“What do you mean by a film?”
“Look, Fergus, it’s not something to worry about. If you or Shona don’t want to be involved it’s fine with your Mum and me.”
“But, does this mean they will be digging up the hillside and the cairn? Is that a good idea, Dad?”
“The archaeologists have promised to restore everything to its former condition once they have finished the excavation. I don’t doubt they will make a huge mess to start with, but it will be good for us if they find more evidence there.”
Shona was listening to this two-way conversation but she wanted in.
“Mum, these men can’t just come here and do whatever they want, can they?”
A glance went between Fiona and Gordon. No flies on this one!
“Shona, my lamb, it’s our family’s property but when it comes to matters of national interest, the authorities can command access until they are satisfied.”
The words, ‘national interest’ lingered in the air of the kitchen for a brief moment like the scent of good cooking.
“But, I want to see what they do. I don’t like the idea of that special place being ripped apart by big men in their hobnail boots, ye ken?”
“Can I take it you feel the same as your sister, Fergus?”
“Aye, Dad! When is this supposed to happen?”
Fergus was hoping the filming would take place during the school term and he would not only have time off but also benefit among his contemporaries from the kudos of being in an actual film.
“They want to do preliminary work on the estate quite soon, but the real filming for the documentary won’t take place for several more weeks as the excavations begin. I imagine you and Shona will be filmed at the very start to tell your story to the camera.”
“You said this is good for us, Dad. What did you mean?”
Another glance was exchanged between the adults and Fiona replied to her daughter.
“You’ve heard us talk about bringing more tourists to Glenmorie, right? Well, what you and your brother discovered could be of great interest to many people in Scotland and further afield.
Those people would need rides to the site and possibly tea in the castle afterwards.
Do you see what I’m getting at, Shona?”
“I do, Mum! This is exciting! Can I get one of those metal detector thingies? There could be more to find here on Glenmorie Estate.”
Gordon laughed. “We’ll see! I don’t expect any money will be handed over to us but you two will be famous, for sure!”
Shona was delighted to hear this.
Fergus was more thoughtful. He was wondering if his precious stones would be taken away forever for some museum display, or hidden in a sealed box in underground storage somewhere.
He thought back to the beginning when only he and his sister knew about the finds and wished it could have stayed that way.
“Enough speculation! Sit down at the table and eat your supper. Dad and I will keep you in the loop about events. Congratulations to you two for bringing appropriate public attention to Glenmorie Estate. It will be a good thing all round.”
Neil who had been playing happily at their feet, lifted the big spoon and started to bang it on the metal pot as if to announce agreement with his mother’s words.
Gordon scooped up his younger son and popped him into the high chair, spoon, pan and all. The impromptu drum concert continued while Fiona set out the plates and replaced the kitchen utensils with a bowl of the rich broth Neil loved.
She looked around the table with a glad heart. No matter what resulted from the proposed documentary, she knew she had, right here in the Meco house, more wealth than all the riches of Arabia.
The Oban Times broke the story of the ‘Viking Hoard’ shortly after a small crew arrived in Oban.
Two men in a van stopped to ask directions to Glenmorie Castle Estate and the word soon spread around the town.
Fiona and Gordon were besieged with requests to ‘tell all’. After numerous phone calls to try to clear up the misinterpretations, they resorted to employing the media and making declarative statements in print about what had really happened up on the remote hillside.
As Fergus and Shona’s names were mentioned in the subsequent article, the interest at the primary school level was intense. Head Teacher, Rena Collins, decided to capitalize on this interest by doing an online search to see if anyone in the area was active in archaeology. She uncovered two elderly men with expertise in excavations further north in Scotland, and asked them to come to the school to talk to the students about their work and discoveries.
This turned out to be a masterly move. The men brought with them examples of carved stones and a slide projection of sites they had excavated over decades showing how the work was done with the ultimate care and caution, and how the information about ancient peoples was constructed piece by piece from mere fragments of stone and bone.
Fergus and Shona brought photographs of their findings and the two men studied them with great interest while the assembled school population held their breath, as one, and waited to see what the expert conclusion would be.
To Rena’s delight, the men conferred together for some minutes before pronouncing that the Glenmorie children had undoubtedly added to the knowledge of Viking settlement, or, more likely, Viking travel camp sites, on the Scottish mainland. This was received with enthusiastic applause by the whole school. More excitement was to follow.
The senior of the two old men, a tall figure with impressive white beard and mustache, and a sonorous speaking voice, asked Shona to come to his side. He seemed to be even more fascinated by her discovery of what he termed, ‘a sacred Druid circle in an enclosure of ancient oak trees’.
He patted Shona on the head and announced that her name would be eternally attached to this place in professional journals and she would be just as famous as her brother.
Rena was not the only adult in the audience who thought about Stonehenge, and also the opening titles of the successful television series, Outlander, with its women dancing around the circle of standing stones somewhere in Scotland.
Fiona and Gordon beamed with pride at their offspring and whisked them away for a slap-up meal in the hotel after obtaining Rena’s permission.
“Oh, do take them out of here for some peace and quiet! They are quite the celebrities around town nowadays. The Year Eight and the lower year pupils are after them for autographs all the time. It can only get worse once the documentary is shown on television.”
Gordon noted this comment and, once safely inside in the hotel, he made a point of asking Fergus and Shona how they were dealing with all the attention.
“I like it fine, Dad! The older boys in Fergus’s class look out for me now. No one pushes me out of a line or steals my backpack and throws it in the bushes.”
“What about you, Fergus?”
He was busy with a mouthful of custard and raspberries but he gave his full attention to his father’s enquiry as soon as he could swallow.
“You know, I really want to see what happens during the site excavation. In the interview, I asked about it, and the camera man said he would pass on my request to the main men. I showed them my drawings. I’m thinking it could be a good art project for my new school in the autumn.”
“Well, if the work starts in the summer months, as expected, I don’t see why you could not be given special permission to observe and record your own impressions of the process. As long as you do not interfere with the work of the archaeologists, of course.”
“No, Dad! I would ride up on my bike and walk the rest of the way if you were not able to give me a lift. I would just watch and draw and maybe make my own wee film on my phone camera?”
Fiona was pleased to find Fergus still had intentions of going to the Art College. His summer was now pretty much taken care of. As for Shona, there was going to be a shiny new metal detecting machine waiting for her next birthday so she was not left out of the excitement.
Another benefit for their mother would be the extra time to devote to the revised plan to draw visitors to Glenmorie. The way things were going, there should be little problem in that sphere.