Dead of Winter by Anders de la Motte

Author:Anders de la Motte
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction

35

Winter 1987

‘W

e’ll go down to the bathing area beyond the cottage. Leave the mopeds there and walk across the ice. That means we’ll be able to get in at the back without anyone seeing us from the road. Milla’s with me, Laura with Peter.’

Once again Tomas was showing a side of himself that Laura had never seen before. From time to time he would glance at Milla, needing a little nod of encouragement.

The summer cottage he’d picked out was kind of remote, surrounded by trees and facing away from the lake. To be honest, summer cottage was a misnomer. The house was well equipped for winter, with an open fire and a chimney. The snow was regularly cleared from the drive, presumably by one of the Jensen family.

Laura tried not to think about Iben, but it was hard. They hadn’t spoken to each other since the argument at Wohlin’s. Jack was keeping out of Laura’s way too. He was either out in his car, or shut away in the boathouse. He didn’t even come down to join them for dinner as he always used to.

Hedda did her best to make excuses for him, but it was obvious that she too found the situation difficult. The atmosphere at the dinner table was strained.

Iben hadn’t only taken Jack from her and splintered her family; she’d also managed to poison the place Laura loved the most.

*

They parked the mopeds where Tomas had suggested. Laura took off her helmet and hung it on the handlebars. The sensible part of her wanted to ask Peter if they were really going to go through with this. If the two of them shouldn’t try to call the whole thing off before it was too late, but something made her hold back. A tingling feeling that grew stronger and stronger. It was both appealing and unpleasant. She knew Peter was experiencing the same thing; she’d felt it when she was sitting behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist, and now she could see it in his eyes.

‘Shall we go?’ he said, pointing to the others, who were leading the way. ‘The Goonies on an adventure.’

Dusk was falling. The ice was covered in a thick layer of snow, which the wind was moving around into small drifts. In some places it had exposed patches of black ice.

‘Do you think she can see us?’ Laura whispered.

‘Who?’

‘The nymph, of course.’

They both burst into nervous giggles, which made Tomas turn around.

‘Shut up!’ he hissed crossly. ‘No talking!’

They kept walking as darkness drew in. The wind whipped up little flurries of sharp snow into their faces, and quickly obliterated their footprints. Laura was glad they didn’t have to go any further out onto the lake. It would be very easy to lose your bearings if you didn’t have the shoreline to follow, and the black eye was out there waiting. Ice-cold, deep water that never froze.

Milla waited for Laura, took her arm and slowed her down. Peter raised an eyebrow, but Milla waved him on.

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