The Puffin of Death Read Online Free PDF

center line of the highway.
    â€œThe sheep?”
    She laughed. “No, Teddy, the scenery.”
    Unlike the barren lava fields I’d seen during yesterday’s drive from the airport to Reykjavik, the scenery along this part of Iceland’s Ring Road, which looped around the entire country, was gorgeous. As the sun rose, I saw glacier-topped mountains to our left, and lush, emerald-green pastures to our right. Herds of shaggy Icelandic horses grazed peacefully in those pastures, careful to make wide berths around the steaming hot springs the country was famous for. Every now and then a shooting geyser erupted from one of the hot springs, splattering the area around it with scalding water. It didn’t faze the horses, which were known for their steady temperament.
    At one point during our drive, Bryndis parked on the side for a few minutes and drew my attention to a seemingly peaceful-looking mountain capped by a glacier.
    â€œThat’s Eyjafjallajökull,” she said. “Remember back in 2010 when one of our volcanoes erupted and disrupted air travel all across Europe? There is the villain.”
    â€œYou mean there’s a volcano underneath all that snow?”
    â€œThat is true of most of our volcanoes—we have more than a hundred—which is why Iceland is called ‘the land of fire and ice.’ But only around thirty keep erupting, which does cause some inconvenience from time to time. When Eyjafjallajökull blew, a few hundred people had to be evacuated.”
    I tried pronouncing the unpronounceable. “Eya…Eyafah-alla…what?” My American tongue made it sound like a Middle Eastern culinary dish.
    â€œAY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl-uh,” she said slowly. “ Eyja means ‘island’ and fjall means ‘mountain.’ When you put them all together and add jökull , Eyjafjallajökull literally means ‘the glacier on top of the mountains you can see the islands from.’ Not so hard when you break it down, eh?”
    â€œIf you say so.”
    She laughed. “As bad as Eyjafjallajökull was to us, do you see that big hump several miles to the south?”
    From here, that “big hump” was a snow-covered slope that looked perfect for skiing.
    â€œThat is not snow, Teddy,” Bryndis said, as if reading my mind. “It is another glacier, and underneath all the ice lies Katla, an even bigger volcano than Eyjafjallajökull. Much, much bigger! In legend, Katla was a cruel witch who was chased out of a village because of her evil ways, and every now and then, she takes her revenge. Our scientists say she is long overdue for an eruption and that when she blows, we may have to take to the boats. I will bet you hope you are back safe in California when that happens, eh?”
    I’d once been in Hawaii when Kilauea erupted, wiping out several homes, so I wasn’t eager to see anything like that again. Compared to Eyjafjallajökull or even Kilauea, Katla appeared as gentle as the lambs grazing on the side of the Ring Road. In the early morning light, soft clouds hovered above its peaceful slopes.
    Bryndis read my mind again. “No worries! We always get earthquakes before an eruption, and other than a couple of bumps in the past few days, nothing has happened.”
    â€œBumps?”
    â€œYou did not notice the one last night? Iceland averages several quakes a week, all perfectly safe. But you being from California, you must be used to them, right?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “Now take a look at the pretty green hill in front of Eyjafjallajökull. That is part of a lava flow created by the volcano more than a thousand years ago. See the buildings caved into the rock? Those are ancient dwellings our ancestors used to live in. Now they are used for storage, and during especially bad weather, as shelter for farm animals.”
    â€œYou’re telling me Vikings used to live in