‘Are we nearly there yet?’ Julie Brenden whines. She tries to wriggle out of the car seat, but the seat belt keeps her in place.
‘Not long to go now, darling,’ Elisabeth replies, turning around. ‘Isn’t that right, Daddy?’
‘It’s just over there,’ Thorleif says, as the popular Bogstad Lake, where people go swimming in the summer and skiing in the winter, appears behind the trees. On the far shore, the manicured fairways of the fashionable Oslo Golf Club sparkle in the late summer sun.
‘Oh dear,’ Elisabeth exclaims as they turn into Bogstad Farm. ‘We’re not the only ones who thought of this.’
Thorleif looks at the sea of cars parked outside the farm. He lets the car roll across the thick cobblestones. There isn’t a single vacant parking space to be seen.
‘I’ll drop you off outside the entrance and then I’ll look for somewhere to park,’ he says.
‘That would be great.’
He drives them as close as he can and stops. Elisabeth and Pal get out. Thorleif helps Julie out of her car seat. ‘I’ll be with you very soon,’ he says to Elisabeth. ‘Keep your mobile on so I can find you.’
Elisabeth doesn’t seem to hear him; instead she extends her hand towards the children and waves them eagerly over to her. Julie jumps and skips across the cobblestones. Thorleif is about to repeat his request when he notices a dark-blue BMW right behind him.
‘Oh, sorry,’ he says, holding up a hand apologetically. He quickly gets into the car and drives off. Soon he is back on the road. It’ll be a long walk back, he concludes. Both sides of the road are wallpapered with cars. The BMW is still right up his tail.
A car park appears to his left. Expectant-looking families are getting out of their cars. I’ll try my luck here, Thorleif thinks, and turns into it. He drives slowly across the gravel while scouting for a vacant space.
There! A single vacant space. He presses the accelerator and slips in before someone else grabs it. Triumphantly, he turns off the engine and sits there for a while feeling the sun heat the car. Thorleif removes his seat belt, and, as he does so, he looks in the rear-view mirror. The dark-blue BMW is quietly blocking him in. The driver appears to be staring at him. Thorleif tries to work out if the man wants something from him, but it doesn’t appear to be the case.
As Thorleif gets out, the wheels of the BMW dig into the ground and tear it up. Thorleif follows the car with his eyes as it turns right at the end of the car park and accelerates towards the exit. He notices the driver’s fair skin and ponytail. The car indicates left and drives off at speed towards Oslo.