The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

tunnel by Nydalen. On the verge of the road the snow lay like greyish-white wool. Then her voice
was back.
‘I can’t see anything. But I don’t know what I’m looking for, do I.’
‘So you can’t see a snowman?’ Harry asked quietly.
He could tell from the silence that the whole thing was becoming clear to her.
‘Tell me this isn’t happening, Harry,’ she whispered. ‘Tell me this is just a dream.’
He closed his eyes and considered whether she could be right. On his eyelids he saw Birte Becker in
the chair. Of course it was a dream.
‘I put your watch in the bird box,’ he said.
‘But it wasn’t there, it ’ she began, paused and let out a groan. ‘Oh my God!’
35
DAY 21.
Monster.
FROM THE KITCHEN R AKEL HAD A VIEW OF ALL THREE SIDES from which a person
might approach the house. At the back there was a short but precipitous scree slope it was difficult
to descend, especially now that the snow had settled. She went from window to window. Peered out
and tested them to make sure they were firmly shut. When her father had built the house after the
war he had put the windows high in the wall, with iron bars covering them. She knew this had
something to do with the war and a Russian who had sneaked into their bunker near Leningrad and
shot all his sleeping comrades. Everyone apart from him, who had been asleep nearest the door, so
exhausted that he hadn’t woken up until the alarm was sounded and discovered that his blanket was
strewn with empty cartridges. That was the last night he’d slept properly, he had always said. But
she’d always hated the iron bars. Until now.
‘Can’t I go up to my room?’ Oleg said, kicking the leg of the large kitchen table.
‘No,’ Rakel said. ‘You have to stay here.’
‘What’s Mathias done?’
‘Harry will explain everything when he comes. Are you sure you’ve attached the safety chain
properly?’
‘Yes, Mum. I wish Dad was here.’
‘Dad?’ She hadn’t heard him use that word before. Except for Harry, but that was several years ago.
‘Do you mean your father in Russia?’
‘He’s not Dad.’