Margit Sandemo - The Ice People 22 - The Demon and the Virgin

“I don’t think I want to do that. I’m afraid I might burst into tears.”

Heike asked: “Is there anything wrong with that? After all, we all need to cry from time to time.”

She wondered whether he ever did. He must certainly have had many reasons to do so.

“There’s something I don’t understand,” she said, trying to keep up with him as they walked. “How did you know all the time where I was going or what I planned to do?”

“I don’t understand it either,” he replied, smiling.

“But you knew, didn’t you?”

“Yes, it wasn’t me. I had assistance.”

She stopped so that Heike was also forced to stop. Only the goat went on walking.

“Help?” she said with a nervous look on her face.

“Yes, from our ancestors. They were the ones who told me what to do.”

“Our ancestors? Do you mean Mother and Father?”

“No, no. They weren’t cursed. No, you see, those of us who are stricken by the curse have special talents. My biggest gift is probably that I can be used as an intermediary between our ancestors and the living. Our ancestors have never been able to help you, you see. Because they couldn’t reach you. That’s why they’ve waited patiently for me to return home so that they could do something for you. Using me as an intermediary. Beside that, of course, they want you and me to take back what belongs to the Ice People: the farms!”

Vinga sighed. “Aunt Ingrid would have been so happy to know that you are here now! She didn’t know that you existed. None of us did! She was so sad that there would be nobody to take over Gråstensholm after she died.”

Heike smiled gently: “Ingrid knows! And, believe me, she’s thrilled! She’s one of the ancestors who are in this forest helping us!”

“Oh,” Vinga said with big, dreamy eyes. “Is Aunt Ingrid here? Hello, Aunt Ingrid,” she shouted and Heike laughed. “Who else?”

“Your ancestor, Ulvhedin, of course!”

“Is old Grandfather here? I never met him, and I was so annoyed about that. But by the time I was born, he had been dead for several years. Are there others? “

“Yes, a couple more you wouldn’t know.”

“But please tell me!”

“Yes,” answered Heike. “One by the name of Trond.”

Vinga said: “He had yellow eyes and tried to kill his brother, Tarjei, during the Thirty Years War.”

“Yes,” said Heike quietly. “Just like Sölve. He also seemed normal. But then the curse developed in him.”

“Sölve? Your father? But ...”

“I’ll tell you another time, Vinga. It’s something that hurts a bit to talk about, you see.”

“Yes, of course. You said a couple more? Who is the fourth person helping us?”

Heike replied: “She’s a woman who lived many years ago, long before Tengel the Good, and she’s pretty strange. She’s often present when our ancestors need help.”

What’s her name?

“She’s called Dida and I believe she lived during Tengel the Evil’s time. She certainly knows a lot about him. I would love to hear the story of her life one day.”

“Do you talk to them?”

“Yes, they’re like living beings to me. I’ve met many of them before. Sol several times and Tengel the Good and one called Mar ...”

“Yes, he came from a faraway country in Asia.”

“Precisely. Then I – and nobody else – also met another man who lived ages ago. He’s known as the Wanderer of the Darkness, and he has saved my life many times. But he’s not here in the Nordic countries.”

Vinga said slowly: “I think you have a lot to tell.”

Heike couldn’t help trying to impress her now that he had found an ally. “Oh, I’ve many secrets. And the biggest one is always with me.”

They stopped again. They were close to Vinga’s smallholding now.

“Do you mean you are carrying it? May I have a look?”

“Of course. It’s the mandrake,” he said as he opened his shirt. “I suppose you’ve heard of it?”

Vinga whispered, “Yes,” in a trembling voice. “Do you have it? We all thought that it had disappeared forever.”

In the early light of the spring dawn, she stared dreamily at the talisman that she had heard so much about since her earliest childhood, and which she had taken to be a legend. It was so big and so ... alive! Well, not truly alive, of course, but it looked as if it might move at any moment. Vinga put out her hand and touched it hesitantly. Heike could feel that the mandrake accepted that, so he let her continue. She took it between her fingers, stroking it gently with her index finger. She didn’t say a word.

Suddenly she realized that her hand was also touching Heike’s chest: she could feel the warmth of his skin and the slight tickling of the hair on his chest. She pulled her hand away sharply.

Heike gave Vinga a puzzled look but she was unable to speak. She couldn’t tell him about the secret tingling sensation she had experienced as she touched him. Although she didn’t understand it, she suspected that it was something you didn’t talk about.

But it had been so vibrant and delightful – and awful! She must try to forget it straight away.

Heike had buttoned up his shirt again and they were on their way to her smallholding. The sky was fiery red in the east and it wouldn’t be long before the sun rose. They would need to be gone by then.

“Just like the trolls,” she said with a loud laugh.

Heike asked: “What do you mean?”

Vinga told him what she had been thinking about.

“Yes, you’re right,” he laughed.

She looked at him discreetly. A crazy thought rushed through her mind. What if he really was a mountain troll who had to hide from the sun and hurry back inside the mountain? The thought became even more crazy: she would follow him without hesitation! Memories of tales from her childhood flickered through her mind. She had always wondered at the idea that after a while those who fell under his spell would have a lot of children. Where did they come from?

She was no longer a child, and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to speculate any further about that conundrum.

Heike helped her choose the things she wanted to take with her and pack them. She still had the little cart and the goat had to accept that it was to pull the load – though it was a pretty light burden. Then they were ready. Vinga looked around one last time. “I wouldn’t say that I’ll long to be back here again,” she muttered.

“I don’t understand how you’ve been able to live here all by yourself. You’ve even managed to make it habitable. I wouldn’t touch those supporting beams: everything could collapse on our heads. Come, we’ve no time to lose. They’ll soon turn up.”

Shortly afterwards, they were on their way around Gråstensholm Parish. They kept to the mountain trails so that nobody would see them.

Vinga asked Heike: “Have you thought how you will get Gråstensholm back?”

“I’m glad you only mentioned Gråstensholm,” he replied, “because that’s the first property we must focus on. Not because it’s mine – I’m not that selfish – but because it’s the one they have the flimsiest claim on. I intend to find a reliable lawyer – if such a person exists, of course.”

Vinga asked: “A judge?”

“Yes, that would be the best option. You know that one of our ancestors, Dag Meiden, was a judge, don’t you? It’s so many years ago that we can’t refer to our relationship with him. Nobody will take any notice of that now. Those in authority today have probably never heard of him. The trouble is that Mr Snivel is a very important official. Eirik says that he’s very influential. He may turn out to be a problem!”

Vinga admitted: “It doesn’t sound good.”