Fire by Sara B. Elfgren & Mats Strandberg Read Free Book Online Page A

you still remembered things, this was exactly what you wanted us to do. So why hold us back now?’
    Nicolaus just looks at her. Then he turns away and leaves.
    Anna-Karin runs after Nicolaus as he crosses the cemetery.
    He takes such long strides it’s hard to catch up with him. Finally, she can reach out and put her hand on his shoulder. He stops instantly.
    ‘Wait!’ she says.
    He turns to face her.
    ‘Please don’t go. We’ve got to talk about this.’
    ‘There’s nothing to discuss. Anna-Karin, I beg you. You must stop the others.’
    His eyes plead, almost in desperation. And she wants to be on his side.
    If Nicolaus doesn’t want them to dig up the grave, why should they do it? He is their guide. And, besides, he is her …
    Her what? Her friend?
    Can she call him that? She likes him. At times, she has felt more strongly than that. She might even love him, as the father she was never allowed to know.
    ‘But what are we to do then?’ she asks. ‘We can’t drop the whole thing. It might mean something. Cat seems to think so anyway.’
    Nicolaus shakes his head and starts walking again. She wants to call out after him, but it would be stupid to go off like a loudhailer when you’re sneaking around a cemetery in the middle of the night.
    When she returns to the graveside, everybody is still there, standing around and talking.
    ‘He’s right, it’s totally sick to dig up a grave,’ Ida announces crossly to no one in particular. ‘They could put you in prison for doing it.’
    But none of the Chosen Ones cares to listen to Ida, as usual. Instead they decide to meet up here tomorrow night. And start discussing who can bring spades.

6
    Vanessa cycles home along the empty streets of Engelsfors.
    As she pedals along under the viaduct, the echo makes the rattling of the chain and the whooshing of the tyres against the tarmac bounce back at her. When she comes out on the other side, the silence is astonishing, as if she’s the sole survivor in a post-disaster film.
    To get up the slope that starts when you’re past the disused petrol pumps, she has to stand and pedal. She feels drained but her longing to get home drives her despite the exhaustion.
    Not far to Törnrosvägen now. She takes the short cut through bits of woodland, along the overgrown football pitch and the small playground where she sometimes takes Melvin …
    She breaks so hard that the bike threatens to go to pieces once and for all.
    Partly hidden by a shrubbery, a police car has pulled up on the far side of the sandpit and the swings.
    Vanessa stays still. Is Nicke in the car or out prowling nearby?
    Gripping the handlebars firmly, she focuses until the familiar wafts flow across her skin. During the summer, she practised bringing bigger and bigger objects with her into a state of invisibility. Just now, she is truly grateful for what she has learned.
    She starts pushing the bike towards the car until she is about ten metres away from it. The front windows are open. Somebody is in the driver’s seat, a uniformed officer with close-cropped hair. Is it Nicke? Invisibility makes her movements soundless, but she steals forward all the same, almost holding her breath as she gets closer to the car.
    Yes, it’s him.
    What is he doing here? Vanessa thinks. She stops again.
    Nicke’s head is thrown back, and he doesn’t move at all. He is so still she thinks he might be dead. Her brain goes into overdrive – call 999, then Nicke’s colleagues will come to the door to tell Mum and she will break down and, when Melvin asks at bedtime what death is, Vanessa must try to explain and then she spots a little smile flickering around Nicke’s mouth. One of his hands grips the steering wheel.
    Then Nicke happens to hit the horn. Vanessa jumps. The bike nearly falls over when the handlebars slip out of her sweaty hand.
    Nicke chuckles and looks down at his knees. He speaks in a low voice but is clearly audible in the still air.
    ‘Hey! You are really