Better Than Gold

by Mary Brady

  Onto the screen popped the image of a pirate, a dressed-down Captain Jack Sparrow, sans beard beads and eye shadow.

  He had to laugh.

  “I need three copies of each of the images.” What would Mia think? His gut twisted.

  “We don’t have any photo paper.”

  “Regular paper will be good enough for now. Make sure the pirate does not get on the internet and don’t show it to anyone until I tell you it’s all right.”

  That finished, he went to Dr. Donovan’s office, turning the last corner as his department head arrived, coffee and keys in hand.

  “Come in, Daniel.”

  Dr. Donovan hung his coat on the old wooden coat tree and took a seat behind his equally old desk with his coffee in hand.

  “I have good news, Daniel. I’m taking the Owens to Bailey’s Cove tomorrow. They are eager to see the site, sit in the ambience I believe is the way Mrs. Owen put it.”

  “As I’ve said before, there isn’t much to see. The crypt is in pieces and the remains are here.”

  “You’re sure there is nothing more to find at this site?”

  “Not without knocking down walls or getting out a backhoe.” There was a little more excitement in his boss’s voice than Daniel liked. “It’s all in my notes.”

  “I see you brought something.” He reached a hand across the desk toward Daniel with his palm open.

  “The students are searching for an identity,” Daniel said as he handed over the first two photos, keeping the pirate to himself.

  He did not add that his great-aunt Margaret had claimed a relationship to the pirate, because the identity of the man in the wall could only be hinted at with circumstantial evidence.

  “Always good to have a face for these kinds of things.”

  “The students have dated the remains found in Bailey’s Cove from very early in the town’s history.”

  “Those three are an eager group. Will they be at the site tomorrow?”

  “I’ll see that they are there if at all possible. Sir, I’d like to suggest we allow Ms. Parker to do some demolition away from the sensitive areas at the site. Allowing the site to remain undeveloped is doing a disservice to the small community and the owner.”

  “I need to do what’s best for the department and the university. Daniel, if you’re too close to this, I can send you out on a dig. Elliot Smith can take over in Bailey’s Cove. He’ll never impress the donors like you can, but he’s relentless.”

  “Ruthless.” As Daniel said the one-word rebuttal he looked his boss in the eyes so there would be no mistaking what he meant.

  Dr. Donovan rearranged the papers on his desk. “He does have that quality, but he makes a good stout club when such a thing is necessary.”

  A threat. Daniel knew this day would come. Having his boss take the gloves off was all right with him. Everybody had to move on and, above and in spite of all other things, Mia had done him a great service by agreeing to accompany him to the fund-raiser, helping his colleagues realize he was ready to face the rigors of academia.

  And he would remember those scarlet lips.

  “If your students could name this man, and the evidence is piling up in the direction of the town founder, the pirate, we could give the Owens some guidelines they can follow in making their proposal for the site.”

  Apparently the Owens had bought privileges, so to speak, with the size of their donation, and just as apparently Mia didn’t have any. “I think you should reconsider letting Ms. Parker begin work on areas the Owens won’t need to see.”

  “Absolutely not until after the Owens have had their visit. It’s very important for Mrs. Owen to experience what she calls the raw site and she will put her nose into everything. You have left instructions that no one is to be tramping all over inside the building.”

  “That is currently being taken care of.” Daniel thought of the prints from the athletic shoes on the stairs.

  “What about work on the outside of the building?”

  “It’s only one more day. It can’t really make that much difference.” Daniel knew if it were a large developer, the attorneys would already be around the table. He was also sure Mia didn’t have the funds for that kind of backup.

  “Any delay makes a difference to her. She’s on a tight schedule.”

  “The matter will be decided tomorrow.” His boss started to stand, but thought better of it. “I need photos of the site.”

  “You’ll have them as soon as I get back to my computer.”

  “Do you have something else for me?” Dr. Donovan pointed to the remaining papers in his hand.

  Daniel only wondered for a moment what his boss’s face would look like if he gave him the picture of the pirate.

  Ecstasy at Mia’s expense.

  He rolled the images into a tube. “Copies, sir.”

  “I’d appreciate if you would help Ms. Parker remove anything from the site that might detract from the Owens’ experience, and have her open the site tomorrow morning by nine. If she can be there, we’d all love to see her again.”

  “If that’s all, sir.”

  Dr. Donovan pursed his lips. “It’s not, Dr. MacCarey. There are two new finds, one in Guatemala and one here in Maine. This department will have a hand in the development of both of these. The one in Guatemala will go a long way in helping bring forensic truth to this more modern site. The one in Maine, much less prestigious but still important, is an early-civilization site. I will be assigning you to one of these and Mr. Elliott to the other.” He moved his paperweight onto the stack of papers. “That’s all. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. at the site in Bailey’s Cove.”

  Daniel was down the hall on his way to his office before he let himself think about what Donovan had just done.

  In essence he had used Elliott to make him toe the mark. If the site in Bailey’s Cove was not handled to his liking, Daniel would get second pick of the assignments after a doctoral candidate.

  The site in Guatemala would most likely be a mass grave site, and Dr. Donovan knew Daniel’s career mission statement, to find out where humans came from so we can aim at a better future, dovetailed with this kind of site. What Dr. Donovan didn’t know is that Daniel would pick through garbage in Bangor rather than harm Mia any more than he already had.

  He owed Dr. Donovan a lot, but the man was using up chits rapidly, and most of them at Mia’s expense.

  When he got back to the lab, he found the students setting up another meeting with Eleanor Wahl to try to put a name to the face. He gave the three information on how to get to the site and suggested they all show up by 9:00 a.m. and learn a bit about the other side of academia, the politics of money.

  In his car on the way to who-the-hell-knows he called Mia...again. He couldn’t stop the horde from descending, but he could warn her. She hadn’t answered since she drove away on Friday.

  One unanswered ring followed the next. One more ring and he’d get her voice mail...again. This time he’d just drive down—

  “Hello, Daniel.”

  He inhaled a sharp breath. “Mia, thanks for answering.”

  An apology sprang to mind, but saying he was sorry would mean he somehow thought anything could change.

  “Please, tell me what you want.”

  “I’m calling to warn you Dr. Donovan is sponsoring a site visit. At nine o’clock the Owens are coming, as well as the three students I have working on the remains. Apparently Mrs. Owen likes to sit with the site.”

  “Are you coming?” she asked.

  He couldn’t tell by her tone what she wanted.

  “I thought I would come down early tomorrow morning.”

  “To make sure I haven’t built a restaurant in place of a pirate’s tomb?”

  He smiled. She cou
ld have said the words with spite, and would have been justified, but her words teased.

  “Something like that. I’ll see you at eight.”

  * * *

  MIA OPENED THE DOOR to Pirate’s Roost before eight o’clock the next morning and returned the pieces of the rose, carefully arranged so they looked like nothing until she pushed them together in the circle of her hands.

  Today she had dressed up. In honor of the rose, she wore her pink button-front pullover shirt with a pink cardigan, and jeans, of course.

  She loved the rose and what the beloved flower meant in this case. There was some peace in knowing how much Liam Bailey loved Colleen Fletcher.

  When a car door slammed, she stood to see Daniel coming to the door. By his clothing, she knew Professor Daniel was here, and he carried a brown paper bag and a tray with two coffees.

  He smiled when he saw her and kissed her cheek when he stopped at her side. “Hello, Mia. You look lovely.”

  “Hello, Daniel.” She wasn’t sure what to say to him. Her mind just went blank where seeing him used to fire her imagination.

  “I thought I’d come with breakfast.”

  “I’ve already... Wait, no, I haven’t eaten. That would be nice.”

  He held up the bag. “Mandrel’s oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup.”

  “My favorite.” She took a coffee when he held the tray out to her.

  “I had help. Priscilla at Mandrel’s said you order these almost every time you come in for breakfast or lunch or dinner.”

  She let a smile spread across her lips. She couldn’t hate him no matter how many times her heart broke over him. He was so convinced that he was doing the right thing that she would be the last person to fault him for integrity.

  They sat on the floor in the sunshine and ate pancakes in a friendly silence. Because she didn’t hate him didn’t mean she knew what to say for conversation. Random things like “kiss me you fool,” “take me I’m yours” and “you’re such a jerk” all occurred to her, but none of them seemed quite right.

  When they finished, and there was still time before the rest arrived, she took his hand. “Come on. I have something to show you.”

  She led him to the other side of the dividing wall. There shouldn’t even be an other side. Yesterday afternoon Markham said he could hold the building supplies for another week, but still left the impression that fitting her in next week or even the one after that was futile.

  Rufus and Charlie had started new jobs yesterday. She had no idea how she’d get the building prepped and ready, as was her part of the contract, without her workers.

  The crushing feeling of failure pressed in on her from all sides, and if she lost her battle so did the residents of Bailey’s Cove.

  Daniel tugged on her hand until she faced him. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

  She gave one of those little, not-quite laughs. “I’m not sure I know what all right feels like anymore.”

  Then she quickly held up a hand. “No, please, I was just thinking logistics again. That always gives me sort of a blank expression.”

  When she dropped to sit on the tarp, he sat beside her and watched as she gathered the pieces of stone together in her hands.

  “A rose,” he said with the same wonder she had felt when she first figured it out.

  “This might be the closest we get to the missing link.”

  “Let me hear it. Let me hear your theory.”

  She took a few seconds to put her thoughts in order. “The pirate Liam Rónán Bailey falls in love with his Rose, Colleen Rose Fletcher. He has a beautiful blue topaz ring, part of his pirate treasure, retrofitted with his coat of arms and gives it to his Rose—which she, of course, keeps in a velvet purse, they called little pouches purses in those days, and out of Daddy’s sight. He also plans on staying in South Harbor, now Bailey’s Cove, forever, and builds a granite vault for his treasure, in the wall of the Sea Rose Inn—soon to be Pirate’s Roost. He marks the vault with a rose, a sign of his everlasting love for Colleen Rose. He also builds a mansion on Sea Crest Hill for them to live in. Colleen’s father disapproved of the relationship and put Bailey in the wall—convenient, since Bailey already had it built. A pregnant Colleen marries Mr. McClure. She insists her father install her and her new husband in the home she planned to live in with Bailey. The child of the red-haired man and blond-haired woman has very dark hair and is born six months after the marriage. Two hundred years later, Charlie Pinion comes along with the big hammer and shatters the rose before anyone gets a good look at it—until now. Daniel MacCarey, that was your ancestor in my wall. You are related to a pirate.”

  She let go and the rose fell into disarray.

  At first he didn’t say anything, just looked as though he was considering the matter. Then he smiled at her, an easy smile. The kind she just wanted to taste. No. Think of something else.

  “The brown color, what do you suppose that is?” she asked.

  “We’ll analyze it, the rose is probably an ink or dye that changed color over time.”

  The front door opened and they got up from the tarp. Daniel went out to the front room and Mia put the rose shards back in the box and followed. The three that walked in gawking around and looking a bit wide-eyed had to be the students.

  “Dr. MacCarey, this is an awesome old building.”

  Before Daniel could make any introductions, four middle-aged women all dressed in flowing, flowered clothing stepped through the open door.

  “Who—”

  Daniel leaned down and said close to her ear, “They’re with me.”

  The warm whisper of his breath made her want to turn and kiss him. No and no.

  “Welcome, everyone.” Clearly these people had arrived just in time to save her and she smiled brightly at them. “Hello, I’m Mia Parker. I’d like to welcome all of you to the future home of my restaurant, Pirate’s Roost.”

  She stepped up to the tallest, most stately looking of the women of the quartet. “You must be Eleanor Wahl,” she said and reached out a hand to the woman.

  The woman grasped her hand and shook firmly. “Our Daniel has told me so very little about you. The least he could have said is how pretty you are.”

  Mia smiled in Daniel’s direction and then back at Mrs. Wahl. “He speaks very highly of you, Mrs. Wahl.”

  By the time everyone had been introduced, the Owens entered, and it was such an entry; big smiles, gracious greetings, friendly introductions.

  “Mrs. Owen, you look ready to begin.” Mrs. Owen had told Mia she was an amateur archeologist and was looking forward to getting a look at the site where the bones had been found. Mia held a hand out and let the women precede her to the back room. The woman was even dressed for the role in her many-pocketed olive-green pants and a delicate tool belt. “I thought you might want to get in here before the crowd invades.”

  “You are so right. Thank you, Mia. My husband gets bored sometimes, so I like to move quickly. If you could keep them at bay for a bit I’d appreciate it. I want to sit with the site for a moment or two in peace.”

  “Gladly, and as you can see, the site is pretty self explanatory,” Mia said, and left Mrs. Owen to “sit” with the rubble.

  When Mia returned to the other room, Dr. Donovan had still not joined the group. Those who had arrived smiled at her as a group. She clasped her hands together smiling back hard and wishing they would all go away. “I hear Dr. MacCarey has you women to thank for your historical expertise.”

  “We are sorry we haven’t found any men resembling the computer image of the man,” Mrs. Wahl offered.

  Mia paused, one finger in the air. “Could you hold that thought for just a moment.”

  Then she turned to Daniel with her finger still up. “Computer image, Dr. MacCarey, of the man from my wall?” />
  “I am remiss, Ms. Parker,” he said to Mia and then turned to the young man. “Mr. Miller, if you would retrieve the envelope from the front seat of my car, I would appreciate it.”

  Miller was gone and back in a flash. He handed the envelope to Daniel who handed it to Mia. She started opening it and stopped.

  “You have all seen these?” she asked as she looked around. When they each gave an affirmative, including Mr. Owen, she continued. “If you’ll all excuse me, I’m going to go outside and have a moment with these. If you all could stay in this room until Dr. Donovan gets here...”

  They all nodded and Mr. Miller stopped his edging toward the other room.

  She took the envelope and departed.

  Outside in the cool morning air, she sat on the bench to the right of the door and held the unopened envelope as she gazed down toward the sunny waterfront. Once she took the photos out, she’d look into the face of the man who died because he loved too much. She would also see the face of the man who had given her trouble.

  Had her life changed so completely in two weeks? Had Pirate’s Roost gone from a possibility to an extreme challenge in the blink of an eye or the sweep of a hammer? Had she fallen in love, impossible love, in such a short time?

  “Would you like some company?”

  She moved over and Daniel sat down beside her. He took the envelope she held up to him and slid out the photos.

  She hesitated but then took the top two photos he offered to her and held one in each hand.

  He had dark hair in the reconstruction, dark eyes and a narrow face. “Look at him, all dressed up. He looks like a stranger. I guess I expected to recognize him or something.”

  “Maybe you will recognize this one.”

  He handed her a picture of Liam Bailey as a pirate.

  “Ha. No wonder he chose such a nefarious occupation.”

  “Why is that?”

  “He’s so much better-looking as a pirate.”

  She put the photo down on her lap and turned to study Daniel’s face. Then she held the picture up to his face. “Nope, I don’t see the resemblance, but maybe if you got yourself up in pirate gear...”