The Dinosaur Feather

out where you and Karen lived. I wanted to call you so many times, and I don’t really know what stopped me.’ He suddenly seemed timid.
    ‘And I suppose I feel embarrassed,’ he added. ‘Towards your parents as well. After everything they did for me. For years they sent me letters and presents. And I never wrote back. So when I saw you this morning, I thought, it’s now or never. I waited for you outside the police station. I had nearly given up when you finally came out. I was bloody freezing.’ He laughed and patted himself to warm up.
    ‘Well, there’s not much flesh on you,’ Anna blurted out.
    ‘Or you,’ Troels said, affectionately. Spontaneously, Anna stuck her arm under Troels’s. He smiled.
    ‘It must be tough,’ he said. ‘Have you been interviewed by the police?’
    ‘Hmm,’ Anna replied, evasively. ‘I’m helping the police a bit. They don’t really get the world of academia,’ she said and fell silent.
    Troels looked at her. ‘What did they ask you?’ he pressed.
    Anna stopped and glared at him. ‘Honestly, Troels. Whathappened back then?’ she challenged him. ‘Why did you leave? Why did you disappear? Karen looked for you for weeks.’
    ‘Does it really matter now?’ Troels asked.
    ‘If it doesn’t matter, then why did you leave? Drama queen.’
    Troels withdrew his arm from hers.
    ‘Don’t do that!’ His eyes glowed.
    Anna planted her hands on her hips. ‘Don’t do what?’ she fumed. ‘I’m not doing anything. You’ve been spying on me, following me and behaving very strangely. And now you say that it doesn’t matter. You dropped off the face of the earth for ten years. That does matter! I can’t have people just disappearing like that, it’s a rotten thing to do!’ She was jabbing her finger at him now and her eyes turned shiny with anger. Troels’s face hardened.
    ‘You were my best friend,’ he almost whispered. ‘I trusted you. You and Karen and your parents. And that night you behaved just like my dad. And you know it. You were vicious.’ Troels clenched his jaw.
    Anna simmered with rage and knew she was about to lose her temper again. She only restrained herself because the image of the World’s Most Irritating Detective appeared on her retina.
    ‘Listen, why don’t we say goodbye now and meet up after my viva?’ she forced herself to say in a controlled voice. ‘Karen and you are welcome to attend it, it’s a public event,’ she added and glanced at him. ‘Only I’m a bit pushed for time now, Troels. I’m sorry. I want to get on. On my own. I’ve got some things I need to process. And I’ve a train to catch.’
    For a moment his face looked outraged and she thought he was shaking, but then he relaxed.
    ‘Okay,’ he acquiesced. ‘It’s all right. I understand you’re under pressure. First your supervisor, then Johannes. That can’t have been easy.’
    Anna thawed a little. ‘Hey,’ she said, reaching out for his hand. ‘I’d really like to see you, Troels. In a couple of weeks, all right?’ She tried to calm things down and remembered Søren telling her to be good. She had almost managed it.
    ‘I’m going this way,’ Troels said weakly, and pointed towards the junction. ‘I don’t live far away.’
    ‘Okay,’ Anna said. She hugged him and their embrace felt hard and bony. Anna gripped his arm and briefly held him at a distance.
    ‘Friends again?’ she asked.
    ‘Of course,’ Troels smiled. ‘Bad timing,’ he added. ‘I just couldn’t help myself when I saw you this morning. I had been thinking about you and then, hey presto, you get on my bus. I should have waited.’ He moved a lock of Anna’s hair from her forehead with his gloved hand.
    ‘See you, gorgeous,’ he said and crossed the road. Anna looked after him.
    Lily was in high spirits all the way to Odense. They had found seats in a family carriage and the first thing she did was empty her rucksack of toys out on the table. Her cries of delight quickly attracted two other children and soon Lily was handing round teddies, dolls and Lego bricks. Anna watched her daughter from her window seat. Then the train stewardess arrived with her trolley, Anna bought hot dogs and two cartons of juice, and when they had eaten their lunch, they were practically at their destination.
    At Odense railway station, Anna was struck by how everything had changed and yet it remained the same. There was a multitude of shops now and the place looked more like a shopping centre