The Lost Boy, page 45
Emelie ran right into the sea, carrying her son in her arms. The water splashed around her legs, and after a few meters it got too hard for her to run and she had to slow her pace to a walk. Gustav had his arms wrapped around her neck, but he was no longer crying. He didn’t make a sound, as if he understood.
Behind her she heard Karl and Julian enter the water. She had a few meters’ head start, and she kept on going. The water now reached up to her chest, and she could feel panic taking hold of her. She didn’t know how to swim. But then it felt as if the water were embracing her, welcoming her and promising safety.
Something made her turn around. Karl and Julian were standing in the water a short distance away, staring at her. When they saw her stop, they began moving toward her again. Emelie started backing up. The water now reached to her shoulders, and Gustav felt lighter, his weight buoyed up by the sea. The voices were speaking to her, calming her, saying that everything was going to be fine. No harm would come to them. They were welcome and would be given peace.
Emelie was filled with a sense of calm. She trusted them. They enveloped her and her son in love. Then they urged her to turn and head toward the endless horizon. Blindly, Emelie obeyed the ones who had been her only friends on the island. With Gustav in her arms, she struggled in the direction where she knew the currents would be strongest and where the bottom sloped steeply downward. Karl and Julian followed, heading toward the horizon and squinting into the sun, without taking their eyes off her.
The last thing she saw before the water closed over her and Gustav was how Karl and Julian were pulled under by the currents. And perhaps by something else. But she was certain that she would never encounter them again. She and Gustav would be staying on Gråskär, but those two would not. The only place for Karl and Julian was in hell.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, and incidents
portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental.
THE LOST BOY
Pegasus Crime is an Imprint of
Pegasus Books LLC
148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2009 Camilla Läckberg
English translation © 2016 Tiina Nunnally
First Pegasus Books hardcover edition October 2016
First published in Swedish as Fyvaktaren
Published by agreement with Nordin Agency, Sweden
Interior design by Maria Fernandez
Camilla Läckberg asserts the moral right to be
identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part
without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may
quote brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper, magazine,
or electronic publication; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission
from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN: 978-1-68177-204-2
ISBN: 978-1-68177-272-1 (e-book)
Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company
Camilla Lackberg, The Lost Boy
