Mikkel was given the room Ingrid had used when she was waiting to be confirmed. One of the men commandeered the priest’s study, which was called the library, and where there was an English leather sofa. The other man moved into the wing where they usually housed guests. There were still two vacant bedrooms. Ingrid thought for a moment, fetched Sara and Ellen and said they could have one each. They exchanged glances. Sara said:

“We want to be together.”

Ingrid nodded and summoned everyone to one room, told them to sit on the beds and explained that when they went to the store with coupons and money, which they had just been given by the Board – and she would soon be giving them more – then Margot would say what use were money and coupons when she had no margarine. But Margot did have margarine, so they shouldn’t believe her, she preferred to sell it without coupons, at a higher price, unless of course she had sold out, but in that case she had also sold it for money, or at a higher price than the margarine normally should cost.

Anja couldn’t make head nor tail of this.

One of the young mothers could.

Ingrid emphasised that when they went to the store, for sugar or flour or lamp oil, they should never pay the price asked, but haggle, both with and without coupons, and shrink from nothing, especially when money was involved. And when they bought fish at the trading post they should pay a little more than the foreman asked for, unbidden, and not use coupons, as they would then get more fish next time, or else buy direct from the boats, and remember that herring is cheap, it is almost free, though at the moment it was scarce . . .

Ingrid was resolute and febrile, she looked at Sara with a worried expression and said she would have to start school at once. Sara nodded. Ingrid looked at Anja and said the same. Didn’t she trust her, Anja said.

Ingrid ignored the tone in her voice and asked the two girls how old they were. One of them said six, the other didn’t answer, but she looked older.

“You have to go to school, too.”

The girl didn’t react. Ingrid was about to ask what her name was, but one of the young mothers broke in and said she knew them and would see to it that the older girl – whose name was Nelvy, it emerged – started school; the other girl was called Gunvor, they were both from a village near Bjørnevatn, but hadn’t been down the mineshaft.

Ingrid asked what that was supposed to mean.