The Ice People 37 - The City of Horror. Margit Sandemo

bellowed: “Don’t you tell me what I’m supposed to do. It’s not my fault that the road’s slippery, is it? The council should see to that! Besides, the road around this bend has a camber that’s totally wrong! Anybody can see that!”

      Mrs Sommer said: “Is everybody all right?”

      Wenche began to cry from the shock, but everybody seemed to be unharmed. Herbert said quickly: “We had better get going before the police begin to take an interest. But any child can see that the road doesn’t slope properly ...”

      “What happened to the other car?”

      “That’s none of our business,” Herbert snarled, and struggled out of the car to push it back on to the road again. “If he can’t figure out how to keep his car on the road, that’s his problem. Now, buddy, lift the car here!”

      But Willy Matteus walked over to check on the occupants of the other car. None of them was seriously hurt, but it went without saying that they were shaken. Willy could see that Herbert had managed to get his car straight and was driving away hurriedly. Without any qualms, Willy mentioned Herbert’s name to the driver of the other car, then he left the scene on foot. He wasn’t far from home now, so he walked the rest of the way.

      –

      Nos 8 and 9: Ingrid and Kalle

      The old street had changed, but Willy’s house was still there. He rang the doorbell to the lower flat and heard his own heart beating with excitement. But nobody answered, and glancing at the nameplate, he discovered that there was somebody else’s name on it. A window opened upstairs and a buxom woman leaned out.

      “There’s no one at home.”

      Willy took a step back and shouted: “Doesn’t the Matteus family live here any longer?”

      “Matteus? No, that’s many years ago. The wife moved when her husband died.”

      Willy was shaken. “Is he dead? I didn’t know. Where ... did she move to?”

      The woman shrugged her shoulders. “Ask the Karlsens next door. I think they knew them better.”

      He thanked the woman and rang the bell next door. A girl opened the door. Yes, they had Mrs Matteus’s address somewhere. She asked him to step inside. While the girl searched, Willy tried to recover from the news of his father’s death. He had been so sure that his family still lived there that he hadn’t thought of any other option. He had never dropped them a line during his many years away; it had been a bitter struggle for him to leave and he had been angry when he said goodbye. The bitterness had abated as the years passed, and he was ready to be reconciled. And now his father was no longer there ...

      The girl returned with a note in her hand. Yes, Mrs Matteus had moved and was staying with her daughter in Trondheim. At this address.

      Trondheim? Willy did some quick mental arithmetic. His hand instinctively moved to his pocket. Then he stiffened.

      “My wallet! My papers ...”

      He let his arm drop. “Oh,” he said, paralysed. “I put them on a box on the ship while I was brushing my jacket.”

      “What a shame,” said the girl. “Can’t you get hold of the ship?”

      Willy stared emptily. “That won’t be easy. You see, I ... Well, never mind. The boat arrived in Halden today. I’ve just come from there.”

      The girl said eagerly: “Well, you just have to return to Halden. If you want, I can get Kalle to give you a lift. He’s a lorry driver I know. His lorry is parked by the café.”

      Willy hesitated. “That’s very kind of you. I’m rather tired. I felt ill recently with a bad bout of the flu while I was on board the ship. There was such a draught everywhere, and I don’t think it was a good idea to hitch a ride on that boat. I still feel a bit under the weather, so if you could help me, it would be splendid.”

      “Of course,” the girl said. “I’ll just get my coat.”

      They found Kalle, the lorry driver, and while they waited for him to get ready to go, Willy took his leave of the girl.

      “You’ve been very kind,” he said. “We probably won’t see each other again, but I want to thank you properly when I get hold of my papers and have recovered. May I call you?”

      The girl blushed. “Yes, I don’t think there’s any harm in that,” she said slowly. “Here’s my telephone number. You already have the address. Good luck!”

      Willy climbed up into the lorry next to the heavy driver.

      Kalle said in his booming, beery voice: “Oh, so you’ve lost your wallet. Ingrid said you’re a sailor?”

      “No, that’s not what I am. But I did arrive today on a ship.”

      “Which one?”

      “The Fanny. It’s a small cargo ship. We came from Rotterdam.”

      “Let’s hope that nobody has taken your wallet.”

      “I don’t think they will have. It’s well hidden. It will be a bit difficult ...”

      “Why?”

      Willy laughed. “You see, I was a stowaway!”

      “Oh, damn. Then it won’t be easy to explain why you want to go aboard. How did that happen?”

      “I came from the Far East via Africa and landed in the Netherlands. I was beginning to get short of money, but then I came across the Fanny, which was bound for Norway, and I didn’t want to miss such a good chance. I managed to get aboard, but my hiding place was very cold and I caught a very heavy cold. Actually, at one point I thought I was going to die, but then I recovered a bit. But now, this evening, I’m feeling unwell again. I’m aching all over.”

      “I suppose you’ve got the flu. You’re probably not used to Norwegian temperatures. They can be really bad, and then a cough and a cold make things worse.”

      “Yes,” said Willy. “I feel feverish, my back is aching and I’ve a strange feeling in my mouth. It will be good to lie in a hotel bed and get a good night’s sleep. I just hope I can get hold of my papers.”

      “Well, if you’ve come this far, you’ll also get through the rest. We’re in Norway now – the authorities aren’t bullies.”

      They drove across a deserted, windblown plateau in a flaming sunset, intensely red and clear, such as only the January sun can produce. The snow, which never really gets a grip in Östfold, lay like a thin blanket over the plateau, leaving only the road bare, like a shiny, treacherously slippery thread to the horizon.

      “How did you get off the boat?”

      Willy came to. He was in a feverish daze, thirsty, sweating, far too hot and with a dull anxiety at the new turn his illness was taking. “I was lucky. The boat had to put in for a moment before Svinesund due to ice in the sound, so I seized the opportunity to jump ashore. Nobody noticed me, then a family from Sarpsborg offered me a lift. The man was a real bighead, ugh!”

      “Oh yes, I know the kind!”

      “I suppose I forgot my wallet and documents because I was in such a hurry to get off the boat. How stupid of me! How incredibly stupid!”

      A link in the lorry’s snow chains had come loose and was hitting the hubcap with a monotonous metallic sound. Willy had to strain to hear Kalle’s voice. The fever was taking hold and he leaned back in his seat.

      Agnes reached the station of the Sauöya ferry, where some boats were thumping against the wharf. An icy wind blew in her face as she turned the corner.

      There was Doffen! She was just about to shout at him when she discovered that he wasn’t alone. He was playing with another dog, a poodle, and they ...

      Ugh! Dogs were so repulsive! Agnes