“That’s what I love about this job: plenty of sunshine, all the fresh air you can take in,” Ed said taking in a deep breath, then slapping the back of his neck. “And all the mosquitoes you can kill. I’m telling you, it doesn’t get any better than this.”
Everyone had grown tired of the joke but only Erica said anything. “You know,” she said as she stopped working the classifier to glare at Ed. “that was sort of funny the first time you said it, but after 2 months of hearing it every day it’s just annoying.” She paused a couple of seconds to try to add a little emphasis to the glare before she return back to working the dirt thru the classifier.
“Oh, come on. You know I am the life of the party. In fact, you would be bored if I wasn’t here.” Ed replied as he placed the two full buckets of material down next to the classifier and picked up two empties.
She cocked her head to look at him and replied with a wry smile, “Any chance we could test that theory?”
“Oh, scientifically speaking, that is just cold.” He said as he walked back into the artifact cave.
She was not mad at him. In fact, over the past two months on this dig, she had developed a special friendship with Ed. She knew he really liked her, and she like him, but she had plans to make a name for herself in the archeological world and she was afraid she would let him become a distraction. She was a very passionate person and right now, her passion was her job.
To that end, she had petitioned hard to join Professor William Pearce’s team. At first, he had not seemed interested in letting her join as he already had a full team of two students. However, with a lot of persistence, emails and phone calls, she convinced him to let her join. Professor William Pearce was the premier authority in the Pleistocene Epoch, or early man, and only the best would do. Professor Pearce had even written a couple of books on the subject. What had gotten Erica Gonzalez interested in the field was when she had seen a documentary on evidence of early man found in Mexico that pre-dated the conventional theory of a northern ice-free passage. It started her thinking of how humankind came to the Americas. She had read everything she could find on the subject and when she went to college, she knew what she wanted to major in. Her one goal was to find out how humans really did come to the Americas, a theory that would support all the evidence, which the ice-free passage did not. Now, here she was in the remote Alaskan Rangel-Saint Elias Mountains on a dig that could add more evidence for a new theory. As the glaciers receded, one revealed a set of caves in the side of a mountain. A local hunter had wandered into one of the caves and found some very old artifacts. What got the attention of the University of Alaska Anchorage, who contacted Professor Pearce, was the fact that the last time these caves had seen the light of day was before the last ice age, which is before man had even stepped foot in Alaska, according to the current theory. This was an important dig; Erica could just feel it.
That night, night being a relative term since it was 10:30pm at night and the sun was still up, they sat around the campfire. It had been a hard day of work, but since it was Jill Dunn’s turn to do the dishes, she was attending to them. One of Professor Pearce’s rules was that everyone took a turn at every job, from dig related to camp life tasks. No one was exempt, including himself.
While the team sat there, relaxing sore muscles and applying more bug dope, Jill caught herself staring at the surrounding mountains. They were just breath taking in beauty. Jagged and rounded peaks blended into a tapestry that artists through time have tried to capture. There was snow on the north parts of the peaks while the parts that got sunlight were barren rock. As the sun touched the tops, it cast long shadows that added an extra dimension to the landscape. She never grew tired of the incredible beauty of nature. It was like a watercolor in a museum.
Professor Pearce brought her out of the trance. “Tyler, how about we go over what we found today.”
“Sure thing Professor.” Tyler Johnson got up and walked over to get their finds for that day. He and the Professor had spent the day cataloging, photographing and packaging the items for transport back to Anchorage. Tyler had two great passions. One was archeology and the other was electronics. He had done much to modernize Professor Pearce’s operation. When he first started, he was shocked at how “old school” the operation was and he feared the Professor would be resistant to modernizing, but to his surprise, the Professor welcomed the idea and even found funding to purchase the equipment Tyler recommended. The Professor also made sure everyone knew how to run the equipment.
Tyler went over the day’s finds with the group. There was nothing out of the normal in the days findings, There were a couple arrowheads, some miscellaneous pieces of wood that could have come from tools, a piece of a wooden bowl. What stirred up the conversation the most was a piece of wood that had some markings on it. Erica was first to offer the idea that it was some type of writing.
“Oh please!” was Tyler’s response. “That is just crazy and wishful thinking.” He had grown weary of all her wild theories.
“Why is that crazy?” Erica replied. “It could be a written language.”
“That is exactly why it’s crazy. At 10,000 BCE, written language had yet to be developed.
“Well, according to when these caves last saw the light of day, mankind wasn’t supposed to be here either. So if that theory is wrong, then so can you be.”
Tyler shook his head and was about to argue back when Professor Pearce spoke up. “Although the possibility of it being a written language is highly remote,” he said looking right at Erica, “we will not throw out any theory until it can be disproven.” This he directed at Tyler. He had seen them argue before, both were strong willed and very opinionated. Their arguments usually ended up with them both walking away in a huff.
The little argument made Jill smile. As she finished the dishes, she was glad to see the students with such a passion for their work. She knew that both Erica and Tyler would both make great archeologist, if they did not kill each other first. She was worried about Ed Oberman. He had been with her and the Professor for over 5 years and had yet to complete his doctorial thesis. If she asked, he would say that he was close to finishing it, but that had been his answer for the past 3 years. He was a hard worker but he just lacked any real drive or motivation. If only some of the passion that Erica and Tyler both had would rub off on him.
“Well” the professor said. “It is late. There is supposed to be a weather front moving in tomorrow so let us move all the equipment into the big cave and set it up there. This is the beginning of the rainy season so we might as well get all setup in the big cave.”
With moans and groans, the group began moving the equipment into the big cave. Although the professor was sure the big cave must have been underground before the glacier came through, they had spent two weeks going over every inch of it before they moved their tents into it. This was done out of necessity as the “midnight” sun was causing everyone to not get enough sleep. The big cave provided enough darkness to let them sleep. The cave was massive and could hold their camping equipment and their archaeological equipment, and it was close to the artifact caves. The cave where they found the artifacts was 10 to 20 feet up the side of the hill, accessible only by ladder or a careful climb. Although there were over 10 other caves, they had only found artifacts in one. From what they found, it looked like a group of early humans had used the cave as a campsite.
The sleeping arrangements were straightforward. They had three tents; one for the two women, one for the two young men and the Professor had his own. However, the Professor was rarely alone in it. That night, like most nights, Jill waited until she thought Erica was asleep. She then stealth-fully exited her tent and slipped into the professor’s tent.
“Hey handsome, mind if I join you?” she whispered in a seductive tone.
“I wish you would.” William replied with a Cheshire grin.
As she crawled under the blanket with him, he began to kiss her. Like an intricate dance where every move and nuance brought meaning and energy, the two began kissing and passionately touching each other while articles of clothing came off without breaking the rhythm of their tango. In that moment, the rest of the world did not exist. Though neither let out more than a muffled moan, their minds filled with screams, emotions, and sensations that blended into some new sensation, indescribable using just five senses.
When they were finished, Jill laid there, with her head on his shoulder, playing with his chest hair with her fingers, and breathing in deep the smell of him and passion. Although the sex was great, the quiet time afterwards was her favorite. She had him alone. They could talk about anything or not say a word. I was all the same to her. She loved William so very much and she knew that William loved her too, but he had a very old fashion sense of values. William was almost twice her age and although that did not matter to her, William's old time sense of values thought it was wrong. If she pushed the issue, William would start saying that she could do better and that she should go find someone more her own age. She could tell it was an issue that just tore him up inside. She also knew that if she did go find someone else, it would just devastate him. However, she loved him too much so she decided not to push the issue until he was ready. Until then she would take what he was willing to give. Right now, that was being colleagues in public and lovers in private. It was not perfect, but she could live with it, for now.
Tonight was proving to be a quiet time. How long they lay there, she was not sure, but finally William spoke up.
"Jill, I've been thinking," he said in a tone a little louder than a whisper.
Jill looked up at his face and could see that something was weighing heavily on his mind. "Yes my dear, what is it?" she replied with concern in her voice.
"I've been such an idiot."
She interrupted him before he could continue. "You've been thinking you're an idiot? You know, that is not good for your ego or self esteem." She said with her normal wry sense of humor.
His only response was a scowl that told her that he was being serious.
"Ok, sorry. Please continue."
He took a deep breath, as if building up his muster to continue. "I have been doing something that I thought was for the best for you, but I now realize that it only has been hurting us both."
Jill now looked at him with a perplexed look, as she could not think of anything he had done that hurt her.
"And I don’t understand" he continued, "why you have stayed with me. I mean, as a scientist, judging a historical period by using today’s morals and values is wrong. Should I then live today with historical values? Is that not just as wrong?"
Jill was lost, as he was not making any sense. "What are you talking about baby?" she said as she propped up on one elbow now genuinely concerned.
"I'm talking about long walks on the beach. I am talking about kisses good-bye and hello. I am talking about flowers delivered to your office. I'm talking about you staying the night."
He could tell that her mind was a race with thoughts so he turned onto his side and propped himself on one elbow so they would be eye to eye. With all the love in his heart welling up, he took his free hand and touched her face. "I am talking about making our relationship public."
Jill was completely dumb-found. All she could utter was "Really?"
"Yes, really. You have been so good to me and you deserve so much, but I have been so stupid. My old-fashioned values told me that I should let you go so you could find someone more your own age. That somehow our relationship was not proper, but my heart refused to let you go. This left you in a very awkward position. I am tired of listening to those values. I have decided to listen to my heart. And I won't care what other people think about our age difference, if you won't."
This completely overwhelmed Jill with emotions. This was incredible. She wanted this more than anything but had managed to bury the desire deep in herself as something that was unattainable. Now she could not believe her ears. Before he could say another word, in one fluid motion, she went from lying beside him to on top of him, her arms wrapped around him. "Oh William, I love you so much."
He did not need to see her face to know how big of a smile was on her face. He held her as if he was afraid she might slip away. "I have always wanted to give you so much, but I have held myself back. It is just silly. You mean so much to me and I do not care if the world knows it. When we get back from this dig, I am going to start making it up to you."
Leaning back, she looked him in the face. With tears in her eyes she said, "Are you sure you are ok with this? I mean I am happy with whatever you can give me."
Reaching up, wiping a tear from her face with the back of his fingers, and looking deep into her eyes, he replied, "I love you more now than I ever have." They shared a moment, lost in each other’s eyes, confirming to her how sure he was of the decision. Finally adding "But I am concerned how the team will take the news that you and I will be sharing a tent from now on."
Broadening her smile even more she said, "Oh I'm sure they'll be fine. Now shut up and kiss me." Before he could utter a sound, she had her lips pressed against his. Although they were both tired from a long day of digging and from lovemaking, they both felt full of love and energy. By the time they were finished again, being completely spent both fell fast asleep.
Both of the professors were last to get up for breakfast. It was Tyler's turn to make breakfast, so he was at the stove, while Erica and Ed were sitting talking about the rain. Tyler spotted the two professors coming out of Professor Pearce's tent. Jill made a beeline for her tent so she could change out of her nightclothes and into her work cloths. The Professor had already changed, but they decided they should come out together.
"So, what's all this about?" Tyler asked, drawing attention to the situation and causing both Erica and Ed to look.
"Everyone, I have an announcement." The Professor said. "Now this may shock some of you but Professor Dunn and I are seeing each other romantically and she will be moving into my tent tonight. Now we are all adults here so I'm sure we can all deal with this."
He saw just blank stares until Erica said, "Well it's about time you two came clean about it."
Tyler added "Really. I can't believe you two thought you were fooling anyone." He returned his attention to the scrambled eggs in the pan.
"Wait," Ed said, looking at both Erica and Tyler. "You mean they have been seeing each other for a while now. This isn't new to you?"
Erica was first to reply. "Come on, you are trying to tell us you didn't notice them sneaking around, always trying to be alone without looking like they wanted to be alone; or the little looks they would give each other?"
"Yah man, you can't be that dense." Tyler added.
"I never noticed a thing. How long has this been going on?"
The Professor had to smile as he saw that the conversation had changed from his affair with Jill to Ed. He realized that the only person that had had a problem with his relationship with Jill had been himself. He walked over to pour himself and Jill a cup of coffee.
"Dude, they have been seeing each other since before I joined the team." Tyler said.
Ed looked them both with a look of total disbelief. "No way." he said, and then he turned to the Professor. "Is that true?"
Sipping from his cup of black, strong coffee, the Professor said, "I'm afraid it is."
Shaking his head Ed said, "I can't believe that I never noticed."
"Well, you might be cute, strong and a good archeologist, you just aren't very observant when it comes to the living." Erica said and she turned to the Professor. "Professor, it looks like that storm front came in. It is raining hard out there."
Looking out the cave entrance, he said "Well time to break out the rain gear. We have the classifier and processing station set up in here and the artifact cave will be dry. The only person that is really going to get wet is the person that is caring the buckets from the dig to the classifier. Whose turn is it?"
With a big smile on his face, Tyler said, "Why it's yours Professor."
This stopped the Professor mid sip. "Great. Luck of the draw."
"I can't believe I didn't notice it." Ed said to no one in particular.
Erica turned and placed her hand on Ed’s knee to get his attention. "Dude, get over it."
The following weeks went by without incident. The team worked like a finally tuned machine. The only real difference was the public displays of affection between the professors. They were like two high school kids in love, unable to separate themselves. That took every opportunity to be close to each other. They even went for walk on nights when it was not raining. Jill had never been happier in her life. Even the rains could not dampen her spirit.
"Remember, the helicopter comes tomorrow to drop off our supplies for next month and take back our artifacts." The Professor said one morning during breakfast. "That means we have to quit a little early today and get everything ready."
For some reason, this made Tyler smile. Ed just had to know why. "So why are you so happy?"
"Well, with the helicopter coming, we will only have a half day at the dig."
"And...." Ed said when Tyler was not quick enough getting to the point.
"You see, it's my turn to carry the buckets tomorrow. Luck of the draw, right Professor." Tyler said turning to the Professor.
"That's right." the Professor replied.
"Ahhh, that just stinks. I never have the 'luck of the draw?'" Ed stated. He walked over to Erica, who was standing by the entrance to the cave. "Hi Erica. Have you thought any more about what we talked about?"
"Yes I have, but I'm still not sure." she said with a troubled look on her face.
"Look Erica, I really like you. You are the most amazing woman I have ever met. And I think you like me too."
Turning to face him, she said, "Yes I do like you very much. That is not the issue." Over the past couple of weeks, they had grown close, even stealing a kiss one night when they went for a walk after dinner.
"It's just that I want make a name for myself and I am afraid that you would distract me from that goal." Realizing how that sounded, she quickly added "Not that I am calling you a distraction, but more that I would let myself be distracted." She shut up, fearing she had hurt him.
Ed took her hand. "I understand what you are saying. But instead of a distraction, what if I was your partner?"
She had an inquisitive look on her face as she looked up to meet his eyes.
"What if you had someone there, working side by side with you, to make a name for yourself?"
"You would do that for me?" she said with almost a tear in her eye. She had worked hard to get where she was, often beating out other students for top spots and honors. She had never known of a colleague that would help her and not try to claim the glory. However, something in her heart believed him, or at least wanted to believe him.
"Absolutely. Do I seem like the type that is after glory? I can't even get motivated enough to finish my thesis." He pauses as they shared a smile. "Think about it some more. What job do you have today?" he added trying to change the subject to ease the tension.
"I am digging in the cave today, you?"
"Bucket Brigade."
"Sorry." She leaned in close to him and kissed him on the lips. "Thanks for being such an amazing man." She stared long and hard into his eyes, letting her eyes says what she was afraid too.
Finally, she broke eye contact. "But you did remind me of something." She turned and walked towards the Professor. "Professor, I thought today I would try digging that little alcove in sector H12."
"That's fine, but finish up sector G20 first. I didn't get it finished yesterday." he replied.
It was not until they were close to quitting time when Erica let out a cry. "Everyone, come quick! You have to see what I found!"
Ed had just made it to the classifier with two full buckets when Erica called for everyone. Tyler, who was operating the classifier grabbed two empty buckets and said, "Here, let me help you with these."
"Gee thanks." Ed replied with all the sarcasm he could muster. One thing about it, caring around buckets of dirt all summer had gotten everyone in great shape. Even though the manual labor was hard work, Ed liked what it did to his body. One summer on a dig was better than a gym membership as he always came away with ripped mussels and usually a good tan.
The Professor and Jill both followed Ed and Tyler to the excavation cave. There they found a very excited Erica motioning them to come to the alcove. They had staked out the cave in a standard grid pattern, marking it off with wood stakes and string. Protected from the elements for millennia, the artifacts in the cave were all fairly close to the surface.
"You have to see this. This is major." She said. There in the alcove, illuminated by the light of a propane torch, was a piece of animal skin.
"You found a piece of clothing." Tyler stated more than asked. "And it looks well preserved too."
"That's no piece of clothing. Wait till you see what is on it." She bent to pick it up when the Professor stopped her.
"Have you properly cataloged it in the grid?"
She turned to look at him. "Yes and it took everything I had to do it once I realized what it was." She carefully picked up the skin and handed to the Professor.
As the Professor held the item in his hands, they could all see that there was something drawn on it. What the drawing was of kept them speechless. Jill was the first to speak.
Pointing on the skin, she said, "That looks like the coast of Asia; there's the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia; those look like the Aleutian Islands; the west and southern coasts of Alaska. And that," she said pointing to the other side of the skin, “is a very good drawing of the west coast of North America."
"It's a map!" Ed said.
Erica just stood there with a big grin on her face. This was the find she knew that one day she would find.
"It can't be a map." Tyler said in disbelief.
"What do you mean it can't be a map?" Erica replied, taking the statement at little personally. "Can't you see for yourself? It is a map."
"It can't be a map because map making wasn't invented until 14th century, not in 10,000 BCE."
"What about the Piri Reis Map. It shows not only the coastline of Antarctica, but it shows it as being ice-free. And although it was created in 1512, he wrote in the notes that he used other maps as sources."
"Oh please. Tell me did not site that piece of myth. There are too many discrepancies in that map to say that it was the coast of Antarctica. It is more likely the Piri copied a map where that author was afraid of running out of room so he just curved the coastline of South America to fit it on the page. Next you will be spouting Charles Hapgood’s theories about an ancient group of mariners."
"Now I admit that alone, the Prix map doesn't have enough evidence to go either way. However, a map like this, that dates back to the last time Antarctica and Alaska were Ice free could go long way to supporting the notion that there was a group of people that were both ocean going and had developed some form of map making."
The Professor spoke up before the argument could continue. "By whom and when the map was made is something that can be discussed later." He had never given much credence to the Hapgood's idea of ancient race of mariners, but if the map were authentic, then he would have to rethink that theory. "Right now, let's bad and tag this so it can go out tomorrow. Erica is right about one thing. If it is authentic, then is it a major find." He looked at his watch. "Let's call it a day a little early. We will process what we have and call it a night. Erica, don't forget to turn off the lights."
They all followed him to the big cave and working together, they quickly finished process all the dirt and artifacts for the day. At dinner, the only topic was the map. The Professor and Jill were both keeping an open mind about it. Erica was convinced that it was proof of an ancient people that sailed the world long before current theory says that man did. Tyler was holding onto his skepticism. Ed was the only one that did join in the conversation. He just sat there with a look of disbelief on his face.
Although they were tired from there hard day of labor, they were all too excited to fall right to sleep. Erica was probably the last to fall asleep. Being in a tent by herself was good thing as if someone had been in the tent; she would have talked their ear off.
It was not an alarm clock or the harkening voice that woke Professor Pearce. He was shaken awake, but not by gentle hands. The shaking ground woke him up. Both he and Jill sat up in their tent and stared at each other, transfixed by the earthquake. Both of them had been in small earthquakes before and now they shared a look that was both terror and fascination. The spell was broken when the Professor heard a rock crash to the cave floor. He immediately realized the danger they were in.
"Everyone, out of the cave NOW!" he yelled as loud as he could. Even then, he was not sure if anyone besides Jill could hear him. The rumbling of the ground was so loud.
As he and Jill got out of the cave, the Professor was glad to see that everyone was out of their tents and making their way to the exit. That was proving more difficult than expected. The ground was shaking so violently that they kept losing their balance and falling down. Tyler and Erica were making the best time. Ed had fallen too many times and was now crawling out. Using each other as a brace, Jill and the Professor were making good time. When they reached the crawling Ed, they pulled him up and into the group. Tyler and Erica were already out of the cave.
When the Professor reached the cave entrance, he saw that Tyler and Erica were only 10 yards from the entrance. Erica was still standing but struggling to stay on her feet, while Tyler was sitting on the ground. The professor knew that they still were not safe. When his group reached Tyler and Erica, he had them join the group and he walked them another 40 yards. There they all turned around to watch the cave.
The ground continued to shake, trying to knock them to the ground. Although not as loud as it was in the cave, the sound of the earthquake was still loud. No one in the group had been in any type of large earthquake. Jill had been in LA once when it was hit by a 6.3 earthquake, but that was nothing to what she was living through right now. The other thing that surprised her was how long it was lasting.
Erica broke the group awe and silence. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed as she let go of Ed and started for the cave. "The map!"
It took Ed too long to come back to his senses to try to stop her. "No." was all he managed to get out.
"Erica, come back here. It's not worth it." The Professor yelled after her. However, he knew it was useless as once she set her mind to something the only way stop her was to physically get in her way. He turned to look at Jill. A look of terror flashed onto her face when she realized what he was going to do. Then she realized that he had to. Not just because he was the lead on the dig and thus responsible for everyone, but because that was his nature. It was one of the many things she loved about him. To him these people were more than just students, they were his family. The look on his face told her that he was asking for her blessing. Reluctantly, she let go of his arm and nodded towards Erica. Her final look told him that she wanted him to be careful.
The Professor broke ranks and started after Erica. Although she had fallen a couple of times, she was making good time and was almost at the mouth of the cave.
Somehow, the Professor had managed to keep from falling down as he made it back to the cave. As he reached the mouth of the cave, he heard a new, unearthly sound. A sound even scarier than the sound the earth had been making. With the light of dawn, he could just see in the cave enough to see that Erica was making her way back to the cave entrance but was also a good 15 yards from it. He could also see where the noise was coming from. The ceiling of the cave was collapsing.
The ceiling did not fall a rock here, a rock there. The entire ceiling fell at once. Erica never stood a chance. The Professor could see that the entire cave was collapsing. There was nothing he could do from the mouth of the cave but watch Erica disappear under all the rock. If she uttered a final word, he never heard it. A dust plume came shooting out of the cave, blocking his view of inside. All he could do was cover his eyes. He turned away from the cave, glad that he was the only one to see Erica die. That was an image no one needed to have in his or her head. He started making his way back to the rest of the group, only able to half see from all the dust and only able to hear the sounds of the cave in.
Jill saw the Professor stop at the entrance of the cave. She was glad he did not go in but wondered why he had not followed Erica into the cave. That is when she heard the new sound the mountain was making. She wondered what now. It was Tyler that let her pointed out the source of the new noise.
"Look" He cried, pointing up the hillside.
What she saw when she looked up terrified her. It was a rockslide and it was heading straight for the Professor. She looked back to the Professor but now he was lost in a cloud of dust that seemed to engulf the mouth of the cave.
"William, run!" she yelled as loud as she could. Not seeing him emerge from the dust cloud fast enough, she cried "No!" as if by her sheer force of will she could stop the rockslide from harming him. She also made a break from the group and tried to run to help him.
Ed, who had never taken is eyes off the cave had seen the cave-in and knew that Erica was probable dead. Jill’s cry had snapped his attention from the cave, he quickly realized the new danger, and that the Professor's odds were not good. When Jill had made a break for the cave, Ed quickly grabbed her to stop her. If the Professor made it, it was up to luck and God, but he was not about to let Jill throw her life away.
With the ground, still shaking the act to grabbing her arm and pulling her to a stop was enough to send them both to the ground. He quickly grabbed her in a hug. He had his back to the cave, but Jill sat there, holding Ed and witnessed the entire event.
Rocks and boulders disappeared into the dust cloud. Time seemed to slow down as the events unfurled before her eye. Many of the rocks were small, about the size of a basketball, but some were the size of an upright piano. She wondered why she did not hear the rocks hit the ground as, in that moment, she had completely blocked out the sounds of the earthquake. She sat there holding Ed, and sobbing "No" in total disbelief. She was not mad at Ed, as she knew he had probably saved her life, but that did not lesson her pain of her William's predicament. With all the dust, she could not see if William was ok but she had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling.
Officially, the ground shook for 4 minutes, but for Jill, it seemed like a lifetime. It was the most agonizing time of her life.
When the ground had finally stopped moving, and the rocks had stopped falling, the dust had dissipated enough that they could make out the rocks on the ground. The Professor had been wise moving them further from the cave as some of the rocks had landed 20 yards from the cave entrance. There were rocks and boulders everywhere.
Jill had quickly gotten up and was heading towards the cave. Tyler was right with her as they both started calling for the Professor. Ed got up but did not move at first. He just kept staring at where the cave had been. As the dust cleared, Ed could see that the cave had completely collapsed. He made his way to what had been the entrance to see if there was a chance, but he knew she was probably dead.
Tyler found the Professor, and quickly called Jill over. The Professor was alive, but how Jill did not know. He had been standing right where the bulk of the rockslide had hit. His right arm was pinned by a rock the size of a riding lawn mower. What was most troubling was that his waist and legs were completely under a one of the bigger boulders. Somehow, the Professor was still conscious.
Tyler called over Ed and the two of them began trying to move the big boulder, but neither held much hope for their success. Jill, with tears in her eyes, sat down next the Professor and held his free hand.
"Don't you die on me now!" she demanded of him. She looked him straight into his eye, trying to hide the fear that was in hers.
"My sweet little buttercup." he said. Buttercup was a pet name had said to her only in the most private moments. The fact that he said it here at this time told her that he did not think he was going to make it. "I love you very much, but we both know how this is going to turn out for me."
This caused her to start crying even more. "No." she uttered as the realization of his death hit her.
"It's ok, swear heart." He spoke softly but with no pain behind it. "I only have one regret."
"What's that?" She said between sobs.
"You… I have been such a fool. I wanted to give you so much, but I wouldn't let myself." He paused as a shot of pain coursed through his body and across his face. "All I ever wanted was to make you happy and give you a good life." He looked deep into her eyes. "Promise me something."
"Anything."
"Live a good life."
She nodded her head as the tears streamed down her cheeks anew. She could see her response had made him smile.
"Good. I love you with all my heart and all my soul. Know that always." his voice barely a whispered.
"I will and I love you too." Neither of them said another word. Jill just sat there, holding his hand and looking into his eyes. It was through his eyes that Jill knew where he had passed on.
"It's not fair!" she sobbed. She had waited for so long for the Professor to be all hers; 100% hers; publically hers. He could not leave her now. The last few weeks had been so wonderful and had filled her with a new outlook for their future. How could life do this to her? How could God? "It's not fair," she repeated.
How long she sat there she was not sure but what got her attention was when Ed had retrieved a long piece of wood and he and Tyler where setting it up as a lever to move the boulder.
"Guys. Guys!" she had to say it twice to fully get their attention. "Never mind."
The two of them both looked at her and could tell by her face that the Professor was gone. They both looked down, giving the Professor an involuntary moment of silence.
Jill finally broke the silence. "What about Erica?"
Ed looked up at Jill with the most heart-stricken look she had seen. It must have matched the look on her face. Ed shook his head. Then his eyes welled up, the tears began to flow and he fell to the ground onto his knees.
After the quake had stopped, Ed had checked out the cave. It was clear that she could not have made is as there was no cave left. The reality of her death had not hit him until the moment Jill had asked about her.
Jill instantly realized how Ed was feeling. During the months on this dig, Ed and Erica had become close. Ed had lost Erica and she had lost William. She knew exactly how he was feeling. Giving one more look at William, she let go of his hand and went to Ed. She was now in charge of the expedition and had to attend to her people. She knelt down next to Ed and wrapped her arms around him. She then grabbed Tyler by the arm, which was standing there with a completely blank look on his face, and pulled him down into the hug.
They stayed there holding each other, each trying to deal with the losses enough that they could function. The pain and tears flowed, but each comforted a little by the knowledge they all shared the pain.
Jill pulled back first. "Well," she said, sniffing back a tear. "I guess we should get going."
"To where?" Tyler asked. They were miles from anywhere.
"To meet the helicopter," she answered.
"Do you think that it is still coming?" he questioned back.
"I hope so; otherwise it is going to really cold tonight. All of our equipment was in that cave and we are in our night clothes." In all the tumult and tragedy, Tyler had completely forgotten that he was still in his PJs. Fortunately, because of the cool night and the bathroom being the nearest bush, they all wore warm nightclothes.
Jill and Tyler both got up. Ed did not move so Jill took him by the hand and helped him up. Quietly, somberly, they started towards the Helicopter landing site.
The three of them sat there, no one touching their food. They were at the Latitude 54 restaurant in Anchorage. Their table was next to the window and Jill just looked at the view. In the distant, she could see Cook Inlet and the Coastal Mountains. Across the inlet, the sun was setting on Sleeping Lady Mountain. The only part of the view she did not care for was that the tide was out and the mud flats that surrounded Anchorage were ugly to her. Even with the incredible beauty in the scenery, it had somehow lost something since the earthquake. For her, life had lost something.
None of them could think of what the future would hold. The earthquake had been a 9.0. Those four minutes had changed their lives irrevocably, but how it would affect them, they had no idea. Tyler was dealing with his first real death. He had lost his mentor and a colleague. She had lost the love of her life. If she thought about it too much, she would start crying again. It was the worse pain and loss she had ever experienced. However, she worried the most about Ed. Since they had started there walk from the cave, Ed had seemed very distant and quiet. He would answer any question posed to him, but a real conversion was out. He seemed lifeless, just sitting around. He had to be lead around.
"That was a nice service today." Tyler said. He was not trying to start a conversion, but the silence was getting to him. Any sound, even the sound of his own voice was better than nothing. He had taken a couple of bites of his dinner and although it was good, he just did not have much of an appetite.
"Yes it was. Professor Brockwell was a colleague of William when he was just a grad student," Jill replied, glad for the distraction.
"They are flying him back to Philadelphia?" He asked, not looking up from his plate.
"Yes. That is where he was from and his family has a burial plot there. Erica will be flown back to LA where her parents plan to bury her.," she answered back.
Tyler could not think of anything else to say so he said, "This fish is really good. It is a fish called halibut. I have never had it before. They used hazel nuts to make the crust. It's probably the best fish I have ever had." Although he truly meant it, there was no enthusiasm in his voice.
Before Jill could reply, Ed spoke "She was the most amazing person I have ever met. She was smart, beautiful and so driven. I have never met anyone like that before."
Both Tyler and Jill looked at him. This was the first time in almost a week the Ed had initiated a conversation.
"She was so sure of herself. She just knew she was going to make a name for herself and I believed her."
Jill took his hand. "She was an amazing person."
Ed continued. "She just knew that man was North America before the current theory dictates and she was going to prove it." He paused to look at Tyler and Jill, making eye contact with each of them. "Well I am going to see that she does make a name for herself!"
Jill and Tyler looked at each other with a confused look on their faces and the turned back to Ed.
"Like the Professor told me once, 'if you find it once, then you can find it again.' Although all the caves at that site collapsed, there are more caves out there and I am going to find the proof that man was here long before. When I do, I am going to give Erica the credit. The world will know her name." With that, he tossed his napkin onto his un-touched plate of food and got up.
"Where are you going? You can’t go looking tonight." Jill asked after him.
Ed stopped and turned to look at her. "No, but no one is going to give grant money to a grad student. I have thesis to finish. With that, he turned and headed out of the restaurant.
Jill turned to look at Tyler. They both shared a look of surprise on their faces. Jill really believed that he would finish his thesis this time. She turned and looked at her plate. Suddenly she had an appetite. Those four minutes had changed them and it was proving interesting to see the change. She did not know what the future would hold, but she now knew there would be a future and she was hopeful about it, grief and all.
Written by M.L. Chrisman 2007
