The sheriff looked at her for a long time, then sighed.
“All right, then,” he said. “We’ll go to Ovreid.”
Rakel stepped to the side and caught Jenny’s eye as she was carried past. Her friend looked surprised. Rakel was as well as she didn’t think he would give in. Relieved, she followed him to the wagon.
Rakel would have liked to sit on the driver’s seat with the sheriff to make sure he was doing what he said he would, but she had to be inside the wagon to support Jenny. Her friend was lying on the seat and every bump in the road was painful.
“Do you really think he’s driving us to Ovreid, Rakel?” she asked anxiously.
“We’ll see,” she replied. “If he tries anything else, he’ll regret it.”
Jenny smiled at her overconfident reply and Rakel smiled back.
“It’s good to see you again, Rakel,” Jenny said. “I felt so terrible for having left so suddenly without making sure you were okay. I didn’t realise that the sheriff had taken you with him until afterwards.”
“Yes,” she replied. “He took me down to the cellar, but he just wanted to scare me.”
“Because he thought you were me?”
“I don’t know, really,” she replied. “It’s not always easy to understand what he’s thinking.”
She left it at that since she didn’t want to tell her friend the real reason – that the sheriff believed she had special powers. Instead, Rakel asked her friend to tell her about what she’d gone through before she told her about everything that had happened to her in the meantime.
Jenny stared at her, wide-eyed.
“Imagine you were that close to marrying Syver Svartangen!” she exclaimed in horror when Rakel was done talking. “And that the sheriff was the one to save you!”
“Yes, you see he isn’t as evil as I thought the last time we spoke,” she replied weakly. “Truth be told, I’m not sure what I think of him anymore.”
“What about the goldsmith’s broken fingers?” Jenny asked. “Did he not do that, either?”
“No,” Rakel replied quietly. “He did, and I think he’s still working for Grocer Ludvigsen.”
When they arrived at Ovreid sometime later, Rakel hopped out of the wagon and held Odin and Blakka by the reins while she watched the sheriff carry Jenny inside the house. As soon as the farm boy came, she left the horses with him and hurried into the house.
Rakel’s mother instructed the sheriff to carry Jenny up to one of the guest rooms on the second floor. She was upset by Jenny’s condition and sent Inga to fetch water for the patient.
“What happened?” her mother asked, looking at Rakel and the sheriff with a concerned expression. Rakel looked down at herself and saw that her dress was wet and covered with stains. She had blood on her hands as well, and her fingers were light red. The sheriff didn’t look much better. His hair had started to dry and was hanging messily around his face. He was still wearing the torn shirt beneath his jacket, and his pants and skin were bloody around the cut on his knee.
“I’ll explain soon,” Rakel said. “First, I’ll walk the sheriff out. I’ll be right back.”
Rakel and Bergan went out into the courtyard together. The forest around the farm was dark in the twilight. He turned to face her by the tree.
“What do you want?” he asked with a sigh.
“I want you to know that I’m grateful for the choice you made. It was also brave of you to throw yourself on the wagon to stop it,” Rakel said. “You could have been killed.”
“She was my responsibility,” he replied dismissively.
“What will happen to Jenny now?” she asked anxiously. “Do you have to tell the grocer that she’s here at Ovreid?”
“Are you going to start with this nonsense about her being in danger again?” he said, rolling his eyes.
“She is in danger,” Rakel replied brusquely. “If you think I’m wrong, perhaps you can disprove it?”
“How?”
“By investigating how eager the grocer is to get hold of her.”
The sheriff groaned.
“You never give in, do you?”
“If someone you cared about was in danger, I’m sure you would do everything you could to make sure that person was safe,” she replied, and she saw from the look on his face that she was right. His eyes darkened, and he grew serious.
“Jenny means a lot to me,” she continued. “I might be wrong, but I don’t want to risk it. I think it’s strange that Ludvigsen wants to pay such a hefty bounty to get hold of Jenny if all she’s done is steal a bracelet.”
“Has it never struck you that he might have other reasons for wanting to get hold of her?”
“What do you mean?”
“The grocer is fond of women, and especially young maids.”
“Does he abuse his maids?” she asked in horror.
“He doesn’t force himself on them if that’s what you mean,” Bergan replied. “The way I understand it, it’s been quite welcomed from the maids’ side. He is generous with the ones he likes,” he remarked coolly. “It can pay off for the maid he chooses.”
“And you think that’s perfectly acceptable?” she asked, looking at him in disbelief.
“Of course not,” he replied. “The maids are poor and easy to entice. He uses them and gets rid of them when he gets bored, or when the missus finds out about it. She can be quite ruthless as well,” he added. “I suspect Fru Ludvigsen accused Frøken Hoem of theft to get rid of her, but that the grocer wants her back.”
“Certainly not!” Rakel replied determinedly. “Jenny never would have gotten involved with the grocer like that. She’s not that kind of girl, and I’ve never heard her say anything favourable about him, either.”
“No,” he replied. “I gathered that when I met her.”
“So there must be another reason for him wanting to get her back,” she continued, meeting his gaze. “You have to help us. Please.”
“I’ve tried to get out of the grocer’s clutches for a long time,” he replied. “This job is the last thing I have to do before I’m free. If I mess it up, he’ll get his claws in me again.”
“There’s nothing you can do?” she pleaded.
“You don’t understand,” he said brusquely. “There’s nothing I want to do. To get free from the grocer, I’m willing to do almost anything. Taking Frøken Hoem to a judge so she can get a fair trial is nothing for me.”
“Don’t you realise that the grocer has other plans for Jenny than to let her defend herself in a trial?”
“No, I don’t, and that’s enough now, Rakel. You’re not going to change my mind, no matter what you say.”
She saw that he meant it. She also noticed that there was a painful look in his eyes, a pain he normally hid. It must mean a lot to him to be free from the grocer.
“Can’t you at least give us some time to find a solution?”
“I can tell the grocer that I have Jenny in my custody for now,” he replied shortly. “That will give you some time. Use it well. As soon as she’s recovered, I’m coming back to get her.”
Bergan turned and strode away from her.
Rakel walked up the stairs with heavy steps. They needed to find a solution quickly, but where would she even start? Before she’d made it to the guest room, her mother stopped her in the hallway.
“What happened, Rakel? You have to tell me everything!”
“There was an accident with the wagon,” she said. “Jenny and the sheriff both got hurt.”
“But why were the two of them in the wagon together?” her mother asked, confused.
Rakel didn’t want to get started on an explanation, but her mother looked so concerned that she did it anyway. She quickly explained that Jenny had been wrongly accused of theft and that she’d fled in fear of being arrested. The wagon had slipped off the road because of the rain and Jenny was hurt.
“The sheriff is letting her stay here until she’s better,” she concluded. “I hope that’s all right with you and father.”
“Yes, of course,” her mother replied. “Jenny is welcome to stay as long as she wants.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Rakel said, giving her a hug. “Now I’m going to go see to Jenny. She’s quite upset. Can you ask father to send for the doctor? Jenny’s head wound might be serious, and I want him to look at it.”
Rakel went inside the room, where Inga had already wrapped up the injury and washed the blood off Jenny’s face and neck. Now, her friend was lying in bed with her eyes closed.
Rakel sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Jenny? Are you awake?”
“Yes, barely,” she said, blinking her eyes open. “I’m trying to comprehend that I’m really here at Ovreid. It’s like a dream after everything I’ve been through.” “I understand,” Rakel replied. “You’re safe here, and I’m sure we’ll find a solution so you no longer have to live in fear.”
“Priest Lomvi can help us,” Jenny said. “Maybe you can notify him? I’m sure he’ll be horrified when he learns I’m no longer at his sister’s”.
“Yes, I can do that,” Rakel answered. “If you’re sure you want to, that is? After all, it was his sister who turned you in.” “It’s not his fault. He is a kind man,” Jenny said. “He’s been nothing but good to me, and I want him to know that I’m all right.”
“Then I’ll do that,” Rakel said, stroking a lock of hair away from Jenny’s face. “Rest now. You must be exhausted.” Jenny nodded and closed her eyes. Rakel sat there until Jenny fell asleep, a smile on her face.
Rakel stayed on the edge of the bed for a while, pondering what she could do to get the grocer to leave Jenny alone. It wasn’t until she heard a wagon outside that she was pulled out of her thoughts. For a terrifying moment, she thought it might be the grocer coming and that the sheriff had betrayed them. She got up and ran over to the window – but thankfully, it was just Doctor Eriksen.
She let him into the guest room and showed him over to Jenny. Her friend woke up when he sat on the edge of the bed, but she could barely keep her eyes open. He asked Rakel what had happened while he looked at the head wound. She told him the rain had made the road slippery and that the wagon had gone over so Jenny was flung out, and that she had hit her head on the ground.
The doctor didn’t say much as he listened attentively and examined Jenny carefully. He spent the most time on the broken arm. He took off the sheriff’s temporary bandage and felt the area of the break. Then he put on a new bandage and got up.
“It looks like you were lucky to walk away from the accident, Frøken Hoem,” he said to Jenny. “The injury is quite a bit milder than it should have been. I don’t think you fell as hard as Frøken Ovreid thought.”
He gave Rakel a quick smile and she didn’t protest.
“Thank you, Doctor,” is all she said. “Is there anything we can do to speed up the recovery?”
“The break in the arm isn’t too severe and the sheriff bound it well. It will heal on its own if she keeps still. I’ve given her something to help her sleep and to alleviate the pain. It should be enough until I come back in a few days.” “I’ll make sure she rests, Doctor Eriksen,” Rakel replied. “She’ll stay in bed.”
She smiled at her friend and got a weak smile back.
“There’s one more thing,” the doctor said. “Could you follow me into the hallway, Frøken Ovreid? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.” Rakel went out first and heard the doctor bidding farewell to Jenny. A nervous suspicion gnawed at her as she waited. Had he discovered something he didn’t want to reveal while Jenny was listening? Was her friend more seriously injured than he’d expressed?
At long last, he left the room. After closing the door behind him, he looked at Rakel, seriousness etched on his face.