Page 58 of Summer in Sunset Harbour
Self-Excavation
When she got backto the campsite, she found a television crew from the BBC milling around in the car park outside the reception cabin. Tiffany was standing with Lindsay and Barney, shaking her head as Nat, still wearing sunglasses, grinned as he talked into the camera, a microphone making an indentation in his beard.
‘It’s like a surprise sandwich, isn’t it?’ he was saying to a mystified interviewer. ‘You’ve got your historical bread on one side—that’s the lad in the chamber over there—and you’ve got your modern bread on the other—me, of course. What’s gonna be in the filling, well, that’s just pot luck, isn’t it?’
‘What’s happened?’ Josie asked.
Tiffany grinned. ‘They took a DNA sample from the ancient king, and compared it to Nat’s. It turns out there’s an eighty-percent match, meaning Nat could be a direct descendent.’
‘Don’t we share more DNA than that with gorillas?’ Josie said.
‘Don’t tell them that,’ Tiffany said with a grin. ‘He just spent half an hour telling them his family history, and how his cult days in the eighties must have been a subconscious attempt to restart his ancient tribe. At this rate we’re looking at a two-hour documentary at least.’
‘Well, I suppose I’d watch it if it came on.’
‘By the way, what do you think of this?’
Tiffany reached into a plastic bag she was carrying and pulled out a pair of soft toys that looked like stocky, maneless lions. One was a dark, Halloween orange, the other slightly lighter. They both had spongy sabre-teeth and angry slanted eyebrows.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Cavey,’ Tiffany said. The park’s—and quite possibly the village’s—mascots.’
‘Mr. and Mrs. … Cavey?’
Tiffany shrugged. ‘It’s a work in progress. It’s pretty hard to find an original name using the word “lion”. They’ve all been copyrighted.’
‘What about the king?’
Tiffany reached into a bag and pulled out a stuffed doll with a bald head, a big beard, and clothes that reminded Josie of a Roman legionary, with the exception of the incongruous felt sunglasses covering its eyes.
‘It … ah … looks like Nathaniel.’
Tiffany grimaced. ‘It’s still very much a work in progress. He insisted on the sunglasses and the loincloth. When I pointed out that the Ice Age was several thousand years before the Romans, his response was something along the lines of “emmets ain’t gonna know”.’
‘That was a pretty good impression.’
Tiffany’s eyes widened and she swung her head from side to side. ‘Thanks. I’m working on it. Do you want the other good news?’
‘Sure.’
‘Due to the potential significance of what we’ve found, a few of the big societies are going to group together to pay for a full land survey, so we’re in the clear for that.’
‘Great. Will we be able to open by mid-June, and more importantly, before Lindsay and Geoffrey’s wedding?’
‘Looks like it. Although we’re going to have to do a bit of jostling for position. The southwestern corner of the park where the chamber was found will be cordoned off while excavations take place. There’s also talk of a visitor centre and a small museum, although that might be somewhere in the village due to planning restrictions.’
‘How exciting.’
‘Isn’t it great?’
‘It really is.’ Josie gave Tiffany a hug, but as she pulled away, she noticed a frown on her daughter’s face.
‘Mum, are you all right?’
Josie nodded. ‘I’m fine. Really.’
‘Are you sure?’
She gave Tiffany a smile, but it felt forced. ‘Yes, really.’
