The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

that she hadn’t slammed the door on them. It didn’t take Julius more than an afternoon to nail together the new bus interior according to Benny’s instructions. After which Sonya walked in and out of the bus together with Allan to test it, and Sonya seemed to like it. It was a bit of a squeeze for her, but there were two kinds of dinner to chew on, one to the left and one straight ahead, and water to drink to the right. The floor was raised and slightly sloped, and Sonya’s droppings had their own pit running along the back. The pit was filled to the brim with hay which was intended to absorb most of what might emerge during the journey.
    In addition there was a substantial ventilation system in the form of holes drilled along both sides of the bus, and a glazed, sliding screen behind the driver’s cabin so that Sonya could see her benefactor and feeder while they were on the road.The bus had been transformed into a luxury elephant transporter.
    The more prepared they got, the less eager the group was to set off. Life at Lake Farm had developed quite pleasantly. Not least for Benny and The Beauty, who by the third night had decided that it was a pity to wear out sheets in different rooms when they could just as well share. The evenings had been passed in front of the log fire, with good food, good drink and episodes from Allan Karlsson’s remarkable life.
    But on Monday morning the fridge and the pantry had been almost empty, and it was high time for The Beauty to go off to Rottne to stock up. For reasons of security, the journey was undertaken in her old VW Passat. The Mercedes remained hidden behind the barn.
    She filled one shopping bag with this and that for her and the old men, and another one with fresh, Argentinian apples for Sonya. When The Beauty got home, she gave the bag of apples to Allan and put the rest away before joining Benny and Buster on the veranda with a basket of Belgian strawberries. Julius was there too, taking a rare break from fishing.
    That was when a Ford Mustang roared into the yard and almost ran down both Allan and Sonya.
    Sonya was the calmest of them all. She was so focused on receiving the next apple from Allan that she neither saw nor heard what happened around her. Or perhaps she did, despite everything, because she stopped in the middle of a twirl and froze with her bottom towards Allan and the new visitor.
    The second calmest was Allan. He had been close to death so many times in his life that a bolting Ford Mustang hardly made any difference. If it stopped in time, so be it.
    The third calmest was probably Buster. He was strictly brought up not to run off and bark when strangers came to visit. But his ears stuck up and he was all eyes, ready to followdevelopments.
    But The Beauty, Benny and Julius all jumped up from the veranda and stood there in a row waiting to see what would happen next.
    Bucket, somewhat disconcerted for a moment, got unsteadily out of his Mustang and felt about for a revolver in a bag on the floor of the back seat. He pointed it first at the elephant’s behind, then had a better idea and aimed it at Allan and the three friends standing in a row on the veranda, and then he said (perhaps rather unimaginatively):
    ‘Hands up!’
    ‘Hands up??’
    That was the most stupid thing Allan had heard in a long time. What did this man think would happen? That he himself, one hundred years old, would throw apples at him? Or that the delicate lady over there would bombard him with Belgian strawberries? Or that…
    ‘OK, OK, do what the hell you want with your hands, but don’t try any tricks.’
    ‘Tricks?’
    ‘You keep your mouth shut, you old bastard! Tell me where that damned suitcase is — and the guy who took it.’
    Well there we are, thought The Beauty. That was the end of their luck in life. Reality had caught up with them all. Nobody answered, they all racked their brains so you could hear the creaking, all except the elephant who was facing away from all the drama and thought it was time to relieve itself. And an elephant relieving itself is not something you can miss if you happen to be in the vicinity.
    ‘Oh, shit,’ said Bucket and took a few rapid steps away from the mess that poured out of the elephant… ‘Why the hell do you have an elephant?’
    Still no answer. But now Buster couldn’t restrain himself anylonger. He obviously felt that things weren’t quite right. And he really wanted to have a good bark at the stranger. And even