B0031RSBSM EBOK

shouted into the bright night. With a strong and clear voice he invoked the deities. Then he faced, by turns, the south, the west, and the north as he spoke. Finally he turned toward the center of the circle, where an altar had been erected with idols painted in blood.
    One by one the participants stepped forward to place flowers, fruit, and sacks of grain on the holy altar. Stones had been arranged in a circle around the entire site.
    The people in the circle stomped their feet on the ground , and the murmuring started up again, growing louder until everyone was practically screaming. Several of the men lit a fire, which instantly flared up toward the sky.
    The drummer struck the drum in time with the people’s laments. Someone handed the leader an axe, which he swung in front of him as he uttered incantations. A cage was carried forward, and a well-fed white hen was held up before the participants, who stared at it, enraptured. The hen was placed on the ground in front of the leader, who raised the axe and cut off the bird’s head with a precise blow. Blood spattered all around, the lament became even more ecstatic, and the stomping grew more intense.
    At last the leader collapsed. The drumming ceased, and the voices stopped. Silence reigned.
    One of the participants left the group without drawing attention to himself. No one noticed when he headed back the way they had come. He got into his car and drove off.

SATURDAY, JULY 10
    THEY WERE GOING to spend the weekend at the home of Emma’s parents on the island of Fårö. Just Emma, Johan, and the baby, Elin. Emma’s parents had dropped by the house in Roma to say hello before they set off on the long trip that they usually took each year. She had felt nothing but emptiness during their visit. She didn’t sense any sincerity from them, just a superficial babbling about how adorable Elin was. Then they went off to the airport and their travels, which would take them to China this time. That was just as well.
    Emma had promised to look after their house, and it would be lovely to have a change of scene. She was already feeling cooped up in the house in Roma. There was so much to remind her of her old life there, and yet there was nothing left of it. The walls breathed Olle and all the bitterness that had emerged over the past six months.
    Emma was very fond of the house on Fårö. For the life of her she couldn’t understand how her parents could go off traveling when everything was so marvelous right there at home.
    The route to the ferry landing at Fårösund passed through a lush farming area. They took the small roads through Barlingbo and Ekeby up to Bäl and the larger village of Slite before they reached Fårösund, where they caught the car ferry over to Fårö. It took only a few minutes to cross the sound. Elin slept the whole way.
    When they drove off the ferry on the opposite shore, Emma felt the same sense of contentment that she always felt. Fårö was more barren and windswept than Gotland, and the difference was instantly noticeable. They made the obligatory stop at the Konsum supermarket to buy fresh strawberries and last-minute groceries. They also stopped at the local bakery on the way to Skär to buy some of their amazing sugar buns. Then they drove the last part of the way toward Norsta Auren at the northernmost section of Fårö.
    The white limestone house stood all by itself near a low stone wall, with the sea on the other side. Emma felt a slight churning in her stomach; she hadn’t been out here in more than six months. The house felt chilly, as it always did when they first arrived. The stone floor was shiny; her parents had done a proper cleaning. She sat down in the armchair by the window to nurse Elin, who was now awake and crying. In the meantime, Johan unpacked the groceries. Through the window Emma could look out at the beach. It was narrow here, where it started, but it got wider the farther out you went . One big advantage was that the sand was packed down so hard that you could push a baby buggy along it.
    “Maybe we could take a walk along the beach later,” she called to Johan.
    “Sure. That would be great. Would you like something to drink?”
    “Yes, please. A glass of water.”
    The next minute he came into the living room, bringing her a big glass of water. Johan looked so happy and relaxed. He seemed glad to be with her and their child. That seemed to be all he wanted. Why couldn’t she feel just as happy? Out in