the tribe believes that mountain is sacred. Tomorrow you’ll probably meet Gray Cloud, who is the Guardian of the Mountain in their culture, and one of the tribal elders.”
She paused, looking around the table, assessing the expressions on the many youthful faces. At this point she saw nothing to trouble her.
“I’m sure you all studied enough anthropology to know that the beliefs of local people are always to be respected, and your personal opinion of them does not matter. The local indigenous believe that Thunder Mountain, the mountain we’ll be working on, is sentient. You don’t have to believe that. You must respect it as if it is true, however. If one of the local tribe members tells you not to do something, stop at once. We can always talk with them if it’s something necessary, but in the meantime just stop. Trust me, when you see the rock face and fossils that are visible right now, you’ll fully understand what a tragedy it would be to find ourselves shut down because we were careless of their beliefs. Got it?”
Heads around the table nodded. All those earnest young faces. She sincerely hoped their youth wouldn’t result in any kind of hijinks. “It’s time to act like the professionals you want to be. I’m counting on you. Questions?”
The youngest guy at the table, Larry, she thought, waggled his hand for her attention as he finished chewing a mouthful of food. She waited patiently.
He took a swallow of cola, then spoke. “How can a mountain be alive?”
“The essence is really quite simple. The indigenous people believe that consciousness exists in everything, from the trees to the stones. It’s not limited to animals that run around. While the consciousness may be different from what we know ourselves, it still exists. Mother Earth, for example, is a living being, too.”
“Okay,” Larry answered slowly.
“Always give thanks for the gifts of nature.”
She smiled. “Think about that before we go out to the site in the morning. The very stones will hear you, according to local tradition. The stones, the trees, the birds, the running water. If you at least make an effort to respect that, we might get through the summer.”
The group fell silent as they pondered what she had said and thought about the summer ahead. Good. This was their last chance to change their minds while she could possibly find replacements. Plus, she wanted them to be very aware of the delicacy of their situation here. It would kill her if this expedition fell apart because they thought she was exaggerating the cultural limitations.
At least no one argued with her, and no one tried to play “rules lawyer” by looking for a loophole in what she had said. That might be very promising.
Conversation shifted to what they hoped they might see tomorrow, and what kind of discoveries might await them. Renee let them ramble and build up their own excitement, but didn’t join in. She hadn’t told very many about the potential size of this find lest she wind up with the paleontological equivalent of “claim jumpers.” Yeah, really, other professionals might try to grab the site for themselves.
So for now she remained mostly mum and not even the members of her team had any real idea of what was out there. Tomorrow, when they saw that rock face for the first time, they’d probably light up like the Fourth of July. Not many got an opportunity like this.
Enjoying her secret for the last few hours, Renee smiled and listened to the conversation. After they’d all finished eating and the bills began to arrive, she reminded them that they’d meet here at seven in the morning.
Watching them scatter in the general direction of the La-Z-Rest Motel, which was clean if outdated, Renee remarked to Cope, “I hope we have enough four-by-fours to get them up there.”
“We can sort it out in the morning,” he said reassuringly. “Make two trips if necessary. How early will you be going?”
“Well before dawn. I’ll take Denise to start drawing. The shadows reveal so many mysteries.”
“I’ll see you then.”
She watched him drive off, wondering vaguely where he lived, then climbed into her own battered vehicle and headed for the motel.
She pondered if she should take her camping gear with her tomorrow and just plan on staying on the mountain. She hadn’t much worried about it before, but that unexpected visit from a neighbor had bothered her a bit.
Word was getting around Conard County, and from what Mercy had told her over the years, news spread like wildfire around here. Maybe they needed to have someone there all the time. Mentally she began to calculate their budget, and whether it would run to enough tents and sleeping bags. They already had folding tables, propane stoves, lanterns... Well, half a camp, anyway.
Yeah, maybe she should leave her camping equipment in the back of her truck and get some help hauling it up the mountain tomorrow. Then she could shepherd them all through filling in their own blanks for camping out there.
Then, making a final decision could wait for tomorrow. She headed toward her room at the motel and tried not to think too much about Cope.
Nice guy, but every time she looked at him her thoughts wanted to wander far away from her purpose. She was here to collect dinosaur bones, not a gorgeous hunk.
But man, he was definitely a hunk.
Laughing at herself, she parked in front of the motel.
* * *
Cope headed back to the apartment he rented in the complex on the edge of town. There’d been a small building boom when the semiconductor plant had arrived years ago. Then the plant had picked up stakes, a lot of people had moved away, and these days you could pretty much have your choice of apartments in these four buildings. Not that there was a whole lot of difference among the units. One-and two-bedrooms were the most common, with a few three-bedrooms being the biggest. He’d chosen a two-bedroom with two baths and was content.
He especially enjoyed standing under the hot spray of the shower. It was his first goal when he came home tonight. The fossil site had been dusty and the grit had clung to his skin in places. He supposed he was going to get used to that. He had in his former life with the Marines.
Which was exactly what made a hot shower one of the greatest luxuries in his life now. To be able to stand under hot water and wash himself clean? Heck, he was probably an addict.
As he stood under the spray letting soap and shampoo rinse off him, his thoughts turned to the fossil site and most especially Renee Dubois. She was a pistol, that one. Not a shy bone in her body, and he suspected she’d protect the dig site like a mother bear with a cub.
Pretty, too. Well, more than pretty. He’d always liked auburn hair, but hers was accompanied by a pair of green eyes that seemed to be lit from within. Totally unusual.
From what he’d seen today, she was strong and determined. She’d even been ready to face down that curious neighbor and had flatly told him he was on tribal land without permission.
Yeah, a lot of people might have been reluctant to do that. However, the guy’s arrival had seemed odd. It was Renee’s first day at the site, and surely the man who owned the neighboring ranch had better things to do with his time, and surely the news of the excavation couldn’t have traveled the grapevine this fast? After a bit more than a year here, Cope had no trouble grasping how fast interesting
