Daniel (24 page)

 

Daniel didn't know what time it was, but what Father usually called
a long time
must have passed before the coach came to a stop. Daniel unwrapped himself from the blanket. It was still dark. Father had opened the door of the coach.

‘Why are we stopping?' he shouted.

‘The horses need rest. They need to eat and have some water.'

‘We don't have time.'

‘I can't run them to death.'

‘I know about oxen. They could do it.'

The boy would not relent.

‘Oxen and horses aren't the same thing. In half an hour we'll drive on.'

Father slammed the coach door furiously. But he said nothing. He looked at Daniel. His eyes were glazed, but there was something else too, a fear that Daniel had never seen before.

‘I did something I shouldn't have done,' said Father. ‘I tried to touch her. She scratched me and broke free. We had to leave in a hurry.'

Daniel waited for more, but it never came. Because he had to pee he climbed out of the coach. The ground was cold under his feet. They were deep in a dense forest. The trees stood black, watching him. He peed. The boy was busy watering the horses.

‘Why are you black?' asked the boy. ‘Were you burned? Or are you made of coal?'

Father flung open the door.

‘Don't talk. Give the horses what they need so we can get moving.'

The boy came over to the door. He was short but broad-shouldered. He had taken off his fur cap. Daniel saw that his hair was cut short and very light.

‘I want to see the money,' he said. ‘Or else I won't go on.'

Father held up a fistful of notes. The boy tried to snatch them but Father was ready and held them high.

‘When we get to Stockholm,' he said. ‘Not before.'

The boy kept staring at the money.

‘I've never seen that much money in my life. So much money and in such a hurry. What's going on here?'

He walked back to the horses. Daniel climbed into the coach. Father leaned towards him and whispered, ‘Everything will be all right. I made a mistake, so we had to change our plans. You can't always follow a path you plan in advance.'

‘Did she die?' asked Daniel.

Father stared at him.

‘She ran,' he said. ‘And she might report me. It will be a scandal. I'll be hunted down. So the plan had to change.'

Daniel tried to pronounce the name of the man in the red coat. He couldn't do it. There were too many letters. But Father understood.

‘Wickberg will be chasing me too. I don't know which is worse, ripping off a woman's clothes or breaking an agreement.'

He drank from the bottle again. Daniel could see that his hand was shaking.

‘We have to start a new life,' Father said. ‘That life starts tonight.'

‘Where are we going?'

‘I'll tell you when I know.'

The coach began to roll again.

‘Try to get some sleep,' said Father. ‘I have to think.'

Daniel wrapped himself in the blanket again. He soaked up his own warmth and stroked his face and imagined it was the woman with the slender hands who was touching him.

 

Daniel woke up because the coach had stopped. He was alone. Father was standing outside talking to the boy. It was beginning to get light. They were still in a forest, but it was more open now. He could see fields and pastures. A lake glimmered between the trees. There was fog. Daniel felt cold and wrapped the blanket tighter around him. He had been dreaming. The antelope had been inside him. But Kiko wasn't there. It was as if the antelope had been searching for him, searching
for someone who could finish the work, paint its eyes and finish carving the last strokes in its leap.

Father opened the coach door.

‘We're getting out here,' he said. ‘The baggage is continuing on to the harbour, but we're getting out here.'

Daniel climbed out. His body was stiff. Father seemed just as frightened as he was earlier that night but his eyes were no longer glazed, and Daniel knew that he had made a decision. The boy took down one of the bags that was tied onto the roof.

‘I'll follow you all the way to hell if you don't do as I told you,' Father said to the boy.

‘For that much money, anyone will do as he's told.'

‘Now off with you.'

The boy clucked at the horses and the coach vanished down the winding road.

They were alone. Daniel was shivering. Father was in a hurry. He yanked open the bag, tossing clothes and combs and brushes onto the ground. Finally he found what he was looking for: a white shirt, which, to Daniel's astonishment, he began tearing apart. He didn't stop until he had shredded the whole shirt into strips. The collar lay like a dead bird on the ground. Father sat down on the bag and wiped the sweat from his brow.

‘When this is all over I'll explain,' he said. ‘But now we have started a new life. As quickly as possible, we have to put some distance between us and everything that happened before. We're travelling through a desert again. In order to reach our destination you have to do as I say.'

Daniel waited for the rest. He still couldn't understand what had happened.

‘People will come and try to catch me,' said Father. ‘They know that you and I are travelling together. And you are black. That's why you have to let me do what is necessary. I'm going to wind these strips of cloth around your head and just leave holes for your mouth, nose and eyes. You have been severely injured in a fire. You have to keep your hands inside your coat. We'll put a cap on your head. Then nobody will be able to see that you're black. And no one can find me either.'

Father didn't wait for him to answer, but began winding the rags
around Daniel's head. All at once he had the feeling that Father was going to suffocate him and started pulling at the cloth to get it off.

‘I'm only doing what I have to do,' Father shouted. ‘It's only for a few days. Until we escape. I once saved your life. So you can do this for me.'

Daniel suddenly noticed that Father was not only scared and sweating but he also had tears in his eyes. Daniel stopped pulling at the cloths. No matter what had happened, he had to help Father now. There was no other way out.

Father cut holes for Daniel's eyes, nose and mouth with a little knife that he kept with his brushes and comb.

‘Pull in your hands,' he said.

Daniel did as he was told.

‘No one can tell that underneath all this you have black skin. Now we have to get moving.'

They started walking. Daniel could feel his skin beginning to itch underneath all the material. Father walked fast with his bag in his hand. He was panting. It was morning now, and the sky was heavily overcast.

‘As long as it doesn't rain,' Father said. ‘I'll lose my mind if it does.'

Daniel didn't answer. He couldn't talk. He could breathe through his mouth but couldn't move his lips.

The forest grew thinner and soon there were open fields all around them. Father stopped now and then to catch his breath. At the same time he was listening and kept turning round to look behind them. Daniel wondered who was following them.

 

They had reached a crossroads when Father saw a wagon approaching. He raised his hat and yelled. The man sitting at the reins stopped the horses. Big sacks of flour lay on the bed of the wagon.

‘My son has had an accident,' Father said. ‘He has terrible burns on his face. We're on our way to the city to see the doctors.'

The man holding the reins stared aghast at Daniel.

‘Whine,' Father whispered. ‘Whimper and moan.'

Daniel whined. The man shook his head.

‘So the boy has burned his face, eh? Then he won't have long to live.'

Father lifted Daniel up onto the sacks and climbed up after him. The man clucked at the horses and urged them into a trot.

‘Of course I can pay you for your trouble,' Father said. ‘If possible we'd like to go down to the Stadsgård Harbour.'

The man turned round in surprise. ‘Are there doctors there? Are there hospitals among the dockers?'

Father didn't reply. Instead he took out a banknote and stuffed it into the man's coat pocket.

 

When they entered the town Father told Daniel to lie down and pull his coat up around his head. He did as he was told. The man with the reins looked at him.

‘Is he dead?' he asked.

‘He'll be all right,' replied Father. ‘But I'm too tired to answer any more questions.'

‘My name is Eriksson,' said the man. ‘My horses are called Stork and Giant. Not very good names, but I've never been good with names, even though I've had a lot of horses.'

‘My name is Hult,' said Father. ‘I come from Västerås, where I sell hardware. My son, my only son who's lying here, is called Olle.'

Daniel listened, but nothing Father said surprised him any more. After he had left the desert and travelled across the sea he had become part of a story: the story that Father had in his head, in which nothing was really true. Daniel wondered what would happen if he stood up in the wagon and tore off all the strips of cloth. Then there wouldn't be any more story. Then he would be himself again.

But who would Father be?

He lay there looking up at the sky. Kiko had taught him that a hunter always had to have patience, always had to be prepared to wait until the right moment. Daniel imagined that he was a hunter who was waiting. Some day the moment would come when he could finally teach himself to walk on water.

 

It was already evening by the time they arrived. When the horses stopped, Daniel could smell the water, but when he tried to sit up, Father pushed him back down.

‘It's best that you lie down,' he said softly. ‘At least for a while longer, until it gets really dark.'

The man with the reins gave him a worried look.

‘I think he's paler now,' he said. ‘Is he dying?'

‘How can you see that he's paler?' asked Father. ‘His face is covered with bandages.'

‘It's just a feeling,' said Eriksson. ‘But I won't ask any more. I have to get going now. The flour has to be unloaded. And I have a way to go yet.'

Father took a few more banknotes out of his pocket. Daniel had a feeling that the money he had received from Wickberg would soon be gone. He wondered how these pieces of paper could have such great value.

‘I need help,' said Father. ‘In a few hours there's a passenger ferry leaving for Kalmar. We need a cabin.'

‘Kalmar?'

‘There's an excellent skin doctor there,' said Father. ‘The best in the country. He's often called to the royal residences all over Europe.'

The man shook his head doubtfully. ‘Will the boy be able to manage the trip?'

‘He has to. I'll watch the horses and the flour if you would be so kind as to procure a cabin and tickets.'

Eriksson vanished into the darkness.

‘Soon it will be over,' Father said. ‘Just as long as we get out of here.'

‘It itches,' said Daniel.

‘I understand. But soon. Just as soon as we get on board and close the door to our cabin. Then I'll take off the bandages and explain what has happened. Everything will be all right. We have started a new life.'

 

When Eriksson returned he had the tickets in his hand. Father gave him another banknote and asked him to drive them to the gangway. The boat was illuminated by paraffin lamps.

‘I said they were for Herr Hult and his son,' said Eriksson.

‘Excellent,' replied Father. ‘You're a clever man. And your horses have lovely names. Unusual, but lovely.'

When they reached the boat Father told Daniel to wait by the wagon. A man in uniform was standing by the gangway and checking the passengers' tickets. On the foredeck they were busy stowing baggage. Father went up and spoke to the man in uniform. Eriksson stood stroking one of his horses on the back while he looked at Daniel.

‘It can't be easy,' he said. ‘It must hurt a lot. But you're very patient.'

‘My name is Olle,' said Daniel. ‘I believe in God.'

Eriksson nodded slowly. ‘That's probably for the best,' he said, ‘even though it doesn't help. But in the end it's all you've got. Hope. And someone called God.'

Father came back. ‘Keep your hands inside,' he whispered.

Eriksson lifted Daniel down from the wagon.

‘I hope all goes well,' said Eriksson.

Father nodded and gave him one of his last banknotes.

The man by the gangway shook his head in alarm when he saw Daniel's bandaged face.

‘There might be rough weather south of Landsort,' he said. ‘Can the boy stand the rough seas?'

‘I've given him some medicine,' said Father. ‘He'll be asleep.'

 

They went down to their cabin and Father locked the door and sank exhausted onto the bunk. The cabin was cramped. Daniel remembered how it had been on the ship during the long journey from the desert.

Suddenly his heart began beating very fast. Could it be possible that they were on their way back to the desert and he wouldn't have to learn how to walk on water?

‘You've been good,' said Father as he loosened the cloth stuck to Daniel's sweaty face. ‘You've been very good, and I'll never forget it.'

Daniel waited. But Father still didn't say anything about where they were going.