Hogni continued working on the seal pups when Grimur and Kjartan went off to the telephone exchange. All of the fur had been pinned to the gable of the hut, but there was still a lot of meat left on the carcasses and the fat was meant to be melted into oil.
Little Nonni came walking down the shore with a dented milk canister in his hand and timidly greeted the teacher.
“Have you read that Indian story I lent you yet, Nonni my friend?” Hogni asked.
“Yeah, twice.”
“Twice? That was unnecessary. We can go to the library together and see if we can find another fun book that you haven’t read yet.”
“I’m reading The Flying Dutchman. Dad got a loan of it.”
“That’s not a nice book.”
“I know. It’s really spooky.”
“Yes. It’s got a lot of ghosts in it. I wouldn’t lend that book to small children.”
“I only read it during the day and at night keep it where the potatoes are stored. That way I don’t get too scared.”
“I see. Have you planted the potatoes yet?”
“Yeah, yeah, almost all of them.”
“Have you caught any seal pups this spring?”
“No, none. Dad and Grandpa went out to check the net by Ketilsey this morning, but didn’t catch anything. It’s my fault, Dad says.”
“Why is it your fault?”
“I shat on the island and the seals smell the smell, Dad says. But I’m sure it’s more the dead man who’s to blame. The smell off him was a lot worse.”
Hogni found an old washing bucket and chucked some pieces of seal meat into it.
“There you go, lad. Take that home to your dad. Bring the bucket back tomorrow. Then we can go to the library and find something fun to read. Remember that books are your best friend,” he said, smiling.
Nonni took the bucket and placed it under his arm. Then, fully focused, he started walking toward home without saying thank you or good-bye.
“ Can you help me to understand the questions and answers in the Flatey enigma?” he asked.
“I can try to,” she answered.
Then she read out the questions one by one, looked at the answers that she had on the piece of paper, and then looked up the relevant chapter in the Munksgaard edition of the book, with well-trained fingers. She ran her finger along the text, maybe read a few lines out loud, but generally only vaguely explained what the chapter was about. He nodded silently if the answers were identical, but otherwise read out the alternative answers. In this manner they went through all of the forty questions, one after another…