The Journey to the End of the World (Joel Gustafson Stories) Read Free

kitchen to join him. Joel gave a start, as if he’d been found out doing something that wasn’t allowed. Maybe Samuel wouldn’t want him to pin down Mummy Jenny’s address? But Samuel just came to stand by his side.
    ‘I didn’t know you had a map of Stockholm,’ he said in surprise.
    ‘I found it in a rubbish bin,’ Joel told him. ‘I thought I’d better see if she – Elinor, that is – was telling the truth.’
    ‘She didn’t use to tell lies,’ said Samuel. ‘Not all that often, at least.’
    Joel pointed out Medborgarplatsen. And then Östgötagatan. Samuel went back to his room to fetch his glasses. Then he pored over the map and nodded.
    ‘She doesn’t have far to go, then,’ he said. ‘From Östgötagatan where she lives, to Medborgarplatsen where she works.’
    It suddenly occurred to Joel that there was something he had to say. Something he couldn’t overlook.
    ‘Can’t we go and visit her?’ he asked. ‘Now that we know where she lives.’
    Samuel sat down at the table. Looked hard at Joel.
    ‘Are you serious?’
    ‘She might be glad to see us,’ said Joel. ‘After all these years. She might want to know what her son looks like. Now that he’s fifteen years old and has got a good school Report. In geography, at least.’
    Samuel looked doubtful.
    ‘At least we can go there and take a look at her,’ said Joel. ‘Peer in through the window of the shop where she works. She probably won’t be able to recognise me. And you can wear dark glasses.’
    Samuel burst out laughing. That was a surprise. It was always a surprise. Samuel didn’t often laugh. He often smiled. But laugh? Joel could hardly remember the last time it had happened.
    ‘You’re right, of course,’ said Samuel. ‘As soon as you’ve left school, we’ll go and look for her.’
    Joel wondered if he could believe his ears. Samuel realised that his son was confused.
    ‘We’ll go as soon as you finish school,’ he said. ‘I’ll apply for a few days’ holiday right away.’
    ‘Should we write to her and tell her we’re going to visit her?’ Joel wondered.
    Samuel thought for a moment before answering. Then he shook his head.
    ‘She didn’t tell us when she left. So why should we tell her that we’re going to pay her a visit?’
    Joel had another question.
    ‘She probably won’t recognise us. But the question is: will you recognise her? She might look quite different.’
    ‘I’ll recognise her all right,’ said Samuel confidently. ‘No matter how much she’s changed.’
    That evening, when Samuel had gone to bed, Joel got up again. He hadn’t got undressed. He picked up his shoes and his jacket, and tiptoed out. He knew which steps to avoid, because they creaked.
    It was still light when he left the house. He wheeled his bike out of the gate, then got on and started pedalling for all he was worth. He raced down to the bridge and when he eventually pulled up he was sweaty and out of breath.
    He’d arrived at Gertrud’s house. Gertrud didn’t have a nose, and lived in a strange house in an overgrown garden on the other side of the river. Joel felt that he really had to tell her about what had happened. Gertrud was his friend. He’d already told her about Mummy Jenny who’d gone away when he was very small.
    Gertrud had once undergone an operation that went wrong, and as a result she lost her nose. She didn’t have many friends. Joel was one of the few.
    As he leaned his bicycle against her ramshackle fence, she came out to greet him. She’d seen him coming, through the kitchen window.
    ‘Long time no see,’ she said.
    ‘There’s so much to do for school,’ Joel said. ‘Lots of homework.’
    But that wasn’t true. And they both knew it. Joel sometimes thought it was awkward, visiting somebody who didn’t have a nose, and Gertrud knew that was what he was thinking.
    But sometimes Joel felt he simply had to see her. Sometimes Gertrud was the only person he could talk to.
    Like now, for