Chapter 3 Brushes and Bones
A drowsy Parker slowly became aware of the melodious cacophony of chirping, twitters birds nearby. He opened one eye to estimate the time. The darkness around him dissolved into a soft gray as their temporary home's interior was slightly illuminated by the first hint of sunrise. He figured it was around 5:30 am. He carefully sat up in his cot to minimize any creaking and stood up slowly to avoid disturbing his step mom. But as he might have guessed, she was already awake. She rolled over and grinned at him. "Did you sleep well?"
"I was so tired last night, I could have slept like a log even standing up, B-Mom. Those birds are a lot more pleasant to wake up to than the buzzing of my cell phone's alarm, but they are louder than I'd expected."
"Yes, it's not surprising that native people awaken early. Nature doesn't wait for sleepyheads."
"I'm gonna go grab a shower. It's down that path to the left of the mess tent, right?"
"That's correct. See you in a bit."
Fifteen minutes later, Parker pulled aside the tent flap. "Bones, are you decent?"
"Yes, Parker, come on in." She had one leg extended above her head, her hand grasping her heel in a yoga pose.
"Gosh, no wonder you're so flexible. Could you show me how to do that?" He was holding two cups of steaming coffee, and placed hers on the camp table beside her cot.
"Thank you, that's fixed just as I like it."
"Yeah, they even have raw sugar; that surprised me."
"Dr. Berger is very good about supplying his digs with vegan and organic options whenever possible."
"Chop, chop, Bones, get showered! Time's a wastin' I can't wait to compare those naledi and sediba bones!"
Little Booth, you sound just like your father."
Parker inhaled three bowls of oatmeal in the time it took Brennan to eat one. "I'm gonna grab a handful of these oatgrain fruit bars for when we get hungry, is that okay, or are they just for breakfast?"
"No, that's why they stock them all day, in case the staff needs nutrition between meals,' Brennan replied.
Stuffing several water bottles into his back pack, Parker followed Brennan out into the dappled sunshine but stopped to rest his foot on a large rock along the path. "You okay?" she asked.
"Dad always taught me to double knot my laces when we went hiking; and I figure it's not a bad idea around here either," he looked up at her with a familiar familial smile as he finished checking his boots.
They approached the open air pavilion where the archaeological specimens were cataloged, cleaned, and stored in specially padded file cabinet drawers. There was one metal storage cabinet for each individual skeleton the team had discovered. The sides of their spacious canopy tents were rolled up as long as the weather was clear, to cool the work areas unless rain was likely. It wasn't as though the bones hadn't survived the weather for millenia, but once removed from the Rising Star Cave, they were extremely fragile and every precaution was taken to safeguard and preserve them.
Parker was assigned a work station to clean the bones of a child's hand. He was impressed by how similar its structure was to the human anatomy he had studied in class. He had taken part in several summer expeditions to excavate Native American remains at various sites across the States, so this wasn't his first anthropological 'rodeo' as his dad would say, but he was awestruck just the same. This individual would have about been his little brother's age, and he could imagine the child running and playing as Hank did. He settled in to carefully brush centuries of embedded dirt from a Homo nedali's proximal phalange.
Brennan was too tall to descend into the Dinaledi Chamber, but she joined a group of scientists removing the newly retrieved specimens from their protective wrappings. They were examined, photographed and cataloged into the project's extensive data base. An assistant brought sandwiches to the team at lunch, so they didn't need to stop working long to grab some food.
As the sun began to set, she stored her last specimen in its case, and went to get Parker for supper. She found him hunched over his assigned phalanges and metacarpals, brushing embedded dirt away with infinite patience, mesmerized by his task.
"Bones, look at these tiny fragments. This little guy's hand is the same size as Hank's. Isn't this awesome?" he said, his eyes shining with wonder. "Do we have to stop working?"
Parker, in the morning your neck and shoulder will thank you for taking a break. Let's go find something to eat, and then I'll show you some yoga poses to keep your muscles and tendons loosened and flexible."
Parker spoke up earnestly. "I can't ever thank you enough for making this possible. I can't believe I get to be part of this project. It's the most amazing thing I've ever done!" He hugged her tightly and she realized how similar his embrace felt to that of her husband, and just as precious to her.
"I'm thrilled you were able to come, too. It will be an exciting month for both of us. I find, however, that I'm already missing your father and the younger children. I wish your dad could have accompanied us, but Hank is still too young for a trip like this."
Parker closed the specimen case, having nestled the little bones inside. He stood up, stretched, and said. "Let's go get some grub, Bones. I didn't stop all day, and now I'm starving. I bet I could out-eat Agent Aubrey!"