Diana tumbled off her chair. Sat on the jetty, barely able to breathe. When she realised the horrifying figure was not going to be explained through any concepts at her disposal or stop coming toward them, she slipped into a state she had never been in before. It was as if an unknown room had opened up inside her consciousness. Everything was so weirdly quiet. She could even hear the mosquitoes swarming around her. Susso had sunk into a deep squat; it looked like she was peeing.

Now the little figure reached out with one hand.

The monster grabbed Susso’s hair and pulled it and she crawled after him without resisting, as though they were engaging in some sort of perverted domination game.

Diana clapped both hands to her mouth.

‘Let her go,’ she said. She wanted to scream, but all she could manage was a whimper. ‘Let her go.’

Rune was hobbling around…

Rune was hobbling around the lawn with quick, hopping steps. He threw his arms out in every direction in jerky, incomprehensible gestures. It looked like some kind of deranged dance. Fanny sat on the front porch with her hood up and her arms around her pulled-up legs, watching him. Her jeans were rolled up on her calves and she was scratching at her ankles.

One of the women stood looking stupidly at the ground with eyes that didn’t blink. She had a small goatee of blood. She was being held upright by her friend, who wore glasses and didn’t seem too out of it; she was even swatting at the mosquitoes.

Abraham was clutching a wad of tissues that he pressed to one nostril from time to time. Rune was intrigued and followed him when he walked off.

‘What’s that in your pocket?’ Fanny said.

‘Nothing,’ he mumbled.

‘You’re sad about your face.’

Abraham made no reply.

‘You’re ever so, ever so sad.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Rune wants to give you a gift.’

‘I don’t want any gifts.’

Her eyebrows shot up.

‘Are you refusing his gift?’

‘No,’ he said. ‘Of course not.’

‘Would you like to know what it is? He’s going to let you have a taste. Of them.’

She nodded toward the women.

‘We’re going to gut them and then you will get to eat some of the things we pull out. The little friend you keep in your pocket will get its share too. It’s enough for everyone.’

‘What kind of nonsense is that?’ Lennart said.

Rune was standing stock-still on his bow legs. His back was slightly arched. The bulge of his tail moved underneath his trousers.

Fanny pointed.

‘They’re for someone else. Aren’t they?’

Instead of replying, Lennart walked off, up toward the road Ingvill was driving down with Grete, who had the little boy on her lap.