Читать книгу The Ice People 43 - A Glimpse of Tenderness - Margit Sandemo - Страница 6

Chapter 2

Morahan was back on his feet. But he was dizzy and fatigued, he explained, and not really of much use at the moment. Tova consoled him by saying that neither was she. He looked perplexedly at the two new escorts who had joined them.

“This is Rune,” said Tova, introducing him. “He is a very close friend of my family. And this is Halkatla. She is my ... soulmate.”

Morahan didn’t say what he was thinking: that the fascinating girl with the old-fashioned name and the strange way of speaking sent shivers down his spine. And that Rune looked as though he was composed of bits of wood and tufts of straw and he had such burning eyes under his bristly hair!

But where had they come from? From the middle of the woods?

Every now and then Ian Morahan would wonder whether he was already dead and if all the strange things he was experiencing in the company of this family was a kind of death nightmare.

They were out by the car again. It was still standing in the same spot, and the adversaries obviously hadn’t bothered with it. Besides, one of the tyres was flat.

Tova was afraid to get too close to it. There could be more bombs. But Rune merely waved reassuringly at her and went up to the car alone. He examined it closely and signalled to them that the coast was clear.

And that’s when Morahan proved that he could still be of use after all.

Tova knew nothing about repairing cars.

“There must be a spare tyre,” said Morahan.

She assumed so, and they managed to find it. He himself didn’t have the strength to lend a hand but following his directions the others quickly got to work with the tyre.

Then it was all done.

Tova was hesitant. “Morahan, we ought to drive you to Littlehammer Hospital ...”

He smiled sadly. “What for? What would I do in a hospital? Lie there and die a slow death? I am on my way north and if you can stand having me around, I’d like to join you.”

They all brightened up at his words, which warmed his heart with joy.

“I wish I had met you earlier,” he muttered, touched. “When I still had a few years left to me.”

Tova didn’t know how to respond to that, so she merely said brusquely, “Into the car you go!”

Halkatla placed her hand forewarningly on her arm. The others followed the blonde witch’s gaze.

“Uh-oh,” said Morahan, “there’s more trouble. What now?”

In the direction that they wanted to travel the road was now blocked by something rather incredible. As they looked at it, the roadway cracked, causing pieces of concrete to scatter in every direction. One of the cracks opened and from it arose an underground mountain. It rose higher and higher until they could no longer see what lay on the other side of it.

“It’s just an optical illusion,” Tova attempted, her voice trembling.

“No, I don’t think so,” warned Rune. “And look there! That’s no mountain!”

Now they saw that the mountain top did not consist of rocks but was a pair of elbows protecting a head. It rose ever so slowly out of the ground.

“But what is it?” asked Tova. None of them could move and flee; it was as though their feet were glued to the asphalt.

“Presumably one of the monsters that Tengel the Evil commands,” Rune answered. “I don’t know them all. But you must remember that none of the creatures inhabiting the parallel world, the one that humans can’t see, are incidental. All spirits, all demons or monsters have a special role to play. I don’t know what this is. Come on, we have to turn the car around!”

“No, stop!” Halkatla whispered. “Don’t you recognize it Rune?”

The “mountain top” unfurled – that is to say, the elbows were parted and a bald, grey head was unveiled. A well-formed face became visible, with eyes that were like bottomless black wells in which a dancing green flame could be seen. And a mocking scornful laugh of revenge could be heard.

“Shama ...” Rune whispered. “No, that’s not one you forget. Come on, drive!”

Shama, the spirit of the rock. The lost hope. The lord of sudden deaths. Seemingly harmless and always with an ironic glimpse of humour in his eye. But more dangerous than a cobra!

A coarse but shapely arm stretched towards them to catch them. Tova screamed. It was clear as day that they wouldn’t manage to get away. She was just grateful that the road was as empty as it was that afternoon. If another car were to come along now ... She didn’t want anything bad to happen to innocent people.

All four hurled themselves into the car and Tova rushed to try to turn it around. The shadow of an enormous hand with long claws loomed over it.

And by the road there stood another horrifying, yet more human-looking figure.

“Good God,” Morahan whispered. “What in the world is this?”

Rune and Hatkatla weren’t in danger, at least they assumed they weren’t. But Tova and Morahan were living people ...

Then they heard the wonderful rumbling sound of Typhoon’s storm demons.

“Thank you! Oh thank you!” Tova exclaimed, suddenly aware that she had broken out in a cold sweat from sheer fear.

But Rune screamed aloud, “Watch out, Typhoon, watch out!”

The storm demons had already managed to whip up the soil surrounding Shama to such an extent that it nearly blinded him. The air around him roared, unbearable heat began to spread and the soil mixed with the swampy water so there was no doubt that Typhoon was receiving help from the four spirits of Taran-gai: earth, fire, air and water.

The four passengers in the car crowded together in order to escape the stifling, whirling winds. Morahan was struggling with a stuck window on his side of the car. Soil and pebbles swept in through the crack. The noise was infernal, and the air was full of deadly particles of soil and big pieces of asphalt from the road. One of them came crashing towards the windscreen, making everyone cringe with fright. But oddly enough the windshield did not break.

Meanwhile Shama had had enough, and he caved in before the superior force. In a gesture of rage towards the storm demons and the four spirits – which the humans couldn’t see, of course, but which they could sense – he disappeared back into the ground with a howl.

The roadway closed over him, as though there had never been a crack in it.

But the awful human figure by the side of the road, the one they couldn’t understand or really get a hold of, the one who merely disgusted them, remained where he was, apparently unaffected.

Rune coughed and brushed some soil off his tongue. “Drive,” he whispered in a hoarse voice. “Drive as if you had the world’s worst abomination at your heels! For that is Tengel the Evil’s second-in-command, and almost as dangerous as he is himself.”

“Number One?” muttered Tova who had already started the car.

“Yes. This will end in disaster. I warned them!”

They saw the abominable man stretch his arm out towards the storm, his eyes blazing with hatred and triumph.

The storm demons screamed. They screamed from fear and a worse sound than twenty of such demons putting all their effort into it Tova had never heard in her life. She had to stop the car and cover her ears with her hands to prevent her eardrums from bursting. Morahan did the same.

In the middle of all the noise they could hear Typhoon’s voice screaming, “Help us! Help! The Great Abyss!”

“We’ll do everything we can!” Rune shouted back to them.

But what could they do? The screams from the storm faded out across the ground and disappeared into a final prolonged, lamenting howl.

“Start the car again!” Rune shouted. “Hurry! No, don’t turn! Go north!”

Tova put her foot down. The car made a huge jump forward on the road like a scared frog until it found a natural rhythm.

Halkatla turned around. “He’s gone,” she said, surprised. “Where did he go?”

“Oh, they’re not so concerned with us,” Rune said insecurely. “They know they have trapped us.”

But he looked perplexed.

Hatkatla continued to watch the road behind them.

“A tiny car is approaching us ...”

Tova looked in the rear-view mirror. “A motorbike! God, it’s Marco! Oh, how wonderful!”

“I know!” said Rune with a big smile.

“Oh, joy!” sighed Hatkatla, “My hero!”

“Who’s Marco?” Morahan asked, as Tova pulled the car to a stop.

“He’s incredible,” Tova explained, her eyes sparkling “I wonder if it was he who ...”

“Perhaps not him,” said Rune pensively. “But his protectors.”

The motorbike pulled up next to them. Morahan sat and stared. “He can’t be real.” Yes, that was probably the best explanation for how a man could be so divinely handsome.

Everyone had stepped out of the car. In the presence of Marco they dared to do anything!

Tova gave a rambling, fumbling description of what had just occurred. Marco nodded seriously.

“Yes, my friends were the ones who dealt with Number One. He is much more dangerous than we thought ...”

“But now he’s been eliminated?”

“No, not at all! It’s not possible. You yourselves saw how the storm demons were unable to move him.”

“So where did he go?”

“He fled from the superior force. My friends did not appear before him in their true images, they didn’t dare. But all twenty of them became too much for him. It was better to flee than fight badly. But how tragic it was for the storm demons! They who have helped us so much!”

“Yes. By the way, what were you exposed to?” Halkatla asked.

“Bats. As big as owls. I needed help to shield myself from them. Our friends have had a busy day,” he concluded dryly.

They agreed that Marco should ride in front of them on his motorbike, which he had fetched from the airport that day along with Ellen’s bottle.

Now that Marco had joined them they felt that the journey would go much more smoothly.

It seemed the black angels’ attack had overwhelmed Number One, because they were left in peace for quite some time. But they could not forget their losses – Ellen and the storm demons.

“Imagine if they were also to take the black angels?” Tova said shakily as they finished eating their sandwiches in the car. It was evening and they needed to find accommodation for the night. But where could they stay that was safe? For the moment they had parked the car in a layby right by the road but not visible to passing traffic.

“They can’t take the black angels,” said Marco. “At least not in the same way that they took the storm demons. But ... and I’m afraid this is going to upset you all ...”

“Are you going to leave us?” the girls asked quickly.

“Oh, no. But I have been told by one of the black angels –”

“I know what it is,” said Rune in a low voice. “I just didn’t want to say it.”

“What is it?” asked Tova. “Come on. Out with it! Tell us what you know!”

As gently as possible, Marco said: “Tengel the Evil has struck at home, in all the houses.”

“What?” Tova howled. “But who? How has he done it?”

Marco let out a heavy sigh. “I have been very grieved ever since I was given the news. And I have been very uncertain about whether I should tell you. But the black angel believed that you ought to know what was going on.”

“Of course!” hissed Tova who was unconsciously holding his arm in a painfully hard grip. “If anything has happened to Mother or Father I’ll kill Tengel the Evil!”

Marco refrained from saying that that was precisely what they were all trying to do, but unfortunately their ancestor was immortal.

“No, Tova, your parents are still alive. He probably thought that breaking you was enough punishment for what we’re doing. Because it is clearly an act of revenge on his part, there is no question about it.”

“Yes, I know, he told me that time when I travelled through time. He wanted first and foremost to take revenge on his disloyal descendants. But what he has actually done?”

“One of our best fell at Linden Avenue: Benedikte.”

“Great-Grandma!” Tova’s voice cracked. “No, he didn’t!”

She started to cry.

Marco told her that Benedikte was now with her ancestors and had joined the flock of the spirits of the Ice People, which calmed Tova down a bit.

Then he told her about Hanne. And about Christel and Abel Gard.

“Nataniel’s father?” Tova gasped. “And little Christel ... she was just a child!”

“Oh, I don’t know. She was eighteen and it was really her own fault.”

“Yes, I understand, but still! I’m going to make him pay!”

She cried and sniffed and cursed Tengel the Evil in the most unimaginable ways.

She had sought out Morahan, who was sitting next to her, and he consolingly placed his arm around her shoulder as she made his jacket wet with her tears. The others let her cry; they weren’t as directly affected by the tragedy as she was.

“Tengel the Evil still doesn’t know who I am,” said Marco. “And I hope none of you have given me away?”

They all assured him that they hadn’t.

Tova had finally calmed down sufficiently to be able to speak. “Marco ... all of you ... this is getting us nowhere. Don’t you see that we keep running into a brick wall? No matter what we do, he always manages to get the upper hand.”

“Through his maliciousness, yes,” said Marco. “But he hasn’t defeated us yet. He must never get the chance to influence world history, he’ll always have his hands full dealing with us. And you all know that he can’t do any real harm until he has drunk from the water of evil.”

“What should we do?” asked Halkatla.

Marco gave the two ordinary humans a friendly glance. “First, Tova and Morahan should be allowed to get some rest. They must be dead tired by now. Tomorrow morning we’ll devise a strategy; I just need to think through the details first.”

“We’ll do as you say, Marco,” said Rune.

They had stopped south of Dombås, for they didn’t want to venture up the mountain at this late hour. Finding lodgings for the night was still a concern for them. If they stayed the night in a hotel or something similar, they risked their enemies setting fire to the place and innocent people dying. But they would be terribly vulnerable if they stayed outdoors.

They finally decided to stay in the car. The place where they had parked was as good, or as bad, as anywhere. And as things were now they felt that the car gave them the most protection.

They would have to take turns sleeping, they decided. Some of them may not have needed any sleep at all, but they didn’t worry about that. Everything was to be shared equally.

The space was cramped in the car. So Rune and Halkatla were the first to go outside and keep watch because those two weren’t in any danger. Human vulnerabilities to things like cold, hunger and fatigue didn’t bother them.

But none of the others fell asleep right away.

Ian Morahan lay awake for a long time. He was actually glad that he had something other than his own situation to think of. That was precisely why he had chosen to come on this dangerous journey, rather than sitting in a considerably calmer train.

He understood nothing. He couldn’t make sense of any of the things that had happened to him. Morahan was a matter-of-fact working man and didn’t have the typical Irish tendency to be superstitious. But now he would have to give it a second thought.

Unless he chose to brush it all off as dreams, he would have to make up his mind about what he thought it was.

What was it he had seen?

This much he understood. Everything he had experienced was connected with the initial shock he had received: the sight of the creature of the abyss in the tower.

Tengel the Evil, that was what they had called the figure.

And this family, the Ice People, were apparently the only ones who knew about the monster. They loathed him, that much Morahan was able to grasp.

But what about all the things he had seen on the road?

Rune? Who or what in the world was he? Was he human? What else could he be?

And Halkatla? She looked quite normal but there was something wrong with her. The way she spoke, the clothes she wore and the strange devilish glow in her eyes. He shuddered.

Not to mention Marco. Who was he? Had it not been so absurd to say so, Ian would have sworn he was some kind of angel. But angels were fair and gentle, he assumed. Marco was as black as night. It didn’t add up at all.

Ellen ... What a shame things had turned out that way for her. Ellen had been a wonderful acquaintance. She was not for Morahan, of course: she was already engaged and he himself was dying, but she was the kind of woman one could only dream of.

However, she was rather ordinary-looking. As opposed to Nataniel, who most certainly wasn’t. He couldn’t quite place his finger on what it was, it was just something intuitive, the sense of seeing something extraordinary in another living being.

And then there was Tova. Morahan sighed instinctively. Being born so hopelessly ugly shouldn’t be allowed. She looked prematurely old, like a wicked old witch but much too young: one of the worst, in other words. She was both aggressive and insolent, but Morahan understood her. It was self-defence, of course! Offence is the best form of defence.

And yet these creatures were his allies. What he had observed on the enemy’s side was considerably worse.

Or had he really seen them? The monster in the tower? The monster that erupted from the surface of the road?

He was inclined to believe that these had been hallucinations. Nightmarish figures in the last phase of his life.

Tova curled up in her corner in the back of the car and felt rather pathetic. Kind, old Benedikte dead? She couldn’t believe it. Benedikte had always been there. She had been created at the same time that the world began, Tova felt. As for the others who had become victims of Tengel the Evil’s anger, she hadn’t been particularly close to Hanne, Christel and Abel Gard, even though of course she also grieved for them.

But what had happened to Ellen was horrible! Her poor parents! And Nataniel!

She knew that Nataniel and Gabriel had ended up in hospital and that their condition wasn’t critical. That was what Halkatla and Rune had said.

Tova’s thoughts wandered a little. She thought of the three men accompanying her: Rune, Marco and Morahan.

All three of them seemed so lonely, each in his own way. Morahan was dying, far from home. And the journey into death is one that all humans must make alone. You can’t take anyone with you as a companion.

Rune was one of a kind in this world. And alone in his own species. Because the other mandrakes were small plants that, although they too could be magical, didn’t possess any of his strength or human skills. But he wasn’t human, of course.

Marco, too, was a stranger in this world. Who could he possibly be close to?

Oh, how Tova wished she could be something for them, have the opportunity to care for them! She needed to do something for them!

But none of them wanted her ...

No one knew what was going on in Marco’s mind. His face was impenetrable. In the semi-darkness his eyes glowed as if he were awake, but he didn’t move. His gaze disappeared into the unknown distance.

Tova opened the car door.

“Where are you going?” Marco asked quietly.

“Outside. I can’t sleep and I thought I’d talk to Halkatla. Or Rune. Or both of them.”

“Just as long as you don’t go anywhere. As your protector I am completely responsible for you.”

“No creepy types are ever going to make a fool of me. But thanks for your concern anyway.”

There was rustling in the low trees around their parking place. It was the darkest time of night, but it wasn’t difficult to discern things, even though it was hard to make out the details.

Halkatla approached her from behind. “Hi, my twin soul, out for some fresh air?”

“Yes,” Tova giggled a little shyly. “Where is Rune?”

“Oh, I’ve just left him. My subtle invitations probably embarrassed him. I wanted to see whether he was made of the same material as other menfolk, but he wouldn’t let me get close to him. I don’t think he is.”

“Halkatla! You certainly beat me to the punch! Those were precisely my thoughts, even though I didn’t even dare think them to myself, let alone say them out loud.”

Halkatla gave her an amused and probing look. How well those two girls understood one another! “You want to mean something to a man so you choose the one who doesn’t stand much of a chance with others. Because he might be grateful to you. For my own part, I want to make up for all the things I didn’t get a chance to experience in my real life.”

“But with Rune?”

“With everyone,” Halkatla said cheerfully. “I’m going to have orgies and seduce men in their thousands!”

“But you can’t. You’re ...”

“You don’t know what I can or can’t do.”

With some apprehension Tova thought of Marco, who was “hers”.

She consoled herself with the thought that neither she nor Halkatla would ever stand a chance with him.

“I’ve never had the chance to experience it,” Halkatla sighed.

“What?” Tova asked absentmindedly and against her better judgment.

“Felt a man inside me. Have you?”

“No,” Tova had to admit shamefacedly. “And I probably won’t ever feel it. Anyway, there’s only one that I want.”

“Marco! Don’t you think I have eyes? Forget him!”

“If only I had been attractive!”

“Rubbish! What does appearance have to do with it?”

“Everything! But only someone who has experienced as many painful rejections as I have would truly understand that! And if you say, ‘That’s not what counts!’ I’ll hit you! I’ve never befriended a boy long enough for him to discover how beautiful I am on the inside. Whatever that means. No one but Nataniel, and he has Ellen. Anyway, I never wanted Nataniel. There was no erotic spark of any kind between us.”

Halkatla had been listening to her eagerly as she spoke, absorbing as much as she could about that exciting topic, eroticism. And a very determined look showed in her fascinating, witch-like face.

Tova was almost frightened. “Halkatla, I have to warn you. Do you recall what was said about you? That Tengel the Evil was probably especially interested in destroying you? Because you are a deserter. You were one of those he was saving for the final phase of the battle. You waited for six hundred years. And just before it all broke out you changed your mind.”

“Thanks to you, yes. I don’t think he cares much for you, either.”

“No, he most certainly doesn’t! Perhaps we should be more careful?”

They cast secret glances around them. But the night was peaceful. “If only I could be allowed to stay in this life,” Halkatla whispered.

Marco approached from the car, which was parked a good distance from them. Halkatla looked at him somewhat anxiously. Quickly and somewhat falteringly she said, “Now you are resuming your duty of watching over Tova I suppose there isn’t any further need of me?”

They could sense deep-felt fear in every syllable she uttered.

But Marco said, “Do you recall what was decided about you? That your trustworthiness was to be tested once in the course of our journey to the Valley of the Ice People. You are being tested now. But do you know? We like your company. So if you wish you may continue on this dangerous mission with us.”

Halkatla let out a shriek of relief and joy and was about to fling her arms around Marco’s neck, but that wouldn’t have been appropriate at all – even she knew that.

Tova was happy to hear it, too. And the girls could embrace one another as much as they wanted.

“Marco, I would like a private word with you,” said Tova, breathlessly.

“Now, now,” said Halkatla, “Don’t you try to seduce him.”

“Get in the car and sit with Morahan, Halkatla,” Marco said calmly. “He needs to be under constant observation.”

Tova couldn’t help firing a revengeful response back at her, “Watch out so you don’t seduce him!”

“Can’t you girls talk about anything else?” Marco sighed.

“Oh, yes,” Tova answered saucily. “I could talk about how we are on a deadly mission that we don’t stand a chance of surviving, that several of our allies and family members have already been killed after just twenty-four hours, and ...”

“Okay, you win!” Marco smiled, and Halkatla waved at them cheerfully as she returned to the car.

Tova and Marco sat down on one of the worn benches in the parking area. He leaned his elbows on the coarse picnic table.

“Where is Rune?”

“Halkatla scared him off I suppose: she was becoming a bit too indiscreet.”

Marco held back a sigh and then said, “So you wanted a word with me?”

Tova tried her best to forget the fatal effect his presence had on her and said lightly, “I wanted to talk to you about Morahan ...” She began by appealing to him. “Marco, you cured the fatally ill Marit of Svelten and gave Rune human life ...”

“That wasn’t my doing,” Marco interjected quickly. “It was specially chosen black angels.”

“Okay, well, Marit of Svelten, then. Can’t you also help Morahan?”

“Is that your wish?” he asked with a searching gaze.

“Of course! He doesn’t deserve to die so young.”

“No, he seems rather sympathetic. But I don’t think I can, Tova. As you know, I’m more human than black angel now. “

“But couldn’t you try?”

“And give him false hope? Furthermore, the process would be utterly demanding, for me as well as him.”

“Especially for you, I imagine,” she said.

“Yes, and when I don’t have my full power ... but perhaps we can try afterwards. I’ll be back to my old self then.”

“If there is an afterwards. But Morahan can’t wait that long, you know that.”

“Yes, I know. But no, I don’t dare to embark on an experiment like that. To reverse the dying process at such an advanced stage is beyond my capacity right now. But Tova, you mustn’t doubt that we are capable of getting through the very difficult mission that lies ahead of us. If you lose faith, then you’ve lost most of the battle.”

“No, damn it, I’m a hundred per cent prepared to kill that confounded devil.”

“Is it really necessary for you to curse so uninhibitedly, Tova?”

“It most certainly is, it helps keep me motivated. No, I’ll try to drop the habit, I promise ... I think.”

They were quiet for a moment, listening to the sounds of the night around them. The chattering and subdued screams of birds, streams of water from the sudden thaw running down the sides of the mountain, a car in the far distance ...

Tova sat observing Marco’s fascinating face in the darkness. Most of his features were concealed by shadows, and all she could really discern were the contours of his face and his profile. But whatever she was able to see was so perfectly formed that it was almost painful for her to look at.

“Make me beautiful, Marco,” she said in a pathetic voice.

He had been lost in his own thoughts but now he turned to her in surprise. “What in the world for? We like you the way you are.”

“That’s the most egoistic answer I’ve ever received! Why do you like me that way? Because then you have me categorized? Humble and grateful Tova, who brightens up at the slightest attention she gets? I’m sure that’s very convenient for you all.”

His expression changed into a soft smile. “I’ve never thought of you as humble and grateful, Tova.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?” she said gloomily with a scowl. “I have only one dream in this life, Marco, and that is to be attractive.”

“But haven’t you discovered yet that being attractive and looking good are two different things? Gabriel, young as he is, has already realized that. And you cling to a ridiculous idea of an ideal beauty that wouldn’t suit you even if you got it!”

“But think of all the time you save if you’re pretty. Do you know how it feels when you are with a group of girls who want to get in somewhere and all the security guards see are the pretty ones, whom they let in right away after a few stupid flirtatious remarks, while somebody like me is left behind and as soon as they catch sight of me their expressions turn sour and you’re practically pushed in just so they can get rid of you.”

“So what you’re after are a few stupid flirtatious remarks from complete strangers?”

She sighed resignedly. “Marco, you’re preaching! I know your lecture by heart. Once somebody gets to know me they’ll love me for who I am and not for how I look. This is what I’ve been force-fed and it hasn’t increased my virtues. On the contrary, it just makes me more aggressive ...”

“Don’t shout,” he said warningly, covering her mouth. “You’ll wake up our friends and draw attention from our enemies.”

“I don’t give a damn!” she hissed through his fingers. Then she calmed down and he let go of her.

“Dear Tova, even if I wanted to help you change your appearance I don’t think I could. I’m not God, you know.”

She shot him a glance as though she had her own opinion about that. Then she said lightly and nonchalantly, “No, I’d better go in and replace Halkatla before she starts screwing around with poor Morahan. She’s dangerous, Marco! What if she were to seduce a man into going to bed with her one day?”

“Just let her try,” Marco smiled. “She had a miserable existence when she was alive, thanks to Tengel the Evil’s curse. No, I’m not so worried about Halkatla.”

“Neither am I. But what about the poor men?”

“She knows her boundaries. But it would be good if you went back to the car. You need to get some sleep.”

“Rubbish! Will you join me?”

“No, I’m staying out here. I want to speak to Rune about tomorrow’s schedule. As I said, I have a plan ...”

They parted, and Tova stood watching him go. His erect silhouette was outlined against the dark evening sky, and she let out a sob, a dry sob of hopeless longing.