Murray State University to come and talk to the kids and demonstrate the proper procedures to follow during an archaeological excavation. He explained to them the different eras of Earth’s history and how fossils were formed.
Of course, Howie asked question after question about the dinosaurs that roamed this region, but the professor, Dr. Shelton, showed a great deal of understanding and patience for the kid’s high-octane energy. Howie just seemed to be one of those kids people responded to.
Summer was pleased with the improvement in his attitude toward females since they’d made the groups coed. She’d even heard a couple of the girls arguing about who he liked the best. She imagined how charming he would be in a few years. It would be difficult not to love him...the little twerp.
So she reminded herself it was his enthusiasm that had him heading toward her once again, lugging another big rock. A couple of groups down, she saw Rick smile and shake his head as he watched the kid carrying the huge rock in her direction. It ran through Summer’s mind that putting Howie in her group for this activity had been by design rather than the random way it appeared.
“I think I found something cool, Ms. Summer. Look at this.” Roughly the size and shape of a partially deflated football, it took both hands for Howie to hold the rock up for her inspection.
Summer glanced down, expecting more of the same-old-same-old, but what she saw made her do a double take. Ridges. One side of the rock was flat but cut by a series of ridges separated by shallow grooves. It was unlike anything she’d ever seen in nature, though it did look kind of like the sole of a running shoe. She ran her fingers across the pattern, her quickening pulse convincing her Howie had found a treasure.
“Howie, I think you’re right.” Her voice shook with excitement. “You need to show this to Dr. Shelton.” She scanned the bank until she found the professor swishing one of the large screen sieves in the water.
“Dr. Shelton,” she yelled, and he looked up at the sound of his name. She pointed to the rock, which Howie now held proudly over his head. “I think we have something here.”
Even from a distance, she could see the spark of recognition on the professor’s face as he tossed the sieve onto the gravel and broke into a meaningful jog.
The beach came alive with the scurry of children and adults alike, running from all directions toward Howie and his treasure.
* * *
“A MAMMOTH MOLAR. Who would’ve thought?” Rick repeated the words on everybody’s lips since Howie’s find that afternoon.
“How much do you think something like that’s worth?” Tara leaned on her hand, looking sleepy, which Summer couldn’t imagine with all the excitement surrounding them right then.
Neil shrugged and took his glasses off to clean them with the hem of his shirt. “Dr. Shelton says not as much as you might think.” He expelled a breath on the lenses and rubbed. “You can find them for sale online anytime for a couple hundred dollars. But he says this is a really fine specimen that a collector might pay more for.” He put the glasses back on and used a finger to ram them into place.
“But it could mean a lot more than that to this place.” Summer was too excited to hold back the news.
Rick gave her a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”
“I talked with Dr. Shelton privately for a little while, and he says there’s a possibility a whole mammoth could be buried in the bank down there. He says it’s not that uncommon for a river like the Ohio or the Tennessee to give up a mammoth tooth, but the banks should be checked to see if any ribs have been exposed by erosion. He wants to bring in a team during the week between sessions to do some digging. I’m going to stay here that week, and they’re going to rent out one of the dorms. He said there’d be a team of probably six.”
“Did your parents talk to you about their plans for that week?” Rick’s mouth drew down at the corners.
“No. What plans?” What was he talking about?
“Um...” He hesitated a moment. “I suggested to them that we use the week to spruce things up around here. Paint the buildings. Put in some flower beds. Your dad called this morning and said he was all for it.”