The Cold Song Read Online Free

own life. Simen and Christian had seen him only once—the previous summer—when Gunnar had pointed him out. But that’s how it was with Gunnar’s family members. Simen and Christian hadn’t actually met any ofthem, rather they had been pointed out. See, there’s my big brother drinking beer with his friends and there’s my father going out for a run again, and there’s my mother in her garden,
my father has no idea she’s doing it with weird Alma’s father right under his nose
, and there are our dogs, they are my father’s dogs, really, not like regular family dogs that you hang out with, they either lie very still in the backyard or go running with my father.
    Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, and Jamie Carragher were just some of the players who had signed their names in Gunnar’s autograph book. But that was not the autograph book’s most precious feature. Simen knew that. Carefully glued to the last page was a photograph of Gunnar and his big brother outside Anfield Stadium; they were both wearing Liverpool scarves and his big brother was almost six foot six, with broad shoulders and long brown hair falling over his face; Gunnar looked a real daddy longlegs next to him. Under the picture in blue biro were the words:
To the world’s greatest little brother: some people believe soccer is a matter of life and death, you and I know that it is much more important than that
.
    Simen knew that Gunnar didn’t want to put the autograph book in the pail. The two hundred kroner from Christian’s grandmother was one thing, Gunnar’s Liverpool autograph book was quite another. Forcing him to part with it was maybe asking too much, thought Simen. Christian’s grandmother gave her grandson money all the time, but Gunnar’s big brother hardly ever (or rather, never, apartfrom this once) took Gunnar to Liverpool to see a Champions League match. And how often did you get a chance to collect Steven Gerrard’s, Fernando Torres’s, and Jamie Carragher’s autographs?
    Gunnar, who was the skinniest of the three and whose family members were only pointed out and whose mother was doing it with weird Alma’s father, had been close to tears when he promised the other two that he would offer up the autograph book and Simen almost said
Let’s just forget about the whole thing
. But he didn’t.
    Instead he said, “I know what I’m putting in the pail.”
    He was the only one left and he wanted to show Gunnar and Christian that he too was prepared to make a sacrifice.
Bend over and I’ll make your hair shine
.
    Simen’s mother had a small gold chain with a little diamond crucifix on it. His father had given it to her for Christmas two and a half years ago. Simen had gone with him to the jeweler’s to buy it and had almost passed out when he heard how many thousands it cost. It was supposed to be partly from him too and it was supposed to make his mother really happy. He didn’t know if it had worked, paying all those thousands to make his mother happy. His mother was the same after Christmas as she had been before Christmas. Simen had wondered whether to ask his father if it had been worth it. But he didn’t. And now he had this whole other idea.
    Every night before his mother went to bed she took off the necklace and put it in a blue bowl in the bathroom. He just had to wait until everyone was asleep—it would be theeasiest thing in the world. No one would suspect him. Simen was not the kind of kid who stole stuff. His mother would be upset, she would turn the whole summer house upside down, searching for her diamond necklace, but she would never suspect him.
    Gunnar and Christian stared at each other and then at Simen.
    “How much did it cost, exactly?” Christian asked.
    “Thousands. Seventeen, maybe.”
    “Shut up,” said Christian. “You’re lying.”
    “Well, if they’re real diamonds,” Gunnar said, “then it’s possible. Diamonds are very expensive.”
    Christian considered this.
    “Okay then,” he