by Samuel Bjork
The police had spent several days in the area, and then they appeared to have finished and they left again. The cordons down the road had also been removed, and some of the journalists came to their house and rang the doorbell, but his mother did not let them in. Tobias was convinced that she really wanted to, he believed some of them had offered a lot of money, but the senior police officer, Holger, the fat one with the beard and the nice eyes, had been very strict.
Now, Tobias had been planning this trip for a long time, and his timing was perfect. He was off from school, and for once his younger brother wasn’t at home. When he was ready, he put on his knapsack and crept out the back door without making a sound.
He’d been to Litjønna before, so he knew the route, but he’d packed the map and the compass just to be on the safe side. He might decide to make a detour along the way. Matches? Had he remembered the matches? He took off the knapsack and checked the side pockets. Yes, there they were. Matches were important. The nights would be cold without a campfire. Not that he intended to be gone all night, but you never knew. He might decide to stay in the forest and never return to this gloomy house. How about that? Never go back. That would serve them right. It was a silly idea, and he knew it. His younger brother would be back tomorrow. Tobias loved being with his brother, but it was nice to have some time to himself.
Tobias put the knapsack on again and closed the door softly behind him. The fresh spring air struck him outside in the yard. He moved quickly across the open terrain and entered the forest. He chose a different route from his usual one so that he did not have to pass their homemade hut or the place where they’d found the girl. He didn’t want to think about that right now, he did not want to feel scared again, he had to be tough now, he was on his own and embarking on an expedition, he could not afford to be scared. Tobias chose the route along the river until he reached a path he could follow quite a long way into the forest. When he’d been walking for about an hour, he took off his knapsack and ate some breakfast. It was important to keep his energy levels up, and he hadn’t wanted to make any noise in the kitchen back home. The forest was nice and dry; it had not been raining for a while. He sat down on a tree stump and enjoyed the view while he munched his sandwich and drank some juice from a bottle he’d packed. Tobias loved spring. Seeing winter release its grip, it felt as if fresh possibilities opened up, another chance that something new would happen, that the world would be different. He had often thought that New Year’s Eve ought to be in spring, not in the middle of winter. The day after December 31 was never any different, but in spring everything was different. The beautiful green of newly opened leaves on the trees, flowers and plants growing on the forest floor, the birds coming back to chirp between the branches. Tobias finished his breakfast and hummed softly as he carried on with his journey toward the ridge. He had promised himself to find out more about the Christian girls, no more making stuff up, but discover for himself what was really going on, and finally he was on his way. He began to regret not having packed his book, in case he decided to stay the night. It would be nice to sit by the campfire reading, right in the middle of the forest. He had started the next book on Emilie’s list; he had already finished Lord of the Flies, he had raced through it and swallowed every word. He didn’t know if he had understood all of it, but that made no difference. It had been good. It had made him happy. The new book was more difficult to read: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It was in a more adult language, and Emilie had said that if he found it too difficult to just swap it for another one, but he intended to read all of it. It was very exciting so far. The book was about a Native American, Chief Bromden, who had been admitted to a hospital he could not leave. The boss, a woman, was incredibly strict, a proper witch. Chief Bromden pretended to be a deaf-mute, someone who could not hear or say anything in order to . . . Well, Tobias wasn’t quite sure exactly why Chief Bromden was behaving like this, but the book was exciting all the same. He should have brought it. Leaving it behind had been a mistake.
At the top of the ridge, he had a better view of the landscape. He could make out Litjønna in the distance. Another hour or two, perhaps, and he would be there. Tobias realized he was looking forward to it, but he also had a lurching feeling in his stomach. Everyone was talking about the Christians, but nobody knew anything about them. What if they were dangerous? Or not dangerous, but perhaps they didn’t like visitors? On the other hand, what if they were really nice? Perhaps they would welcome him with open arms and give him chicken and fizzy drinks and he would make a lot of new friends, and maybe they would want him to stay there, and perhaps Torben could come, too, and everything would be all right, just like snapping your fingers and all your problems would be solved in an instant.
It was probably best not to approach them immediately. After all, you never could tell. Perhaps he should set up camp some distance away, in a place with a view. Lie on the ground with his binoculars, perhaps camouflage his body, so he could spy on them. Pick his moment.
He smiled to himself. That was a good plan. Set up camp where he had a view. Do some spying. He should have brought his book, he should definitely have done that, but it was too late to turn around now. He would have to be the Indian instead. Chief Tobias Bromden on a secret mission.
It had grown a little warmer. The sun was peeping out from behind a cloud, almost lighting up the path in front of him—that was a good sign. Tobias took off his jacket, put it in his knapsack, and continued his hike through the forest.
He didn’t see the fence until he was just a short distance away from it. He must have been lost in a world of his own. His mind had been filled with camouflage and camping. He had visited this farm before and knew of a good location for watching it. He’d heard that the town had sold the old farm and the land that belonged to it. The town had used the farm as a facility for drug addicts, where they could do farming jobs and go for walks in the forest and so on, because it was supposed to do them good. But then the town had run out of money or decided to spend it on something else or something Tobias didn’t really understand, but the upshot was that the place for drug addicts had been closed down. The farm had been empty for a while. And now some Christians had bought it. Tobias had been there twice before, once when the junkies were staying there and once when it had been uninhabited. He’d been there with Jon-Marius, his best friend, who sadly had moved to Sweden with his mother in the middle of sixth grade. Anyway, they had found the perfect place from which to do their spying, a mound not far from the farm with a good view of most things that were going on.
But he did not remember this fence, and now he had almost walked right into it. A mesh fence, the kind that ought to have barbed wire running along the top. Tobias quickly stepped back and hid behind the trees while he took a good look at this unexpected obstacle. There was no barbed wire on the top, but it was high. Much taller than him, more than twice his height. The fence looked brand new. As if it had just been put up. Tobias looked at the top of the fence and sized it up. He could probably scale it, but not without being spotted. He could see it now, the farm far behind it. Strange things had happened there; the farm had changed almost beyond recognition. They had put up new buildings. Extended outward and upward so it no longer looked like a farmhouse but more like a small church. It had a spire, and was that a greenhouse next to it? He shielded his eyes with his hand, but he could not see that far. The area between the fence and the building was open and offered few places to hide. The mound from which he was going to do his spying lay on the other side. In order to reach it, he would have to follow the new fence all the way around. It would be much quicker to climb it, but having reviewed his options, he decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Not that he thought the people behind the fence wouldn’t be nice, but even so. What would he say if he were caught? And after all, he had found a small girl in a doll’s dress hanging from a tree with a sign around her neck, not so far from here, so perhaps it was best to err on the si
de of caution.
He could always walk home again; that was another option. He had seen something now. They’d built a new house and put up a fence. A kind of Christian campsite. That would be worth telling people about. Tobias briefly considered turning back, but his curiosity was greater than his fear. It would be exciting to have more to tell. He might catch a glimpse of the people living there. He wandered back into the forest. Enough for the trees to hide him, but he could still see the fence. It looked as if the shortest distance would involve going around to the left—he could make out the edge of the fence there; to his right it simply carried on, and he couldn’t estimate how far the walk would be in that direction. Tobias pulled up the hood of his hoodie and contemplated his next move. Hiding inside the hoodie felt good. It also added to the excitement. He was a secret agent on a mission. With a knife and a flashlight in his knapsack and a riddle to solve. He crouched, made himself as small as he could, and followed the fence through the woods. Tobias moved as quietly as possible, in short sprints. He would lean forward, half run through the forest for a few hundred meters before throwing himself to the ground and checking out the terrain. No one in sight. Someone had dug a hole inside the fenced-off area. Tobias could see a vehicle now, a tractor parked farther away. He repeated his maneuver. Crouched down, half ran, found a suitable spot, and threw himself on the heather. This time he got a slightly better view. He’d been right, it was a greenhouse—two, in fact, both fairly big. Tobias knew that the children who lived there did not go to school. Perhaps they did not go to the shops either? Perhaps they grew all their own food, so they never had to go anywhere? He eased out his binoculars from the knapsack. He could see the greenhouses very clearly now. And the tractor. An old, green Massey Ferguson.
Tobias’s heart started to pound as a person appeared in the binoculars. A man. No, a woman. Wearing a gray dress with something white on her head. She went inside one of the greenhouses. Then she was gone. He scanned the area with the binoculars again, trying to spot more people, but everything had gone quiet. He dropped the binoculars, let them dangle from the strap around his neck, and got to his feet. Risked running a longer distance. This time he could not wait to get to a higher vantage point—his fear had completely evaporated, his curiosity had gotten the better of him now. He threw himself on the heather again as the door to the greenhouse opened and someone appeared, two people this time. The same woman and . . . ? He adjusted the binoculars in order to see better. A man. A woman and a man. The man was also wearing gray clothes but had nothing on his head. Perhaps only the women had to wear something on their heads. That would make a good story, wouldn’t it? All the women wear white hats while the men have nothing. No, maybe not. After all, what did it mean? He had to get closer. This was nothing.
Tobias had just sat up again, ready to run the next stretch, when he suddenly noticed the girl behind the fence. He was so surprised that he completely forgot to throw himself to the ground; he just stood there, right in front of her, without moving. She was around his age, maybe a little younger. She was dressed just like the woman by the greenhouse, in a thick, gray woolen dress with a white bonnet on her head. She was kneeling in a vegetable patch. It looked as if she was pulling up weeds. Perhaps they grew carrots in the vegetable beds, or lettuce or something, it was hard to tell. Tobias squatted on his haunches and made himself a little more invisible. The girl sat up and straightened her back. Brushed dust off her knees. She looked weary. She was not far away from him, perhaps only ten meters. Tobias held his breath while the girl knelt on the ground again and continued weeding. She touched her neck and wiped her forehead. Tobias completely forgot that he was a spy and that he had to remain unseen. The girl looked so tired and thirsty. What would be the harm in offering her a drink? After all, he had a big bottle of water in his knapsack.
Tobias cleared his throat. The girl went on weeding without noticing him. Tobias glanced around and spotted a couple of old pinecones on the ground. Carefully, he threw one of them in her direction, but it didn’t get very far, didn’t even reach the fence. He half rose, threw the second cone harder, and this time he succeeded. He hit the middle section of the fence, and it rang out. The sound was far too loud, and he regretted it immediately, threw himself on the heather, and lay as still as he could.
When he looked up again, the girl was standing near the fence. She had heard the sound. She was looking at him. He could see her eyes. She was looking straight at him. Tobias placed his finger in front of his lips. Shhh. The girl was very surprised, but even so, she obeyed his instruction and said nothing. She looked around. First to one side, then to the other. Then she nodded cautiously. Tobias looked around, too, and moved closer to the fence. He opened his knapsack, took out the water bottle, slipped it under the fence, and swiftly retreated to his hiding place. The girl in the gray dress glanced around again. There was no one in sight. She quickly got up, ran to the water bottle, snatched it, hid it in the folds of her dress, and raced back to the patch she’d been weeding. Tobias saw her unscrew the cap and drink practically the whole bottle. She must be very thirsty. The girl with the white bonnet kept looking around. She seemed nervous. Frightened that someone might come. Tobias’s courage grew, and he walked all the way up to the fence. The girl also came closer, quietly, but she kept looking over her shoulder. He could see her face more clearly now. She had blue eyes and many freckles. Her strange bonnet and heavy dress made her look almost like an old lady, but she wasn’t. If she’d been wearing ordinary clothes, she would have looked just like the other girls in his class. The girl held up the bottle to him as if to ask him whether he wanted it back. Tobias shook his head. The girl knelt down and took out something from the pocket of her dress. It was a notepad and a small pencil. She wrote something on a piece of paper and folded it carefully. Then she got up, half ran to the fence, and stuck the paper through it. She glanced around nervously and ran just as quickly back to her original position and went on pulling up weeds. Tobias elbowed his way to the fence to take the paper. He crawled back and opened it. “Thank you,” it said. He looked at the girl and smiled. He tried to work out how to signal “You’re welcome” without speaking, but it was far from easy. The girl glanced over her shoulder and wrote something else. She ran to the fence again, except this time she did not fold the piece of paper, but left the whole notepad and the pencil by the fence. Tobias hastily crouched down and made his way back to the fence, took the notepad and the pencil, and returned to his hiding place. “My name is Rakel,” it said on the notepad. “I am not allowed to talk. What is your name?” Tobias looked toward the girl. Not allowed to talk? What kind of rule was that? And why had she been so thirsty? And why was she out here all alone? Tobias thought about it and wrote a reply. “My name is Tobias. Do you live here? Why can’t you talk?” He crept back to the fence with the notepad and resumed his position. Writing “Do you live here?” might have been a bit stupid, because she obviously did, it was plain to see, but he hadn’t known what else to write. The girl smiled slightly when she saw the notepad and wrote a speedy reply. She was still very wary. She glanced over her shoulder several times before she risked passing the new message through the fence. “I live here. Lux Domus. Can’t tell you why (not talking).” She tried to signal something with her hands when he had read the note. As if she wanted to add something but did not know how. Tobias smiled to her and wrote a reply back. “I live at the edge of this forest. We are neighbors.” He added a smiley face. Then he wrote, “What does Lux Domus mean?” The girl got the notepad back. Again she smiled faintly. After a fresh check to make sure that no one was watching her, she wrote her reply and ran to the fence to leave the notepad there before running back to the vegetable bed. “Lux Domus = House of Light. It’s very kind of you to help me. Thank you.” Tobias frowned at the second half of her message. He did not think he’d done that much to help her. All he’d done was give her some water. He wondered what to write back. Words seemed really important now that he was
n’t allowed to say them out loud. He had to think very carefully. He chewed the pencil for a while before he realized what he wanted to write. “Do you need any more help?” he wrote, and slipped the notepad through the fence.
Suddenly something happened up by the main house. The girl glanced uneasily over her shoulder and wrote another fast reply. She tore off the paper this time and folded it as she had done with her first message. People were coming now, several were emerging from the house, quite a few. It looked as if they had just finished something inside the church. The girl got up swiftly and pushed the note for him through the fence. Now Tobias could hear voices as well. They were calling her name.
“Rakel!”
He could no longer see her eyes, as she had bowed her head now. She picked up the hoe and walked quietly toward the voices calling her. Tobias lay completely still, too scared to move before the crowd had dispersed. Once the girl joined them, everyone went inside one of the greenhouses. Once more the farm was silent. Tobias emerged from his hiding place to pick up the final note. He stuffed it into his pocket and didn’t take it out until he’d found a better hiding place, deeper inside the forest. His fingers were trembling as he unfolded the paper. He had a shock when he saw what she had written.