuck the package in his backpack and looked relieved.

  ‘That’s it. I’m done with my presents.’

  ‘What about your friend? Don’t you want a present for him?’

  ‘I have that on the island,’ he said. ‘Do you know what fenalår is?’

  Holly rolled her eyes. ‘Jack produces them on the farm, from the sheep, actually. Did you buy him one of those?’

  ‘That I did. Henrik will love it. I also got him a fly.’

  Holly raised her eyebrows. ‘You bought him a fly? Because a regular housefly wasn’t fancy enough?’

  Tor chuckled. ‘Not that kind. He’s an avid fly fisher. We hike in Oslomarka at least once a year.’

  ‘What’s that?’ Holly had caught the word “Oslo”, but not the rest.

  ‘It’s a name for the mountains and woods that surround Oslo. You can camp up there and it’s really nice. And you can fish in the rivers or lakes.’

  ‘You’re really into fishing, aren’t you?’ Holly teased him.

  ‘It’s… nice. No stress, you know?’

  Holly smiled. ‘I’ll take your word for it.’

  They were soon outside again. The wind was picking up and it was snowing. Sort of. Holly could see that the snowflakes melted as soon as they hit the pavement.

  ‘I have to go and get my phone,’ she said.

  ‘Okay. Don’t forget that the last boat goes back to the island at six.’

  ‘Otherwise I’ll have to sleep on the pier?’ Holly said.

  ‘Yes. Or you could get a hotel room.’

  She looked at him. He seemed a bit weird all of a sudden.

  ‘You’re taking that ferry too, right?’

  ‘I am.’ He looked at his watch. ‘In two hours. I just have to run a few more errands first. Will you be okay?’

  Holly smiled. ‘I think I can manage on my own for a couple of hours.’

  ‘Oh. Of course. That was… well, I’ll see you on the ferry, then.’

  He turned around, then turned back. ‘Is there anywhere you want me to tell you about?’

  ‘Like what?’ Holly wasn’t sure what he meant.

  ‘Well, if you’re looking for a pharmacy, it’s that way. A shop for all sort of stuff, like a…’ He searched for words. ‘Haberydashy? Is that right?’

  ‘Haberdashery? No, I don’t need any yarn or needles,’ Holly said, enjoying his efforts.

  ‘Okay, but they have more than that in there. Toiletries and other stuff.’

  Holly bit her lip, trying to stop herself from laughing. He looked right through that.

  ‘Yes. Of course. I’m leaving,’ he said.

  He turned properly now and didn’t look back.

  Holly sighed. He was odd and also kind of hot, and far too cute. But she wasn’t there to fool around with cute Norwegians.

  She headed over to the phone shop and almost held her breath while she waited for Arnie to finish up with another customer. He spotted her and smiled, and Holly hoped that meant good news.

  Finally he came over to her. ‘Good news and bad news, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Right.’ Holly prepared herself for the worst.

  ‘The phone is pretty much kaput. But I saved your sim card. Best I could do, I’m afraid. I have nothing as fancy as your phone here, but I have a basic one that will tide you over until you can get home. You can google on it and everything. How does that sound?’

  He put both phones on the counter and Holly sighed. ‘I love my phone,’ she said.

  ‘Ah, we all do. Now, do you want me to stick the sim card in the new phone?’

  ‘How much?’

  ‘With the new phone… 800 crowns.’

  Holly did a quick calculation and tried to hide the shock. Almost 80 pounds!

  Arnie frowned. ‘It’s as cheap as I can make it. If you go to the chain stores, they’ll take even more. I promise. Tell you what, if you find it cheaper anywhere, I’ll match the price.’

  Holly shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine. I need my phone.’

  ‘You might get it back on the travel insurance, you know. I did that once. I’ll write you a proper and impressive-looking receipt so you can show them that.’ Arnie looked hopeful.

  ‘Please do.’ Holly handed him her credit card.

  Chapter Eleven

  Tor stretched his neck, trying to spot Holly. The ferry was almost full and despite the dark skies and choppy waves, the passengers all seemed to be in high spirits.

  His backpack was heavy and bulky from the presents he had bought, and it kept bumping into other people’s backpacks. He took it off and carried it in his hand.

  He finally spotted Holly sitting on the floor in the passengers’ lounge with her back to the wall. She wasn’t the only one.

  Tor made his way through the other passengers, and stopped in front of her. She seemed to be engrossed in her mobile, not noticing him. He frowned. Why was she looking at a dark screen?

  Holly suddenly looked up and her face li
t up with a smile that almost had him stepping backward. ‘You made it. I looked for you before everyone ran on board and I was worried they would leave me behind.’

  She scooted over, making room for him. Tor plonked down, putting the backpack beside him.

  He pointed at the screen. ‘Did they fix your phone?’

  ‘Oh, this isn’t my mobile. Or it is, now, except it’s not the one I lost in the snow. It’ll have to do until I get back home.’

  Tor frowned. ‘Right. I just saw the black screen. Is this not working either?’

  ‘No, it’s fine.’ She looked at him. He was so close to her that he could see her eyes were all sorts of brown.

  She inhaled, then sighed. ‘I’m expecting a message and it’s highly likely that it’s on this phone right now.’

  ‘And you don’t want to know?’ Tor smiled.

  ‘I’m not sure what I want.’ Holly looked at the phone again. ‘It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? I’m being a prat.’

  ‘Of course not.’ Tor racked his brain to try and say something sensible. ‘Is this something important? Or is it bad news?’

  ‘It’s… potentially bad news,’ Holly said.

  ‘So, it’s also potentially good news, isn’t it?’

  He was hoping to make her feel better, and she seemed to perk up. She smiled. That’s something, he thought.

  ‘I guess. And the third possibility is that there is no message yet. That would be good too.’

  Holly pressed the button on the phone and the screen lit up. Tor sensed that she wasn’t breathing. It has to be quite the message, he thought.

  There was several beeps before Holly could punch in her code and get to the main screen. ‘There’s nothing,’ she said, right before the screen lit up with several messages.

  Holly looked at him. ‘Here we go.’

  She opened the message box and relaxed. ‘Nothing. Well, there’s old messages from when I arrived on the island, and a few from my friends and my brothers, but not the one I was expecting.’

  Tor hid his curiosity. If he crossed the line, if he started asking about her life, about what seemed to scare her like that, there was no way back. And he wasn’t ready for that. Not at all.

  Holly laughed and stuffed the phone in her pocket. ‘Sometimes I wish we didn’t have these phones all the time. It can be so stressful always being available. Don’t you think?’

  ‘Yes, it is. But all you have to do is leave the phone back home or turn it off.’

  ‘Is that what you do?’ Holly looked horrified the moment she said it. ‘I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that.’

  ‘You’re not asking for my bank code, Holly. Yes, I do leave it at home when I go out. I don’t take pictures with it or anything like that. I’m hardly ever on social media these days and it’s a huge relief.’ Tor smiled when she looked aghast. ‘I’m weird, I know.’

  ‘Being aware of it is the first step.’ Holly laughed again, obviously feeling better.

  The ferry swerved abruptly and Holly put her hand on his thigh to steady herself. She looked pale.

  ‘Are you feeling seasick? We can go outside if you like.’ Tor thought she looked a bit green.

  Holly shook her head. ‘I… It wasn’t like this when I arrived.’

  ‘The weather here is unpredictable and that’s being nice. You never know what you might experience. Don’t worry,’ he added when she paled. ‘It’s not even a proper breeze.’

  Holly frowned. ‘What about winter storms, hurricanes? That sort of thing. Do they happen often?’

  ‘Hurricanes would be extremely rare, to be honest. But sure, we get plenty of storms because we’re right on the North Sea. That’s not what we’re having now. This is barely a small gale.’

  Holly pulled her hand back. ‘If you say so. This isn’t like London.’

  ‘Far from it. If you want more reliable weather in Norway, you should come to Oslo.’

  ‘Why? That’s by the sea too, isn’t it?’

  ‘It is, but it’s snuggled in at the far end of a fjord, surrounded by mountains. Even if there’s a storm at sea, it usually loses most of its force by the time it hits Oslo.’

  ‘That’s where you’re from, right?’

  ‘Yes, I grew up there, but my family comes from this coast somewhere. Or from the hinterland… or maybe not. I’m not really into genealogy. All I know is that at some point, many generations ago, they migrated south.’

  Holly still had that green tint on her face. ‘So what made you decide to stay on the island?’

  ‘I used Airbnb,’ Tor said with a shrug.

  Holly looked at him. ‘I’m sorry. I’m being nosey, right?’

  ‘No, no, that’s okay.’ Tor felt like an idiot. ‘I needed some time off and Airbnb found the house for me. It was a lucky accident, I think.’

  ‘Because you like it so much?’ Holly closed her eyes slightly when the boat swerved again.

  Tor took pity on her. ‘Come on,’ he said, standing up.

  Holly looked confused, but she took his hand and let him pull her up on her feet. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘We need to get outside. Follow me.’

  Holly had a strange feeling her feet were confused because the ground kept moving one way and her feet the other. She followed right behind Tor, and did what he did, finding support from the walls.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  Tor turned around and held out his hand again. ‘Upstairs. You’ll feel a lot better soon. I promise.’

  Holly grabbed his hand and held on. The staircase was really steep and tall.

  After what felt like a climbing a mountain, Tor pulled her up the last step and pushed open a door. A gush of wind hit her in the face, and she shuddered.

  ‘Watch the step.’ Tor pointed and she had to climb over a ridiculously high threshold.

  ‘What’s with these thresholds? Why are they so high?’

  ‘They are made like that to stop water from coming into the ferry during really rough weather.’

  He held the door open for her, and they came out on the deck. ‘It's called a slingrekant.’

  ‘That’s not even a word,’ Holly said and stopped to gasp at the view. ‘Oh.’

  Tor smiled. ‘It means rolling guards. Or at least I think it does. Not sure. What do you think?’

  ‘I can't even think.’ Holly leaned against the railing and couldn’t help smiling. All she could see was sea and sky, and a few scattered islands. ‘It’s stunning.’

  ‘Yes, it is, isn’t it? Are you feeling better?’

  Holly mentally checked how everything was. ‘Yes, actually.’

  ‘Fresh air is the Norwegian cure for everything. If you’re unwell, get some fresh air; if you can’t sleep, get some fresh air; if you’re feeling sad, get some fresh air. I think it comes from living too close to the sea and the mountains,’ Tor said.

  She looked at him. She was never quite sure if he intended to be funny or not. ‘Well, fresh air is good for you, I can agree with that. I certainly feel better.’

  Tor leaned against the railing next to her and looked out at the sea. ‘This is the best part of living on an island. I love this.’

  Holly felt his shoulder brushing against hers. ‘Thank you. If you hadn’t come on board, I think the chances of having an accident in the lounge would have been pretty high. That would have put a damper on the holiday spirit.’

  ‘You’re not used to being on a ferry yet?’ Tor smiled when she flinched.

  ‘No, not really. The closest I’ve been to this is a riverboat on the Thames and it was nothing like this,’ Holly said.

  She did feel a lot better now they were outside, despite the fact that the ferry swayed as bad as ever. ‘How much time before we get to the island?’

  Tor checked his watch. ‘Another thirty minutes, I think.’

  Suddenly she didn’t feel so perky after all. She looked at him.

  ‘Did you always have a beard?’ She needed something to distract herself.<
br />
  ‘No. I once was a little boy without a beard,’ Tor said.

  Holly narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re being funny, aren’t you?’

  ‘How could you guess?’ Tor looked pleased with himself.

  ‘It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,’ Holly said.

  Tor stroked his hand over the beard. ‘Shaving is boring. Frøy doesn’t really care whether I shave or not, and there’s only myself to worry about. So one day I didn’t bother anymore.’

  Holly eyed him. ‘Right. You’re really getting into the whole hermit thing, aren’t you? Does that mean you’ll stop showering and skip meals, or start to drink your meals, like out of a beer bottle?’

  Tor frowned. ‘Ehm. No. I haven’t done any of that. I like showers and I like to eat, and I drink in moderation. Besides, Frøy is very particular about cleanliness. He would never accept it if I reeked of stale sweat. Also he loves food. He gets really mad if I don’t feed him.’

  ‘I can see that. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Frøy either. He’s honed that judgemental look to perfection.’

  ‘You don’t know the half of it. Sometimes he doesn’t talk to me for days. He’s a tyrant.’

  Holly laughed. ‘Perhaps you should have chosen a dog instead.’

  ‘Oh, I didn’t choose Frøy. He found me.’

  ‘How?’ Holly ignored her queasy stomach. ‘I imagined that you bought him as a little black fluffball, or something.’

  ‘No, nothing like that. I’m sure he was a cute fluffball, but I got him when he was about a year, maybe two years old. The vet isn’t sure.’

  ‘You mean Frøy was a stray?’

  ‘Yes, Kari and the girls wanted a cat and so I came with them to the shelter. The girls found kittens and gushed all over them, while I wandered around to look. I had no intention of coming home with a cat until I almost fell over Frøy.’

  ‘He came up to you?’

  ‘Sort off. He was chasing another cat and bounced into me. Then he sat on my shoes and tried to climb up my trouser leg. The staff was in awe. Probably because he’s heavy and I was at severe risk of getting shredded. So I picked him up and that was that.’