usually seen wearing a pair of khaki shorts and T-shirts that vary like he changes clothes. Probably the same image you saw standing on the pier though. Dad seems to think Scott is one of the most powerful spiritwalkers he’s ever encountered, one with a strong, unbreakable bridge between his world and this place. You know the legends as well as I do.”
“ Sure, I know the stories, grew up with them. But seeing it right outside my front door is another matter. I know what I saw last night but I’d be hard pressed to admit it to anyone else but you.”
Glancing at his brother, Ethan said, “ As I recall, you and Scott used to hang around together quite a bit as kids, didn’t you?”
“Despite the age difference, yeah we did.”
“But it’s only two years. Dad believes Scott appears to people who are troubled about something. If you’re depressed, Brent, it’s okay to admit it.”
“Don’t try to psychoanalyze me ,” Brent snapped. “I have a departmental shrink who does that on a regular basis. It pisses me off.”
“ I can see that. But all I’m saying is someone tries to kill you, it messes with your head, messing with your head you start to show a little anxiety from time to time.”
Brent decided they needed a change of subject. “What do you know about this archaeological find on the dunes everyone’s talking about? I’ve been a little busy to pay much attention to it. According to Dad, the Southwest Tribal Foundation already sent someone out to head the dig. It’s all over town she’s checked into the B & B, looks to be here a while. Dad’s not too happy about it.”
“Just what he’s mentioned in the last week or so and the grumblings I’ve heard from the other elders. None of them are too keen on unearthing our ancestors so a bunch of scientific studies can be done on them.”
“I didn’t hear they’d found remains. I n fact, I didn’t even know they’d started to dig.”
“They haven’t. Yet. But if it turns out this is a settlement, there’s a good chance human remains are down there somewhere. We all need to prepare for that eventuality. I told Dad the same thing. There’s been some talk around town about how this discovery will likely put Pelican Pointe on the map. Half want the exposure. The other half would rather the whole thing just go away. It’s split the town down the middle.”
“Like we needed that to happen, ” Brent said, looking up at the uneven crags as the waves splashed up against the rocks. Two days ago the park rangers had finally showed up to rope off the area and post signs warning the public about the now unstable side of the one-hundred-foot drop off. In spite of that, beachgoers were out sunning themselves at the base and enjoying a perfect fall day with temperatures expected in the high seventies.
“ We always knew it could happen,” Ethan went on. “We always knew one bad squall could cause a collapse. Who knew we might find evidence of a settlement belonging to our ancestors underneath the sand right here in town though?”
That’s one reason Brent wasn’t sure he understood why his father was so upset about the whole thing. “Now that you mention it, I guess it was just a matter of time before something like this happened. Since our forefathers lived all up and down this same coastline for thousands of years I’m surprised it took this long. Think about it.”
“All I know is I haven’t seen D ad this excited since he found that little missing girl in Oregon. Not sure he trusts this archaeologist the center brought in though. He’s afraid this will turn the ruins into nothing more than a tourist attraction just like a lot of the other Native sites in North America. He doesn’t want that and neither do the elders.”
“Can’t say I blame them . Once the vultures begin to circle they’ll likely hang around for whatever they can scrounge and put up for sale on eBay.”
“They did that with Hohokam artifacts found in
“ Sure, I know the stories, grew up with them. But seeing it right outside my front door is another matter. I know what I saw last night but I’d be hard pressed to admit it to anyone else but you.”
Glancing at his brother, Ethan said, “ As I recall, you and Scott used to hang around together quite a bit as kids, didn’t you?”
“Despite the age difference, yeah we did.”
“But it’s only two years. Dad believes Scott appears to people who are troubled about something. If you’re depressed, Brent, it’s okay to admit it.”
“Don’t try to psychoanalyze me ,” Brent snapped. “I have a departmental shrink who does that on a regular basis. It pisses me off.”
“ I can see that. But all I’m saying is someone tries to kill you, it messes with your head, messing with your head you start to show a little anxiety from time to time.”
Brent decided they needed a change of subject. “What do you know about this archaeological find on the dunes everyone’s talking about? I’ve been a little busy to pay much attention to it. According to Dad, the Southwest Tribal Foundation already sent someone out to head the dig. It’s all over town she’s checked into the B & B, looks to be here a while. Dad’s not too happy about it.”
“Just what he’s mentioned in the last week or so and the grumblings I’ve heard from the other elders. None of them are too keen on unearthing our ancestors so a bunch of scientific studies can be done on them.”
“I didn’t hear they’d found remains. I n fact, I didn’t even know they’d started to dig.”
“They haven’t. Yet. But if it turns out this is a settlement, there’s a good chance human remains are down there somewhere. We all need to prepare for that eventuality. I told Dad the same thing. There’s been some talk around town about how this discovery will likely put Pelican Pointe on the map. Half want the exposure. The other half would rather the whole thing just go away. It’s split the town down the middle.”
“Like we needed that to happen, ” Brent said, looking up at the uneven crags as the waves splashed up against the rocks. Two days ago the park rangers had finally showed up to rope off the area and post signs warning the public about the now unstable side of the one-hundred-foot drop off. In spite of that, beachgoers were out sunning themselves at the base and enjoying a perfect fall day with temperatures expected in the high seventies.
“ We always knew it could happen,” Ethan went on. “We always knew one bad squall could cause a collapse. Who knew we might find evidence of a settlement belonging to our ancestors underneath the sand right here in town though?”
That’s one reason Brent wasn’t sure he understood why his father was so upset about the whole thing. “Now that you mention it, I guess it was just a matter of time before something like this happened. Since our forefathers lived all up and down this same coastline for thousands of years I’m surprised it took this long. Think about it.”
“All I know is I haven’t seen D ad this excited since he found that little missing girl in Oregon. Not sure he trusts this archaeologist the center brought in though. He’s afraid this will turn the ruins into nothing more than a tourist attraction just like a lot of the other Native sites in North America. He doesn’t want that and neither do the elders.”
“Can’t say I blame them . Once the vultures begin to circle they’ll likely hang around for whatever they can scrounge and put up for sale on eBay.”
“They did that with Hohokam artifacts found in
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