Autumn Leaves at Mill Grange by Jenny Kane (the little red hen ebook .txt) 📗

Forty-Four

September 27th

Shaun watched for the camera light to change colour before launching into his script with a professional smile.

‘If St Guron’s church had been Norman, rather than pre-Norman, we’d expect to see a more complicated structure laid out before us; more like the churches we see today. Saxon churches, however, maintained a simple line in design, with unfussy rectangular bodies and a tower. The way stonemasons cut their building materials also differed between Norman and Saxon engineers.’ Shaun ran a hand across a recently discovered wall as he walked towards the camera, his arm gesturing to his right. ‘As you can see, the Saxon workmen, unlike their more precise Norman counterparts, were haphazard in their preparation of stone size; although their craftsmanship was still outstanding, and their architecture was no less impressive for its slight jigsaw appearance.

‘And so, as the team here at the Guron Estate on Bodmin Moor finish recording all we’ve found over the past four weeks, it’s with great pride that Landscape Treasures can claim to have had more than one hand in putting an end to a centuries-long mystery. The location of the lost church of St Guron has been found!’

‘Cut!’ Phil held his thumb up as Shaun took a swig from his bottle of water. ‘Excellent. That’s it. We’re done on the filming unless something miraculous happens find-wise between now and four o’clock.’

‘Don’t tempt fate.’ Shaun folded his script back into the episode file. ‘I always feel awkward at this part of our time on a dig; hoping they won’t find anything special, so we can keep to schedule.’

‘Especially this time.’ Phil gestured towards Sophie, who was back working with Amber. ‘Dan tells me that Lord Hammett has agreed to keep the site open for another six weeks.’

‘Don’t ask me how he got his wife to agree. When I left them debating the issue it was like the start of a Cold War.’ Shaun surveyed the scene. ‘There’ll be no more trenches. The work will be recording, reporting and preserving this lot for now. But I wouldn’t be surprised if his Lordship worked his magic and the whole place was uncovered eventually.’

‘Costly.’

‘Not a problem apparently. A fact which I’m sure went a long way with Dan when Sophie was given a job on the team.’

Phil watched the young blonde woman chatting with her new friend. ‘I hope that isn’t the only reason. Faults aside, she’s a good archaeologist.’

‘She is.’ Shaun nodded. ‘And I’m sure she’ll make a good site manager.’

‘You think it’ll open to the public properly?’

‘Sooner or later Sophie will inherit this place. Now she isn’t hell-bent on escaping from Guron House, it seems a logical step.’ Shaun checked his watch and scooped up his script file. ‘Half past two. Time I got the paperwork up to date.’

Taking his tablet from his bag, Phil flicked through the photographs he’d taken of the site. ‘I’ll get these sent to IT, so they can be uploaded onto the show’s website for the “what’s coming in the next series” thing. Then we can start winding down. If we can get the camera crew packed up and the support vehicles ready in the next few hours, then we can spare you and Thea this evening. It makes sense to have you up at Mill Grange, getting everything ready for us, and it’ll give you time to write your script.’

‘That would be fantastic. I’ll call Tina to say there’ll be two more for dinner tonight.’

Phil kept his eyes on the archaeologists in the trenches. ‘The rest of us will work here until the 30th. We’ll be with you about ten o’clock on the 1st. That’ll give us time to get everything recorded and safely preserved here until Dan’s team legally take over.’

Shaun looked up to see Ajay help Thea from the trench she’d been helping to draw. ‘And the AA? Are they joining us at Mill Grange? They’ve done some geophysics already of course, but more would be good. Thea is convinced the fortlet is wider than we thought.’

‘They can do a day, but we can’t run to more. It’s pretty much the most expensive thing we do and—’

‘I know. Time is money.’ Delving his hands into his pockets Shaun watched as the tracks that the main camera moved around on were dismantled. ‘Thanks, Phil, I know it’s been a pain in the arse trying to squeeze another show in, but it is appreciated.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Phil kept watching the site, adding a friendly warning in case the message hadn’t got through. ‘It’ll only be a small excavation, riding on the back of what Thea is already planning to do. More a history of the place and a look into what Sam’s intending to do there.’

‘Absolutely. Thea, Helen, Tom and I can do the dig. There’ll be no need to pay the Landscape Treasures diggers, although if they want to come along, they can.’

‘I’ll arrange a staff meeting in the pub tonight and we can see who wants to volunteer.’ Phil rubbed his hands together as if everything was sorted. ‘Let’s hope nothing else goes wrong.’

‘Of course it won’t.’

No sooner were Shaun’s words leaving his lips, than Sophie shouted across the garden, ‘Shaun, Phil, you have got to come and see this!’

*

Having heard the cry from Sophie and Amber’s trench, Thea and Ajay ran towards them, joining Shaun and Phil.

Amber was on her knees, smoothing a fine brush over a section of what was unmistakably a very old floor tile.

‘You have to be joking.’ Shaun looked at Phil, who immediately ran towards the camera crew to stop them putting their equipment away.

Cream, with hints of yellow and a terracotta red, four complete and two broken square tiles sat in two unequal rows of four and two. They’d been nestled on top of the bedrock with a layer of soil. Adorned with a simple geometric pattern, which had been added with a type of potter’s slip, they were a stark contrast to the usual wooden floors of