dirt track. Her legs are stiff, but they continue moving forwards.
The gravel hurts her feet. She hears wings beating above her. Ahead she sees Kärrgruvan, the long-since-closed fairground. The wire fence that surrounds it is broken in several places. The tall bushes, once carefully trimmed into all sorts of imaginative shapes, have been allowed to grow wild.
Minoo walks through the arched gateway with KÅRRGRUVAN mounted above it, and past the old ticket office, which has been boarded up with rotting planks. She sees the round dance pavilion with the pointed roof that makes it look like a circus tent. Further away there is a dilapidated red stall with HOT DOGS in white lettering across the top of the closed service window.
Somehow this place seems even more desolate and threatening when you know that it was once full of life, laughter and eager anticipation.
But it’s not completely deserted, Minoo now notices.
Someone is standing in the shadows by the dance pavilion.
Minoo’s feet stop. The figure breaks away from the shadows and takes on solid form. Minoo immediately recognises him.
It’s the school caretaker.
10
‘MY NAME IS Nicolaus,’ the caretaker says solemnly.
He’s wearing an old-fashioned black suit, a white shirt, a red and blue striped tie and freshly polished shoes. As if he’s dressed up the occasion.
‘Welcome, O Chosen One,’ he continues, ‘you who have come to this sacred place on the night of the blood-red moon!’
He raises his hands towards the sky. When she instinctively takes a step back, Minoo discovers she has regained control of her body. It becomes clear that the man is completely out of his mind when he virtually howls, ‘Behold! The prophecy has been fulfilled!’
‘Excuse me?’
He drones on, taking no notice of her question. ‘You and I have awoken from our slumber. And now our eyes have been opened! Anon shall we witness the moment when our destiny shall be fulfilled!’
He looks at Minoo expectantly.
‘You must have mistaken me for someone else,’ she says weakly.
His intense gaze pins her to the ground.
‘Tell me, did you come here of your own free will, or were you brought here by a mysterious force, something beyond the realm of human understanding?’
Minoo doesn’t know what to say. How could he know that?
Nicolaus nods in satisfaction.
‘Who are you?’ she asks.
‘Nicolaus Elingius is my name. I am your guide. You are the Chosen One.’
‘Chosen for what?’ Minoo asks.
‘I don’t know yet,’ says Nicolaus impatiently.
‘So you don’t know any more than I do about what’s going on?’
He looks around furtively. ‘No. I mean … We have to be patient. I’m trying to grasp my memories, but that’s like trying to catch a sunbeam. Like the newborn lamb that opens its eyes to the light and is blinded, we shall—’
‘I’m going home now,’ says Minoo.
Nicolaus shushes her. His eyes are fixed on a point behind her. A cold wind finds its way underneath her pyjama top. ‘Someone is lurking in the shadows,’ he whispers.
Minoo thinks of the figure in the light of the streetlamp and shudders.
Now she hears the gravel crunching under someone’s feet at the entrance to the fairground. She turns slowly.
At first Minoo doesn’t recognise her because Vanessa’s hair is wet and pasted against her skull. Her makeup, always so perfectly applied around her big brown eyes, has run down her cheeks. She is wrapped in a grey woollen blanket and is irritatedly plucking away some leaves that are caught in her hair. Minoo glimpses a pair of leopard-print pants and a matching bra under the grey wool.
‘I don’t understand …’ Nicolaus mumbles, staring at Vanessa in horror.
‘What’s going on and who the hell are you?’ Vanessa asks.
It’s obvious she doesn’t want to show that she’s scared to death.
‘I’m Nicolaus. I’m supposed to … guide the Chosen One,’ he says, with what little authority he can muster.
Vanessa is rocking back and forth to keep her balance. She must be drunk. Why else would she be running around half naked in the forest?
‘Wait a minute,’ says Vanessa. ‘You’re the creepy school caretaker.’
Nicolaus grimaces stiffly.
Vanessa looks at Minoo as if she’s only just realised she’s there. ‘What the hell are you two doing out here?’
Minoo feels silly for being offended that Vanessa has lumped her with Nicolaus. Can’t she tell that she and Minoo are in the same situation?
Vanessa’s blanket slides down to reveal her bra.
‘Dear child, cover yourself!’ Nicolaus is aghast.
‘You stop staring, pervert!’ Vanessa pulls up her blanket.
He backs away, clearly shocked. ‘No one holds the fairer sex in higher esteem than I. Please tell