Stallo (66 page)

When I told her about the woman who had come into the shop all she did was nod.

‘Trolls can have children with humans,’ she said. ‘But then the children turn out like that. Deformed. So it’s not surprising they take fully human children instead.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Skrotta told me.’

‘Who?’ I asked.

‘Skrotta.’

‘Who, him?’ I said, nodding in the direction of the squirrel. ‘Isn’t his name Humpe?’

‘He’s called Skrotta. That’s what he said.’

‘He
said something
?’

Susso shook her head. ‘He didn’t need to.’

She thought everything would be all right now that she had taken down her website. So I had no need to worry. She got up and walked towards the door, more or less pushing me out.

But what about the bear? Had she forgotten that she had shot one of them? It was in self-defence, she said. She was sure he understood that. If she left the trolls alone now, they would leave her alone too. It was as easy as that.

She guided me out to the stairwell, where Roland was waiting patiently with our takeaway.

‘Has the squirrel told you that as well? That they’re going to leave you alone now?’

But she didn’t answer. She just closed the door.

About the Author

Stefan Spjut
(b. 1973) has worked as a literary critic and culture editor. His debut novel
Fiskarens garn
(Fisherman’s Yarn) was published in 2008. He lives in Stockholm and has two children, a girl and a boy. He holds a black belt in taekwondo and considers himself a reprobate MMA-junkie.

Copyright

First published in the UK in 2015
by Faber & Faber Limited
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell St
London
WC
1
B
3
DA
Originally published in Sweden by Albert Bonniers Forlag in 2012

Typeset by Ian Bahrami

All rights reserved
© Stefan Spjut, 2012
Translation © Susan Beard, 2015
Map by Don Larson/Mapping Specialists, Ltd.

Cover design by Faber. Cover ©

The right of Stefan Spjut to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

The right of Susan Beard to be identified as translator of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

ISBN 978–0–571–29679–8