Diggin' In The Dirt

[st_clare]

Andean Peru - 1978

The excavation was done. Now it was up to a more delicate touch to extract whatever treasures the earth held.

There had been two opportunities to go abroad on Council-related matters, one to South America and another to the countryside of France. Julianna's Spanish was better than her French, so she'd chosen Peru. And she'd really just been grateful to get out of England for a few months. Burying herself in work was a way to forget and to escape. That it was also rewarding made it even more worthwhile.

The day was mild, the slightest crisp breeze wafting over the campground. Julianna was watching the diggers congregating near the lip of the largest excavated pit. She didn't know what they'd find down there. Weapons, religious artifacts, scrolls. Even something as simple as a history of recorded births could be very enlightening. She knew others didn't find primitive cultures as fascinating as she did, but she had a particular field of interest.

The Watcher stepped out from beneath the sunshade when the chatter of the workmen picked up in volume. Had something already been found?

Comments

Diggin' In The Dirt

[ghargreaves]

Gerald looked up at the chattering group, the noise a little annoying, but the thrill of his discovery great enough to override any display of disdain. The flimsy shadecloth that had been hastily erected over the table he'd been working at was lazily flapping in the breeze, the support poles wavering, but holding position. The sieve he'd used was sitting in front of him on the table, the brushes and small hook lying in a bundle next to it. Dirt lay discarded, large lumps still in the sieve, the smaller particles having fallen away. The item that was causing the commotion lay revealed at last.

He tugged the silk kerchief from his pocket and carefully picked up the item. At first glance it looked like a smoothed pebble, colour similar to that of the dirt that had been carefully and painstakingly removed. But on closer inspection it was clear this was no ordinary pebble. The faces were smooth, how was still to be determined, but the etching into it, the face of a hooded, fanged creature, was what was making Gerald's eye twinkle with delight. "Found you!" he muttered to himself, his fingers closing around the stone for a brief moment as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the thrill of discovery.