Shadow Bones by Colleen Rhoads

Author:Colleen Rhoads
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Steeple Hill
Published: 2005-11-08T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Jake had hired a guard, a surly, stout Ojibwa named Joe, whom Skye swore would defend the site with his life. Joe didn’t say much, but Jake never caught him sleeping or goofing off when he was supposed to be watching. With his leather vest and hat decorated with a single feather, Joe reminded Jake of the native scouts who used to lead the settlers West.

Jake couldn’t deny he kept watch for Skye. The dig looked down on the entrance to the mine, and he found his gaze straying in that direction every few minutes. A thousand times he had castigated himself for scaring her off that way. She’d made it clear how she felt by the way she tore out of the basement a week ago. If he’d entertained a slim hope that there could be anything between them, the thought had died as he watched her retreat up the stairs.

He pushed away the thoughts plaguing his mind and went up the slope to the dig. “Morning, Joe. Any trouble last night?”

The stocky native shook his head. “Nothing, Jake. Pretty quiet night.”

“Go get some rest. I’m going to work on releasing a few more eggs today. Don’t come running if you hear another vehicle midmorning. Kimball’s due in then.”

Joe nodded and went to the tent in a grassy knoll in the meadow. The June sun was hot, so Jake took off his chambray shirt and pulled on a T-shirt. Adrenaline pumped through his blood as he knelt by the clutch of eggs again.

They seemed to get larger as he went deeper into the ground. What else was hidden on this slope? In his mind’s eye, he could see the entire hillside excavated. Maybe the largest dinosaur bones found to date would be uncovered here. This spot was what he’d been searching for all his life—the fame he sought slept here, just under the surface of the soil.

His chest expanded as he contemplated the future. Lecture invitations, elite digs, magazine and newspaper articles, maybe the front page of Time and television shows. Maybe even a National Geographic special. His name would be mentioned in paleontology textbooks. And he’d finally erase his humiliation.

“We need to talk.”

His pleasant dream vanished at the sound of Cameron Reynolds’s voice. Jake stood from where he’d crouched over the dig and scowled at the other man. “I have nothing to say to you. I told you to stay away from my dig.”

“I’ll give you back your eggs and tell you who’s been sabotaging your dig if you cut me in on the action here.”

“I have even more eggs here.”

“I’ve had a look at what was taken. It’s another dinosaur altogether. A therizinosaur.”

Jake frowned. These eggs were sauropods. “Therizinosaur eggs that big?” He didn’t bother to hide his skepticism. But his heart gave a blip in his chest. If this was true, it could be huge. Therizinosaur eggs were extremely rare and no one really knew what they looked like full grown. If he could find an adult skeleton…He couldn’t even finish the thought.

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