Page 26 of The Voice of Wild Places
A heavy silence descended upon them, and Watt cursed himself.Too personal, once again.He said, “You’d said something about the crew, do you want to go over that?”
Cornelius’ shoulders sagged a little.“Yes, please.”
That ‘please’ tripped Watt up, and he cleared his throat before beginning to list the names and professions of those at the site.
Joaquim de Silva; director of the expedition and crew chief.
Severino Antunes; translator and liaison.
Thomas Anderson; archaeologist.
Charles Rowland; botanist.
Francesca Carmine; geologist.
Andrea Carmine; anthropologist.
At first, Cornelius nodded along with no recognition until saying, “Oh, I’ve worked with him,” about Anderson.When he heard the names of the Carmine siblings, he went dead still.Watt internally sighed, knowing full well who the problem child was.
“You’re serious?”Cornelius asked.“Andrea—Dr.Carmine—I mean, he’s there?”
“Yes, he’s with the rest of the NYU folks.”Watt tried very hard not to sound chastising as he said, “I believe you have a copy of the list?It was in the first batch of letters I sent to you.”
“I don’t remember seeing it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.Rest of the NYU folks …” Cornelius removed his glasses and rubbed his temple, then glanced at Watt with narrowed eyes.“Were you offered an opportunity to work the site as well?Before?”
“Yes, but I wasn’t available at the time,” Watt said, and found he couldn’t say much more.He wasn’t obliged to tell Cornelius anything personal, that much had been made perfectly clear.As long as he could keep his own damn questions to himself.
Cornelius studied him for a moment, lips parted on a question.
Watt decided to strike preemptively.“Did you two work together?”He asked, although he’d already deduced the answer.After returning home from Philadelphia, he’d spent days comparing the timelines of their life, who had been where and when.Now that he had the proper name to search, it was remarkably easy.Even still, all he had were academic papers and newspaper articles.
Cornelius shot him an accusatory look.“We did.In Ur, before I left and he jumped ship to join your team.Anderson was there too, but he’s far better company than Carmine.”
“That was Carter’s team, not mine.”Watt clarified.“I was hardly more than a graduate at the time.”
Cornelius studied him.“Why’d you leave?”
“What?”Watt asked, taken aback.
“The team, why did you leave when you did?You missed out on all the glory.”
Watt felt like he’d been dunked in cold water.“Glory isn’t why I got into this life.”
“No, your father’s what got you into this life.Well, your days as an archaeologist, anyways.”
Watt stood.“You know, for someone who doesn’t want to get personal, you seem to be asking a lot of questions.”
He didn’t say,‘and it’s unfair that you know more about me during our time apart than I do about you.There’s gaps in the timeline.I want to know it all.’
Cornelius stared up at him, eyes wide.A moment passed, then he shook his head and looked away.“You’re right.I—I’m sorry.”
Watt thought maybe Cornelius was genuine, and he couldn’t take it.
“It’s fine.I’m going to take Maggie for a walk.”
He needed air.
When he returned from below decks, Watt found he could not open the door to their suite.He stood there, heart racing and Maggie waiting patiently beside him.He felt like a fool after having cooled off.Cornelius had not asked anything outrageous, nothing he hadn’t been asked before.But he hated talking about Egypt, hated that everyone found him interesting because of it.That they approved of what he’d done.For years he wanted someone, justoneperson, to tell him he was a grave robbing sack of shit.
