thought about that, and she probably knew it. ‘It’ll take a while to finish here.’
‘Do you plan to take the buildings apart and re-assemble them on higher ground? Or this all just for the record?’
‘Are you planning to offer your help with it?’
‘That isn’t in my gift,’ she said.
‘Well, it isn’t my decision either. I just know that if we don’t start recording now, it will be too late. It is already, in many ways that matter.’
She nodded. ‘Good analysis. You’re quite a clear thinker, aren’t you?’
And you’re quite a patronising middle-aged woman, I wanted to say but didn’t. Fortunately Declan appeared at that moment.
‘How’s it going?’ he enquired.
‘All right,’ I said.
‘He’s being understated again,’ said Tanya. ‘It’s going extremely well.’
Declan glanced quizzically between us and said, ‘Understatement. Yes, that’s Gavin’s trademark, sure enough.’
‘How are you doing?’ I asked him, uncomfortable with his scrutiny on top of Tanya Fairfax’s interrogation – as I saw it.
‘Not so much for us to do now we have the lads,’ said Declan.
‘But you’re vital to the task,’ Tanya assured him. ‘They wouldn’t know where to start without your organisational skills.’
‘Why, thank you kindly, Ms Fairfax,’ he said, sounding amused. I expect Declan could recognise her patronising ways as well as I could. I wondered what she would have to say to Dan or Fiona if they should happen to put in an appearance too.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen either of them today. I felt a quick stab of alarm before remembering they had been scheduled to go off together to find a suitable place to build a beacon, which we had decided would be a useful way of communicating with other groups, just in case they didn’t all have a Tanya Fairfax with a little black device.
Declan had been a little scornful about the beacon idea – the propensity for scorn was one thing he and Tanya had in common – but Fiona seemed enthusiastic so she and Dan had set off through the rain, laughing together as they went.
I couldn’t quite get rid of the last twinge of uneasiness, or maybe it was the fact that I had been absent-mindedly munching on a soup capsule as I worked, and it didn’t really agree with me, especially in the afternoon. Declan had a master plan for us to grow our own vegetables and slaughter our own sheep, if we could catch one that was, but we hadn’t had time to put it into effect, what with struggle to find shelter, the raids into town to find useful stuff, and my own project, which by comparison I had to admit seemed somewhat frivolous. Rightly or wrongly, I was driven by my conviction that we couldn’t afford to lose our culture and civilization in this crisis. But maybe I had been exaggerating the importance of it all along.
I frowned as I stared at the latest set of photographs on the screen.
‘If we don’t rescue some of these buildings before the next lot of gales it’s going to be too late. Look at the way they’re leaning inwards. Those are the worst I’ve seen.’
Tanya and Declan each gave the pictures a cursory glance before returning to their verbal fencing.
‘So,’ said Declan, drawing out the word, ‘what would you like us to do tomorrow, Ms Fairfax?’
‘It depends on the weather,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to put anybody at risk, and if the buildings are in such a precarious state…’
‘That’s just Gavin being over-cautious,’ he said. ‘They’ve stood for hundreds of years, a lot of them. There’s no reason why one storm should completely de-stabilise them.’
I could think of lots of reasons, but I knew Declan wouldn’t listen to me. Maybe Tanya Fairfax could get through to him.
‘I’d better come with you one of those days and have a look for myself,’ she said, surprising me.
‘No need for that, I’m sure,’ said Declan. ‘No offence, but we try to only take people who are used to it and can
‘Do you plan to take the buildings apart and re-assemble them on higher ground? Or this all just for the record?’
‘Are you planning to offer your help with it?’
‘That isn’t in my gift,’ she said.
‘Well, it isn’t my decision either. I just know that if we don’t start recording now, it will be too late. It is already, in many ways that matter.’
She nodded. ‘Good analysis. You’re quite a clear thinker, aren’t you?’
And you’re quite a patronising middle-aged woman, I wanted to say but didn’t. Fortunately Declan appeared at that moment.
‘How’s it going?’ he enquired.
‘All right,’ I said.
‘He’s being understated again,’ said Tanya. ‘It’s going extremely well.’
Declan glanced quizzically between us and said, ‘Understatement. Yes, that’s Gavin’s trademark, sure enough.’
‘How are you doing?’ I asked him, uncomfortable with his scrutiny on top of Tanya Fairfax’s interrogation – as I saw it.
‘Not so much for us to do now we have the lads,’ said Declan.
‘But you’re vital to the task,’ Tanya assured him. ‘They wouldn’t know where to start without your organisational skills.’
‘Why, thank you kindly, Ms Fairfax,’ he said, sounding amused. I expect Declan could recognise her patronising ways as well as I could. I wondered what she would have to say to Dan or Fiona if they should happen to put in an appearance too.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen either of them today. I felt a quick stab of alarm before remembering they had been scheduled to go off together to find a suitable place to build a beacon, which we had decided would be a useful way of communicating with other groups, just in case they didn’t all have a Tanya Fairfax with a little black device.
Declan had been a little scornful about the beacon idea – the propensity for scorn was one thing he and Tanya had in common – but Fiona seemed enthusiastic so she and Dan had set off through the rain, laughing together as they went.
I couldn’t quite get rid of the last twinge of uneasiness, or maybe it was the fact that I had been absent-mindedly munching on a soup capsule as I worked, and it didn’t really agree with me, especially in the afternoon. Declan had a master plan for us to grow our own vegetables and slaughter our own sheep, if we could catch one that was, but we hadn’t had time to put it into effect, what with struggle to find shelter, the raids into town to find useful stuff, and my own project, which by comparison I had to admit seemed somewhat frivolous. Rightly or wrongly, I was driven by my conviction that we couldn’t afford to lose our culture and civilization in this crisis. But maybe I had been exaggerating the importance of it all along.
I frowned as I stared at the latest set of photographs on the screen.
‘If we don’t rescue some of these buildings before the next lot of gales it’s going to be too late. Look at the way they’re leaning inwards. Those are the worst I’ve seen.’
Tanya and Declan each gave the pictures a cursory glance before returning to their verbal fencing.
‘So,’ said Declan, drawing out the word, ‘what would you like us to do tomorrow, Ms Fairfax?’
‘It depends on the weather,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to put anybody at risk, and if the buildings are in such a precarious state…’
‘That’s just Gavin being over-cautious,’ he said. ‘They’ve stood for hundreds of years, a lot of them. There’s no reason why one storm should completely de-stabilise them.’
I could think of lots of reasons, but I knew Declan wouldn’t listen to me. Maybe Tanya Fairfax could get through to him.
‘I’d better come with you one of those days and have a look for myself,’ she said, surprising me.
‘No need for that, I’m sure,’ said Declan. ‘No offence, but we try to only take people who are used to it and can
Similar Books
