The Rings of Poseidon (26 page)

Alicia was thoughtful. "We ought to go to
Bella Claudia and investigate properly," she said. "I can't really
leave the dig until September. I've too much at stake."

"Steve said, "I could afford it. I'm not
short of funds since my mother died, but I don't think the busies
would let me go out of the country. I'm here on parole for this
job. I can't leave until September either."

"I could go, I suppose," said Gill, "but the
money might be a problem."

Manjy remarked that she had enough money,
though she wasn't at all sure her family would approve of spending
it in that way.

Alan said slowly, "I'm not sure how much it
would involve, but I've got some cash. Besides," he pointed out,
"Both Manjy and I are free to leave the dig any time. We're both
volunteers."

"Gill really needs to go if I can't," said
Alicia. "She was the one with training and power. She might be able
to do the ritual."

"Tell you what," said Steve, "I'll give Gill
the money to go with Manjy and Alan. How about that? And if Manjy
and Alan are short I'll make it up." Gill stared at him open
mouthed.

"You're talking about five hundred pounds or
so from here," she said.

"I know," said Steve. "I'm a big softy."

"God, I'll make it up to you," she told
him.

"You can think of it as the first instalment
of sharing everything."

"Is that a proposal?"

"Yes," said Steve.

"Then the answer's 'Yes'."

She kissed Steve and Alicia said, "It rather
sounds as if congratulations are in order."

"I think so," said Steve, "but I did say I
would make up the shortfall if Alan and Manjy went too. How about
it."

"I do speak reasonable Spanish," said Alan,
"I did it to 'A' Level."

Manjy was thinking about arranged marriages.
Even though the arrangements looked a lot more acceptable now, this
trip to Spain might be her only chance to spread her wings alone.
Her family wouldn't approve of her going with Alan as well as Gill,
but she wasn't about to mention it.

"Okay." she said.

"I imagine there will be a bank in Stromness
where I can sort out the money and a travel agent's where we can
book," Steve remarked

"Sure to be," said Frank.

"Then if the boss thinks it's okay, we can
all four of us go over on the ferry tomorrow."

"I suppose so," said Alicia. "But I think we
should all sleep on it. There is a coincidence which suggests that
the needle might be somewhere in those remains. That's still a
pretty big haystack and there's more than just a chance we're
wrong. It could all turn out to be a very expensive mistake."

Some of the enthusiasm of the group ebbed
away, but Gill said, "I'm convinced that's where the rings are
hidden. I feel it."

For the second time that day Steve said,
"That's good enough for me."

Chapter 21

Later that night, when Gill and Steve were on
their own, Gill pursued the subject of his rather public
proposal.

"Did you really mean it?" she asked.

"The money?" he asked, knowing full well what
she was referring to, "Of course I meant it. I can't go to Spain
myself and I couldn't do much good there without you anyway."

"Well I am touched you trust me with the fare
like that, but I meant the proposal."

"Why? Are you having second thoughts about
accepting?"

"Look," she said, earnestly and not very
logically, "You made a remark about sharing. It was me that took it
as a proposal. With everybody listening it's just possible you felt
trapped into agreeing."

"If I'd asked you when we were alone and
making love, you might have doubted that I meant it afterwards. I
wouldn't have asked you yet if you weren't about to go away for a
while." He paused, "I'll ask you again - and notice I did say
again. I know we haven't known each other for long but we've both
turned over a new page in our lives and I like the person you've
chosen to become, very much. Will you marry me, Gill?"

There was a silence in the darkness as she
snuggled even closer. She had also, without conscious choice,
become very psychic. Changes in her make up might have been
triggered by her experiences of past lives, but they told her that
Steve was someone on whom she could depend. She knew that she was
still demanding sexually and emotionally, but that Steve could meet
her needs. She was also aware that Steve trusted her growing
psychism more than she did herself.

"Yes, " she whispered, "I like the inner
strength of the person you've chosen to be as well. I really think
we can build a new life together."

For a while they were too busy to talk.

Later they gave some thought as to how the
bookings might all be done.

"I could do all the bookings from Stromness,
but I’d better get a bank there to clear all these large
transactions with my bank in Brum especially as I’ll have to draw
out a lot of cash. If I book all the tickets myself, Alan and Manjy
could do a bank transfer if they can contribute a bit. I’ll even
book the hire car from Stromness. If there’s a travel agent in
Stromness – and there will be - we ought to be able to arrange it
all on the spot. You could fly to London and from there to southern
Spain. The travel agent can arrange car hire so that you can get
around. All you need is cash for food, accommodation and
petrol."

"I've never driven in Spain."

"Always a first time."

"Do you think Manjy and Alan can drive?"
asked Gill.

"I've no idea really. I should say it's
possible but we'll have to ask them in the morning."

"It could be useful to have several drivers,"
said Gill. "It's going to take us the best part of a day to
Heathrow from here, isn't it?" she continued, thinking out loud.
"Couldn't we take an extra day and go by train to save some money?
I wonder if we could get a night flight to Spain or will we have to
wait until the next day?"

"It might be a good idea to fly from
Kirkwall. The professor said he'd flown from Aberdeen to Kirkwall.
You could get a flight from there to Heathrow.

"Is time so important?" asked Gill. "I don't
want to waste 'our' money."

Steve considered this. "I don't know," he
said, "The bird watcher and his wife left Hoy by car today in a
hurry. If they caught the ferry to Mainland straight away and from
Stromness to Scrabster and they took turns at driving they could be
in Warwick by early afternoon tomorrow. They might just have wanted
to make a getaway but, with the booking of their house made through
the University and the exact travel time fixed by the ferry, they
couldn't, as you might say, 'escape without trace', if the police
started asking questions. We don't know that they'll try and get
the rings back, but we don't know that they won't either and it
would explain their rush. I think you should all fly to be on the
safe side."

"Besides," he went on, "rail and ferry fares
aren't that much cheaper than air fares. Air's less than double the
cost of sea and rail and, on top of fares, you'd have other
expenses like accommodation and tube fares, so I'm probably not
wasting our money on your holiday!"

"You really have chosen to be a kind and
generous person."

"It's easy to be generous to you," he said,
and they made love again.

* * *

The four of them left the Landrover parked on
the hard and went back with the ferry to Stromness. The business at
the bank and the travel agent was done, though it took time. There
were no flights available on the Stanstead to Jerez route the
professor had used, but the agent found them three seats from
Heathrow to Jerez, changing at Madrid.

"That's better really," Gill observed. "The
plane from Aberdeen is to Heathrow, so we'll only have to change
terminals not airports."

Gill, Manjy and Alan caught the bus to
Kirkwall while Steve looked and asked around for some way back to
Hoy without having to wait for the ferry next morning. He persuaded
a fishing boat to drop him off for a 'consideration', picked up the
Landrover and arrived back at the dig in time to make supper.

When Gill, Manjy and Alan walked out of the
plane and onto the steps at Jerez, walking into the heat was almost
like walking into something solid.

"God it's hot," said Gill, as they walked
across the Tarmac "I'm going to get a hat and some sun screen
p.d.q."

"P.d.q?" asked Manjy.

"Pretty damn quick!"

"Oh."

Kirkwall had been pleasant though rather
overcast when they left. Aberdeen had been windier but sunny.
London had been mild but overcast with drizzly rain. It had all
been a whirl of impressions. The sheer size of Heathrow had been
hidden by them only having used terminal 5, but the people! The
overwhelming impression was of how busy it was. By contrast,
Madrid, when they changed planes there, didn't seem much different
in size but lacked the rush.

The passengers had to walk down steps to a
bus which drove them to the terminal, and the terminal itself
seemed as large as terminal three at Heathrow. It probably was.
There just wasn't the capacity of the other terminals, just another
smaller one for internal flights.

Because they'd flown Iberia, the three of
them already had boarding passes for the internal flight, so they
didn't need to hurry or find a check-in. They had an hour and a
half to follow the green line on the floor to the national flights
terminal.

From Madrid to Jerez was under fifty minutes
from take-off to landing. The crew were friendly and the plane full
but the hostesses didn't seem to speak much English.

The second thing that Manjy,
Gill and Alan noticed was the relative smallness of the terminal
building at Jerez. They collected their bags from the conveyor
belt, wandered through an empty customs check and went out into the
main hall to see a man holding a piece of card with
'LA SENORITA MEADOWS'
on
it.

They went over to him and Alan introduced
them. His Spanish proved its worth as the man spoke almost no
English. Gill and Manjy produced their driving licences and
passports and Gill signed the papers.

"It's due back by 9.00 am a week tomorrow,"
Alan translated.

"Ask him where we could stay the night,"
suggested Manjy, "It's already turned five."

"I saw a tourist information desk in the main
hall," said Alan. "I'll ask there."

Gill paid the man for the petrol, tipped him
and said 'Gracias' which was nearly half her Spanish vocabulary. He
left all smiles and indecipherable good wishes as Alan returned
with an array of maps and a list of hotels.

"Right," he said, "We could go into the city
and stay at a hotel there. I've got a list. Jerez sounds an
interesting place but I think we ought to put business first and
look round later if there's time."

"So what do you suggest?" asked Gill.

"The girl at the information desk suggested
driving to Medina Sidonia and spending the night there. She said
there's a roadside restaurant just outside the town with a
reputation for good, cheap food.."

"Sounds okay to me," said Gill, "What do you
think, Manjy?" Without waiting for a reply, she went on. "We need
to buy a knife to use in the ritual, if we do one. A straight
bladed one, like a stiletto or a Medieval dagger. Perhaps we could
get that in Medina as well."

By this time their belongings were loaded
into the car.

"Are you driving first or shall I?" Gill
asked Alan and Manjy.

"I'd rather navigate," said Alan.

"I think I'd rather start on a quiet road
where there's no traffic," answered Manjy.

"So would I," said Gill, somewhat ruefully,
"although they say it's easier to start off in traffic, because
you've less of a tendency to drive on the wrong side of the road
with other vehicles around. Let's see if it's true!"

"At the main road turn left." said Alan. "Go
about four kilometres and turn left again. Signpost for Algeciras."
The little car slipped smoothly into the right hand lane and Gill
suddenly realised how easy it was going to be, and relaxed a
little.

Where she needed to turn left, Gill was
almost caught out by the lane pattern. She had to slip off to the
right and make a short loop to cross the road at right angles.

"Neat, but unexpected," she muttered, waiting
for a gap in the traffic.

"Two kilometres and left again," said Alan.
"What you're doing is taking a short cut from the Seville-Jerez
road to the Jerez-Algeciras road without having to go into
Jerez."

Gill duly turned left again. The road crossed
a motorway and went through attractive, undulating country for
somewhat less than twenty miles. It was a quiet, well surfaced
road.

When Gill commented on the lack of traffic,
Alan said, "You've got to remember that Spain has a much smaller
population than Britain but more than twice as much space. Outside
the big cities it's an under populated country."

The countryside was starting to get hillier
and straddling the top of a higher hill were the white buildings
with red roofs of a small town, dominated by a striking church and
the ruins of a castle.

"Medina Sidonia," said Alan. "If we turn off
to the right somewhere here we can get up into the town."

"Look out for the turning," said Gill.

Lower down the hillside it was a fairly
modern town, small - more like a very big village - with some
building going on, but higher up the hill it was very old with
streets narrower than you would have thought possible in the age of
the car. There was just about room to squeeze the car into a space
between two others in a street off the main square. Gill was
sweating profusely by the time she'd finished.