The police had spent several days in the area, then it seemed as if they had finished and they left again. The cordons down the road had also been removed, and some of the journalists had come to their house and rung the doorbell, but his mother had not let them in. Tobias was convinced that she really wanted to – he believed some of them had offered a lot of money but the senior police officer, Holger, the fat one with the beard and the nice eyes, had been very strict.
Now, Tobias had been planning this trip for a long time, and his timing was perfect. He was off school and, for once, his younger brother was not at home. When he was ready, he put on his rucksack and crept out of the back door without making a sound.
He had been to Litjønna before, so he knew the way. He had packed the map and the compass, just to be on the safe side. He might decide to make a detour along the way. Matches? Had he remembered the matches? He took off the rucksack and checked the side pockets. Yes, there they were. Matches were important. The nights would be cold without a campfire. Not that he intended to be gone all night, but you never knew. He might decide to stay in the forest and never return to this gloomy house. How about that? Never go back. That would serve them right. It was a silly idea and he knew it; his younger brother would be back tomorrow. Tobias loved being with his brother, but it was nice to have some time to himself.
Tobias put the rucksack on again and closed the door softly behind him. The fresh spring air struck him outside in the yard. He moved quickly across the open terrain and entered the forest. Tobias chose a different route to his usual one, so he didn’t have to pass their home-made hut or the place where they had found the girclass="underline" he didn’t want to think about that right now, he didn’t want to feel scared again; he had to be tough now, he was on his own and embarking on an expedition, he couldn’t afford to be scared. Tobias chose the route along the river until he reached a path he could follow quite a long way in. When he had been walking for about an hour, he took off his rucksack and ate some breakfast. It was important to keep his energy levels up and he hadn’t wanted to make any noise in the kitchen back home. The forest was nice and dry; it hadn’t rained for a while. He sat down on a tree stump, enjoying the view while he munched his sandwich and drank some juice from a bottle he had packed. Tobias loved spring. Seeing winter release its grip, it felt as if fresh possibilities opened up; another chance that something new would happen, that the world would be different. He had often thought that New Year’s Eve ought to be in spring, not in the middle of winter: the day after 31 December was never any different but, in spring, everything was. The beautiful green of newly opened leaves on the trees, flowers and plants growing on the forest floor, the birds coming back and chirping between the branches. Tobias finished his breakfast and hummed to himself as he continued on his journey towards the ridge. He had promised himself to find out more about the Christian girls – no more making stuff up, he wanted to discover for himself what was really going on and, finally, he was on his way. He began to regret not having packed his book in case he decided to stay the night. It would be nice to sit by the campfire reading, right in the middle of the forest. He had started the next book on Emilie’s list: he had finished
Lord of the Flies; he had raced through it, and swallowed every word. He didn’t know if he had understood all of it, but that made no difference. It had been good. It had made him happy. The new book was more difficult to read, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest; it was in a more adult language and Emilie had said that, if he found it too difficult, just to swap it for another one, but he intended to read all of it. It was very exciting so far. The book was about a Native American Indian, Chief Bromden, who had been admitted to a hospital which he wasn’t allowed to leave. The boss, a woman, was incredibly strict, a proper witch. Chief Bromden pretended to be a deaf mute, someone who could not hear or say anything, in order to… well, Tobias was not quite sure exactly why Chief Bromden was behaving like this, but the book was exciting all the same. He should have brought it. Leaving it behind had been a mistake.