Page 66 of Troy Story
“You and those damn spreadsheets.” But the fire had gone out of Dr. Hughes’ eyes. He turned and stormed off toward his trench.
Still maintaining a calm facade, Stuart didn’t let on that his heart was pounding, his mouth dry. He’d never spoken to a supervisor that way before—not a dig director, not a professor, notanyoneabove him. He had the utmost respect for authority. But for once, it had felt remarkably good not to roll over and show his belly.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
In the four days that had passed since Operation Strudel, Dusty had seen a noticeable improvement in everyone’s morale. Now that the Germans were no longer their enemies, she and the others could freely walk past their site and chat with them. Mort and Dr. Wagner had shared tea at the café. And Leo and Clarissa had become an item. Not only had she been bubblier than usual, but Dusty had also caught her singing in the bathroom like a lovestruck Disney princess.
The only one who hadn’t benefited from the détente? Dr. Hughes. With each passing day, the lack of a cemetery—or any other spectacular find—soured his mood even further. By now, his behavior had gotten so toxic that no one wanted to work with him. To ensure fairness, Stuart had drawn up a new schedule. Though everyone had to take a turn in the dig director’s trench, they only had to endure it for two days in a row.
Unfortunately, Dusty was on the first day of her rotation, which meant putting up with Dr. Hughes’ nasty barbs. But even though he clearly resented her, he hadn’t made any more threats to kick her off the dig. She figured if she kept her temper under control and did her job, he wouldn’t have any reason to get rid of her. Even without a cemetery, they’d found enough artifacts that both she and Clarissa had plenty to draw.
She could hardly believe they only had two weeks left at Troy. While she wasn’t in a hurry to leave Turkey, she was looking forward to returning to Boston. Then she and Stuart could stop pretending they were just colleagues. If they wanted, they could spend every night in each other’s arms. Not that they’d gotten far in discussing the future. But Dusty suspected Stuart wanted to stay together as much as she did.
At the sight of Leo strolling over to their trench, she waved at him. “Hey, Leo. What’s up?”
“I came to fetch Clarissa. She’s coming back to the field house for our midday meal.”
Clarissa straightened and brushed the dirt off her knees. Unlike the rest of them, she always looked good, even after seven hours of digging in the scorching sun. She flashed Leo a radiant smile. “Thanks for coming to get me.”
Dr. Hughes strode over to the edge of their trench. “You can’t leave yet. You’ve got fifteen minutes left before it’s time to go.”
Clarissa shrugged. “Sorry. I’ll make up for it tomorrow.”
Dusty bit back a grin, secretly pleased Clarissa didn’t sound sorry at all.
Leo squatted at the side of their trench and peered into it. “Find anything good today?”
“Nothing special,” Dusty said. “More horse bones than usual. Not sure what that means yet. What about you?”
He broke into a wide smile, revealing adorable dimples. “We made a significant find, or rather, I did, by the Temple of Athena. I dug up a small clay fragment that might have come from a larger tablet. It’s hard to tell, but it looks like it has writing on it. Cuneiform, if I’m not mistaken.”
“That’s so exciting,” Clarissa said. “Do you have a picture?”
Leo jumped into the trench and brought up a photo on his phone, displaying it for them to see. The piece wasn’t much bigger than Dusty’s thumb, but she could make out faint scratch marks. She could only imagine how excited Dr. Wagner must have been when Leo made the discovery.
“That’s a sweet find,” she said. “What if it turns out to be the oldest example of writing at Troy?”
“Didn’t someone find a bronze seal with writing on it from this time period?” Clarissa asked.
Dusty nodded. “The Luwian seal. It’s from the Late Bronze Age, but it’s tiny. Like the size of a button. And it only has a couple of words on it. This piece could be part of something much bigger. Like an engraved tablet.” The thought filled her with a burst of joy. Now that she and Dr. Wagner had become friends, she’d be thrilled if his team scored a major find.
Dr. Hughes lumbered down to join them, then demanded Leo show him the photo. After squinting at it, he gave a dismissive snort. “Looks like garbage to me. I doubt it’s anything valuable.”
Dusty refrained from rolling her eyes at his blatant rudeness. Instead, she smiled at Leo. “Tell Dr. Wagner congrats from us. I hope it leads to an entire tablet.”
“That’s what he’s hoping for, too. He wanted to keep digging, but one of his colleagues—an archaeology professor from Berlin—is stopping by our field house for lunch. That’s why I invited Clarissa to join us.”
“He’s from the same neighborhood as my cousins,” Clarissa said.
“Have fun,” Dusty said. “Don’t get into any trouble.”
She laughed. “That’s your department.” After climbing out of the trench with Leo, she grabbed her daypack and left with him.
Dr. Hughes’ lip curled in disgust as he watched them go. Was he annoyed because Clarissa had left early? Or jealous of Leo’s discovery?
Either way, Dusty didn’t need him taking out his anger on her. She crouched back in her corner and continued digging until her grumpy boss announced it was time to go.
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