"Lapis lazuli," Nancy said, turning the disk piece over in her hands. "Looks quite old. Jewelry, maybe? Many cultures valued the bright blue color for decoration and things. The carvings on them don't mean anything to me, but if you'll give me some time, I'll see if I can find you an answer, but I can't promise much," she warned. "Can I take it with me? Pictures won't do a whole lot."
"You can take whatever you need," Matthias told her before Jean-Eric could object. "How long do you think it will take?"
"I don't know," she replied. "It depends on what I find or don't find. Probably at least a month. I'll let you know the moment I get a lead."
"Thank you," Matthias said politely. "And how much do we owe you?"
"Not a thing," Nancy said with a grin, heading for her jetski. "On good faith."
"Nancy, before you go, do you have that sea whistle I asked for?" Alana had come out of the cabin just before Nancy got to her jetski, balancing a young Oceana on her hip.
"Yes, of course. It's, uh..." Nancy lifted a whistle over her head and handed it to Alana. "I, uh, put it around my neck so I'd remember to bring it."
Alana smiled and handed the whistle to Oceana, who squealed with delight and grabbed it immediately. "Thank you, Nancy," she said. "It looks as good as new." There was only a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"Well, I'll be going now." Nancy replied, hurriedly riding away on her jetski.
"Bye Nancy!" Matthias called. Alana elbowed him in the ribs.
"So What's the answer to your newest find?" she asked.
"I'll be back in just a moment," he told his wife. "Got to do something quick."
"Something? What sort of something? And you didn't answer my question."
"A surprise." He kissed her quickly on the cheek and started towards the cabin.
"I'm leaving, you know! The rest of my team will be here any minute for our whale migration research trip" she called after him. He raised a hand and went in. Alana sighed. "Alright." She pinched Oceana's cheeks and set her down on the sand. "You know, sometimes I wonder about him."
The little girl giggled and reached for Jean-Eric's shoelaces, but he stepped out of her reach, crossing his arms.
"You're not the only one, Alana," he told her. "The ideas he gets…" The older man shook his head. "Won't do him any good."
Matthias rushed back out of the cabin, clutching the remaining pieces. "Here," he said, holding them out to his wife. He had strung chains through piece to create pendants. The more cylindrical one he dropped on the sand next to his daughter, who seized it with glee. The conical pendant he draped around Alana's neck. "Even if they aren't worth much, I've always loved the color of lapis lazuli."
Oceana giggled as she ran sand through the cylinder. "It almost matches her eyes," Matthias remarked. Alana smiled.
"The color of the ocean." They stood together, looking at their delighted child playing at their feet. "Looks like the rest of the team is almost here," Alana said, pointing to a boat that had appeared on the horizon. "I had better make sure everything's ready." She headed for the cabin, then turned back with a smile. "Don't let Oceana try to eat her pendant."
Matthias laughed and looked down at the little girl at his feet. She gotten sand stuck in all of the cracks and was now running the chain through her mouth. "I won't," he called after Alana's retreating back. "And not too much sand, either."
He picked her up and carried her to the edge of the water, setting her down so it came up to her waist. As she ran the pendant through the water, a strange sound echoed around them.
Matthias looked down at the pendant curiously. He thought he recognized that particular melody from somewhere, but when it wouldn't come, he shrugged it off.
Until, that is, a pod of humpback whales began to breach off in the atolls.
"Look, Oceana!" Matthias picked his daughter up and showed her the whales. The whole atoll seemed to be filled with them- he guessed there were at least ten in the small area. The waves they were creating rolled up against the dock and onto the sand. Yells could be heard from the boat coming in as it was tossed about on the waves.
Oceana burst into tears, wailing and screaming. Her cries almost drowned out the crashes of the whales and waves.
Alana stepped out of the cabin into the commotion, carrying a suitcase. She looked about at her screaming child, the breaching whales, the boat dancing in the waves, and the innocent look on her husband's face, and set the bag down with a sigh.
"I leave you alone for two minutes," she muttered, striding forward and scooping Oceana out of the sand. "Hush now," she murmured, soothing the child. "The whales can't hurt you. What on Earth is going on?" she hissed at Matthias.
"Nothing!" he protested. "One moment we were playing in the sand and the next the whales started going crazy and your boat-mates started yelling and then she was screaming; it wasn't anything I did!"
"Of course not." By now, Oceana was perfectly calm, happily chewing on her pendant. "You can't eat that, sweetie," Alana explained patiently as she pulled the blue stone out of Oceana's mouth.
The cruiser pulled smoothly into the little wooden dock. "Hey Alana!" a woman called, jumping onto the dock and securing the boat, "you ready? We have to follow those whales before they get away! Sara's swimming first, so you don't have to change yet."
"Only just a moment, Hailie," she replied. "Just us girls this time," she told Matthias. "We've been looking forward to it for months. Not you, though, sweetheart," she added, tousling Oceana's hair. "Maybe when you're older you and I can take a trip."
Matthias picked up Alana's bags and carried them onto the boat, then relieved his wife of Oceana and kissed her goodbye. "See you in three weeks!"
Alana climbed onto the cruiser and she and her team waved as it pulled out to sea.
A.N.: Hello! Sorry it takes us so long to write, but Forever the Optimist and I don't have much free time together. Be assured this story is not forgotten or abandoned! Hope you liked this chapter -Ward Orphan