Читать книгу The Ice People 16 - The Mandrake - Margit Sandemo - Страница 7

Chapter 2

To Ingrid’s great delight, young Dan remained at Graastensholm for a few days. The two were together all the time, and Ingrid absorbed all the knowledge and information she could, like a thirsty plant absorbing water. No one could keep track any more of how many times she had begged her father for permission to travel with Dan into the mountains – a question to which she had received the answer “No” equally as many times.

On Dan’s last evening she was very taciturn. Her parents perceived her silence as an expression of her suffering soul feeling misunderstood, and sympathized with her longing. But they would not be moved. Dan’s journey was much too dangerous for Ingrid to join him, they said, wild and thoughtless as she was. It was true that Dan had more or less promised that he would not attempt to find Tengel the Evil’s grave; nonetheless, he intended to travel in that direction, he explained to them disingenuously, in case he was able to find some interesting plants.

That night Ingrid could not get to sleep. She had been a good girl for a whole year because her father had said that she had to learn to be worthy of owning the treasure. It had been a long and strenuous year. Not to be allowed to wish disease upon the cliques of local gossips, not to be allowed to tease the farmhands who salivated in their desire for her. Not to be allowed to wish for a good harvest at Graastensholm or for strength and health for poor little Bronja at Elistrand. Not to be allowed to use her nascent abilities in witchcraft!

The Ice People’s treasure ...

She had heard the story about Kolgrim who, using witchcraft, was able to locate the treasure behind Sol’s portrait. Naturally, her father had not hidden the secret medicines and magic potions in the same place as before, but, still, it was rumoured that Kolgrim had received help from his long deceased grandmother, Sol, in finding them. Ingrid was too distantly related to Sol for her to expect to receive any help from that source. But it was whispered that Sol still had a hand in situations where her help was needed. And she and Ingrid did resemble one another closely, so perhaps there was a slight chance that Sol might be of help now.

Ingrid got up and went over to the window. A foggy crescent moon was shedding no light in the night sky, but it was early summer so she was still able to make out the Parish of Graastensholm. That is to say, it was not the village itself that she could see but the back of Graastensholm Farm. Beyond it was the forest, the meadows, the fields and the ridges in the background. Had Sol not spent a lot of time in the forest up there? Was it not said that she had had a secret place of her own there, too? Someone once claimed to have sensed Sol’s presence in the forest ... Had it been Cecilie? Ingrid knew that Sol was still present among the members of the Ice People: Villemo, Dan’s grandmother, had both sensed and seen her several times.

“Sol!” Ingrid whispered quietly out to the forest, “Dan planned to journey to the Valley of the Ice People, but he is not allowed to do it. They are all so stupid, they don’t understand anything! There is something in the valley that is tempting and alluring, but what is it, Sol? Do you know? I don’t think it can be the pot, Tengel the Evil’s pot, because is that really what we want to get hold of? You and me and the others?”

The landscape held its breath in the quiet summer night.

“Of course we should be allowed to travel to the Valley of the Ice People now that Dan has to go north anyway. If only I could get permission to join him! And take all the magic potions with me! Sol, there is so much inside me that I am not given the chance to express. I know, I do conjure things occasionally. Like the time I had to carry in the hay and was so sick and tired of it all. No one saw what I did. Did you see it? I just made a peremptory movement with my arm and the word just flew out of my mouth, and then all the hay just lifted off the ground and whirled in the air like a gust of wind before it landed in the hayloft. It was a fantastic feeling, Sol! I was in such high spirits all day that I could hardly sit still.”

Ingrid remained standing at the window, staring dreamily out into the night. Memories came and went.

Suddenly she started. Was that a shadow she had seen out there? Over by the edge of the woods ... Out of the forest, across the meadows, something or someone came walking.

An elk?

No, it was too small. It was not an animal. Its shape was more human, this hazy image gliding rapidly across the dewy grass. It came closer. Heading directly for Graastensholm Farm.

In a different room at Graastensholm young Dan Lind of the Ice People was preparing for his journey next day. He went through his equipment, making sure that he had everything, and he double-checked the list he had made of what had to be done.

Dan, the only grandchild of Villemo and Dominic, was a methodical man. That was something he had learned during his time with Olof Rudbeck the Younger. As a child, he had been thoroughly spoiled by his grandparents, much to the dismay of both his father Tengel and his mother, Sigrid. Villemo displayed a complete lack of discretion when it came to her beloved grandson. “If your parents act disagreeably towards you, just come to me, Dan! We’ll take care of it, you and I!”

Dan had nonetheless managed to grow into a good person. His proper, serious, conscientious side became apparent when he started his studies. That was when what he thought of as his new life began.

He went over to the mirror at Graastensholm. The room he was staying in had belonged to Liv, though he was not aware of it as Liv had been dead for fifty years. It was in semi-darkness and the mirror was dim and hazy with age, but with a little effort he was able to discern his features. His dark colouring he could see, of course, and the distinctive curves of his eyebrows, which he had inherited from his grandfather Dominic. But in the darkness he could not see the scar at the corner of his mouth, which gave him a permanently ironic look. He knew that that look irritated many people, and they would call him arrogant because they did not understand what had caused the sarcastic pull about his mouth. But that was not the way he was. He was anything but arrogant. Did they not see the uncertainty in his eyes? His need for friendship? Dan had many friends, but he was one of those incurable utopians who wish to be friends with every single soul on earth. An unfriendly remark made by some random individual could depress him for days.

He was actually very handsome, he concluded with a smile, in this subdued light that softened all his features. He was also sweet and cooperative. Though maybe not all the time, he had to admit. Ingrid, for example, had the ability to irritate him intensely with her irrational digressions of thought. Imagine having such a clever mind and then horsing around the way she sometimes did, teasing him by quickly blowing him a kiss or giving him a flirtatious glance. What was that all about, anyway? When discussing science one should stick to the topic! He was not the least bit interested in that sort of frivolous behaviour.

But goodness, had he really become so boring? No, it was just that he did not wish to become too familiar with Ingrid. Not her! A slight sense of guilt at the thought of his future wife back home in Sweden made him view Ingrid’s coquettishness with disapproving virtuousness.

The scar, yes ... he was a bit embarrassed at the way he had acquired it; it was, in fact, all Villemo’s fault. She had been boasting of all her achievements as one of the chosen among the Ice People. On that occasion she had claimed that all the members of the family possessed some sort of supernatural talent.

Did Dan also possess a supernatural talent?

Of course he did! It was just a matter of figuring out what it was. And so he had been taken in. Much later his grandfather Dominic told him that was not true at all, and it was obvious to Dan when he considered his own father, Tengel. For there was no one as down-to-earth and ordinary as Tengel.

But by then it had been too late. By then Dan had already managed to convince himself that he could make himself invisible, so he had stood waving his arms in front of one of the servant girls who had kindly asked the young master not to stand in her way like that. The disappointment had led him to make the claim that he could walk through closed doors. But he could not walk through closed doors, and the iron doorknob had ripped the corner of the little lad’s mouth, leaving a scar there for the rest of his days.

No, his father, Tengel, had no talents of that kind and neither did Dan – that was clear enough. But at least Dan was exceptionally smart. In fact, he was almost a genius. Tengel was a good family man and a competent landowner, but in the saga of the Ice People he would merely be an intermediate link between his parents and the next generation. This was strange, considering that both his parents, Villemo and Dominic, were so distinctive. But perhaps he had been a kind of counterbalance to them? Villemo and Dominic had been gifted in so many ways, perhaps the family had simply needed a small breathing space.

So the question now was whether Dan would be able to accomplish anything great. He had been born with good brains. So he would have to be sure to put them to good use. To be the pride and joy of his parents and grandparents.

Somewhere in the house a door creaked.

Dan looked out of the window but the only thing he saw was the quiet town with Graastensholm church tower rising through the light mist of the summer night.

He did not look in the direction of the forest.

He did not see who was prowling in the silence of the night.

The next morning, after Dan had left, Alv was paid a visit by Ulvhedin. The giant with the dramatic features looked strangely furtive. His eyes had a secretive glow, which made Alv feel slightly ill at ease.

“I don’t like the idea of the boy riding on his own,” Ulvhedin said and came straight to the heart of the matter. “I intend to catch up with him. To accompany him.”

“I see,” Alv smiled hesitantly. “And is Elisa willing to let you go?”

“She has granted me permission. But ...”

Alv waited. They were standing in the courtyard. The farmhands were busy at work around them, and newly washed clothes were fluttering in the wind.

As though he were attempting to postpone his departure, Ulvhedin asked, “What does your daughter think of Dan leaving?”

“Ingrid? I have not seen her today at all. It’s hard on her, of course. Yes, it is a shame that she won’t have more opportunities to use that mind of hers.”

“Yes, it truly is. Listening to the conversations she and Dan had made one feel so simple-minded.”

“No doubt about that.”

Finally Ulvhedin got to the point. “Alv, I wanted to ask you ... you know that I have never laid any claim to the magic potions, although they rightly belong to me. But now I am wondering whether you ...”

“You would like to take them with you when you follow Dan northwards? Wouldn’t that be a little hazardous?”

Ulvhedin’s glance grew sharp. “You forget that in my youth I was once on my way to the Valley of the Ice People. With the potions. Already back then I had enough strength to turn back. I have also managed to abstain from using them for many years. Don’t you think that I would ...?”

“Of course,” Alv broke in, because he didn’t care for the sparkle in Ulvhedin’s eyes. “The treasure is yours, as you say yourself, and I have no right to prohibit you from taking it. Please come to Linden Avenue ...”

“So, that’s where it is,” Ulvhedin smiled conspiratorially.

“That is where it belongs. In the house of Tengel the Good, protected by his spirit. But if you will forgive me, I would like to fetch it alone. It would be nice to be able to use the same spot as a hiding place should I be in need of one in the future.”

“Of course.”

They exchanged few words with one another on their way to Linden Avenue. Ulvhedin was strangely tense, as though there was an aura of energy surrounding him.

This will not end well, Alv thought. It’s probably a mistake to give him the treasure. But what can I do? It is his and when he’s in this kind of mood it’s practically impossible to deal with him. The only person who can handle him when he’s like this is Elisa and she’s not here right now.

Although Ulvhedin was only three years older than Alv, mentally they were light years apart. Ulvhedin was driven by forces the magnitude of which no one was really certain. He had lived a dignified life for many years, thanks in part to Elisa and Villemo, but primarily by virtue of his own willpower. He strove to be the new Tengel the Good, and that was what he had become. But now, at this very moment, Alv recalled Ulvhedin’s youth. How he had killed and killed, blind to all the grief and sorrow he was causing around him. Not for his life did Alv dare to make any objections when Ulvhedin looked the way he did today, with a scheming determination in his yellow eyes.

“I am going inside,” Alv murmured.

Ulvhedin nodded.

The big man looked around the courtyard as he waited. Everything was well kept; soon an overseer would be moving in. The linden trees in the valley had grown tall. Many of them had probably succumbed to time and age and had been replaced by new ones, while the old trees had coarse bark like elephant skin, with scattered branches and few leaves. But the avenue was still impressive after 150 years.

Ulvhedin’s gaze grew distant. He touched the timbers of the house’s façade with his hand and it was as though Tengel the Good was present, he who had walked about the farm the first night at Linden Avenue, touching his new property and feeling that it was his.

Ulvhedin saw figures from the distant past. Silje who happily and joyfully came walking between the houses. Sol, who stole out into the woods with her magic potions. Klaus, the farmhand, who chased Meta into the hayloft; she fled and Are rode after her, and when he returned later with Meta she had become his bride.

He saw all the life and activity of Linden Avenue, while above the rooftops a delicate melancholy sound could be heard.

The three small boys, Tarjei, Trond and Brand, who played by the great rock. Messages of joy, messages of sorrow, anxious messengers on horseback entering the courtyard, the linden trees drooping in the avenue. New wives were brought home, coffins carried out. Times of affluence mingled with dramatic episodes.

The barn where Villemo had craved the attention of Eldar Blackforest.

And now ... only silence.

What a shame, Ulvhedin thought. There should be more children born into the family of the Ice People so that there will be someone who can take it over.

But that was not going to happen.

His own son, Jon, would marry Bronja, there was no doubt about that. It would not surprise him in the least if those two were to fill their home with children!

He turned as Alv came rushing out.

“Ulvhedin! The treasure is gone!”

Ulvhedin felt a stab of disappointment and rage. “That’s impossible!”

“It must have happened very recently! I was here the day before yesterday to get some ointment for one of the horses and ...”

Alv’s face grew deathly pale. “Oh my God!”

Ulvhedin could follow his train of thought. “Ingrid! Is she really still sleeping?”

Never before had two men managed to get from Linden Avenue to Graastensholm at the speed those two did.

It was exactly as they had feared. Ingrid was not in her bed. There was no message to be found anywhere, either, but Ingrid’s everyday clothes and some warm travelling clothes and shoes were missing. In the kitchen some of the servant girls were complaining that someone had taken food during the night. And one of the horses had disappeared.

Ulvhedin, Alv and Berit stood terror-stricken in a moment of despair.

“I will ride after her!” Ulvhedin said, his face so grim that white furrows were visible.

“No,” exclaimed Alv. “I will do that myself!”

“You cannot travel now,” Berit protested in a flat voice. “You know the judge is coming today to help you with the papers. You cannot insult him like that.”

“But Ulvhedin cannot ride after Ingrid, you must understand that!”

“Just what do you take me for?” Ulvhedin asked. “I swear by my life that Ingrid will return home. There is no need for you to be worried about that.”

Alv looked at him and thought about the moment in the courtyard down at Linden Avenue when Ulvhedin’s face had been transformed, and with fierce intensity he had mouthed some soundless words that Alv had interpreted as, “It’s mine!” No, it was not Ingrid he was worried about. But if those two wills were fighting over the same thing, there was no way of knowing what the outcome would be. The cursed among the Ice people were no longer masters of themselves when they came close to the treasure.

“Let Ulvhedin ride after her,” said Berit, who did not fully understand this. “She followed Dan, didn’t she?”

“She’s probably lying in wait for him,” Alv said. “She knows exactly what route he’s taking. If only Dan had never mentioned the Valley of the Ice People!”

Ulvhedin did not respond.

Alv finally let out a deep sigh. “Well, all right then, ride after them for heaven’s sake! And bring Ingrid back immediately!”

The giant fell silent. Alv understood.

“I realize you intend to go north with Dan. But Ingrid must not under any circumstances go with you.”

“I will certainly try to bring her back home. But I’m not sure whether it will be possible without resorting to violence. You see, she has the treasure now and is equally as afflicted as I am. I would not want to have to force her, it could be very dangerous in that situation – I know from experience!”

Alv let out a sigh over his own indecisiveness. “If only I could understand how she managed to find the treasure! It is unfathomable. I could have asked all the servants on the farm to search for it and none of them would have managed to find it even if it had been right in front of their very noses.”

Ulvhedin’s words came out slowly and grudgingly; after all, the girl’s mother, Berit, was listening. “You forget that someone else managed to find the treasure once. It had been just as well hidden back then, but Kolgrim had some help.”

“Would Sol have ...”

“Yes, it would seem that one receives help in acquiring the things one really wishes for.”

Berit groped for her husband’s hand. She had tears in her eyes. The simple farmer’s wife had accepted the tragedy of having a daughter who was cursed very well. She had stood by her family through thick and thin. But she could not be expected to be able to follow these two trains of thought in regard to Sol’s tendency to meddle in things, and the magnetic power that the treasure had on those who were cursed.

“Ride, Ulvhedin,” Berit said as she dried her tears. “Go and find our little girl for us! Do what you must, and take all the time you need, just bring her back home safely!”

“I promise you I will,” Ulvhedin answered with deep seriousness. “No matter what happens, wherever we may journey, my first and last thought will be for her safety. Not a single hair on her head will be harmed.”

“Is it really necessary for you to ride northwards?” Alv asked uneasily.

“I will of course, first and foremost, do whatever I can to ensure that the girl is safely returned home to you. But I truly doubt that it is possible to talk sensibly to her now.”

“Should I send for Jon to join you? Then he can bring her home and you can continue on the journey northwards.”

“My son?” Ulvhedin exclaimed. “I forbid you to do that!”

“Ingrid is my daughter,” Alv said quietly.

“I realize what you are saying,” Ulvhedin said in a more conciliatory tone, placing his hands like heavy paws on Alv’s shoulders. “But both of you must trust me! Dan ignited a dangerous flame in my mind. There is only one path for me to follow now, and Ingrid most likely wants to do the same thing as I do, which is to see the Valley of the Ice People. That is all. And if she has the same burning longing for that place as I do then holding her back will not be a good idea.”

Alv and Berit sensed that it might not be enough just to see the valley, but they could tell from the look on Ulvhedin’s face that they had no choice but to put their trust in this frightening giant, which was not exactly a consolation for them.

They watched Ulvhedin as he left them with determined steps.

“I will have to ride after them,” Alv said grimly. “Regardless of whether or not the judge is insulted.”

“Oh, but Alv, you know perfectly well that it is not just a question of insulting the powers that be. You know how we are forced to toil at Graastensholm in order to avoid the bailiff and the Crown taking the farm away from us. And should we lose Graastensholm, we would also lose Linden Avenue and Elistrand. We no longer have an Alexander Paladin who can put all our financial difficulties in order for us.”

“We must not lose Elistrand,” Alv mumbled distractedly. “Graastensholm is ours. If we should ever lose it, it would mean that the very soul of the Ice People would be lost as well. But Elistrand is where Ulvhedin lives with his family and Tristan with his. We cannot risk them becoming homeless.”

“What about writing to Villemo and Dominic and asking them for help?”

“The hard times that we all are experiencing are putting pressure on them, too. Their son Tengel is working like a slave so that they can keep their own home. They have already begun selling off their valuables, according to Dan. No, I cannot ride off and not meet the judge before I am absolutely certain that we can keep Graastensholm. Only his ordinance can save us now.”

Alv passed his hand across his eyes and sighed resignedly. “I will have to wait until he has been here, which probably will not be for another few days. But after that I will certainly ride after them. I know perfectly well what they intend to do.”

“Yes,” Berit decided. “Then you will ride after them, Alv.”

“I know that Dan has transcribed Kaleb’s account from Mikael’s books. The one that mentions the path to the Valley of the Ice People. Kaleb went there once, I am sure you know.”

“Yes. Listen! Gertrude’s bird is warning us of rain.”

They listened to the black woodpecker’s sharp, mournful cry.

“Or of misfortune.”

“Of rain!” Berit said emphatically.

Ulvhedin had found his horse and was now galloping off in the direction of Elistrand. The hoofbeats thundered on the ground.

“Heaven help our little girl,” Alv whispered. “Heaven help both of them. And Ulvhedin.”

“Especially him,” Berit said quietly.