My Soul to Take: A Novel of Iceland Read Free Page B

kept quiet about it while the sale went through. I call that fraudulent, especially when they knew of my plans for the farmhouse and the land. I have exceptionally sensitive people here, customers and staff alike. They
    feel bad."
    Thora interrupted him. "Can you describe this 'haunting' for me, please?"
    "There's just a horrible atmosphere in the house. Also, things go missing, strange noises are heard in the middle of the night, and people have seen a child appear out of nowhere."
    "So?" Thora asked. That was nothing special. In her household, things always went missing, particularly the car keys, there were noises day and night, and children appeared out of nowhere all the time.
    "There's no child here, Thora. Nowhere in the vicinity either." He paused. "The child is not of this world. I saw her behind me when I was looking in the mirror, and words can't describe how... unalive she is."
    A shiver ran down Thora's spine. The tone of Jonas's voice left no doubt that he believed this himself and was convinced he'd seen something unnatural, however incredible it might seem to her. "What do you want me to do?" she asked. "Do you want to discuss it with the sellers and try to negotiate a discount? Isn't that the point? One thing I do know—I can't exorcise ghosts for you, or improve the atmosphere in the house."
    "Come up here for the weekend," Jonas said suddenly. "I want to show you some stuff that's been found here and see what you make of it. The best suite in the hotel is vacant, and you can give yourself a treat at the same time. Have a hotstone massage, whatever you want. You can recharge your batteries, and of course I'll pay you handsomely for it."
    Thora could do with recharging, though she felt he was contradicting himself by promising relaxation in one breath and claiming the place was haunted in the next. At that moment her life was moving in ever-decreasing circles, mostly centered around the expected grand-child her son had fathered before the age of sixteen and her strained relations with her ex-husband, who insisted that the child had been conceived because Thora was an unfit mother. Their son's hormones were a minor factor, in his view; it was all her fault. This opinion was shared by the parents of the little mother-to-be, who was fifteen years old. Thora sighed. It would take pretty powerful stones to massage away all the cares from her poor soul.
    " What do you want me to look at? Can't you just send it to my office?"
    Jonas laughed coldly. "No, not really. It's boxes of old books, drawings, pictures, and all kinds of junk."
    "So why do you think this old stuff is relevant to the so-called hidden defect in the property?" she asked skeptically. "And why don't you just look at it yourself?"
    "I can't. I tried, but it gives me the creeps. I can't go near it. You're much more down-to-earth; you could probably go through it all without feeling anything."
    Thora couldn't argue with that. Ghosts, ghouls, and fairies had not bothered her much until now. The real world gave her enough trouble without needing to cross the borders into fantasy. "Give me a little while to think about it, Jonas. All I can promise is to try and make arrangements to come and visit. I'll call you tomorrow afternoon. Is that
    okay?"
    "Oh, yes. You can call. I'll be in all day." Jonas hesitated before continuing. "You asked why I thought this old stuff was relevant."
    "Yes?" said Thora.
    Again Jonas paused before speaking. "I found a photograph in the box I started going through."
    "And?"
    "It's a picture of the girl I saw in the mirror."
    Chapter 2
    Thursday , 8 jun e 2006
    THORA FETCHED THE file containing the documents regarding the property on Snaefellsnes. She couldn't glean much from reading through them; in any case, she found nothing to suggest Jonas's peculiar "hidden defect." It had been a relatively straightforward transaction, apart from Jonas's many stipulations over dates, such as insisting on signing the deeds on a Saturday.