Spiral: Book One of the Spiral in Time by Judith Schara

hearing voices, just like at the conference. Was this some physical reaction to the stress of the past year? There had to be some logical explanation. She was a trained scientist; any mysteries could be traced and explained by modern science. After all, she did not live in the dark ages.
    She walked a few steps farther and stopped. Her heart hurt as though from a great loss. She wanted to weep! Her eyes smarted and a tear rolled down her cheek. Her reaction to the interview on the TV had been so strong and now this. She hadn’t felt this emotional in months.
    A flash of anger swept away the intense feeling. A hot rage swept through her. It was this cursed dig with its Druids and explosions! She should be working on the book. Why had she agreed to do this?
    Wiping her eyes, she looked back at the rampart and thought she saw the boy with red hair, behind a clump of tall grass.
    She started running toward the camp.

    Conan Ryan stood in front of a tent, watching his crew stack boxes of supplies. He greeted her with a friendly smile. Out of breath, Germaine only nodded in response. She caught his eyes looking at her muddy pants and hands.
    “At least the site will be dry to work in,” he said.
    Germaine chose to ignore that comment as they joined Aubrey. A tarp, covering the blast site from yesterday’s rain, was pulled away by Conan’s crew.
    “This whole area is bigger than I expected,” she said. The hole was deep. She felt a flash of vertigo as she looked down and grabbed hold of Aubrey’s arm. He gently patted her hand.
    Aubrey lifted a handful of silt and chalk from the edge; it was pulverized. “What on earth was that boy thinking? And how did he survive this?” He let the soil drift slowly from his hand.
    “The police inspector thinks the impact of the explosion threw him away from the worst,” Conan said.
    Aubrey shook his head. “Let’s go down and take a look. We’ll all feel better getting to work.” Police tapes were strung all around the edge. They ducked under the barriers and carefully climbed down a ladder.
    “It must be over eight feet deep,” said Germaine.
    “Closer to twelve,” Aubrey said. “It’s a good five feet or more above my head.”
    There was an odd note in his voice, and Germaine gave him a sharp look. She frowned. Even though it was cooler at the bottom of the pit, beads of sweat covered his forehead, and his face looked flushed.
    He caught her look and smiled. “Too much climbing for me. Out of shape. That’s why I wanted you to come along and help out. Young and strong! Good for carrying heavy books.”
    “So let’s get started, Madame Director,” Conan said with a quick smile. “It’s all marked off and photos have been taken. I set up the baseline and marker pegs above. Sir Aubrey said work it on a grid and gradually expand the site.”
    “Very efficient. Did you get here at dawn?” Germaine asked.
    “Nope. Slept here. Sir Aubrey ordered a small crew up here, for site protection, until you see how you want to proceed.”
    Aubrey gave Germaine a look that said he was leaving nothing to chance, or scavengers who might come at night and make off with valuable artifacts.
    Finding the bone was easy now; Aubrey knew exactly where to look.
    At the first tentative exploration with her trowel, Germaine felt the soil give way easily. The explosion had pulverized the ground and left it soft and friable.
    She gave a short, surprised laugh. A good omen! Sometimes the gods hand you a gift and it’s best to open it quickly and be thankful. Usually, excavating a site took quite a while: first to locate the precise place to dig, and then to start the laborious task of digging into compacted soil with care, to not harm any artifact. The Druid’s explosion saved a lot of time. This would go fast.
    She felt in one of her pockets for her notebook and pencil, and made a quick drawing of the initial find spot. She started brushing soil away from the bone with a fine brush. It came