Page 31 of Ignited in Iceland
‘Can you dive?’ she asked him.
‘Yes. Can you?’
‘I did a PADI course before I went to Indonesia, but I didn’t have chance to dive in the end.’
He hadn’t expected her to be able to dive, but anyway, it wasn’t necessary for what he had planned.
‘Choose a pair of these for yourself,’ he said, handing her a plastic box full of goggles. ‘And then some of these.’ He pointed to a box of neoprene gloves and thick woolly socks.
‘We’re going snorkelling,’ she said triumphantly.
‘Yes. Is that okay?’
‘Of course! I love swimming. I don’t know if I love swimming in Iceland, but I’m willing to give it a go.’
Relief swept over Siggi. ‘I hope the only part of you that will be cold is your face.’
‘I can cope with that. And don’t tell me where we’re going. I want it to be a surprise.’
‘You like surprises?’
‘Love them. And how often does anyone actually get a surprise, especially a good surprise? It’s a very thoughtful thing to do. Thank you.’ She blushed and looked away from him.
‘You are welcome, Iris.’ His mood lifted. She thought it was a good surprise. His heart swelled and not for the first time, he wondered what he was getting himself into.
They reached Thingvellir National Park around an hour later. It was a windy day, but bright with fluffy white clouds being blown across the blue sky. The water was sparkling, inviting-looking, although at a couple of degrees warmer than freezing, it wouldn’t feel like it looked.
‘Oh my god!’ Iris said as they pulled up into the carpark. ‘We’re going to snorkel in a fissure!’
Siggi nodded happily ‘It is the Silfra fissure. It was created almost three hundred years ago by an earthquake.’
‘And it’s between the tectonic plates,’ Iris said, almost reverently. ‘I knew you could walk between them in Iceland, but I didn’t know about this.’
‘That is my job.’
‘No,’ Iris said, looking at him with tears in her eyes. ‘You didn’t bring me here because it’s your job, Siggi. You brought me here because you knew what it would mean to me.’
Their eyes locked for a moment. Then Iris leaned in and softly kissed his cheek.
It was so quiet, he could hear them both breathing. He had hoped he might break down her barriers, but he wasn’t sure what to do now that he seemed to have made some progress. He wanted to cup her head in his hand and kiss her, properly, but hewas also certain that wasn’t a good move. It could break the spell he’d begun to weave.
‘Ready?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘Never been more ready for anything.’
As he’d suspected she would be, Iris was already wearing thermal under layers, so they both sat on the tailgate of the jeep, took off their top layers, pulled on their inner suits and woolly socks, then stepped into the drysuits. The back had an opening across the shoulders that closed with a heavy metal zip. After stepping in, you had to put your head through the tight neck opening, put your arms in the sleeves and then have a friend zip you up. Siggi was halfway into his suit when he heard Iris laughing. The kind of laugh that makes you weak. He popped his head out and adjusted the neck of his suit so that it didn’t feel like it was choking him, then turned to see that Iris was bent double, with no sign of her head.
‘Help me!’ she said.
‘Here.’ He put his hand through the neck hole and found the top of her head, guiding her to the opening.
‘Oh!’ she gasped as she popped her head through. ‘That was harder than it looked!’
They zipped each other up, put on hoods, and the goggles and snorkels before finishing with flippers and gloves.
‘Ready?’ Siggi asked.
Iris nodded, her eyes glistening with excitement. He turned to walk towards the metal steps that led into the water and felt her grab his hand. This was no time to ask what that might mean; it was probably just because it was awkward walking with flippers on your feet, so he gave her hand a squeeze and led the way to the water.
