The Fossil Hunter of Sydney Mines

by Jo Ann Yhard

  “Great!” Grace said, faking a smile.

  It took hours to make four different kinds of squares. Who’d want to eat them anyways? Grace wondered. She was sure her mom had mixed up the salt and baking powder measurements, but she knew better than to say anything.

  “There!” her mom smiled, putting the last piece of cherry on a square. “Who says we don’t make a good team?”

  Grace looked up at the clock. Seven-thirty. It was getting closer and closer to night time—and spy time.

  “Grace,” her mom said, wiping her hand on a dishtowel. “I talked to Dr. Solomon today.”

  Whoa! Grace hadn’t expected that. “Dr. Solomon? Why’d you do that?”

  “I was concerned after our talk last night so I called him,” she answered. “He wants to see you.”

  Grace could feel her face getting hot. “Well, I don’t want to see him. I’m fine!”

  “No, Grace, I don’t think you are fine,” her mom replied. “You talked last night as if you’re trying to be some kind of detective, investigating what happened to your dad—like that’s going to change anything. It’s called avoidance, Grace. Believe me, I know.”

  “Mom—”

  “Let me finish, honey. It was a terrible accident, but it happened and there’s nothing we can do about it. It won’t bring him back.” She reached over and cupped Grace’s face gently. “I worry about you. You’re all I have.”

  Great! Now her mother thought she was having a breakdown or something.

  “Come on. I have a surprise for you.” She grasped Grace’s hand and tugged her gently up the stairs to the master bedroom. She went to the closet and pulled down the same box Grace had seen her with the other night. She put it on the bed and patted the mattress for Grace to sit beside her.

  “These are the pictures of your last fossil-hunting trip,” she said. Her voice sounded shaky. “The photo shop called after your dad….Anyway, it took me a long time before I could go get them.”

  They spread the pictures out over the bed. Seeing her dad’s smiling face—his big grin and twinkling eyes—was shocking to Grace. She picked up a picture of her and her dad together. Both of them were covered in dirt. She was waving her rock hammer over her head and her dad was holding a fossil of a calamite leaf. She remembered how he had taken forever to balance the camera on the rock ledge and set the automatic timer for that photo.

  “I got that camera for your dad so I could at least see what you were both so crazy about,” her mother said. “I should have gone with you two once in a while.” She held up another picture of them. “You guys look like you were having a wonderful time.”

  “We were,” Grace said, staring at their glowing faces. “You know, Mom, it’s not that we didn’t want you to come…” Grace looked up at her mother’s sombre face. “We just didn’t think you wanted to.”

  “I know,” her mom said. “I just knew you guys were so in love with it all. I didn’t want to interfere with you two, my dynamic duo.”

  I love you, Mom, Grace thought. She knew she should say it, but she couldn’t form the words out loud. Instead, to her shock, something else popped out of her mouth. “If you think I should see Dr. Solomon, I will.”

  “Really?” Her mother looked relieved. “That’s wonderful, honey. You know, maybe I’m too hard on you. It’s been such a difficult time. How about if we cancel grounding for the weekend? A trial run. Stay out of trouble and we’ll talk about getting rid of it altogether.”

  Grace leapt up and grabbed her mother in a stranglehold. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she squealed, raining kisses on her mother’s cheeks.

  “Okay, that’s enough,” her mother chuckled, gently pushing her away. “We can talk about this later. I may have to go out tonight for a manicure client. She doesn’t get off work until nine-thirty. Either that or she’ll come here.” She glanced at her watch. “My goodness, it’s almost eight-thirty!” She stood up and wiped her face. “You take the pictures, honey, I got them for you.”

  Grace gathered up the photos in her arms and walked back to her room. She put them down on her desk and peered out the window into the fading daylight. It was cloudy.

  It was going to be a perfect night for spying.

  Chapter

  20

  “COME IN, GRACE,” CAME FRED’S VOICE THROUGH THE WALKIE-TALKIE. “Code alpha two. I repeat, code alpha two.”

  “Fred, will you knock off the weird codes?!” Grace replied. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”

  “Aw, fine, if you want to be boring!” Fred griped. “I’m in position in an oak tree facing Jeeter’s driveway.”

  “You’re in a tree? Off the ground?” Grace asked, visions of a cracked skull and broken limbs f lashing in her mind.

  “Ha, ha, very funny.”

  “Hey guys, lock your transmit buttons to on,” Grace said. “That way I’ll be able to hear everything.” It’s lucky Mom went out for her manicure appointment, after all—otherwise she’d have been able to hear this noise all over the house! Grace thought to herself.

  “Mai checking in,” came Mai’s voice. “I’m on the opposite side of Jeeter’s house and have a clear view of the kitchen and living room through—”

  “Shhhh,” Fred hushed suddenly. “Someone’s coming!”

  “Who is it?” Mai whispered. “I can’t see you from here.”

  “Hold on, they’re pulling into the driveway,” Fred replied.

  The airwaves were silent for a minute.

  “Fred?” Grace finally said. “What’s happening?” She held her breath as she heard Fred muttering and moving around.

  “Oh, never mind,” he said finally. “False alarm.”

  Grace shrugged her shoulders up and down, trying to get rid of the tension. As she listened to Mai and Fred whisper back and forth she was also watching Stuckless through the bedroom window. She was curious what her other suspect was up to.

  Stuckless was in the basement again, and he appeared to be fiddling with the same device she’d seen him with last night. There was no feedback coming in on her walkie-talkie. Maybe he was listening instead.

  “Fred, come in,” she said, peering intently through her binoculars at the same time. Yes, there it was! Stuckless had leaned forward the moment she’d spoken.

  “I think we definitely have to watch Stuckless more closely,” she continued, her eyes glued to the binoculars.

  Bingo! Stuckless’s head whipped around and he looked right up at her window! Her theory was bang on. He was listening to something, all right—her!

  “Grace, what are you talking about?” Mai said.

  “Never mind,” she said. No sense getting into it right now. Mai and Fred had enough to worry about. She must have freaked Stuckless out anyway. His basement light went out and a minute later the light was on upstairs.

  This sure explained a lot, like how Stuckless kept showing up where they were all the time. She thought back to their trip to Point Aconi—they had been using their walkie-talkies the whole time. No wonder he had known where they were.

  But why would Stuckless be interested in their conversations? Or in anything they did? They were only kids. Maybe Dad had been suspicious of him, Grace thought. It must have something to do with the strip mines.

  Grace put her binoculars back in her pack. Her dad’s bag was sitting beside it. She flipped it open, pulling out the fossil tucked in the front pouch. It was one of the best specimens of a cyclopteris leaf she’d ever seen. She wished she’d been with him when he’d found it. They had found a great one at the PA2, too, Grace remembered. It had been a cold day, and they’d packed thermoses full of hot chocolate…

  “Someone’s pulling into the driveway!” Fred’s voice blared over the walkie-talkie and brought Grace back to reality with a jolt.

  “Who is it?” she asked. “Another false alarm?”

  “Nope. It’s the real deal this time. A man in a suit is getting out of the car. He must be Jeeter’s dad. Now he’s walking tow
ard the house. It looks like he’s coming home from work—he’s carrying a bunch of files or papers or something. I can almost make out one of the labels on the files—it starts with an S.” Fred’s voice was getting louder by the second—Grace could hear his excitement building up. “Sydney Mines—”

  “Shhh,” Mai warned. “He’ll hear you.”

  “Sorry,” Fred said, lowering his voice. “He’s turning toward me. Wait for it…no, I don’t believe it!”

  “What is it?” Grace said, craning forward as if trying to see it for herself. She clutched her walkie-talkie tightly in her hands. “Fred! What is it?”

  “Uh-oh,” Fred groaned.

  “Hey you! What are you doing in that tree?” a male voice demanded. “Come down from there immediately!”

  “Whooo? Meeee?” came Fred’s voice.

  “Don’t get smart, young man. Do you see anyone else up there in that tree with you?” The man’s voice was loud—and angry.

  Grace could hear everything clearly, but she couldn’t do anything for Fred. She felt so helpless.

  Suddenly another voice joined in. “It’s okay, Roger.”

  Was that Jeeter’s voice?

  “Stay out of this, Marcus. I’ll handle it. This hoodlum was probably casing out our house to rob us. I’m calling the police!”

  “No he wasn’t. I know him. We were just goofing around.”

  “Goofing around? I don’t have time for your childish games, Marcus. Get your friend out of our tree and say goodnight. And don’t forget you have to call you mother tonight.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jeeter mumbled.

  Grace heard Jeeter’s father mumble something else, but she couldn’t make it out. He must have been out of range.

  “C’mon, Sherlock, try to get down without breaking your neck,” Jeeter said. “Give me your arm before you kill yourself.”

  “I don’t need your help!” Fred said. “And why is your dad calling you Marcus?”

  “Marcus, say goodnight!” his father bellowed.

  “I gotta go, Freddo. But we’ll talk later about why I’m being spied on!” Jeeter said. “Goodnight, Grace,” he added.

  Back in her room, her ear pressed to her walkie-talkie, Grace gasped. Her head was spinning. What was going on? Call his mother? She was dead. Did he have a stepmother? No, he’d said it was just him and his dad. And why did his dad call him Marcus?

  Tears welled in Grace’s eyes. Was everything Jeeter had told her a lie?

  “Grace, did you hear all that?” Fred said. “Grace, are you there?”

  “What? Yes, I’m here,” Grace sniffed.

  “You’re not going to believe this…” Fred said. “Jeeter’s dad had an armful of files from the Sydney Mines Fossil Museum!”

  Chapter

  21

  “I DON’T UNDERSTAND,” GRACE SAID. “WHY WOULD JEETER’S DAD have anything to do with the museum? How does he even know about it?”

  “I don’t know,” Fred said.

  “But Jeeter said his dad worked with Environment Canada!” Grace cried.

  “Calm down, Grace,” Mai’s voice soothed. “Do you want us to come over?”

  Grace peered out the window. Her mom’s car was still gone. “Okay,” she murmured. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to slow her racing heart. She was still clutching her dad’s fossil.

  CRASH!

  Suddenly a huge roar filled her ears as rain erupted from the skies in torrents. It was coming down so hard that the droplets bounced off the pavement. Spikes of lightning exploded in the sky like fireworks. Rain like this means more sinkholes, Grace thought as she tucked the fossil in her pocket and went downstairs to wait for Mai and Fred.

  Grace, Mai, and Fred sat around the kitchen table in silence. Grace was lost in her thoughts and Fred’s attempts at jokes had lamely petered off when he hadn’t even received so much as an eyelid twitch in response.

  Mai and Fred had been drenched and shivering when they’d arrived. Grace had found two jumbo beach towels and they’d wrapped themselves up. Mai had made hot chocolate.

  “Come on, Grace,” Mai coaxed, pushing the steaming mug closer to her. “Have some. I put mini marshmallows in there.”

  Grace stared ahead blankly. “All that talk about how he understood what I was going through with my dad because he’d lost his mother—it was all lies! He probably just said that stuff to get close to me. What a creep! And what’s his dad doing at the museum, anyways?”

  “I don’t know, Grace.” Mai reached over and hugged her. “But we’ll find out. Don’t worry.”

  Fred slurped his hot chocolate. “Maybe there’s something going on at the fossil museum. Maybe Jeeter’s dad wants to be famous, like that guy who found the dinosaur in the Alberta Badlands. And Jeeter is helping him!”

  “Well, there’s definitely something weird going on! He had all those mining maps in the basement, remember?” Grace said. “They were the same kind my dad has.” She absentmindedly pulled her dad’s fossil from her pocket and twirled it around in her fingers.

  “Nice fossil,” Fred said, leaning over to get a better look.

  “It was in my dad’s bag when I found it at Point Aconi the other day,” said Grace.

  “Wait a minute!” Fred cried, banging down his cup. Hot chocolate and mini marshmallows sprayed over the tabletop. “Point Aconi! I bet that’s where I lost my walkie-talkie. You know, when I fell in that sinkhole.”

  “It’s only a walkie-talkie,” Grace said. “Don’t worry about it. Besides, you have Jeeter’s.”

  “Can I see your fossil, Grace?” Mai asked. She held it up to get a closer look.

  Grace stared at the back of the fossil as Mai was looking at the front. “That’s weird. It’s been catalogued already,” she said, staring at the coded label. “If it’s already coded, it’s supposed to be in the museum collection.”

  “Maybe your dad just didn’t pass it in yet,” Fred said, shrugging. “You don’t have to give it back, do you?”

  Grace didn’t answer. She stared at the code. Something wasn’t right.

  Heart racing, Grace bolted up to her room. She ran back to the kitchen clutching her mining map. Mai was wiping up Fred’s chocolate spill.

  “Move your cups,” Grace ordered. She spread her map out on the table. Her eyes scanned the Point Aconi area. It was just as she thought. The code didn’t match any of their fossil sites!

  “It’s not here,” she whispered. Her hands shook as they ran lightly over the map “It isn’t on the map.”

  “What does that mean?” Fred asked, sounding confused. “That he found it somewhere else? Joggins, maybe?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Grace said. “Look at the code: SYD-09-PA4-01. ‘SYD’ means the Sydney coalfields—basically, that’s all of Cape Breton—‘09’ means the year, and ‘PA4’ means the exact spot—the fourth sinkhole in Point Aconi. See? Look here on the map. The PA3 was the last place in Point Aconi we had marked down.”

  “So?” Fred said. “Maybe you missed one of the sinkholes when you copied your dad’s map.”

  “No, don’t you see?” Grace said. “This has got to be a new sinkhole. It must be where my dad was working before he disappeared. The ‘01’ in the code means this is the first find at that site.” She pointed to an area on the map between the PA3 sinkhole and the shore. “The PA4’s got to be somewhere in here. We’ve got to find it!”

  “Why?” Fred asked.

  “Well, I found his field bag at the PA3,” Grace replied. “If he’s already been to the PA4, there could be more clues there!”

  “Well, maybe,” Mai said. “But that’s still a lot of area. How are we going to find it?”

  “Since his bag was at the PA3 sinkhole, partway down the mine tunnel, I bet the PA4 is through that same tunnel. Look, see how all the sites run in a line?” Grace connected each site with her finger. “If we follow the tunnel along that line, we’ll find the PA4. I’m sure of it!”

  “What do you think we�
�ll find there?” Mai asked.

  Grace looked at Mai and Fred excitedly. “There has to be something more. I just know it!”

  “It could be dangerous,” Fred said. “Maybe we should we go to the police.”

  “Who would believe a bunch of kids?” Grace said. “And what would we tell them, anyways? We have to find more evidence!”

  THUD!

  The sound of a car door slamming interrupted Grace’s train of thought.

  “Crap!” Grace whispered fiercely. “Mom’s back! You’ve got to get out of here!” If her mom caught Mai and Fred here, she could forget about being allowed out tomorrow. That would ruin everything.

  Fred jumped to his feet, knocking over the rest of his hot chocolate.

  “Fred!” Mai yelped, throwing a towel over the spill.

  “Sorry!”

  Grace dumped the mugs in the sink, poured some dish detergent in, and turned the tap on. Water gushed out of the faucet, covering the evidence with foaming suds. “Gimme that!” She grabbed the chocolate-soaked towel from Mai and dumped it in the water.

  Slam!

  Oh, no! The front door. Her mom was inside!

  Grace heard her mom’s high heels clicking on the tile of the front entryway.

  “Hurry up!” she hissed. She shoved Fred out the back door. He hopped through, still pulling on his sneaker. Mai followed quickly behind him.

  Grace ran back to the sink and thrust her hands into the scalding water just as her mother came through the door from the hallway.

  “It’s really coming down out there,” Grace’s mother said as she shook her coat off and hung it on the hook by the back door. She reached up and fluffed her hair. “I’m soaked.”

  Grace peered out the kitchen window. The rain was coming down even harder than before. “Wow, is it ever!” she agreed. She hoped Fred and Mai got home okay.

  “You’re doing dishes without being asked?” Her mother looked at her strangely. “Well, isn’t that nice?” She smiled and kissed Grace’s forehead.

  “No problem, Mom.”

  Her mother mumbled something about getting changed and went upstairs.