specialties like fresh fish and shrimp. Most of it’s terrific, but don’t try the dried halibut, the stuff they call ræklinger.” Kelly laughed and shook her head. “You’ll be sorry.”
“You’ve been on this tour before?”
“Yeah, but I’m not here for the tour this time. Pippa and I…that’s one of our guides.” She pointed Pippa out. “We’re hiking back.”
“Hiking? How far is that?”
“About twenty kilometers. Twelve and a half miles.”
“That sounds like fun. I might try that myself on my next day off.” She held Kelly’s gaze briefly, then drained her coffee cup. “Greenland is such a remarkable place, isn’t it?”
“It’s fascinating,” Kelly agreed.
Sonja’s eyes lit up as she caught sight of a beautifully sculpted iceberg approaching on the port side. It had a smooth-sided hole through the center with a halo of soft blue framing it. “I have to get this.”
She stepped to the side to take photos. Though the midday glare off the ice wasn’t ideal for photography, Kelly unpacked her own camera. Removing the lens cap, she got momentarily distracted by Sonja leaning over the railing, her sweater riding up to reveal the bare skin of her lower back, her jeans stretched tight across her shapely rear end. Kelly pressed her lips together to suppress an inappropriate smile, admiring the view.
Chapter Four
By the time they’d reached the halfway point of their journey, most of the passengers had lost their initial sense of excitement and were seated quietly, huddling together under blankets. Kelly and Pippa stood on deck talking to the young Danish couple, Christian and Brita, who were both fluent in English, both tall, thin, blond and blue-eyed.
“This is our first trip to Greenland,” Brita said. “We’ve just come up from Narsaq. We were there for three days.”
“Did you see Brattahlid?” Pippa asked.
“We saw it,” Christian said, nodding. “We love the old Viking sites. We have seen most of them in Denmark.”
“What’s Brattahlid?” Kelly asked.
“It was a Viking village,” Pippa answered. “Established by Eric the Red in the tenth century. It’s called the Eastern Settlement and there are some ruins and a reconstructed chapel and longhouse.”
“Is there anything to see of the Western Settlement?” Christian asked.
“Not really. There’s been excavation, but it isn’t a site for tourists. Same for the Middle Settlement.”
“Middle Settlement?” Brita asked. “We have not heard of it.”
“It was smaller than the other two. There are no written records of its existence so we don’t know who lived there, but ruins have been uncovered that show about twenty farms. The site was occupied for a few hundred years until the fourteenth century like the other two.”
“What happened to them?” Kelly asked.
“Nobody knows for sure. There are a lot of unknowns regarding the Greenland Vikings. All we know is that when the Little Ice Age was over in the eighteenth century, missionaries came back looking for the colonists and didn’t find any. The settlements had been abandoned for a long time by then.”
“They all died,” Christian said confidently. “They couldn’t make it here without supplies from back home. Once they were cut off, they died.”
“Most of them probably did die,” Pippa agreed soberly. “But some of them might have survived.”
“If they had,” he reasoned, “they would have still been here when the ships came back to find them, wouldn’t they?”
Pippa shook her head. “Not necessarily. They could have survived by assimilating into the native population. The Thule were here at the time. They were well adapted and did survive. As you can see all around you. The Thule were the ancestors of the Greenland Inuits. Like me. It could explain why I have blue eyes when nobody else in my family does.” She flashed Christian her playful smile. “So maybe the Greenland Vikings didn’t die out completely. Maybe
“You’ve been on this tour before?”
“Yeah, but I’m not here for the tour this time. Pippa and I…that’s one of our guides.” She pointed Pippa out. “We’re hiking back.”
“Hiking? How far is that?”
“About twenty kilometers. Twelve and a half miles.”
“That sounds like fun. I might try that myself on my next day off.” She held Kelly’s gaze briefly, then drained her coffee cup. “Greenland is such a remarkable place, isn’t it?”
“It’s fascinating,” Kelly agreed.
Sonja’s eyes lit up as she caught sight of a beautifully sculpted iceberg approaching on the port side. It had a smooth-sided hole through the center with a halo of soft blue framing it. “I have to get this.”
She stepped to the side to take photos. Though the midday glare off the ice wasn’t ideal for photography, Kelly unpacked her own camera. Removing the lens cap, she got momentarily distracted by Sonja leaning over the railing, her sweater riding up to reveal the bare skin of her lower back, her jeans stretched tight across her shapely rear end. Kelly pressed her lips together to suppress an inappropriate smile, admiring the view.
Chapter Four
By the time they’d reached the halfway point of their journey, most of the passengers had lost their initial sense of excitement and were seated quietly, huddling together under blankets. Kelly and Pippa stood on deck talking to the young Danish couple, Christian and Brita, who were both fluent in English, both tall, thin, blond and blue-eyed.
“This is our first trip to Greenland,” Brita said. “We’ve just come up from Narsaq. We were there for three days.”
“Did you see Brattahlid?” Pippa asked.
“We saw it,” Christian said, nodding. “We love the old Viking sites. We have seen most of them in Denmark.”
“What’s Brattahlid?” Kelly asked.
“It was a Viking village,” Pippa answered. “Established by Eric the Red in the tenth century. It’s called the Eastern Settlement and there are some ruins and a reconstructed chapel and longhouse.”
“Is there anything to see of the Western Settlement?” Christian asked.
“Not really. There’s been excavation, but it isn’t a site for tourists. Same for the Middle Settlement.”
“Middle Settlement?” Brita asked. “We have not heard of it.”
“It was smaller than the other two. There are no written records of its existence so we don’t know who lived there, but ruins have been uncovered that show about twenty farms. The site was occupied for a few hundred years until the fourteenth century like the other two.”
“What happened to them?” Kelly asked.
“Nobody knows for sure. There are a lot of unknowns regarding the Greenland Vikings. All we know is that when the Little Ice Age was over in the eighteenth century, missionaries came back looking for the colonists and didn’t find any. The settlements had been abandoned for a long time by then.”
“They all died,” Christian said confidently. “They couldn’t make it here without supplies from back home. Once they were cut off, they died.”
“Most of them probably did die,” Pippa agreed soberly. “But some of them might have survived.”
“If they had,” he reasoned, “they would have still been here when the ships came back to find them, wouldn’t they?”
Pippa shook her head. “Not necessarily. They could have survived by assimilating into the native population. The Thule were here at the time. They were well adapted and did survive. As you can see all around you. The Thule were the ancestors of the Greenland Inuits. Like me. It could explain why I have blue eyes when nobody else in my family does.” She flashed Christian her playful smile. “So maybe the Greenland Vikings didn’t die out completely. Maybe
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