"Kim Wilkins - Giants of the Frost" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilkins Kim)

He held out a bottle of red wine. "I'm really sorry. I need to explain something."

"Come in." I led him into the lounge room, a faded brown-and-grey room where I had the bar heater on
high.

He sat in one of the armchairs while I found two glasses that looked like they had been jam jars in a
previous life.

"So what do you need to explain?" I asked, sipping the wine.
"I wasn't trying to make fun of you with all the talk about the ghosts."

"No?"

"No. Seriously, no. You thought I was playing a trick on you? Like an initiation?"

"That's what I thought, yes."

"I'm so sorry, Victoria. I want you to feel welcome here. Magnus is the expert on embarrassing people."

"He's very good at it. And you can call me Vicky."

Gunnar laughed. "Really, Vicky, my intention wasn't to make you feel stupid or afraid."

"I'm neither," I said, too tersely.

"I know that."

"Then why mention the ghosts?"

"I'm really interested in history. Othinsey has a fascinating history and the ghosts are part of it. It's part of
the story of the island."

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

He shrugged. "Who knows?"

I pulled my legs up onto the couch and made myself comfortable. "Go on, then. Tell me."

"This island was settled by Christians in the eleventh century. They built the church. One day a boatful of
new settlers arrived to find everyone on the island dead. Slaughtered. Hanged with the intestines of the
calves they'd brought, or burned, or pinned to trees with spears. As there was no sign of anyone having
landed or left the island by boat, the story began that they were killed by vengeful spirits, sent by the old
gods."

"And nobody tried to settle it again?"

"A few attempts were made. Nothing lasted. It's a long way from the mainland and too small to be
self-sufficient. Rumors persist of ghostsтАФstrange noises, sightings down near the lakeтАФwhich frighten
the less rational away. The handful of scientists we have here don't care about those rumors. You don't
believe in ghosts."