Page 241 of The Sleepwalker
Agneta’s breathing is much too shallow, and she attempts to protect her bloody hand against her body.
She catches a glimpse of the lake house straight ahead, but it quickly vanishes from view.
A sheet of corrugated metal sails through the air, hurtling in the direction of the common land.
Hugo drags her with him.
Agneta feels as though she is no longer in control of her feet and legs.
There is a loud crack as one of the birches snaps and crashes to the ground, branches shaking.
She has lost a lot of blood and knows she won’t be able to go much further. Her knees are about to give way beneath her, and all she wants to do is curl up and go to sleep.
When they reach the lake house, they take cover against the wall and squint back up the slope, trying to see through the flurries.
Black shapes emerge from the haze only to disappear again a moment later.
‘Come on,’ Hugo shouts, pulling her inside.
The wind catches the door and slams it back against the wall, making the little window shatter.
Panting, Agneta slumps down against the wall.
Hugo manages to pull the door shut, muffling the sound of the storm slightly. He gets down onto his knees in front of her and starts brushing snow from her socks.
‘We can’t stay here,’ he says, pushing a pair of tennis shoes onto her feet. ‘He’ll follow our tracks. He’ll find us.’
‘I just need to catch my breath.’
‘There’s no time,’ he says, pulling life jackets and fenders out of a large plastic box.
‘Give me a few seconds,’ Agneta whispers, her eyes on the door.
‘We need to get out onto the ice and head for the yellow house,’ he says as he rummages for a rope. ‘I know them.’
‘I’ll wait here,’ she replies as he ties the rope around her waist and checks the knot.
‘We can help each other if we go through the ice.’
Hugo hangs a pair of ice claws around his neck and pulls Agneta back onto her feet, making her groan in pain. As hewraps a blanket around her shoulders, he asks if she is able to stand.
* * *
Joona reaches the end of the channel in the ice and speeds out onto the open water again. He heads straight for a huge wave, and the RIB briefly glides through the air, slamming back down and breaking through the next wave.
Water cascades over the bow and windscreen.
In the bright searchlight, the swirling snow makes it look as though the world is twisting like a screw, and for a few seconds, Joona has the sense that the boat is upside down, that his hair is trailing through the water.
* * *
Agneta staggers forward across the ice behind Hugo as the wind batters them from the side. He has tied the other end of the rope around his own waist, and is carrying the looped slack around his forearm.
She hunches over as she follows him, trying to keep the blanket pulled tight around her shoulders, but a sudden gust grabs hold of it and tears it away.
Agneta loses her footing and drops to one knee, but quickly manages to get up again.
Ripples of snow dance across the dark ice.
