From a small island near Crete.”
“The hair’s distinctive. The braids, the beads. The little beehive thing—” He made a gesture over his head, indicating the high-set roll of hair. “She’s sharper, though, than in any other Mycenaean art I’ve seen. More angular. Egyptian influence?”
He’d recognized that, too? Excitement sparked in her chest. Passion, almost as old as she was, and rarely shared.
Tread lightly, Alice.
She laced her fingers together. “Perhaps,” Alice said. “But I wouldn’t rule out Akkadian, or Sumerian.”
Jake scanned the walls and the pottery again, his expression hopeful. “Have any ziggurats appeared?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Exploring one of the Sumerian stepped pyramids might have sent her into ecstasies. “This fresco is from the oldest temple I’ve yet found. Radiocarbon dating placed it—”
“ You used carbon dating?” His quick survey of her form suggested that he thought her dress—or Alice herself—also should have been put under a spectrometer.
“What do you use, novice? Tree rings?”
His unapologetic gaze was steady on hers. “I know a few Guardians who would.”
That was true, she reflected. And other Guardians who didn’t use computers, guns, or even ballpoint pens.
Very well. She’d made her own assumptions about him and been surprised; she would allow him this surprise in return. This one . If he did not learn from it, then she would allow herself to be irritated.
She drew in a short breath. “As I was saying—”
“I’m a dick.”
And an observant one at that. But Jake had that internally amused look again, and Alice couldn’t decide whether he hoped she would return his smile or if he was laughing at her, so she only continued, “I sent the samples to a lab. This fresco is from 1250 BC.”
His expression changed to confusion. “And that’s the oldest?”
“Yes.”
“But, that panel of Michael and the others . . .” Jake moved to the Egyptian piece from outside Abu Simbel. “Yeah. Check out the others—are they Guardians?”
“I believe so,” Alice said quietly.
“Hot damn.” He shook his head, then continued, “But the others, they’re lounging—the woman and those two men. Their arrangement, their poses all look more natural. All they need are some potbellies and skinny arms.” Jake turned and frowned at her. “Are the dates in my head screwy? I’m thinking: eighteenth dynasty, the Amarna period—and a hundred years earlier than your Mycenaean fresco.”
She would lure him away from Ethan, Alice decided. Take over his mentoring, and have him teleport her to archeological sites around the world. She would not even care if each jump made her wobble.
Oh, my. How very scandalous her fantasies had become in her old age!
Jake’s eyes narrowed, and Alice realized she was smiling again.
“You head isn’t screwy,” she said, joining him at the panel. “But when I tell you the date, you might begin to think mine is.”
“I already—”
“Your filter is leaking again, novice.”
His self-disparaging grin was too appealing, she thought. Half-amiable, half-wiseacre. And, when he held out an American five-dollar bill, all cheek.
“Give it to Drifter,” Jake explained. “He’ll know you’ve kept me in line.”
“Then I shall keep it.” Alice took the money. “I’ve earned it—and he’ll only gamble it away.”
And Ethan had fleeced her so many times when they’d been training together, she felt no compunction against getting the jump on his winnings now.
Jake sighed when Alice vanished the bill into her cache. “I hoped he would. That’s how I planned to get it back.”
“So when you say these things, your loss is only temporary?” Alice asked, frowning slightly. “Little wonder your behavior hasn’t changed. There are no consequences when you are disciplined.”
Except that Jake had begun to recognize his more thoughtless responses—perhaps that was all Ethan intended.
She met his
“The hair’s distinctive. The braids, the beads. The little beehive thing—” He made a gesture over his head, indicating the high-set roll of hair. “She’s sharper, though, than in any other Mycenaean art I’ve seen. More angular. Egyptian influence?”
He’d recognized that, too? Excitement sparked in her chest. Passion, almost as old as she was, and rarely shared.
Tread lightly, Alice.
She laced her fingers together. “Perhaps,” Alice said. “But I wouldn’t rule out Akkadian, or Sumerian.”
Jake scanned the walls and the pottery again, his expression hopeful. “Have any ziggurats appeared?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Exploring one of the Sumerian stepped pyramids might have sent her into ecstasies. “This fresco is from the oldest temple I’ve yet found. Radiocarbon dating placed it—”
“ You used carbon dating?” His quick survey of her form suggested that he thought her dress—or Alice herself—also should have been put under a spectrometer.
“What do you use, novice? Tree rings?”
His unapologetic gaze was steady on hers. “I know a few Guardians who would.”
That was true, she reflected. And other Guardians who didn’t use computers, guns, or even ballpoint pens.
Very well. She’d made her own assumptions about him and been surprised; she would allow him this surprise in return. This one . If he did not learn from it, then she would allow herself to be irritated.
She drew in a short breath. “As I was saying—”
“I’m a dick.”
And an observant one at that. But Jake had that internally amused look again, and Alice couldn’t decide whether he hoped she would return his smile or if he was laughing at her, so she only continued, “I sent the samples to a lab. This fresco is from 1250 BC.”
His expression changed to confusion. “And that’s the oldest?”
“Yes.”
“But, that panel of Michael and the others . . .” Jake moved to the Egyptian piece from outside Abu Simbel. “Yeah. Check out the others—are they Guardians?”
“I believe so,” Alice said quietly.
“Hot damn.” He shook his head, then continued, “But the others, they’re lounging—the woman and those two men. Their arrangement, their poses all look more natural. All they need are some potbellies and skinny arms.” Jake turned and frowned at her. “Are the dates in my head screwy? I’m thinking: eighteenth dynasty, the Amarna period—and a hundred years earlier than your Mycenaean fresco.”
She would lure him away from Ethan, Alice decided. Take over his mentoring, and have him teleport her to archeological sites around the world. She would not even care if each jump made her wobble.
Oh, my. How very scandalous her fantasies had become in her old age!
Jake’s eyes narrowed, and Alice realized she was smiling again.
“You head isn’t screwy,” she said, joining him at the panel. “But when I tell you the date, you might begin to think mine is.”
“I already—”
“Your filter is leaking again, novice.”
His self-disparaging grin was too appealing, she thought. Half-amiable, half-wiseacre. And, when he held out an American five-dollar bill, all cheek.
“Give it to Drifter,” Jake explained. “He’ll know you’ve kept me in line.”
“Then I shall keep it.” Alice took the money. “I’ve earned it—and he’ll only gamble it away.”
And Ethan had fleeced her so many times when they’d been training together, she felt no compunction against getting the jump on his winnings now.
Jake sighed when Alice vanished the bill into her cache. “I hoped he would. That’s how I planned to get it back.”
“So when you say these things, your loss is only temporary?” Alice asked, frowning slightly. “Little wonder your behavior hasn’t changed. There are no consequences when you are disciplined.”
Except that Jake had begun to recognize his more thoughtless responses—perhaps that was all Ethan intended.
She met his
Similar Books
