by Linn Ullmann
“And I remember,” said Molly, “a sunny afternoon in the garden outside Isak’s house. We were running between the fruit trees. There were apple trees, weren’t there?”
“Yes, a couple,” said Laura.
“Yes,” said Molly. “I remember it being lots. Apple trees and plum trees and pear trees, but maybe I’ve imagined that? But anyway. We ran in and out among the trees. It was a hot day and I hardly had anything on. Probably just that blue dress. Yes. I had a blue dress that barely came down over my bottom. Do you two remember all that?”
“Yes,” said Erika.
“And you were both there,” said Molly, “and I was there and so was Ragnar. We ran in and out among the trees, shrieking and screaming. Yes. I don’t know how old we could have been. I was much younger than the rest of you, of course, but I remember this vividly. It was us three and Ragnar, and then Isak, too. Yes! Isak had got out a hose and he made a monster face and came toward us and we were shrieking and screaming and running in and out among the trees, and Isak said One-two-three I’m coming to get you and you can’t escape, and he sprayed us with water and we got soaked and shrieked and laughed and screamed. No, please don’t come and get us, Mr. Troll, please don’t! I got soaked and I held out my arms to Ragnar and Ragnar lifted me up, but I was too heavy for him so he passed me over to Isak, who hoisted me high in the air and spun me around. Yes! I remember it well.”
They were still standing at the window. Erika said: “I remember that day, too. I’ve even got a photograph in my album at home. But Ragnar wasn’t there. He never played with us like that. You’ve got it wrong. He isn’t in the picture.”
Molly smiled.
“Well, that must be because he was taking the picture, then,” she said. “I haven’t got it wrong. Ragnar was with us. We were all there together.”
Laura went back to the table with the tray of coffee and sandwiches. She took a gulp of coffee. It had gone cold.
“So,” she said.
Erika and Molly turned to face her.
“So,” she said again.
“What?” said Erika.
“It’s half past eight. Time we got going, don’t you think?”
“Can we get through in your car even if the snowplow hasn’t gone the whole way?” asked Erika.
“Yes, we can,” said Laura, getting ready to leave.
Erika went over to the sofa and folded up the blanket. She stacked the plates and cups on the tray and took it out to the woman at the desk.
“Are you off now?”
“Yes, we’re off,” said Erika, picking up the rucksack she had left with the woman and slinging it over one shoulder.
“Thank you for being so kind to me,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” said the woman. She looked at Erika. “And take care now,” she added.
Erika went back into the lounge and put on her boots, anorak, hat, and gloves. She turned to her sisters. They were already fully dressed.
“We shouldn’t just turn around and go back home, then?” she said.
Outside it was dark and white. There was still a light over the water. It was rare, said Erika, for it to last that long. Laura and Molly took the front seats and Erika got into the back. The rucksack and cases were in the trunk. Laura put the key in the ignition and started the car.
And then they drove the last little way to Isak’s house, cautiously, through the falling snow.
A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Linn Ullmann is a graduate of New York University, where she studied English literature and began work on a Ph.D. She returned to her native Oslo in 1990 to pursue a career in journalism. A prominent literary critic, she also writes a column for Norway’s leading morning newspaper and has published four novels. She lives in Oslo.
ALSO BY LINN ULLMANN
Grace
Stella Descending
Before You Sleep
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Translation copyright © 2008 by Sarah Death
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in Norway as Et velsignet barn by Forlaget Oktober, Oslo, in 2005. Copyright © 2005 by Forlaget Oktober AS, Oslo.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ullmann, Linn, [date]
[Velsignet barn. English]
A blessed child / by Linn Ullmann; translated from the Norwegian by Sarah Death.—1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Borzoi book.”
I. Death, Sarah. II. Title.
PT8951.31.l56V4513 2008
839.8'2374—dc22
2007046060
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
eISBN: 978-0-307-26953-9
v3.0