Don't Look Back Read Free Page B

We're going shopping."
    "We'll go up to Kollen first, then I'll drive you home afterward."
    "Now!" she said firmly. "I want to go home now."
    Raymond thought desperately for a way to stall her.
    "All right. But first I have to go out and buy some milk for Papa, down at Horgen's Shop. You can wait here; then it won't take as long."
    He stood up and looked at her. At her bright face with the little heart-shaped mouth that made him think of heart-shaped cinnamon sweets. Her eyes were clear and blue and her eyebrows were dark, surprising beneath her white bangs. He sighed heavily, walked over to the back door and opened it.
    Ragnhild really wanted to leave, but she didn't know the
way home, so she would have to wait. She padded into the little living room with the rabbit in her arms and curled up in a corner of the sofa. They hadn't slept much last night, she and Marthe, and with the warm animal in the hollow of her throat she quickly grew sleepy. Soon her eyes closed.

    It was a while before he came back. For a long time he sat and looked at her, amazed at how quietly she slept. Not a movement, not a single little sigh. He thought she had expanded a bit, become larger and warmer, like a loaf in the oven. After a while he grew uneasy and didn't know what to do with his hands, so he put them in his pockets and rocked a little in his chair. Then he started kneading the fabric of his trousers between his hands as he rocked and rocked, faster and faster. He looked anxiously out the windows and down the hall to his father's bedroom. His hands worked and worked. The whole time he stared at her hair, which was shiny as silk, almost like rabbit fur. Then he gave a low moan and stopped himself. Stood up and poked her lightly on the shoulder.
    "We can go now. Give me Pasån."
    For a moment Ragnhild was completely bewildered. She got up slowly and stared at Raymond, then followed him out to the kitchen and pulled on her anorak, and padded out of the house as the little brown ball of fur vanished back into its cage. The carriage was still in the back of the van. Raymond looked sad, but he helped her climb in, then got into the driver's seat and turned the key. Nothing happened.
    "It won't start," he said, annoyed. "I don't understand it. It was running a minute ago. This piece of junk!"
    "I have to go home!" Ragnhild said loudly, as if it would help the situation. He kept trying the ignition and stepping on the accelerator; he could hear the starter motor turning, but it kept up a complaining whine and refused to catch.
    "We'll have to walk."
    "It's much too far!" she whined.
    "No, not from here. We're on the back side of Kollen now, we're almost at the top, and from there you can look straight down on your house. I'll pull your carriage for you."

    He put on a jacket that lay on the front seat, got out, and opened the door for her. Ragnhild carried her doll and he pulled the carriage behind him. It bumped a little on the potholed road. Ragnhild could see Kollen looming farther ahead, ringed by dark woods. For a moment they had to pull off to the side of the road as a car passed them noisily at high speed. The dust hung like a thick fog behind it. Raymond knew the way, and he wasn't very fit, so it was no problem for Ragnhild to keep up. After a while the road grew steeper, ending in a turning space, and the path, which went around to the right of Kollen, was soft and dusty. The sheep had widened the path, and their droppings lay as thick as hail. Ragnhild amused herself by treading on them; they were dry and powdery. After a few minutes there was a lovely glistening visible through the trees.
    "Serpent Tarn," Raymond said.
    She stopped next to him, stared out across the lake, and saw the water lilies and a little boat that lay upside down on the shore.
    "Don't go down to the water," said Raymond. "It's dangerous. You can't swim here; you'd just sink into the sand and disappear. Quicksand," he added, with a serious expression. Ragnhild