in one corner, a couple of chairs round a little table in the opposite corner. There were built-in cupboards, and on the walls there were large posters of the same kind I had seen at Ole Rørdal’s: beautiful pictures of nature, encouraging you to fight for the environment with Gaia – an ecology organisation – which was written in big, blue letters on one of them.
Through one window in the room I could see the tops of the trees, which were still green. Once again I was reminded that, even in heavily trafficked areas, there were hidden idylls, in this case on the side of the house that didn’t face the street.
‘Grab a chair,’ she said, and I chose the one that looked the more comfortable of the two she had: a battered, reddish-brown armchair. She sat on the edge of her sofa bed and looked at me expectantly.
‘I hope I’m not disturbing you.’
‘No worries,’ she said. ‘We’re going to eat soon, but it’s not my turn to cook today, so …’
‘You’re all students, are you?’
She nodded.
‘As I said, I’ve been commissioned to investigate your father’s disappearance. You haven’t heard from him, either, I understand?’
‘No.’ She eyed me with concern. ‘Not a word since Saturday, it must be. He rang from his cabin then.’
‘To tell you something?’
‘No, to wish me a good weekend. We chatted a little.’
‘Nothing came up to suggest he had any travel plans?’
‘Not at all. Now, after Kristoffer rang, I’ve been trying to call him, but I just get the standard voicemail answer on his mobile.’
‘How is … Are you frequently in touch with each other?’
‘Mostly on the phone. You know what it’s like … Everyone’s busy. I have my own life. Kristoffer has a wife and small children, plus more and more responsibility at MRE. Ranveig and us … I suppose you’ve heard what happened to our real mother?’
‘Yes, I have.’
‘When Mummy drowned I was only four. Kristoffer was twelve. When she and Dad … Ranveig, I mean … When they decided to get married we were a couple of years older, but for some reason we never had a very close relationship with her. I always thought about … Mummy.’ She stared into the middle distance, and her face puckered in sadness. ‘That had been hard enough, from what Kristoffer told me.’
‘Yes, he mentioned that to me as well. Do you remember any of it?’
She stroked an invisible strand of hair from her forehead, played with her ear lobe and looked past me. ‘No, I must have repressed it. But what I will say is that Ranveig never managed to fill her shoes. Not even she could do that. And now – now we’re adults. It’s very rare that we eat with them. For Christmas and Easter maybe, and if Dad has an important birthday. We never go to the cabin. I’m uncomfortable there after that happened. It was several years before Dad started going there again. With Ranveig.’
‘And your father: What’s your relationship like with him?’
She tossed one shoulder. ‘We never really thought …’
I waited. In the end I said: ‘Thought what?’
‘Well … that he would get married so quickly. To her.’
‘Yes, but he was still a relatively young man.’
‘They knew each other before Mummy disappeared as well.’
‘You can remember that?’
‘No, not me. I was four, as I told you. But Kristoffer told me.’
‘Ah, do you mean …? Are you suggesting that they had a relationship even then?’
‘No, but things go through your head.’ She tossed her shoulder in the same quirky way, and I was beginning to understand more and more about why family meals in the Mæland household were few and far between.
‘The sole clue I have so far is Brennøy.’
‘Right.’
‘Have you ever been there?’
‘Not for many years, but I’m tempted to go.’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘Because of the wind farm that’s planned.’
‘You’re against it, I gather. So is your father.’
‘As of quite recently, yes.’
‘Quite
Through one window in the room I could see the tops of the trees, which were still green. Once again I was reminded that, even in heavily trafficked areas, there were hidden idylls, in this case on the side of the house that didn’t face the street.
‘Grab a chair,’ she said, and I chose the one that looked the more comfortable of the two she had: a battered, reddish-brown armchair. She sat on the edge of her sofa bed and looked at me expectantly.
‘I hope I’m not disturbing you.’
‘No worries,’ she said. ‘We’re going to eat soon, but it’s not my turn to cook today, so …’
‘You’re all students, are you?’
She nodded.
‘As I said, I’ve been commissioned to investigate your father’s disappearance. You haven’t heard from him, either, I understand?’
‘No.’ She eyed me with concern. ‘Not a word since Saturday, it must be. He rang from his cabin then.’
‘To tell you something?’
‘No, to wish me a good weekend. We chatted a little.’
‘Nothing came up to suggest he had any travel plans?’
‘Not at all. Now, after Kristoffer rang, I’ve been trying to call him, but I just get the standard voicemail answer on his mobile.’
‘How is … Are you frequently in touch with each other?’
‘Mostly on the phone. You know what it’s like … Everyone’s busy. I have my own life. Kristoffer has a wife and small children, plus more and more responsibility at MRE. Ranveig and us … I suppose you’ve heard what happened to our real mother?’
‘Yes, I have.’
‘When Mummy drowned I was only four. Kristoffer was twelve. When she and Dad … Ranveig, I mean … When they decided to get married we were a couple of years older, but for some reason we never had a very close relationship with her. I always thought about … Mummy.’ She stared into the middle distance, and her face puckered in sadness. ‘That had been hard enough, from what Kristoffer told me.’
‘Yes, he mentioned that to me as well. Do you remember any of it?’
She stroked an invisible strand of hair from her forehead, played with her ear lobe and looked past me. ‘No, I must have repressed it. But what I will say is that Ranveig never managed to fill her shoes. Not even she could do that. And now – now we’re adults. It’s very rare that we eat with them. For Christmas and Easter maybe, and if Dad has an important birthday. We never go to the cabin. I’m uncomfortable there after that happened. It was several years before Dad started going there again. With Ranveig.’
‘And your father: What’s your relationship like with him?’
She tossed one shoulder. ‘We never really thought …’
I waited. In the end I said: ‘Thought what?’
‘Well … that he would get married so quickly. To her.’
‘Yes, but he was still a relatively young man.’
‘They knew each other before Mummy disappeared as well.’
‘You can remember that?’
‘No, not me. I was four, as I told you. But Kristoffer told me.’
‘Ah, do you mean …? Are you suggesting that they had a relationship even then?’
‘No, but things go through your head.’ She tossed her shoulder in the same quirky way, and I was beginning to understand more and more about why family meals in the Mæland household were few and far between.
‘The sole clue I have so far is Brennøy.’
‘Right.’
‘Have you ever been there?’
‘Not for many years, but I’m tempted to go.’
‘Oh, yes?’
‘Because of the wind farm that’s planned.’
‘You’re against it, I gather. So is your father.’
‘As of quite recently, yes.’
‘Quite
Similar Books
