3

Sunday, 22 June

Day Zero

Kate regretted everything immediately.

Students all around her chattered in what must’ve been Norwegian. Two others spoke in French. And she understood neither. Knowing how to say Hello and Where is the toilet? didn’t count. This wasn’t just camping. This was camping with strangers. In the middle of nowhere. In a foreign country. For college credit.

An archaeological field school in Norway was supposed to be fun, a real adventure. Digging in dirt hundreds if not thousands of years older than at any American site where they dug up pieces of porcelain, clay pipes, and bricks. But the second her feet and luggage stood on solid camp ground, panic set in, and she wanted to go home.

“Hello,” called a maternal voice. Kate was greeted by a smiling, pink-pale, khaki-clad older woman with frazzled orange hair. “I’m Astrid Lang. You must be Kate Roth.”

Kate let go of her luggage to shake Astrid’s offered hand. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

“You look like you have landed on a new planet.” Astrid motioned for her to follow. They strolled to the heart of the camp—grassy rolling hills accented by groves and various geologies with a flat expanse at its core. “Choose an area you like for your tent. As soon as everyone has arrived, we will make introductions and have our welcome party. Is there anything you need? Water? Food? I can send someone to help with your tent.”

“I’m fine,” Kate half-lied.

“Good. See you later!”

Kate’s muscles hurt from battling her tent. A mosquito was hell-bent on whispering sweet nothings in her left ear. Flies in the barn that doubled as a field lab wanted to eat her alive. The port-a-potty already stunk.

When she noticed people were gathering, she plopped herself on the grass among the circle of students.

Kate wanted to be an archaeologist—she knew this in her bones. But now that she was here, surrounded by two dozen students she didn’t know, three professors to wrangle them, and bombarded by wave after wave of unintelligible words, the culture shock became real shock and carved out a nest in her throat, strangling.

And then a cowboy sat directly across the circle from her. He adjusted his cowboy hat, crossed his legs and slouched to one side, then rested his elbow on his thigh, his jaw on his fist. His bright blue eyes, set against a tawny face, gazed off into the distance. He looked bored or stoic. He looked sun-kissed and powerful, like a farmer or a warrior. Viking cowboy.

The Viking Cowboy turned and locked eyes with her, and she scraped her thumbnails repeatedly against the sides of her index fingers. His lips flicked up in a smile, polite and brief, before he looked away and righted his posture.

A lithe, tanned young blond woman wearing oversized sunglasses and a skimpy tank top thunked down beside her, saying Hei hei followed by a slew of Norwegian words.

Kate shook her head. “Sorry. Do you speak English?”

“Oh, yeah. American?”

Kate nodded.

“I’m Tonia.”

“Kate.”

Kate was about to attempt conversation with Tonia when Astrid strode to the middle of the circle to introduce herself and the site’s co-director, her husband Daniel. They welcomed everyone to Helvetes Port—pronounced without the S, Kate realized only then—and asked that everyone in the circle introduce themselves, too.

Name, where they were from, what they studied at university, and what they liked about archaeology. There were French students, British and Swedish students, and even one student from Australia, but most everyone here was Norwegian, including Tonia. No one elaborated much, which was a relief. Kate didn’t consider herself all that interesting or impressive, and the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass herself before they even started to dig.

At her turn, after she explained that she wanted to be a biological archaeologist and study human skeletons, the Viking Cowboy smiled at her before quickly shifting his gaze to his big boots, his cowboy hat hiding his face. She could’ve imagined it, sure—but in that brief moment, something in her chest went all warm and fuzzy.

Introductions of the several dozen students carried on. When the circle finally arrived at the Viking Cowboy, Kate was taken aback by his deep and timid voice.

Esben. The Viking Cowboy’s name was Esben. He was studying archaeology, Norwegian history, and education, and like her and many others, he was a second-year undergrad.

And he had the sexiest voice she’d ever heard.