“But we have to—”
“Don’t worry. I can get to the church by myself while you go to the village later.”
It was a great idea, and it would be an efficient use of time. If only it didn’t earn her Nicole’s displeasure.
Seeing Pierre’s hesitation, he gave her his full smile. “Come on.” And he was already turning his bike towards the path through the cedars.
______
Margo’s Arch was at the north side of the wood. The trees thinned out to a wide clearing in the middle of the forest. Gabriel propped his bike against an ivy-covered tree trunk and went around checking things from different angles.
Pierre tried not to watch him. He had an interesting way of walking around the meadow, and every now and again he’d lift the camera to his eye and look through it without taking any pictures. Then, without warning, he would see something through the lens and spend several minutes lining up the shot, squatting, then moving sideways, then standing, sometimes even twisting into painful positions. After half-an-hour of this, Pierre couldn’t help herself.
“How does the picture change if you’re crouching or sitting?” Because the angle of the camera looked the same to her.
He didn’t answer immediately, focussing on what looked like a pile of leaves, just an ordinary drift of soggy old leaves left over from last autumn. A few more clicks then he glanced up at her. “The image doesn’t change, but I do. A lot of photography is in your body, you need to stabilise the camera, and if your body isn’t perfectly balanced, the image won’t be. Once I’ve found the angle I want, I then find a stable position.”
“Isn’t it uncomfortable sitting on the damp ground?”
He uncrossed his legs and stood up in one fluid motion and brushed dirt from the seat of his trousers. “I’ll live.”
“Why were you taking pictures of old leaves?”
“Ah, that is the million-dollar question.” He beckoned her over, not taking his eyes from the ground. “I’ll show you.”
She went over, and he moved sideways to make her stand in his place. “Can you see the stone?”
After a moment, she saw it. A buried stone only one corner visible through the leaves. “It looks like a…” She looked at the arch. As if it’s fallen from there.”
He shook his head. “I doubt it.” His eyes danced with a hidden excitement. “I think there used to be a larger ruin here, look.” He pointed. “This is left over from some other structure.”
She tried to work out his thinking without asking. It was like a puzzle and she had always loved solving puzzles. She searched the scene for a clue. Nothing. Admitting defeat, she turned back to him. “So?”
“You’ll need to look from a lower angle.”
She looked dubiously at the moist mulch. Gabriel shrugged off his jacket and lay it on the ground.
“No, you’ll get it dirty.”
“Occupational hazard. Go on, sit.” He pushed her gently until she dropped down on the jacket. It was still warm from his body.
“I seem to always make you take your clothes off for me.” The words were out before she could stop them. Her face heated. “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“Lie down on your front,” he said gently, a hand between her shoulders urging her down. He tugged on her arm to position her a little more to the left. “Now look along there.” He pointed.
Following his arm, she could see another stone, buried further along and then another. They were larger than bricks, but the shape was definitely not natural; this was cut for building. She’d never have noticed them from above but now, lower down, the grey stones stood out from the dark mossy ground at regular intervals, leading to the arch. It stood ten yards away, tall, ancient, grey, with ivy climbing over it, but clearly the same material as the stones on the ground.
“As if they were some kind of path or wall,” she said, rising to a sitting position. Lord M must have known there was something to discover.
Gabriel had dropped down to sit beside her on the jacket. Leaning closer, he held the camera in front of her; the screen at the back showed the last picture he’d taken. From his lower position, the stones seemed slightly larger, peeking out from among the dead leaves in a curved path towards the arch which from the same angle dominated the image.
“Wow.” She breathed out. “That is worth getting yourself wet.” She glanced at him then back at the stones in front of her. “I bet this leads into the avenue of trees you saw earlier.”
“Exactly!” His eyes travelled around the clearing. “This is a very beautiful place. Did you notice how the trees hide most of the sky except for a perfect round circle right above us?”
She thought a moment longer. “I’m beginning to think there is a much bigger mystery here.”
“Such as?” he asked, standing, and offering her a hand to help her up.
