Читать книгу The Ice People 16 - The Mandrake - Margit Sandemo - Страница 8

Chapter 3

Dan had a packhorse with him, a necessity because his research equipment was bulky and unmanageable. His plan was to travel to Dovre. There ought to be an abundance of flora to examine there. From there he would have to see whether he wanted to continue northwards.

If only he had had company!

But the men of the Ice People tended to be like lone wolves and did not mind travelling alone for vast distances.

Imagine if Ingrid had been there along with him! She was so easy to talk with. Her way of thinking was exactly like a man’s way.

It was probably a good thing that Ingrid did not know what Dan was thinking! The women of the Ice People had always been very well aware of their self-worth. They cherished it and would act as mad horses rearing on their hind legs if anyone dared challenge it.

But Dan certainly had great respect for the mind of the very beautiful and wild Ingrid.

The packhorse trudged along gloomily behind his own horse. He sensed that there was rain in the air.

He was now a good distance from Graastensholm and had joined the main road going north. Since he was riding alone with such a big load there was a risk that he might attract robbers and other vagabonds. So he was well armed, and kept his pistol within reach. The pistol was always loaded and ready for use.

When he caught sight of another rider’s silhouette against the sky on the other side of the wide valley he cautiously reined in his horse. The rider seemed threatening, perhaps because he had positioned his horse standing across the road, as though he were waiting for something.

Or was it something else that was filling Dan with fear?

What could that be? Dan was not one of the group of Ice People who had psychic powers. Nevertheless, his heart began to pound. He had a stifling premonition of misfortune, or something like it.

Without his even noticing it, Dan’s hand reached for his pistol.

Then he resolutely continued riding. There was no other road that he could take: the rider had chosen a strategic spot. But why had the rider stationed himself there in the open, in full view? Would it not have been better for him to lie in wait? This highwayman, or whatever he thought he was, was a very little man. The small figure seemed very determined.

In fact, the rider did not look all that threatening; still, Dan was really alarmed. But when he reached the bottom of the valley, he made a surprising discovery. The rider was a woman!

Perhaps she was a woman who was scared and lonely and needed someone to accompany her through the dangerous forest that lay ahead?

Dan reined in his horse as the shock forced the air out of his lungs in an intense gasp.

It was Ingrid who was sitting up there on the crest of the hill!

He spurred the horse in suppressed anger.

Well, a kind of anger. Not even to himself could he deny the fact that it made him happy. Happy, elated, but also concerned. So what did he do then?

The most natural thing. “What on earth are you doing here? Have you gone mad?” he asked.

Ingrid beamed like the sun. Without the least remorse, she cheerfully replied, “I plan to join you and help you find your little leaves and flowers.”

“But you can’t do that! What would your parents say? Turn back and ride home immediately!”

“It’s too far,” she said with a careless air. “It will be dark before I reach home.”

That was true. Dan stared at her, incensed and troubled, but fascinated by her gorgeous colouring and cheeky glance. She must be an unparalleled temptress for any man who was interested and not related to her.

“I will have to accompany you home then,” he hissed.

“See if you can get me to join you!”

Ingrid dug her heels into the sides of the horse and galloped away northwards. There was nothing Dan could do but try to catch up with her, but how was he to do that with a heavy loaded packhorse in tow?

He quickly realized that he would never be able to catch up with Ingrid, so he shouted, “Stop! You win!”

Gentle and seductive, Ingrid sat there on her horse waiting for Dan. Her copper red hair shone in the evening sun, her yellow eyes had the colour of hammered brass and her mouth was moist and red, with gleaming white teeth.

No woman could possibly be more beautiful, Dan thought.

But there was something else about Ingrid’s posture that day. An indomitable self-assurance. A proud confidence. Dan was suddenly seized by the thought that this is how a woman looks when she has finally managed to conquer the man she loves.

But that assumption scarcely applied to Ingrid. It was highly unlikely that she would ever need to mount a fight to get a man. They would keel over if she so much as looked at them.

“I’m damned if you don’t look thoroughly self-satisfied,” Dan muttered sulkily.

“That’s because I am,” Ingrid answered with a shameless grin. “I am strong now. Invincible. Immortal!”

Then the triumphant look in her eyes vanished and was replaced by one of perplexed concern. “Almost,” she quietly added.

“What could you possibly be missing?” Dan asked sarcastically.

The clear gleam in Ingrid’s eyes grew hazy. “I don’t know,” she answered distractedly.

Then she pulled herself together. “I want to go with you!”

“No you don’t!”

“You need me. Come, let’s go on!”

Dan blocked Ingrid’s way with his horse. “What is it that you have in your saddlebag? You are constantly stroking it as though it were your most cherished possession.”

“So it is.”

“Tell me what it is.”

“That’s none of your business. Move, or I’ll put a spell on you using my magic powers and transform you into a lovesick frog that has fallen for a cow it can’t reach.”

Dan couldn’t help but smile a little. “Luckily, you can’t do that.”

Ingrid’s eyes grew narrow. “Do you want to see?”

“Stop carrying on. Off with you, now! Go back to your mother.”

The discussion continued for a while longer, growing increasingly heated, the tones of their voices growing more sharp.

Then they rode on.

Northwards.

“I hear you are going to marry,” Ingrid said in the cooing, affectionate voice a woman uses when she has won a victory.

Dan’s tone of voice was considerably more sombre. “Yes. When I return home.”

“Is she nice?”

“I don’t know,” Dan answered and thought of Madeleine who now seemed anaemic and boring. Dan had once thought of Madeleine as being both beautiful and dignified. “She seems all right.”

“But you are not in love with her?”

“In love? No ...” he grimaced. “What does that mean anyway? Nothing but buffoonery for young men who just want to be made fools of.”

Ingrid snorted with amusement. “I have often thought that, too. How foolish they look, strutting around and puffing up their feathers like male peacocks.”

“Yes, no doubt there are many who puff up their feathers for you?”

“Quite a few.”

“And you, too, will be marrying soon, I hear.”

Ingrid shrugged her shoulders. “If it suits me.”

“I am afraid you may have another think coming. What is his name?”

“Thor Egil Frederick Seved Francke.”

“My goodness! What kind of man is he? A farmer?”

“No. An officer and the youngest brother of a squire. He won’t be eligible to inherit his own estate so he is marrying me because of Graastensholm.”

“I find that hard to believe! At least, that that’s the only reason.”

“That is sweet of you to say,” said Ingrid as she turned coquettishly.

“Such airs you put on!” Dan snorted.

Ingrid just laughed.

They set up camp for the night in a small spruce forest but remained seated on their blankets while Dan “lectured” Ingrid, as he always did. He could not have wished for a more devoted listener, Dan thought. He really enjoyed teaching Ingrid about the things he worked with. Ingrid made Dan feel proud and eager.

The summer evening was mild and dim. The spruce trees stood like melancholy silhouettes in a circle around them and the forest breathed warm and strong.

“You see, Ingrid, my teacher, Olof Rudbeck the Younger, was inspired to collect these plants by a boy ...”

“Oh?”

“Yes, there is a small tyke, only eight or ten years old, of his acquaintance. This boy thinks of nothing but animals and plants. His name is Carl Linnæus. His parents are very knowledgeable and they have taught him everything they know about flowers. Olof Rudbeck told me that they have a fantastic garden in Småland where they live, and young Carl was allowed to have his own plot of land there. But now the poor soul has been placed in a school in Växjö, where he suffers at the hands of ignorant teachers who cram the boys with useless Latin phrases and give them a thrashing every Saturday for a whole week’s worth of sins, regardless of whether or not they have committed any.”

“There are so many idiotic adults,” Ingrid said, thinking of her own priest who had no longer had any more to teach her. “But how did Carl inspire Rudbeck?”

Dan did not show how deeply shocked he was. Imagine referring to his idol, the honourable professor and scientist, merely as “Rudbeck”!

“My mentor received a letter from the boy’s father about little Carl’s interests. Young Carl had apparently planned to list all the plants in a book, draw them and name them. Quite unskilfully, of course, but the idea is sound enough, Master Olof tells me. And even though he has no intention of stealing it from the boy, he wants to do some preparatory work because he is convinced that the boy will grow up to become an exceptional botanist. That’s why I have been given the task of collecting field specimens, which the boy can be given to examine.”

“Good,” Ingrid nodded solemnly. “I’ll help you to find and collect unusual samples.”

“Thank you. But you should try to avoid doing what all beginners tend to do, which is only to take the unusual kinds while disregarding the ones in front of their very noses. Did you realize that we know a lot about the relatively rare blue hen harrier and the kite but very little about the magpie?”

Ingrid smiled but felt stung. She had not exactly planned to pick dandelions and thistles.

They remained quiet for a moment.

Then Dan slowly said, “Do you like ... the man with all those long names?”

Ingrid made a face and uttered a disrespectful “Hummpph!”

“Why are you marrying him, then?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I had to choose someone, didn’t I? For my parents’ sake. And I am the sole inheritor of Graastensholm and Linden Avenue. So it’s my duty.”

“I thought you didn’t care about duty.”

“And that’s true,” Ingrid answered in an uncharacteristically serious tone. “But I will do anything for my mother and father.”

Dan’s expression softened. “That was a nice thing to say.”

“Rubbish,” Ingrid snorted, a little ill at ease at receiving praise. “Should I say something just as cloyingly sweet about you, perhaps? You know – I think it’s fantastic that you have already managed to achieve so much in your life. Imagine, being sent on such an important assignment by Master Olof himself!”

Now Dan was smiling. “You’re right. Praise can be uncomfortable. Especially if it isn’t true.”

“What isn’t true?”

“I was the one who kept insisting on going. He thought I was a bit too young.”

“Did that make you want to put your friendship to the test?”

“Yes, but Grandma Villemo’s talk and Grandpa Mikael’s books have influenced me. I just wanted so badly to see the Valley of the Ice People.”

“Ha!” Ingrid exclaimed triumphantly. “You too! You’re no better than the rest of us!”

Dan meekly tried to defend himself. “I have my own theory about the grave, as you know, about its existence and its location. But collecting plants really is what drew me the most. It was only in choosing to come to Norway that I was stubborn.”

Ingrid froze. “Shh! Did you hear that?”

“No. What was it?”

“Keep quiet!”

Dan pricked up his ears. And then he heard it, too. The sound of horse’s hooves was approaching them.

They sat motionless, like stone pillars, and waited.

After a while a rider could be made out on the road. An unusually big rider, who came galloping in their direction like a demon.

Ingrid pulled the saddlebag, which she had been protecting under her arm all evening, closer to her body and rolled away under the spruces.

“I’m not here,” she hissed to Dan.

He never got a chance to wonder about her behaviour. He was just staring at the approaching rider. Nor was he any longer in doubt as to who it was. There was only one person who could make such a grim impression.

As Ingrid had anticipated, Ulvhedin rode by on the road below them, and Dan was about to shout to Ingrid that she could come out again, but held his tongue.

The demonic rider had reined in his horse. Strangely, Dan could discern him in the darkness of the night. Like a shadow, waiting quietly without moving, as though he were stalking his prey. Then Ulvhedin turned the horse around and came closer, like a dimly shimmering threat, to where Dan sat hunched on the ground.

Now Dan understood why he could see Ulvhedin so clearly. There was a barely visible blue aura about him. An aura of anger? Or determination? Dan didn’t know.

Ulvhedin could not possibly have spotted their hiding place! The horses were hidden in the spruces and Dan was peering out between the trees against a dark, leafy background that made him very hard to see.

Ulvhedin must have sensed his prey, like a hunting animal!

Back at Graastensholm Dan had not felt afraid of Ulvhedin, despite his imposing appearance. Now he was utterly weak from fear.

He got up.

“Is that you, Ulvhedin?”

“Where is Ingrid?” The words came out sharp and jarring, impatient.

“Ingrid?”

“Stop this foolishness. It won’t work.”

The giant had jumped off his horse and was approaching Dan, who attempted to keep his wits about him even though that was easier said than done. He had never seen Ulvhedin look so frightening. His eyes were nothing but a pair of yellow slits. Yet still they glowed and flashed, and his teeth glistened like a predator’s in the semi-darkness.

“What do you want with Ingrid?”

“She has something that belongs to me!”

The saddlebag. The one she had been stroking so affectionately all the way there.

“Has Ingrid stolen something? Well, then, I ...”

Dan was just about to say that if that were the case he no longer felt obliged to protect her, but there was no need for him to say it and he never got a chance to, either.

Not a sound had come from Ingrid’s hiding place. Nevertheless, Ulvhedin suddenly turned his attention in her direction and the next instant he bolted in among the trees.

Ingrid let out a screech and jumped to her feet. She flew like a whirlwind with the raging Ulvhedin at her heels.

“Stop! Stop!” Dan screamed, but no one was listening. Frightened by their wild recklessness Dan ran after them. They were, after all, of the same flesh and blood, those two. Members of the Ice People were not supposed to fight one another!

They had emerged in an open meadow when Ulvhedin caught up with Ingrid. She turned round and tried to strike him with her saddlebag.

“It’s mine, you know that perfectly well!” Ulvhedin hissed like a snake as he tried to grab hold of Ingrid.

“I was the one who found it!” screamed Ingrid. “Sol gave it to me.”

Sol? Dan was horrified. Had young Ingrid completely lost her mind?

Ulvhedin was still now. He held Ingrid’s wrists in an iron grip. “Sol? What sort of rubbish is that?”

“But it’s true! I asked her for help and she showed me the way!”

“How? What did she do?”

“She came to me. And led the way to Linden Avenue.

“Did you see her?”

“Not up close. She just glided on in front of me. Then she pointed to the hiding place and was gone.”

Ingrid spoke in staccato gasps as she fought for breath after her wild escape.

“You’re lying,” Ulvhedin said in a menacing tone. “Linden Avenue is always locked.”

“Yes, but I know where the key is.”

Ulvhedin came back to life. “Nevertheless, the treasure is mine. You have no right ...”

“Let me go! I need it.”

The treasure? Shivers ran down Dan’s spine.

“Now this has got to stop!” he shouted.

They both turned to him.

“Don’t you dare interfere in this. You are the cause of all this misery and now you had better stay out of it,” Ulvhedin growled.

“Me?” Dan exclaimed, offended, but no one was listening because Ingrid and Ulvhedin continued to fight over the saddlebag. Ingrid was like a wild cat, hitting and scratching and biting. They rolled around on the ground, both equally enraged.

Then Ulvhedin got the upper hand, naturally; Ingrid was forced to lie still for a moment, but she began to murmur some words.

Ulvhedin let out a cry, doubled up in pain and let go of Ingrid. The next second she was on her feet, running away at full speed.

“You are using magic, you witch!” Ulvhedin howled. “Well, then, I’ll just have to pay you back in kind!”

He got up and stood completely still. And then Dan was given a demonstration of Ulvhedin’s skill in witchcraft. Before Dan’s very eyes, Ulvhedin grew into a gigantic block of ice, surrounded by freezing vapours. He bowed his head and chanted something Dan couldn’t make out. Ingrid stopped abruptly, turned and stared at Ulvhedin as if she had been hypnotized. And that was exactly what had happened. Dan watched as Ingrid literally froze, helpless and frightened senseless.

Ulvhedin lifted the spell and turned back into his usual self again. He was walking over to collect the saddlebag, which had fallen from Ingrid’s hands, when Dan shouted, “That’s enough! Would you be so kind as to behave like normal people? This is my expedition, my journey, which you have latched on to because of a vague longing to see the Valley of the Ice People. What will you do once you get there? You don’t even know yourselves!”

Ulvhedin showed his teeth in a quick snarl. “I do. But Ingrid has no idea what she is looking for. You, Dan, have a mad notion that you are going to find Tengel the Evil’s grave. How do you intend to do that without us? An ordinary mortal like you!”

“Now, now,” Dan said in a warning tone of voice. “Let’s not bring up immortality. No one believes in that.”

Ulvhedin came closer. “You are a courageous lad and I admire you for that. You’re right, we are the ones who pushed our way in. Let’s all three declare a truce and help one another from now on.”

“That’s easy for you to say, now that you have the treasure!” Ingrid hissed. “I was the one who had it first.”

“Now you listen to me, you little witch,” Ulvhedin said, in a friendly way. “If you had not got in ahead of me, I would have been given that treasure by your father. He and I went down to Linden Avenue this morning because he wanted me to have the treasure. It’s mine, if you recall.”

“Oh,” Ingrid said guiltily. “Does Father know anything about this?”

“Of course, what did you expect? Do you now understand how much pain you have inflicted on your parents? I have orders to make sure you return home. Immediately!”

“No!” gasped Ingrid. “I was supposed to be helping Dan collect plants!”

Ulvhedin smiled sceptically.

Ingrid took heart again. “You know what, you big beast? You and I are in the same boat. I promise to behave properly if you do too. As long as I can join you. And if I can’t ... then God help all of you!”

What in the world is it that draws them so strongly to it, so much so that it practically transforms them? Dan wondered fearfully.

“I don’t think I want you to join me,” he said.

“Yes you do!” Ulvhedin and Ingrid cried out in unison.

“We can help one another,” Ulvhedin said. “I know where many of the plants grow from my lonely days in the mountains. Ingrid is a capable girl. And you? If you have any intention of travelling to the Valley of the Ice People you will have to take us with you or things could go very wrong for you.”

“And they won’t go wrong for you?”

“Yes. But at least we are able to foresee the dangers. You are not.”

Dan hesitated.

“You may be right. But what about Ingrid’s parents? And Elisa? I don’t think others should have to suffer on account of our madness.”

“Elisa has the utmost confidence in me. And I gave Alv and Berit my word that I would bring Ingrid back home in one piece. They understand just as well as I do that that cannot possibly happen right away.”

“Well, then, shall we try?” Dan asked. He could almost feel the sighs of relief that came from the other two. “But on one condition.”

“And what is that?”

“That I am the one who will be in charge of that saddlebag.”

The other two both opened their mouths to protest. Then they looked at one another and burst out laughing. Dan also smiled.

“That’s a deal,” Ulvhedin said, and Ingrid nodded. “But do you dare, Dan?”

Dan gave them a serious look. “I know that the treasure turns you into wild beasts. But I also know that members of the Ice People have a high sense of morality. Can we agree that I take responsibility for the treasure as long as we are collecting plants? If we reach the Valley of the Ice People, I won’t want to be anywhere near it for the life of me.”

“That’s a wise thought,” Ulvhedin nodded. “By that time I’m sure we will have thought of something.”

Ingrid looked longingly at the saddlebag. “Does that mean we can’t experiment a little on the journey? Now that we have access to all the ingredients?”

“We don’t actually have that,” Ulvhedin murmured, so quietly that no one heard him.

“The experiments will have to wait,” Dan said in a serious tone. “If our collaboration goes well, I see no reason why you shouldn’t take a closer look at the treasure at some point.”

Ulvhedin and Ingrid both seemed very satisfied with his answer.

Since all three of them were wide awake they continued for a while before setting up camp for the night. Like three shadows in a bewitched landscape, they quietly rode northwards in the deepest darkness of the night.

No one knew how heavily fear weighed upon Dan as he rode along between the two strange, cat-eyed creatures, both descended from a people who lived on the border between reality and superstition.