Wow, he thought. That’s mad. That’s really, really mad.

For the longest time he sat there, staring at the duck pond.

He wondered how the sheep were doing, and if Olav took good care of them. He wondered if Tobben and Britt managed the meat production on their own. And, more than anything, he wondered how Ninni was doing. If she was with Karl. He didn’t want to believe that any more. Holly was right. She would never go back to Karl.

When he finally stood up and walked back down to the apartment he felt calm for the first time in months. All the stress melted away.

Suddenly everything seemed obvious. He found himself smiling.

Damn, it felt good.

Chapter 21

Jack looked around the block of flats. It was modern and concrete. Not at all like the wooden houses he had seen everywhere else driving up the hill, although Bergen was a proper city, with lots of concrete buildings, cars and people. No wonder Ninni wanted to stay on the island, he thought.

He rubbed his hands together. It was bloody cold. The wind howled around the corner of the building and he pulled the woollen hat down over his ears. There were already quite a few Christmas lights in the windows, which was strangely comforting.

Jack read the names on the door tags until he found hers. Then he rang the bell. The buzzer opened the door almost immediately and he slipped in. Inside, he shook his head, happy to be away from the wind.

Ninni lived on the third floor, and Jack took the steps two at a time.

Outside her door, he hesitated. What if he was wrong? What if she still didn’t want anything to do with him? What if Karl opened the door? He frowned. No, he knew better than that. Alma had told him.

Besides, it would be worth the risk, no matter what happened. Not doing anything wasn’t really an option. He lifted his hand to knock when he heard screaming through the door. That did not sound good.

Before he managed to knock again, however, the door opened and Ninni stood there, holding a howling baby. She looked a total mess. Her hair was plastered to her face, there were stains on the T-shirt and she had dark circles under her eyes.

‘You,’ she said. ‘What are you doing here?’

Jack didn’t have chance to say anything before she burst into tears. Without hesitating, he entered the flat and closed the door behind him. He held out his arms.

Ninni shook her head. ‘I’m revolting. Please go away.’

‘True, but you are also lovely. Hand me the baby.’

For a second he thought she would refuse, but then she put the bundle in his arms. He felt the weight of the tiny girl and rocked her a little. She kept howling, but Jack tickled her chin and the action seemed to surprise her. She hiccupped and stopped.

‘How did you do that?’ Ninni stared at him.