‘God morgen,’ he said, passing him.

Jack nodded back. ‘God morgen,’ pleased with himself for saying it in Norwegian.

The man kept walking, with his hands burrowed in his pockets. He looked like he had all the burdens of the world on his shoulders.

Jack wondered who he could be. He obviously knew Ninni, otherwise he wouldn’t have come out of her house. Not an islander, though. He knew all of them by now.

He knocked on the front door. Frikk barked and he could hear Ninni shushing him. Jack smiled. He had great news, and he was eager to share it with her.

Ninni opened the door with a cross expression on her face. For a second her face lit up when she saw him, then it darkened again. He leaned forward to kiss her and she pulled away.

‘I’m sorry, I’m not feeling too well. Better stay away for a while,’ she said.

‘You look a bit worse for wear. Can I make you some tea or toast?’ Jack said, hiding his disappointment.

Ninni smiled slightly. ‘That would be nice. I didn’t expect you until tonight,’ she said when he entered the house.

‘I was planning to come yesterday, but they cancelled the plane and I ended up staying at the airport in Oslo,’ he said quickly.

‘Sorry, that must have been uncomfortable for you,’ she said.

She looked awful, he thought. Something was wrong. Jack lifted his hand to stroke her hair and she flinched. Something was definitely wrong.

‘Yes, it was, but it wasn’t a problem. I slept a few hours on a bench in one of the lounges.’

‘And then you came here. It’s nice to see you, Jack.’

She grabbed a blanket from the sofa in the living room and went into the kitchen.

Jack pointed at a chair. ‘Sit down, Ninni. I’ll get you some tea to settle your stomach. You should consider going to a doctor if this continues.’

‘I don’t like doctors,’ Ninni said, pulling the blanket tighter around herself. ‘All they do is give you bad news you don’t want to hear.’

‘Nobody like doctors, but if you’re sick you go. Who was that guy leaving your house?’ Jack watched her to see her reaction.

Ninni looked at him, a bit startled. ‘You saw him?’

‘Walked right past him. He said good morning. I said good morning. Was that Karl? It was, wasn’t it? He looked miserable, by the way.’

Ninni nodded. ‘He came by last night. To talk. You know, about what happened between us and all that. He wanted to explain himself and … and the last ferry had left.’

She didn’t look at him when she said it. Instead she picked at her fingernails.

Jack put the tea mug on the table in front of her. She made no attempt to take it.

‘And did you talk?’ Jack realised he was holding his breath.

‘Yes, we did.’ Ninni lifted her head. She smiled, but it was a shaky smile. Jack frowned. Something was going on, and he could clearly see that she wasn’t happy about it.