Woo Hoo I broke 20K words with today’s writing. I know 25K is halfway but I always get excited at 20K as it never seems like I have written that many words until I look at the total, even though I know how many words I am putting down I still have the 1667 aim in my head as I write each morning so seeing the total of 20K always excites me. What can I say, somedays, its the little things.
Day 12
Ames tried to ignore the disquiet he felt inside as he turned away from the small village and focused on the path before him. His driver seemed to know where he was going and All Ames had to do was hold on. As the path was bumpy, holding on became something to focus on.
While gripping the seat tightly, Ames tried to study the area. It was clear the start of the path was one routinely used. As they moved further away from town he started to see new cuts. The established path which indeed looked like a foot path, ran through the center of the trail in a thin darker line of compacted soil. To the sides there were fresh cuts in the plants and in the ground showing where it had been freshly widened.
The cuts didn’t look like a single person or even a group of persons working together came through with hand tools. It looked more like something with a large blade swept through taking down both sides of the path in one fell swoop. Everything was chopped off to exactly the same height. While he was certain someone experienced with a blade might have done something similar, it looked just a shade to precise to be made by individual blades.
‘Someone brought a machine through.’
Ames thought he should be flattered and knew that when he next spoke with Folson he would express his gratitude for the widening of the path. He was grateful that they didn’t have to haul their gear through on foot, but he suspected the path wasn’t entirely made for their convenience.
He wasn’t sure why the thought struck him, after all who else would be out here. ‘The councilor wouldn’t answer my questions,’ Ames thought. He tried to dismiss the concern he felt over that, but it stuck in his mind like sand in a whirlpool. It kept churning up and catching the light as though demanding attention.
The scent of fresh cut greenery was strong and for a time he could only think of Folson and why he would have sent his team out here in the first place. ‘Maybe he has experienced and overly enthusiastic water management teams who just worked extensively.’
The farther away from town and the construction site they moved the less Folson’s story made sense. ‘I’ll see when we get there,’ Ames thought.
As to that, he could only hold on and hope that neither he nor the gear was bounced off of the vehicle. Eventually, they reached their destination. The train of vehicles pulled into a clearing and stopped. Ames could see that it was a small clearing at the end of the trail that was widened and well back from the sections of exposed site. He could see them, the ancient stones gleaming in the wide open area ahead of them. The drivers of the ATVs wasted no time in admiring the view.
The sun was lower in the sky and they were already casting glances to the deep woods as they removed the gear from the machines. Ames moved into help but he and his students weren’t moving as fast as the locals.
Ames noticed one fellow looked particularly nervous, his eyes darting constantly to the woods and back to his task as though he was afraid to look away.
‘Worried something might sneak up on him if he looks away,’ Ames thought.
The gear was quickly unloaded and his driver walked over to hand him the keys to the ATV he rode in on. “You know how to operate it?” he asked.
“Yes,” Ames replied. The man nodded and looked relieved. The others had already turned their vehicles around and were getting ready to head back. His driver climbed on the back of one of the vshicles and then the team of them were off again, heading back to the village. The sound of the vehicles died down leaving only first silence and then the sounds of the woods around them.
“Well they couldn’t wait to be gone,” Levant, Bacol’s spy said. “Probably scared of the monsters in the dark.” He laughed.
Ames felt his irritation but tamped it down behind a mild tone. “Possible,” Ames said. “But I for one would not want to attempt those newly widened trails in the dark. Those ruts were bad enough when you can see well enough to go around the worst of them.”
“That’s true enough,” Mican replied. “I think my spleen was shaken to bits.”
“Your spleen?” Kero asked.
“I think it’s my spleen,” Mican returned. “I’m better with bones than organs.”
“Let’s set up camp while we still have the light,” Ames said. “We can discuss damaged spleens after all the gear is protected.”
It took only a few minutes to decide where things would go in their small camp. There were plenty of spaces for the personal tents after their mess tend and supply depo were established. The meals were all the kind that needed no preparation. They came in packs and were in fact the same the military used on campaigns. While they were rough to live on for an entire season, Ames was grateful for them. They were easily measured so they wouldn’t run short and indeed had some extra. They were proportioned and no one had to waste time in preparing them. He knew that once he returned to the city he would wash up and treat himself to a decadent meal at a local restaurant to make up for the field rations but while in the field they were perfect.
With the communal sections complete and all of the gear stew under protective cover, each of them put up their own personal tents. They were small and big enough only to stretch out a sleeping bag and pile personal gear in the end. They kept the tents close more to leave room for the others who would arrive in a day or two than for companionship.
There was space for a campfire established but by the time everything was set up, the sun was sinking low and wandering the woods looking for firewood seemed a potentially dangerous prospect. They ate their meals accompanied by companionable bickering and then retired to their tents.
“It will be an early morning,” he warned the others. “We need to do filed walking and set up our preliminary grids before the others start arriving.”
Even so as he settled into his tent, he knew the others would remain up late. Going to bed at dark was unusual for them and their bodies would need time to accustom themselves to the new rhythm. ‘The early rise for them tomorrow will be rough,’ he thought.
They weren’t accustomed to early mornings any more than they were to early nights. He knew in time they would adjust, but it would be a rough couple of mornings as they all got into the rhythm of the dig site.
Ames always loved the first night on a site. He loved the feeling of leaving the civilized world behind. Overhead there were stars brighter than he had seen since his last site and he marveled at them astonished anew at how bright they really were without competition from man made lights. Tonight there were clouds overhead blocking the stars so it was the deep velvety darkness that wrapped around them causing him to feel the separation from the inhabited world.
Somehow this darkness felt heavier than he was accustomed to and Ames was pleased to retreat into his tent rather than sit outside and feel the night settle around him. Tonight he wanted the man made fabric that could keep moisture out and resist the wind and any other elements nature threw at him. He wanted to curl up and feel protected in his own personal space.
Surprisingly the others didn’t feel the need to stay up either. Usually he watched the night form and well aware that in the beginning many of the students felt more comfortable without his visual presence, he retreated to his tent. In time that distance would wear off and it would just be the team at the site instead of the professor and his students, but that first night there was always a separation.
Sometimes he would lay in his tent and listen to their first night conversations. The fabric of the tent might have prevented the elements from reaching him but they did little to block sound. Tonight no one seemed inclined to talk or to stay out of the tent. He wondered it they too felt the weight of the night as he did, or if it was just the absence of light drawing them into their tents.
‘With a fire it will be different,’ he reminded himself. He would have to make certain they stopped early enough to gather firewood.
While Ames cautioned his students about staying up too late, He too was unaccustomed to going to bed this early or to waking up as early as the site would demand. He expected he would toss and turn as he tried to settle. Instead, Ames found himself falling into a deep sleep.
He was sure he dreamed but when he woke with the sun, all Ames could remember was the feeling of curiosity of being watched. There was also a trace of eagerness. Ames wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but set his dreams aside as he began his day. Dreams and their meaning had always been Garana’s thing and he didn’t think now was the time to delve into it.
Ames woke and dressed. He missed the fire and the hot water it could bring to the morning, but decided the breakfast packet was sufficient. Ames moved about making enough noise deliberately waking the others. He disliked having to call them to rise and felt that making the noise so they woke on their own was preferable. There was something too intimate about waking them up specifically.
His noise had the required effect and slowly everyone climbed from their sleeping bags and into the morning. As Ames expected there were bleary eyes and yawns as everyone got into motion. Cold water splashed on the face helped as did breakfast.
“We are going to start with our field walk this morning,” Ames told them as they ate. For now we will concentrate on the open area as it is the most likely to be damaged in the next flooding. Once we have cleared all objects from the ground’s surface we will start to set up our grid. Later we will proceed into the outer areas to see just how far the site extends, but it will be an effort simply to get through the exposed areas.”
“So the expanded sections are for next year’s dig?” Levant asked.
“If we find anything that will be the plan,” Ames told him. “And why we will establish he extend of the site once we have worked with the at risk area. That way we can plan future digs.”
Ames noticed Karo chewing on his lip and looking back towards the path.
“Something wrong?” Ames asked.
“Its just…well the wider path is new but it followed the old walking trail, right?” Karo said.
“It did,” Ames replied.
“Well the LMC expanded the path but why was there a path out here to begin with?” he asked. “If it were ancient and not in use then it would have grown over ages ago. But it is still clearly here.”
“Maybe it’s a game trail for hunters,” Mican said with a shrug.
“The councilman said there were people who occasionally passed through the area,” Ames said. “I asked who and why and he didn’t answer. When I go to check on the security of our finds I will see if I can get a better answer. For now, se stick to our task at hand.”
“We don’t want to run into anyone’s secrets out here,” Mican replied. He laughed.
“We certainly don’t,” Ames replied. At the serious of his tone, Mican’s smile dropped.
“Right,” Mican said. No secret prying. Got it.”
Breakfast was soon over and they all cleared up their trash, putting it into a bag to be sent back for disposal when the others returned to collect their finds. Each of them took up a handful of the small flags so they could mark the location of anything they came across. They then spread out in a long line and began their slow march across the open area containing the site.
Ames could easily see the lines of stones through the top scree of soil in some spots. He could even see the stones of a partially uncovered building. He wondered if that meant the smaller surface items would have been washed away or if they were going to have more of them.
It proved to be a combination of both as they moved. Mican found a first cache of items that appeared to have been washed into a low spot in the land. Five small flags decorated the area. Ames was pleased to see Mican map the location of the items before carefully lifting them out of the loose soil around them and placing them in a storage box. Even from where he stood, Ames could tell all the correct labels and procedures were in place.
Despite his joking, Ames knew Mican was professional enough once work began. He had been with Ames on a couple of digs prior. Still, it was good to check to make certain everyone started off on the right foot.
Since he made certain to take the most experienced on the initial team, he wasn’t surprised that everything was running smoothly. Ames stopped and placed his own flag as he came upon a small clay figuring.
