Page 237 of The Sleepwalker

‘For your sake, for mine, for all those who .?.?. I don’t know. I’m not done yet, far from it .?.?. That fire is still burning brighter than anyone else’s,’ he says, pounding on the bathroom door.

‘Leave Agneta alone.’

‘Open the door!’ Bernard shouts. ‘No one is going to read whatever you write on your phone, surely you must see that? I’ll delete whatever statement or little farewell note you’ve written.’

‘I don’t want you to talk to her like that,’ says Hugo, moving towards his father.

‘No,’ Bernard sighs, taking a step back.

‘What’s done is done, Dad, but it’s over now,’ Hugo continues in a soft tone of voice, positioning himself between Bernard and the bathroom door.

His heart is beating so hard that he can feel it in his neck and nostrils.

The lock clicks, and Agneta opens the door. She steadies herself against the doorframe for a moment, then moves past them into the hallway.

Bernard lifts his head and looks straight at his son.

Agneta’s breathing is ragged and shallow as she starts making her way down the stairs to the library.

Hugo holds up both hands and takes a step to one side to block Bernard from following her.

82

Joona chooses the shorter route, on the inside of Lambarön, keeping the boat steady as the swell surges back on itself and following what is left of the channels cleared by the ice breakers prior to the storm.

He turns the wheel and hits a large wave.

The boat becomes airborne for a moment, and the engines rev loudly before the fibreglass hull slams back down and water crashes up over the windscreen.

* * *

Agneta makes her way down the stairs on shaking legs. The beta blocker she took earlier has started to take effect, but her heart is still beating uncomfortably fast. Behind her, she can hear a tearful Hugo trying to convince his father to give up, to put the axe down.

The wind tears around the house.

‘Let’s just stay here and talk about—’

‘You stay,’ Bernard barks.

Agneta hears a loud noise upstairs, followed by someone crashing to the floor. She breaks into a run, losing her footing when she reaches the polished floor in the library and landing on her shoulder. Agneta gasps and scrambles up when she hearssomeone on the stairs, and she staggers out into the hallway, past the kitchen and towards the front door. The frame seems to have buckled slightly, and the door is tilting inwards.

She quickly pulls on her boots and reaches for a coat from the hook before turning the key in the lock. Agneta tries the handle, but the door won’t budge, even when she puts all her weight against it. Something must be blocking it from the outside, she realises, possibly the old maple.

‘I just want to talk to you!’ Bernard shouts from the library.

Agneta turns around and tiptoes through to the kitchen, carefully pulling the door shut behind her. She drops her coat in the process, but doesn’t stop to pick it up, hurrying past the dining table to the other door to the library. After pausing to take a deep breath, she heads through into the dark room and hears heavy footsteps down the hallway to the front door.

She should have grabbed one of the knives, she thinks, but it is too late now.

Moving as quietly as she can, she makes her way past the foot of the stairs and has to make a real effort not to scream when she notices a dark figure standing by the fireplace.

It is Hugo, and he is gripping a black poker in one hand.

Bernard tugs at the front door, turns around and meets Agneta’s eye.

She and Hugo cross the library and hurry down the hall towards his bedroom and the lounge.

The crystals on the wall sconce jingle as they pass, as though to give them away.