The Island by Ragnar Jonasson

Author:Ragnar Jonasson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

XXII

Alexandra

It was past one in the morning when the party, if you could call it a party, broke up. They’d been sitting in the living room of the lodge, talking about the future, for once. The gloom that had descended earlier had gradually lifted, though the atmosphere between Benedikt and Dagur remained rather fraught, despite their efforts to hide the fact. They’d all tried to have a good time, like they used to back in the day, but of course it was hard when one of the old gang was missing.

Nevertheless, Alexandra felt as if they had managed to recapture the mood of the past, for a brief moment, a single evening. Up to now their interaction had been overshadowed by a tangible sense of how much remained unspoken between them, how much unfinished business there was.

Of course, the alcohol had played its part. Alexandra had started feeling pleasantly light-headed hours ago; she felt content to be sitting here with her old friends, so far removed from her normal life, drinking without a care in the world.

‘I’m going up,’ Dagur announced eventually. He sounded tired, though he was stone-cold sober. ‘It’s been fun, guys.’

‘You can say that again,’ said Klara.

‘What do you make of Ellidaey then?’ Benedikt asked, lying back on the sofa. ‘Like being in another world, isn’t it? No one to see, no one to know. Anything could happen. Nothing but us and nature. Us and the sea. We couldn’t even leave if we wanted to, not straight away. It takes hours to call out a boat … This evening, tonight, we belong to the island.’ He broke off a little hazily, then added: ‘Nothing that happens here will go any further…’

He shot Alexandra a glance and, immediately grasping what he was hinting at, she flushed scarlet and avoided his eye, looking anywhere but at Dagur.

‘Nobody knows anything,’ Klara said pensively. ‘That’s the problem.’

Dagur paused on the stair ladder, as if waiting for her to go on, but her words were followed by a heavy silence. With a sudden shiver, Alexandra felt the shadow passing over them again.

She got to her feet, hoping the flush had left her cheeks. ‘It’s been fun, but I’m shattered too.’

It was true. She was tired, but what she longed for more than anything else was a night with Dagur. She didn’t dare make the first move but decided that instead of going straight to sleep she would lie awake for a while and see what happened.

‘I can’t go to bed yet,’ Klara said, more to herself than to the others. ‘It seems such a waste of a beautiful evening … night, I mean. I’m still wide awake. We haven’t even finished the booze.’

‘I’ll sit up with you for a bit,’ said Benedikt, though he looked more in need of sleep than any of them. ‘Just for a few minutes…’ He broke off to yawn. ‘Then you can have the island to yourself, Klara, dear.’

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