‘Not only her. But she is the leader.’
‘Magnús! Why did you not tell me about this?’
‘Because you always tell me to be strong. That problems are not problems unless you make them into some. That fighting does not solve things. That?—’
‘Stop,’ Gunnar said, shaking his head. ‘Do not say any more.’ He was feeling that this whole situation was almost entirely of his making. His ‘parental’ advice had been to hold in emotions and put up with issues? He took a breath, eyes going to the mountain peak in the distance.
‘It does not matter,’ Magnús said, shrugging. ‘It is just how the world is.’
‘No,’ Gunnar replied immediately. ‘If that is how the world is, then that is not how the world should continue to be.’ He put a firm hand on the boy’s shoulder. ‘What the girl said is wrong, Magnús. You know that, right? And all the things she has done, they are wrong too.’
He shrugged again. ‘I am different. And they do not like who I am.’
‘And if that is true, then that is their problem, not yours,’ Gunnar reassured him. ‘Everyone is different in some way. If we were all the same then the world would be very boring, no?’ He paused. ‘Imagine if Hildur was quiet and did not express her opinions!’
A small smile appeared on Magnús’s lips. ‘She would not be Hildur.’
‘Exactly! And you are Magnús, exactly who you are meant to be. Whatever this girl and her friends have been saying is because of their own insecurities about themselves. And it will stop. I will make it stop.’ He squeezed Magnús’s shoulder.
‘I did not hit her, Gunnar,’ Magnús said, all big eyes and seriousness. ‘But I pushed her… after she kicked me.’
Gunnar gritted his teeth, feeling that pull of both empathy for what Magnús had endured all on his own without coming to him and anger that this bullying had gone on virtually undetected by the school. Their lives weren’t perfect, they were unconventional but unconventional did not deserve this kind of disgusting judgement or physical and mental assault.
‘I will come into the school tomorrow,’ Gunnar said. ‘I will speak to Mr Almr.’
‘But you have to work and?—’
‘Magnús, some things are more important than work. No matter what I might have said before.’ He sighed. ‘And you must never ever think that you cannot come to me with these things. That is what I am here for. I know that I am not your father, or even a good-looking older brother, but I made a pledge to take care of you to the best of my ability.’
‘Because there are no orphanages in Iceland,’ Magnús stated.
‘No, Magnús, that is not why,’ Gunnar said. ‘It is because I made two promises that night. The first was to continue looking for life until there was absolutely no hope and the second was to protect and care for whatever or whoever was left. We Icelanders are family, it does not matter what form that takes. This girl and her friends need to learn that fact.’
A few moments passed and then Magnús gave a nod.
‘OK, so we are agreed,’ Gunnar said. ‘No more keeping secrets or telling lies to cover things up. Only honesty.’
‘I think I can do that,’ Magnús said. ‘But can you?’
‘What?’ Gunnar said.
‘Do I need to pretend I am here today for work experience?’ Magnús asked, a glint in his eye.
Gunnar swallowed, ashamed that he had said that to Chloe and also embarrassed that Magnús had overheard him.
‘You do not need to be pretend anything, Magnús,’ Gunnar said. ‘Except perhaps that you believe in thehuldufólkfor the duration of this trip.’
‘Well, perhaps Idobelieve in thehuldufólk.’
‘My God, Hildur, she has got to you.’
24
SKÓGAFOSS WATERFALL
‘Oh wow! Wow!’
Kat was shrieking over the noise of the cascading water plummeting down from the sheer rock face still a good few metres away from them. It was a thunderous roar and the spray was soaking them already, despite the distance they still were from it. It was one of the most wonderous things Chloe had ever seen and she was snapping as many photos and taking as many videos as she could get. How could Sinclairz Chairs not be impressed by this? She already had visions of getting some mulled wine and cheese to accompany the cold, wet and wild afterwards.
