off the tray and smashed
as they hit the floor.
Joel hardly dare look in case he burst out laughing.
There were always piles of broken china and glass round
Ludde's feet. To avoid cutting his feet, he wore black
overshoes. He didn't have shoes inside the overshoes,
though, but slippers. As Joel wasn't really sure if Ludde
minded people laughing at him, he avoided looking at
the floor. Instead, he screwed up his eyes and peered
sideways at the scene. He wouldn't need to laugh if he
did that.
Sara had told Joel that all the money Ludde earned
by selling beer and beef stew was spent on buying new
crockery and glasses. Once Sara and the other
waitresses had been paid, and Nyberg the bouncer as
well, and all the beer and the stew bills had been
settled, Ludde only had enough money left over to buy
new crockery and glasses.
And it went on like that, year after year. And all the
time the pot of stew clucked and spluttered on the stove.
'Hello, Joel,' said Sara with a smile, wiping the sweat
from her brow.
Please don't hug me, Joel thought. I don't want to be
hugged.
'Have you come to visit me?' said Sara, pulling him
closer and giving him a hug. Joel tried to resist, but it
was impossible. Sara was as strong as a weightlifter.
She could have toured the fairgrounds in a sideshow
as Sara the Strong.
'Are you hungry?' she asked. 'Would you like something
to eat?'
'No thank you,' said Joel. 'I only called in to say hello.'
He didn't really know how to go about finding a man
for Gertrud, nor did he know if Sara would be able to
help him. That's why he answered as he did.
As he ran down the hill from Simon Windstorm's
house, he'd tried to gather his thoughts on what he knew
about how grown-ups came to meet one another. He
found it difficult to understand anything to do with love.
To be honest, he had a pretty good idea of what was
involved. At school, behind the bicycle sheds, Otto had
once condescended to explain to Joel and some other
boys how children were made. Joel had listened carefully,
so as not to miss a single word. At first he thought
that Otto must be out of his mind. Could that really be
what happened? Surely not? How was it really done?
Joel had been sensible enough not to ask any
questions, but for a long time he doubted if Otto had
been telling the truth. Later, when he'd heard the same
story from others, he had realised that it must presumably
be right, strange though it might seem. Strange
and complicated. He'd spent a lot of time wondering
how there could possibly be so many children around
when the whole business seemed to be so complicated.
So Joel knew quite a lot. And he knew how you went
about kissing, even if he hadn't yet tried it on a girl, only
on his own reflection in the mirror.
But the big question was: how do grown-ups get to
meet one another?
He knew some of the answer. You could go to the
dance at the Community Centre on Saturday night,
when Kringström's orchestra was playing. That's where
people met. And he'd read in books about other ways in
which people could meet. In fairy tales princes climbed
up long ropes to meet princesses who were locked in
high towers.
But in the little town he lived in the only towers were
the church steeple and the red tower at the fire station
where the firemen used to hang up their hose pipes to
dry. Joel found it hard to imagine Gertrud sitting at the
top of the fire brigade tower without a nose.
But there were other ways in which grown-ups could
meet. Inmost of the books he read there were always some
chapters describing how people met and eventually got
married. But there was never anything about what Otto had
described behind the bicycle sheds. Joel assumed that was
because it was so boring to write about it.
You could meet in the wreckage of a train that had
fallen into a ravine. You could rescue a girl who had
fallen into freezing water when the ice broke, and
later marry her. You could wear a black mask and
kidnap a girl.
There were lots of ways.
as they hit the floor.
Joel hardly dare look in case he burst out laughing.
There were always piles of broken china and glass round
Ludde's feet. To avoid cutting his feet, he wore black
overshoes. He didn't have shoes inside the overshoes,
though, but slippers. As Joel wasn't really sure if Ludde
minded people laughing at him, he avoided looking at
the floor. Instead, he screwed up his eyes and peered
sideways at the scene. He wouldn't need to laugh if he
did that.
Sara had told Joel that all the money Ludde earned
by selling beer and beef stew was spent on buying new
crockery and glasses. Once Sara and the other
waitresses had been paid, and Nyberg the bouncer as
well, and all the beer and the stew bills had been
settled, Ludde only had enough money left over to buy
new crockery and glasses.
And it went on like that, year after year. And all the
time the pot of stew clucked and spluttered on the stove.
'Hello, Joel,' said Sara with a smile, wiping the sweat
from her brow.
Please don't hug me, Joel thought. I don't want to be
hugged.
'Have you come to visit me?' said Sara, pulling him
closer and giving him a hug. Joel tried to resist, but it
was impossible. Sara was as strong as a weightlifter.
She could have toured the fairgrounds in a sideshow
as Sara the Strong.
'Are you hungry?' she asked. 'Would you like something
to eat?'
'No thank you,' said Joel. 'I only called in to say hello.'
He didn't really know how to go about finding a man
for Gertrud, nor did he know if Sara would be able to
help him. That's why he answered as he did.
As he ran down the hill from Simon Windstorm's
house, he'd tried to gather his thoughts on what he knew
about how grown-ups came to meet one another. He
found it difficult to understand anything to do with love.
To be honest, he had a pretty good idea of what was
involved. At school, behind the bicycle sheds, Otto had
once condescended to explain to Joel and some other
boys how children were made. Joel had listened carefully,
so as not to miss a single word. At first he thought
that Otto must be out of his mind. Could that really be
what happened? Surely not? How was it really done?
Joel had been sensible enough not to ask any
questions, but for a long time he doubted if Otto had
been telling the truth. Later, when he'd heard the same
story from others, he had realised that it must presumably
be right, strange though it might seem. Strange
and complicated. He'd spent a lot of time wondering
how there could possibly be so many children around
when the whole business seemed to be so complicated.
So Joel knew quite a lot. And he knew how you went
about kissing, even if he hadn't yet tried it on a girl, only
on his own reflection in the mirror.
But the big question was: how do grown-ups get to
meet one another?
He knew some of the answer. You could go to the
dance at the Community Centre on Saturday night,
when Kringström's orchestra was playing. That's where
people met. And he'd read in books about other ways in
which people could meet. In fairy tales princes climbed
up long ropes to meet princesses who were locked in
high towers.
But in the little town he lived in the only towers were
the church steeple and the red tower at the fire station
where the firemen used to hang up their hose pipes to
dry. Joel found it hard to imagine Gertrud sitting at the
top of the fire brigade tower without a nose.
But there were other ways in which grown-ups could
meet. Inmost of the books he read there were always some
chapters describing how people met and eventually got
married. But there was never anything about what Otto had
described behind the bicycle sheds. Joel assumed that was
because it was so boring to write about it.
You could meet in the wreckage of a train that had
fallen into a ravine. You could rescue a girl who had
fallen into freezing water when the ice broke, and
later marry her. You could wear a black mask and
kidnap a girl.
There were lots of ways.
Similar Books
