The long blue night.

The snow returned to Särna, along with news of a family whose porch was ringed by reindeer driven down from the hills. I remembered Astrid Lind's yard from January and found a new family in the same fear.

I cleared a path through the woodpile and took them to the neighbor's kitchen. They asked whether the animals were evil. I said no. The winter is hard on everyone, and frightened creatures make frightening choices.