"Lend me a noose to catch a moose." Susan chanted.
"The man in the Moon came down too soon" Heidi answered.
Lis came through the door, bringing a whiff of cold, wintry air into the stuffy living room.
"It sounds like an old omen," Lis said.
"Shh, you'll disrupt the ritual," Tue whispered furiously.
"One, two, buckle my shoe" Heidi said
"I give you an onion. It is a moon ..." Susan intoned, but in that moment the last grain of sand left the upper half of the hourglass.
"Bugger," Tue said "We did not make it."
"What are you trying to do?" Lis asked.
"Look into the fireplace," Tue answered. "You'll find the fragments of a letter, Susan found in Torben's dustbin the other day. Now we're trying to make them grow into the whole letter again with the aid of an old ritual. We just cannot say all those nonsensical rhymes fast enough, and now, as we thought we had it, you came and made us bungle it once again."
"Let me see it," Lis said, snapping the parchment from Tues hands. She studied the ritual.
"You know what, all those lines and rhymes come from old books, but I'm sure you got that one wrong. That one is from Dante's Paradise. That might be why it does not work. Wait here."
Tue and Susan was left stunned. They looked at one another, then began discussing whose fault it was, that the wording was wrong.
"You told me, what to write," Tue said,
"Yes, I did," said Susan "You must have misheard me, or maybe just plain written the wrong word."
"Furthermore" Tue said, "we were in a hurry, it was dark, the book was old and the candle was sputtering. I start wondering if that is the only word that is wrong. Some of it sounds quite meaningless to me."
"Old literature is often like that," Heidi said placatingly. She laid her hands on both their forearms: "Let's wait until Lis returns. She knows a lot more of books and literature than we three together. What a luck she returned early from that witches' Yule gathering."
***
After Lis had controlled the words of the ritual, and corrected several stupid and not so stupid mistakes, she strolled down the room to the bag where her belongings were stored. She shook her leather pencilcase, looking for her favourite pen, and sat down at the table. Carefully she copied the ritual onto a new parchment in her flowing and clear handwriting. Then she handed it to Tue and reminded him that she would not pull his chestnuts out of the fire every time. Not even out of sisterly love.
This time the ritual went smoothly. Susan triumphantly sung out: " ... the dancing ring of days!" just before the last particle of sand fell through the hourglass. There was a mighty "Puff" from the fireplace, ashes and sparks flew. When all was quiet, a piece of parchment lay on the fireplace burnt and frayed at the edges, with holes in it, but still, it was legible.
Tue took up the letter and started reading aloud. It began without any form of greeting or address. It went straight to the point: "I'm going to pedal down to the old, black bridge Friday after the apprenti ... returned to their digs. You have to take .... when joining me. There's a vigilant sheepdog ... Bring the sample and a .... You know the routine."
***
"Friday!" Heidi piped, "but ... that's today."
"Are we going to be at that black bridge today at nightfall?" Tue asked the other three.
"Yes! ... But how?" said Lis, her expression changing from eager to despondent in the wink of an eye. "We're going home tomorrow, you know. We're supposed to be packing and throwing a good-bye party for Susan and her family.
"Eww." Susan said, are you going to invite my family over? That's bound to be a disaster. My father said something about your kind ... my kind -- she quickly amended -- being like a miasma to the society. It did not sound as if miasma was something nice the way he said it."
"Really!" Lis said. "Miasma is a word from the days of the plague. It meant the poisonous air or mist that caused the illness."
"That was not a nice word to use about other people," Heidi said, looking an Susan as if fearing she would begin using such words as well.
"No it is not." Susan said in a hard voice. "My father did not take well to the idea of witchcraft still existing in the world."
Tue suggested that they all packed as quickly as possible, then told their father that they had forgotten something down at the Unicorn Farm. Timing it in a way that enabled them to be at the bridge at sunset, and so that Heidi and the twin's father would think that they would make it home for dinner. "... and with just a bit of luck we might still be back in time. Today is the shortest day of the year. The sun sets already at half past three. Dinner won't be until six or later. Let's just hope that Mom's not nearby. A bout of premonition is the last thing we need."
I'll take care of that," Heidi said. "there must be something ... I 'll ask for her help with some packing or folding issue. Then she'll be in my room as you ask daddy."
The ploy went as planned. At a quarter past three the four children stood at the old powerhouse by the black bridge, beginning to shiver in the last rays of the setting sun. They had their cloaks on, and their wands were hidden in an easily accessible place.
"Hey, what are you kids doing here?" A van pulled over, and a young man got out. " D'yo know, it's a bit foolish of you wandering around playing hide and seek near the road." It was a plain looking plumber in his twenties. Tue told him they were practising for a Christmas play, and were about to leave the road. One of his talents were that he could sound very mature and persuasive when he set his mind to it. The young plumber left after admonishing them one last time.
"We'd better hide," Tue said. "We don't want to attract any more attention. Yet the road was the best way of avoiding the vigilant sheep dog of that farmhouse."
They went into the abandoned powerhouse. The dam was broken long ago and power now came via cable from the mainland. But the foyer looked as though it had been deserted only days earlier. The big palms had died, but they still retained all their leaves; they criss-crossed intricately across the big windows. Lis told them they were called fronds, not leaves.
"Oh, whatever -- Susan said -- they're still big enough to hide us from people outside, and I'd like to wait somewhere out of the cold."
They opened the door and carefully moved some of the palms so that they could stand near the door without being seen from the outside. When everything was to their satisfaction, they crept up behind the wizened foliage and waited. They did not have to wait for long. Shortly the saw Torben come pedalling down the road. His big body looked even bigger on the small bike and his midnight blue cloak billowing behind him. He leaned the bike against the railing of the bridge and tied his shoelaces, waiting for his partner. The children could barely contain their surprise, or was it lack of surprise, as David too came pedalling down the road. "Him!" Tue hissed.
"Oh, nice to see you," David said. "Did you get the stuff?"
"Yes, Torben replied. "what about you?"
"Of course," David replied, "but let's get out of sight before we continue."
They both pushed their bikes to the monastic courtyard leading up to the foyer, and the children praised their luck. Torben swished his wand and made a small fire in the middle of the yard. Torben and David both squatted, unfortunately facing away from the foyer. Small bottles changed hands and David pulled a small cauldron and a collapsible tripod from the pannier on his bike.
"Whoever penned this recipe -- David agonized -- sprawled and nearly illegible writing that is ..."
"It's mine" Torben said through clenched teeth, grabbed the recipe and began reading. Unfortunately in a very low whisper.
Soon the stench from a brewing potion reached the nostrils of the hidden children.
***
David poured the potion from the cauldron into several small flasks, careful not to spill any of the evil-smelling liquid. Tue and Lis took a sharp breath as David pulled a hair from Torben's head. He dropped it into one of the bottles and swirled the contents to help the hair dissolve.
He listened to Torben for a short while, and then he left him to clean and put out the fire. With a swagger he walked to his bike, and pedalled resolutely towards the Unicorn farm.
"Wow," Lis whispered. "What on earth ... "
Does he think he'll put that one off, Tue whispered simultaneously.
Susan looked from one to another, totally clueless.
Heidi whispered - "Is that .. was that a .. I mean will he change into Torben now?"
Susan shot a glance at Torben, who was quickly and methodically scrubbing the cauldron and dousing the fire with flicks and swishes of his wand. He was finished in a very short time, Then he too jumped on his bike and set off in the opposite direction.
Tue and Lis looked at one another, and Lis bent her head.
"Susan and Heidi, you were right," Tue said in a shaking voice. "Those two are up to absolutely nothing good. I have no idea whatsoever quite what they're up to, but that potion is a lookalike potion ... at least that's what I think, and Lis too," he asked questioningly and looked at Lis who nodded.
"I think, I know a way to find out what they were planning," Susan said. "It's a very simple spell actually. A bit like the one making the parchment whole again, only this one can do the same with words."
"What are we waiting for, Heidi said. Let's move."
Oh, but we're not supposed to do any magic, did you forget what happened last time?"
"Let's hope their brewing and Torben's cleaning has loaded the place with magic, so that nobody will notice anything. They're not looking for us all the time, and they have not had our wands traced yet," Susan said.
"OK", Lis said, "go for it."
They went to where the fire had been, Susan swished her wand in small, neat waves and spoke a short command.
They waited, Heidi had just opened her mouth to say that it did not work, when they heard Torben's voice: "Here you are" it said from somewhere left of Lis' head. She jumped, but kept quiet.
Then Davids petulant voice rose from the other side of the fire: "Whoever penned this recipe, sprawled and nearly illegible writing that is ..."
"It's mine" Torben's voice responded, and began listing ingredients and instructions in a rapid, angry whisper. Then there was silence until Torben spoke again. "Fine, split it up, one for change, and one for return. Add one hair from my left temple to the flask in your right hand. ... Fine, and shake 13 times ... Wait, did it change?"
"Yes" David's disembodied voice sounded weak, almost afraid. "And when I drink this, I'll look like you for 24 hours, or until I empty that other one?"
"Exactly. Your job is not much really. Just stay at the Farm, eat dinner with the teachers. And when Thora plays the concertina, you grab the candlestick with the pink ribbon and throw it into the fireplace. Now hurry and remember to take care not to be seen when you cross the causeway."
The next they heard was Torben murmuring scrubbing and scouring cantrips, and Susan drew a deep, shuddering breath, unaware that she had held her breath since saying the spell.
"I'm a wizard on a bonfire if they're doing this in a good cause," Tue said deliberately. He ran to where the trucks had paused to unload the coal when the powerhouse was functioning and dived behind the broken beams, that laid discarded on the ground. He returned with a shaking boy.
"Helge!" Susan said, as she saw the lanky, bedraggled apprentice, "What on earth are you doing here?"
"Does any of you have something edible, he's starving," Tue said.
"I have a chocolate bar in one of my coat pockets," Heidi said. She pulled it out and handed it to Helge. He was shaking so hard, he was almost unable to unwrap it.
"Let's rekindle the fire," Susan said. And suited action to words. A quick movement of her wand, and a short sentence had the fire blazing again. "In for a lamb, in for a sheep," she grinned.
***
Just after the beginning of the new year Susan began to wonder if they actually did the right thing concerning that darned ritual. It had begun all right. The fire had done a lot for Helge, who had been cold all over, but not hurt apart from a sprained ankle. He had been on the way home, for once walking to the train station in the near by town, not wanting to hurry home for Christmas in his dreary home. He had happened to pass by the farm with the angry Sheepdog, who had chased him into the powerhouse. When he had tried to climb the discarded logs, some of them had rolled over, catching his leg and knocking him almost senseless. He had observed Torben and David meeting, but had not been able to understand a word of what they said over the buzzing in his head. Now he felt fine apart from being cold and his ankle, which Lis mended. While he was thawing Tue told him what had happened. He ate all the chocolate and declared his willingness to participate in the hunt for Torben and David. He and Heidi stayed in the old powerhouse, volunteering to do the cleaning and act as a communication centre. Susan felt like giving him a kiss, she was so happy someone else seemed to understand their misgivings about Torben and David, but she was not sure he would not misunderstood her, so she refrained.
Lis went after David, heading for the Farm. It had been easy tracking his bike in the newly fallen snow, and he had had no reason to suspect he was being followed. As she arrived at the farm she was still able to see faint tracks leading into the barn. She looked through t a window and found the place deserted. A quick search inside revealed a smallish bottle in a dustbin and Torben's cupboard with the doors wide open. She took one of the great white winter-cloaks from the apprentices' cupboard, then she said the words connecting her wand to Heidi's and said: "He is at farm. Watching!" And then she followed David's tracks to the house proper, where she found a place to look through one of the windows and follow the professors' party. She put her faith in the winter cloak's camouflaging abilities should anybody chance to look out.
Tue and Susan had had the harder job of following Torben. He was in a hurry, and his long legs and new bike ate the distances in a hurry. Only the snow, falling lightly but steadily had enabled them follow his tracks to the nearby town. There they lost him at the train station. The train for Copenhagen had left seven minutes before they arrived, and as he was nowhere to be found, they suspected that that was where he went.
Tue went to the men's room, contacted Heidi and heard Lis' message. He and Heidi agreed that they all should probably go to the farm, as they had no idea where Torben was going.
They took a bus to the stop nearest the black bridge and joined Helge and Heidi outside the powerhouse. By now they were all rather hungry and miserable. They were quite sure, that David would have done whatever he was to do before they reached the farm.
But as they arrived, Lis was there to greet them, she sent them in to get winter-cloaks as well and then they all took position around the window. They saw the teachers finishing a mouth-watering dinner, drinking mulled wine and having a good time. Then Thora began to play the concertina, and David-Torben picked up the rose-ribboned candle. As he threw it into the fireplace, a thick smoke billowed out. It hit the teachers, and one by one they dropped where they stood. It all happened very fast, and Susan doubted that anybody had even seen what happened. David had crumbled too. "Why did he poison them all - and himself as well?" Tue asked.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Susan asked.
"Let's get them out of there," Helge said and ran to the door. Susan and Heidi followed him, Tue tried to stop them, but to no avail. As Helge opened the door, the smoke hit them, and they went down as hit by a club. Tue and Lis looked at one another. They dared not go near the smoke, gas or whatever, but they had to get their sister and their friends away.
Susan awoke some time later, Tue and Lis had pulled them away from the door, dragging them along with magic, and now they sat in the little room behind the kitchen. Lis came back from the kitchen, carrying a large, steaming teapot and a handful of mugs. They drank and got their colour back. None of them felt any worse, but they did not know what to do. "How much do you remember of your adventure?" Lis asked.
Helge had lost all memory back from when Susan and Tue joined him in the old powerhouse. Susan and Heidi remembered the cold and miserable hike to the Farm, and then a blank wall. Lis filled them in with their arrival to the Farm and their stupid show of heroism.
As she reached the present Tue came in, grabbed a mug, and drank the tea in great scalding gulps. He told them that the teachers were stirring. He thought they'd better get away before they were discovered and accused of doing whatever it was that David had done.
They all agreed, they were in a bad position, should they be discovered, and with David still looking like Torben, they'd have no way of justifying their presence at the Farm. The professors would just think the had pulled yet another prank on them. Susan found a crate of cookies left on a shelf, She gave those and the bag of tea they had broken the seal on to Helge.
"Take these and get off, there's no reason for you to become involved and possibly expelled from The Unicorn Farm."
Tue handed him some money: "Susan is right, Get home in a jiffy, and take good care of yourself."
Helge gave all of them a quick hug, placed the cloak on a chair and ran out the door. He remembered to obliterate his tracks with a spell, before he jumped through the portal that would take him to back Stockholm.
Lis and Tue quickly cleaned the kitchen, while Susan hung the winter-cloaks back again.
Heidi kept a look out and as Tue put the last mug in the cupboard, she came back with a warning: "Somebody's coming," she whispered urgently.
Tue and Lis Pulled their wands and held onto Susan and Heidi's hands. Susan and Heidi had both flunked their teleportation tests in August, as had almost a quarter of their fellow apprentices. Tue and Susan quickly said the words that brought them to The Magicians' house.
The party following these dramatic events had been a just a bore, nothing dramatic happened. Susan's parents and Linda, her younger sister, had been less of a problem than they thought. Heidi's father could be real charming, and he did his very best while Sandra served delicious tidbits for everybody. The children were ravenous and ate a lot of everything, but luckily Sandra was of the kind that saw clean plates as a compliment to the chef. Heidi and Susan tried to talk about the afternoon's happenings, but they were disturbed every time they began. Tue and Lis withdrew early under the pretence of packing. Susan hoped they went back to the farm to check out what had happened.
During the long drive home to Elsinore, as the humming car ate mile after mile, she began worrying about Thora. The spunky and resourceful Icelandic witch was to Susan like the grandmother she did not have, and even though Thora was miles away in snowbound Iceland and all of 88 years old, she was close to Susan's heart.
On the first day of the new school year she found a letter on her bed. It was from Heidi, Tue and Lis.
***
Just after the beginning of the new year Susan began to wonder if they actually did the right thing concerning that darned ritual. It had begun all right. The fire had dome a lot for Helge, who had been cold all over, but not hurt apart from a sprained ankle. He had been on the way home, for once walking to the train station in the near by town, not wanting to hurry home for Christmas in his dreary home. He had happened to pass by the farm with the angry Sheepdog, who had chased him into the powerhouse. When he had tried to climb the discarded logs, some of them had rolled over, catching his leg and knocking him almost senseless. He had observed Torben and David meeting, but had not been able to understand a word of what they said over the buzzing in his head. Now he felt fine apart from being cold and his ankle, which Lis mended. While he was thawing Tue told him what had happened. He ate all the chocolate and declared his willingness to participate in the hunt for Torben and David. He and Heidi stayed in the old powerhouse, volunteering to do the cleaning and act as a communication centre. Susan felt like giving him a kiss, she was so happy someone else seemed to understand their misgivings about Torben and David, but she was not sure he would not misunderstood her, so she refrained.
Lis went after David, heading for the Farm. It had been easy tracking his bike in the newly fallen snow, and he had had no reason to suspect he was being followed. As she arrived at the farm she was still able to see faint tracks leading into the barn. She looked through t a window and found the place deserted. A quick search inside revealed a smallish bottle in a dustbin and Torben's cupboard with the doors wide open. She took one of the great white winter-cloaks from the apprentices' cupboard, then she said the words connecting her wand to Heidi's and said: "He is at farm. Watching!" And then she followed David's tracks to the house proper, where she found a place to look through one of the windows and follow the professors' party. She put her faith in the winter cloak's camouflaging abilities should anybody chance to look out.
Tue and Susan had had the harder job of following Torben. He was in a hurry, and his long legs and new bike ate the distances in a hurry. Only the snow, falling lightly but steadily had enabled them follow his tracks to the nearby town. There they lost him at the train station. The train for Copenhagen had left seven minutes before they arrived, and as he was nowhere to be found, they suspected that that was where he went.
Tue went to the men's room, contacted Heidi and heard Lis' message. He and Heidi agreed that they all should probably go to the farm, as they had no idea where Torben was going.
They took a bus to the stop nearest the black bridge and joined Helge and Heidi outside the powerhouse. By now they were all rather hungry and miserable. They were quite sure, that David would have done whatever he was to do before they reached the farm.
But as they arrived, Lis was there to greet them, she sent them in to get winter-cloaks as well and then they all took position around the window. They saw the teachers finishing a mouth-watering dinner, drinking mulled wine and having a good time. Then Thora began to play the concertina, and David-Torben picked up the rose-ribboned candle. As he threw it into the fireplace, a thick smoke billowed out. It hit the teachers, and one by one they dropped where they stood. It all happened very fast, and Susan doubted that anybody had even seen what happened. David had crumbled too. "Why did he poison them all - and himself as well?" Tue asked.
"Shouldn't we do something?" Susan asked.
"Let's get them out of there," Helge said and ran to the door. Susan and Heidi followed him, Tue tried to stop them, but to no avail. As Helge opened the door, the smoke hit them, and they went down as hit by a club. Tue and Lis looked at one another. They dared not go near the smoke, gas or whatever, but they had to get their sister and their friends away.
Susan awoke some time later, Tue and Lis had pulled them away from the door, dragging them along with magic, and now they sat in the little room behind the kitchen. Lis came back from the kitchen, carrying a large, steaming teapot and a handful of mugs. They drank and got their colour back. None of them felt any worse, but they did not know what to do. "How much do you remember of your adventure?" Lis asked.
Helge had lost all memory back from when Susan and Tue joined him in the old powerhouse. Susan and Heidi remembered the cold and miserable hike to the Farm, and then a blank wall. Lis filled them in with their arrival to the Farm and their stupid show of heroism.
As she reached the present Tue came in, grabbed a mug, and drank the tea in great scalding gulps. He told them that the teachers were stirring. He thought they'd better get away before they were discovered and accused of doing whatever it was that David had done.
They all agreed, they were in a bad position, should they be discovered, and with David still looking like Torben, they'd have no way of justifying their presence at the Farm. The professors would just think the had pulled yet another prank on them. Susan found a crate of cookies left on a shelf, She gave those and the bag of tea they had broken the seal on to Helge.
"Take these and get off, there's no reason for you to become involved and possibly expelled from The Unicorn Farm."
Tue handed him some money: "Susan is right, Get home in a jiffy, and take good care of yourself."
Helge gave all of them a quick hug, placed the cloak on a chair and ran out the door. He remembered to obliterate his tracks with a spell, before he jumped through the portal that would take him to back Stockholm.
Lis and Tue quickly cleaned the kitchen, while Susan hung the winter-cloaks back again.
Heidi kept a look out and as Tue put the last mug in the cupboard, she came back with a warning: "Somebody's coming," she whispered urgently.
Tue and Lis Pulled their wands and held onto Susan and Heidi's hands. Susan and Heidi had both flunked their teleportation tests in August, as had almost a quarter of their fellow apprentices. Tue and Susan quickly said the words that brought them to The Magicians' house.
The party following these dramatic events had been a just a bore, nothing dramatic happened. Susan's parents and Linda, her younger sister, had been less of a problem than they thought. Heidi's father could be real charming, and he did his very best while Sandra served delicious tidbits for everybody. The children were ravenous and ate a lot of everything, but luckily Sandra was of the kind that saw clean plates as a compliment to the chef. Heidi and Susan tried to talk about the afternoon's happenings, but they were disturbed every time they began. Tue and Lis withdrew early under the pretence of packing. Susan hoped they went back to the farm to check out what had happened.
During the long drive home to Elsinore, as the humming car ate mile after mile, she began worrying about Thora. The spunky and resourceful Icelandic witch was to Susan like the grandmother she did not have, and even though Thora was miles away in snowbound Iceland and all of 88 years old, she was close to Susan's heart.
On the first day of the new school year she found a letter on her bed. It was from Heidi, Tue and Lis.
***
Some days have passed since Susan received the first letter of the year.
January was unusually wet and dreary, school was bad, even worse than usual, Susan thought. Her classmates had never been very nice to her, but after an epic fight in 4th form they had mostly left her alone. Now the teachers seemed to be after her as well, or maybe she had just begun to imagine things after experiencing how learning could be at The Unicorn Farm.
She made her homework dutifully each day, in a hurry to be able to pour over her magic books. She had now learned to send letters with magic, for Heidi's next letter had told her to read the note at page 114 in Spells and Cantrippes for Daily Use. The old anonymous tome had lain unopened in the bottom of her carpet bag, but it was actually quite a handy book. Susan was slowly beginning to rely more on her own powers and on her magic when faced with a problem. This earned her strange looks from her parents and sister, and only the fact that she DID NOT bring her wand to school had saved her from trouble there.
Actually the "DO NOT bring your wand into that other world"-rule was one the apprentices got hammered into their brain on The Farm.
But her growing confidence and new problem solving techniques; skills she had no idea of possessing, was what caused her problems.
This Tuesday was just as dreary as the rest of the month had been. After hurrying through her history lessons, Susan grabbed her wand and a few other things, bent on trying out a few cantrips somewhere outdoor.Even with rain coming and going "her place" would be fairly dry.
That place was not of that other world, at least not as Susan understood tit. It was an abandoned lumber yard with a humongous walnut tree and some decrepit, red buildings. It was also the place where Susan, Heidi, Lis and Tue had installed the portal in one of the hottest summers ever.
Her mother called her as she was leaving the house: " Susan! Are you leaving now?" Susan nodded, and her mother continued: "It's going to rain today. Again! If you have to go chasing storms, then at least dress for it.Umbrellas are no good in this weather. You've turned too many of them inside out lately."
"Sorry, Mum," Susan said. "I'm going to pull on my rain gear. I'll be home for dinner. Promise." Susan gave her mother a hug before she disappeared into her study again.
Susan locked her bike and quickly ran up to her place in the old lumber yard. Nobody could see her here, nobody ever came all the way here, except for late September when the walnuts were ripe. This was Susan's secret place. The portal was over in the far corner, invisible to all but fellow magicians. That made her feel safe and even more at home here. It was a charmed place in her rather miserable life. She sat down with her back to the long, red building. It was fairly dry here, the drops were pattering on the roof over her head and running thorough the old drain pipes, making rivulets meandering from the house. The thunder rolled now and then, but she was not cold. Magic could help in so many small ways.
She pulled some letters out of her deepest pocket. Heidi's newest letter had arrived only this morning, and she intended to study every word before it became too dark.
"Dear Susan!Susan sat for some time studying the newspaper clipping in the murky daylight. The quality was not much better than the one from the security camera at the station. Susan got up and ran to her bike. She had an idea. The local library had all the newspapers for way back. Maybe some of the other ones had a better photo. She could always say it was for some homework.
We have looked more closely at the photo from the train station, and now we do not think it really is your father in the photo, even though I agree that it looks a lot like him. We suspect that Torben used the other half of the potion to look unsuspicious for a long journey, since we now know - or at least have a strong suspicion of - where he went. As you guessed, he used the trains to go to Copenhagen - all the way to the airport even.
He went to the airport to pick up somebody. Who that somebody is, we do not know, but we got a glimpse of them in the news, as some foreign head of state came by that same plane.
Do watch he news in the coming days. We are all afraid what will happen next.
We sent you a newspaper cutting of the meeting in the airport. You can just see Torben and that other man to the left.
Take care of yourself and your family.
Your friend Heidi"
***
Not more than half an hour has passed since last Wednesday's chapter.
At the library Susan went straight to the newspaper section. She vaguely remembered, maybe from some guided learn how to use the library-tour from years ago, that the old newspapers were kept handy. And yes, underneath each paper from today, which were laid out on sloping tables, were a set of shelves, four for each paper, each holding a week's worth of newspapers. A whole month of news lay there for the taking. Susan found another paper than the one with Lis' clippings and searched the relevant shelf for Saturday's paper. There was a mentioning of the arrival of the head of state, no pictures, and nothing new compared to Lis' paper. Susan folded it neatly and put it back. The next five were no better, either they did not mention it at all, brought the same photo, or some with the President seeing sights in Copenhagen. And they all wrote almost the same words. But finally, in the local paper, the one Susan had left out, she found a rather long reportage from the airport and some photos.
Susan looked closely, yes it was Torben. And that photo there, it showed the foreigner quite clearly. She checked with the big watch on the wall; only a quarter to four. If she hurried, she could make it the the newspaper's office before closing time. She might be able to buy - or even have for free - the original photo or one like it. First she went to the librarian and had a copy made of the relevant pages. It cost her 50 øre, but Susan had been given some money for Christmas, so she was quite rich for the nonce.
It was turning dark outside and the people still in the street were hurrying home, the rain still fell in heavy showers and thunder could be heard now closer, now further away. It was just one of the things that came from living in a coastal town. The rain clouds just stayed around the town until they had dropped their very last drop and spent every ounce of energy unsuccessfully battering the towers of the two churches with their thunderbolts. Susan biked almost all the way to the newspaper, only pushing the bike through the narrow one way streets near the centre. The traffic was still sparse, and she made it to the office in time without any incidents.
As she reached the door, it was opened rather forcefully from the inside. A large man with a black beard stood in front of her.
"Hello Susan, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Oh, hi Stellan!" she answered. "I am looking for a photo from last Saturday's paper, did you make them?" Stellan was a friend of her parents', he was a journalist, and Susan had met him a couple of times before. He was a nice and easy fellow, from somewhere else, Susan had momentarily forgotten where, and he spoke with an accent. Normally he was all smiles, but Susan thought he looked sad.
"Which photos? I made some from Copenhagen, as I was there, visiting a friend of mine."
"From the airport?" Susan asked eagerly, Stellan nodded, and Susan said: "Yes, those are the ones I'm looking for."
"Ah," Stellan nodded "social studies?" Susan nodded agreement, happy that he himself had uttered the words. She hated lying, and just saying yes was only half so bad.
"You know what," Stellan said. "I have all of them at home, and I have to hurry home and eat before leaving for Copenhagen again. My friend is very ill, you see. If you could water my plants and take care of my canaries for me, you could have two or three of the photos."
"I'd be happy to," Susan said and strode after the long legged man through the dark streets of the city.
"Here are the photos," Stellan said, as they entered the living room and he pulled out a big, yellow envelope. "Remember the upstairs plans as well, and now come and say hello to the canaries while I eat!" They went into the small kitchen. Stellan quickly fried eggs and ham and ate and smoked cigarettes, making Susan's eye water and itch.
She chatted with the birds, caressed them, fed them, gave them fresh water, even cleaning the dirty water tubs, and changed the newspapers at the bottom of the cage. She then looked for the watering can, and found it in the window sill.
"You're a dear, Susan" Stellan said, "Just put out the lights and close the door when you're done."
"Thank you, Stellan," Susan said. "You are a big help."
Stellan tousled Susan's hair and left in a hurry. Susan opened the window and carefully watered all the plants. Some of them seemed more than half dead; no wonder as they had been trying to live off too much smoke and too little water and care; and she could not resist the temptation to give them a little boost with her magic.
Stellan's house was small, but full of wonders. Lush carpets, musical instruments and colourful spreads and trinkets gave it a semblance of Aladdin's cave. It spoke of his foreign background and his many travels. She loved it, but she was very careful not to disturb anything. She only ran her hands caressingly over the violin. It had not seen as much use as his banjo, but it was much prettier. Susan could not play either, only simple tunes on the piano, but she loved listening to other people playing.
After having completed the chores and emptied some of the ashtrays for good measure, she sat down on the blue sofa and opened the envelope. A zillion photos from the presidential visit to Copenhagen spilled over the table. Susan sorted them and looked through those from the airport. She found some where the stranger and Torben were in plain view. Most of them featured the president as well. She chose three, put the rest back into the envelope and left the cosy house behind.
As she closed the door she remembered having left behind her bike at the newspaper. She did not want to leave it there overnight. The office lay in a part of own with many pubs and bars, peaceful enough in the daytime, but her bike would most probably be stolen if she left it where it was. It was a detour, but then she still had time to spare. Sheltering the precious photos inside her jacket with a bit of additional magic she went out into the rain.
***
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