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ChapterTwenty-Four
Brynn dumped a wheelbarrow load of rocks into a huge pile. “This job sucks. It’s like being on a chain gang.”
“The whole dig can’t be this way,” Courtney grumbled. “I’ll die.”
Olivia could relate to her team’s frustration. All of them were covered in a thick layer of dirt and sweat. They’d been moving boulders and pulling weeds for hours.
“Like I told you before, this is only the first day,” she said. “We’re prepping the site for excavation.”
“The school couldn’t afford a few laborers to do this shit work?” Brynn asked. “Our tuition should have covered it.”
For once, Olivia agreed with Brynn. The field school was more expensive than it should have been, especially for students outside the UC system. But Olivia couldn’t admit that. “Dr. Roth wants you to experience every aspect of excavation. I promise it will get better.”
Brynn plunked down next to their pile of rocks and fanned herself. “It has to be break time by now. I’m dying in this heat.”
“Not yet. Make sure to drink water whenever you need it.” Olivia pointed to one of the gallon jugs she’d brought from camp.
“That water’s already warm,” Brynn said. “We should have brought a cooler full of ice and stocked it with water bottles. Or Diet Coke.”
“When do we get to do the real archaeology?” Courtney asked. “Like, with trowels and stuff?”
“Soon, I promise,” Olivia said. Clearly, Brynn and Courtney hadn’t been listening when she’d reviewed the process earlier. “After lunch, we’ll be washing and sorting our finds in the shaded area, so you’ll get a break from the sun.”
Now that she and Rick had made up, life had thrown another wrench in her path. For the three-week excavation unit, the students were divided into three teams, each one assigned a different trench on the dig site. Rather than getting to work with Rick, Olivia was supervising a trench that included Brynn and Courtney, which meant she had to deal with their whining.
If that wasn’t enough, TJ had decided to spend a few hours each day digging with them. As the resident lithics expert, he was meant to be working with the stone tools they’d found on the survey, but—as he put it—he couldn’t resist getting his hands dirty. Though Olivia no longer minded his stories, he and Brynn sniped at each other so constantly even Courtney was fed up with them.
The students had begun excavating this morning after three days of touring Cyprus, visiting ruins and monuments, and giving their site presentations. Today, when they’d first arrived at the Nea Paphos Archaeological Park, their morning had gotten off to a deceptively easy start. They’d toured the Roman ruins of Paphos, which included three villas, an ancient theater, and a building displaying beautifully preserved mosaics.
Their dig site was located a quarter mile from the ruins in a fenced-off area that contained the remains of another Roman villa, discovered two years ago. Dated to the third century AD, the expansive villa was known as the House of Heracles. So far, it was more like the House of Giant Boulders.
Even if the first day wasn’t living up to anyone’s expectations, Olivia wasn’t disappointed. Based on her experience at Clear Lake, she knew the excavation would get more interesting once they dug past the modern layer of dirt. Though she’d never led her own crew before, she could easily ask Rick or Stuart for help if need be, since they were supervising the other two trenches.
Juno jumped down into their trench. “Kalimera. I’m ready to rock and roll.” The sleeves of her t-shirt were rolled up, revealing impressive muscles and a skull tattoo. She grabbed the shovel Courtney had set down. “Are you using this?”
“You take it. Please.”
Olivia regarded Juno with amusement. “What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be processing finds with Dusty.” Earlier that day, Rick and Stuart had set up a makeshift lab consisting of four long tables shaded by a series of canopies on the other side of the site. “It’s much cooler there.”
“I got bored. I can only sit still for so long.” Juno shot a glance at Courtney and Brynn. “I figured things might go more quickly with some real muscle.” She grinned and flexed a bicep.
TJ stopped digging. “Some of us aren’t slacking off. You think this is hot? When I worked in Jordan, it got up to a hundred and ten in the shade. People were dropping like flies.”
“Yes, you and your Jordanian adventure,” Juno said. “Sometimes I wonder if it happened or if it’s an elaborate story in your head.”
“It’s true! Do you want to see pictures?” TJ grabbed his phone out of his back pocket.
At the sight of Grant approaching their trench, Olivia tensed up. “No pictures. Get back to work. Dr. Nilsson’s on his way.”
Though the assistant director wasn’t participating in the physical labor of excavation, he made a point of conducting periodic inspections, in which he’d comment on their work. He’d already snapped at her team for taking too long during their morning break.
“On it, boss.” TJ winked at Juno. “Remind me to show you my photos during lunch.”
She rolled her eyes. “Can’t wait.”
Olivia dabbed at her forehead with a wet bandanna, bracing herself for Grant’s inspection. While she appreciated the extra level of responsibility she’d been given, supervising her own trench wasn’t going to be easy.
Still, no matter how exhausting her day, she had a sweet reward waiting for her tonight. Sneaking out to Aphrodite’s temple would be a breeze since everyone would be focused on the poker tournament taking place at Camp Kouklia. Dusty had set it up after hearing TJ brag about his prowess as a card shark. Naturally, all the students wanted in on the challenge. For Olivia, it was the ideal chance to slip away with Rick. This time, they’d bring a pack full of supplies.
