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“Follow us to our cottage in your truck,” said Reraphs are ready, the artifacts and bones are labeled and shown on the grid I’d feel better if you have everything”
“Okay,” said Holbert “We’re really learning a lot about these people We knew just about nothing before These villages were right above the beach The carbon dates show that theysea level around the year 700 They all seem to be about the sas with stone hearths They used catches from the sea for food but also hunted deer inland This first set of sites has been great”
“You’re telling us it’s time for the next set, aren’t you?” said Remi
“After tomorroant to move everybody a few miles west There’s a couple dozen potential sites, and each dive team has just done one site The day after tomorroant every tea the coast off the Caet a better idea of e’ve got to get done before we start to lose our summer volunteers We’ll probably eliet a look underwater”
In ten e Sam and Remi had rented a block from the beach on the south side of Grand Isle It was a one-story on stilts, hite-painted clapboard siding and a big front porch where they could sit at the end of the day and feel the breeze off the Gulf of Mexico Sam and Remi liked to be anony about the cottage that would pro it was a pair of multimillionaires There was a low roof over the porch, a pair of big ith an almost unobstructed view of the water, two bedrooms, and a se-and-work area for the objects they had brought up froe
Ray Holbert entered with them, and Sam took him on a tour of the artifacts while Rerid with the meticulously drawn objects found in various spots There were also raphs that Remi had taken to ensure that there was a record of each object in relation to the others The artifacts were stored in plastic boxes
Holbert looked at the grid of the village and the artifacts “With this nu water changed the landscape a lot There w
ere probably forested ridges then Now it’s mostly bayous and sea-level flats”
“It’s sort of a shaed into Grand Isle evening attire—a pair of shorts and a loose short-sleeved polo shirt with a pair of flip-flops “Although I won’t miss our shadows”
“What do you mean?” asked Holbert
“It’s probably our own fault,” said Sa us They watch where we go, then stare at us with binoculars Today they cah they wanted to see e had brought up”
“That’s odd,” said Holbert “This is the first I’ve heard of them”
“Well, as I said,our names in the papers,” Sam said He looked at Remi “Or maybe Remi’s picture Well, I’ll help you load this stuff into your truck before I take my shower”
In twenty minutes Holbert’s white pickup truck was loaded, and soon they were in the restaurant for a rilled shriht red snapper, and a bottle of chilled Chardonnay from Kistler Vinyards in California After they’d eaten, Sam said, “What do you think? Would you like to share another bottle of wine?”
“No, thanks,” said Ray