‘Okay. Well, see you in a minute.’ Eirik holds the pickax up and waves at me, then he disappears outside.

*

Eirik drags the sofa with me on it closer to the hearth, as close as it will go. If I reach my hands out, the heat from the flames is so hot I have to retract them after a moment. He carries me to the bathroom and waits outside while I go, then back to the sofa.

‘The fire won’t go out for a long time; I’ll be back way before it does. But do you think you can manage to toss a few more logs on if it starts to die?’

‘Yeah. I don’t even have to get up.’

‘I think the nearest hospital is in Notodden, they might choose to send an air ambulance.’

I ponder this for a moment, the surreal thought of being airlifted away from Leah’s cabin. ‘The moment I have reception, I’ll call the hospital and the police.’

‘She’ll be buried completely by now,’ I say, and imagine what would have happened if Eirik and I hadn’t come to the cabin – she would most likely have stayed underneath the snow through the winter. She might have been found in the spring, or not at all, and eventually she’d be nothing but a few bones, scattered across the hillsides by the wind, where wild animals roam, picking up what were once parts of her and putting them back down somewhere else.

He nods and looks stricken.

‘I covered her well. She, uh, they’ll remove her by tonight, I imagine. I’m going now; hopefully, I won’t be long.’

‘Just hurry, okay?’ I say, though in spite of the pain I am in, I hope he takes a good long while.

71

Supernova

It is my hope that you’ll come to understand why I’ve done what I’ve done with Carúpano. I just wanted to set you free. I want to set you free in more ways than just one, though, and this is where Eirik comes into it. The thing is, Kristina, I’ve failed. I’ve fucked up big time. I know you’ll have been freaking out at the mention of your darling beloved husband, and at the suspicion of where this is heading. The perfect man – your golden guy in the middle of your golden world. You’d do anything to hold onto him; maybe because deep down, you know you can’t – not really.