Read Online My Soul to Take: A Novel of Iceland by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - Free Book Online Page A

for her to get a feel for the site. We can't rule out her stirring up the angry spirit of a deceased inhabitant, which cost her her life. Maybe not directly, but perhaps indirectly." He went on, seeing that Thora was lost for words. "There might not be a direct connection, but the situation now is this: this place is haunted, and the sellers concealed that fact. A woman has met a tragic death—perhaps because of something connected with the ghost. That will be difficult to rule out, because it can always be claimed that the murderer was governed by forces from beyond. Are you with me?"
    Thora could only shake her head.
    "Yes, don't you see? You tell the sellers that a woman has died here and there are stories that a ghost has played a major role. The whole business will be brought up in court. My feeling is that those people wouldn't care to be linked to a murder, if only indirectly. Would you like to be a witness in a murder case in which the defense implied that you had kept quiet about information that led to such an atrocity?" Jonas shook his head on Thora's behalf. "No, you wouldn't care for that. Nor would they. That might persuade them to negotiate compensation terms."
    Thora interrupted him. "What difference would it make if you won compensation? You're stuck with the hotel. Presumably you don't want to break the contract at this stage? If you're serious about this ghost, I doubt whether you can bribe it to leave."
    Jonas smiled. "Of course I can't. But I imagine I'll have to raise my staff's wages so that they don't all quit. They are spiritual people, sensitive toward supernatural matters. Some of them have already dropped hints about leaving. My business plan would be ruined and the small profit I was hoping for might easily be wiped out. Guests at places like this are sensitive too. They don't seek the company of beings from beyond, especially not if it could cost them their lives."
    Thora needed a while to digest this. She had no desire to force people to strike a deal by making absurd threats about linking their names to a murder, but Jonas's claims about his staff were a concrete contribution. "Let me think it over." She was about to stand up, then decided to stay put. "Actually, you still have to tell me all about this ghost. How exactly does it manifest itself?"
    Jonas sighed. "Gosh, I don't know where to begin."
    "At the beginning, perhaps," suggested Thora, a little irritated.
    "Yes, that's probably best," agreed Jonas, brushing off Thora's slight. "As I told you, most of the staff here are more sensitive than ordinary people."
    Thora nodded.
    "They started sensing an uncomfortable presence. If I remember correctly, it was the aura reader—his name's Eirikur—who first noticed it. Then others became aware of it gradually. I brought up the rear, really. At first I thought it was just their imaginations." Jonas regarded Thora gravely. "It's almost impossible to describe it to anyone who can't sense these things, but I can tell you it's by no means a pleasant feeling. Probably the best analogy is when you feel you're being watched. As if someone's sitting watching you from a dark corner. That's the way I've felt, anyway."
    His story only strengthened Thora's conviction that this was a case of mass hysteria. One person had started a vague story and others had joined in until what they imagined had become a fact. "Jonas," she said firmly, "you have to do better than this. Your claim is absolutely no use to me—I can't face the sellers of this property and repeat what you've just said. We need something tangible. It's not enough to say you get the occasional shiver down your spine."
    Jonas looked shocked. "It's so much more than that. You can ignore a shiver; this feeling lasts. Oppressive may be the best word for it. Almost all of us have heard crying in the middle of the night, an infant crying." Suddenly he became boastful. "And I've seen a fully fledged ghost. More than once, as it happens. Its presence