Chapter 78
The flames from the property next door create an eerie glow in ?ke Carlsson’s dark kitchen.
He is standing by the window, watching as the firefighters hurry toward the flames dragging their hoses. Water sprays, shadowy figures move frenetically back and forth, shouts echo through the night.
He can’t make out what they are saying, but there is no mistaking the urgency.
?ke is grateful that the wind is blowing in the opposite direction, away from their home.
Otherwise they too could have been in danger, but at the moment there is no risk.
The flames are too far away to leap across the boundary, and in any case the cabin is much closer to the main house.
He hopes the sparks will rain down on the Lowengrens’ revolting property so that he doesn’t have to look at it anymore.
He would be very pleased to see it disappear from the surface of the earth.
“What’s going on?”
Karin’s bewildered voice interrupts his train of thought. She emerges from her bedroom, tightening the belt of her robe.
Then she is confronted by the scene outside the window.
“Oh my God, there’s a fire at the Lowengrens’!”
Her hand flies to her mouth, and she stares at the blaze as if she is hypnotized by its angry flames casting grotesque shadows on the snow.
“What’s happened?”
“I’ve no idea,” ?ke replies. “I heard the sirens and got up to take a look. There’s a lot of activity.”
She doesn’t need to know that he was already up.
Karin moves closer to the window and gazes out at the burning cabin, where the firefighters are battling to get the blaze under control.
“What if it comes over here,” she whispers. “What if it spreads . . .”
Her face is pale, her eyes huge with fear.
“Thank goodness Peter and the children left today.”
“There’s no danger; the wind is blowing in the opposite direction,” ?ke reassures her. “You don’t need to worry.” He puts his arm around her shoulders, draws her close. “It will soon be over.”
Karin is still staring, as if she can’t quite believe what is playing out before her. “How can it take hold so quickly?”
Tongues of flame are licking at the walls of the small cabin. The world is a terrifying mixture of colors. The fire and the shouts of the firefighters are tearing the winter night apart.
“I just hope the place was empty,” Karin adds with a shudder. “Another death would be terrible.”