The Birds (12 page)

He stopped. Just stared at them defiantly. It was all right to look at them, he felt, as long as it was an angry, defiant look.

They were smiling, as friendly as ever.

“Oh, we know that alright,” they said. “Didn’t think for a moment that you were just anybody.”

Mattis looked at them quickly, deeply grateful that they knew nothing about him. Surprised, too, at the way he’d spoken out. Without hesitation he’d let them have it, and looked them straight in the eye.

But now he turned away again, and asked quietly, in a different tone: “Where on earth have you come from?”

They pointed unconcernedly down over the hazy blue shores where Mattis was a stranger.

“We’ve been staying down there for a fortnight. As the weather was so nice today we thought we’d take a longish trip in the rowing boat,” said one of them.

“And then we made for this little island to bathe,” said the other winking at him, “but as we drew closer we saw something funny.”

You mustn’t, said a voice inside him every time he wanted to turn round and look at them. He was still staring fixedly down toward the unknown shores. Meanwhile they went on with their story.

“At first we thought there’d been an accident, but when we got closer, we saw there was nothing to worry about.”

“Yes, it would have been an odd sort of accident,” said Mattis, breaking into her story. He felt so happy it hurt.

“Well, there must have been an accident of some kind,” one of the girls said. “It looks as if you only just managed to reach the island in safety.”

Mattis snorted.

“Nothing to worry about. Not now that you’re here,” he added with real feeling.

“How very nicely put,” they said.

Those were words he would treasure. They thought it was well put. Clever perhaps.

“Have you seen me before?” he asked, trembling inwardly, but it had to be faced. “I mean on the road or in the store or anywhere else?”

They shook their heads. A blissful sight.

“We live a long way off, so we don’t really know anyone round here.”

“Not heard of me either?”

“How can we tell, if we don’t know who you are?”

Razor-sharp, he thought. That’s the sort of answer some people can give.

Although he was looking across at the distant shore, he still managed to get a glimpse of the girls from the side. Saw them shaking their heads. They didn’t know a thing. Wonderful.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said—but was quite incapable of saying how desperately glad he was.

The girls turned it into a joke: “Do you have such a bad reputation then?”

Pooh! What did it matter to him if they joked about it. What he’d been asking about on the other hand seemed like a matter of life and death at that moment.

“What are you looking at out there on the lake all the time?” they asked him.

“Nobody. Nothing at all,” he answered quickly

“There must be something.”

“It’s not that,” he said seriously, “but I’m sorely tempted.”

All the smiles seemed to have vanished, all the winks too, and the girls grew quite quiet. It was the way Mattis looked. One of them said gently: “Are you afraid to look at us?”

“I’m very tempted to,” he answered in a low voice, without moving.

She didn’t go on. Mattis’s heart lay exposed and defenseless. The two friends looked at each other bewildered. His voice, his face, his eyes, all drove anything resembling a giggle out of their minds. They were confused, and they were disturbed.

“We can go away again if you like,” said one of them, embarrassed, “row over to the shore and get some people to come and give you a hand with your boat.”

“No, no!” he shouted, holding them back.

The other girl found a solution: “Come on, Anna, let’s go and bathe like we said. It’s just right here now.”

“Yes, let’s,” answered the girl called Anna. She seemed to be relieved. “That’d be marvelous.”

“See you!” they called over their shoulders to Mattis.

Then they dived into the warm summer water. Propelled themselves forward with the free and easy movement of two fishes, moved away. Mattis watched them to his heart’s content.

And they’ll have to come back, he thought, trembling with joy. They’ll have to fetch their boat. They’ll have to come back onto the island.

“I hardly dare think,” he said in a low voice as he watched them swimming away from him. They were chattering busily out there. Before long they stopped and waved to him.

“Hello!”

Mattis didn’t move. But he lifted up his hand with a stiff jerky movement, and lowered it again, shyly.

They were coming back toward him now in a whirl of water, high-spirited and confident once more.

“You must let us bring you back to land and save your life!” they shouted to him – treading water and splashing about, and thrusting their toes into the air.

“It’s a long way!” he shouted back at once, frightened. At the same time their words sent a feeling of excitement and joy running through him again.

“We’ve got the whole day ahead of us,” they answered, bubbles and splutters coming from their red lips. “If you’ll tell us your name we’ll row you back to land, and we’ll put you ashore as gently as if you were made of glass.”

He shook his head. But they weren’t going to give up. They were having fun, swimming around the island calling out to him and bantering about themselves.

“My name’s Anna, and that’s Inger. It’s as simple as that. And now it’s your turn.”

He shook his head.

“No! I’ve said no.”

“All right then, you can just stay there until you change your mind, you stubborn mule,” they said and went on splashing about.

“You don’t know anything!” he shouted to them. “You should just stop! There’s no need to say things like that.”

They didn’t understand him, turned away, splashing, diving, and playing around.

They mustn’t leave me, he thought. They mustn’t! It’s only just this once. But then he bent his head and took it all back: it’d probably be better if they went with things as they are now. They don’t know anything about me yet.

They came out of the water gasping for breath, tossed their hair back, got some towels out of the boat and dried themselves, and lay down to sunbathe right next to where Mattis was sitting – the islet was so small they had no choice.

“You’ll have to excuse us,” said Inger, “but there isn’t exactly room to hide on this little island, and there are sharp rocks everywhere except here. You’ll have to put up with us.”

Then both the girls dozed off. The sun shone down on them. Mattis breathed in the sweet smell that rose up.

Inside Mattis storms were raging. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t
jump into his boat, because it lay on the bottom full of water. He searched desperately for another boat he could wave to. There was none.

Thank God, said a voice inside him.

Bewildered as he was he knew that he wouldn’t have missed this for anything. They didn’t realize who he was, he could sit here and be someone else. On the strength of this he succumbed to the temptation and looked at them openly as they lay there dozing.

What was it?

Strange, that was all. Unbelievable.

Can’t last, either.

Smelling a sweet smell I’ve always known about.

Actually seeing this.

Soon afterward he gave a start: he saw Anna looking at him out of the corner of her eye – the eye nearest to him was peeping out through a crack. He turned away as if he’d been stung.

I’ve never been tempted before. What’ll Hege say now?

The storm raged in him unabated. No one moved. The naked bodies gave off their sweet smell.

After a while Mattis spoke, and a shudder ran down his spine: “Per,” he said. It wasn’t directed to anyone in particular.

Anna opened her eyes wide, and raised herself up a little, right next to him.

“What did you say?”

“Per.”

It was awful, but he did it, couldn’t resist any longer

Inger was quicker than Anna, it seemed. She sat up a little. Knew right away what Mattis was talking about.

“So his name’s Per. He’s told us after all then, like we insisted.”

A smile spread across Anna’s face.

“Of course! Hello there Per. Nice of you to tell us finally.”

Mattis nodded, horrified at himself.

“Now we’ll row you ashore. A promise is a promise. But let’s stay here and enjoy ourselves a bit longer first, eh Per?” said Anna.

“Yes, of course,” Inger answered for him. It was frightening the way Inger saw into his mind and could guess his wishes. Mattis felt as if he were walking on air.

“Just think, if Hege—” he began, and stopped short. “Nothing!” he said.

But they’d heard all right.

“Who’s Hege? Your girlfriend?”

“My girlfriend? No, my sister. But it’s not like—” and he stopped short again. “Nothing at all, do you hear! Things move along perfectly fine at home, as long as you’re really sharp-witted, and Hege is.”

“I’m sure she is,” said Inger.

“Heavens, yes! If only one was really sharp-witted the whole time,” said Anna, “things would be easy then.”

“Yes, so you felt like a freshly sharpened knife,” said Mattis, playing with dangerous words.

“Ugh yes!” they both replied together.

Be careful now, Mattis, a warning voice in the background seemed to be murmuring. A rather insistent murmur too – but this would never happen again. I mustn’t behave like this, deceiving people. I know I mustn’t. But it’s only this once.

“What’s done can’t be undone,” he said in a loud and serious voice. Continuing his train of thought.

“Yes, that’s rather a sharp-witted remark, too,” said Inger patiently.

Was this happiness? Happiness had come to him on a bare, rocky island, without any kind of warning. He hadn’t done anything to bring it about. He could even make sharp-witted remarks.

There lay the two girls, who weren’t a bit afraid of him. They were so near, he could have put out his hand and touched them. The sun was turning them golden brown for him, had been shining on them for fourteen days.

He had to do something. And it had to be something out of the ordinary.

“Anna and Inger,” he said in a soft voice. Said both their names for the first time.

They raised themselves up on their elbows, compelled by the earnestness of his voice and the gleam in his eyes.

“Yes? We’re listening,” they said, expectantly.

If anyone had ever spoken their names with affection, it was now. They answered straight away, humbly: Yes, we’re listening. This was no ordinary moment.

And Mattis was complete master of the situation. Sat looking at the two girls. He spoke gently, to avoid upsetting anything.

“That was all.”

With those words everything seemed to have been said. The girls, too, seemed to feel he’d said the thing they were longing most of all to hear. He’d put it in a form they accepted.

“Per,” they said in return. Looked up into his helpless face, which had suddenly become transformed. Despite its miserable and awkward appearance there was something beautiful beyond all description. None of them stirred.

It couldn’t last. Mattis knew it couldn’t. The storm that was threatening in the background began to catch up with him. He must be tough and tear himself away.

“Anna and Inger,” he said in a new tone of voice that made them uneasy.

“What is it?” Anna asked, a little frightened.

“Just as we were lying here so comfortably,” said Inger, “can’t we carry on?”

Anna looked around her: the lake, the shores, the blue haze, the ridges – her own fragrant body was no doubt included as well. Suddenly she turned to Mattis, full of it all: “If this isn’t paradise you’re living in, then I don’t know what is,” she said, nervous under his strong gaze.

“It’s not so easy living here,” Mattis blurted out.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know anything!” he said. “You’re sitting here thinking something different from what I’m thinking.”

A frowning expression came over their faces.

“About what?”

“Do you notice anything peculiar about me?” he asked. He couldn’t leave the subject alone.

Anna said firmly and decisively: “We don’t want to know anything more than what we know already, Per, so please stop it!”

And Inger said: “Yes. Please stop it!”

This shut him up, and not only him: it put an end to the murmuring in the background as well. He didn’t need to be tough on himself any longer. What wonderful girls there were.

“Well, that’s alright then,” he answered. “If you don’t say anything, nothing’s said.”

He thought that must have been a rather sharp-witted remark.

They nodded, too.

Then they started laughing – freed from something that had been awkward and embarrassing, yet moving as well. They dabbled their toes in the water.

“We’re very glad you were here on the island today,” said Inger.

Mattis looked at Anna, expectantly.

“Me too,” said Anna quickly.

“Me too,” said Mattis, quite unconcernedly.

“And now we’ll row you home, like the kind girls we are,” they said to him, and got up almost blinding him again.

ANNA AND INGER pushed their boat into the water. It lay there bobbing up and down, strong and sturdy, only just touching the surface, it was so light when it was empty.

“Come on, Per.”

“But what about this?” said Mattis, pointing to his own waterlogged wreck. “I must take it with me, or I’ll never get out on the lake again.”

“But how can we manage?”

Mattis knew how. On this occasion he was quite confident.

“I’ll take command,” he said. “But you must do exactly what I tell you.”

He stood full of gratitude for what had happened. He told the girls to get into the water and then they’d all rock the boat backward and forward so that the water would splash over the side. They managed to do it just the way he wanted, got some of the water out so the little boat began to float. Then he got them to rock the boat by themselves while he tugged at the mooring rope.

They struggled and rocked and pulled – and eventually they got the boat halfway out of the water.