The Rings of Poseidon Read Online Free Page A

been no work of any kind done on it."
    "Grief!" said Manjy.
    Without adding anything to the conversation,
Gill nodded. It had been mentioned in one of her textbooks.
    "The Pennines are covered in dry-stone walls
too." Alicia continued. "I'm not really sure how they did it, but
the walls of the buildings slope in. On the other hand, they don't
slope all the way in because they used whalebones to help support
the roof and, anyway, there must have been an opening for the
smoke. All the houses will have had a fireplace in the centre," she
continued.
    "Sort of central heating?" said Manjy with a
grin.
    "Sort of," said Alicia, "Now I think we'll
stop. The light's still good of course, but the whole team isn't
here yet and this is the first day's digging."
    "Will you and Jamie have a bite to eat with
us, Andy?" Alicia asked one of the local men, almost as an
afterthought.
    "No, thank you kindly," he replied. "I think
we'll be off and come back in the morning."
    "As you wish," said Alicia, "I'll be seeing
you tomorrow then. If Steve doesn't mind putting the soup on and
fetching the camera we'll have some photographs of the day's work
alongside the meal. Gill, you go and give him a hand with
dinner."
    As they strode across the rough grass towards
the little cluster of caravans, Gill said, "I'm glad to-day's over.
I know it's only the first day, but the first day was always going
to be the worst for me. Now that it's over I'm sure I'm OK
again"
    Steve glanced at her, before remarking
casually, "One thing prison taught me was to take each day as it
comes."
    "I do try," said Gill wistfully, "but it
hasn't been easy, putting back together a life and building new
relationships. Still, like I said, I do try and you're very easy to
get on with."
    There was a pause as the penny dropped and
Gill considered it. "You've spent some time in prison then?" she
asked.
    "Yes. Seven months inside after time off for
good conduct. My Probation Officer thought it would be a good idea
if I kept well away from football and the terraces. That's why I'm
here."
    "Well you aren't likely to find much football
here, I shouldn't think," she said. "You'd probably be well away
from trouble on Hoy."
    "Hoy is well away from just about
everything," Steve observed drily. "Only things you can do here is
read books, dig holes in the ground or watch birds."
    Gill laughed "According to Manjy, Hoy is a
birdwatcher's paradise," she remarked.
    "Huh. As far as I'm concerned, bird watchers
are just train spotters who don't have a railway line anywhere
near," said Steve. "I don't go a bundle on holes in the ground
either," he added.
    "You don't have to dig them, only see the
diggers fed."
    Steve only said, "Talking of which, let's get
to it - my stomach thinks my throat's been cut."
    * * *
    Frank looked over the wall at the homes built
into the ground, and thought he would leave his rucksack and bag
near the wall. He dumped his things unceremoniously and wandered
over for a closer look.
    "They can't have been more than about four
feet tall," he said to the only other visitor, a younger man in his
early twenties. "Either that or they walked with a permanent
stoop."
    "It does rather look as if they were small by
modern standards," said the other visitor. "But this part of the
world is full of stories about 'little people', so I suppose it's
not that unreasonable,"
    The face of Alan Wainwright bore a few scars
of acne on it, but was hardly the 'pimply pratt' Alicia had
referred to when she lost her temper with the Professor. He was up
from Stromness, a short bus ride away, and thinking about where to
spend the night.
    The sea was grey. The setting sun was trying
to get through the quickly moving clouds and, although the rain had
stopped, it was going to be a chilly night. The hotel looked
inviting to Frank.
    Each of the houses was built from much the
same flat stones you could pick up on the beach, but shaped.
Larger, flatter stones were used to form primitive furniture -
shelving, a