The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,164

what others had taken from you throughout your life,’ he said. ‘You went too far, but that was my fault, too. I should have been honest with you. I should have told you that you must cherish your gift, not abuse it.’

Anna-Karin isn’t even surprised. ‘You’ve known all along, haven’t you?’ she says.

‘Only as much as my own mind could grasp, and that’s not much,’ Grandpa answers. ‘Now I want to go out into the fresh air.’

They make for the front garden. Nicolaus is sitting in the car, waving to them, as they walk past.

Anna-Karin pushes Grandpa along the dirt track running between the fields. He slips back into a haze again, but continues talking, alternating between Swedish and Finnish.

Sometimes he calls her Gerda, sometimes Mia, sometimes Anna-Karin. He tells her about the family of foxes that lived in a burrow by the edge of the forest. He warns her against false prophets. He tells her about the Norwegian refugees the farm’s previous owner had taken in during World War II. He describes the late nights when he used to play cards with Anna-Karin’s parents, while Grandma Gerda baked flatbread and sang along to old records. Anna-Karin wonders if they were the same songs her mother was singing in the autumn.

Eventually he falls silent. Anna-Karin turns the wheelchair and pushes it towards the car. Grandpa is going back to the care home at Solbacken. It’s only temporary, her mother says, while she and Anna-Karin settle into a rented apartment in the centre of town.

But Anna-Karin knows. There’s a room in the apartment that Grandpa could have, but her mother hasn’t put any of his things in it. She’s decided to leave him at Solbacken.

59

THE FULL MOON is like a white shadow in the light morning sky. Minoo is following the little stream. Her feet and bare legs are damp from wading through the tall, rain-drenched grass.

Two black feathers float past in the water. Then she catches a whiff of smoke.

Minoo.

She looks up. Rebecka is standing on the other side of the stream. She looks so much like the real Rebecka that it hurts.

Her face has colour again. Her eyes are alive.

‘I know you’re not Rebecka. Why can’t you appear as yourself?’ Minoo asks.

Do you know who I am?

‘You’re the one who speaks through Ida. The one I’ve dreamed about. The witch from the past.’

Rebecka doesn’t answer. Suddenly Minoo is unsure whether she’s dreaming or awake. ‘What do you want?’ she asks.

I’m worried about you, Minoo. You can’t bear this alone.

‘What do you mean?’

You know what I mean.

Minoo looks at Rebecka, who is shimmering against the dark background of the forest.

You must tell them.

‘Is that all you have to say?’

Yes.

‘Are you sure? Nothing more than that? Like which element I am? And why my power is to take people’s souls? Am I like Max? Is that why the demons have a plan for me? And why haven’t they done anything now they know we’re the Chosen Ones?’

You need the others’ help.

‘Go to hell,’ Minoo says, and wakes up.

Minoo had forgotten to close the curtains last night, and now sunlight is streaming into the room. Out in the garden the birds are twittering deafeningly. There’s something almost desperate about their warbling song: ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

It’s the first time for at least three months that she can remember a dream. She doesn’t usually remember even the nightmares, but she wakes up feeling stiff and sore as if she’d fought a battle in her sleep.

She opens the wardrobe and catches sight of the sky-blue cotton dress she wore when she moved up from year nine. She glares at it contemptuously. Now it seems pathetic that she drove all the way into Borlänge with her mother to buy a dress she wore only for a few hours. And she had thought those hours were so important.

She pulls the dress over her head and combs her hair with her fingers.

Her mother and father have gone to work. A bouquet of lily-of-the-valley stands in a vase on the kitchen table, with an envelope leaning against it. Minoo opens it and pulls out a card with a picture of a summer meadow. Have a great summer! Big hugs and kisses, from Mum and Dad is written on the back. The envelope also contains a gift voucher for an online bookshop.

Minoo holds the card, tracing her mother’s elegant handwriting with her index finger.

She’s happy that her parents aren’t here. It’s so hard to pretend everything’s normal.