‘I didn’t mean what I said,’ Diana slurred. ‘That you living here is tragic and that you’ve been brainwashed. But you know how I feel about all that. The trolls and stuff. Cryptozoology. You know what I think.’

Susso used Diana’s snus tin to open another bottle of beer. Took off her baseball cap and put it down on the jetty and tossed the beer cap into it. When she realised the wind was threatening to carry the hat off, she anchored it with the bottle of mosquito repellent. She leaned back. Her eyes were fixed on the opposite bank of the river. There were no houses in sight.

‘Do you know how many kids the Simonssons have?’ Diana held up six fingers. ‘The latest, though probably not the last, is called Arwen.’

‘Have they become Laestadians or something?’

‘Söderberg has four.’

Susso took a sip of beer.

‘It’s like that game,’ she said, ‘with the pebbles. When you predict how many children you’ll have. Hey, look, I had zero children when I grew up.’

She had time to think: no, but you got a squirrel. But this time she managed to keep her mouth shut and she was grateful for it.

‘They all have diagnoses. They’re a pain in the neck. I think Ida probably wishes she’d got zero children as well. At least she looks like she does whenever they come into the clinic and run riot.’

‘Ida Söderberg,’ Susso said slowly. ‘I’d forgotten about her.’

‘They fade,’ Diana said and pulled a bottle out of the bag. ‘But they’re there. They never go away.’ She flicked off the cap and when she managed to get it in the hat, she gave herself a silent round of applause and Susso smiled at her.

*