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“Wait a sec,” A
He
“Come on, Gitta,” he repeated. “Let’s get going. Now.”
“The family von Biederitz has a hunting lodge out at Hanshagen, didn’t you know that?” Abel said. “They probably own the town, too.”
“No,” A
“What are you laughing at?” Abel asked.
A
“I ordered three hot chocolates and a piece of cake, all by myself, without any help,” Micha said proudly. “I’m just telling you because you didn’t see me do it. And look! In here, it’s already springtime.”
She was right. On each of the tables in the café, a single red tulip stood in a narrow white vase. “Yeah, it’s spring in here,” Abel said. “I wonder if it’ll ever be spring out there.”
Outside, in the eternal winter, Knaake was walking out onto the pier with thoughtful steps. He stood at the green pole with the light on top, and it looked as if he were listening to some long-forgotten melody still hanging in the air at the end of the pier. Then he reached into his pocket and took something out, which he held to his eyes—a small pair of binoculars.
“Didn’t you say that’s the lighthouse keeper?” Micha asked. “He’s looking for the ship. The black one. He’s looking for the last person on it, I mean, apart from Mrs. Ketow and the haters, Uncle Rico and Aunt Evelyn. For, you know, I don’t think those three are really dangerous. Uncle Rico—definitely not—he doesn’t even want to have me. He might have to take me in because he’s my only close relative. If another guy from shells and sisters comes and says …”
Micha kept on talking about the ship and about “shells and sisters,” which by now sounded like the name of a grocery-store chain to A
A
The person with the dog stopped at the begi
“Bertil,” A
“So did the sea stay thick?” Micha asked, gently stroking the red tulip on their table with her index finger. “Or did it turn more liquidy again? Did they find out which one of them was the murderer?”
Abel sipped a little of his hot chocolate, covered his face with his hands, and took a deep breath. “That sea …,” he said after lowering his hands, “… that sea stayed thick and green. Worse, it became thicker and thicker. And, finally, it stood still. The waves weren’t moving anymore. The ship had stopped.
“Then, there was a cracking sound right in front of the green ship. One of the motionless waves broke like glass, and, in a rain of splinters, the sea lion heaved himself out of the ocean, onto its rigid, shining green surface.
“‘The sea,’ he declared—and the tone of his voice had something very final to it—‘the sea has frozen.’
“‘But how … how can we go on?’ the little queen asked in despair.
“‘On foot,’ the rose girl answered. ‘We’ll have to walk.’
“So they all climbed over the rail, one after the other: the asking man, the answering man, the lighthouse keeper, the rose girl, the little queen with Mrs. Margaret in her arms, and the blind white cat. They walked a little ways away from the ship; then they stood, hesitating, a pitiful cluster of figures in the middle of shining, dark green endlessness.
“‘What will we do if we get lost in this eternal winter?’ the little queen asked timidly. ‘If we lose each other? Where will we find each other again?’
“‘We’ll meet wherever spring is,’ the rose girl replied.
“And then they started wandering over the ice. Just once, they turned to look back at their green ship with the yellow rudder; the lighthouse keeper got out a small pair of binoculars, the existence of which he had forgotten until that moment, and he looked through them.
“‘Now I can see it!’ he exclaimed. ‘I can see the ship’s name! It’s painted on her bow, right above the waterline; we just didn’t realize it was there!’
“He gave the binoculars to the little queen, and she, too, saw the blue letters on the green hull of the ship.
“‘What’s she called, then?’ the asking man asked.
“‘Thanks, same to you,’ the answering man answered.
“‘She’s called Hope,’ the little queen said. ‘Our ship is called Hope.’
“The rose girl sighed. ‘And now we’re leaving her behind,’ she whispered.”
Abel took hold of his cup and leaned back in his chair.
“Is that all?” Micha asked.
“For today, yes. Before I can go on telling you what happens, the little queen’s crew has to continue on foot for a while over the ice.”
“But look! Out there, they are walking over the ice, too, just like in the story!” Micha called out. “See? Over there? I want to do that, too! There’s even a woman with a stroller!”
At that very moment, the woman Micha had spotted seemed to notice that she was getting dangerously close to the shipping canal, where dark water was coming through the thin layer of ice. She stood there for a moment, as if undecided, then turned and went back toward the beach, the way she’d come, pushing the stroller in front of her. Two children, about two and three years old, were ru
“I think,” Abel said as he looked into his empty cup, “it’s time to go home. Anybody need to go to the bathroom before we head out?”
Micha nodded, and, when she’d left, Abel leaned forward, closer to A
“Mrs. Ketow,” he whispered. “Micha didn’t recognize her, but I’m pretty sure it was her.”
“Now we’ve got everyone gathered here,” A
“No,” Abel said in a low voice. Then he took something from his pocket and put it on the table in front of her. It was a bank statement. “You were right.”
A