Holly sensed a sore spot. ‘You don’t get along with them?’
Tor shrugged. ‘There’s nothing wrong with any of them, they’re nice people, but I don’t fit in. They moved in together after I left for university, so it’s not like I grew up with any them. There’s not a strong bond or anything like that.’
‘That sounds sad. Jack always felt left out of our wider family, and he was a part of it from when he was five years old.’ Holly shook her head. ‘And he was right, too. They always made sure he wasn’t treated like Danny and me.’
‘Because his father was Norwegian?’
‘No, because my father treated him as if he was his. The rest of the family took offence. It’s nice to see him so happy now,’ Holly said.
‘It was different for me. My dad was always there and Mum’s partner was never a dad to me. He’s a good man and he makes my mum happy. That’s good enough for me.’
‘But you still don’t want to spend Christmas with them?’
‘Not really. It’s too… stiff, too formal, you know? I don’t feel comfortable.’
‘Meaning you don’t take Christmas that seriously?’
‘Let’s put it this way. If it wasn’t for you, I would have spent Christmas alone in the house with Frøy. And I would have been perfectly content with that.’
‘Good thing I rescued you from a lonely, sad Christmas, then,’ Holly said.
Tor chuckled. ‘Yes, I’m very lucky.’
They walked down towards the fork in the road, where they could see the school and Britt’s house. Holly pointed at the little white building behind the school. ‘Do you know what that is?’
‘Yes, it’s an old prayer house. It’s not like church or a chapel, it’s more like a meeting place for believers. You will find places like this in the valleys and on the islands, everywhere that’s a bit isolated from the bigger places.’
‘So, it used to be a church?’
‘Not an actual church. People would have services there, arranged by themselves or some of the many mission organisations that use to exist in this country. When people needed a minister, he would come from the mainland. Or at least, I think that’s how it worked. I’ve never actually been in a prayer house,’ Tor said, smiling at her.
Holly looked at the little house. ‘It’s a lovely building, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, you will find houses in the same style all along the coast. They are all built in more or less the same way, and they are all white.’
‘If they don’t use it as a prayer house now, then what is it for?’
‘I wouldn’t know. Not an islander, remember?’ Tor teased her.
Holly raised her eyebrows. ‘And here I thought you knew everything.’
‘Whatever gave you that impression?’ Tor said.
Holly laughed. ‘That’s funny.’
‘I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.’ He lifted her hand and kissed it. ‘You should always be happy.’
‘Nobody is always happy, Tor. That would be exhausting, I think.’
‘Yes, but you know what I mean.’
She could see the roof of Ninni and Jack's house when they stopped again. Further out, she spotted the harbour.
‘It must have been daunting to live here year round, back before mobile phones and electricity,’ she said.
‘How?’ Tor pulled her away from a puddle in the road.
‘Alma said that they would be cut off during storms. No contact with the mainland. Nowadays that wouldn’t happen as you can always get in touch with someone, but when people lived here before, there must have been times when they felt as if the rest of the world didn’t exist.’
Tor frowned. ‘That’s very dark, Holly. I think you have a touch of Åsgårdsreia,’ he said.
‘The what now?’
‘“The Wild Hunt”, I think is the proper translation. It was the belief that on Christmas Eve, the souls of the dead, together with goblins, witches and demons – the underground people is what we call them – would fly through the night, chasing each other. And everyone caught outside would be captured and brought to the underworld. It was a tradition that everyone on the farm would sleep on the floor in the main house, and keep the lights going all night.’
‘You guys have some ghoulish stories, Tor.’
‘It’s the darkness,’ he said, grinning at her. ‘People had to entertain themselves during the long winters, and scary stories have always been a hit.’
Holly became aware of the darkness engulfing them as clouds rolled in, hiding the stars and making it even darker. From the little prayer house, bells suddenly rang out. It was such a surprising sound. She looked at Tor.
‘It’s five o’clock,’ Tor said. ‘They’re ringing in Christmas, or is it chiming? Not sure what the right word is, I’m afraid. Anyway, it’s time for Christmas peace. Everything is closed now, more or less, all over the country, and people have retreated into their houses. If you were in any of our towns or villages now, you would be hard pressed to see anyone.’
Holly laughed. ‘Sounds to me you’re all still wary of the Wild Hunt. I’m not even going to try to say that in Norwegian.’
‘Maybe. Or we’re just trying to keep the dark at bay. Look.’
He was pointing at the lights in the windows of the houses, the fairy lights over the door and windows at the big sea house, and also the lights where people had decorated garden fences, front doors, and even brushes.
‘See? We don’t curse the darkness, we put up lights. It’s peaceful and cosy, and it makes us feel safe.’
‘It’s the hygge thing again, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, but we don’t call it that. We say cosy or koselig.’
‘Isn’t that the same?’
Tor nodded. ‘I guess so. We use koselig the way the Danish use hygge. I’m not sure the Danes ever use the word koselig. I never thought about that,’ he said.
Holly leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘I like it.’
When they approached Ninni and Jack's house, the door swung open. Frøy kept close to Holly, his yellow eyes glowing in the dark.
Jack poked his head outside. ‘Ah, there you are. Ehm, I need some help with a few things. Tor, can you carry stuff?’
‘Yes, of course I can.’ Tor lifted the bag he was holding, as if to demonstrate his carrying abilities. ‘What do you need?’
Jack disappeared inside and came out with what looked like the entire inside of the house. ‘Here’s the Christmas presents. I’ll take the food and Ninni will take Rosie.’
Holly looked at the bags. ‘All of these are presents?’
‘No, not all. We’re leaving everything from our side here to be opened tomorrow. You know, so we can have a proper Christmas,’ Jack said, grinning at her. ‘Ninni also brought your presents from your room. Only the gifts for the islanders, and of course some of ours. You might want to help him, you know. The poor man might buckle under the strain.’
Holly took a few of the bags. ‘This is a proper party, isn’t it?’
‘You haven’t seen anything yet,’ Jack said, looking so pleased with himself that Holly had to swallow a lump in her throat.
Frikk came bouncing out of the house, barely sniffed Frøy, then took off ahead of them. Finally they were all outside. Ninni had Rosie on her hip, the little girl waving at everyone.
‘Have we remembered everything?’ Ninni said.
Jack smiled. ‘If we haven’t it’s not really that far to go back and get it.’
‘You’re right. Of course it isn’t.’ Ninni smiled at Holly. ‘I hope you’ll enjoy it, though.’
‘I’m sure I will.’
Holly had a small feeling of trepidation in the pit of her stomach when they walked towards the shop. They didn’t go in, of course – it was closed, as Tor had said – instead they walked around to the back, to the entrance to the attached house.
‘Oh, that’s nice,’ Holly said.
Torches had been put into the ground all the way up to the door th
at was decorated with a huge wreath, complete with colourful bows and lights. It made her smile.
Ninni knocked on the door and someone immediately opened it.
‘You’re just in time for the kitchen drama. Jack, we need you.’ Britt pulled him inside. ‘The rest of you can sort yourself out, right?’
Ninni rolled her eyes. ‘Go, go. We’ll be fine. Just leave us enough room to get inside, will you?’
Somehow they managed to take off all the wintery clothes and enter the rest of the house dressed for the fancy part of the evening. Holly smiled when Ninni took the snow suit off Rosie. The dress she was wearing was one she had bought her niece for her birthday.
‘I can’t believe it still fits her,’ she said, delighted.
Ninni straightened the bow she had put in Rosie’s curls. ‘Of course it does. In a few months, not so much, I’m afraid. It’s so lovely, Holly.’
It was green and sparkly, and had a teddy bear on the front. Rosie pointed at it and said something not so clear. ‘Yes, it’s your bjørn. Come on, baby. Let’s find Jens,’ Ninni said.
The house smelled… interesting. ‘That’s definitely not roast or turkey,’ Holly whispered to Tor.
‘Stick meat,’ he said, laughing when she frowned at him. ‘It’s smoked lambs rib. Trust me, you’re going to love it.’
They followed Ninni and Rosie into the lounge, where Jens was sitting in a deep chair with Ole on his knee. Ninni put Rosie down on the floor and she headed for Jens with one of her happy squeals.
‘There’s my girl,’ he said and put her up on his other knee.
Tor found places for them on the sofa, and pulled her down next to him, while Ninni went to check on what was happening in the kitchen.
‘This is lovely,’ Holly said.
She looked around. There was a fire in a huge fireplace, which Frøy had curled up in front of while Frikk snuck under the table. In one part of the room a Christmas tree almost reached the ceiling, decorated with long, thin strips of silver tinsel along with bulbs in all sorts of colours. Some look really old, Holly thought. The lights were different to what she was used to. Instead of the tiny LED lights, they looked like white candle lights, giving the tree an old-fashioned look. A sparkly star in the top completed the look.
Holly caught Jens looking at her. ‘The tree is so lovely,’ she said.
‘We like a good Christmas tree, Alma and I.’ He pointed at the table. ‘Help yourself to the goodies. But not too many. We’re having dinner soon. And god help us all if we don’t eat,’ he said, with a huge smile on his face.
On the table there were all sorts of bowls and plates, almost spilling over with cakes, cookies, and sweets. A big box of confectionery chocolate stood in the middle.
Tor leaned over and helped himself to a cookie covered in sugar and almond shavings. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘I mean, really good.’
Holly looked at him. ‘What is it?’
‘I’m not sure, actually. I’ve never had these before,’ Tor said. He looked at Jens.
Jens smiled. ‘They are called Jewish cakes. It’s an old recipe and very common here on the west coast. Try it, Holly. Unless you’re allergic to almonds?’
‘She’s not,’ Tor said, breaking the cake in half, and handing it to Holly. ‘She had the kransekake in town and marzipan yesterday, remember?’
Holly took a bite and nodded. ‘Really good. Almost like shortbread.’
‘According to tradition there has to be seven different types of Christmas bakes,’ Jens said. ‘Alma likes to bake, so we always have more. Hence the assortment.’
He was interrupted by Rosie showing him her bow. ‘Yes, my sweet. It’s lovely and looks a lot better on you than it will on me.’
Rosie waved her hand and Holly picked up a small doughnut, and handed it to her.
She took one for herself and sniffed it before taking a bite. ‘These are insanely good. Alma made these too?’
‘Oh, yes. She starts in the beginning of December and so it goes on. It’s a wonder I’m not as big as this house,’ Jens said.
Holly caught Ole staring at the tree – not at the decorations, but at the piles of presents underneath it. Ole said something to Jens and pointed at the tree.
Holly turned to Tor. ‘He’s asking when Nissen is coming,’ he said. ‘Santa, I mean, and Jens is reminding him he won’t come until after dinner.’
‘Santa is coming here?’ Holly looked at Jens for confirmation, and he nodded.
‘He’ll be here after dinner to hand out presents for everyone. Like he does every Christmas.’
Tor smiled. ‘I remember that. The adults would sit at the dinner table, eating, drinking and talking as if they would never finish, while all the children waited for Santa to deliver the presents. It was exhausting.’
‘You were lucky. If Holly was home, she wouldn’t get her gifts until tomorrow morning, isn’t that right, Holly?’ Jens beamed at her.
‘Oh, yes. My little brother and I would wake up at five o’clock in the morning and sneak down to the lounge to rip up every gift there was. My dad put a stop to it by sleeping in the lounge and from then on we had to wait until eight o’clock. But we kept opening the door and peeping in. I don’t think he got much sleep.’
Jens translated to Ole and the little boy gaped at her.
‘Here.’ Tor handed her another cookie, a diamond-shaped thin cake with a white almond in the middle.
‘What is it?’
‘I’m pretty sure it’s made with golden syrup. They’re called syrup snips.’
Some kind of gingerbread, Holly thought. Good, but not as good as those little doughnuts.
‘I’m going to be full before dinner if I don’t watch it,’ she said to Tor.
He handed her a small sandwich cookie with pink filling. ‘Try this.’
Holly popped it in her mouth. ‘So good. What are they?’
Tor shook his head. ‘No idea. My mum would buy our cookies at the supermarket, and all we wanted was marzipan anyway.’
They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing, startling Rosie who burst into tears. Frikk scrambled out from under the table and ran out of the lounge.
Ninni came out from the kitchen and picked up Rosie.
From the hallway came the sound of heavy objects hitting the floor and then someone muttering something Holly was pretty sure was swearing.
Ninni lit up in a huge smile. ‘Come on, Rosie. Guess who has finally arrived.’
She went out into the hallway and Rosie’s crying instantly turned into happy squeals.
A man came in, nodding at Jens who lit up when he saw him. He held Rosie with one hand and she had her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
‘Lovely to see you, Petter. Say hello to Holly, Jack's sister, and to Tor, Holly’s friend. He’s been staying on the island for the last few weeks,’ Jens said.
Tor stood to shake Petter’s hand. ‘Hello,’ he said.
Holly did the same. ‘Nice to meet you,’ she said.
‘And you. How are you doing out here?’ Petter asked.
‘I haven’t been blown off the island yet,’ Holly said.
Petter laughed. ‘Good for you.’
He sat in one of the other chairs, and Rosie immediately held onto his knee. Frikk claimed the other knee, staring adoringly at Petter.
Frøy hadn’t moved from the fireplace.
Holly could hear laughter from the kitchen as Jens and Petter started talking rapidly in Norwegian.
Holly looked at Rosie leaning her head on Petters’s arm. She looked so happy. It made her a bit sad that her own father was missing out.
‘Holly, we need your help,’ Ninni said with a huge smile, interrupting Holly’s thoughts.
Chapter Twenty-Five
In the kitchen Britt and Sigrid sat by the table, chatting over an array of beer bottles. At the stove, Alma and Jack were having what looked like a heated discussion about something.
Britt pulled out a chair and Holly sat. ‘Are
they speaking only Norwegian in there?’
‘Mostly,’ Holly said. ‘Is there anything I can do?’
‘Yes, you can sit here and tell me what you think of my Christmas beer. I can tell you that some people don’t appreciate good beer when they drink it. Here, taste this.’
She handed Holly a bottle.
Holly took a swig and let it roll for a second in her mouth.
‘It’s sweet and with a hint of orange and honey, I think,’ Holly said. ‘Like dark ale?’
‘Pretty much. Jack claims it’s too sweet.’
Holly took another swig. ‘No, not really. It’s lovely, actually.’
‘I would use it in a stew,’ Jack said.
‘That’s an insult. My good beer is not to be sloshed away on a sauce for meat,’ Britt said.
‘May I taste it?’ Tor sat next to Ninni. ‘I love Christmas beer.’
Britt handed him a bottle. ‘Don’t drink it all at once. It’s perfect with dinner.’
Tor tasted it and smiled. ‘It’s really good. You made this?’
‘Of course. If you weren’t such a hermit, you could have tasted it weeks ago.’
Tor winked at Holly and turned to Britt. ‘Did you know that they have been brewing beer here since the Vikings, and that it used to be illegal not to make beer for Christmas?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Britt said, rolling her eyes. ‘Every larger farm had to brew their own beer or face fines. As if anyone needed to be punished into brewing.’
Alma interrupted her. ‘Dinner is ready. Don’t blame me for the mash, that’s all Jack's fault. He insisted on mixing carrots and swedes, and added horseradish.’
‘I did that because it’s delicious, and I stand by it,’ Jack said, smiling broadly at her.
‘Well, that’s true, it’s delicious, but it’s not traditional,’ Alma said.
‘I for one, am starving and if you don’t feed me soon, I’ll fight Frikk for his dinner,’ Britt said.
‘We have to wait for Olav and the girls before we sit,’ Sigrid said. ‘They’ll be here any minute.’
As if on cue, the doorbell rang again and Frikk barked, followed by excited voices.
Christmas Island Page 23