Author's Note: Please review!
Chapter 3: Ceremonial Dinner
Micky waited with Mike and Peter in the audience while Davy sat next to his grandfather on a stage-area the museum had set up for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Micky was trying to be patient, but it seemed like they'd been sitting there forever. He started bouncing his leg and drumming on his knees when Mike shot him a look telling him to relax. Micky took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He was still bored out of his mind and couldn't wait for them to start the ceremony. Finally, after what seemed like hours, a woman got up on stage behind a microphone and Mike elbowed Peter on the other side of him to wake him up.
"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen," the woman said. "I am pleased that you have all shown up today. We are here to honor a very important man who has made numerous, immeasurable contributions to the museum over the years." The woman went on for another half an hour talking about all the contributions Mr. Jones had made before introducing him. When Mr. Jones took the stage to a round of applause, he gave a speech. He told the story about how Davy had found the site and thanked Davy, the archaeologist and his team, and the new owner of the property who had finally let him dig there. Finally, it was time for Mr. Jones to cut the ribbon to the new room of the museum and dozens of reporters gathered around to take pictures as he cut it.
Once the ribbon cutting ceremony was over and all the pictures were taken, Mr. Jones and Davy had to shake hands with several VIPs before they gathered in a converted lecture hall for the dinner. In the room were several round tables with fancy tablecloths and delicate looking tableware. On the far end of the room was a long table setup for Davy, Mr. Jones, the archaeologist, the curator and several other members of the museum. Micky got a little disappointed when he realized that Davy wouldn't be sitting with them for dinner. When he approached the table an employee told them to sit at, he realized that their names were written on little cards.
They sat at the table with two members of the dig, Rick and John, who enjoyed regaling them with the stories of the items they dug up. Micky was a little more interested listening to all the stories, but he was still pretty bored. He looked up at the table Davy was sitting at occasionally and he appeared to be just as bored as Micky was. His grandfather was having a conversation with the museum curator and trying to involve Davy a little, but Davy was too busy yawning. Peter seemed more interested in hearing the stories from the crew at their table while Mike pretended to be interested, but Micky saw right through it; he was fighting the urge to fall asleep himself.
"You guys wanna see some of the stuff not on display yet?" Rick whispered excitedly.
"What?" Mike asked perking up.
"Can we really do that?" Peter asked excitedly.
"I really don't think we're allowed to do that," Mike said.
"Why not?" Rick asked.
"Isn't it not on display for a reason?" Mike asked.
"It's not on display because it hasn't been finished being analyzed," John said. "But we're the ones who are working on the artifacts. We have access to them; we can show them to you."
"Why would you want to do that?" Mike asked sounding skeptical.
"Who cares?" Peter asked excitedly. "It's really cool! We can see history before anyone else gets to!"
"I only offered because you guys seem bored," John said.
"We just aren't used to these upper crust things," Micky said.
"Neither are we," Rick said. "It's why we usually just sneak off and go work on the artifacts. Your friend seems really interested and there's nothing wrong with it."
"I say we go, Mike," Micky said. "It does sound cool."
"Alright," Mike relented, though he still looked a little suspicious. "If you're sure we won't get in trouble."
"No trouble, mate," John said. "Follow us." The three boys followed the two crew members out to the main part of the museum. When they reached a set of double doors with a security guard standing in front of it, they flashed a couple badges and the guard smiled.
"They're with us," John said as the guard opened the door for them. They walked into a hallway and through another door that opened into a large room that appeared to be a storage room with a bunch of laboratory equipment such as microscopes and sifters. The lab equipment lined the walls and the artifacts littered tables along the middle of the room. Micky stared in awe at all the artifacts on the table. Most of the items were already sorted into trays. There was one tray full of coins, one tray full of metallic bits of something, and a table with old bent crosses, swords, daggers and other large artifacts.
"Wow," Peter breathed.
"This is just the stuff not on display?" Mike asked clearly impressed.
"Yeah," John said. "Mostly just odds and ends. Or like the coins, something we have dozens of. The site was remarkably well preserved. We even found some human remains, but those are in a cooler for preservation."
"Human remains?" Mike asked. Micky shuddered a little himself at the thought.
"Yeah," John answered. "Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. We got lucky on this dig."
"What is this?" Peter asked pointing at a small leather-bound book.
"Near as we've been able to tell, it's someone's journal," John answered.
"Micky, don't touch anything," Mike warned as Micky found himself reaching for a ring in the center of the tray of jewelry.
"It's ok," Rick said. "Just put everything back where you found it. Not everything has been fully catalogued yet, but everything has been cleaned."
"I thought you catalogue stuff in the field?" Peter asked.
"We mark where we found stuff and label it with a number and give a brief description," Rick answered. "Like this coin would be 'round, metallic artifact' or something."
"Why not just say it's a coin?" Mike asked.
"We don't make any assumptions about anything until it's been analyzed," Rick answered. "Of course, we say it's a coin and we know it's a coin, but on paper, it's artifact 27-B-38."
"27-B-38?" Micky asked.
"The 27th artifact found in grid B section 38," Rick answered.
"Oh," Micky said. "Sounds very methodical."
"It is," John said. "It saves our butt if something ever comes into question."
"What do you mean?" Mike asked. "What would come into question?"
"The authenticity," John answered. "Have you guys ever heard of Piltdown Man?"
"No," Mike answered.
"I think I heard about that," Micky said. "It was a set of remains found here that were thought to be early human."
"Yeah, but then it was proven a forgery?" Peter asked.
"Exactly," John answered. "It was found in 1912 in Piltdown, East Sussex, by a man named Charles Dawson. It was said to be the missing link and it proved that our brain evolved first. This contradicted everything else being found suggesting our teeth and jawbones evolved first. In 1958, it was proven to be a hoax. Someone buried the jaw of an orangutan and the skull of a human after modifying them so they appeared to fit together."
"Why would someone do that?" Mike asked.
"People wanted to think that our brains evolved first," John answered. "It would make us less of an animal. At that time people were still having a hard time even accepting evolution."
"Who did it?" Mike asked.
"No one knows," John answered. "Dawson died 4 years after the bones were "found". But there are a lot of other suspects."
"Well, isn't that convenient," Mike muttered looking at a few of the other items on the table. Peter picked up the journal and began flipping through it carefully.
"I can't make anything out," Peter said trying to read.
"You can get a better look at the words with this," John said pointing at a large machine at the side of the room. "Come here; I'll show you." The other crew member soon joined Peter and started pointing various things out. Micky, however, was still fascinated by the ring he'd been reaching for earlier. He thought it might be best to just listen to Mike and not touch anything, but he'd been so bored all night; he deserved a little fun. Besides, he'd put it right back; he just wanted to see how it felt. He reached out and no sooner had his fingers closed around it, did he hear Mike chastising him again.
"Don't touch anything, Micky," Mike whispered.
"They said it was ok," Micky argued bringing the ring closer to his eyes. "Besides, I'm gonna put it right back."
"I'm more worried about you dropping it," Mike whispered. "Or breaking it."
"I'm not gonna drop it," Micky argued. "Or break it. You're too uptight. Loosen up, man." Mike rolled his eyes and started looking at some of the other jewelry, though Micky could somehow feel he was still watching him. The ring looked beautifully ornate. It had a gold band and a black stone in the center that reminded Micky of black glass. It looked like there were engravings along the entire band, but they were too small to see clearly. The ring itself felt heavy and Micky wondered how anyone could ever wear a piece of jewelry that ornate and that heavy. Before he realized what he was doing, he slipped the ring on his finger.
"What are you doing!?" Mike hissed the very second Micky slipped the ring on.
"See, that's creepy," Micky answered. "How did you even see that? You weren't even looking at me!"
"Take it off, now," Mike said.
"I like it," Micky answered. "It's actually not bad. At first I thought it was big and heavy, but I could see how someone could get used to it."
"Take it off," Mike repeated.
"Ok, ok, buzzkill," Micky said trying to slip the ring off. But it wouldn't budge.
"Micky," Mike warned.
"I'm trying," Micky whispered casting a worried glance at the two crew members who were still enthralled in showing Peter the journal.
"What do you mean?" Mike asked quietly.
"I mean it won't come off!" Micky whispered desperately still trying to pull the ring off his finger.
"You idiot!" Mike whispered and darted around the table. "Only you would put a ring on that's thousands of years old and get it stuck!"
"Hey, I was just trying to have fun," Micky argued as Mike tried to pull the ring off too. It wouldn't come off for him either. It was actually starting to get painful. Like the ring itself was burning into his skin.
"Micky, if this doesn't come off, I'm cutting your finger off," Mike warned.
"Ow, stop!" Micky hissed and yanked his hand out of Mike's.
"Of course it hurts," Mike said exasperatedly. "Your fingers are too big!"
"It burns!" Micky argued. Surprisingly, however, the burning sensation stopped once they stopped trying to take the ring off.
"You have to take that off," Mike said.
"I know I do!" Micky spat. "I'm not stupid."
"You put on a thousand year old ring," Mike pointed out. Micky just glared at him and tried to pull the ring off again. It was pointless. The ring wasn't even spinning around his finger like his other ring did. It was almost as if the ring was fused with his skin, but that was impossible.
"We should get back," John said suddenly. Micky jumped and quickly shoved his hand in his pocket making the split decision not to say anything about the ring for fear of getting in trouble.
"Of course!" Micky said. The entire way back to the table, he felt Mike glaring at him and his stomach churned. Was he really stealing an artifact from a museum? From Davy's grandfather?
