The Mandrake Read online

  It so happened that Olof Rudbeck the Younger asked Dan to make a study of mountain flora, because the great man had so many other projects and did not have time to do it himself. On a sudden impulse, Dan asked whether he might just as well study the Norwegian flora as the Swedish, because he had roots in Norway and wanted to visit his distant relatives. Olof Rudbeck agreed to that, so young Dan was supplied with an impressive list of the plants he was to gather. He was also welcome to find new and unknown ones. His marriage plans were put on ice. Dan left his parents, Tengel the Young and Sigrid, and his grandmother and grandfather, Villemo and Dominic.

  The year was 1715, and no one in the family yet knew of Vendel Grip’s fate. He had disappeared in Russia many years before, and no one expected to see him again, but in fact at that very moment he was in the land of the Yurak-Samoyeds in the coldest part of Siberia, where he was fighting a mental battle with the strong-willed shaman woman, Tun-sij.

  Dan Lind of the Ice People took his time getting to Norway. He took the opportunity to visit other researchers on the way so it was a long time before he reached Graastensholm. He thought about his farewell with his indomitable grandmother, Villemo, with much amusement. She was no longer young and he had playfully asked her to stay alive until he returned. She had just laughed and answered that she and Dominic intended to grow very old together. And when they thought that they were no longer of any use in this life, they would die at the same time. That was what they had decided. Because if one died, the other one would not be able to go on living. A deep bond like the one his grandparents had was something Dan also hoped to experience some day, he thought. But for the moment he was fully focused on the world of science.

  It took him an entire winter to work his way though Sweden. There were so many people who wanted to talk with him, and he wanted to talk with as many of the great men he met as he possibly could. He took a detour by way of Skara in order to greet his friend, Emanuel Swedenborg, or Swedberg, as he was still called back then. Emanuel’s father was Jesper Swedburg, Bishop of Skara and a very pious and strict man of the church. Emanuel was more liberal and had ideas about the spiritual world that interested Dan. He claimed that he was able to have long conversations with angels and spirits and thus interpreted the Bible in a way that not everyone approved of. He studied maths, astronomy and medicine and was a very intelligent man; unfortunately he also had a lot of jealous colleagues who talked about him behind his back and threw mud at him.

  “I am sitting here writing a letter to one of my best friends,” he confided with bitterness to young Dan. “May I read to you some of what I have written?”

  “Please do,” Dan answered.

  Emanuel began: “The man who is free and independent and who has a name that is known abroad, nonetheless remains up here in the dark where, on top of the darkness, it is also freezing cold, where the Furies and the envious and Pluto live and administer all the awards and prizes of distinction.”

  Dan had to admit that Emanuel’s fate was unfair. However, Emanuel would gain advancement in time, although that would be far into the future.

  Dan’s expedition to the Norwegian mountains to collect plants appealed greatly to Emanuel and they had long talks about it, both being men of science. But finally Dan managed to get away.

  When he at long last reached Graastensholm he had turned nineteen, and it was summer again.

  It was on that day that Ingrid was standing at the top of the tower enjoying the lightning flashes from the thunderstorm. She was eighteen years old and had already had her first suitor. This was not something that really interested her that much, but she was grateful for the fact that men wanted her and she, in turn, would draw them into her all-embracing love. Though not to the extent that she actually intended to marry any of them. Except for one. He was the youngest son on a farm south of Graastensholm parish. Ingrid had left the possibility open. She would think about it, she said, and her parents had hoped for the best. He was a good boy and they wanted to see Ingrid happily married, and since she had been behaving herself so well of late they felt it would be safe to leave her in the care of a man.

  But then Dan came along ...

  He came galloping on his horse into the courtyard, hurrying to avoid the thunderstorm and the threat of pouring rain. Suddenly he caught sight of a strange figure up on the tower. She was wearing white garments, and against the background of the blue-grey thundercloud he could clearly see that she was stretching her arms up towards the sky.

  “She’s mad,” Dan thought. “It’s completely crazy for anyone to be standing out there now!”

  At the same time, he could not help a sneaking feeling of admiration for such a reckless act of courage. He quickly handed his reins to a servant who came running out, grabbed hold of his bulky packs and ran inside. He was given a warm greeting by Alv and Berit.

  “How wonderful it is to see you again, Dan! Your father Tengel wrote to tell us that you were on your way but it is quite a long time since we received his letter.”

  “Yes, I took my time getting here.”

  “How big you have grown! You were nothing but a little boy last time we saw each other. But we recognized you easily. You look like your grandfather, Dominic.”

  They did not say what they were actually thinking: that Dan had grown into an immensely handsome man, big, tall and strong in physique. His face was perhaps a little too distinctive to be called handsome, but it was very masculine with its dark colouring and look of strict seriousness.

  Berit interjected, “Oh, Ingrid should have been here to bid you welcome. We are worried, you see. She’s vanished and we’re afraid that she might have been frightened of the thunderstorm and gone off to hide somewhere.”

  “Your daughter is standing at the top of the tower, worshipping the thunder gods,” Dan said dryly. “She seems to be enjoying it to the full.”

  “Yes, we should have guessed as much,” Alv murmured as he rushed up the stairs.

  He came back down again with a gruff, fatherly grip on Ingrid’s upper arm. Her eyes were glowing with excitement and joy.

  Good God, Dan thought. She looks fantastic! How fascinating.

  “Hello, Dan,” Ingrid cooed with a rather shameless smile. “Father said you had arrived. You’ve managed to bring the storm with you, I see.”

  “Well, at the moment it is not so much a storm as it is pouring rain,” he smiled back. “I suppose it’s not so easy to frighten you if you can bear to stand up there in this kind of weather.”

  A crash of thunder practically made the whole house shake.

  “I was only trying to understand what thunder is,” she explained when the noise had subsided. “I don’t believe that rubbish about it being God’s punishment for all the sins committed by the people of this parish.”

  Dan grew excited. “Actually I have learned a great deal about thunder ...”

  “You have? Such as what?”

  They went on talking eagerly as they entered the living room. Dan’s scientific explanations were perhaps not entirely accurate – humanity had not yet solved the riddle of electric power – but they were more logical than the traditional superstition that reigned in the area. Ingrid was enchanted by his words and had no problem following his train of thought. He had tears in his eyes from sheer joy at having the opportunity to share his ideas on these topics with another person. Alv and Berit looked at one another as they followed them. Finally, Ingrid had found her equal.

  “It’s a shame that they live so far away from one another,” Alv said.

  “Yes, it is too bad that –” Berit stopped herself and her husband concluded the sentence, “– that they are both of the Ice People? And that all four grandparents on their fathers’ sides were of the Ice People. That is much too big a concentration of them.”

  “Yes, and Ingrid has, strictly speaking, been promised to someone else.”

  “I have heard that the same is true of Dan. He is to marry as soon as he returns home. Well, it would never have worked out anyway. But think of the children they would have had, if things had been more normal, I mean. At any rate, it’s nice that Ingrid has a friend to talk to. The rest of us are simply too inadequate to keep up with her.”

  The two young geniuses of the Ice People did not hear them. They were completely absorbed in their own conversation. Dan was greatly surprised by all the intelligence to be found behind Ingrid’s beautiful forehead.

  And Ingrid? She glowed like the sun.

  That evening the entire family set out for Elistrand along with their guest.

  After an evening meal that had been put together very quickly, they all sat in front of the fire and talked. It was still raining, which meant that it was cold enough to light the fire even though it was early summer.

  “Can I be allowed to join Dan on his expedition in the mountains?” Ingrid asked.

  “Have you entirely lost your mind, child?” her mother Berit exclaimed. “That would be a pretty sight, would it not? Just what do you think your future husband would think of a girl who travels around studying plants?”

  Dan leaned forward and looked into Ingrid’s eyes, which reflected the yellow glow coming from the fire.

  “You see, Ingrid, I have another plan, too. That’s why I wanted to go to the Norwegian mountains. An utterly dangerous plan ...”

  “Please tell us more about it,” said Tristan, who was sitting next to his considerably younger wife, Marina. They were an unlikely couple yet apparently happy, each on their own terms.

  Dan became excited. Even though he had not seen these people since his childhood, being with them made him feel at home. Their blood was his blood, too.

  “You see, I have studied my grandfather Mikael’s books about the Ice People. And there was somethi
ng that struck me ...”

  By this time everyone had grown interested. Tristan, who was the oldest of those present, said, “You must bear in mind that those stories are somewhat incomplete. There is hardly any mention of the first period in the Valley of the Ice People.”

  “I know that,” Dan nodded. “But I intend to pick up a loose thread that it seems no one else has thought of before.”

  “And what is that?” asked young Jon, the son of Elisa and Ulvhedin. He and Bronja seemed inseparable. They sat so close together that sticking a knife blade in between them would have been impossible.

  “Have none of you ever given any thought to what has happened since? With Tengel the Evil, I mean.”

  Now Ulvhedin’s eyes began to glow in the semi-darkness. His terrible face grew even more grotesque in the glow of the fire, and the fact that he had a beard did not make him look any less demonic. Slowly, he said, “You mean, after Tengel the Evil had raised the Prince of Darkness?”

  “Well, we actually know a lot about that. But his death is not mentioned anywhere. Where is his grave?”

  There was silence.

  “Well,” said Jon, “I assume it is in the cemetery in the Valley of the Ice People.”

  “At the cemetery,” Tristan snorted. “Not Tengel the Evil! And not at the place where he buried the pot.”

  “We can’t be sure of that,” Ingrid said with relentless logic. “Because that place remains unknown to us all.”

  “That’s right,” Dan nodded. “At least until Kolgrim, and before him possibly Sol, stumbled upon it. Believe me, there was no one in Tengel the Evil’s time who was familiar with it. So where is he buried?”

  “Maybe he went to the place where the pot was buried in order to die there,” Ulvhedin suggested.

  Dan agreed. “I have also considered that possibility. So I intend to find it and see if that was the case.”

  “You’re mad!” Alv exclaimed. “You mustn’t do it! You would be exposing yourself to mortal danger! Particularly since you are not one of the cursed.”

  “I am not so convinced of that. On the contrary, I think it would provide a certain amount of protection because only those who are cursed are actually able to see Tengel the Evil. But of course I could take Ingrid and Ulvhedin with me.”

  “Yes!” Ingrid shouted.

  “You can just forget that,” Alv interjected.

  Tristan stirred a little. “Why do you want to find his grave, Dan?”

  The young scientist grew serious. “Because I desperately want to make sure that he does, in fact, actually have one.”

  “You mustn’t say that!” Elisa gasped.

  Dan turned towards her. Elisa’s big, childish eyes were pitch black in sheer horror.

  “I think he has a grave, Elisa, but I just want to be absolutely certain. And to read him the Lord’s blessing.”

  Several of the others in the room took a deep breath. Dan had touched on a subject from which they all tended to recoil. They all knew that there were at least two among them who did not accept the Christian Church.

  “I didn’t think you were religious, Dan,” Ingrid said curtly, with a touch of disappointment in her voice.

  A quick smile spread across Dan’s face. “As a scientist I must confess that every now and then I ask myself a number of blasphemous questions. And Grandma Villemo was not the right person to bring me up in that regard. But my mother, Sigrid, has a faith that is deep and warm and that has influenced me. Let’s just say I am an agnostic. I neither believe nor deny as long as nothing has been proven.”

  Ingrid, who loved to discuss things, leaned forward and said with eagerness, “So what you mean is that you at least intend to make an attempt to say God’s word over Tengel the Evil.”

  “Well, it certainly can’t do any harm.”

  “I am not so sure of that,” Tristan said with scepticism. “You must bear in mind that you are not dealing with secular powers. Tengel the Evil has access to a tremendous force – if it’s true, that is, that he entered a pact with the Devil.”

  “Oh my,” Berit said. “It seems to me you are talking about solely imaginary things as though they were real.”

  Tristan gave her a serious look. “They are real, Berit! I have seen figures from the mythological world being conjured into life. Ulvhedin knows it too. He was the one who conjured the bogmen to life in Denmark. After that experience I believe wholeheartedly in all the myths about Tengel the Evil.”

  Ingrid jumped up eagerly, “I know what we’ll do! We’ll take the magic treasure of the Ice People with us, Dan, Ulvhedin and me, and we will abolish the curse once and for all!”

  Frantic exclamations of “Stop! Stop!” flew around the room. Ingrid’s suggestion was cut down so decisively that she sank back down onto the bench, crestfallen.

  Only from one corner did her suggestion receive any interest. Ulvhedin’s eyes shone with a thoughtful lustre, and a smile played about the corners of his mouth, which made her shudder slightly.

  “Enough of that,” Alv said. “We all wish to be free of our inherited curse, but not under any circumstance is my only daughter going to dig that pot up! We have already lost far too many youthful lives in the lineage.”

  The others fell silent. Their thoughts went out to Vendel Grip, who had vanished in the vast country of Russia. They did not know that at that very moment he was in Arkhangelsk, suffering in a dungeon. But his experiences have already been related, and some years were still to pass before the clan would receive word of him.

  The only thing they knew was that his mother, Christiana, was alone in Scania, grieving over the unknown fate of her son. His grandmother Lene shared in that grief.

  Tristan was probably the person in the room who took Vendel’s disappearance most to heart. Lene was his sister and Christiana his niece.

  The conversation turned to more everyday matters, but there were two in the group who did not partake in the conversation. Two brains had started to devise plans.

  Chapter 2

  To Ingrid’s great delight, young Dan remained at Graastensholm for a few days. The two were together all the time, and Ingrid absorbed all the knowledge and information she could, like a thirsty plant absorbing water. No one could keep track any more of how many times she had begged her father for permission to travel with Dan into the mountains – a question to which she had received the answer “No” equally as many times.

  On Dan’s last evening she was very taciturn. Her parents perceived her silence as an expression of her suffering soul feeling misunderstood, and sympathized with her longing. But they would not be moved. Dan’s journey was much too dangerous for Ingrid to join him, they said, wild and thoughtless as she was. It was true that Dan had more or less promised that he would not attempt to find Tengel the Evil’s grave; nonetheless, he intended to travel in that direction, he explained to them disingenuously, in case he was able to find some interesting plants.

  That night Ingrid could not get to sleep. She had been a good girl for a whole year because her father had said that she had to learn to be worthy of owning the treasure. It had been a long and strenuous year. Not to be allowed to wish disease upon the cliques of local gossips, not to be allowed to tease the farmhands who salivated in their desire for her. Not to be allowed to wish for a good harvest at Graastensholm or for strength and health for poor little Bronja at Elistrand. Not to be allowed to use her nascent abilities in witchcraft!

  The Ice People’s treasure ...

  She had heard the story about Kolgrim who, using witchcraft, was able to locate the treasure behind Sol’s portrait. Naturally, her father had not hidden the secret medicines and magic potions in the same place as before, but, still, it was rumoured that Kolgrim had received help from his long deceased grandmother, Sol, in finding them. Ingrid was too distantly related to Sol for her to expect to receive any help from that source. But it was whispered that Sol still had a hand in situations where her help was needed. And she and Ingrid did resemble one another closely, so perhaps there was a slight chance that Sol might be of help now.

  Ingrid got up and went over to the window. A foggy crescent moon was shedding no light in the night sky, but it was early summer so she was still able to make out the parish of Graastensholm. That is to say, it was not the village itself that she could see but the back of Graastensholm Farm. Beyond it was the forest, the meadows, the fields and the ridges in the background. Had Sol not spent a lot of time in the forest up there? Was it not said that she had had a secret place of her own there, too? Someone once claimed to have sensed Sol’s presence in the forest ... Had it been Cecilie? Ingrid knew that Sol was still present among the members of the Ice People: Villemo, Dan’s grandmother, had both sensed and seen her several times.