Relics Read Online Free PDF

had been touched.
    Cooper stepped forward, dug his fingers into the soil behind the edge of one of the circular rocks, grasped the rock and braced his shoulder against it. George Perry added his considerable bulk to the effort and they were joined by a third man, whom Kim recognized as Ian Russell. Perry was a grey-haired individual and despite the chill inside the subterranean chamber, dark rings of sweat were visible beneath his armpits. Kim directed the beam of her powerful torch at the rock and watched as the trio of men braced themselves. At a signal from Cooper they began to tug on the stone.
    Gritting his teeth, Cooper pulled as hard as he could, feeling a slight movement.
    The other two men also noticed that the stone was beginning to shift and they re-doubled their efforts.
    An inch.
    Two inches.
    The concerted effort was working.
    Three inches.
    Several small fragments of the rock broke off and fell to the ground, and Perry found that he was losing his handhold. He swiftly dug his hands in behind the stone once more, scraping his palms as he did so.
    Six inches.
    Kim stepped forward, aiming the torch beam into the blackness behind the monolith.
    Eight inches.
    Russell grunted in pain as his finger slipped and part of his nail was torn away as far as the cuticle. A dark globule of blood welled up and dripped from the end of the digit.
    One foot and still they heaved, trying to clear a gap large enough to squeeze through.
    The skeleton suspended on the rock shuddered slightly as the great stone was moved. Two of the fingers broke off and dropped to the ground.
    Cooper, his face sheathed in sweat, was finding it difficult to get his breath. The effort of moving the rock was over-exerting his strength and the cloying atmosphere inside the shaft wasn’t helping.
    ‘Stop,’ he grunted and the other two men carefully released their hold on the stone.
    Reaching into his pocket, Russell pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at the blood from his injured finger, but he seemed more concerned with what lay behind the rock than with his own discomfort.
    Cooper took the torch from Kim and stood by the entrance they had unblocked. The gap was large enough to admit him now but he hesitated, shining the torch beam through the blackness to what lay beyond.
    It was a tunnel.
    As Cooper stood there he felt the beads of perspiration on his forehead turning cold, as if the icy breeze were freezing them into dozens of crystal beads.
    He didn’t move.
    Kim looked at him and frowned, wondering why the archaeologist did not advance into the tunnel. He had been so eager to discover its secrets that she could not understand why he should hesitate now.
    She sucked in a startled breath as the muscles in her body suddenly seemed to spasm, as if some powerful electric current were being pumped through her for long seconds. The feeling passed and then she was aware of a rancid stench, much more powerful than that in the shaft, but it was carried on no breeze; it simply hung in the air like a noxious invisible blanket.
    Perry coughed and covered his face with one hand.
    For what seemed like an eternity no one moved. Finally, as if suddenly galvanized into action, Cooper eased his way through the gap into the waiting tunnel.
    The ground was surprisingly soft beneath his feet, and clay-like in consistency. The walls, too, were porous, almost clammy to the touch.
    ‘There must be a lot of moisture in the soil,’ said Kim, following him inside, touching the wall with her fingers.
    ‘It’s amazing,’ said Perry. ‘There don’t appear to be any stantions to support the tunnel roof and yet it seems solid.’
    ‘The Celts were very skilled builders and architects,’ Cooper reminded him. ‘You only have to look at the broch of Midhowe to realize that.’
    ‘The broch?’ Russell said.
    ‘It’s a stone tower in the Orkneys,’ Kim told him, ‘said to have been built by the Celts over 2,000 years ago.’
    Ahead of her, Cooper found that the