Chapter Thirty-one
Penny has been led into a comfortable sitting room, which is very English with its soft creams and roses. Her hostess offers her some tea, all so cozy and inviting in front of a warm fire. Must be some Anglo-Saxon in this Beth St. John, especially with the cornflower gold hair and those blue eyes. Penny decides she likes this lady. The others she's not so sure about, especially the host, Josef Kostan, who excuses himself as soon as he's seen that all is under control. Curious, Penny wonders, just what or whom needs to be controlled? Certainly not little old me, I'm harmless. Or am I in some other way a threat? Oh, where are my manners? Beth is asking another question.
"I live part time here in Aspen with my daughter, Brigit, who is away visiting some friends this holiday. She's in University at Oslo, finishing up her dual degrees in paleontology and ancient languages. Yes, it does run in the family as both my parents were in the sciences, too. No, Dr. Lundgren, my late husband, was an M.D., a bone specialist. That's how we met, actually. I was on a dig in 1993 Greenland inspecting some Viking bones. That's one of my sidelines, anthropology, which got turned into a full time position in Denver after he passed away."
They're all looking at me, thought Penny, especially the one called Mick. He's smiling at his wife. I've passed some sort of test, whatever it was, and now I'm going to hear from them. The truth. Granted, it was just a glance but I know what I saw at that Reception. And sure enough, this is going to be the biggest news of the decade. If I'm allowed to release it.
"I appreciate your hospitality, folks, now can we talk about these Vikings that you appear to have discovered? I'm dying to meet them."