They sat on the patio, eating grilled hotdogs and potato salad, and then Kiruna was given permission to go to bed and watch a film. Shout if you need us, she said, and the little girl nodded without looking up.

Diana opened the door to the pantry and took out the gun and carried it outside along with a stack of blankets. Susso had pulled her feet up on the chair cushion and wrapped her arms around her knees. Diana handed her a blanket and leaned the rifle against the firepit.

‘Your coffee’s getting cold.’

Susso looked at her cup.

‘Sterilised half cream,’ Diana said and pointed with raised eyebrows to the carton on the table.

‘I’m fine, thanks.’

‘I bought it just for you.’

Susso didn’t seem to hear.

‘Remember,’ Diana said, ‘when we came out here with Tobe and whatshisname, Henka Rönnebro’s cousin that Nuddi fooled around with, the ice hockey player.’

‘Fooled around. Haven’t heard that expression in a hundred years.’

‘We watched horror films, Friday the 13th, and we got each other so worked up Nuddi was too afraid to go outside to pee, so she peed in a saucepan, and we hadn’t brought any mixer, so we used instant fruit soup. The day after, there were puddles of, like, blood vomit in the snow. Remember?’

‘Now you’re in a horror film.’

Diana put in a snus, pressed the lid back on and tossed the tin on the table.

‘True, but luckily this is as dark as it gets.’

‘It’s my fault.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘That we’re here. In this horror film.’

‘You didn’t come looking for me.’

‘No, but I could have warned you.’

‘You mean you could have kept me out of it?’

‘It would have been for the best.’

‘Then who would have come for you?’

Susso made no reply, she just gingerly rubbed her face underneath her eye.

‘How is Tobe, how much does he know?’

‘How much does he know?’

Diana pointed to the pine tree where the squirrel was dashing about. Where the sun hit his fur, it shone like copper, but in the shade he was grey and the contrast between the two colours was so marked you might have thought there were two squirrels in the tree.

‘Enough never to set foot in Kiruna again.’

‘Is he in Luleå?’

Susso coughed and then cleared her throat and placed her fingertips on her forehead above her eye.

‘Are you okay?’

‘I have the world’s worst fucking headache. And there’s some transparent crap oozing out of my eye.’

‘That’s called tears. Probably because you miss Tobe.’

Susso giggled.

‘Can I get you anything?’

‘No, I’m good.’

‘Are you sure?’

She nodded with that white square over her eye.

‘Did you really think they were real? I mean, really real. When you were doing your website and all that.’