by Mike Crowson
Chapter 6
Steve tugged the ring off his finger. "Phew!" he said.
"Did we all share a dream?" asked Gill cautiously. "I certainly felt I was watching something real."
Alicia was looking bemused but said nothing.
"It was real," said Steve at length, looking at the ring which he was still holding. "Or, at least, realistic. How long did it last?"
Gill glanced at her watch. "I'm not sure. About twenty minutes I think." She was about to say something else but Steve interrupted her.
"When you say you shared the dream, do you mean that you took part in it?"
"Not exactly. I ... well, stood by on the sidelines, as it were."
"I'm off football images, if you don't mind," said Steve. "But the point is that I felt I was the owner of the ring, Bend, or whatever his name was. I felt it was all happening to me."
"Oh no, I wasn't in the dream exactly" said Gill. "I shared it or I watched it."
"And did you pick up thoughts and impressions?"
"How d'you mean?"
"Well I had the impression that the bloke who killed me was looking for something. Not just looking for the sunken village but looking for something in it. I just wondered if you picked that up."
"I'm not sure. I don't think so," she said. Then she added, "I could do with a tea or something. It wasn't a shock but it was more than a surprise."
"The kettle's still here, though I could do with the 'or something' I think." He put the ring down on the table in front of Alicia and picked up the kettle to top it up from the water barrel.
As he did there was a splatter of rain against the window of the Portacabin. "Want a drink Ali?" he asked.
Alicia picked up the ring and examined it. "Your story was logical and not all that unlikely. The detail was in keeping with what we know." She was still pensive, turning the ring over and over as if she expected some sort of explanation from it. A rather wet Frank Baxter banged in, carrying a pair of damp jeans.
"My story?" said Steve.
"Well it did seem to be your story. I seemed to be sort of sharing your dream."
"And you were wearing the ring, weren't you?" added Gill. "Ali's right. It did seem to be your story."
"What've I missed?" asked Frank, dumping the jeans over the back of a chair and then sitting down. "I was writing home when I heard the rain. I went outside to try and rescue the jeans I hung out to dry, but I guess I was too late."
There was silence for a moment and the wind splattered more rain against the windows, while it drummed on the cabin roof. "Sounds as if you were," said Steve at length.
"Too late to save the jeans from a soaking, I mean. As to what you missed, I'd say it was an ... experience.
"Experience?"
"It was as if we all shared the same dream," said Gill.
"Dream?"
"I lived through what happened to the fella who had the ring," said Steve. He watched Frank raise his eyebrows, but he made no comment, so Steve continued, "I must have told the story to Ali and Gill at the same time, near as I can make out."
"So tell me his story," said Frank, more to Alicia than Gill. "As you experienced it. We'll worry about the 'how' later, right now I'm interested in the 'what.'" At that moment the kettle boiled and the cabin door opened as Manjy came in.
"I'll just brew up first, then we can all settle down to listen," said Steve as he switched off the kettle.
Alicia told Steve's story just as he had experienced it. "... And I suppose he died shortly after from the spear wound. He could easily have fallen where we found the remains," she finished, glancing at her wrist watch. It had taken about ten minutes in the telling.
"Logical explanation," said Frank, echoing Alicia's first reaction, "It could be for real. I mean, the detail is in line with what we know."
"I think perhaps the ring is storing up memories of a previous owner." Manjy chimed in, "Either that or Steve was that person in a past life."
If Alicia heard her she ignored her, saying to Frank, "It was very interesting but I don't know what we experienced and I don't know how we could verify the details."
"Well now," said Frank slowly, "if there's a hand somewhere about the entrance to the village we'll come across it pretty soon. I guess that would be proof, at least to the three of you anyway."
"And what would be proof to you?" Gill wanted to know.
"Proof of what? The whole thing's pretty incredible," added Alicia.
Frank was cautious still. "I don't know what you experienced, I've only heard you tell me a story," he said. "I don't know what would be proof until I know what you shared."
Manjy tried again. "If the ring was responsible before, try it again. See whether we 'share an experience' as Steve put it."
There was a long silence, broken by an uncomfortable sounding Steve. "She's right. Somebody else has to put on the ring and see what we get."
"Before you get too excited," said Frank, "remember the ring is bronze or at least copper. The owner got it from his father early on in the bronze age. The ring may not have much more of a story to tell anyway."
"Still, someone's got to try, otherwise you'll all think I'm some sort of a nut case."
"We won't," said Gill.
"Well I might think that I am myself," said Steve.
"All right, I'll try it on," said Gill. Before anyone could argue she picked up the ring and put pushed it onto the third finger of her right hand.