Virginia in eighteen hundreds—
“I don’t know about that stuff,” Jack said. “But I can tel you, if someone buried
that cube and hoped someone else would find it, he must have been
ready to wait a long, long time. Because it was buried in an area of the Barrens
where hardly anyone goes.”
Professor Nakamura frowned. “But you said it was a mound. Someone must
have told you about it.”
“Uh-uh.” Jack jerked his thumb at Weezy.
The professor stared at her. “This is true?”
She nodded.
He picked up the pyramid again, tracing his pinkie finger along the symbols. “These symbols look pre- Sumerian, which would make them six or seven
thousand years old. But on this pyramid … notice how cleanly they have been etched into its surface? Back then, scratching quil s on wet clay tablets was state
of the art. So it is obviously a hoax.”
“It’s not a hoax,” Weezy said. “Can’t you feel it? It feels
The professor offered half a smile. “Archaeology and anthropology cannot
operate on feelings, young miss.”
Weezy looked ready to explode, so Jack jumped in. “Isn’t there some
carbon-dating test you can do to see how old it is?”
His smile broadened. “Carbon-fourteen dating is not a test one does in one’s
basement. And besides, carbon-fourteen can date only organic material, like wood or bone.” He tapped the pyramid. “This is not organic.” “There must be
The professor sat silent, as if thinking. Final y he said, “I suppose we can try
potassium argon dating. It can date nonorganic material—”
“Great! Let’s do it.”
“I must take this to the university then—”
“No!” Weezy cried. “You can’t take it away!”
He spread his hands. “Then I cannot help you.”
Jack touched her arm. “Come on, Weez. Otherwise we’l never know.” “I’l never see it again. I just know it.”
She looked at him with glistening eyes—were those tears? He hoped she wasn’t
going to cry. He’d never seen Weezy cry and didn’t want to now.
“Look—”
“I final y found one, Jack,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I final y
got my hands on one of the secrets. I can’t just let it go.”
He had a sudden idea.
“Hey, why don’t we compromise? Keep the box and let the professor take the
pyramid.”
She opened her mouth as if to say no without even thinking, but stopped. After a
moment’s thought she said, “Look, if we’ve got to give him something, let him take the box. I want the pyramid.”
“The pyramid wil work out better,” the professor said. “Its engravings might be
the easiest to date most accurately.”
Weezy chewed her lip, her gaze locked on the pyramid. Final y she said, “Okay.
But you promise I’l get it back? You
“I promise,” the professor said. “My department handles artifacts and specimens
al the time. We are experts. You have nothing to fear.”
“I hope not. But there’s something I’ve got to do before you take it.” She looked
around. “Can I have a pencil and a piece of paper?”
“Of course.”
The professor produced them immediately from the top drawer of his desk.
