They carry it easily; the dead woman was not large and the coffin is no work of art, knocked together from scraps of timber found around the farm – but it’ll do and seems sound enough. The mare Rosa waits out in the yard, sated with hay. The men place the coffin on a sledge, lash it down good and hard, and fasten it either side of the saddle with long spars, which lie along the horse’s flanks and are tied firmly to the sledge. After this is done, Fridrik takes an envelope from his jacket. He shows it to Halfdan and says: ‘You’re to give Reverend Baldur this letter as soon as the funeral is over. If he asks for it before, tell him I forgot to give it to you. Then you’re to remember it when he has finished the ceremony.’ He pushes the envelope deep into the eejit’s pocket, patting the pocket firmly: ‘When the funeral’s over ...’ And they say goodbye, the man who owned Abba and her sweetheart – former sweetheart. *** Brekka in the Dale, 8 January 1883 Dear Archdeacon Baldur Skuggason, I enclose the sum of thirty-four crowns.
