Margit Sandemo - The Ice People 28 - Ice and Fire

Then she climbed into bed and blew out the light, satisfied with the day in spite of everything.

Chapter 2

In the big dining room at Graastensholm, Vinga stood by the window and looked across the village. Her blonde hair had now turned white and her eyes weren’t quite as clear as they had once been. Her face had a trace of fatigue and sadness about it.

Heike went over to her. His big mane of hair had also grown white with a streak of steel blue in it. He had a wonderful beard that gave him a patriarchal appearance. He was still strapping and strong; his age was nonetheless apparent though he didn’t give it much thought. It was the year 1848: he was seventy-four and his Vinga was seventy-one.

“Are you standing there looking over to Elistrand again?” he asked gently.

“Yes. I know that we had no choice, but still it pains me to see how aggressive this Abrahamsen is. Look down there by the lake! There is yet another piece of land that’s going to be used for building.”

“Yes,” Heike said. “And there is nothing we can do about it. But you also know that Elistrand has a lot of land that can’t be cultivated, and as long as he keeps to that we’ll have to suffer in silence. But if he starts to encroach on the fields and meadows, then we can protest.”

“They’re bringing in the food now,” a somewhat gruff voice said behind them.

They turned around and sat down at the table. It was just the three of them: Heike, Vinga and their grandson, Viljar, now twenty-eight years old.

Viljar did not resemble the other members of the Ice People. Though he had dark features, like many of those before him, his darkness was different. It stemmed from Solveig and the people of Eldafjord. His black eyebrows and eyelashes emphasized his eyes, and his eyelids were starkly curved and also very dark. And in the midst of all this dark colouring his eyes were light blue, which wasn’t common among the Ice People.

His face was lean, and its distinctive features were emphasized by deep, vertical furrows in his cheeks and high cheekbones. He rarely smiled with his mouth, which was very manly but not particularly attractive due to its hardness. But he was undeniably handsome with his dark curls and erect posture! Still, most people were repulsed by him – his cold silence was simply terrifying.

Vinga dished up the soup – made with asparagus from the garden – and said, “I’ve heard that Mrs Abrahamsen’s sister has arrived at Elistrand to take care of the little girl.”

“I heard that as well,” Heike answered. “That will probably be good for the little one.”

Vinga was concerned. “They say she is a little slow on the uptake. Is it really wise to leave a baby girl in her care?”

“I don’t think she is ‘slow’ as you say. I saw her on the day she arrived. I’d rather call her naive. And there was something warm-hearted about her, I thought. Have you met her, Viljar?”

“I think I may have seen her and her sister a year ago. But it was so dark that evening. But, yes, she had a rather childish look in her eyes.”

“It’s lucky for her that an elderly woman lives in the house as well,” Vinga said. “Because I wouldn’t trust that man as far as I could throw him. They say he slept with the priest’s maid and several others, all while his wife was still living. And he has a way of looking at you, as though he’s assessing you like a brood animal. As though he’s trying to undress you with his eyes.”

No one took offence at Vinga’s frankness. That was the way she was – they had learned to live with it a long time ago.

“Like the time Christer undressed a whole ballroom down to their ankles?” Heike said, smiling.

“Oh, yes, that’s something I would like to have seen!” Vinga said, laughing.

Then she grew serious and gave a deep sigh. “They’re passing away, one after the other. First Erland, then Gunilla and now Tomas. Poor Tula! She’s taking it very badly!”

“Yes,” said Heike. “But she should be grateful that she was able to keep him for as long as she did. When I was in Sweden twelve years ago the signs were already clear.”

“We know it was because of you that he was able to live as long as he did,” Vinga said saucily. “So don’t sit there boasting! I’m just so worried about Tula. Christer and Magdalena asked her to go and live with them but she refused. It’s as though she has completely lost her desire to live. And she was the most vibrant of us all!”

Heike didn’t answer. His light amber eyes stared out into space. No one knew as much about Tula as he did, and he was deeply concerned for her.

Tula went her own way. Her only anchor in this world had been Tomas. What would erupt in Tula’s mind now, no one knew for certain. She was one of the cursed of the Ice People and there had always been a fine balance in her between good and evil ...

Now it was painfully clear to Heike which side she would choose after all those years of self-restraint ...

He stole a glance at Vinga. He himself was healthy and strong, he knew, but what about Vinga, the person he loved most in the world? Losing Elistrand had taken its toll on her: she felt she had betrayed her parents.

If only they didn’t have to hang on to this grey pile – the haunted castle Graastensholm had become! It was old and draughty and cost huge amounts of money in upkeep. It would have been better to live at Elistrand, but they couldn’t leave Graastensholm. Not while something remained hidden in the attic, something the Ice People desperately needed if they were ever to solve the riddle in the hidden valley way up north.

But the time had still not come. Heike didn’t know how many times he had attempted to reach that one corner of the attic. But every time he had been stopped as if by an invisible wall, and the warning had sounded deafening in his ears. It was enough that they had already lost too much in the Valley of the Ice People. And Heike was apparently not the one to take up the fight against Tengel the Evil.

This was something for which he was very grateful. The confrontations he had already had with that creature did not make him wish for more.

He pitied the poor soul who would have to stand face to face with their evil ancestor!

If it was ever going to happen, that is, for no one was certain.

But it was beginning to be urgent that they should discover the unknown phenomenon in the attic. Graastensholm would be unable to withstand the corrosion of time.

It was, of course, also problematic that the “grey people” were occupying the attic.

They wouldn’t leave Graastensholm until Heike was dead and gone.

More and more in recent years Heike regretted ever letting them in. It was true that they were helpful, but they also did more harm than good.

Still, only he and Vinga knew of the grey people’s existence. And Tula, of course, but she wasn’t there. Eskil had never known about them, and they had never mentioned anything to Viljar. He had no idea that the most astonishing and abominable creatures were sneaking around the house and keeping an eye on him, or that they watched over the stables and went about laughing when the master and mistress weren’t at home. They would warn Heike and Vinga of possible dangers and they helped with the chores, so although the servants weren’t aware of it directly, their overall workload was lessened.

But with the years they had grown not only lazier but more careless. Sometimes they would laugh right in Heike’s face. Then he would be overcome with fear about what he had done – how he had liberated them and exposed Graastensholm to their influence.

He knew that he ought to use the money he had received for Elistrand to restore Graastensholm.

But he postponed it time and again. He didn’t feel like patching up that old heap of rubbish, the sixteenth-century house with its hidden burden of deceased and infernal creatures. Hanged thieves and murderers that haunted the house, grotesque creatures of folklore, suicides and demons ...