Margit Sandemo - The Ice People 39 - Silent Voices

The guy is so cool, she thought, succumbing to the jargon of her school days.

“My dear Nataniel,” said Rikard cheerfully. “Although she is certainly pleasing, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you study a girl so intensely before.”

“I’m not interested in appearances,” Nataniel said, somewhat impatiently, in a low and gentle voice. “This is so unusual. I’ve never encountered anything like it before.”

“And that’s coming from you,” Ellen murmured. “That was the very same thought I had about you.”

Nataniel shook himself out of his momentary trance and walked towards her with his hand extended.

“My goodness, Nataniel,” said Rikard, awe-stricken.

Ellen understood that he wanted physical contact with her. She took his hand.

The next thing that happened was incredible. She couldn’t withhold her gasp, but it was nothing compared to Nataniel’s reaction. He pulled his hand away and covered his face with both hands. A tormented moan came from his lips.

No one said anything. After a moment he removed his hands and looked at Ellen with gleaming eyes.

“You reacted,” he said urgently. “I saw that you reacted as well! Tell me how! This is important if we are to clear up the whole matter of whether or not there are ghosts involved. Think carefully! What did you feel? Explain it as clearly as you can!”

Ellen didn’t need to think for long. She looked up into his magnificent yellow eyes. “I became scared,” she said firmly. “It ... it was ... like a ... what should I call it ... a warning of some kind?”

The light in his eyes grew even brighter. “Exactly! Thank you, Ellen. Could you expand a little more on your fear?”

They had both used the informal “you” with one another immediately and without hesitation. In a way that strengthened the connection between them.

“No, it was just a violent feeling that quickly passed. I have no explanation for it. And what did you feel?” she asked shyly.

A veil of pain covered his eyes. “A lot more. I saw ...” he interrupted himself. “That’s a pity,” he concluded with disappointment.

Ellen felt hurt, stupidly. It had become so terribly important to her to mean something to this incredibly strong individual.

“Wasn’t it up to the mark?” she asked pitifully.

He woke up as from a dream. “What did you say? Oh, no. I was just thinking about something else. Something completely different.”

Nataniel gave her an enquiring look. Then he said, puzzled: “Who are you, Ellen?”

“Me? I’m just Ellen Knutsen. I live in Oslo with my parents but am ready to live on my own, I just need to find a place. There’s nothing special about me. Except for ... no.”

“Yes! What were you about to say?”

“No, I don’t want to involve anyone else.”

He nodded, as though he fully respected her loyalty to others. “But let’s talk about last night’s episode. May I speak with Ellen alone for a little while?”

Since the sheriff needed to use his office, he sent them into the small detention cell. Considering how strange things had become in the last twenty-four hours, this didn’t surprise Ellen in the least.

Nataniel brought a chair with him, which he offered to her while he himself sat on the plank bed. In the cramped room they ended up having to sit very close to one another, but he didn’t take her hands.

Up close, he was far from handsome in the classical sense, but his face was attractive in an almost magical way, as is often the case with people who have strong souls. And Ellen felt that she could practically have died just to receive a small sign of friendship or acknowledgement from him.

“We’ve decided that we are all three to be in your room at the inn tonight,” he said. “I want you to be there too.

“No!” she said intensely.

Alas! That was as far as her devotion went. She was willing to die for his friendship ... but it was just words ... She wasn’t even willing to sacrifice her night’s sleep for his sake.

“I’m afraid it’s going to be necessary,” he said quietly.

“Why?”

“I’d rather not say right now. You’ll be informed once it’s all over. We don’t want to expose you to an unpleasant experiment; the only thing I ask of you is that you stay in your room. You must remain completely passive and you won’t be alone. One of us will be with you the whole time.”

She looked for a long time into his bewitching yellow eyes. They were expectant in a kindly way. Then she nodded somewhat hesitantly.

“Good!” he said.

“Nataniel?”

“Yes? “

“Do you think it was a ... a ...?”

“A ghost? That’s what I’m here to find out. Rikard and the sheriff think it was a real live human. They have their reasons for believing that. But there are certain parts of your story that confuse me ...”

“Yes, that’s what Rikard said. Two things, he said. What are they?”

“One of them we can’t talk about right now, but that was why I took your hand out there just now. I wanted confirmation of something.”

“Did you get it?”

His gaze grew distant. “In a way, but another frightening factor came up that I hadn’t foreseen. It hit me like a bombshell. Ellen, once we’ve solved this case – which I think we will tonight – we’ll have to go our separate ways. It’s absolutely necessary that we do.”

“What a shame,” Ellen blurted out. Then something suddenly occurred to her. “Was that why you said ‘That’s a pity’ earlier?”

A smile spread across his face and the room grew much brighter. It was the first time he had smiled and she liked seeing it.

“That was why.”

“Thank you!” said Ellen.

For a moment they were filled with light and warmth and exchanged friendly smiles. There was a connection between them that Ellen had never before experienced with anyone. Then she turned serious again.

“But what about the other thing that confused you?”

“Yes, I’d like to solve that! There was this recurring suggestion in the report regarding an event in your childhood. Or is that what you would prefer not to talk about because it involves another person?”

“No, it’s something completely different.”

“So you have two mysteries?”

“You might say so, but the other is a family scandal.”

“I understand. We’ll skip that one. But that event in your childhood ... I’d like to know what you experienced back then.”

Her sense of fear felt like a strangling rope. She instinctively extended her hands towards him. He took them in his.

“But goodness!” he said in horror. “Such fear you have! What is it? Tell me!”

“I can’t,” she said quickly. “It’s too vague! It’s shaken me far too much. Perhaps later. Not now. I have more than enough to contend with after last night.”

He gently squeezed her hand and then let it go. “I understand,” he said gently.

And Ellen knew that he really did.

“Are you going to open the ... door?” she asked uneasily.

“That depends on ...”

“On what?”

“On whether there is truly any danger in opening it.”

“Will you be able to find out?”

“It won’t be long before I do. Objects have their own atmosphere and mood, like living things.”

Then he got up and suddenly he looked so long-legged and supple, like a cat, that it made Ellen blush.

“Should we go out to the others?” he asked.

“Yes,” Ellen stammered, but she had had a real shock. She hadn’t before thought of Nataniel as a real man. She wanted him to be the master and she the child who came to learn from him – she didn’t want him to be so intensely masculine that it knocked her off balance. Ellen determined to continue to admire him in a childish way. That was much more comfortable, especially since they only had a few hours left together.