Chapter 10: Loose Ends

I picked up the phone off my desk in my home office. I'd finally broken down and ordered a land line to keep my cell free for more important calls. The text screen on the new phone showed the call was from Lenora Wells. With a touch of sarcasm and a tinge of humor I said, "Lenora, what a surprise. It's been hours and hours since I've heard your voice. What can I do for you?"

Lenora voice seemed a bit strained as she answered, "I wondered if I might have a private word with you and Audra this afternoon?"

"Lenora, you're usually not so mysterious or formal. You know you're always welcome here. Why don't you come for lunch? Audra has gone to the market with Elise. She left Irma here as my keeper, I think. I was planning on watching some football in the afternoon while the girls get together and work out some minor details on the upcoming state wedding."

Lenora chuckled and said, "A girl only gets married once — well, if she's lucky she does. Irma's welcomed to sit in on this. It's not that private."

Then there was a hesitation on the line. I said, "Okay, was there something else?"

Lenora answered, "I'll have a guest with me. You and Audra might throw us out when you find out who he is."

I chuckled. "Never happen. Anyone that you think enough of to bring to our house will be welcomed. We know you well enough to know you have our best interest at heart."

Lenora voice was definitely strained as she answered, "I just hope this guest won't break that trust. I'll see you at noon ... and Joe, thanks."

I was definitely puzzled by her remarks. I didn't let it bother me as I went back to reviewing our new estimator's bids for several new remodeling jobs.

At precisely 12 o'clock I opened the front door to Lenora's knock. She knew from experience that the buzzer still had not been replaced. She quickly introduced the three of us to Dr. James Stryder, President of Southern State University. Even though Dr. Stryder was smiling and effusive with his handshake, I could tell he was upset. Irma quickly ushered us into the formal dining room. She had welcomed the opportunity to use the room, as most of our meals were taken in the kitchen. Mr. Whiskers lay half asleep on one of the occasional chairs in the corner of the room. He lifted his head as if to study the interloper.

I realized almost as soon as the guest was introduced what Lenora was trying to accomplish. What I didn't understand was why, as we had a clear understanding that no members of the university were to be involved in any of the Bell Whistle projects. Maybe I was being petty but the unintentional snub we had received from two of their faculty had rubbed me the wrong way. In my mind the fact that the snub was unintentional was just as damning as if it had been intentional. They obviously didn't think that someone outside their cloistered inner sanctum could have an opinion worthy of consideration. I couldn't work with someone with that prejudice built into their makeup. To their way of thinking we were either pawns to be manipulated or obstacles to be brushed aside.

All of this was playing through my mind as the university's president explained that he was a cultural anthropologist by trade and very much interested in our discoveries. I could feel the butter being slathered on as he heaped praise on the way we had, in such a short period of time, uncovered and preserved for the record so many and varied items of historical significance. After that my ears perked up when he admitted that he didn't understand how his university had been shut out of the whole process. At that point I had to put my hand in Audra's lap to keep her from coming out and telling the professor exactly why his university was not involved.

The doctor was well into an obviously well-rehearsed speech about how Southern State University had a well-earned reputation and was among the best schools of archaeological and anthropological studies in the country. He expounded at length and in great detail on the number and importance of SSU archaeological digs at major sites around the world. At the end he said, "I was reading over clippings that we get from a press clipping service and was extremely disturbed to find an almost unique site, a site located at most 15 minutes from the university, which we had no knowledge of."

Turning to me he said, "Lenora tells me that you did contact the university and had two members of my faculty out here after the initial discovery. She said that there was some problem with the faculty and that you decided that the project would be better served without our assistance. Surely you realize that for this site to be taken seriously it has to be vetted by experts, experts you will be hard pressed to find outside of academia."

I wasn't able to restrain Audra at that point. To my surprise she had calmed considerably and was very charming with her answer. She said, "To my knowledge the museum has adequate staff to determine the pedigree of any of the items we've uncovered. Along with the members of the Historical Society, we've been able to confirm the existence of enough of those we've found written records of to be sure that the records they left were accurate."

Dr. Stryder seemed to stiffen slightly as he listened to Audra. He said, "That may all be well and good, and I'm sure the staff at the museum and the lay people at the Historical Society have done an excellent job as far as they've gone. Still, the only true way to make sure that the information and artifacts on this site are seen in their proper perspective is through the rigors of the academic process. Surely you don't expect people to take this seriously without the site being properly vetted?"

I shook my head and wondered if he realized what he sounded like. He didn't say that history wasn't for the common person. Nor did he say that history didn't exist unless experts like him said it did. Still, that was the inference that you could draw from listening to his statement. I decided not to argue. The scientific method used to mean an open mind looking at information from all the senses and all sources to make a rational decision. It was obvious, to the doctor at least, that someone had changed that to academic sources only.

Before leaving I did promise to think about what the doctor had said. It wasn't that I was closed to the idea of others checking the work we had done, but I'd be damned if those with Dr. Stryder's prejudices would be doing it.

Lenora called me back later that afternoon and apologized profusely. "Honestly Joe, I had no idea he was as bad as the two we first had over here. I was hoping that he would be aghast at what had happened and apologize. He is right in the sense that we will need academic experts to lend their expertise at some point. We have done really well but academic institutions have people who have lived their lives narrowly focused on one specific aspect or even one specific person from the past. The only way to gain access to these people is through their institutions. I'm hopeful that their interest will draw them to our findings. I am planning to invite guest speakers to speak at two or three seminars throughout the course of the exhibition."

Some interesting items were found in the exploration of the cavern that had gone unnoticed by us earlier. Knowing that the cavern had been lived in by the pirate community we expected to find, and had found, places where occupation was obvious. Most of these sites were locations where remains of campfires were evident. Some of the experts from the museum took items from around those campfires back to their labs for analysis. Other than bones, some interesting items were discovered.

Lenora was excited when she told me, "Joe, they found dried Juniper berries, wild rice, and pigweed seeds near one fire pit toward the very back of the cavern."

I answered, "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

Lenora said, "No, I suppose not. It didn't mean anything to me when I was told. I just wanted you to hear it the way it was given to me."

I laughed, thinking only Lenora would do that to me. I asked, "So what did it mean when someone explained it to you?"

She quickly answered, "Europeans and slaves didn't eat those things. Those are things you would expect to find at an Indian, excuse me, Native American, camp site."

I was puzzled. I said, "So, there were Indians, uh, Native Americans living in the cavern. It isn't surprising, is it?"

Lenora said, "Joe, you don't understand. These items were on top of detritus left by the pirates. The, oh hell with it, Indians were here after the pirates. It may explain what happened to the remaining inhabitants of Gallant Land."

We weren't sure if it was an explanation and found no other clues that pointed in that direction. We had that section of the cavern roped off so that it could be more carefully examined as the resources became available.