Free In the Darkness by Karin Fossum Page A

afford it, can’t we? Can we afford it, Mum?’
    She checked the mirror. No cars following. ‘Yes,’ she said tersely.
    The rest of the journey passed in silence.
    Her father had been to the door and unlocked it. He’d seen her old Ascona from a long way off, so they gave a quick ring and walked straight in. His legs were bad and he was slow on his feet. Eva put her arms around him and embraced him hard as she always did, he smelt of Player’s cigarettes and aftershave. Emma had to wait her turn.
    ‘The women in my life!’ he cried joyously. And then: ‘You mustn’t get any thinner, Eva. You look like a black beanpole in that costume.’
    ‘Thanks for the compliment,’ she said, ‘but you’re hardly roly-poly yourself. So you see where I get it from.’
    ‘Well, well. It’s good there’s someone who knows how to look after herself,’ he said, and grasped Emma round the waist with a skinny arm. ‘Go out to my workroom, and you might find a present there.’
    Emma tore herself loose and dashed off. Shortly after they heard her ecstatic glee all through the house.
    ‘Pink!’ she screamed, and came tramping out. It clashed horribly with her red hair, Eva thought sadly, brown would have been better. She tried to stifle the sombre thoughts that assailed her from every direction.
    Her father had ordered chicken from the shop and Eva helped him with the food.
    ‘You’ll stay, won’t you,’ he cajoled, ‘then we can have a bit of red wine. Like in the old days. Soon I’ll forget how to behave in civilised society, you’re the only one who comes.’
    ‘Doesn’t Jostein ever come?’
    ‘Yes, yes occasionally. There’s nothing wrong with Jostein,’ he said quickly. ‘He phones as well, and sends cards. I like Jostein a lot, he really was a terrific son-in-law. Your mother always said so, too.’
    Emma drank ginger ale and ate her chicken with reverence. Eva’s father needed some help cutting up his food. When alone he lived mainly on porridge, but he didn’t advertise the fact. Eva dealt with the meat for him, got rid of the bones and poured the wine. It was a Canepa, which was the only thing his stomach could take, but by way of compensation he drank a lot of it. Now and then she loaded her food on to Emma’s plate. It was terrible, but all the time Emma was eating there was little chance that she’d remember the corpse in the river.
    ‘Have you got anyone to share your bed with at the moment, young Eva?’ he asked suddenly.
    Eva’s eyes opened wide. ‘Well, what do you know, I haven’t.’
    ‘Ah well,’ he said. ‘Someone will turn up.’
    ‘It is possible to live without all that,’ she said flatly.
    ‘You’re telling me,’ he said. ‘I’ve been a widower for fourteen years!’
    ‘And don’t try to tell me it’s been fourteen years since you were last in action!’ she protested, ‘I know you.’
    He chortled and sipped his wine. ‘But it’s not healthy, you know.’
    ‘I can’t just pick someone off the street,’ she said, sinking her teeth into a fried chicken leg.
    ‘Of course you can. You just invite him to dinner. Most men would say yes, I’m sure of that. You’re a nice-looking girl, Eva. A bit thin, but pretty. You’re like your mother.’
    ‘No, I’m like you.’
    ‘Have you sold any pictures? Are you working hard?’
    ‘The answer is no. And yes.’
    ‘You must let me know if you need money.’
    ‘I don’t need any. What I mean is, we’ve got good at managing without much.’
    ‘Before, we never used to have the money to go to McDonald’s,’ Emma put in loudly, ‘but we have now!’
    Eva felt herself reddening. It was irritating, her father knew her only too well and was quick on the uptake.
    ‘Are you keeping secrets from me?’
    ‘I’m nearly forty, of course I’m keeping secrets from you.’
    ‘Well, all right then, I won’t say any more now. But heaven help you if there’s anything I can give you and you don’t ask for it. I’ll get