‘Looks like somebody is very fond of her brothers,’ said Ewa, who stood outside, ticking off the names of the children from her list as someone came to fetch each of them.

‘Yes, most of the time, at least. But they do get a swat now and then.’ Erica patted Noel’s cheek.

‘It’s not unusual for a child to react when younger siblings arrive and she’s no longer getting her parents’ full attention.’ Ewa leaned over the pram to say hello to the twins.

‘I agree. It’s perfectly understandable, and things have actually been going amazingly well.’

‘Do they sleep through the night?’ Ewa tickled the boys and received two toothless smiles in return.

‘They’re good sleepers. The only problem is that Maja thinks it’s boring when they’re asleep, so if she gets the chance she likes to slip upstairs and wake them.’

‘I can imagine! She’s a very plucky and resourceful little girl.’

‘That’s putting it mildly.’

The twins started squirming in the pram, and Erica glanced around to see what had become of her daughter.

‘Go and have a look at the jungle gym.’ Ewa nodded towards the playground. ‘That’s her favourite place.’

And she was right. At that very moment Erica saw Maja come racing down the slide, a big smile on her face. She took some convincing, but eventually Maja agreed to stand on the running board so they could leave the day-care centre.

‘Go home?’ asked Maja. Erica had turned right instead of left as she usually did when they were walking home.

‘No, we’re going to visit Aunt Anna and Uncle Dan,’ she said, and was rewarded with a jubilant cry from her daughter.

‘Play with Lisen. And Emma. Not Adrian,’ Maja firmly announced.

‘Is that so? Why don’t you want to play with Adrian?’

‘Adrian is a boy.’

Clearly no further explanation was necessary, because that was the extent of the information Erica was able to get out of her daughter. She sighed. Should the division between boys and girls really occur so early? Determining what a child should or should not do, what a child wore and who she played with? She felt guilty, wondering whether she had contributed to this by giving in to her daughter’s demands that everything of hers should be pink and princess-like. Maja’s entire wardrobe was now filled with pink clothes, because that was the only colour she was willing to wear; otherwise she threw a fit. Was it wrong to allow her to make her own decisions?

Erica pushed those thoughts aside. She didn’t have the energy for that topic at the moment. Besides, it was taking all her strength to push the heavy pram. She paused for a moment at the roundabout before setting off again, heading left along Dinglevägen. She could see Dan’s and Anna’s house on Falkeliden, but it suddenly seemed much further away than usual. Finally she reached it, but the last bit up the hill had nearly done her in, and for a long time she simply stood at their front door, trying to catch her breath. Her pulse finally slowed enough so that she could ring the bell, and only a few seconds later the door was flung open.

‘Maja!’ shrieked Lisen. ‘And the babies!’ She turned around and shouted into the house:

‘Erica’s here. And Maja and the babies! They’re so adorable!’

Erica couldn’t help laughing at Lisen’s enthusiasm. She stepped aside to allow Maja to go in.

‘Is your pappa home?’

‘Pappa!’ yelled Lisen in answer to Erica’s question.

Dan came into the hall from the kitchen.

‘Oh, it’s great to see you,’ he said, holding out his arms to give Maja a hug. She was very fond of Dan.

‘Come in, come in.’ He put Maja down, and she quickly ran off to see what the other kids were doing. By the sound of things, they were watching a children’s programme on TV.

‘Sorry that I keep popping over like this,’ said Erica as she hung up her jacket. She lifted the carrycots out of the pram and followed Dan, who led the way into the kitchen.

‘We’re delighted to have some company,’ said Dan, rubbing his face. He looked terribly tired and dejected.

‘I’ve just made a fresh pot of coffee,’ he added, looking at Erica to see if she’d like some.

‘Since when do you even need to ask?’ she said with a wry smile. She put the twins down on a blanket that she’d taken out of the babies’ nappy bag.

Then she sat at the kitchen table, and Dan took a seat across from her after pouring two cups of coffee. Neither of them spoke for a while. They knew each other so well that silence never made them uncomfortable. Strangely enough, her sister’s husband had been Erica’s boyfriend once upon a time. But that was so long ago that they could hardly remember it. Their relationship had developed instead into a warm friendship, and Erica couldn’t have wished for a better husband for her sister.

‘I had an interesting conversation today,’ she said at last.

‘Really?’ said Dan, sipping his coffee. He was a man of few words, and he also knew that Erica didn’t need much encouragement in order to continue.

She told him how she’d bumped into Vivianne and what she’d said about Anna.

‘We’ve let Anna withdraw from everyone, when we should have done the opposite.’

‘I’m not so sure about that,’ said Dan, getting up to refill their cups. ‘It feels like whatever I do is the wrong thing.’

‘But I think she’s right. I’m certain of it. We can’t let Anna just lie in bed and quietly waste away. If necessary, we have to force her to pay attention to us.’

‘Maybe you’ve got a point,’ he said, although he sounded doubtful.

‘It’s at least worth a try,’ Erica insisted. She bent down to check on the twins. They were lying on the blanket on the floor, waving their little hands and feet in the air. They looked so content that she leaned back in her chair again.

‘Anything is worth a try, but …’ Dan fell silent, as if he didn’t dare say out loud what he was thinking, for fear that it might become true. ‘But what if nothing helps? What if she’s given up?’

‘Anna doesn’t give up,’ said Erica. ‘She’s at a low ebb now, but she won’t give up. You have to believe that. You have to believe in Anna.’

She stared at Dan, forcing him to meet her gaze. Anna wouldn’t give up, but she needed help taking those first steps. And they were going to give her that help.

‘Could you watch the boys? I’m going to sit with her for a while.’

‘Sure, I’ll take care of the little tykes.’ Dan smiled wanly. He stood up and then sat down on the floor next to Anton and Noel.

Erica was already on her way out of the kitchen. She went upstairs and quietly opened the door to the bedroom. Anna was lying in exactly the same position as before. On her side, with her face turned towards the window. Erica didn’t say a word, just lay down on the bed and pressed her body against Anna’s. She put her arm around her and pulled her close, feeling her own warmth enveloping her sister.

‘I’m here, Anna,’ she whispered. ‘You’re not alone. I’m here.’

The food that Gunnar had brought was starting to run out, but she hesitated to phone Matte’s parents again. She didn’t want to think about him, about how disappointed he must have felt.

Nathalie blinked away the tears and decided to wait to ring them until the following day. They had enough to make do, she and Sam. He didn’t eat much. She was still feeding him like a baby, forcing him to take each bite, only to see most of it spill out of his mouth again.

She shivered, wrapping her arms around her body. Even though it wasn’t particularly cold outside, it felt as if the wind blowing across the island came straight through the walls of the house, through her thick clothing, through her skin and into her bones. She put on yet another sweater, a heavy one that her father had always worn whenever he went out fishing, but it made no difference. It was as if the chill were coming from inside of her.