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Chapter Nine
Jackson got an early start today. He packed a few small brushes, hand shovels, trowels, and rakes into his backpack. He used a larger, more industrial shovel like a walking stick right now as he returned to the site of the dagger find. He’d almost texted Isabel to ask if Blaze could join him as the dog appeared to have an archaeologist’s instincts and claws made for digging, but he was pretty sure she’d see through that thinly veiled attempt to have contact with her again.
Patience.
She’d agreed to more dates so what was he worried about? He could go a day without seeing her. She was here to help her grandfather and so far he’d monopolized her time on two occasions. Yesterday’s monopolizing had been phenomenal, but he needed to let her do what she came here to do. Besides, he had stuff to do too. Funding wasn’t going to drop in his lap. That was abundantly clear due to the four emails in his inbox this morning, all of which said how nice it was to touch base with him, but sadly, money was being funneled into other pursuits at the present time. What those other pursuits were, none of the emails specified, but Jackson didn’t know what could be more important than piecing together history from archaeological discoveries.
Anyway... at least he had the dagger to make him feel as if he was back in the game a bit. Digging in the woods of Vermont was a far cry from the exotic places he’d been, but dirt was dirt he supposed. What difference did it make where he was excavating?
He’d done a little research last night and determined that no other archaeological finds had been recorded in this area so Blaze’s discovery of the dagger had been the first. Jackson had to entertain the possibility that the dagger was a fluke. It could be the only thing here and it also could have been placed here. If that was the case, he might not find a single additional item buried in the ground and that would be the end of this investigation.
If he did find more artifacts, however... well, he didn’t want to get himself all excited yet, but his research into Native American tribes of Northern Vermont told him a discovery in this area would be of monumental significance.
Like career-enhancing significance.
He reached the spot they’d marked yesterday and the first thing Jackson did was take several photos of the area. He uploaded them to a program on his laptop and quickly turned the photos into a coordinate grid so he could label exactly where the dagger had been found. With any luck, he’d be adding locations of other finds to the grid today.
Setting his laptop on his backpack at the base of a birch tree, Jackson visually surveyed the area to start. The spot where Blaze had dug was about as deep as one of Jackson’s legs to the knee and again, he wished he had the dog with him. Or a small excavator. He’d promised Eugene, however, he wouldn’t do anything crazy without the man’s direct approval so a shovel was the biggest tool he’d use today.
He started by measuring a one meter by one meter square around the spot where the dagger had been unearthed. He then scraped a layer of low brush away and set about digging. Tree roots and rocks made the digging laborious and in no time, Jackson had worked up a solid sweat. He stopped periodically to inspect each layer he uncovered and to rehydrate from a water bottle stowed in the side pouch of his backpack.
An hour passed. Then two. He began to think this site was a bust when he sat at the edge of the square he’d dug and noticed something in the pool of sunlight filtering into the dirt. Getting to his stomach, he reached his arms into the hole and carefully brushed away the dirt. When more jasper was uncovered, he hopped to his feet to grab his phone and took a few photos. Then he made a note of the location and used some of the smaller shovels and brushes to extract what appeared to be another dagger. This one was smaller than the first one and may have been used to skin small game. The handle was more delicate as was the blade, but there were few chips in it, suggesting it hadn’t been put under as much stress as the larger dagger Blaze had found yesterday.
When he had the small dagger completely free, Jackson immediately logged its location on his coordinate grid then bagged the dagger and labeled the find. He’d brought a small box in his backpack so he put the dagger in there to keep it from further damage. Then he set about widening his test area.
Jackson spent the entire morning sifting through dirt and finding more small treasures. A few spearheads, several shards of pottery, three pendants he suspected were carved of deer bone, and something also made of animal bone that could have been a musical instrument. Each find was logged, bagged, and tucked into the box for safekeeping.
Leaning against a maple tree, Jackson made some quick notes on next steps on his laptop. If he’d found this much in a small test area, what the hell else was buried in these woods? The possibilities made him giddy.
He decided now was a good time to take a break and have a bite to eat so he pulled out the peanut butter crackers he’d stashed in his bag and tore into them. While he munched, he pulled out his phone to see he had two messages. One was another negative response to a funding request. He deleted that. If this site turned out to be a major find, all those no thanks replies would be turning into donors throwing money at him. They’d all want to be the first to back the find and get the prestige of having their names associated with history. He’d probably be able to have his pick of donors.
Jackson felt a little bad about abandoning his dig in Brazil, but maybe if he concentrated his efforts here first, he could convince donors to fund him back there again. They might be excited enough to ride along with him for another adventure.
He opened the second message and wasn’t surprised to see the offer to join the faculty at Asherfield University in D.C. He had two colleagues who worked there and they’d mentioned opportunities to teach at the university to him on a few occasions. One or both of them must have gotten wind of his loss of funding on the Brazil dig. It was nice of them to extend a lifeline, but Jackson couldn’t see himself teaching archaeology. Sure, he loved to talk about it, but he’d much rather be doing it.
He saved that text message and stowed his phone in his backpack, eager to return to digging. Jackson spent the next hour getting knee deep in dirt, but he didn’t find any other artifacts. As he was considering starting another test site, some rustling nearby made him pause. Deer, moose, and bear sightings were common occurrences around these parts and the noise sounded bigger than a chipmunk. Slowly he turned around and a moment later, Blaze crashed through the brush and bolted right for him, his tail wagging like crazy.
“Hey, buddy.” Jackson put his shovel down and gave the pup some attention. “I’m glad you’re not a bear.”
“He can make a bear-sized mess if he wants to.” Isabel appeared on the path and as much as Jackson had enjoyed his time alone in the woods, he was glad to see her. “I hope we’re not interrupting you.”
He motioned for her to come over to him. “Best kind of interruption.” When she was about a foot away, he reached out and grabbed her, making her yelp. “I like that there isn’t any of that getting-to-know-you crap we need to weed through. I don’t have to feel weird about hauling you in for a kiss.”
“I always hate that awkwardness at the beginning of a relationship. It’s so fake.”
“None of that here.” He dipped his head down and captured her mouth in a kiss that could have turned the jasper he’d uncovered to liquid.
Isabel moaned her approval of the kiss and her arms tightened around his waist. Then he recalled he’d been sweating and was probably filthy.
“Shit.” He backed up a step, Isabel’s face registering displeasure at the kiss being cut short. “I’m sorry.” He pointed to her tank top. A white one of course. Well, semi-white now. “I got you dirty.”
“Not the first time I’ve been dirty with you, Doctor Hunky.” She brushed at the brown dust, but it was already in the fabric.
“We should probably get that shirt off you and washed right away.” He traced a finger under her chin before realizing his fingers weren’t what anyone would call clean either.
“We should definitely do that, but first tell me about your work here.” She gestured to the test area. “Did you find any more stuff?”
“Yeah, I did.”
