Page 56 of Summer in Sunset Harbour
‘They were … pets. Pets or guards, maybe, but almost certainly domesticated. Pets to a … king. A real live lion king.’
25
Invasion of the Boffins
The car parkwas full of lorries. As another came rumbling down the lane, Tiffany stepped out into its way and put up a hand. Josie, standing by the reception cabin, watched as her daughter opened her palm to the driver and said, ‘Parking is a fiver per day.’
‘Oh, right,’ came a man’s voice, and a hand stuck out, passing something to Tiffany. As the van rumbled on, Tiffany wandered over to Josie.
‘Here’s another,’ she said, handing over a crumpled five-pound note. ‘Add it to tonight’s drinking fund.’
‘How many is that?’ Josie asked.
‘Nine,’ Tiffany said. ‘Including the BBC journalists that showed up. Oh, and that guy fromNational Geographicwants an interview.’
‘With me? Why?’
‘He wants your first impressions of the cave,’ Tiffany said.
‘All right, well, I suppose we can schedule him in later. I have to go and see Hilda this morning.’
‘Oh, and Robinson called.’ Tiffany grinned. ‘I think he wants to ask you out on a date.’
‘I’m too old for that.’
‘Mum, you know that middle age officially starts from fifty these days? That means that you’re still young. Go on, do something crazy.’
‘I’ll think about it.’
Tiffany had some work to do on the computer, so Josie headed down into the campsite to see how the archaeological teams were getting on. The story hadn’t broken yet, but Robinson had notified several of his scientist friends, and teams had come down from the British Museum and Oxford University, as well as the British Archaeological Society. Apparently the Cornish Archaeological Society were also on their way, but had stopped for pasties and a cream tea down in the village.
Everyone on site had been asked to keep the discovery quiet until the full extent of what they had found was known, but Lindsay and Geoffrey had already told her family, while Nathaniel was now frantically carving a life-sized sculpture of a cave lion out of a piece of driftwood for it to be placed at the campsite entrance.
Groups of boffins holding clipboards stood near to the cave entrance, while another group descended into the depths to video and photograph everything. So far, according to Robinson, nothing had been touched or moved, but eventually most of it would be taken away for study and testing. However, it was quite likely that a perfect replica would be installed in its place and the area turned into an open-air museum. Nathaniel had apparently already applied for planning permission to extend the access lane down into the forest.
‘Hey.’
Josie looked up. Robinson stood nearby, looking dishevelled but excited. Since the discovery yesterday afternoon, it didn’t look like he had either washed or slept.
‘You look a mess.’
‘I’ve been subsisting on ice cream for the last day or so. Sugar is the only thing keeping me awake.’
‘Would a coffee help?’What did I just say?
Robinson grinned. ‘I think it might.’
‘Uh … I’ve got some at my cabin.’
‘Sure.’
Josie found herself heading for her cabin with Robinson walking alongside. Her heart was thundering, trying to process what she had just said. The words had just slipped out, the connotations following after like a petulant child. As they reached her cabin, however, Robinson sat down at a picnic bench she had put outside.
‘I’m not in the best of conditions right now,’ he said with a grin. ‘I don’t want to get dirt on your carpet.’
‘It’s all right.’
Part of her felt relieved, part disappointed. She went inside and made some coffee, running over in her mind what she would say when she came back out. Tiffany said he had called for her. He seemed like a nice man, but was she really ready for any kind of involvement so soon after her divorce? Granted, she and Reid had been separated for years, but dredging it all up again for the benefit of the courts had left a sour—but expensive—taste in her mouth.
