A couple of days have passed before the big day arrived: the day Bandit would present his discovery. Most of his family would be present there, like Chilli, his brothers, parents, Trixie and Frisky. At breakfast, Bandit told the girls, who were eating, while trying to tie his tie:
"Come on, girls, don't mess around. Eat your brekky."
"Do what your dad is saying, girls" Chilli said, coming inside the kitchen, with her having herself specially arranged, wearing some make-up that, despite simple, only complemented her beauty. "Today is a big day for him and he can't be late."
"Wow, Mum, you're so pretty!" Bluey exclaimed.
"Yeah, very pretty!" Bingo agreed.
"Come on, girls, your mum is always pretty" Bandit told, as he approached Chilli to put his arm around her shoulders and give her a kiss on the cheek.
Chilli chuckled and said, while tying her husband's tie:
"You don't have to flirt with me to have me tie your tie, you know?"
After she was finished, she kissed him back on the check, leaving a lipstick mark.
"I was just telling the truth, babe" Bandit said, while Chilli went to clean the mark she left. "I am the luckiest dog in the world to have you as my wife."
"Owww!" the girls exclaimed, as they loved to see their parents acting all 'romance' (as they would say) before them. "Smoochy kiss! Smoochy kiss!"
"Sorry, girls, no smooch kiss" Chilli said. "I don't want to ruin my make-up and leave lipstick on your dad so soon before leaving. Now, eat, you need to be at school soon."
"Okay, Mommy" Bingo replied, while eating.
However, Bluey was not eating, looking sad. With her parents noticing that, Bandit asked:
"Come on, Bluey, you need to eat, mate."
"Can I go with you?" she asked. "I promise I'll behave."
"Oh, we would love to take you with us, sweetie, but that is no place for a kid like you" Chilli replied.
"Oh…" Bluey said, a little bit disappointed.
Knowing there was something more about her request to come with them, Bandit approached Bluey and kneeled before her, asking:
"What's wrong, Bluey? I thought you were excited to go to school? It's your first day at first grade, after all."
"I guess, but…" Bluey started. "But I'm going to miss prep year… and Calypso. And… what if I don't get in the same class as my friends?"
"I understand what you're feeling" Bandit told. "I went through the same thing when I went to first grade, but you'll see that everything will be alright."
"Are you sure?" Bluey asked.
"Of course!" Bandit replied. "I know you'll miss Calypso, but think you're going to meet a new teacher that may be as awesome as her. As for your friends… even if you don't get on the same class, you'll all remain friends… and you're going to meet new ones. And I know you like to meet new friends."
That caused Bluey to start smiling.
"You're right, I do" she said, going then for a hug with Bandit. "Thanks, Dad."
"You're welcome, mate" he replied, hugging her back.
After that moment, Bandit said to Bluey, while getting up:
"Now, hurry to eat your brekky and be ready for school."
"Okay, dad!" Bluey exclaimed, while she went to eat her cereals.
"Nicely done" Chilli said to Bandit, approaching him and putting her hands on his shoulders.
After the kids were ready, Bandit and Chilli drove them to school and then went to the museum. The room where the exhibition was being built had already some guests, waiting for the presentation, including the Heeler family and Dr. Cooper. Bandit, together with Emily, came to the stage, where not only the reconstruction of the camp was set up, but also Emily's sketches of the skeletons placed on an easel. Bandit was a little nervous about that, but, after trading a look with Chilli, who was filming everything with a camera, he was able to pass his nerves and say:
"G'day to everyone. We're greatly gratified to see many people here wanting to know what happened twenty-five thousands years ago."
"You can bet on that" Rad said, causing some chuckles.
"All those years ago, there was a family, different from any other, living on a place near Darwin" Bandit told. "I think that, for a better interpretation of the facts, it would be best if I had some voluntaries to put on a little play of the events. Rad, do you mind being the dire wolf father?"
"Anything for you, bro" Rad replied, coming to the stage.
"Frisky, you can be the dog mother" Bandit said.
"Sure" she replied, coming to the stage as well.
"And for the interlope… Stripe" Bandit said.
"I don't know, Bandit, you know I have stage fright" Stripe replied, a little nervous.
"Come on, dear, it's not you're going to say anything" Trixie replied, giving a small push to her husband, motivating him to go there.
"Yeah, Stripy, do this for your brother" Chris told him.
Stripe ended up sighing and went to the stage, where he, Rad and Frisky were positioned by Bandit who continued:
"It was a warm morning during wet season on a place near where Darwin is located nowadays."
"How do you know it was a warm morning?" Dr. Cooper asked.
Bandit pointed to Dr. Boxer who said:
"Spores and fungi found on the bones tell us it was a warm morning, a very warm one."
"The mum was grinding gumnuts into past between rocks" Bandit said, while Frisky pretended to use the rocks. "These grinding rocks were found at the site by my me and my team, along with some gumnut husks."
"Now, there was a little girl, only three years old who was sleeping under some skins here in the shelter" Emily told, indicating the shelter.
"Which is our cue for Dad to come in with dinner" Bandit said.
"Right, good" Rad said, while holding a stuffed animal and approaching Frisky. "Uh, me brings meat for us to eat…" he said, making a cavedog voice.
"Yeah, you don't have to talk, Rad" Bandit told his brother. "Seriously, don't… it's weird."
"Sorry, I couldn't resist" Rad confessed.
"This is not a family like others" Bandit continued.
"They were outcasts" Emily added.
"This family lived apart because they were not accepted, because they were an interspecies family" Bandit told, turning then to his younger brother. "Time for the interlope."
"What do I do?" Stripe asked, a little nervous, advancing a little while holding a spear.
"Throw your spear at Dad" Emily told him.
"Why?" Stripe asked.
"We found a greenstick fracture on the father's left ninth rib that is consistent with the trajectory of a thrown weapon" Dr. Boxer told.
"The dogs were the first to throw a spear at their prey rather than simply jab at it" Bandit explained. "That is because, unlike wolves, they were not as fast and didn't have teeth and claws as sharp as well."
"Oh I see… Well then…" Stripe said, while pretending to throw the spear to Rad.
Rad went to grab it and pretended to be hit by it.
"Mom then attacked the interloper with her grinding stone, fracturing his left umerus" Bandit continued, as Frisky pretended to hit Stripe with one of the rocks. "He then retaliated by striking her in the face, and down Mom went with a broken jaw and very likely a crushed larynx."
Frisky then pretended to fall after Stripe pretended to strike her. Bandit then continued:
"But her actions gave Dad time to recover and strike the interloper, using his claws and strength..." Bandit told, as Rad proceeded to pretend strike Stripe with pretended claws.
"Dude, lie down, you're dead" Rad told to his youngest brother.
"I'm not gonna lie down" Stripe replied.
"Well, you should" Rad told, while Bandit rolled his eyes. "I just split your skull wide open."
"Okay, all right, we got it" Bob said. "The bad guy is dead. What happened next?"
"As I was saying, the interloper was killed instantly" Bandit told. "The father bled out in less than three minutes."
"What happened to the mother?" Frisky asked.
"Her larynx was crushed" Bandit replied. "She suffocated to death."
"Okay, but the little girl… she was okay, right?" Chris asked.
"No, actually, she was only three years old, and…" Emily started, soon finding herself unable to finish that sentence.
Bandit noticed that and hasted to take her line:
"She was all alone."
"What?" Trixie asked. "Why didn't the other villagers take her in?"
"Because she was half-dog and half-wolf" Bandit replied. "No one wanted her."
"The lines of arrest on the child's teeth indicate that she starved to death" Dr. Cooper added.
"So… you're saying the world's first hate crime ended with the starvation of a little girl?" Chris asked, with a brokenhearted voiced.
"No, mum, it doesn't end in hate" Bandit replied.
"Before he died, Dad crawled over to the Mom, where they died together, and then..." Emily told.
"The little girl's last action was to come over... and lie down with her parents…" Bandit told, as he went to get one last easel where there was a sketch featuring the dire wolf dad, the dog mother and the child cuddling together. "…which is how my team and I found the bones… together."
That last scene left everyone present moved, with some, especially the mothers present there, to tear up.
Note: Bandit's discovery of the bones and their story is based on the episode "The Archaeologist in the Cocoon" from the series Bones.
