But she carried on regardless. The rug under the furniture in the living room was heavy. It was impossible to carry it out onto the snow, even though she should probably have done that. She straightened up and started to move the furniture out of the way. It weighed a ton, just like Erna’s furniture. She got the vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard. It was an old Volta and wasn’t much good. Still she had to do something to fill the hours. She was soon finished and started to wash the floor. Ingemar didn’t budge from his chair in the kitchen, so she had to mop around his feet. Suddenly he looked away from the window.
“You have to change the bed,” he said abruptly.
Bonnie looked at him in surprise. He never asked her to do anything, so in a way it was an improvement. She finished what she was doing, put the bucket back in the cupboard, and went over the furniture with some polish. She liked the smell of it, and it made everything shiny and bright. Then she went to the bedroom and pulled up sharp in the doorway. A nauseating stench hit her. The bed had been stripped and there were big brown stains on the light-colored mattress. It took a while before she realized what had happened. He had soiled himself in bed. And then he had stripped the bed himself.
Bonnie put a hand over her mouth. This can’t be true, she thought. She stood there, surrounded by the awful smell, wondering where to begin. On an impulse, she went into the bathroom and found the bedclothes in the bathtub, just as she had thought. He had left the comforter, sheet, and pillowcases to soak in cold water. The water was brown and she could see lumps of shit floating around. She sat down on the toilet seat and pulled at her hair. She didn’t know how long she sat there. All she could think about was old Ingemar in the kitchen drinking cod liver oil. Pretending that nothing had happened. Then she made a decision. She called Ragnhild at the office.
“The whole bathtub is full of shit,” she explained. “And his mattress is soaking wet. He can’t sleep in that bed. Everything has to go!”
Ragnhild heard the desperation in Bonnie’s voice.
“I’ll talk to his daughter; we have to get him into a home. Things can’t go on like this.”
“I know,” Bonnie said. “But it takes time, and right now I have to help him.”
Ragnhild thought for a moment. She was a nurse and had experienced most things.
“Tell Ingemar that you have to go out. Go to the Bed Store and get a new comforter and pillow. Have you got enough money to pay for it? I’ll make sure you’re reimbursed by social services.”
Bonnie said that was fine. “But what should I do with the mattress?”
“He’ll just have to continue using it for the moment,” Ragnhild said. “But you might want to wash it with bleach and turn it.”
Bonnie thanked her for her help. She went back into the kitchen and explained to Ingemar that she had to go out but would be back soon to sort everything out. He was obviously bothered by what had happened during the night and was still staring defiantly at the horses outside the window.
She drove into the center of town. She used her card to pay for parking and then walked the two blocks to the Bed Store. When she got there and started to look around, she discovered that a feather comforter cost a lot of money, and she didn’t have much in her account. So she had to buy a thin synthetic comforter that only cost two hundred kroner. She found a pillow to match, paid for everything, and put the receipt in her wallet. Then she hurried back to the car. She had to get a move on; her other clients would be waiting.
When she got back to the house, she nodded to Ingemar as she passed through the kitchen and set to work. She found some yellow rubber gloves and two black garbage bags in the cupboard. She pulled the plug out of the bathtub and tried to wring as much water as possible out of the soiled comforter, but it wasn’t easy. It weighed a ton because it was wet, and it was hard to get it all into the garbage bag. She put the dirty sheet and pillow in the other bag. She tied them closed and carried them out into the snow because if they were left in the house they’d stink the place out. She went back in and got started on the mattress. Even though she didn’t manage to remove the stains completely, she got rid of a lot and the smell faded. Then she turned it. She found some clean sheets, which she had washed a while ago in Ingemar’s old machine down in the cellar, and then made up the bed and washed the floor. Finally she went back into the bathroom and scrubbed the bathtub.
“That’s me finished,” she told Ingemar. “Everything’s done now.”
He didn’t want to look at her. Maybe he was ashamed after all. She went out to the car and called the office.
“I’ve done it,” she said to Ragnhild. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought. The garbage bags are standing in the snow outside. His children can deal with them. If they bother to show up.”
“Bonnie, I have to thank you,” Ragnhild said. “I’m pretty certain that none of the others would have done that, but then none of the others are as dedicated as you.”
Bonnie put the key in the ignition and started the car.
“You can go home now,” Ragnhild said, all of a sudden.
“I’m sorry?” Bonnie was so surprised her mouth dropped open.
“You earned some extra time off. You’re invaluable.”
When Bonnie appeared in the doorway to the playroom, Simon jumped with joy. He ran across the floor into her arms as fast as his little legs would carry him. She squeezed him tight.
“Was Kaja pleased to get the perfume?” she whispered.
Simon nodded happily. “But Märta was jealous.”
Bonnie smiled and said not to worry. She carried him in her arms to the office, where Kaja was doing some paperwork. She exchanged a few friendly words with her and then took him out to the car.
“The toy store,” she said. “I promised you yesterday. Have you thought about something you’d like that isn’t too expensive?”
Simon beamed from the back seat. Oh yes, he had thought about it a lot. Because he’d once gone Christmas shopping with Granny Henny and had seen something that he really liked. But it wasn’t what he got that Christmas and he’d never forgotten about it.
The parking lot by the shopping center was full, so Bonnie waited patiently, and soon enough she saw a van reverse out of a parking spot.
“That was lucky.” She slipped the Opel into the space, and they got out. Simon was so excited that he climbed the high escalator steps. They went into the toy store and started to wander along the shelves. It was clear that Simon was looking for something in particular, because he was patient and systematic. Every now and then, he lifted something up and stood for a while admiring it, but his mind wandered back and he continued his search. He finally found himself in front of a shelf with all kinds of animals in all shapes and colors. There were lots of cuddly stuffed animals, but he already had a well-loved teddy bear with black glass eyes. No, he was looking for something else. He picked up some big bags of colorful plastic and rubber animals, each containing a different type of animal. One of them was full of rubber snakes with beautiful zigzag patterns on their backs and poisonous red tongues.
“Ugh, you don’t want snakes, do you?” Bonnie asked, shivering. “They’re horrible.”
Simon liked them because they were soft and nice to touch, but he put them down. He lifted up another bag, this one full of Norwegian farm animals: sheep and cows and horses, a goose with orange feet, some hens and a spotted dog. He put these animals back too. And when he lifted up the third bag, he had found what he was looking for. Wild animals from the African savannah. A lion with a great mane. An elephant, a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and a hippopotamus. An ape and a beautiful flamingo, a gnu and a hyena, and a vulture.