Hortons Bend Read Online Free PDF Page B

the quiet water. They both saw their landing and made their way onto the bank. Horton’s Bend had a curious fog that night. It was a struggle as the two of them climbed up a steep bank to the edge of the plowed field. They didn’t speak but aligned themselves side by side with their probes. As they probed the soft dirt J.W. often shot sideways glances to his brother. This was an eerie place that felt like something in a horror movie. Ronnie kept his composure but could feel the power that Horton’s possessed. He knew it was rich in history but he had never felt such an overwhelming feeling that they were both being watched. Each probe felt as though it was an invasion. He knew the soil in this county. You could expect a stratum of rich nutrients which overlay the natural orange clay. The soil appeared much darker here. Its earthy smell was strong. He was suddenly drawn to the foggy drifts all around them. The lack of night sounds was also unnerving….no cicadas, no crickets. They had not seen a lightning bug all night. All the while the moon shed a reddish cast that did not bode well. All of a sudden J.W. lurched forward and momentarily Ronnie thought it had been a clumsy trip by his brother. He then realized this was no clumsy trip but rather the probe had gone deep. The two looked at each other for a moment and then began gathering tools from their backpacks. The small lantern was lit and a light weight screen was placed on the other side of it to deflect light. They glanced nervously in all directions and felt confident that the light was being sufficiently blocked. Ronnie pointed to his shovel tip next to his brothers’. They had discussed many times not to clank their shovels as it would alert the hound that Horton had on the farm. They quietly dug. A slight clank took place from Ronnie’s shovel causing his brother to look alarmed. Ronnie stopped and took a trowel and began to move the soil away from their excavation. He ran his hand over some flat river rock that looked to line the edge of the pit. He knew right then that they had found a burial.
    Shovels were put to the side and J.W. brought out a small dust pan and bucket. Ronnie began moving dirt towards J.W. who quietly sifted the dirt. He moved fairly rapidly as his brother would let him know when he needed to take more care when they came into contact with the burial itself. Ronnie continued to rake until he motioned for J.W. to pause. This burial was different. The flat stones also had some brittle wooden beams. Ronnie could see some copper staining in a woven bamboo cane panel covering that was fitted between the beams and the flat rock. Ronnie had never wished so much that he could see this in daylight. He reached down and moved the cane panel a few inches so that he could see the ancient inhumation. His removal revealed a burial unlike anything he had ever seen. Nothing in his nocturnal diggings or in any of his archaeological books had ever come close to what he was staring at tonight. The body was in a slightly flexed position with the chest upraised. Both men stared at the prehistoric wonderment as it was covered in thousands of tiny shell beads. Some retained a reddish pigment while others were the faintest of blue. Two large shell gorgets adorned the deceased. Ronnie reached out to touch the discs. These were no ordinary expressions of hierarchy as he instantly knew that their type contained design elements that were of a rare variety. The incising on the shell disks were that of both animal representations which included anthropomorphic figures. The designs were foreign to him and he found it difficult to understand their patterns. He began to explore the burial once again. The burial’s skull glared a grimaced face. Copper ear spools lay decaying on each side of the brittle skull. Two perfectly formed clay water bottle vessels were sitting next to each ear spool. The two brothers were on their knees when they looked up at each other. Ronnie