She picked up Gustav, who was still sobbing pitifully. Carrying him like a baby, cradled in her arms, taking care where she set her feet. It wasn’t easy for her to carry him, now that he’d grown so big.

As they approached the lighthouse, she called out Karl’s name, but he didn’t answer. The door stood open, presumably to let in some fresh air. It could get unbearably hot inside when the sun was shining.

‘Karl!’ she called again. ‘Could you come down here, please?’

It wasn’t uncommon for him to ignore her, and she realized that she would have to make the effort of going up in the lighthouse to find him. She couldn’t carry Gustav up the steep flight of stairs, so she carefully set him down on the ground, then gently patted his cheek.

‘I’ll be right back. I’m going to get your father.’

He gave her a hopeful look and then stuck his thumb in his mouth.

Emelie was already out of breath after carrying Gustav from the shore; she tried to calm her breathing as she went up the stairs. On the stop step she paused and raised her eyes. At first she couldn’t understand what she was seeing. Why were they lying on the bed? And why didn’t they have any clothes on? She stood there, frozen to the spot, and stared. Neither of the men had heard her. All their attention was focused on each other, on the forbidden place of their bodies, and Emelie saw with growing astonishment that they were caressing each other.

She gasped, and now they noticed her. Karl looked up, and for a second their eyes met.

‘You sinners!’ Words from the Bible burned inside of her. The Holy Scriptures strictly forbade such things. Karl and Julian would bring misfortune and damnation upon themselves, and upon her and Gustav too. God would curse everyone here on Gråskär if they didn’t atone for their sins.

Karl still didn’t say anything, but it was as if he could see straight through her and knew what she was thinking. His eyes turned cold, and she heard the dead start to whisper. They told her to flee, but her feet refused to obey her. She was incapable of moving or tearing her eyes away from the naked, sweaty bodies of Julian and her husband.

The voices got louder, and something seemed to jostle her, so that she could finally move again. She raced down the stairs and picked up the sobbing Gustav. With a strength that she didn’t know she had, Emelie ran, unaware of where she was headed. She heard Karl and Julian coming after her, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to outrun them. The house wouldn’t provide any sort of safe refuge. Even if she managed to get inside and lock the door, they could easily break it open or get in through a window.

‘Emelie! Stop!’ yelled Karl behind her.

Part of her wanted to do just that. Stop and give up. And she would have done that if she had only herself to think about. But she kept going because of Gustav, who was now crying in fear as she carried him in her arms. She had no illusions that they would spare him. Gustav had never meant anything to Karl. The boy existed only to placate Karl’s father, to convince him that everything was as it should be.

It had been a long time since Emelie had thought about Edith, her confidante during those years on the farm. She should have listened to her friend’s warnings, but she had been young and naive and hadn’t wanted to see what was now crystal clear to her. Julian was the reason that Karl had returned home so abruptly from the lightship and been forced to marry the first available girl. Even a farm maid was good enough to save the family’s reputation. And everything had been arranged according to his parents’ wishes. The scandal concerning their youngest son never got out.

But Karl had duped his father. Behind his back, he had hired Julian to be his assistant on the island. He had decided it was worth the risk that he might again suffer the brunt of his father’s anger. For a moment Emelie actually found herself feeling sorry for Karl, but then she heard his footsteps getting closer and she remembered all the harsh words and blows, and the night when Gustav was conceived. He hadn’t needed to treat her so badly. But for Julian she felt no sympathy. He had a cruel heart, and he had directed all his hatred towards her from the very beginning.

No one could save her now, but Emelie’s feet kept on carrying her forward. If it were only Karl chasing her, she might have had a hope of reasoning with him. He was once a different person; he changed when he was forced to live a lie. But Julian would never let her get away. Suddenly it was very clear to her that she was going to die on this island. She and Gustav. They would never leave.

She felt a hand reaching out towards her from behind, almost touching her shoulder. But she pulled away at exactly the right moment, as if she had eyes in the back of her head. The dead were helping her. They urged her to run towards the shore, towards the water that had been her enemy for so long. She now realized that it would be her salvation.

Emelie ran right into the sea, carrying her son in her arms. The water splashed around her legs, and after a few metres it got too hard for her to run and she had to slow her pace to a walk. Gustav had his arms wrapped around her neck, but he was no longer crying. He didn’t make a sound, as if he understood.

Behind her she heard Karl and Julian enter the water. She had a few metres’ head start, and she kept on going. The water now reached up to her chest, and she could feel panic taking hold of her. She didn’t know how to swim. But then it felt as if the water were embracing her, welcoming her and promising safety.

Something made her turn around. Karl and Julian were standing in the water a short distance away, staring at her. When they saw her stop, they began moving towards her again. Emelie started backing up. The water now reached to her shoulders, and Gustav felt lighter, his weight buoyed up by the sea. The voices were speaking to her, calming her, saying that everything was going to be fine. No harm would come to them. They were welcome and would be given peace.

Emelie was filled with a sense of calm. She trusted them. They enveloped her and her son in love. Then they urged her to turn and head towards the endless horizon. Blindly, Emelie obeyed the ones who had been her only friends on the island. With Gustav in her arms, she struggled in the direction where she knew the currents would be strongest and where the bottom sloped steeply downward. Karl and Julian followed, heading towards the horizon and squinting into the sun, without taking their eyes off her.

The last thing she saw before the water closed over her and Gustav was how Karl and Julian were pulled under by the currents. And perhaps by something else. But she was certain that she would never encounter them again. She and Gustav would be staying on Gråskär, but those two would not. The only place for Karl and Julian was in hell.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My Swedish publisher, Karin Linge Nordh, and my editor, Matilda Lund, have both been enormously helpful, as usual. I can’t thank you enough for the work that you’ve done this time around. Everyone else at Bokförlaget Forum has also supported me in countless ways and displayed an unflagging enthusiasm for the book.

The Nordin Agency represents me superbly in Sweden and in the rest of the world. Joakim Hansson has taken over the baton from Bengt Nordin and is continuing to run the race in an amazing way. I am also tremendously happy that Bengt is still in my life, as my friend now instead of as my agent.

None of my books would have been written without the help I’ve received in caring for my children. As always, I want to thank my mother, Gunnel Läckberg, as well as my ex-husband and now good friend Micke Eriksson, who never hesitates to help out. My former mother-in-law and my children’s grandmother, Mona Eriksson, has also contributed to the creative process with her delicious Swedish meatballs which, thank goodness, still continue to arrive at our house.