Five in the morning seems to come earlier for some creatures. The alarm clock rang its dreadful call. After three attempts to wake his daughter, Dan resorted to threatening to leave her behind. It worked; Beth woke up, showered and dressed. Then, after a hasty breakfast of toast and orange juice, it was into the car.
A low mist hung over the woodlands and plain. The drive to the ridge site was largely uneventful. There was very little traffic on the roads at that early hour. Construction had stopped at the site, however lories and tractors were still parked at a make shift parking lot. A camping caravan was set up to be used as a kitchen and break area.
Wally got a large tool box out of his car, holding the handle in one paw he hoisted a large spool of twine up on his shoulder. "Well look who finally decided t'wake up?"
Dan pointed towards Beth. "Talk to the youngster."
"Shame on y'mate, trying t'blame yer tardiness on yer own daughter. Shocking ain't he Beth?" The otter winked towards the teenager carrying his load as though it weighed little at all.
Before Dan arrived in Mossflower, some of the digging had already begun. Where the young hare's remains had been found a wider area had been uncovered. The area was protected by a tarp. This was already sectioned off with twine forming an orange grid over the land. As the three approached a figure could be seen hammering in small pegs to hold down additional grid lines. He stood and checked his work, scribbling some notes in a note book he kept tucked in his tool belt. The lanky beast turned, and could be clearly identified as a ferret. Peering into the mist he spied the approaching creatures and waved.
Dan couldn't believe his eyes cupping his paws he shouted. "You're not supposed to be here!"
The ferret made a rude gesture with his paw and went back to work.
"Who's that?" Beth ventured to ask, as they walked closer to the site.
"That would be Dr. Bulfie Daclaw esquire. " Dan chuckled.
"Huh?"
"Bulfie's an old friend from university. He teaches with Wally, come on, oh he's a bit rough around the edges but friendly enough." Her father explained.
Setting his small hammer into his belt the ferret hugged the squirrel. The friends hadn't seen one another in many long seasons. "'ello bushy, fancy seeing you all the way out 'ere."
"I could say the same to you ferret-face. Thought you were working on some shipwreck out Sampetra way?"
"Oh I was supposed to." The ferret sighed heavily. "I should be sitting on a beach right now drinking rum. Instead I'm stuck here, playing ferrets in the mist wit' ye muckers."
"What happened then Bulfie?" Dan asked, from the corner of his eye he caught Wally trying to warn him not to ask.
The ferret gritted his teeth crossly, having spied Beth he was trying very hard to keep his language civil. "The estranged missus decided t'stretch the divorce proceedings, we started this past winter through to the summer. Needless t'say, I can't very well get out of the country any time soon. Not with 'er trying t'get full custody o'me kids. "Fuming and muttering a few choice words under his breath the ferret shrugged. "So here I be." He saw the look on his friend's face. "Naw, don't ye worry about me. We're goin' t'ave a grand season. Just like ole times eh. "He nodded towards Beth. "This be Beth? Gosh, she's gotten right pretty. I met ye before missie, although y'was still in yer mum's belly at the time. Must say ye look far better out an' walking around." Never one to avoid work for too long, Bulfie trudged up taking the large spool of twine. "Any how, work t'do. Come on young 'un yer wit me t'day."
Beth glanced curiously at her father, not sure if it was a wise idea to go with this odd ferret. Dan nodded to her to go. Trying to catch up with the ferret's nimble steps she watched as he rolled along the spool of twine.
"What do you need me to do Dr. Daclaw." She asked politely.
"Y'can stop calling me that fer starters. On dig site y'can call me by me first name, Bulfie." He passed her his small hammer and a metal peg. "First things first we need t'lay out a grid so we knows where everything is placed when we finds it. That's why we started so early so we could set up. "He watched her closely to make sure she was listening. Pointing to the ground he made a hammering motion. "What I need ye t'do is put in the pegs so I can loop this cord through. Y'can do that yeah?"
His voice carried such a hint of concern, and Beth felt compelled to cheekily reply. "I'm sixteen; I'm not an idiot Bulfie."
"If y'say so." He chuckled and watched as she carried out her assigned task.
It didn't take Beth long to get the hang of this work. She would hammer in a peg; Bulfie would loop the orange twine in place. Then he wrote up the number and letter for that square of grid, and let Beth place the tag. The ferret was impressed the young squirrel seemed to catch on quickly. After twenty minutes of hammering, he allowed her to take over the tying of the twine. As she showed skill at this task, he decided to teach her other necessary skills. Taking out his note book, he slowly talked her through how to record data properly. Giving the squirrel a note book of her own, he oversaw her note making. Occasionally he would correct her where needed, and Beth took seriously any corrections he told her to make. By seven in the morning they had completed the grid making.
Stepping back Bulfie looked over their work. "I gotta say, that's a dandy looking grid."He nodded approvingly. "Alright, now the fun part! Want to see what we uncovered so far?"
Beth had been eyeing the tarp that covered the hole. Back home she had followed the story with her father. A body turned up at a construction site, and all sorts of rumours went around. After it was discovered that the site was very old more investigation had been ordered, and more bodies found. That was why her and her dad had arrived, to continue the dig. Her red brush tail flickered nervously, she was excited, but there was also something creepy about the whole thing. Inching along she followed Bulfie. The ferret stepped over the grid lines and very carefully lifted the tarp. There in the clay were two partly buried bodies. Beth squeaked with fright.
Chuckling lightly Bulfie held up a paw encouraging her closer. "They're not gonna bite ye Beth. What's got ye so jumpy?"
"Those are dead creatures." Beth pointed towards the bones, her eyes wide.
"Yes, haven't you been to the museum? You've seen those cat mummies from Egypt?"
Dan had taken his daughter many times to the Royal Ontario Museum. There were mummified creatures from Egypt on display there. Beth nodded slowly. "But, those are in a building. These are in the ground."
Dan and Wally came over, Dan was particularly anxious to see what had been uncovered so far. He spoke encouragingly to his daughter. "Bulfie is right, they can't hurt you sweet heart."
Beth just continued to point."Those are dead creatures."
As if to prove the point, the slight ferret gingerly sat next to one of the remains. "Trust me, if they 'ad any interest in harming any beast, t'would be me." He reached up a paw for the young squirrel to join him.
Very slowly walking over the grid, Beth nervously sat on the grass looking down at the remains.
"There y'go, y' can even talk t'them if ye like. Sometimes I likes t'give them names. "
Wally shook his head, and rolled his eye."Oh aye, y'should hear 'im yammering on t'them. Don't know why y'does that. But I swears if they ever answers I'm packing up an' going."
"Away wit ye river walloper. They give me lots o'answers. Not saying nothing o'course, but they don't has to. "He turned very seriously towards the remains of the hares. "Listen mates, this up 'ere is me friend Beth. Now, she's a bit afraid o'ye. But, I'm sure by season's end ye'll be grand old friends." He then turned to Beth. "Well don't be rude, say hello."
Trying not to laugh, the young squirrel waved to the bones. "Hi guys."
"Well actually, this tall fella is male. But this smaller one is female." Bulfie explained pointing out the distinguishing features. "You can look at the pelvic bones to help find gender, that's the most obvious way. Sometimes if you see lots of scratches inside the pelvis, it can tell us that a female has had lots of children. However with this one…" He leaned in pointing with his pencil towards the small exposed bone. "See, it is still very narrow, she was young, probably younger than you. Not likely she gave birth. Told ye they had lots to tell me. What do y'say we name 'em eh?" Scratching his ear the ferret pondered. "This girly can be Bertha an' what about the fella?"
As it fell to her Beth pursed her lips thinking hard. "Bob?"
"Humph, Bertha and Bob indeed. What sort of monikers are those for a pair of hares? Daclaw what in the name of seasons are you doing? I thought you would have started the bally excavation by now, not tittering about like blooming youngsters wot. "
Beth turned to see a rather portly older hare hovering over them. He wore a neat tweed jacket, complete with shirt and tie. His face turned down in a frown, clearly not impressed.
While Bulfie didn't seem to be fazed by this hare, Dan and Wally both nodded their heads respectfully. Wally spoke up quickly. "Dr. Lockben, we thought you weren't coming today."
The hare turned to Wally, puffing up some. "Nonsense m'boy wouldn't miss this for the world. Now then chaps, are we going to sit about like ducks on a daisy chain, or are we going to set to work? Come along now, haven't got all jolly day wot wot."
Bulfie got up and dusted himself off retrieving his tool kit. Wally went to speak with Dr. Lockben in the trailer leaving Beth with her father. The young squirrel was giggling lightly, having held it in the moment the hare spoke. Dan was quick to scold her.
"Don't laugh at Dr. Lockben."
"But dad, come on, didn't you hear him." She giggled again.
"Shh… That's rude Beth. Dr. Lockben is the dean of history and archaeological departments at St. Ninian's university. Simply put, he's the boss around here. "
Dr. Lockben, or Sackfirth Septimus Llewellyn Lockben to give the hare his full name, sat at the small table in the caravan. Wally passed him a mug of tea and sat across.
"How goes the morning?" the hare asked sipping the hot beverage.
"Well enough sir, Bulfie and Beth finished all the grid work, now we're set to start uncovering more earth."
The hare raised a brow. "Beth? Ah, the squirrel gel. Firdance's gel am I right?"
Wally nodded. "Aye sir."
Finishing his tea the hare rose removing his jacket and hanging it on a hook. "Well then, good job all around. Let's see what secrets our fallen friends feel like giving up to us."