The Devil's Sanctuary by Marie Hermanson Read Free Book Online

air. His order was received with a nod by a thickset older woman, and a moment later she was on her way over to them with two huge tankards. She set them down firmly on the table. She had arms as big as a lumberjack’s and a mouth like a bulldog.
    “What did I say?” Daniel whispered with a shudder. “Do you think she’s going to gobble us up?”
    Max shrugged.
    “I’ve been okay so far. I think she’s waiting until I get a serious beer belly first. She usually pinches my waist to see how it’s coming along. Well, cheers, bro! It’s really good to have you here!”
    They raised their tankards.
    “I feel the same. Much better than I thought, in fact. I never imagined—,” Daniel said, but was interrupted by an unexpected “cuckoo,” and only now did he notice the large cuckoo clock on the wall beside them.
    The clock played out an entire little scenario. In addition to the cuckoo popping out of its door, there was an old man chopping wood and an old woman trying to milk a goat. But the goat kept kicking its hind legs, knocking over the little pot, and the old woman kept having to stand it up again.
    “Damn,” Daniel said, taken aback, once the performance was over and the cuckoo had disappeared behind its door.
    Max seemed untroubled. He was gulping his beer greedily, and some of the froth ran down onto the table. A skinny little man in an apron with thin back-combed hair appeared out of the gloom like a ghost and wiped the table with a cloth. As the man leaned over into the light of the candle Daniel thought that his cheekbones stuck out like a skeleton’s.
    “I take it that was Hansel?” he said after the man had withdrawn with a silent bow. “He’s doing a good job of not letting himself get too fat.”
    “There’s a Gretel as well. I don’t know if she’s here today,” Max said, looking round the room. “Maybe she’s been gobbled up already. It wouldn’t surprise me. She’s fairly tasty. If I didn’t have my little Giulietta I might have been tempted to have a little nibble.”
    “Who’s Giulietta? Your latest conquest?”
    “Latest, last, and only. A stunningly beautiful twenty-two-year-old olive farmer’s daughter from Calabria. She still lives at home with her parents, but we’re engaged.”
    “A twenty-two-year-old! But you’re thirteen years older than her,” Daniel objected.
    “That’s not unusual in Calabria. Her parents are very happy with me. I’m mature, experienced, and comfortably off.”
    “And burned out. In a rehab clinic. But perhaps you haven’t told them that?”
    “No, I’ve told them I’m in Sweden on business.”
    “What about Giulietta? Is she happy with you as well?”
    “She’s crazy about me.”
    “And does she think you’re in Sweden on business too?”
    “Yes. But I’m going to take things a bit easier from now on. When I leave Himmelstal we’re going to get married and settle down in Calabria. We’re going to have our own olive farm. Children. Seven or eight.”
    He nodded happily to himself, as if this was a decision he’d just made. Then he looked up and asked, “You don’t have any children, do you?”
    “No, you know that perfectly well. Emma wanted to wait, and then we got divorced.”
    Max put a calming hand on his shoulder.
    “There’s no rush. Us men have time on our side. It’s different for women. Shall we have another beer?”
    “I haven’t gotten through this one yet. You have another. I’ll pay.”
    “You’re not paying for anything. You’re my guest,” Max said, gesturing with his hand to order another tankard from the bulldog woman.
    The room had filled up and the noise level had increased. Most of the clientele were men, but it was hard to get any idea of what sort of people they were, seeing as the lighting was so dim. Except for a few spotlights on the bar, the only lighting was the candles on the tables.
    “Your stay here seems to have done you good,” Daniel said. “I was actually quite worried when I