Jo looked at her friend, puzzled for a second about what she meant. ‘Oh, you mean the whole crossing myself thing. I guess it was just a reflex. Some habits take a long time to fade. Us Granskis are all good, honest-to-God Polish Catholics. Or at least we were until this one came along. I think I was a bit of a shock to the system.’ She laughed.

‘Being an atheist, you mean.’

‘No, dumbo. Being gay.’

Clare opened her eyes wide. ‘What?’

‘Oh, come on, Clare. Don’t tell me you hadn’t realised.’ For a moment Jo sat silently, staring at Clare. Then she leant forward and broke out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. When she finally managed to bring herself under control she said, ‘You really didn’t know, did you?’

‘How the hell was I supposed to know? In the two years I’ve known you you’ve never mentioned it once.’

Jo sat looking at her friend, hands on hips. ‘And how many times in those two years have you told me you’re straight?’

Clare blustered, ‘But it was obvious. I was married to Stephen.’

‘Like that makes a difference.’

Clare looked at her friend in stunned amazement. ‘Really?’

Jo raised an eyebrow and smiled. ‘Really. You know, sometimes, Clare, I think you’re one of the smartest people I know. And then others …’

The two women laughed. Clare said, ‘OK. I guess you might have a point.’

When the laughter had subsided, in an attempt to recover her equilibrium, Clare returned the conversation to the fate of the dead infants. ‘What happened to those babies brings it all home to you, though, doesn’t it?’

Jo asked, ‘How do you mean?’

‘Well, for one thing, that life could be pretty gruesome and bizarre at times back in the Iron Age.’

Jo shrugged. ‘I guess so. But some pretty crazy shit happens today too, wouldn’t you say? You only have to look at what happened to Beth to see that. And like I told Stone, there’s no telling when those burials date to until we get the radio carbon dates through.’

‘But you said yourself they’re not modern.’

‘I know what I said.’

Clare placed her glass down and stared at Jo open-mouthed. ‘Are you telling me they could be?’

‘Ninety per cent sure they’re not. But there’s always a chance.’

‘I can’t believe you’re telling me this.’

Jo lowered her voice. ‘Look, they’re probably old. And in all probability very old. And if they’re part of the same pit group that that terret ring came from, they’re almost certainly Iron Age. But it’s impossible to be certain until we get the dates back from the lab.’ She looked Clare straight in the eye. ‘And we couldn’t afford to have the site shut down, could we?’