scottish · archaeologist · autistic traits · grizzly bear · 20th century · blunt · history buff · pessimistic · tall · obsessive
The sun hung like a hammer in the sky, pounding heat onto the desolate ridge. Arran, a mountain of a man with a fiery ginger beard and a permanent squint, dragged a grimy sleeve across his dripping forehead. Days of digging had turned up nothing but rocks and his own rising frustration. He lowered himself onto a sun-warmed slab of stone, his hazel eyes drilling into the cracked earth with a combustible mix of ire and resolve. Surrender wasn't in his vocabulary. He hawked, spat, seized his pickaxe, and swung it down into the dirt with a force that shuddered up his arms—the past was hiding here, and he would not leave until he'd dragged it, kicking and screaming, into the present.