The Shadow Girls полностью

One morning I came to a large river filled with brown, slow-moving water. A rowing boat was pulled up on the shore and chained to a tree. I smashed the lock with a rock and pushed the boat into the water. That day I did not lie low during the day and wait for darkness. I let the boat drift along and stretched out along the bottom that smelled like tar and looked up at the clouds far above my head and noticed that I had started to breathe easily again. It was as if I had been short of breath ever since I climbed the fence in Spain and disappeared into the dark. I slept and dreamed that my passport was like two doors that opened into landscapes that I recognised from my childhood. I could see my father there, how he came towards me and lifted me like a feather he wanted to toss up towards the sun and then catch me again in his warm arms while I slowly floated back towards the ground.

I woke from the dream when the boat started swaying. A barge had passed me. Shirts were hung out to dry from a line aboard the vessel. I waved even though I didn’t see anyone.

Tea-Bag stopped abruptly as if she had said too much and should never have revealed her secrets. Humlin waited for her to continue but she didn’t. She zipped up her jacket and pulled her chin down towards her throat.

‘Then what happened?’ he asked.

She shook her head.

‘I don’t want to tell more. Not now.’

‘How are you going to get back to Gothenburg? Where are you going to stay? You can’t stay with me. Do you have any money?’

She didn’t answer.

‘I don’t know what your name is,’ he said slowly. ‘Maybe your name really is Tea-Bag. I don’t know where you live. I don’t know why you came here. But I suspect you are in this country illegally. I don’t know how you manage.’

She still didn’t answer.

‘I’m going back to Gothenburg in two days,’ he said. ‘There I will meet with Leyla and Tanya again, and hopefully with you. Why don’t you take the train with me then? You can tell me the rest of your story. Meet me at the Central station at a quarter past two the day after tomorrow. If you aren’t there then I’ll assume you’re not coming. But if you do come I’ll pay your ticket. Do you understand?’

‘I understand.’

‘You have to go now.’

‘I know.’

‘Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?’

She didn’t answer. He gave her two hundred kronor in notes that she pocketed without even looking at them.

‘Before you go I would very much like to know your real name,’ he said.

‘It’s Tea-Bag,’ she answered.

For the first time since she had left the bedroom she smiled. Humlin escorted her to the door.

‘You can’t sleep in the stairwell.’

‘I’m not going to sleep,’ she said. ‘I’m going to visit my monkey.’

He watched her — suddenly filled with energy — dance down the stairs until she was out of sight. While he smoothed the sheets in the bedroom and checked to make sure she hadn’t left any traces of herself, he only thought of one thing.

Shirts hung out to dry on the line.

A dark-skinned girl in a rowing boat waving to a boat where there was no one to be seen.

When he woke up the following morning Humlin felt more refreshed than he could remember being for a long time. It was as if his meeting with the smiling girl named Tea-Bag or perhaps Florence had allowed him to access some hidden energy reserves. He got out of his bed as soon as he woke up instead of lying in like he usually did. He decided that this was the day to confront his mother. He was also finally going to get in touch with his investment broker.

The latter was easier than he had imagined. His broker picked up one of his mobile phone lines.

‘Burén.’

‘Do you have any idea how many times I’ve tried to reach you during the past week?’

‘Nineteen, I think.’

‘Why in God’s name can’t you return a call?’

‘I don’t like to trouble my clients unnecessarily.’

‘But I told you I wanted to speak to you.’

‘You’re speaking to me now.’

‘I’m coming by your office in half an hour.’

‘By all means. Let’s talk if I’m still here then.’