“Hard to argue with that,” Ramsay said. “What’s the most interesting thing you’ve found here?”
“Miss Signy, you show him,” Andor said.
Signy led Ramsay to the third building and gestured at the smaller bed. “A double handful of beads were found inside the stone frame. They’re mostly packed up now, but I kept a few here to show you when you returned.”
She pulled out a small folded fabric square and opened it to reveal half a dozen beads inside. “It took skill and a good tool to bore the holes for stringing. The beads are made from bone and the larger ones were carved, see?”
He inspected them carefully. “This certainly appears to be part of a necklace. Surely someone’s treasure.”
Signy laid a hand on the stone pillar at the end of the bed. “It’s pure imagination on my part, but when we found these beads, I could see a woman jumping from her bed and running for higher ground when a warning was given. Maybe giant waves were pounding in, like the ones that uncovered these ruins. The string of her necklace broke as she was bolting from the house and the beads scattered across the bed. She surely wanted to come back and find them later, but she couldn’t. Over the centuries, the mattress and furs disappeared, leaving only these beads.”
“Something like that might well have happened,” Ramsay said. “It’s part of the fascination of places like this. In Italy, I visited the ruins of a Roman city called Pompeii. It was destroyed by a volcano, and many people were killed in their beds or as they went about their daily tasks.” He looked around the stone interior. “I’d like to think that our people here all got out alive.”
“Is it odd to care so much about people who have been gone for eons?” Signy asked.
“It’s the reason for studying antiquity,” Ramsay said quietly. “They were people just like us. The past is a mirror for the present.”
She smiled up at him. “That’s too philosophical for a fine sunny day. Would you like to explore the beach around the corner from the third house? Andor’s crew cleared out some of the crumbly soil so there’s enough space to walk around the point, but no one has bothered yet. I’ve wondered if there might be more houses like these. Probably not, but we might as well go look.”
“If nothing else, we’ll have more privacy,” Ramsay murmured under his breath.
Signy smiled and led the way around the end of the third house, using her cane for stability on the slippery shingle. The edge of beach was narrow, and it curved to the left for some distance.
As soon as they were out of sight of Andor and his workers, she turned into Ramsay’s embrace. His arms came around her hard, and their lips met in mutual hunger. She murmured, “I hadn’t realized how much I missed you until I saw you again.”
“I realized how much I missed you the moment I left Skellig House.” His hands moved down to her hips to draw her tighter. She caught her breath, wondering just how uncomfortable it would be to lie on a damp shingle beach.
Very. Reluctantly she withdrew from his embrace. “Later.”
He smiled wryly. “I occasionally wish you didn’t have such good sense. Let’s go see what, if anything, lies around this point of land.”
She’d assumed that this sliver of beach would soon come to an end. She was surprised when it opened up wider just ahead of them.
She walked cautiously into the broader area of beach, then stopped and gasped. In the bluff to the left, a dragon-headed Viking ship was imbedded in the soil at the level of the beach.
She’d stopped so abruptly that Ramsay bumped into her. “What . . . ?”
He saw the ship and stopped dead, his hands locking onto Signy’s shoulders. After a long awed silence, he breathed, “I think it’s a Viking ship burial. Great kings and chieftains were buried in their ships with grave goods to provide comforts in the afterlife. At least that’s the theory. I’ve read of such things but never seen one. Never anything like this.”
Signy walked warily toward the ship, as if it were a soap bubble that might burst. “The bluff has been undercut by the waves, so I suppose this isn’t visible from above. How old do you think it is? As old as Fiona Brae?”
“Fiona Brae is much older. I’d say this is more like a thousand years old. Perhaps from the time that Christianity came to these northern islands.” Ramsay reached the partially exposed ship and touched the gunwale with amazement. “It’s amazing that it’s lasted this long and is still sound. There must be something unusual about the soil conditions here.”
“You said this is a burial ship.” Signy studied the length of the vessel, which was perhaps seven or eight yards. “There’s a body buried in it? Or a number of bodies? Did Viking chiefs kill faithful servants and bury them together so the king would be able to order them around in the afterlife?”
“Not that I’ve ever heard of, though there are countries in the east where that was sometimes done.” The deck of the ship was covered with sandy soil. He scooped up a handful. “There is probably a burial chamber in the middle with some grave goods inside and compartments for more such treasures around it.”
“Treasures?” she asked. “Jewels and gold?”
“Perhaps.” He shook his head as he studied the ship. “Weapons are more likely. Shields and a sword and perhaps a broken spear to symbolize a life lost in battle? The Vikings were masters of metalwork, but I don’t know enough about them.”
She gave him a mischievous smile. “After this ship is excavated, you’ll have enough material to write a book about them.”
A stunned male voice behind them said, “It’s a ghost ship of the ancestors!”
They turned to see Andor Swenson emerging from the narrow passage around the point. Seeing their expressions, he explained, “You had been gone awhile, and I became curious about what might be back here.”
“It’s a Viking ship burial,” Ramsay said, adding some of the explanations he’d given Signy but without any mention of possible treasure. “This also needs excavation, but it’s far more fragile than the stone buildings of Fiona Brae. I intend to work on it myself. Do you have a couple of good men who could help me?”
