Sifting through the kronor in their pockets for coins, everyone made a wish. Josie was very secretive about hers, screwing up her entire face with the effort of wishing. Carina was pensive as she threw her coin, eyebrows knitting. Nico’s expression was hard to read, though the planes of his face were captured perfectly in the golden light, and he flipped his coin so that it spun high in the air before hitting the water with a tiny splash.
When it came to Hannah’s turn she found herself making one of those wishes that are half-formed in the back of your mind, a yearning you’ve hardly admitted to yourself. It concerned Nico.
Maria, unfamiliar with the concept of wishing, was happy to hurl coins into the water, clapping at the tinkling splash as they hit the surface. ‘More money, Mydad!’ she urged, and cleared the adults of their small change while they laughed at her beaming smile.
‘Let’s head for Skansen while it’s still light,’ Nico suggested. Skansen was on the island of Djurgården, which meant, literally, animal garden. A bus carried them to the main gate. As they bought tickets the snow stopped falling, though it still clung to every twig and rolled a white carpet over the paths that wound up through a rocky slope. Hannah had come to the vast open-air museum of Skansen for musical events but the rest hadn’t been sophisticated enough for Albin. However, Nico and Carina knew Skansen well enough to select a route without consulting the map.
The clouds cleared, bouncing the winter sun blindingly from the snow and turning shadows blue as they explored old dwellings that had been gathered from all over Sweden to form exhibits. Hannah was particularly struck by a home for two families that, although basic and old-fashioned to her, had still been occupied recently enough for a photograph of the final occupants to stand on the mantel. Josie liked the old school house because its ceiling-scraping Christmas tree was hung with handmade ornaments of coloured paper and oranges studded with cloves. Ladies in traditional dress gave them delicious warm pepparkakor to munch.
They meandered onward to the animal enclosures, gazing down at a lean, thickly pelted wolf pack playing in the snow like puppies. One wolf lifted its long snout and howled, its ruff sticking out like a lion’s mane. ‘Woooooooooo,’ Maria crooned back.
They saw lynx, wolverines – or ‘funny badgers’ as Josie declared them – and a huge, lugubrious elk who lay comfortably chewing, gazing back at them through rustic wooden rails. A couple of his buddies stalked up on their long legs to snuffle through oversized noses, making Josie laugh. ‘It’s awesome here,’ she said. ‘It’s like Narnia. Magically snowy, the little houses are from the olden days and the animals are weird.’
‘They’re not weird,’ Carina reproved her. ‘They’re Swedish.’
Josie’s eyes danced as if she could comment but Nico lifted an eyebrow so she returned her gaze to the elk instead. Hannah wondered if she’d ever have an eyebrow that could discourage a cheeky comment like that.
They paused at the cafeteria to eat then carried on, Nico teasing Josie when she mistook lights in the shape of icicles as the real thing, popping Maria on his shoulders when she tired, catching Carina’s elbow when she slipped on an icy patch. Smiling at Hannah as if checking she was there.
They waited until nearly three to see the sunset, gorgeous over the water, making silhouettes of the buildings and spires of the other shore and turning the snow a breathtaking pastiche of pink and apricot.
Fairy lights shone out as dusk darkened the sky to lavender blue and they made their way to the exit to begin the trek back to the hotel. Maria became whiney and overtired so they stopped for hot chocolate and cookies. ‘Hey, hey,’ Nico said, drawing her onto his knee. ‘Cheer up, kid. These cookies have chocolate chips.’ Maria took the cookie but was almost too worn out to eat.
Josie leaned her head on Carina’s shoulder and yawned. ‘I’m tired too. We walked about a hundred miles.’
‘Or maybe two,’ Hannah joked. ‘It was so beautiful at Skansen. I could go on exploring for ages.’
‘Don’t take me with you,’ groused Josie, munching a cookie with her eyes shut.
Their hotel was in the heart of the city at Vasaplan. The girls were so exhausted that Hannah ordered a seven-seater Uber on her app and occupied the middle row with Josie and Carina while Nico and Maria took the back.