Jacob saw two men working with wheelbarrows.
“It’s not like digging for bones, but this pile has grown a bit out of hand. With the scent of rain in the air, we don’t want any of the work to be covered up with everything we’ve already painstakingly removed. For today, why don’t you three work together and then Monday, everyone can get back to the dig.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Head on over and get to work.”
“Yes, sir.” He nodded and watched the man walk down into the quarry with his papers as he removed the pencil from behind his ear.
The dig was amazing to behold. Men worked all over the quarry with bones protruding from the rocky layers. What an immense project!
Jacob didn’t envy the foreman’s job. Personally, he’d hate to be the one in charge. All the pressure was stress he didn’t wish to carry.
But digging in the dirt? This was where he belonged. Each day working at this dig was a step toward increasing his paleontological studies. Each hour was the chance to learn how God created this part of the earth, layer upon layer. His mind swirled with the possibilities of what they might find as he walked over to help the men clearing the enormous pile of debris.
“Jacob Duncan.” He introduced himself with a grin at the two men who’d stopped and stared. “I’m here to help you today.”
“Great.” The man closest to him with red hair relaxed a little. He held out a hand. “I’m Jim and this is Henry. Grabthat wheelbarrow over there and load it up with as much as you can. The fewer trips the better if we’re gonna finish today. We’ll show you where to haul it.”
“Got it.” Jacob rolled up his shirtsleeves, grabbed a shovel, and tightened his work gloves. Gripping the handles of the wheelbarrow, he made his way to the debris pile. The shovel scraped against the rock and soil. Red dust swirled in the air with each scoop. Once the barrow was full, he swiped sweat from his eyes, took a deep breath, and heaved the barrow up and forward on the unsteady path. His forearms burned in his attempt to keep the heavy load balanced. The wheel skipped and skidded over the gravel, tipping dangerously to one side. But he was too slow. His feet slipped, sending his load into the air and back to the ground in a shower of rocks and dirt. Air rushed from his lungs as he slammed into the ground.
Jacob clenched his eyes shut and tried to focus on calming the racing of his heart. Jim and Henry’s laughter echoed off the rocks. His face burned. They’d be no help in cleaning up his mess.
After a few moments, he sat up with a groan. Bits of rock and red clay covered his shoulders and chest. With one more push he stood and glanced at the sky. His eyebrows shot up. The usually cloudless Colorado skies, which had been blue and sunny, were now gray with the hint of rain. Clouds moved in over the Rocky Mountains rising out of the ridges to the west of them. And they weren’t white and fluffy. No, these were darker. Angrier.
He sighed. If he had to guess, they wouldn’t finish before the rain hit—especially with him spilling his first load—but he would do what he was told anyway.
And quick. Even if every muscle in his back, legs, and arms screamed at him.
Jacob righted the wheelbarrow and pulled his shovel from the pile of rubble. He began tossing the mess back into itswheeled container and tried to ignore the discouragement that threatened to creep into his heart.
He shifted his thoughts to Monday. If he could help them accomplishthistask then Monday would prove to be an incredible day. A day he could dig.
That was something to look forward to. Even with the grueling job in front of him, Jacob smiled. His dreams of one day becoming a paleontologistmightcome true.
Three
“Doubts have arisen in my mind concerning the Bible and fears as to the destiny of man. By earnestly praying to God and studying His Word more of these doubts are being removed. I mean to make a point of studying the Bible more this year.”
~Earl Douglass
MONDAY, APRIL8, 1889•OUTSIDEDENVER
Jacob let out a puff of breath, spraying red dust into the air. His hip was wedged between two ledges of rock. Stones pressed into his ribs and sweat trickled down his collar. Still, it was the only way to get to the dark edges he’d spotted an hour before. It took a trained eye to be able to tell the difference between rock, dirt, and potential fossil.
He tugged off a glove with his teeth. Running a bare finger down the ridge, the texture was smooth compared to the jagged rock surrounding it. It had to be a bone. Some of the other workers found a few vertebrae not too far from where he was last week before he started. It didn’t necessarily ensurethat his find was connected to the dig. He rolled to his back and stretched. But it didn’t mean it wasn’t part of the skeleton either.
Dust caked the corners of his mouth. He grimaced, feeling sand in his teeth. Another job hazard. Time for a water break. Then he would come back and see if there was a better way to dig out whatever he’d stumbled upon.
“Duncan!”
He scrambled to stand as Joe, the foreman, made his way to his station.
The wiry man clapped Jacob’s shoulder with surprising force and stared at the ledge he’d vacated. “Did you find something?”
“I think so.” Jacob pulled a kerchief out of his back pocket. “There’s an ivory-gray colored ridge. It feels like a bone, but I need a better angle to uncover more.”
Joe nodded. “It’ll have to wait. I need you to help with a rib removal in quadrant seven. I can send someone else over here to take a closer look.”
