Inga, too, can see the circumstances Ingrid is in, but refrains from asking whether the child has a father. Ingrid asks how she knows, as it doesn’t show. Inga smiles. She tells her that dead bodies have also been washed ashore on Stangholmen, they were picked up by the Germans with the cargo boat. But she doesn’t know any more about the disaster, nor has there been anything about it in the paper Thomas occasionally brings with him.

Ingrid loads the hay onto her boat and rows home.

The following week she is back. Now Inga is on her feet again and says “Well, A cheited th’ Reaper this teim, too”. They help Ingrid to load the hay into the boat, and they don’t ask whether the child has a father this time, either. But when Thomas has gone inside the house, Ingrid asks Inga how premature a baby can be and still survive? Inga says that was a strange question, but two of her own were premature, the first by two whole months, as far as she could work out.

“An’ she’s hier yet.”

And so February passes, without Ingrid rowing over to the trading post, Barbro does instead.

~

Ingrid is sitting with the sheep, suspecting that her aunt is up to something, and also hoping it will lead somewhere – something has to happen at some point. And when Barbro returns late in the afternoon, she searches her face, without discerning anything, except that her aunt has had a spot of bother with Margot, the same old story, did Margot have any news, Ingrid asks.

“Leik hva?” Barbro snaps.

Ingrid asks if she has spoken to anyone else. Barbro says yes, to the Lensmann.

“Henriksen?”

Barbro is being secretive, and she never looks more stupid than when she has a secret. Ingrid says he isn’t a lensmann now.

Barbro says she knows.

Ingrid asks if she saw any soldiers or military vehicles?

Barbro no longer looks stupid.

“The’ r’ all in th’ Fort,” she says, and informs Ingrid that Barrøy will have to house some of the refugees from Finnmark, that is what Henriksen had told her, he would be coming over one of these days to get Ingrid’s signature, it is Ingrid’s island.

Ingrid says that the two of them should decide about that and asks whether Barbro got hold of a cat at Jenny and Hanna’s. Barbro says she forgot.