33
1945
The week in the cottage had been fantastic, and Nils had no desire to return home to reality. But on Sunday afternoon they packed the car and set off.
When they reached the village, he stopped outside Tuula’s house. He helped them unload their things and gave Tuula a long kiss when the children weren’t looking. She had crept into his room every night, where they had made love before she tiptoed back to her own room.
Nils drove home feeling very pleased with himself. He unpacked the car, then jumped on his bike and cycled to his parents’ house for Sunday dinner.
Stig, Marianne, and the children were already in the garden sipping drinks when he arrived. His father barely glanced at him as he made his way through the apple trees, but the children came rushing over and threw their arms around him. When dinner was ready, his father took him aside before they went in. “Could I have a word with you?”
Nils nodded, and his father led him into the trees so that they wouldn’t be disturbed. He stopped and swirled his sherry glass in his fingers. “The council reviewed our application and rejected it.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Nils replied honestly.
“They didn’t actually say as much, but I suspect it’s because they don’t like this ...” Father waved his hand in the air, trying to find the right word. “This ... relationship of yours. They said they found the whole thing very odd, and they weren’t sure they could rely on me, given my family’s connections.”
“Connections? We’re not talking about something dangerous here—she’s an ordinary woman, a decent woman, not a criminal!”
“They weren’t my words. Plus Karlsson is on the council, and he canceled our contract last week.”
Karlsson ran a general store outside the village, and they’d been supplying him with bread for years. Nils’s father was looking at him as if he expected him to say something. Apologize, perhaps? But Nils had no intention of pacifying his father. Instead he gazed toward the river in the distance. It was a beautiful evening, and a number of people were out strolling. They looked happy and carefree—exactly how he had felt in the cottage with Tuula.
They heard footsteps on the wooden porch. “Are you two coming?” Nils’s mother called out. His father merely looked at him, his expression grim, before turning and walking away.
They ate dinner in silence. Nils could understand his father’s disappointment and frustration that the business had suffered a setback because of him, but he couldn’t accept that he and Tuula were the source of the problem. It was other people who were in the wrong, all those people who felt they had the right to an opinion on Nils’s private life. The atmosphere was tense, and he left early.
On the way home he stopped by to see Tuula.
“The children have just fallen asleep,” she said. The kitchen window was open. A gentle breeze made the thin curtain flutter, carrying with it the scent of the roses blooming down in the courtyard. There was a cup of tea on the table by the window, and an open book on the embroidered runner. A loose bouquet of cornflowers and daisies stood in a jug in the middle of the table. The apartment had seen better days, but Tuula had made it pretty and welcoming. It was so much cozier than his own apartment; this felt more like a home.
“I bumped into our landlord earlier, and he told me about a vacant apartment in the building next door,” Tuula said. “A bigger apartment—with a living room! And I think I can afford it. The children would have their own room, and there’s a bathroom.” Her eyes were sparkling.
“Sounds perfect for you.” Maybe perfect for the four of them? Or she and the children could move in with him. He was about to suggest it, but Tuula carried on talking.
“It’s all thanks to you, for taking a chance on me and my bread. I wouldn’t be able to afford it without my baker’s wage.”
Nils shook his head. “It’s all down to you—you’re driven. And talented.”
Tuula picked up a bottle of water from the counter and removed the cork. “Apparently the water has been smelling funny recently, so I don’t dare use it. Aino left me a note, and some bottles of water from the well next door. She and Heikki have gone down to Sm?land for a few days.” She poured the water into a pan on the stove and heated it up. “Unfortunately Matias drank a glass before I saw the note, but he seems fine so far.” She made Nils a cup of tea and they sat down at the table.
“I can go down and take a look,” Nils offered.
“No, it’s too dark now. The landlord said he’d check our well tomorrow afternoon. How was dinner at your parents’?”
He didn’t answer right away; he couldn’t tell her what his father had said. “It was ... fine.”
She looked at him for a long time before she spoke. “Listen, Nils. I really appreciate the fact that you’re so open with me. And I know you well enough by now to see there’s something wrong. Don’t worry, I can take it, whatever it is that happened over dinner.”
“I ...” He broke off, sighed deeply. Stirred his tea. He really wanted to protect Tuula from all this, but he had to be honest with her. “As you know, my father applied for permission to put up a building with a freezer room, but his application was rejected. He blames us and our relationship. And one of our clients canceled his contract with us. But they’re just narrow-minded old men, the lot of them.”
Tuula looked down at the table, then up at him. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“If we got married, people wouldn’t be able to say anything.” The words just came out.
Her eyes widened. “Is that a proposal?”
Nils nodded; he had surprised himself. “I think so.”
She blinked a couple of times, then shook her head. “No, I don’t want you to ask like that. And you’ve already said that your family isn’t happy about us.”
“Mommy,” a little voice whimpered from the bedroom. “Coming, sweetheart.” Seconds later Nils heard someone throwing up. He grabbed a bowl from the sink and hurried after Tuula.
She was sitting on the bed with Matias on her lap. The boy was still retching, and Nils held out the bowl. In the faint glow of the bedside lamp, Nils could see that the child’s face was pale. Matias sank back against the pillow. Nils helped Tuula to undress him and change the sheets. Tuula gently cleaned him up and found him a fresh nightshirt.
Nils went into the kitchen and turned on the tap with the intention of rinsing the boy’s clothes, but a horrible, almost rotten stench rose from the sink. He bundled everything up in a sheet so he could wash them at home.
“There’s obviously something badly wrong,” he said when Tuula emerged from the bedroom.
“You mean the water?”
He nodded, pointed to the bundle on the floor. “I’ll take everything home, try to get it clean.”
“There’s no need, I . . .”
“There’s every need. Use the bottled water for drinking and cooking.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll come back and check out the well first thing tomorrow, as soon as it’s light.”
“Thank you. Maybe I should try to get some sleep now—I think it could be a long night.”
Early the next morning, Nils returned, and Tuula showed him the well in a corner of the courtyard. Nils removed the lid, and the stench that met him made him gag and turn his head away. He pulled up his shirt to cover his mouth and nose before he peered inside. What he saw made his stomach turn. He turned away, retching, but nothing came up.
A cadaver of some kind. It was impossible to see what it was exactly—the combination of the water and the heat of high summer had made it unrecognizable, but possibly a deer. But one thing was certain. It hadn’t gotten into the well by itself—someone must have thrown it in. There was absolutely no doubt about that.
“What is it?” Tuula tried to look over his shoulder, but she, too, had to turn her head away.
“A dead animal.” He looked at her. “Don’t you worry about it, I know some guys who will take it away for a few kronor, then we’ll get someone in to clean the well.”
“A dead animal? But how ...” Then she realized what he had already grasped. Seeing the truth hit home was heartbreaking.
“You can all move in with me until the well is clean and safe.”
She didn’t say a word; she just stared blankly into space. Then she swallowed hard. “I need to get Matias to the doctor. Right now.”