Margit Sandemo - The Ice People 40 - Imprisoned by time

“I am,” he answered with the serenity of a patriarch. “Here we are, a small select group, come to meet you: Sol ... Dida ... Heike ... the Wanderer ... Ulvehedin, Shira and Mar. And Linde-Lou, who is Nataniel’s helper.”

“And ... what about mine?” Tova asked, as defensive and aggressive as before.

“Gand is on his way. It just takes him a little longer.”

“Not Imre?”

“No, Imre has withdrawn. But he will stand by your side when the time comes.”

“Bah, that old greybeard. He was already an adult in 1910, when Christa was born!”

They looked at her with gentle, sad eyes but said nothing. Tova attempted desparately to maintain her aggressive attitude, but she sensed the power emanating from them. Oh, no, she thought angrily, don’t think you’ll get me over to your side just by looking at me with your sorrowful eyes. I won’t fall for that one!

No one knows my inner thoughts, she continued, thinking to herself. No one knows what I intend to do when the showdown comes. No one knows whom I really serve!

But when she saw their scrutinizing gaze, she lowered her eyes.

Then Heike, the authoritative, grotesquely attractive, ugly man, began to speak. “We know your problem. And Tova, I want you to know this: Ulvehedin and I and many others before us have fought the same battle you’re fighting. Evil attracts you more than goodness does. But we’ve chosen the difficult path of goodness and have never regretted it.”

Tova was silent, but Nataniel had an idea of what she might be thinking.

“I was probably the worst of them,” Ulvehedin interjected. “To this very day I can’t fathom how Villemo and Elisa and the others managed to lure me over to the right side. I was like a wild animal. Love was probably the decisive factor. Elisa’s love. I understand you, Tova. The only thing we can hope for is that you, too, will someday encounter love. And that it will happen to you soon!”

“That’s easy enough for you to say,” she exclaimed. “You’re a man and don’t have to think so much about your looks. Girls always fall for men anyway. But have you ever heard of a man falling for an utterly hopeless-looking woman? How did Hanna fare, I wonder? And don’t tell me that men don’t care about appearances, because I won’t buy that. Experience has already taught me that much.”

“There, there,” Heike smiled. “Though I’ll admit that your battle is twice as hard. Have you ever considered that a kind and gentle disposition makes people forget a person’s appearance, however repulsive?”

“Ha,” Tova snorted. “I couldn’t care less about my appearance, as long as I have a strong and robust mind. That’s the most important thing for ...”

All at once the cemetery was lit up by a faint glow. The spirits retreated and greeted an ethereally handsome young man with dark red, shiny curls and a posture that conveyed his superior status.

Tova felt an unbearable sense of sorrow envelop her heart.

Gand smiled at her. “Do you think you could make do with me as Imre’s replacement?”

She had to swallow in order to prevent the tears from trickling down her cheeks. Her jaws were tightly clenched.

“Well, there you are!” she said vehemently. “So are you supposed to ‘protect’ me? That won’t be easy for you!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll become friends soon enough,” he said calmly, still smiling kindly at her.

“No ... we won’t ... ever,” she blurted out, and then she just couldn’t stand it any longer. She spun on her heels and rushed away as fast as her short legs would carry her, tears streaming down her face.

“That jerk,” she sobbed furiously. “He’s not to think he’s anything special, just because he’s handsome and has a gentle voice. He’s not to think that he can win me over. And if he thinks I’m going to fall for him he can think again! I want a man who tears me apart body and soul, who frightens and dominates me and whips me mentally and ...”

There was just the small problem that Gand actually lived up to all her requirements, because there was no denying his air of utter authority.

“Damn!” Tova sniffed “Damn! Damn! I don’t want to see Nataniel anymore, either! Because he’ll just make more of an effort than before to get me on the narrow path of virtue. And now he’s got all those stick-in-the-muds to support him! But it’s not going to be that easy for him! For little Tova is going to stage an outright rebellion, and then they’ll see who her real ally is!”

Nataniel stood alone in the cemetery surrounded by the spirits of his ancestors. He sighed.

“We can see that things aren’t easy for you,” said Tengel the Good. “But don’t give up. That little girl could turn into a treacherous enemy if she gets into the claws of Tengel the Evil. But I don’t think that he’s discovered her yet.”

“Hold her at bay,” Sol warned him. “You know that when the time comes you’ll be fighting an inhuman battle.”

“Yes, and when will it be?” Nataniel asked.

“Gand has asked us to wait.”

“I’ll be sure to tell you,” said Gand.

“And you need more time, Nataniel,” said Ulvhedin with a concerned look on his face. “You need more strength and self-confidence. You’re much too sensitive.”

“I know,” he said, nodding. “And I’ve never properly tested my resources. A week in a burial chamber isn’t enough to show how much resistance I have.”

“No, it isn’t,” Dida admitted. “You’ve shown that you can handle a difficult situation without panicking. You also have the empathy required when facing suffering souls. But there is still a long way to go.”

Nataniel thought for a moment. “My friend and relative, Rikard, has asked me to solve a case in Western Norway. He’s a police officer, as you know, and Tova’s father. Do you think I should take it on?”

“Why not?” asked Tengel the Good. “Whatever can toughen you up will be useful to you. And take Tova along with you – you shouldn’t let her out of your sight for too long.”

Nataniel wasn’t pleased to hear that. He had other plans, but he nodded anyway. “I’ll be sure to take Tova along.”

“Excellent,” said Tengel. “And when the time has come for the big battle we’ll let you know, as we’ve promised.”

Then all the figures faded away, and before Nataniel could manage to say thank you he suddenly found himself all alone in the cemetery.

So he took Tova with him to Western Norway. But all this had happened before he woke up from the dream full of floating, sorrowful faces and Tova’s cry of despair.

First, they had to get through the frightening events concerning Stella.

Chapter 2

Way out in the Norwegian Sea, beyond the country’s farthest outposts, there is a spit that for ages has been a notorious ship graveyard. Dangerous currents run around it, and ships that sail too close are often tossed by the foaming breakers onto the cliffs that comprise the outer edge of the spit. A small lighthouse on the top sends out little warning signals, but it is seldom that anyone ever looks in that direction after dark. For the wind that howls through the crevices in the cliffs sounds like the fearful cries of sailors, and the sharp rocks that protrude from the breakers look like the remains of shattered shipwrecks. The place is haunted by all the ghosts of the drowned and the bodies washed ashore, and even on calm days skippers are afraid to approach the headland, because they may be paid an unexpected visit ...

And having a ghost on board is the worst thing that can possibly happen to a ship.

In fact, from Nataniel’s perspective the whole affair started much earlier, with that frightening old ferry. Long before he had ever even heard of Ellen. But back then he would never have been able to guess that he himself might one day get mixed up in that case.