Unspoken

boat out to sea. It was always so peaceful standing at the helm. Leif was preparing the nets on deck. He came from a family of fishermen and was quite experienced. When he was ready, he came to stand next to Anders in the wheelhouse.
    “There’s not much salmon on this side of the island, so we’ll have to fish for cod instead.”
    “That’s too bad. It would have been great to have fresh salmon for dinner.”
    “We can always try, by trolling. I’ll toss out the lines behind the boat and let them trail in our wake. Now that it’s so cold, the fish are right below the surface. If we’re in luck, we’ll catch a salmon or a steelhead.”
    They passed Tofta Beach, and Anders was amazed at how deserted it looked. The emptiness of the rippling sand dunes was a huge change from the hordes of swimmers in the summertime. Tofta was by far the most popular beach on the island, especially among young people. In the summer the beach towels were spread out so close together that you could hardly see the sand.
    Leif gazed across the sea.
    “Can you see the two Karlsö islands over there? It’s incredible how clear they are.”
    Both islands stuck up from the water, the big one behind the little one. Anders had been out there so many times. His whole family went out to Big Karlsö every May to see the colonies of guillemets. That’s when the unusual auks hatched their young.
    Glints of sunlight kept coming through the clouds, and even though the wind was picking up, they decided to stay out at sea while the nets were in the water. Leif unpacked some sandwiches and a thermos of hot chocolate, which they enjoyed on deck. It was hard to believe that Christmas Eve was just a couple of days away.
    Anders was tired, so he went into the cabin to lie down for a while. He fell asleep to the sound of the waves lapping against the hull. After an hour he woke up to find Leif nudging him.
    “We have to pull up the nets. It’s getting windy.”
    Anders was surprised to see how quickly the weather had changed. Gusts of wind met them as they came up on deck, and the sky was now dark. The boat was pitching back and forth as they pulled up the nets. It was a nice haul—they counted nine cod. The trolling lines brought in two salmon. Not exactly spectacular specimens, but still not bad.
    “Now we’d better see about getting back home as fast as possible,” said Leif. “I was listening to the marine report while you slept. There’s a storm on the way.”
    It would take them an hour to get back to Gnisvärd. Darkness fell, and as they passed Tofta, the first squall set in. The boat listed abruptly. Anders, who was on his way up the companionway to the wheelhouse, fell headlong through the door.
    “Damn it!” he shouted as he hit his head on the table.
    It wasn’t far now to land, but the boat was being tossed right and left. The fish were in buckets on deck, and when the first wave struck, Leif yelled, “We need to bring in the fish or they’ll all end up back in the sea. Be careful when you open the door.”
    Leif kept his eyes fixed on the black water, battling the swells as best he could. Anders reached for the door handle and pushed open the door. One bucket had turned over, and the fish lay scattered on deck. The next wave crashed over the gunwale and washed some of the catch overboard.
    Anders gathered up the remaining fish and threw them back into the bucket. God, this is nuts , he thought. Here I am practically risking my life just to save a few lousy fish . He could see Leif’s tense face through the window.
    Anders stumbled his way into the wheelhouse. His clothes were soaked through.
    “Fucking hell. How’s it going?” he asked Leif.
    “Okay. We’re close to shore, so it’s going to be all right. But this weather is damn awful.”
    Suddenly the lights of the Gnisvärd dock appeared in the dark. Anders breathed a sigh of relief. They were only a hundred yards away.
    When they once again had solid ground under their feet, Knutas realized how scared he had actually been. His legs could barely hold him up. They secured the boat and hurried back to the house.
    “What an ordeal,” Anders gasped. “Right now all I want is to get out of these clothes and take a hot shower.”
    “You do that,” said Leif. “I’ll make a fire in the meantime.”
    Up in his room, Anders discovered that his cell phone was gone. Damn, it must have been washed overboard when he was out on deck. Now Jacobsson wouldn’t be able to