The Sacrifice Stone by Elizabeth Harris Read Free Book Online Page A

her, an intent expression on his face. Then, smiling, he said, ‘Can’t you just. Which is patently absurd.’
    She had the distinct feeling he was making light of something he usually took seriously. ‘All those Romans,’ she said. ‘My brother was telling me just now how they had to be buried out of town.’ It seemed a good idea to mention the presence of Joe; you never know, she thought, even the nicest-looking men can turn out to be muggers and rapists. Although probably not simultaneously.
    She wished she could stop the urge to break into nervous laughter.
    ‘A sensible precaution, when disease caused the majority of deaths.’ She realized he was referring to the out-of-town burials.
    ‘Quite.’ She racked her brains for something intelligent to say, but drew a blank.
    ‘Shall we go back into the sunshine?’ he suggested. ‘There’s not much to see in here.’
    ‘Yes, let’s. Joe will be wondering where I am.’
    Right on cue, Joe’s voice calling out, ‘Beth?’ greeted them as they left the chapel.
    ‘Here. I found another visitor taking advantage of the lack of tour buses.’
    ‘Adam Gilbert,’ the man said, holding out his hand to Joe.
    ‘Joe Leighton. My sister, Beth.’
    ‘Have you found what you wanted?’ Beth asked him.
    ‘I’m not sure what I did want,’ Joe said. ‘I’ve noted down a few of the inscriptions, but there’s nothing particularly interesting.’
    ‘What were you looking for?’ Adam asked.
    Joe glanced at Beth, then said, ‘I’m researching various events that happened under the Romans.’
    She wondered why he wasn’t more specific. He probably has his reasons, she thought, maybe students writing theses get paranoid and imagine other people are going to steal their ideas.
    ‘What about you?’ she asked Adam. ‘Just having a look?’
    ‘That’s about it.’ She noticed he was buttoning the flap of his shirt pocket over what appeared to be a small notebook; perhaps he’d been jotting down inscriptions too.
    ‘Where do you want to go now?’ She looked at Joe.
    ‘Back into the old town for ...’ He flipped through the guide book. ‘The Roman theatre, perhaps, or the Arlaten Museum.’
    ‘Or a cold beer,’ she suggested.
    ‘After the theatre,’ he said firmly.
    ‘That’s my next stop,’ Adam said. She’d been rather hoping he might.
    ‘We may as well go together.’ Joe set off back towards the road between the coffins. She was unable to tell from his tone whether he was pleased or annoyed to have someone else accompany them; she thought it was more likely to be the latter.
    *
    The Roman Theatre was being visited by a large party of Japanese, all of whom seemed to want at least five photographs from every vantage point, so they gave it a miss and went on to the Museon Arlaten. Beth could happily have spent the rest of the morning studying the costumes and the old photographs of citizens of Arles, but there was less to interest Joe; catching up with him by a mock-up of a tum-of-the-century bedroom where a woman had apparently just given birth to a rather pallid infant — better pump some oxygen into him , she thought — she asked where Adam was.
    ‘No idea,’ Joe said tersely.
    ‘I’ll go and look for him.’ She wasn’t going to ask what was the matter.
    ‘If you must, although I did think we might get through our three weeks without you picking someone up.’
    He made it sound as if she picked people up every other day: the sheer absurdity of it made her laugh, once the initial anger faded.
    ‘I didn’t pick him up,’ she said mildly. ‘And if you don’t want him with us, that’s fine by me.’
    It wasn’t, since she had decided she definitely liked the look of him, but long experience had taught her that the best thing to do with Joe was imply you wanted the opposite of your real desire, which usually ensured you got your own way.
    ‘It’s all the same to me,’ he said dismissively.
    Taking a deep breath and letting it slowly out