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brightlythan usual. He is neatly dressed in trousers and shirt, but his grey-streaked hair is long and tousled.
    He is quite good-looking.
    If only Mum would fall for someone like him, Anna-Karin thinks.
    ‘Sorry … am I too early?’ she asks.
    ‘You’re always welcome here,’ Nicolaus says as he ushers her in.
    When she enters the living room the first thing she notices is the fern. Apart from the old town map and the beautiful silver crucifix on the wall, Nicolaus’s flat is completely bare. No rugs, no curtains, nothing to cover up the worn coffee table and no books in the bookshelf. But a fern in a white plastic pot has been placed on the windowsill. It’s heartbreaking to think of Nicolaus going out to get something to brighten his lonely flat.
    ‘That’s a nice fern,’ she says.
    Nicolaus’s face lights up.
    ‘Isn’t it? I felt something green was called for. You know, in the middle of this drought.’
    Anna-Karin nearly says something about the dieback in the forest, but doesn’t. Nicolaus is surely under enough stress already.
    ‘You look preoccupied,’ he says.
    ‘Mostly because I wonder how you would respond. I mean, to this gravestone thing.’
    Nicolaus’s smile seems slightly forced.
    ‘It has its morbid sides, I must admit.’
    The doorbell rings and Nicolaus answers the door.
    Minoo’s voice comes floating in from the stairwell.
    ‘Hi, Nicolaus.’
    She looks surprised at finding Anna-Karin in the living room.
    ‘Are you, too …?’
    Anna-Karin ends her sentence for her.
    ‘Here to cadge a lift? Yes, I am.’
    They exchange a glance. The same reason has brought them here. Anna-Karin asks herself if Nicolaus realises.
    Vanessa opens the windows wide even though she knows it’s pointless. Outside, the air is as warm and muggy as in Jonte’s living room. Not improved, of course, by Jonte, Lucky and Wille trying to break some record for being stoned.
    But Wille has promised Vanessa that now she’s going back to school, he’ll lay off smoking most of the time and find himself a job. Vanessa has made up her mind to believe him.
    Back on the sofa next to Wille, she relaxes. But she must set out for the cemetery soon. Mum thinks that she’s staying the night with Evelina, who naturally agreed straight away to provide an alibi because it would allow Vanessa to be with Wille. Meanwhile, Wille has been told that she has to stay at home. Tomorrow morning, at breakfast, she will have to tell Mum that she came home in the middle of the night because she and Evelina had fallen out about something. In fact, Vanessa is preparing to lie to her mother, her boyfriend and her best friend, all in the same evening. Since she became one of the Chosen Ones, she has had to lie more than ever before in her life. It’s getting hard to keep track of all the fibs.
    ‘Wow … it’s so fucking nice.’ Lucky is moaning with pleasure as he stuffs his face with lemon curd biscuits.
    Crumbs spray from his lips in a fine shower. Lucky’s insatiable hunger after smoking weed reminds Vanessa of what it used to be like when the Chosen Ones had been practising magic and simply had to gobble food and sweets afterwards.
    ‘Nessa, have a beer at least,’ Wille says, enveloping her in a cloud of sweet smoke. ‘It makes me tense when you just sit around.’
    ‘Don’t be uptight,’ Lucky says and jabs her arm. ‘You’re missing out on having a good time. You should’ve come along to Götis last Saturday. Totally sick night.’
    ‘I can live with missing one night at Götis.’
    ‘Just as well. I mean, it’s not like you’ve much choice.’
    He looks very full of himself because, for once, he has the upper hand. After the end of the school year, Vanessa and Evelina had managed to get banned from Götvändaren, the only hotel and hanging-out venue in town. A broken toilet and extensive water damage were part of the picture. The owners would definitely have charged them if they hadn’t been underage and