Christmas Island
Page 14
‘We are thrilled he does. Otherwise this part of the island would have been replaced by a super marina at some point.’
Holly opened a box and peered inside. ‘This isn’t meat,’ she said.
‘No, Jack has made marmalade and chutneys, I think. Also several boxes of cookies. I haven’t tasted all of it, but the marmalade is to die for.’ Britt took out a jar and showed it to Holly. ‘This is addictive.’
Holly took the jar and looked at it. She laughed. ‘He’s been using my mum’s recipes as a starting point. Everything has to be changed around and experimented with.’
‘He said that. I think there’s a few odds and bits from his grandmother’s books too. She used a lot of berries; they all did. Hell, we still do. On the island you can find blueberries, juniper berries, and krekling,’ Britt said.
‘What’s krekling?’ Holly put down the jar.
‘I’m not sure what it’s called in English.’ Britt frowned. ‘Oh, yes, I do. it’s crowberries, Jack told me that. They are a little bitter, but nice. Jack’s grandmother, Magny, had recipes for all sorts of things. That’s how they survived out here, by making use of everything that grew.’
‘Is that what you do?’ Holly picked through the boxes and smiled at what she found.
‘I’ve used both krekling and juniper in my beer. It’s not always successful, but I like experimenting.’
‘As does Jack, whereas I can barely manage to get a pizza out of the box,’ Holly said.
‘You’re not the only one who struggles. I can only cook things that come out of cans or bags, myself.’
Holly was surprised. ‘But you make beer. That’s cooking, isn’t it? Sort of.’
Britt laughed. ‘Beer is an artform. I’ve also started to make aquavit, but on a small scale for now. We’ll see how that goes.’
‘Can I come and see what you do sometime?’
‘Of course. You’re welcome any time. It’s fun. I use it to teach the kids science and maths.’
‘It really does sound like fun,’ Holly said.
Britt shrugged. ‘It is, but it’s also about keeping the old traditions alive so it’s a history lesson too. So many things are forgotten these days, left behind in the dust, that we lose so much of ourselves. Global is all well and good, and I love the internet, but I worry what will be left when everything is the same everywhere.’
Britt smiled. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go on, but it’s a thing with me. Perhaps it’s because here on the island we’re a bit off the beaten track.’
‘You do have technology here, internet and phones, and all sorts of things that needs electricity. So you’re not completely off the track,’ Holly said, smiling at her.
‘A bit off, perhaps, but no, you’re right. We don’t want to go back in time, not all of us, anyway. You should hear Alma and Sigrid discuss it. According to Alma, Sigrid looks at the past through rose-coloured glasses, romanticising something that, in her opinion, is better left in the past, and then she tells her that the greatest invention ever, wasn’t rockets to the moon or the car, or whatever they argue about. It was the washing machine.’
‘The washing machine?’ Holly could think of a few medical inventions that had been far more useful.
Britt laughed. ‘Alma claims the washing machine liberated women. Washing clothes back in the day was a major operation that took days and lots of hard work. The washing machine freed women up to pursue other things. Alma loves all the new gadgets and thingamagummies.’
Holly remembered Ninni telling her the same thing. ‘And what does Sigrid say in return?’
‘She asks Alma for another recipe,’ Britt said, laughing now.
‘Clever one.’ Holly couldn’t help laughing herself.
‘Perhaps we should get started.’ Britt gestured towards the table. ‘We have to carry all of this to the sea house. It’s going to take more than a few trips, I’m afraid. No cars here, remember.’
‘You could have a horse,’ Holly said. ‘And Jack said something about a donkey somewhere?’
‘Yes, but he’s useless at anything except throwing kids off his back. We could have taken one of the boats, but it’s almost as far away. Also, if we fall overboard, we’ll lose everything. Not to mention I’m rubbish at boats.’
Holly put a hand on one of the boxes, ready to lift. ‘I’d rather walk, please.’
Britt burst out laughing again and Holly looked at her.
‘I’m sorry, I’m teasing you. Don’t worry. Tobben is picking all of this up later tonight. He will bring it to the sea house and from there we will take it on the ferry.’
Holly shook her head. ‘That’s a relief. I’m not big on carrying stuff for miles. Does Tobben have a horse or something?’
‘Nope, he has a small three-wheeler that he claims is a tractor. It’s not. But it also has a small hanger, and is very useful for things like this.’ Britt laughed again. ‘You should have seen your face.’
‘Could you tell Jack that I carried them to the sea house? I’d love to see his face when he hears that,’ Holly said.
‘It will be my pleasure. Now, have you seen enough?’ Britt looked around. ‘Have I remembered everything?’ she said, more to herself that time.
Holly waited, not sure what was expected of her. Britt smiled suddenly. ‘Right. We usually decorate the market stalls, you know, to make it look festive and all that. I think those boxes are at the sea house.’
‘Did Jack leave any instructions to you about how I should do that? Because he didn’t say anything to me.’ Holly wouldn’t be surprised if he had.
‘I have no idea. I will let you loose on whatever is there. If you want to, that is.’
‘Of course I do. It will be fun,’ Holly said, hoping the distraction would do her good.
‘Brilliant.’ Britt rubbed her hands together.
They went outside and Britt frowned when she saw it was raining. ‘I keep hoping for snow. This in-between weather is annoying.’
‘Do you get snow here? I haven’t seen much and it doesn’t seem to last for very long.’
‘We do, but it needs to be really cold for it to happen, and that is rare these days.’
‘I was hoping for proper snow. I’ve never really seen snow that is plentiful and covers everything,’ Holly said with a little laugh.
‘You have to go up in the mountains for that, I’m afraid. Global warming and all.’
Holly pulled up the hood over hear head and put her hands in the pockets of the thick jacket.
Britt nodded towards the house. ‘Tobben said you scared the beejesus of him.’
‘No, I didn’t. He scared me. I was on the phone in the lounge, talking to Jack, and Tobben appeared out of nowhere. I thought he was some kind of Scandi serial killer.’
‘Well, he needs to be a bit shocked once in a while. He’s a salt of the earth kind of man who doesn’t like surprises,’ Britt said.
Holly sensed something. ‘You and him, are you…?’
Britt pulled a face. ‘No, we’re just friends. Or friendly-ish, is perhaps a better word. Men can be so exhausting sometimes, and he’s far too sensitive for me. He takes everything so seriously, you know?’
Holly smiled. ‘Yes, I can see that.’
They headed up towards the pathway. Holly thought about Tor. She wasn’t sure what kind of man he was, or why she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Chapter Sixteen
Tor noticed them as he came up the path after checking on the boat. He stopped in his tracks, looking around in panic for a place to hide. There was nothing. No house, no boulder appearing out of the blue, nothing. And the dry stacks were too high for him to jump over quickly.
This is becoming the most embarrassing habit I’ve ever had, he thought. But he still backed away.
Even so, he couldn’t help watching Holly and the other woman talking and laughing. They were heading his way and there was nothing he could do about it.
Holly seems to shimmer, he thought and r
olled his eyes at himself. Yeah, I’m not going down that road. Not now, not with a woman who will be leaving after Christmas. No matter how much he wanted her.
He wondered if he had made a mistake by taking her fishing. But she had been such a good sport about it, and he was sure she had enjoyed herself. He certainly had. More than he had in a long time, if he was honest with himself.
When they caught up with him, he would have to say hello and then there would be introductions and afterwards, every time she met him the other woman would say hi to him. And he didn’t like that. He had managed to stay secluded for all these weeks, and he wanted to remain that way. He liked it that way.
The two women hadn’t discovered him yet. Tor considered throwing himself on the ground, hoping they wouldn’t notice him, but of course they would, and then he’d be the village idiot.
Then he saw Frøy running up behind Holly, only to stop and rub his head against her leg. She bent down and picked him up. And the damned cat let it happen. Tor was flabbergasted.
‘Traitor,’ he muttered.
Before he had a chance to either fall flat on his face or back away, Holly spotted him and waved.
‘Damn,’ he muttered.
Too late now, he thought and tried to look less like an idiot and more like a normal person.
Holly smiled at Tor who looked more and more uncomfortable as they came closer.
‘Hi,’ she said, putting her nose to Frøy’s furry head.
Tor’s eyes flicked towards Britt who smiled her best smile.
‘Uhm, hi. I was just… on my way home,’ he said.
‘I’m Britt, the school teacher, beer brewer, and possibly aquavit producer,’ Britt said, holding out her hand. ‘I have seen you around, but I don’t think I’ve had a chance to talk to you yet.’
Tor shook it. ‘I’m Tor. Hi.’
Britt didn’t seem fazed by his standoffishness. ‘I hear you’re an architect. Have you designed anything I might have seen?’
Tor glared slightly at Holly. ‘I doubt it. We design mostly office buildings. You know, the soulless ones,’ he said, and immediately regretted his words.
Britt laughed. ‘Still, I might have seen one. How are you finding our island, Tor?’ she said.
‘It’s… lovely.’ Tor looked at Holly again, and this time she took mercy on him.
‘We just wanted to say hi and return your cat,’ she said, holding the fluffy traitor as if he was a teddy bear.
Frøy wriggled and she put him down after kissing him on the head.
‘Frøy is something else,’ Holly said, laughing at him.
‘You should know that Frøy is a regular visitor to the school, Tor. The kids love him,’ Britt said.
‘Oh, good. I don’t really know what he does or where he roams most days,’ Tor said.
Holly looked at Britt whose eyes twinkled. She decided to save the poor man. He was clearly uncomfortable.
‘We have to go and, uhm, prepare for Saturday,’ she said. ‘My brother should have been here by now, but he’s been delayed, and now I have to step into his shoes.’
When Tor frowned, Britt spoke up. ‘We’re all attending the Christmas market in town.’
‘Okay.’ Tor looked confused.
‘It’s something the town has every year and we all become mainlanders for the day, and we sell all sorts of stuff. It’s great for those last Christmas presents if you have forgotten anyone,’ Britt said.
‘Apparently Jack was going to manage a food stall there, but now it’s been left up to me to deal with it,’ Holly said, smiling at him.
‘Yes, of course. Good luck,’ Tor said.
‘I hope we will see you there,’ Britt said.
‘Oh. Well, unfortunately I have conference calls most days.’
Britt smiled. ‘The market is open from two o’clock until six, when the last ferry leaves for the island. If you have the time, please come by. There will be lots of good food and drinks, and no pressure to buy anything.’
Holly studied Tor. He so clearly didn’t want to come, she almost felt sorry for him. But she was also a bit annoyed. ‘Well, if we see you, we see you,’ she said.
Tor nodded. ‘Right. Yes.’
He turned around, almost stepping on Frøy, who gave him a stare that could have curdled milk, and then rushed up the partway towards his house.
Britt looked at Holly. ‘He’s a strange one, isn’t he?’
‘He really is. Are all Norwegian men like him?’ Holly sighed.
‘Some of them are worse, to be honest.’ Britt turned towards her. ‘He likes you though.’
‘No, he doesn’t.’ Holly rolled her eyes. ‘He couldn’t care less about me.’
Britt laughed. ‘Oh, you are too adorable. He’s all hot and bothered by you. Take my word for it.’
Holly didn’t want to take any word for anything, certainly not concerning Tor. Still, she couldn’t help looking over her shoulder to see if Tor was still there. He wasn’t and she was annoyed she had looked.
Britt pulled up the hood of her jacket. ‘I have to stop by Alma’s. You want to come with? Might be a piece of cake in it for you.’
Holly shook her head. ‘I think I’ll be heading home. I’m a bit tired.’
‘Well, you better rest. See you Saturday, then. I’ll come by and pick you up.’
The short walk home soothed her nerves, rain and slush and all. Holly breathed in the clean and fresh air. They should really bottle it, she thought.
When she opened the gate to the house, she discovered a guest.
Frøy sat on the front step, licking his paw. He headbutted her hand when Holly bent down to pet him.
‘What are you doing here?’ Holly looked around to see if Tor was anywhere near. ‘Where’s your master? Or pet, depending on your point of view, I guess. I thought you guys went home.’
Frøy rubbed his face against her leg. Holly laughed. ‘Do you want to come inside? I haven’t had any guests and I’m sure Jack and Ninni wouldn’t mind.’
Holly opened the door and let Frøy in. He trotted inside, sniffing all the time. But he didn’t seem nervous or anything.
The first few minutes she left the door open in case he wanted to leave, but when it turned too cold, she closed it.
Somehow Frøy found his way into the kitchen and gave her a look that clearly told her treats were expected.
‘I have cookies,’ she said.
Frøy didn’t look impressed and Holly opened the fridge to see what was there. ‘I don’t really have anything you can eat, Frøy. Or any kind of cat food, really. I think there’s some dog food here, but you don’t want that, do you?’
Frøy stood on his hindlegs, and stuck his whole head into the fridge. Holly waited patiently while he sniffed for goodies.
‘Not sure jam is right for you, lovely,’ she said.
Then she remembered something, left him to the sniffing and opened one of the cupboard doors. ‘Right, there it is.’
Holly pulled out a tuna box and showed it to the cat. It was like finding a treasure. ‘What do you think?’
Frøy dropped down on all fours and trotted over to her.
‘I have no idea what it says on the label, to be honest, but I’m guessing tunfisk means tuna fish and also, there’s a picture of what I’m guessing is a tuna on the tin. All I have to do now is to see if it’s suitable for you. Tuna in oil or tomato is probably no good.’ Holly took the tin over to the sink and opened it by pulling the tab, getting tuna juice all over her fingers. She sighed with relief. Tuna in water was probably okay.
Frøy made a sound and she looked at him. ‘Wow, you speak.’
He kept mewing and pawing at her leg with one of his paws.
‘Hang on.’ Holly pulled off the rest of the lid and sat the tin down on the floor.
Frøy attacked it as if he had never eaten in his life. Holly laughed. ‘Doesn’t Tor feed you? I’m sure he does, you know.’
She sat at the table and checked her emails while Frø
y enjoyed his treat. Still nothing. She sighed with relief, and then got mad. Why didn’t they just give her the verdict so she could be done with this… this torture? Waiting like this was driving her bonkers.
Danny had sent her an email filled with fishing jokes, most of them so cheesy they were something their dad would have told. He also told her that they were doing fine and not to worry about either of them.
It lifted her spirits and reminded her she wasn’t alone in the world.
A bump on her leg made her look down. She knew cats didn’t smile – they weren’t dogs – but Frøy had a very smug look on his furry face. Holly patted the cushion next to her on the bench. He jumped up and easily took up half the space.
‘You are a funny one.’ Holly put her hand on him. The purring vibrated through the soft fur. ‘An after-snack nap. That’s actually a good idea.’
Even so, she didn’t move. How could you move when a cat decided to use you as a pillow? It would be rude, Holly thought.
She sent a response to Jocelyn, telling her about the fishing trip, but this time focusing on Tor. That would make her wonder, she thought, smiling to herself, and then she googled Tor’s name. Pictures popped up and she exclaimed in surprise.
‘Tor looks even better without a beard,’ she said to Frøy.
Truth be told, he looked gorgeous, especially when he was smiling. Holly enlarged the pictures. It was hard to see the resemblance between the man she had met and this smiley, happy man.
Whatever happened to him? There was nothing about his personal life that she could find and he wasn’t active on any of the social media platforms, or at least she couldn’t find him.
When she found his company’s page, there were links, but still nothing personal. Only business.
‘His friend looks nice,’ she said to Frøy.
Henrik had links to his personal sites. Lots of pictures of his kids and his wife. They looked happy and lovely.
‘Right. I’m so stalking now. I should be ashamed of myself,’ she informed the cat.
He rolled over and flicked his tale.
But she didn’t stop. She scrolled down and found pictures that Henrik had put up, pictures with Tor from the office, from parties. In one picture he had his arm around a woman. The smiles told her there had been love there at that point.