by Sten Ostberg
Marte followed her gaze. Through the blizzard she could just make out the shape of Kjell’s red Kia, the front wheels lifted and the back ones beneath the ice of the pond.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Just before Marte got out of the Outlander, she checked her watch. It was four minutes past three in the morning but she hadn’t registered what time they’d got to Brynja’s house. Whatever time had elapsed, they couldn’t afford to hesitate.
‘This is too dangerous.’ Brynja hadn’t moved and stared at the tilted red vehicle.
‘I’m just going to take a look.’
Brynja nodded.
‘And you’re coming with me.’
Brynja met her eye and terror bulged in her expression.
‘I can’t do this on my own.’
‘Let’s go back.’
‘Brynja, think of Vigar. If it’s not safe then we won’t go on the ice, but we have to try.’
Brynja breathed heavily down her nostrils before reluctantly opening her door.
Marte pushed hers open but the wind almost blew it shut again. She fought against it and put her feet in the deep snow and blinked against the flakes. She moved around to the front of the Outlander and met Brynja there. Marte took out her phone and switched on the torch beam. She played it over Kjell’s car for a moment before they both carefully trod towards it.
It was impossible to see where the edge of the pond was and Marte gripped her sister’s shoulder tightly while she gingerly negotiated her way to where she thought it was.
They stopped about 20ft from the car and Marte shielded her eyes with her hand. Through the snowfall, the beam highlighted a dark shape slumped in the driving seat. Marte shuddered. She could see the top of a bush to her right and figured they hadn’t reached water yet. She guided Brynja forward until they were in line with it.
Now Marte could see Kjell’s head leaning against his chest and fought back her revulsion. She turned off the torch and put it in her jeans. ‘One small step at a time.’
They continued shuffling forward. Surely they had to be on the pond by now. Kjell’s car was only 10ft or so from them.
A loud crack.
Marte and Brynja froze.
‘This is stupid, we’ll both drown.’ Brynja took a pace back.
‘Stay still. If the ice can take the weight of the car we should be okay. Just don’t step hard … slide.’ Marte tested with her foot and the ice felt solid.
Brynja was still hanging back. ‘I really don’t want to do this.’
Marte could see the blood spattered on the side of Kjell’s face. She turned to her sister. ‘We’re so close. Now is our only chance.’
Brynja was looking anywhere but inside the vehicle.
‘Decide now!’
A hard gust of wind nearly knocked them off their feet and they both crouched and waited for it to pass. Brynja bent her head forward and joined Marte where she was standing.
Marte edged forward again, sliding her boots over the snow-covered ice until she was in reach of the door handle. She could see Kjell’s blue shirt was saturated with blood. There were deep gashes to his bald head where he’d been struck with the iron.
Marte swallowed, reached out and took hold of the handle. It clicked open and she tugged it towards her.
Ice fractured below her feet and she remained still and waited for it to give way. It creaked and was then silent.
Kjell’s eyes looked as if they were glued closed by blood. His left palm was open beside him.
Marte turned to Brynja and she was looking the other way. ‘I’ll see if I can drag him out. Then I’m going to need your help. Are you ready for this?
Brynja eventually nodded.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Karl was following the trench and jogging against the wind. Had he missed the turning? He couldn’t remember it being this far to the pond, but then they’d always driven there in the past.
‘Marte!’ He yelled, but knew the gale would carry the sound away.
His scalp throbbed tightly and Karl told himself he would definitely have seen the turning if he’d come to it. Perhaps it was already too late. If Kjell’s body was still above the water and Marte had moved it, there wasn’t much more he could do to stop her from becoming an accomplice except lie.
It was this sort of behaviour that made Karl feel he didn’t truly know her. Marte took a dim view of Brynja and the compromises she’d made with her own career because of Kjell’s money and the lifestyle it gave her, so there was no way she’d been persuaded by her sister to lock Karl away. No, if Marte hadn’t suggested what she had, maybe Brynja wouldn’t have struck him from behind.
He knew it was Vigar that Marte was considering but Karl was still incensed she wasn’t thinking about the consequences for herself and Nadina. He hoped their child was sleeping soundly and would never hear of what happened on this night.
Karl slogged on through the snow, his chest tightening as he dragged painful breaths into his lungs. He was so out of shape. Chasing Nadina around the park was the only time he ever raised his heart rate.
He put his hand into his pocket and touched Brynja’s phone. Should he call them and try to talk them out of whatever they were doing? But he knew how a record of their conversation would complicate matters even more.
Then he saw the turning and headed straight for it. Thank God. He knew it wasn’t far from there to the pond but it was still snowing so hard it wasn’t possible to see further than a few feet. ‘Marte!’
Would Marte stop even if she heard him?
He paused to get his bearings. Was he heading in the right direction? No sign of his Outlander let alone Kjell’s car. Karl hurried blindly on, hoping he was still running towards and not away from the pond.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Marte painstakingly placed her foot against the inside step of the car so she could get enough purchase to lug Kjell clear of the vehicle. As soon as she put her weight on it, however, the ice cracked again.
‘This isn’t going to work.’ Bryjna started to retreat.
‘Stay still.’ Marte shot an angry glance at her. ‘You’ll only make things worse.’
Brynja froze but still didn’t look at her husband’s body.
‘We only have to pull him clear. We can slide him over the ice and back to the car.’
Brynja shook her head.
‘We’ve got this far. We just drop him off close to the house. Then we all make enough tracks so it looks like a search and enough fresh ones leading to Kjell.’
‘What about his car?’
‘It’s about to sink so we’ll have to leave it here. Karl and I can deal with it later. Priority is getting Kjell somewhere we can find him before we call the police.’
‘But they’ll want to know where his car is.’
‘We’ll think of something!’
Brynja looked wounded by her outburst.
Marte tried to restrain her temper. ‘One thing at a time.’
Another splintering sound beneath them.
‘Quick. Hold my coat while I try to get him out. If the ice gives, pull me back.’
Marte felt her sister’s hands grip her. ‘Okay …’ She leaned forward and grasped Kjell’s arm.
Marte couldn’t tug him without putting more of her weight on the car. She increased the pressure on her foot and yanked at him with both hands. His body leaned towards her and she saw the extent of his head injuries up close.
The sharp sound of more ice rupturing came from behind them this time.
‘Marte …’
She ignored Brynja’s caution and heaved again on Kjell’s arm. His torso was almost tipped out of the car but his feet were lodged under the pedals.
‘Shit!’ Marte leaned inside the Kia and tried to reach his boots but could feel Brynja dragging her back.
‘I can’t hold on.’
Marte continued regardless and crouched in the foot-well. Her fingers squeaked over wet leather as she tried to free his feet.
> Brynja released Marte’s coat.
‘Brynja?’
Marte froze. The gurgled male voice above her stirred Kjell’s legs. He was still alive. She heard Brynja scream and tried to pull herself back out of the car. But Kjell was trying to sit up and trapped her there. He filled his chest with air but couldn’t open his blood-coated eyelids.
‘You fucking bitch!’ He reached for Marte and grabbed first a handful of her hair then her throat. His fingers locked hard onto her Adam’s apple and squeezed. She couldn’t tell him she wasn’t Brynja.
A splitting sound below them told Marte the ice was about to give under their combined weight.
His other hand joined the first and started trying to wring the life out of her. Marte couldn’t even cry for help.
The car dropped half a foot and she felt ice-cold water splash around her legs.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As the Kia went down Marte felt Brynja’s fingertips hook over the waistband of her trousers. But Kjell’s hands tightened on her neck. The back of the car was completely underwater now and the front was swiftly tipping backward.
Freezing water washed over her waist and poured in. She aimed a fist at Kjell’s face but couldn’t swing it past his tensed arms. Brynja jerked on Marte, but gravity made it impossible for her weak wrists to lift her back onto the ice.
The vehicle dropped another foot and the water rushed in harder. Kjell gasped but still didn’t loosen his hold.
‘We’re going to drown!’ Marte barely squeezed the words past his grip.
Kjell shifted in his seat so he could force her head down into the pond water that already covered his lap.
Marte’s shoulders quaked as she tried to resist his downward pressure. But her face and ears went under the water and her sister’s screams were suddenly muffled.
She was held solidly there, cold liquid rushing into her nose as she tried to aim punches above her. Her gagging and stifled cries of panic were locked in her head.
The Kia dropped again and the sounds changed pitch as more water flooded the car and Brynja’s voice receded. Kjell pulled her firmly against his lap and Marte knew she had one last chance.
She opened her mouth and bit as hard as she could into it. She could taste the material of his trousers and didn’t know if she’d caught any of his flesh.
His reaction told her she had.
Kjell’s fingers released her and she lurched upwards.
Marte struck her head against the ceiling of the car and gulped oxygen. Kjell was below her and suddenly she could hear his scream – and Brynja’s. The Kia was two thirds full of water and still sinking.
‘Marte!’ Brynja’s hand grabbed the collar of her coat and heaved her back.
Marte turned from the vehicle and saw the ledge of ice and Brynja’s legs above her. She threw herself against it and scrambled over the sharp edge. It crumbled and she was in the glacial water, pedalling her legs before her face went back under.
Kjell seized her and tried to climb her body, dragging her towards the bottom. Marte twisted away from him and broke the surface, sucking in a breath and reaching out to Brynja’s extended hands.
She lunged for the edge, held onto it with her right hand then used her left to clasp Brynja’s wrist.
Kjell tugged at the edge of her coat but she had a leg over the ice. His bulk threatened to haul her back but she quickly scrambled out and unzipped it, slid one arm clear then turned and allowed his weight whip the other away from her.
The coat vanished under the surface.
‘Kjell!’ She was on her knees, her hand extended to the water now. ‘Kjell!’
She could see his blurred face looking up at her before the car hinged flat, the vehicle’s red roof sealing flush with the ice.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
‘Kjell!’ Marte stood and stamped on the ice beside the Kia’s roof.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Brynja backed away.
‘We’ve got to get him out!’ Marte chopped with her heel.
‘You’ll kill us. I’m going back.’
Marte gaped at her in disbelief. ‘He’s drowning!’
Brynja shook her head. ‘It’s too late.’
‘No, it’s not; we can save him! Help me!’ Marte repeatedly jumped on the ice.
Cracks opened up towards the edge of the pond.
‘Run!’ Brynja stumbled and fell backwards.
Marte looked down at the Kia. Water bubbled and squirted from the tiny gap around the red roof. She leapt and landed on the ice, heard it fragment but no hole opened up.
‘Fuck!’ A gust almost knocked her sideways and drove the snow at her soaked form but she didn’t even register it scalding her skin.
Marte imagined what was happening beneath her – Kjell trapped there with his lungs filling with water.
The wind dropped and suddenly the pond was silent. Marte turned and met Brynja’s eyes. There was no emotion there.
Marte collapsed to her knees and vomited soil-tasting water.
‘Come away from there.’ Brynja didn’t move.
Two metallic thuds.
Marte’s eyes darted back to the car.
Another.
There had to be a pocket of air inside. ‘Brynja!’
But her sister started reversing on her elbows back towards the bush. ‘He’ll never get out.’
‘Get over here and help!’ Marte scrambled back to the Kia, the roof a tablet of red metal set in the ice. She banged on it and waited.
Nothing.
‘Marte … you tried.’
She rapped again harder.
No response.
Then Kjell’s hand shot out of the water. It poked through the small aperture in the ice where Marte had broken away some of it getting out.
‘Kjell!’ She grabbed his icy fingers but it wasn’t even big enough to push his arm through.
Kjell’s hand scrabbled about and Marte started stomping around it to try and sheer away another chunk. ‘Brynja!’ She tried to avoid his fingers with her boot.
But the ice was too thick to break it with her foot. She needed the edge of something sharp, a spade or a pickaxe.
Another boot stamped next to hers. Marte turned to find Karl beside her.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The roof of the Kia dropped another couple of inches so it was below the ice and Kjell’s hand slipped back through the opening.
They both kept pummelling with their boots but their exertions couldn’t chip it any bigger. They both looked down at the black water, their exhausted, irregular breath clouding their faces.
Karl scanned the pond for more holes but couldn’t even see the other side through the blizzard. He took a pace forward but Marte gripped his arm.
‘Don’t. It’s not safe.’
Again he looked along the surface for a break then back to where Brynja was lying.
A knock. Under their feet.
Karl dropped to his knees and scraped away the snow with his bare hands. He could see a dark shape under the ice.
Another thud and then scratching.
‘Jesus Christ!’ Karl stood and they both jumped hard on the spot. Karl saw the flash of skin – a hand or a face.
The surface cracked but the fissures extended towards the bank.
‘Help us, Brynja!’ Karl yelled.
She remained where she was while they worked at the ice.
The shape moved away.
‘He’s gone!’
Marte kept stamping.
‘Marte.’
She did it twice more before she stopped.
‘Listen.’ Karl held up his hand.
They heard another soft thump, which seemed to come from beyond the Kia and then no more.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
‘Back to the car, before you catch pneumonia.’ Karl took off his coat and draped it around Marte’s shivering form. He tried to turn her but she remained rigid, looking out at the pond and listening for Kjell. ‘Come on. There’s nothi
ng more to be done.’
‘He tried to strangle me.’
As the Kia sunk from sight Karl angled her away and they made their way cautiously to where Brynja was.
‘I’m sorry.’ Marte’s jaw trembled with the cold.
‘Just keep moving. We’ve got to get you warm.’
Brynja got carefully to her feet. ‘He was never going to get out of there.’
Neither of them answered her.
‘There wasn’t anything we could do. We could have all—’
A large portion of the ice opened up under Brynja and she dropped into the pond.
Karl and Marte scrambled towards the hole but the ice was breaking on all sides of them.
‘Don’t stop!’ Karl propelled Marte ahead and felt the ice shattering under the soles of his boots.
They reached the opening where Brynja had fallen just as their path collapsed. They both plunged into the dark water. It closed over the top of Karl’s head and the shock of the cold paralysed his breath. He hadn’t touched the bottom, and kicked himself back towards the surface. His scalp connected with solid ice.
He clawed his way through the murk and tried to rise again but his head bashed harder into the barrier above.
Karl swam horizontally but couldn’t see any light. Had the blows disoriented him – and was he swimming towards the middle of the pond? He was out of oxygen and could feel pain balling in his chest.
Karl rose for a third attempt and this time the hard white above knocked him unconscious.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Karl gazed into the crackling flames of the log fire and took a sip of akevitt, savouring the warming caraway and fennel flavour. He briefly looked up from the grate to the snowflakes sticking to the windowpanes and was thankful to be inside and so comfortable.
Somebody stroked his head. He rolled his eyes up, expecting to see Marte standing over the armchair, but there was only white.
Karl was being turned on his side and painfully expelled liquid onto the snow. His body curled tightly as he retched and realised half of him was still lying in the freezing water.
