Jo asked, ‘Don’t you ever just want to get out there and dig, Val?’

The red-headed Scot laughed. ‘Och, I’ve done my share of pickaxing in my time. But I kind of got into this side of things when the kids were wee. I could fit in the post-exc. stuff around school hours.’ She looked out at the sun blazing down on the hillside outside and touched a hand to the side of her face. ‘And it has its advantages, you know. On days like today I used to end up like a pickled beetroot.’

Jo laughed and plucked a large piece of shiny red pottery out of the water, holding it up to the light. ‘We must be on the edge of some sort of Romano-British settlement, the amount of this stuff we’re getting. It’s kinda cool when you look up close at this Samian, don’t you think?’

‘Alright if you like that sort of thing, I suppose. It’s a bit flashy for my tastes. All mass-produced, y’know. They turned it out by the cartload. I’m keener on the handmade British stuff myself.’

‘Careful, Val, your Celtic roots are showing.’ Jo stood up, washing bowl in hand. ‘I’m done with this lot. I’m gonna get some clean water from next door. I’ll put the kettle on for tea break while I’m there.’

Jo turned to go. But before Val had time to answer there was a sudden crash, followed by a thud. Splinters of glass lay festooned across the lino.

‘What the fu—’ Jo halted mid-sentence.

She turned again to find Val lying slumped across the table, blood pouring from her head.

‘Jesus!’ She knelt down, staring in disbelief at what she saw. ‘Val, are you OK? Val!’

There was no response from the elfin Scot.

Jo felt dizzy, as if she were going to faint. ‘Shit, shit, shit …’

She stood up and staggered towards the door, managing to stand upright for long enough to yell, ‘Hey guys, we need some help here!’ And then promptly collapsed.

Jo opened her eyes to see Malcolm standing over her.

‘You OK, Jo? You had us worried there for a minute. You just collapsed. You were clean out.’

She tried to get to her feet. ‘Don’t worry about me, Malc, Val’s hurt. We need to get her some help.’

Malcolm said, ‘Take it steady, me old. No need to worry, Neil’s sorting it.’

With a steadying hand from Malcolm, Jo stood up to see Val, conscious and sitting upright, with Neil standing over her and a wad of gauze pressed against Val’s temple.

Neil said, ‘I think I managed to get all of the glass out. It looks a pretty clean wound. But once I’ve got her bandaged up we need to get her over to A & E.’

Without a moment’s hesitation, Malc said, ‘I’ll take her.’