‘Sure, peace on earth is a good thing. And financially it’s not such a daft idea, either. In the long run, it should increase tourism and create new jobs for the people who live here, and you know what that means.’ Sebastian held up his hand and rubbed his fingers together. ‘More money for the whole area.’
‘Yes, but above all it’s an important peace project,’ said Josef, resisting the urge to give Sebastian a kick in the shins. He’d known this would happen when he accepted Sebastian’s money, but he’d had no choice.
Erling W. Larson nodded. After the scandal over the renovation of the Badhotel in Fjällbacka, he’d found himself out in the cold for a while, but now he was once again involved in local politics. This sort of project would show that he was still a force to be reckoned with, and Josef hoped that Erling would realize this.
‘We think it sounds interesting,’ said Erling. ‘Could you tell us more about how you envision the whole thing?’
Sebastian took in a breath as he prepared to speak, but Josef beat him to it.
‘This is a little piece of history,’ he said, holding out the stone. ‘Albert Speer purchased granite from the quarry in Bohuslän for the German Reich. He and Hitler had grandiose plans to transform Berlin into the world capital of “Germania”, and the granite was supposed to be shipped to Germany for use in construction.’
Josef stood up and began pacing back and forth as he talked. In his mind he heard the stomping boots of German soldiers. The sound that his parents had so often told him about in horror.
‘But then the war turned,’ he went on. ‘Germania never evolved beyond a model that Hitler fantasized about during his last days. An unfulfilled dream, a vision of stately monuments and edifices that would have been built at the cost of millions of Jewish lives.’
‘How awful,’ said Erling, showing little concern.
‘The shiploads of granite never left Tanum—’
‘And that’s where we come in,’ Sebastian interrupted Josef. ‘We were thinking that from that granite we could make peace symbols that could then be sold. It would bring in a lot of money, provided it’s done properly.’
‘And we could then use the money to build a museum devoted to Jewish history and Sweden’s relationship to Judaism. Including our purported neutral position during the war,’ Josef added.
He sat down, and Sebastian put his arm around his shoulders. Josef had to stop himself from shaking off his arm. Instead he mustered a strained smile. He felt just as phoney as he had during those days on Valö. Even back then he’d had nothing in common with Sebastian or his other so-called friends. No matter how hard he tried, he knew he’d never be able to enter the upper-class world that John and Leon and Percy came from. Nor did he want to.
But right now he needed Sebastian. It was his only hope of realizing the dream he’d had for so many years: to pay homage to his Jewish heritage and make public what he knew about the assaults that had been carried out, and were still being levelled against the Jewish people. If that meant he had to sign a pact with the devil, then he’d do it. He hoped that over time he’d be able to end his association with Sebastian.
‘As my partner here was saying,’ Sebastian continued, ‘it’ll be a really great museum, and a pilgrimage destination for tourists from all over the world. And all of you will get the credit for backing this project.’
‘Doesn’t sound half bad,’ said Erling. ‘What do you think?’ He turned to Uno Brorsson, his second-in-command on the council, who in spite of the heat was wearing a checked flannel shirt.
‘It might be something worth considering,’ muttered Uno. ‘But it depends how much we’re expected to contribute. Times are hard.’
Sebastian gave him a big smile. ‘I’m sure we can reach an agreement. The main thing is that there’s enough interest to move forward. I’m personally investing a large sum in the project.’
Right. But you’re not about to tell them what your terms are, thought Josef. He clenched his jaw. All he could do was silently go along with whatever was offered and keep his eye on the goal. He leaned forward to shake hands with Erling. Now there was no turning back.
A small scar on her forehead, scars on her body and a slight limp were the only visible traces of the accident eighteen months ago. The accident when she lost the baby that she and Dan were expecting, and when she herself almost died.
Inside, it was a different matter. Anna was still feeling broken.
She hesitated a moment at the front door. Sometimes it was hard to be with Erica and see how everything had worked out for her. Her sister bore no scars from what had happened, and she had lost nothing. Yet it also did Anna good to see her. The wounds inside Anna twinged and ached, but the time she spent with Erica somehow helped them heal.
It was probably just as well that Anna hadn’t realized how long the healing process would drag on. If she’d had any clue, she might never have emerged from the automatonlike state she’d landed in after her life shattered into a thousand pieces. Recently she’d joked to Erica that she was like one of the old vases she used to handle when she worked for an auction house. A vase that had fallen to the floor and broken, then been laboriously glued back together. From a distance it appeared whole, but as you got closer, the cracks became painfully obvious. But as Anna rang Erica’s doorbell, she realized it wasn’t really a joke. That was her situation now. She was a broken vase.
‘Come in!’ shouted Erica from somewhere inside the house.
Anna went in and kicked off her shoes.
‘I’ll be right there. I just have to change the twins’ nappies.’
Anna went into the kitchen, which was so familiar to her. This house had belonged to their parents, and she knew every nook and cranny of it. Several years ago the house had prompted a quarrel between the two sisters that had almost destroyed their relationship, but that was in a different time, a different world. These days they could laugh about it and talk about ‘LWL’ and ‘LAL’ – ‘Life With Lucas’ and ‘Life After Lucas’. Anna shuddered. She had vowed to think as little as possible about her ex-husband Lucas and what he’d done. He was gone now. All that remained were the only good things he’d ever given her: the children, Emma and Adrian.
‘Want something to eat?’ asked Erica as she entered the kitchen, carrying a twin on each hip. The boys’ faces lit up when they saw their aunt. When Erica set them down on the floor, they ran towards Anna and tried to climb into her lap.
‘Take it easy, there’s plenty of room for both of you.’ Anna lifted the boys up and then looked at Erica. ‘That depends on what you’ve got.’ She craned her neck to see what Erica had to offer.
‘How about Grandma’s rhubarb cake with marzipan?’ Erica held out a cake covered with cling wrap.
‘Are you kidding? Who could say no to that?’
Erica cut two big slices of cake and put them on a platter that she set on the table. Noel immediately launched himself towards the platter, but Anna managed to pull him back just in time. She broke off a little chunk of cake for each of the twins. Noel happily stuffed the whole piece in his mouth while Anton carefully nibbled at one corner as he gave her a big smile.
‘They’re so different,’ said Anna, ruffling the hair of the two towheaded boys.
‘You reckon?’ said Erica sarcastically, shaking her head.
She poured the coffee and set Anna’s cup down, making sure, as usual, that it was out of the twins’ reach.
‘Are you doing okay, or should I take one of them?’ she asked, noticing that Anna was trying to juggle the children, the coffee cup and the cake all at once.
‘No, I’m fine. It’s lovely to hold them close.’