Page 243 of The Sleepwalker
Bernard is getting closer, the axe hanging by his side, and she raises her free hand in an attempt to ward him off.
‘Please, Bernard! You don’t have to do this!’ she begs him.
Agneta knows that he is going to behead her, and she finds herself hoping that he knocks her unconscious first.
She closes her eyes and makes one last attempt to pull her hand free, but it is still frozen solid. The pain is so bad that she is about to pass out, and she rests her forehead against the ice and starts whispering the Lord’s Prayer to herself.
Bernard moves up beside her and has just raised the axe like an executioner when Hugo charges towards him. He tackles Bernard, and they both fall headlong. Their combined weight makes the ice break beneath them, and father and son plunge into the freezing water.
* * *
Joona steers the RIB straight towards the ice, but he can no longer see the three figures. The hull slams into the biggestwaves and glides over the rest, and he tilts both motors up out of the water and sits down with his back to the steering console.
The bow rises as the boat slows.
There is a crash, and the back of Joona’s head slams into the console as the boat mounts the ice. It skids for around twenty metres before coming to a halt and tilting to one side. Joona jumps out and immediately starts running.
* * *
Hugo and Bernard break the surface, gasping for air and struggling to pull themselves out of the water.
Frigid waves wash over them, and the ice cracks and breaks.
They disappear in the dark, churning water.
The rope tied around Hugo’s waist starts to ripple past Agneta, over the edge of the ice and beneath the surface.
She tries to grab it, but it is too far away.
Agneta lies down and stretches her legs as far as she can. She manages to catch the last loop of rope on her foot, and she pulls it towards her and quickly winds it around her good hand.
A moment later, it pulls taut, yanking her arm. Whimpering, she grips it as tightly as she can, and feels the tugging movements on the other end.
* * *
Joona runs across the ice with the wind behind his back. In the swirling tunnel of light from his headtorch, he spots Agneta up ahead.
She is on her knee with one arm outstretched. There is a rope around her wrist, pulled taut over the edge of the ice into the water.
‘I can’t get him out!’ she shouts.
‘Don’t let go!’
A sudden jolt pulls her forward.
The line has begun to fray where it is rubbing against the edge.
Joona’s eyes follow the line, and he sees the shadow of the rope cutting in beneath the ice.
‘It was Bernard, he killed them all,’ Agneta tells him.
‘I know.’
Around five metres away, Hugo’s limp body is visible just beneath the ice. His long hair is billowing in the water, and his eyes are closed.
Bernard is floating on his back beside his son, gripping his wrist.
The rope Agneta is holding is all that is stopping the current from carrying them away.
