As Olli digs himself out of these thoughts of the approaching destruction of his paradise, Aunt Anna offers everyone boiled eggs, ham, toast, three kinds of rolls, raisin buns, apple marmalade, peanut butter, frosted cornflakes, tea and juice. Olli isn’t hungry but he dutifully eats a roll.
Finally Karri comes out in his hood, grabs an egg from the table as deftly as a street thief, and goes back into the house.
The Blomrooses chatter among themselves as if nothing has happened.
Aunt Anna watches her son go.
Then she turns to look at Olli and her eyes are dark with tears.
When they finally go on their expedition, they walk through Tourula, cross the bridge over the river, and continue to Puistokatu. On the other side of the fence, a coffin is being carried through the cemetery. The bells ring in memory of the deceased.
As always, Karri follows a short distance behind the others. For a moment Olli forgets him completely and turns to look at the massive Goodyear tyre advertisement painted on the wall of a tall building. He has always liked that ad.
His glance meets Karri’s. Something flashes in Karri’s eyes that Olli can’t quite name, and then it’s gone and Karri looks away and his face closes up.
Olli runs to catch up with the Blomrooses and walks with them the rest of the way.
Summer’s colours have faded like a painting left out in the rain. The washed-out greys of autumn are coming. The wind has turned cold. Olli is wearing a polo shirt and a denim jacket that he bought yesterday on a shopping trip with his grandmother, but he’s still cold.
The Blomrooses don’t notice the signs of summer ending. Olli likes them an awful lot, but they never notice things like that and it gives Olli a lonely feeling.
They pass the Taulumäki church and there is a wedding party celebrating in the churchyard. They cross the street and come to the sandy foot of Taulumäki Hill.
The north slope of the hill is high and steep. As they climb up, their shoes fill with sand and Anne almost falls and tumbles down the hillside. Olli grabs her hand just in time. She rewards him with a smile. Anne knows how to be nice when she wants to.
When they get to the top they climb up on the rocks to enjoy the view.
To the north-west is the lake, Tuomiojärvi. There’s no one at the swimming area. Olli’s not the only one who thinks summer is over. To the south-east is the city and the Orthodox church. Anne looks down at its gilded dome, her eyes glittering. “Just think if you could scrape all that gold off and keep it. That would make a lot of jewellery.”
“Greedy little Anne,” Leo says gently. “My sweet criminal sister. Leave the church alone. Stick to swiping candy from the store. Some things are too sacred even for you.”
Anne grins.
The Blomrooses and Olli look at each other, fidgety and tense. Yesterday Leo asked Karri to try to find the entrance to the first secret passageway they ever found. The one that Timi crawled into without waiting for them. Karri promised to try. Olli forgets his doubts for a moment. Right now everything is like it was in the beginning. They all feel it. This is where it all began, the Tourula Five’s secret passage adventures.
Leo, Anne and Riku think they know where the entrance is. They each go in different directions.
“It’s over here, between these rocks,” Leo says.
“No, it’s over there under that juniper tree!” Riku announces. “I’m sure that’s where it is.”
“I think it’s somewhere over here,” Anne mumbles, peeping between some trees.
Karri goes his own way. Olli doesn’t even try to find the entrance. Karri’s the only one who can.
So Olli follows him, over roots, rocks and hollows, in the shadows of the trees, careful not to disturb or annoy him, and Karri doesn’t seem to mind. They look at each other and Karri even nods and gives him a friendly smile. At first Olli is puzzled and then happy—if there is something between them, it’s been put aside at least for a little while.
Maybe everything will work out after all.
As he relaxes, the memory of the first time the Five found a secret passageway begins to grow clear in his mind.
21
THE FIRST SUMMER OF THE FIVE they were just getting to know each other.
They spent their days playing board games, hide and seek, and spin the bottle, or reading Enid Blyton books aloud—which was a lot of fun, though rather tame compared to their later adventures.
They went into the secret passages the second summer.
They had spent the first two days of holiday lazing about, playing old maid, sprawled on the lawn, until Aunt Anna had had enough. She came out of the house with a picnic basket.
“Kids,” she said emphatically, “it’s summer. You’re on holiday. You’re children. This is no way to spend your childhood. It’s a waste. You would think you were as old as I am. Take this basket. Go on a picnic. Find a nice spot and stop hanging around here. There’s a great big city waiting out there for you. Enjoy it. You can play cards when you’re in the old folks’ home. Don’t come back here for the rest of the day.”
They looked at her in surprise. She looked exasperated. “Go on!” she yelled, frightening them. “Have adventures! Go get lost somewhere. But find your way home before dark…”
Timi had been hiding for hours. Now he smelt the food and appeared again, sniffing the basket.
The kids sniffed at the contents of the basket, too. They were amazed at the abundance of food, and thanked Aunt Anna. She gave each of them a kiss on the cheek. Olli could smell perfume behind her ear. It smelt good. His mother never wore perfume.
After half an hour of consultation they decided to go to the burnt-out house. Olli had seen it from the car when his parents brought him to his grandparents’ house. His description of the blackened boards, the belongings that had been dumped in the yard and the broken windows piqued everyone’s interest.
Timi came with them. Olli’s mother had made him swear to keep the dog on a leash, but he decided to trust the dog and let him go loose. He wanted to please Anne, who said that they were all on holiday, which meant they were free, so why shouldn’t Timi be free, too? Freedom!
They wandered for a couple of hours, until everyone’s feet ached and Olli admitted that he might not be quite sure where the burnt-out house was. Maybe it was in a totally different part of town.
Anne and Riku gave him murderous looks.
Karri didn’t say anything, he just looked off into the distance, thinking his own thoughts.
Leo said that these things happen, and led them in the direction that looked right to him.
They ended up climbing a wooded hill, and found a swimming area on the other side. Later they learnt that the hill was called Taulumäki.
While the others sat down to enjoy their lunch, Karri explored the area. He paced about and said there was something peculiar about the place and that in some spots the feeling was particularly strong. He wanted to show it to them, couldn’t even be bothered to eat something first. Timi sensed it, too, or perhaps he just sensed Karri’s excitement. In any case he was jumping up and down around Karri and whining and barking, although Olli tried to order him to heel.
“That leaves more goodies for us,” Riku said.
“Don’t worry, Karri,” Anne said. “I’ll make sure we leave you some of everything.”
Olli felt a twinge of jealousy. He had just got his leg positioned so that it touched Anne’s pale leg. It was a hot day. Their legs were sweaty. Their sweat was intermingling. Olli didn’t know why, but there was something exciting about it.