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Ava rode Honey too fast trying to out chase the thoughts in her head and the fear that clutched her throat. A calm of sorts descended once she reached the pond. It always had that effect on her, and today she was grateful. The peaceful serenity of the bush, the majestic bird call and the crackle of twigs from low-lying animals you never saw, only heard.
Today she chose the far side, a place she hadn’t explored yet. The kitchen had been a delight with its French and WW1 finds, but she’d been disappointed it hadn’t heralded more. Would she be any luckier here today?
Setting out a cloth and lining up her tools, it felt familiar, normal when the outside world seemed to be closing in. But ironically, it wasn’t, was it? Familiar in her previous life. Not her married life. Henry had made all the promises in the world about her career and her ambitions but had reneged the moment they’d moved from London to Cairo. Promises of running her own department in the Cairo Museum—he had contacts—had never come to fruition. To appease her, he’d put her in charge of a home museum, within palace walls which was nothing but a collection of the family riches.
But this was hers alone. She settled into a rhythm fossicking through the dirt, pebbles, rocks and granules of sand. Time passed and she didn’t notice. Her phone didn’t ring, so Ish was okay.
The orange orb of a sun sat high in the sky, well above the trees. Ava adjusted her broad-brimmed hat to ensure it covered her neck from the glare of the rays and rolled down the long sleeves she wore. She drank greedily from her water bottle. A few droplets spilled onto a patch of dirt revealing a pattern. Wiping her chin, she poured a thin stream of water onto the spot. Touching it with her finger, it was hard, slightly raised and scaly. With her brush, she removed the top layer of dirt and dust, and a shape became evident.
Ava brushed her hands down her pants, jumped up and surveyed from height. A distinct curved shell? Sitting back on her heels, she brushed quicker, frantic to discover more. It was definitely a shell! Brushing gently but swiftly, her wrist cramped but she wouldn’t stop. It was flat on top, not concave and around thirty centimetres in size. Pulling out her phone she captured shots from each angle. Brushing more towards the top, it appeared there might be more. Then she rushed to the rear. It was an animal, of that, she was sure. It had a prehistoric appearance. But surely not? It couldn’t be.
This find had to be shared. Busting to tell someone, she ripped out her phone. With fumbling fingers, she rang Noah’s number.
‘Noah, I’m fine. Everything is okay. Oh, is he? That’s great, I bet he’s loved helping. But, Noah, I need to show you something, can you come down into the bush? There’s a track, easy to find. Yep, now. It’s important. Okay, see you soon. No, leave Duke with Alex if he’s happy.’
For the moment, her fear disappeared and was replaced with unbridled excitement.
One day a black-haired beauty came to town
Causing one man’s heart to flutter when she was around
Confusion, passion, desire and lust
All make this man want to, once more, trust
But can he open his heart and let her in
Or choose to remain alone, even though she’s under his skin.
Noah recited the poem he’d written last night after that moment with Ava. He drove the ute down over the green paddocks, leaving tyre tracks in the soft grass. Better to be quick even though Ava had assured him nothing was wrong. What could possibly be so important down here?
Pulling up in a small clearing, it was a short walk, following the path she said he’d find. Arriving, Ava had her back to him, kneeling with one knee in the dirt and carefully considering something.
‘Ava? Are you okay?’
She clutched her hand to her chest in fright and leapt to her feet.
‘Noah! Come and look at this.’ Her hand gestured towards the spot where she knelt. He stood next to her and glanced at the dirt. Small mounds were off to the sides, heaped around what appeared to be a circle of sorts. Noah twisted his head to look at Ava and her expression was open, hopeful, waiting. ‘Well?’ Her hands rested on her hips.
Glancing down once more, he saw a pattern, sort of rectangle with rounded edges with smaller square shaped markings inside. A fish? An animal? Ava bounced on her toes. He gave up.
‘I don’t know!’ He held his palms up.
‘Urgh! It’s a turtle shell, well I’m ninety-five percent sure it’s a turtle shell. It’s opalised like the other finds I’ve made. These are parts of the shell, see here.’ She delineated those markings. ‘The colour!’
‘What? No way, I can see it now that you point it out! But wait, did you say other finds? You’ve found other stuff, things, that look like this?’
Her hand clutched his elbow. ‘Yes. That’s right.’ Her tone lowered and she became more serious.
Noah turned back to the turtle. ‘But it doesn’t look like a normal, cute turtle, hey, it’s not a dinosaur turtle, is it?’ He didn’t even know if that was a thing.
Frowning, she stood still for the first time since his arrival. ‘Oh, I don’t think so. Do you think so?’
He laughed then, deep from his belly. ‘You’re the archaeologist! I don’t know.’
She joined in and her eyes sparkled with mirth, losing the seriousness of moments before. ‘Nah, maybe, I don’t know either. But I think we can agree it’s old. A fossil for sure. The remains of an animal preserved in rock. As I understand it has turned to opal because it’s been preserved in silica. I’ve been digging around here and there are lots of little objects that are beautifully coloured. I’m not sure what they are. But, I think, it could be a significant find. It’s incredible. Obviously, turtles are sea creatures so what does that mean? Was this once ocean? Or did it become stranded here after a weather event? I don’t know, or maybe a turtle that lives in ponds!’
Ava walked over to her bag on the ground and brought over a collection of other similarly coloured items. To him they simply looked like pretty rocks. ‘You think these are fossils, as in were once a plant or an animal, a living thing?’
