“I know, I know.”
He went back to digging.
I said, “There’s nothing there, right? I mean, if she was wrong about there being a box, maybe she was wrong about?—”
His shovel hit something hard and metal.
I said, “Uh oh, what’s that?”
“Somethin’ proving the simplest explanation is real.”
He used his hands to pull dirt away from the edges of a chest. And then went back to digging with more confidence. He uncovered the top and then shimmied the shovel edge between the chest and dirt and pried it up. He changed sides and worked from all directions until the box finally dislodged.
“Tis the chest! She told me right where twas!”
I laughed because he had dug three holes before he found it.
“You got the way to open it?” I pulled out my notes from the conversation.
He crouched down. “I remember the code she told me.”
“Good, because my mind was spinning, and my notes are a mess.”
“Aye, I hae lots of practice because I daena trust the devices. I keep it all up here.” He tapped the side of his head, leaving a little dirt smear there, still sexy though.
He worked on the lock for a moment and the top lifted, pneumatically.
He grinned with his eyebrows up and down. “I live in a king’s castle and I just opened a king’s chest...” He rubbed his hands together. “I hope there is a king’s treasure.” He gingerly lifted a piece of velvet off the top and peered inside. “Hmmm..”
“What is it?”
“I daena ken, tis...” He picked something up. It was metal and about the size and shape of a Red Bull can. He held it on his palm. “Tis odd, it hums, it feels alive.”
“She said not to touch it or twist it.”
“Tis in m’palm, I am no’doin’ anything tae it.”
I stood beside him looking down on it.
“So what is this supposed to be?”
“She called it the vessel. I suppose tis tae time travel with? We need tae go call her and tell her we found it.”
“So we’re just going to acceptallof this as fact?”
“What else are we goin’ tae do, Woodshee? No’ believe the lady who is callin’ us from the year 2391?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Did we get proof?”
He shrugged. “I thought I would take her on her word, seems a farcical tale tae tell.”
“Would you also believe a Nigerian Prince needs you to drain your bank account?”
“Tis not what this is, this is the Lady Mairead fillin’ourbank account.”
“Good point — and so far none of it is illegal.” I poked the vessel. “I don’t think?—”
There was the sound of tires on gravel coming from the front of the castle.
