by Hazel Hunter
A foot in front of them lay the last open trench at the site, where she had been doggedly trying to find any sign of the burial she felt sure was there. Hundreds of old car and truck tyres surrounded it on three sides, stacked and waiting for tomorrow. In the morning, the pit would be backfilled with soil and draped with tarps, which the tyres would hold down and cushion against heavy snow drifts. Though the smell of the old rubber baking in the sun had made her sick over the summer, now it just made her feel sad.
But she still had tonight, Jema told herself as she took off her backpack, lowered it over the side, and let it drop. She pulled off her down jacket.
“Keep the torch light on me while I climb down,” she said. “You’ll be able to see where I’ve been working.” She eyed the plywood under the walker. “Don’t move any closer to the edge. The soil there is dodgy.”
Gavin watched her tuck her jacket over his legs. “You’re off your head, you know. What if you have a fall? I’m not leaping to your rescue.”
“You can still use a phone, you great hellbeast,” Jema reminded him as she extracted her mobile, checked the signal and then placed it in his lap. “Dial one-oh-one if I keep screaming, or nine-nine-nine if I stop.”
“Maybe I’ll call for a cab.” He glowered at her, which made her feel like she was seeing her reflection in his face. He had the exact same gray-blue eyes she had. “Be careful, Jay.”
Jema grinned and kissed him on the brow. Gavin hadn’t called her by her twin name in ages. “Ever and always, Gee.”
The short ladder extending down into the trench had been hand-painted with a V-9, designating it the ninth trench in which they’d found Viking-Age artifacts. The most exciting, an ax-head still attached to a piece of wood handle, had been tentatively dated back to the first century BCE. Radiocarbon dating on the organics would be done back at the laboratory, but Jema wasn’t interested in the weapon—it’s what it might indicate.
V-9 was a burial pit. Jema would swear to it.
Of course they hadn’t yet found a grave, or remains, or any indication a body had ever been buried here. Initially the trench had been filled with roots from several ancient, enormous oak tree stumps they’d found on the surface, which had made excavating it tricky. Jema had read several articles which speculated the Vikings deliberately planted trees over such graves in order to disguise and protect the dead, but she wasn’t sure if she agreed. For one thing the tree stumps had been massive. When the tree ring dates came back, she wouldn’t be surprised if they’d been planted a thousand years before the burial would have taken place.
The moment they had begun digging out the trench, however, Jema had begun feeling the oddest sensations. Her skin became acutely sensitive, while her heartbeat seemed to slow down. Whenever she touched a stone or root her fingers seemed to pulse with some frantic energy. She kept seeing in her mind the crude drawings she had studied depicting Freyja’s Eye, even when she didn’t want to think about them. She knew all of it was unprofessional, possibly delusional, and would get her thrown off the dig if she told anyone about it. So Jema had kept it to herself while she continued digging.
Now Jema reached the bottom of the trench and stepped off the ladder before waving and calling up to Gavin, “I’m in.”
“You’re daft,” he called back, but kept the light from the torch trained on her. “There’s nothing down there I can see. It’s not but a big hole in the ground.”
“That’s because you’re a soldier, not an archaeologist.” Jema pointed to the feature she’d uncovered last week. “This is an inner wall face. The stones used to build it are these slab-like rocks called orthostats. They were stacked in parallel and vertical positions to create slots.”
“Slots?” Gavin said and frowned down at her. “Like a casino?”
“No, like keyholes…or air holes.” She took out a dental tool from her backpack and gently inserted the tip into one of the slots until it almost completely disappeared. “I feel something on the other side of this. It may be a created space, like a burial chamber.”
He leaned forward to peer over the edge. “What, then, you want to unlock a grave?”
“Be careful,” she said and eyed the position of his feet. “Don’t put weight near the lip of the unit or the sidewall might give way.” They’d already removed the stabilizing boards around the base of the pit. “You’ll fall on top of my great discovery.”
“A grave with slots,” he mocked as he sat back.
“Or the final resting place of Freyja’s Eye,” Jema said and moved the probe to test another space. “Can you imagine it? A golden diamond the size of your fist, carved to honor the goddess’s own beautiful eyes. Although it probably isn’t even a diamond. It might be a fist-sized topaz, or a hunk of polished amber.”
“Which can also use sunlight to melt off your face,” Gavin put in. “Don’t forget that part. I’ve not, since you told me.”
“That’s just another myth,” she assured him. “The Vikings always exaggerated their legends to strike fear in the hearts of their enemies. There’s another one that says for every enemy that the Eye kills, it also takes the life of a loved one.”
“So that’s where they got that eye-for-an-eye thing,” Gavin said and rubbed his brow. “I always thought that came from the Bible.”
“No, it’s actually from Hammurabi’s Code,” she told him. “Mesopotamian king of Babylon, and not a particularly forgiving man. You would have liked him.”
Her brother made a rude sound. “Stop showing off how brilliant you are. Why are you so obsessed with this bloody rock? You can’t sell it or keep it.”
Her heart twisted as she shrugged and removed the probe. “The Eye will go to the National Trust, to be worshipped by countless generations of kids forced on museum outings. The find, however, would be mine. A discovery of that magnitude would get me a publication in every archaeological journal in the world. Edinburgh would finally offer me a full-time teaching position.”
Gavin uttered a short laugh. “You hate Edinburgh.”
She did, but that didn’t matter. “I could take a flat for us near the uni, and get a home carer to look after you while I’m at work. You remember the doctor there who is testing that new drug treatment–”
“Jema, I’m going to die, and soon, and it won’t be pleasant.”
• • • • •
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Glossary
Here are some brief definitions to help you navigate the medieval world of the Immortal Highlanders.
Abyssinia - ancient Ethiopia
acolyte - novice druid in training
addled - confused
advenae - Roman citizen born of freed slave parents
afterlife - what happens after death
animus attentus - Latin for "listen closely"
apotheoses - highest points in the development of something
Aquilifer - standard bearer in a Roman legion
arse - ass
auld - old
Ave - Latin for "Hail"
aye - yes
bairn - child
banger - explosion
banshee in a bannock - making a mountain out of a molehill
barrow - wheelbarrow
bastart - bastard
bat - wooden paddle used to beat fabrics while laundering
battering ram - siege device used to force open barricaded entries and other fortifications
battle madness - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
bawbag - scrotum
Belgia - Belgium
birlinn - medieval wooden boat propelled by sails and oars
blaeberry - European fruit that resembles the American blueberry
blind - cover device
blood kin - genetic relatives
bonny - beautiful
boon - gift or favor
brambles - blackberry bushes
bran'y - brandy
Brank's bridle mask - iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head
Britannia - Latin for “Britain”
brownie - Scottish mythical benevolent spirit that aids in household tasks but does not wish to be seen
buckler - shield
Caledonia - ancient Scotland
caligae - type of hobnailed boots worn by the Roman legion
cannae - can't
cannel - cinnamon
canny - shrewd, sharp
catch-fire - secret and highly combustible Pritani compound that can only be extinguished by sand
Centurio - Latin for “Centurions”
century - Roman legion unit of 100 men
chatelaine - woman in charge of a large house
Chieftain - second highest-ranking position within the clan; the head of a specific Pritani tribe
choil - unsharpened section of a knife just in front of the guard
Choosing Day - Pritani manhood ritual during which adolescent boys are tattooed and offer themselves to empowering spirits
chow - food
cistern - underground reservoir for storing rain water
claymore - two-edged broadsword
clout - strike
cohort - Roman legion tactical military unit of approximately 500 men
cold pantry - underground cache or room for the storage of foods to be kept cool
comely - attractive
conclave - druid ruling body
conclavist - member of the druid ruling body
contubernium - squad of eight men; the smallest Roman legion formation
COP - Command Observation Post
cosh - to bash or strike
couldnae - couldn't
counter - in the game of draughts, a checker
courses - menstrual cycle
cow - derogatory term for woman
Coz - cousin
croft - small rented farm
cudgel - wooden club
da - dad
daft - crazy
dappled - animal with darker spots on its coat
defendi altus - Latin for “defend high"
detail - military group assignment
dinnae - don’t
disincarnate - commit suicide
diviner - someone who uses magic or extra sensory perception to locate things
doesnae - doesn’t
dories - small boats used for ship to shore transport
draughts - board game known as checkers in America
drawers - underpants
drivel - nonsense
drover - a person who moves herd animals over long distances
dung - feces
EDC - Every Day Carry, a type of knife
excavators - tunnel-diggers
fack - fuck
facking - fucking
faodail - lucky find
fash - feel upset or worried
fathom - understand
fere spectare - Latin for “about face"
ferret out - learn
festers - becomes infected
fetters - restraints
fibula - Roman brooch or pin for fastening clothes
filching - stealing
fisher - boat
fishmonger - person who sells fish for food
floor-duster - Pritani slang for druid
foam-mouth - rabies
Francia - France
Francian - French
free traders - smugglers
frenzy - mindless, savagely aggressive, mass-attack behavior caused by starving undead smelling fresh blood
fripperies - showy or unnecessary ornament
Germania - Germany
god-ridden - possessed
Great Design - secret druid master plan
greyling - species of freshwater fish in the salmon family
gut rot - cancer of the bowel
hasnae - hasn’t
heid doon arse up - battle command: head down, ass up
Hetlandensis - oldest version of the modern name Shetland
Hispania - Roman name for the Iberian peninsula (modern day Portugal and Spain)
hold - below decks, the interior of a ship
holk - type of medieval ship used on rivers and close to coastlines as a barge
hoor - whore
huddy - stupid, idiotic
impetus - Latin for “attack"
incarnation - one of the many lifetimes of a druid
isnae - isn’t
jeeked - extremely tired
Joe - GI Joe shortened, slang for American soldier
jotunn - Norse mythic giantess
justness - justice
kelpie - water spirit of Scottish folklore, typically taking the form of a horse, reputed to delight in the drowning of travelers
ken - know
kirtle - one piece garment worn over a smock
kuks - testicles
lad - boy
laird - lord
lapstrake - method of boat building where the hull planks overlap
larder - pantry
lass - girl
league - distance measure of approximately three miles
Legio nota Hispania - Latin name for The Ninth Legion
loggia - open-side room or house extension that is partially exposed to the outdoors
magic folk - druids
mam - mom
mannish - having characteristics of a man
mantle - loose, cape-like cloak worn over garments
mayhap - maybe
milady - my lady
milord - my lord
missive - message
mormaer - regional or provincial ruler, second only to the Scottish king
motte - steep-sided man-made mound of soil on which a castle was built
mustnae - must not
naught - nothing
no’ - not
Norrvegr - ancient Norway
Noto - Latin for "Attention"
Optia - rank created for female Roman Legion recruit Fenella Ivar
Optio - second in command of a Roman legion century
orachs - slang term for chanterelle mushrooms
orcharders - slang for orchard farmers
ovate - Celtic priest or natural philosopher
palfrey - docile horse
paludamentum - cloak or cape worn fastened at one shoulder by Romans military commanders
parati - Latin for “ready"
parched - thirsty, dry
parlay - bargain
penchants - strong habits or preferences
perry - fermented pear juice
Pict - member of an ancient people inhabiting northern Scotland in Roman times
pillion - seated behind a rider
pipes - bagpipes
pisspot - chamber pot, toilet
plumbed - explored the depth of
poppet - doll
poppy juice - opium
pottage - a thick, stew-like soup of meat and vegetables
pox-ridden - infected with syphilis
praefectus - Latin for “prefect”
Prefect - senior magistrate or governor in the ancient Roman world
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Pritani - Britons (one of the people of southern Britain before or during Roman times)
privy - toilet
quim - woman's genitals
quinie - a girl or unmarried woman
quoits - medieval game like modern ring toss
repulsus - Latin for “drive back"
rescue bird - search and rescue helicopter
roan - animal with mixed white and pigmented hairs
roo - to pluck loose wool from a sheep
rumble - fight
Sassenachs - Scottish term for English people
scunner - source of irritation or strong dislike
sea stack - column of eroded cliff or shore rock standing in the sea
Seid - Norse magic ritual
selkie - mythical creature that resembles a seal in the water but assumes human form on land
semat - undershirt
seneschal - steward or major-domo of a medieval great house
shouldnae - shouldn't
shroud - cloth used to wrap a corpse before burial
skelp - strike, slap, or smack
skin work - tattoos
smalls - men's underwear
SoCal - slang for southern California
solar - rooms in a medieval castle that served as the family's private living and sleeping quarters
spellfire - magically-created flame
spellmark - visible trace left behind by the use of magic
spew - vomit
spindle - wooden rod used in spinning
squared - made right
stad - Scots Gaelic for “halt"
staunch weed - yarrow
stupit - stupid
Svitiod - ancient Sweden
swain - young lover or suitor
swived - have sexual intercourse with
taobh - Scots Gaelic for "Flank"
tempest - storm
tester - canopy over a bed
the pox - smallpox
thickhead - dense person
thimblerig - shell game
thrawn - stubborn