Larkrigg Fell Read Online Free PDF Page B

Vikings,’ she explained and added with a chuckle, as most things do around here. No punching or bullying allowed. It’s not so much size as strength that counts, and some pretty canny thinking. ’
    A group of men were gathering around a green sward of grass, not roped off in any way but clearly selected as the ideal spot. The older men were smart in their best suits, hair slicked back while many of the younger ones were in shirt and jeans.
    ‘Now this is what I call talent,’ Sarah said, running a practised eye over the assembled company.
    ‘They’ve certainly had their porridge,’ Tessa agreed, laughing.
    ‘Good for wrestlers, is it, porridge?’
    ‘It does no harm. Ah, there’s Andrew. Andrew Barton from Cathra Crag. I’ll introduce you later.’ Tessa indicated one young man with fair, fly away hair that flopped disarmingly over a broad forehead. His cheerful face lit with a wide smile when he saw her and he nodded as Tessa waved happily back.
    ‘Well, well,’ Sarah said. ‘Friend of yours is he?’
    ‘We go a long way back. Went to school together.’
    ‘Hm. Good muscles.’
    ‘It’s the farming which does that. If they can lift a ewe, they can “take hold”, that is wrestle,’ Tessa explained, laughing.
    Beth glanced covertly at the young man from beneath her lashes, trying not to be too obvious but curious to see what kind of man Tessa favoured. Dressed in open-necked shirt and jeans he looked relaxed and friendly, the kind of man any girl would be glad to know. But he wasn’t looking in Tessa’s direction at all. His eyes, unsurprisingly, were on Sarah.
    Beth sighed, feeling strangely deflated.

 
    Chapter Three
    Andrew Barton stood tall and straight, lightly built but with well muscled arms and shoulders. His lean, almost boyish face and pale grey eyes were entirely engrossed in taking instructions from a small, older man with pink-tipped ears beneath a dark basin-cut hair style. As if sensing Beth’s interest, he half turned and looked directly into her eyes. For a long moment their gaze held and for the life of her she couldn’t break away. Then he smiled and, faintly flustered, she turned quickly away, embarrassed by her own curiosity.
    He went into a small white tent and after some moments returned, dressed in a white silk sleeveless vest and pants tucked into black stockings. Over these he wore velvet briefs, very finely embroidered with swirls and flowers.
    ‘Don’t you dare giggle,’ Tessa hissed into her ear. ‘This is a traditional costume. Serious stuff.’
    And so it seemed. Moving forward, the two opponents shook hands then grasped each other around the back, each man placing his chin on the other’s right shoulder.
    ‘This is the hold which makes this kind of wrestling distinctive,’ Tess whispered. ‘They rarely hurt each other. The object is to get their opponent to take three falls.’
    The two men were stamping their stocking feet, set well apart for good balance. They made strange little grunting sounds as they moved round and round.
    ‘Good God,’ Sarah said, ‘They look like a four-legged beast.’
    ‘They might only seem slim and wiry but some of these men are so tough I wouldn’t care to get on the wrong side of them.’
    ‘I wouldn’t mind a tackle.’ The grey streaks in Sarah’s violet eyes sparkled with interest. Beth said nothing, but her own gaze was fastened upon the two figures in their strange balletic stance.
    The match lasted for some time, as several throws failed. Then Andrew slid his hip under the other man’s stomach and using it as a lever, threw him over his shoulder. She couldn’t help but cry out when both men hit the ground but Andrew had won the fall. He took one himself next when the other man struck his legs out from beneath him. They heaved and panted and swung about and the girls became completely engrossed, willing Andrew to win. The men rolled and bounced and Beth wondered how many bruises they suffered, despite the lushness