Opt Out by Carolina Setterwall

Author:Carolina Setterwall [Setterwall, Carolina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2025-08-14T00:00:00+00:00

John

The alarm clock goes off at a quarter past four. Half an hour later they assemble up at the hunting cabin in Bergvallen. This year there’s Åke and Hasse, Helena and Ulf, and then Lennart and him. The same gang as last year minus Benke, who couldn’t join them this year on account of his hip operation. His elkhound is going to go with Ulf, who is acting hunt leader this time. As the team’s newest member, John has to share a turn with Hasse again this year. Their first stint of the day is by the marsh, right behind the cleared area at the end of Norra Byvägen. John is pleased when Ulf allocates this place to him, because the marsh is a good position. Historically it’s one of the best. Good visibility and not too difficult to get to. Last year Åke shot a bull there, and since then Fredrika and Jenny have sworn they’ve seen elk in the area on several different occasions when they’ve been out riding. It’s a good place to start the first day, that’s all he can say. And in excellent company. The elk hunt couldn’t have got off to a better start.

John likes Hasse. Hasse is what he would call a decent chap. Easy to deal with, possessing invaluable knowledge of both farming and hunting, always helpful, always generous, never jokes that John’s a bloody Stockholmer, as some of the others still persist in doing.

In contrast to John, who’s only had his hunter’s licence for two years, Hasse has had his for almost forty. He began hunting with his father when he was a lad, and then took his own boys out into the forest before they grew up and, regrettably as far as Hasse’s concerned, lost interest in game hunting. Now he has to put up with John instead, but he doesn’t seem to mind that. In recent years they’ve even become friends outside the hunting team. Hasse might occasionally pop over to the farm for a coffee. Or to lend John and Netta something they need for their work. Wire for the henhouse was the latest thing. John and Netta try to do the same for Hasse. Favours for favours, that’s the kind of way it works out here in the countryside. Helping each other with essentials, sharing responsibility for the rural neighbourhood, flashing their headlights if they meet cars on the narrow forest roads. They chat together at village meetings, have a couple of beers at the community centre’s monthly pub evenings, and, at the end of October every year, spend several consecutive days together for the elk hunt.

They take the track north from the hunting cabin. It’s still dark outside and they need torches to light up the path as they walk along in silence. They slow down for the last stretch, as the ground becomes more uneven. Hasse is breathing more heavily than John on their way uphill, but there’s nothing strange about that, he’s several decades older, after all.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.