Saga lives with a jazz musician, a pianist named Stefan Johansson, whose group won a Swedish Grammy for their sorrowful, improvisational album A Year Without Esbjorn. When Saga gets home from work or training, shell lie on the sofa, eating candy, watching a movie with the sound off, while Stefan plays the piano for hours at a time.
Leaving the gym, Saga spots her opponent waiting by the concrete plinths.
I just wanted to congratulate you and say thanks for a good match, Svetlana says.
Saga stops. Thanks.
Svetlana turns red. Youre amazingly good.
So are you.
Svetlana looks toward the ground and smiles.
Garbage is caught in the twigs of square-cut bushes meant to decorate the entrance of the parking lot.
You taking the train? Saga asks.
Yeah, I guess I better start walking.
Svetlana picks up her bag, but then stops. She wants to say something else but has trouble letting it out. Saga hey, Im sorry about what my guy said, she finally says. I dont know if you heard but hes not coming to any more of my matches.
Svetlana clears her throat and then starts walking again.
Wait a minute, Saga says. If youd like, I can give you a ride to the station.
39
Penelope cuts across the slope at an angle. She slips on the loose stones, slides; her hand shoots out to balance her and it gets cut. She cries out; pain shoots from her wrist. Her shoulders and back burn too. She cant stop coughing. She forces herself to look behind, into the forest, between the tree trunks; she dreads catching sight of their pursuer again.
Bjorn helps her up, muttering something as he does. His eyes are bloodshot and haunted.
We cant stay still, hes whispering.
Where is the pursuer? Is he close-by? Has he lost them? Not that many hours ago, they were lying on a kitchen floor while he was looking in the window. Now theyre running up through a spruce thicket. They can smell the warm scent of the pine needles and they keep going, hand in hand.
Theres a rustling and, crying out in fear, Bjorn takes a sudden step to the side and gets a branch in the face.
I dont know how much longer I can take this, he says, panting.
Dont think about it.
They slow to a walk. It is hard to ignore the pain in their knees and feet. Through brushwood and rotting piles of leaves, they keep going, down into a ditch, up through weeds, and finally they find themselves on a dirt track. Bjorn looks around and whispers to her to follow. He starts running south, toward the more inhabited area of Skinnardal. It cant be far. She limps a few steps and then begins to run after him. The track curves around a grove of birches and, once past the white trunks, they suddenly see two people. Theres a woman barely out of her teens, dressed in a short tennis dress, talking to a man standing by a red motorcycle.
Penelope zips up her hoodie and sucks in air through her nose to steady her breath.
Hi, she says.
Theyre staring at her. Its easy to see why: she and Bjorn are bloody and dirty.
Weve had an accident, she says. We need to borrow a phone.
Tortoiseshell butterflies flutter over the goosefoot and horsetail growing in the ditch.
The man nods and hands his phone to Penelope.
Thanks, Bjorn says, although he keeps his eyes glued on the road and into the forest.
What happened? the man asks.
Penelope doesnt know what to say. Tears begin to stream down her cheeks.
An accident, Bjorn says.
Oh my God, the woman in the tennis dress hisses to her boyfriend. Shes that bitch.
Who?
The bitch on TV the other day who was criticizing our Swedish exports.
Penelope doesnt hear. She tries to smile engagingly at the young woman as she taps out Claudias number. But her hands are shaking too hard and she hits the wrong number. She has to stop and try again. Her hands shake so fiercely shes afraid shell drop the phone. The young woman is whispering into her boyfriends ear.
She plants herself in front of Penelope. Tell me something. Do you think that hardworking people, people working sixty hours a week, are supposed to pay for people like you to just say whatever the hell you want on some television program?
Penelope cant comprehend why the young woman is so angry. Shes unable to concentrate on her question. Her thoughts whirl as she anxiously scans the area between the trees while she hears the signal go through. The ringing crackles. It sounds far away.
So real works not good enough for you? The woman is really working herself up.
Penelope pleads with Bjorn with her eyes to help her out here and calm the woman down. She sighs as she hears her mothers voice on the answering machine.
So real works not good enough for you? The woman is really working herself up.
Penelope pleads with Bjorn with her eyes to help her out here and calm the woman down. She sighs as she hears her mothers voice on the answering machine.
This is Claudia Fernandez. I cant answer the phone right now, but please leave a message and Ill call back as soon as I can.
Tears run down her cheeks and her knees are about to buckle. Shes so tired. She holds up her hand toward the woman in a plea.