Rakel reached the edge of the slope and watched as the cart hit a tree before it came to a halt not far from the road. Jenny was nowhere to be seen, but the sheriff was getting onto his feet. He didn’t appear to be injured apart from a gash over one knee. There was quite a bit of blood, but the rain washed it away, revealing that the wound wasn’t all that deep.
Rakel grabbed hold of a branch and clambered down.
“Jenny!” she cried, looking around desperately. Her friend had been sitting in the driver’s seat when the wagon went over. She must have been thrown further down the slope.
“Over there,” Bergan said, pointing at a bush some distance away where they could just make out some cloth on the ground. Rakel hurried past the wagon and down towards the bush. Her throat tightened and her eyes blurred with tears.
“Jenny!” she shouted.
Her friend was lying behind the bush. Amazingly, she’d landed in a hollow between two rocks. She was on her stomach with her head turned to the side. Blood was flowing from a cut on her forehead and one arm was at an odd angle.
“Is she alive?” the sheriff said behind her. Rakel squatted down and carefully turned Jenny over. Her friend groaned and relief flooded through Rakel.
“Yes,” she answered quietly.
Bergan sat down on the other side of Jenny.
“You have to help her, Rakel,” he said, looking up at her.
“What do you mean?” she asked, dazed.
“You know what I mean.”
He placed Jenny’s arm carefully on her chest. Then he tore off part of his shirt and gently felt the broken arm before tying the piece of cloth around the break and tightening it. Jenny groaned. “The head wound might be serious. See if you can do something about it,” he continued.
She now understood what he meant.
“All right,” she said quietly. “I’ll try.”
She put her hands on Jenny’s head and shut her eyes. The blood was hot and sticky and smelled like iron. Rakel started to tremble. Good God! Jenny was badly injured! Her mind raced. She tried to concentrate and summon the strange tingling in her palms, but nothing happened. You have to do it! If not, Jenny might die! she thought, gasping frantically.
“What is it?” Bergan asked. “Is something wrong?”
She opened her eyes and looked at him desperately.
“I can’t do it! Nothing is happening!”
“You’re too upset,” he said, taking her hand. He held it firmly and looked into her eyes. “You can do it, Rakel. Try to relax. Look at me,” he continued. “I know you can help Jenny. You have it in you.”
She saw in his eyes that he meant what he said. It helped, and she calmed down a bit.
“Alright,” she said. “I can do this.”
She put her hands back on Jenny’s head and shut her eyes. Then she took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
The weak prickling started in her palms, and she let it come. Soon, it was like her arms were glowing, as though a river of heat was flowing through her and into Jenny. She could feel the swelling in her friend’s head, the wound beneath the skin, and she concentrated on it. Slowly, she felt the swelling going down. Then the stream stopped, and she collapsed in exhaustion.
“Rakel?” she heard Bergan say. He was holding her hand again, firmly and determinedly. For the first time, she hadn’t blacked out afterwards. Instead, she found strength in him. She took a few deep breaths and opened her eyes.
“I’m fine,” she said weakly. “I think I did it.”
“Yes, you did,” he said. “Jenny is waking up.”
Rakel looked down at her friend who was whimpering and blinking her eyes open. Gratitude filled her. Thank you, she said to herself. Thank you for letting me help Jenny.
“We need to get her out of here,” the sheriff said, leaning over Jenny to pick her up.
“I saw a woodshed not long from here,” Rakel said, looking up at the road. “Will you be able to carry her? It’s steep, and you’ve hurt your knee.”
“She doesn’t weigh much,” he said firmly, lifting her up.
She saw it was painful for him, but he was strong and got up to the road without much difficulty. Odin was waiting there, and Rakel helped Bergan get Jenny up on the horse’s back. Rakel held on to Jenny while the sheriff checked Odin for injuries and loosened the harness. Then he swung himself behind Jenny and started riding.
Rakel ran over to Blakka, got up onto the saddle as quickly as she could, and set out after Bergan and Jenny. She couldn’t let him ride away from her with her friend. When she caught up with him, though, she realised that wouldn’t happen. The sheriff seemed to be in more pain than he’d let on, and Jenny was still unconscious. He couldn’t have gotten away from her even if he’d wanted to.
It wasn’t far to the woodshed and Rakel got there first. She hopped off Blakka’s back and opened the door. Luckily, the shed was almost empty, and she twisted out of her cloak and put it on the floor. Then she ran back and helped Bergan get Jenny off the horse. He carried her inside and laid her down on the floor. Then he gave his jacket to Rakel so she could use it as a pillow for Jenny’s head before he sat down next to a woodpile.
He looked exhausted. On top of being soaking wet, he was also bleeding profusely from the cut above his knee. His shirt was hanging loose after he’d torn off a piece to wrap up Jenny’s arm, and Rakel felt sorry for him. Should she offer to help him? Then she remembered he only had himself to blame for this. If he hadn’t gone to arrest Jenny, her friend wouldn’t have tried to escape with the carriage.
Still, she wasn’t so angry with Bergan that she wouldn’t help him. After making sure Jenny was lying comfortably, she crouched down in front of him.
“Sit still so I can look at your knee,” she said.
“It’s not that bad,” he protested weakly. “It’s just a little blood, and I suppose you can’t stop bleeding, can you?”
“Stop bleeding?” she repeated in surprise. She remembered she’d read something about that in the book she got from Aunt Esther. “No, but I might be able to do something about the swelling.”
She put her hands on his knee and felt how swollen it was. The stream of warmth came to her at once. There was a vibrating in her arms that continued into the sheriff’s knee. He gasped for breath but stayed still.
“I don’t think the leg is injured beyond the cut and swelling,” she said, opening her eyes. She didn’t feel the terrible exhaustion she’d felt earlier. Quite the contrary, actually; she felt strong. When she moved her hands, she met Bergan’s gaze. He was staring at her in wonder.
“Was it painful?” she asked. “I’ve never done it on someone who’s conscious.”
“No, it didn’t hurt,” he replied, standing up. “I’m taking the horses with me to try to get the wagon back up on the road,” he continued, his voice hoarse. “I see there are some tools in here. If we’re lucky, the wagon isn’t so damaged that we won’t be able to use it to get home.” With that, he disappeared from the shed.
Rakel sat down next to Jenny. Her friend was still unconscious, but she was breathing calmly and evenly.
“Everything’s going to be okay, Jenny,” Rakel whispered, stroking her hair. “I’m going to take care of you.” With the help of the horses, the sheriff managed to get the wagon onto the road again. Rakel watched and was impressed by how hard he was working. Fortunately, the rain had almost stopped completely. There were now only a few drops falling from the sky, and the sun was starting to peek out from behind the clouds. She was considering going over to help when Jenny woke up.
“Rakel?” she murmured weakly.
Rakel went over to her friend and crouched down next to her.
“I’m here, Jenny. How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know. I’m dizzy, and my arm is so heavy.”
“Your arm is broken, so you should keep it completely still. You’ve also had a blow to the head.”
She gently brushed some stray hairs away from Jenny’s face. “Do you remember what happened?”
“No,” Jenny replied. “The last thing I remember is… Oh, God! The sheriff!” she said, trying to get up.
“Stay calm,” Rakel said quietly. “You have to rest. You were injured when you tried to escape from the sheriff and the wagon drove off a cliff. Do you remember any of that?”
“Yes,” Jenny replied. “Yes, I remember. I was stupid to think I could control the horse, but I was so scared!”
Jenny grabbed Rakel’s arm with her uninjured hand. “You have to help me! I can’t stay here. He wants to take me to the grocer!”
“You’re not going there,” Rakel replied firmly. “I’ll make sure of that.”
“You can’t stop him, Rakel,” Jenny said sadly. “No one can stop Ludvigsen if he wants something.”
“No, but the sheriff isn’t Ludvigsen. I think I can get through to him.”
She heard the wagon approaching. “He’s coming now,” she said softly. “Leave this to me.”
When Rakel came out of the woodshed, she saw the wagon was in better condition than expected. The hitch was broken, but he’d managed to lift the front of the wagon and fasten it to Odin’s harness with a rope. Surprisingly enough, the wagon seemed to be otherwise undamaged.
She went over and helped him tie the two horses to a tree.
“What’s the plan now?” she asked.
“There are hammers, nails and planks in the shed,” he replied. “I’m going to have to attach the hitch to the wagon again.”
“I wasn’t talking about the wagon,” she said, standing in front of him. “I was talking about Jenny.”
“There’s nothing more to say. Jenny has been arrested, and I’m taking her with me.”
He didn’t look at her as he spoke.
She put her hands on her hips.
“So Grocer Ludvigsen can do whatever he wants with her?”
“What are you talking about?” He looked at her, sighing in exasperation. “Jenny is wanted for the theft of a piece of jewellery and will be brought to court.”
“That’s not true and you know it!” she hissed. “How can you lie to me like this?”
“I’m sick and tired of all these accusations, Rakel,” he said. “That’s enough.”
He pushed her aside to walk past her. Rakel wasn’t about to give up, though, and jumped in front of him before he could get too far.
“You leave Jenny alone! You hear me?”
“You’re hysterical,” he said in frustration. “Every one of your accusations is wilder than the next. Why in the world would Grocer Ludvigsen want to hurt Jenny?”
“Because she overheard a conversation between him and you in the villa when the grocer told you to kill a young woman.”
The sheriff looked confused at first, but then the rage lit up in his eyes.
“You think I’m a killer, is that what you’re saying? I’m the goddamn sheriff, Rakel!”
“Maybe you’re not the one he was talking to,” she acknowledged. “But he gave such an order to someone, and Jenny overheard it. When Ludvigsen realised that, he decided that Jenny had to be gotten rid of.”
“So he hasn’t ordered just one murder, but two? Is that what you’re saying?” he asked mockingly. “I think you’ve completely lost your mind, girl!”
He started moving again but she grabbed his arm.
“Please, believe me! Jenny is terrified. She…”
“She has no reason to be afraid,” he interrupted. “I would never let anything happen to her while she’s in my custody. She will be brought to court, and she will be completely safe.”
He disappeared into the woodshed. Soon after, he came out with the tools he needed and get started on the wagon.
Rakel watched him work without saying anything else. He worked quickly and with a determined expression on his face. Her gaze drifted down to his chest and partially exposed stomach. He was just as muscular as she remembered from the other times she’d seen him shirtless. She averted her gaze and crossed her arms. She could never think properly when he was close. When he wasn’t there, she had no trouble imagining him as the brutal man he was – a man who could break another man’s hand with a hammer.
She shuddered as she watched him drive the nails into the wood. It was with an explosion of power, like the one he’d shown when he knocked the Kipper unconscious. Still, it wasn’t that simple. When she remembered how compassionate he’d been when he comforted her at his sister’s house, she found it hard to believe that he could be so cold and calculating. She glanced over at him and saw that he was deep in thought. Either he was very good at pretending or he really had no idea about the grocer’s plans. She wanted to believe he didn’t know – in which case, it might be possible to change his mind.
She went over and handed him the plank he was going to use as reinforcement.
“Can’t you at least look into it before you take her into custody? You know me, and you know I’m not hysterical. Please, I beg of you. Show mercy.”
He didn’t look at her, just kept hammering away at the plank.
“How does Jenny know she’s in danger?” he asked.
“Because she didn’t steal any jewellery. It’s just a ruse the grocer is using to get his claws in her.”
“But the grocer isn’t getting his claws in her, Rakel. She is being placed in my custody and will later be transferred to the prison in Tønsberg. I won’t deliver her to the grocer.”
“Not even if he asks you to?”
“Why would he? No, Rakel, you don’t have to say it again. I know the grocer. I know he can be brutal and merciless, but murder isn’t something he casually goes around ordering.”
Bergan finished hammering and put the tools down on the ground.
“But he did,” Rakel said. “Jenny heard it.”
“Then she misheard,” he said, tugging at the hitch. It held.
He fixed his eyes on hers. “Rakel, I’m going to take Jenny with me, and if you try to stop me, I’ll arrest you as well. Don’t think I’ll spare you just because we know each other.”
His grey eyes were cold and dismissive.
“No, I’m not that naive,” she replied angrily. “I suppose you just want to have a couple of women in chains in that horrible cellar of yours!”
He gritted his teeth, and his eyes went dark.
“There are cells in there now. What kind of monster do you think I am? No, don’t even answer that,” he continued, pushing past her. She ran inside when she heard Jenny call her name and saw that Bergan was lifting her friend despite her voracious protests. Jenny was weak, and with one broken arm, there was little she could do.
“Let her be, please!” Rakel pleaded. “Can’t you see she’s terrified? I know you have a good side. I’ve seen it myself. Don’t do this to her! She can stay with us at Ovreid while we find a solution…”
“I can’t do that, Rakel,” he replied with a sigh. “I’ve put off looking for her for several weeks, so now I no longer have a choice. I can’t let her go this time.”
“You can lie and say she managed to escape when the wagon went off the road!”
He rolled his eyes and started walking past her.
“Please, Herr Bergan,” Jenny pleaded weakly. “I promise to stay at Ovreid. I won’t run away again.”
She stared at him, wide-eyed. She had some blood on her face and her hair was tangled, wet, and full of dirt. She looked so forlorn and helpless in his arms, almost like a child. Her eyes were full of tears and her lower lip was trembling. Rakel saw that the sheriff wasn’t unmoved; the hard expression on his face softened.
“She’s injured,” Rakel said. “Do you really want to have to be responsible for her in one of your cells? Wouldn’t it be better if she were at Ovreid so I can look after her? I give you my word,” she said. “She won’t run away again.
“Do you give me your word?” he asked.