Page 84 of Fe
Fen checked no one was looking and gave him a kiss.
“Maybe two,” Ripley said when Fen pulled back.
“Deal.”
The three of them set off towards the car park, with Fen trying to ignore his aching body. He’d probably never get the chance to do this again and he wanted to make the most of every second. He was doing his best to plant his feet carefully but the other two were ahead and he wanted to catch up. A moment later, he’d crashed to the ground, yelping as his knee collided with a rock.
Ripley rushed back to his side, followed by Gordo.
“I’m fine,” Fen said. He put his hand down to push himself up and stopped. “What’s that?” He picked up a small dark stone with a rounded edge and saw another beneath it.
“Wait,” Gordo called.
He crouched at Fen’s side. “Use this. Dig them out carefully.”
There were four pieces that looked the same apart from their increasing size. Fen turned one in his fingers. “Are they vertebrae?”
Gordo nodded. “I’m pretty sure they are. Maybe from an ichthyosaur or plesiosaur. Really good find. Well done.”
“Do you think the rest is down there?”
“There might be more vertebrae but it’s unlikely there’d be a whole skeleton. I’ll put a ring of stones here and come back when the tide has gone out.” Gordo took a few pictures, so Fen did too.
“We can keep looking for a little while but the tide comes in fast so when I tell you to move—you move.”
Nothing else was found and they were about a hundred metres from the car park when Fen tugged on Ripley’s arm. “I want to choose my last rock from near the foot of the cliff.”
“Is that allowed?” Ripley asked Gordo.
“Yes, but don’t touch the rockface.”
Fen made his way up the beach. “Maybe that one,” he said. “No, this one. Oh no, that.”
He pointed to something the size of a large serving plate, but a lot thicker.
“Fen!” Ripley moaned.
“See if you can pick it up. If you can’t, I’ll try.”
Ripley sucked in his cheeks, then bent and picked it up. “It’s too big.”
Fen put on his extremely disappointed face, the one he used on his mum when he was desperate.
“Fine,” Ripley sighed.
Great, it worked on Ripley too. “Thank you.”
“But now I can’t catch you if you fall.”
“I already fell and you didn’t catch me! This is your punishment, Sisyphus.”
“I’m going to be carrying this around forever?”
“Possibly.”
Gordo laughed when he saw what Ripley was carrying.
“I’m positive it has something inside it,” Fen said.
