‘Agnes!’ She can hardly see at all now. She has almost nothing left. With the very last of her strength she pounds her fist on Agnes’s back, takes her daughter’s head between her hands and presses her face close to hers. Agnes’s forehead is sticky with blood.

‘Agnes, darling!’

And something happens. A faint twitch across Agnes’s face, a spasm in her abdomen, followed by a cough. More water comes up, splashing onto the grass, then there is the wonderful sound of Agnes taking a deep, shuddering breath. The ground moves beneath Anna, she nearly topples over.

Not yet!

She straightens up to give Agnes space. Another burst of coughing, another wonderful breath.

Anna falls backwards. Sees Bror Klein, soaking wet, staggering out of the river carrying Lisa. Sees the tortured expression on his stony face before he slowly slips away, to be replaced by treetops and a high, clear blue sky.

Razor blades. Red, gold and blue.

She spreads her arms wide, closes her eyes. Feels the ground rising to catch her.

Now! Håkan whispers. Now! She follows his voice into the merciful darkness.

Chapter 55

55

Autumn 2017

She and Håkan are back in that cramped little hospital room. Everything is exactly the same. The air, the light, the hum of the machines, the tubes and wires wriggling across the covers like plastic snakes. But this time the roles are reversed. Anna is the one lying in the bed, while Håkan is sitting on the chair.

He looks different. This is healthy Håkan – and yet it isn’t.

She reaches out to him. It is a huge effort, demands almost all of her willpower.

He takes her hand in his. She feels the warmth of his skin, becomes aware that tears are pouring down her cheeks. Even though she knows this isn’t real, she wants to tell him how much she’s missed him. How pleased she is to see him.

‘You did well,’ he says. ‘Really well, my love.’

Everything changes.

They are standing hand in hand in the quarry. Her hospital gown flaps in the wind. High above them a skein of wild geese cross the autumn sky, crying out to one another with mournful voices.

‘There,’ Håkan says, pointing up to the plateau. Anna sees four teenagers, all with their heads lowered. She recognises them from the group photo.

Alex, Carina, Marie and Bruno.

Simon Vidje’s body is floating in the black water below them.

The wind passes through the leaves on the trees, rippling the surface of the water.

Somewhere far away, music is playing. A soft voice accompanied by a guitar.

I’ll see you by the waters. The dark and lonely waters.

Suddenly, just like in Karl-Johan’s painting when you look at it in daylight, Simon’s body is gone, and all that remains in the former quarry is the dark and lonely waters.