be nine, but it’s like she’s already a teenager.”
“I think these days they go straight from being a toddler to becoming a tween. There’s nothing in between,” Katya joked. “Vannie is already giving me a hard time about clothes and my choice of playmates for her. She has very definite opinions about what and whom she likes.”
“That’s as it should be,” Quinn said. “They have their likes and dislikes, same as us.”
Katya took a sip of tea and turned to face Quinn. “So, tell me about this skeleton. Was Dr. Scott able to learn much?”
“Well, the good news is that he wasn’t a victim of a recent crime. Colin dated him back to the mid-to late-eighteenth century, so he’s been sleeping beneath that tree for over two hundred years.”
“But was he murdered?” Katya asked, her gaze filled with apprehension.
“It’s hard to tell. The roots have done a lot of damage to the skeleton.”
“You must think me mad to worry about what happened to him. I mean, it’s your job to unearth secret burials, but I can’t bear the thought of someone being disposed of like that. It gives me nightmares.”
“I don’t think you’re mad,” Quinn said. “Archeology might be my chosen profession, but I wouldn’t like to find someone’s remains in my garden. It’s disturbing, to say the least.” Quinn sighed and looked out over her peaceful garden, the silence disturbed only by the giggles of the children.
“There’s something profoundly cruel about denying someone a proper burial. It’s almost as if they’d tried to erase them from the annals of history. Sure, most people are only remembered for a time, and only by those who’d loved them in life, but their names live on, if only on their gravestones or in parish records and family legends. When someone is buried in secret, as this person must have been, there’s no closure, no dignified end to their story.”
“Exactly,” Katya said. “Rhys thinks I’m being silly, but I’d like to give this person a proper burial. It would bring me peace. Is there any chance you could find out who he was?” Katya asked, smiling at Quinn in a manner that could only be described as guilty.
“He’s told you, hasn’t he?” Quinn asked, interpreting Katya’s look the only way she knew how. Less than a handful of people knew about Quinn’s psychic gift, and Quinn preferred to keep it that way. People still scoffed at preternatural ability and would brand her a fake or a kook if they knew her secret. Her professional rivals especially would question her every find, her every conclusion, and try to destroy her academic legacy, turning her into a laughingstock in the archeological community.
“Katya, it’s not common knowledge,” Quinn said, hoping Katya hadn’t shared the information with anyone else.
“Of course. I completely understand. I would never betray your confidence,” Katya swore, her hand on Quinn’s wrist. “But I do think it’s amazing, what you’re able to do. To give these people their identities back and to tell their stories.”
“It’s not as simple as you think,” Quinn replied, annoyed with Rhys for divulging her secret.
“Please, don’t be angry with him. I sort of badgered him into telling me. I just knew there was something he was keeping from me,” Katya said.
“I’m not angry,” Quinn said. “It’s just that I feel a responsibility to these people, a duty to learn their stories, and they rarely have a happy ending. It takes a toll, you know?”
“I can only imagine. I can see why you didn’t want to continue with the program, especially while you were pregnant. You need to guard your peace of mind while you’re carrying a child.”
“I’ll do everything I can to give your man a name,” Quinn said.
Katya gave her a sidelong glance. “You already know his name, don’t you?”
“I can hazard a guess as to who he was, but I won’t know for sure until I see his story to the end. Can you wait till then?”
Katya nodded. “Thank you, Quinn.” She seemed more at peace somehow.
They chatted for a while longer, and then Katya called to Vanessa. “Come, Vannie. Time to go home.”
“No!” Vanessa moaned. “I want to stay!”
“Daddy will be home soon,” Katya said. Vanessa’s face instantly transformed, as if Katya had just told her Father Christmas was coming. Vanessa slid down the slide and ran over to Katya, ready to go.
“Bye,” she called out to Mia and Alex.
“She’s going through a daddy phase,” Katya confided to Quinn quietly.
“Hey, whatever works,” Quinn replied, amused.
Chapter