they had a fight. Dorset almost beat him to death. He’s really rather vicious, though you’d never know it to look at him. All polished and dressed by Savile tailors.” He held her elbow and leaned closer.
“About being my project director. Don’t be anxious or surprised by all this. This is your area of expertise, and you are very good. I know I can trust you. I think there is something important here. You deserve to be in on whatever is uncovered. It can only help you in the future. Come, there is something I want to show you.”
He led Germaine back to the Bentley and motioned her to get in.
“Look, I rescued this.” From under the driver’s seat, he pulled out something wrapped in a towel. Aubrey uncovered a piece of blackened metal, almost two feet long. Half of it had a green patina that looked like bronze and a design was visible under the tarnished surface.
“It was already cast out of its original find spot by the explosion,” he said. His finger touched the green patina. “I think it’s part of a sword scabbard. So it’s likely the sword is up there somewhere. I’ve never seen anything like it here. It might be early La Tène. See the signature-style engraving, the curved lines and plant motifs? And there are warriors on it and horses and some kind of wheel symbol. The Durotriges tribe never made anything that looked so elegant. I’m supposed to be the expert and I can’t explain it. It’s way out of place, if you look at the context where it was found.” He pointed up with his head to Maiden Castle.
“I tripped over it when I first went up to the blast site. Just sticking out of the chalk and dirt. It was next to a bone, so perhaps we can date it that way. I couldn’t just leave it there. We don’t have a secure-room set up yet, and someone might walk off with it as a souvenir.”
Germaine ran her finger over the intricate engravings; they were gorgeous. It was unique—and so familiar. Then she remembered.
“I’ve seen something similar in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is said to be the only one of its kind.” Now, here was another.
Aubrey gave her a keen look. “Yes, a real find, and I don’t want the press to get wind of this now. We’d be overrun with treasure hunters. This would be an impossible place to guard. It’s so bloody big—over forty seven acres.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Right now, I don’t know. We’ll have to let English Heritage know about it soon. First, I want to find out more about the blast site. I would sound like a blooming idiot if I tried to explain it to the press now. So, keep it secret for a few days, I suppose. Then we can figure out a plan. And some hypothesis for how such a unique scabbard ended up here.”
“A gift? Or it might have come in trade for something. They did that a lot.”
His finger traced the rich, bronze surface. “Somehow, I don’t think so. Everyone thinks Sir Mortimer found all the marvels hidden here and there is nothing new left to discover. Well, they’re wrong. I’m relying on my Aubrey sensors.”
Germaine knew he was not joking. He had an uncanny way of locating things and called it his own built-in Aubrey sensor. “Secret technology.” He usually laughed, tapping his head, a cover-up for a faith in intuition, which no one wanted to admit to in this age of science.
“And I’m worried,” he said, almost as an afterthought. Germaine heard a familiar tone in his voice. It was Aubrey’s way. He usually saved the bit that was most important till the end.
“Strange finds keep surfacing on the London antiquities market. They all have dubious provenances. No one is quite sure where they come from. I’ve been called in several times for my expert opinion. Coins, artifacts of all kinds. Just last week I saw a valuable gold torc. I suspect they are stolen from archaeological sites. There are some troubling connections with certain people, like our Lord Dorset, that I don’t understand
“About being my project director. Don’t be anxious or surprised by all this. This is your area of expertise, and you are very good. I know I can trust you. I think there is something important here. You deserve to be in on whatever is uncovered. It can only help you in the future. Come, there is something I want to show you.”
He led Germaine back to the Bentley and motioned her to get in.
“Look, I rescued this.” From under the driver’s seat, he pulled out something wrapped in a towel. Aubrey uncovered a piece of blackened metal, almost two feet long. Half of it had a green patina that looked like bronze and a design was visible under the tarnished surface.
“It was already cast out of its original find spot by the explosion,” he said. His finger touched the green patina. “I think it’s part of a sword scabbard. So it’s likely the sword is up there somewhere. I’ve never seen anything like it here. It might be early La Tène. See the signature-style engraving, the curved lines and plant motifs? And there are warriors on it and horses and some kind of wheel symbol. The Durotriges tribe never made anything that looked so elegant. I’m supposed to be the expert and I can’t explain it. It’s way out of place, if you look at the context where it was found.” He pointed up with his head to Maiden Castle.
“I tripped over it when I first went up to the blast site. Just sticking out of the chalk and dirt. It was next to a bone, so perhaps we can date it that way. I couldn’t just leave it there. We don’t have a secure-room set up yet, and someone might walk off with it as a souvenir.”
Germaine ran her finger over the intricate engravings; they were gorgeous. It was unique—and so familiar. Then she remembered.
“I’ve seen something similar in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is said to be the only one of its kind.” Now, here was another.
Aubrey gave her a keen look. “Yes, a real find, and I don’t want the press to get wind of this now. We’d be overrun with treasure hunters. This would be an impossible place to guard. It’s so bloody big—over forty seven acres.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Right now, I don’t know. We’ll have to let English Heritage know about it soon. First, I want to find out more about the blast site. I would sound like a blooming idiot if I tried to explain it to the press now. So, keep it secret for a few days, I suppose. Then we can figure out a plan. And some hypothesis for how such a unique scabbard ended up here.”
“A gift? Or it might have come in trade for something. They did that a lot.”
His finger traced the rich, bronze surface. “Somehow, I don’t think so. Everyone thinks Sir Mortimer found all the marvels hidden here and there is nothing new left to discover. Well, they’re wrong. I’m relying on my Aubrey sensors.”
Germaine knew he was not joking. He had an uncanny way of locating things and called it his own built-in Aubrey sensor. “Secret technology.” He usually laughed, tapping his head, a cover-up for a faith in intuition, which no one wanted to admit to in this age of science.
“And I’m worried,” he said, almost as an afterthought. Germaine heard a familiar tone in his voice. It was Aubrey’s way. He usually saved the bit that was most important till the end.
“Strange finds keep surfacing on the London antiquities market. They all have dubious provenances. No one is quite sure where they come from. I’ve been called in several times for my expert opinion. Coins, artifacts of all kinds. Just last week I saw a valuable gold torc. I suspect they are stolen from archaeological sites. There are some troubling connections with certain people, like our Lord Dorset, that I don’t understand
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