So it went well?
Viola nods and puts her glass down.
How well? Penelope nudges her sister in her side.
One hundred percent. Viola looks down modestly.
Penelope laughs with happiness and hugs her sister hard.
Do you realize what this means? Now you can be anything you want! You can go to whichever university you want and study anything you like! You can pick anything at all! Business, medicine, journalism!
The sisters laugh and their cheeks flush. Penelope hugs her sister so hard that the cowboy hat falls off. She smoothes Violas hair and pats it into place just as she used to do when they were small. She removes the clip with the peace dove from her hair and slides it into her sisters, smiling contentedly.
3
With roaring engines, Penelope steers toward the bay. The bow arches up; white, frothy water parts behind the stern.
Youve lost your mind, girl! Viola yells as she pulls the hair clip loose, just as she used to do when she was little and her mother almost had her hair done.
Bjorn wakes up when they stop at Goose Island for an ice cream. Viola insists on a round of miniature golf, too, so its late in the afternoon when they set out again.
On their port side, the bay spreads out like a grand stone floor. It is breathtaking. The plan is to anchor at Kastskar, a long, uninhabited island with a narrow waist. On the southern side, there is a lush cove where theyll anchor the boat and swim, grill, and spend the night.
Viola yawns. Im going below to take a nap.
Go ahead. Penelope smiles.
Viola walks down the companionway as Penelope stares ahead. She reduces the speed and keeps her eye on the depth sounder as they glide in toward Kastskar. The water is shoaling quickly from forty meters to five.
Bjorn enters the cockpit and kisses Penelopes neck.
Would you like me to start dinner? he asks.
Viola needs to sleep for an hour or so.
You sound just like your mother right now, he says softly. Has she called you yet?
Penelope nods.
Did you have a fight?
Tears spring to her eyes and she brushes them from her cheeks with a smile.
Mamma told me I wasnt welcome at her Midsummer celebration.
Bjorn hugs her.
Ignore her.
I do.
Slowly and gently, Penelope maneuvers the boat into the innermost part of the cove. The engines rumble softly. The boat is so close to land now that she can smell the islands damp vegetation. They anchor, let it drag, and go in toward the shore. Bjorn jumps onto the steep, rocky ground holding the line, which he ties around a tree trunk.
The ground is covered in moss. He stands and looks at Penelope. A few birds in the treetops lift off as the anchor winch clatters.
Penelope pulls on her jogging shorts and her white sneakers, jumps on land, and takes Bjorns hand.
Want to check out the island?
Isnt there something you want to convince me about? she asks hesitatingly.
The advantages of our Swedish general-access rights, he says.
She smiles and nods as he pushes her hair off her face and lets his finger run over her high cheekbone and her thick black eyebrows.
How can you be so beautiful?
He kisses her lightly on the mouth and begins to lead her inland, until they reach a small meadow surrounded by tight clumps of high wild grasses. Butterflies and small bumblebees flit over the wildflowers. Its hot in the sun and the water shimmers between the trees on the north side. Bjorn and Penelope stand still, hesitate, study each other with shy smiles, then turn serious.
What if someone comes? she asks.
Were the only ones on this island.
Are you sure?
How many islands exist in Stockholms archipelago? Thirty thousand? Probably more, he says.
Penelope slips out of her bikini top, kicks off her shoes, and pulls off her shorts and bikini bottom at the same time so that shes standing completely naked in the grass. Her initial feeling of embarrassment gives way to pure joy. Theres something remarkably arousing about the cool sea air against her skin and the warmth that simultaneously arises from the earth.
Bjorn looks at her and mumbles that hes not sexist, but he does want to just look at her for another second. Shes tall; her arms are muscular yet still have a soft roundness to them. Her narrow waist and sinewy thighs make her look like a playful ancient goddess.
Bjorns hands shake as he pulls off his T-shirt and his flower-patterned swimming trunks. Hes younger than she is. His body is still boyish, almost hairless.
Now I want to look at you, she says.
He blushes and walks over to her with a smile.
So I cant look at you?
He shakes his head and hides his face in her neck and hair.
They begin to kiss standing still. They hold each other tightly. Penelope is so happy she has to force a huge grin from her face so that she can keep kissing. She feels Bjorns warm tongue in her mouth, his erection, his heart beating faster and faster. They find a spot between the tufts of grass and stretch out. With his tongue he searches for her breasts and their brown nipples. He kisses her stomach, he opens her thighs. As he looks at her, it strikes him that their bodies have begun to glow in the evening sun, as if illuminated. Everything now is gentle. Shes wet and swollen as he licks her slowly and softly until she has to move his head away. She whispers to him, pulls him to her, steers him with her hand until he slides inside her. Hes breathing heavily into her ear and she stares straight up at the rosy sky.