The Redbreast(156)

remember from their childhood. The official

version was that he had grown up with the Juul

family on a farm in Grini, but the truth is that he

grew up with various foster parents and in various

institutions around Norway before finally landing

in the childless Juul family as a twelve-year-old.’

‘How do you know he lied about it?’

‘It is rather a strange story, but one night Even

and I were on watch outside the camp we had set

up in the forest, north of Harestua, when something

strange happened to him. Even and I were not

particularly close at that point and I was extremely

surprised when he began to tell me about how he

had been abused as a child and how nobody had

ever wanted him. He told me some extremely

intimate details of his life, and some of it was

painful listening. Some of the adults he had been

placed with ought to have been . . .’ Fauke

shuddered.

‘Let’s go for a walk,’ he said.‘Rumour has it the

weather’s nice outside.’

They walked up Vibes gate to Stenspark, where

the first bikinis were on display and a glue-sniffer

had strayed from his shelter at the top of the hill

looking as if he had just discovered planet Earth.

‘I don’t know what brought it on, but it was as if

he became another person that night,’ Fauke said.

‘Very odd, but the strangest thing was that the next

day he behaved as if he had forgotten the

conversation we had had.’

‘You said that you weren’t very close, but you

told him about some of your experiences on the

Eastern Front?’

‘Yes, of course. Not a lot else was happening in

the forest. For the most part we were moving

around and keeping an eye on the Germans. And

there were quite a few long stories while we were

waiting.’

‘Did you talk much about Daniel Gudeson?’

Fauke stared at Harry.

‘So, you’ve found out that Even Juul is obsessed

by Daniel Gudeson?’

‘I’m just guessing for the time being,’ Harry said.

‘Yes, I talked about Daniel a lot,’ Fauke said.

‘He was like a legend, Daniel Gudeson was. It’s

rare to meet such a free, strong and happy spirit as

him. And Even was fascinated by the stories. I had

to tell them again and again, especially the one

about the Russian he went into no man’s land to

bury.’

‘Did he know that Daniel had been to Sennheim

during the war?’

‘Of course. Even remembered all the details

about Daniel I was beginning to forget and he

reminded me. For some reason, he seemed to have

totally identified with Daniel, although I can hardly

imagine two more different people. Once when

Even was drunk he suggested I start to call him

Uriah, just as Daniel had done. And if you ask me,

it was no coincidence that he only had eyes for

young Signe Alsaker at the end of the war.’

‘Oh?’

‘When he found out that Daniel Gudeson’s

fiancée’s case was due to come up, he went to the

courtroom and sat there all day just looking at her.

It was as if he had decided in advance that he was

going to have her.’

‘Because she had been Daniel’s girl?’

‘Are you sure this is important?’ Fauke asked,

walking up the path towards the hill so quickly that

Harry had to walk faster to keep up with him.

‘Absolutely.’

‘I’m not sure if I should say this but, personally, I

believe Even Juul loved the myth of Daniel

Gudeson more than he ever loved Signe Juul. I’m

sure that his admiration for Gudeson was a strong

contributory factor in his not resuming medical

studies after the war, but studying history instead.

Naturally enough, he specialised in the history of

the Norwegian Occupation and the Norwegian

soldiers at the Eastern Front.’

They had arrived at the top and Harry wiped

away his sweat. Fauke was hardly out of breath.

‘One of the reasons that Even Juul established

himself so quickly as a historian was that as a

former Resistance man he was a perfect instrument

for writing the history that the authorities felt

postwar Norway deserved. By keeping quiet about

the widespread collaboration with the Germans

and focusing on the little resistance there was. For

instance, Juul devotes five pages to the sinking of

the Blücher on the night leading to 9 April in his

history book, but he quietly ignores the fact that

prosecutions against almost 100,000 Norwegians

were being considered at the trials. And it worked.

The myths of a Norwegian population fighting

shoulder to shoulder against Nazism live on

today.’

‘Is that what your book will be about, herr

Fauke?’