They had first seen each other across a pile of rubble. Lockhart had been helping to remove the thick layer of earth covering a Minoan floor near the palace at Knossos. It had already taken the team of four Cretans and two Englishmen a week to uncover a mere twenty square feet, and it was dawning on Lockhart that archaeology was harder work than he normally cared for. He was spending his summer down from Oxford at the site, and he feared that all he would see of Crete would be this bloody floor. He only saw the sun at lunchtime, when the team would sit on the piles of rubble to enjoy a simple lunch of retsina, olives, bread and cheese. And it was one lunchtime, at the start of his second week, when he first saw her.

She was being led onto the site by the head of the digs, the tedious Dr. Buchan. She wore a pair of long shorts, walking boots and a thick white cotton shirt. A large sunhat hid her face, and over her shoulder she carried a small knapsack. She looked slightly ungainly, her long legs tripping over the piles of ancient masonry. Lockhart and his companions started to laugh at her stumbling efforts to keep up with Buchan’s long strides.

The laughter stopped when the curious couple drew near. The team stood up to receive them, all eager to see what lay underneath that large hat.

“Gentlemen,” Buchan began, “this is Miss Anna Green, who will be joining us for the rest of the summer.”

She looked up defiantly. From then, Lockhart knew he would be more than happy to spend his time cooped up in a filthy ruin. She had a strong face—handsome even—and yet she was still pretty. Her large brown eyes looked straight into Lockhart’s. Unfortunately for him, his companions felt equally mesmerized—they too stood silent, all speculating on what the summer might now bring.

“Miss Green has just spent a year at the British School of Archaeology in Athens, where she has already earned quite a name for herself. I’d ask you all to remember that she is not here as an entertainment, but as a hardworking professional.”

Lockhart noticed that their new colleague had lifted her chin a little, giving the slight impression she was looking down at them. Know-it-all, thought Lockhart. Buchan then addressed Lockhart directly.

“John, could you show Miss Green around the rest of the site?”

“I certainly will, sir,” Lockhart replied, doing his best not to smile too obviously.

“Miss Green, this is John Lockhart, who is here from Merton College for the summer. I’ll leave you in his hands.”

A titter from the ranks.

They shook hands, Lockhart feeling self-conscious at the five pairs of jealous eyes behind him.

“How do you do?” he asked.

“Very well, thank you,” she replied.

The formality felt absurd among the rubble.

“Let me introduce you to everybody. Ah, this is Manoli Pentaris, who has been working here for…how long is it now, Manoli?”