8 The men dug faster, all three of them now, careful not to make the slightest noise. If they were discovered, their lives would be in great danger. Suddenly, one man motioned for the others to stop. They all froze and strained to hear. “There!” he said, pointing into the shadows. The three scanned the darkness, trying to see what lay hidden in the night. Shovels suspended at their sides, they stood on the lookout when a slight noise made them jump. Hearts pounding, they held fast to their tools. If there was the slightest doubt, they would make a run for it. Suddenly, a figure emerged, barely perceptible in the darkness... A dog! A stray dog! The men gave a sigh of relief and set back to work. The cloud slowly drifted away from the moon just as their metal shovels struck something. They squatted down and frantically clawed at the earth with their fingertips. Within seconds, they pulled the first bone out of the hole they had dug... and then another. The man leading the little group began reverently placing the bones, one after the other, on the red-and-gold fabric. It was a painstaking operation. They had to make sure they didn’t miss anything. “That’s everything,” whispered one of the men, leaning over the hole. “But where’s the skull?” asked the leader with astonishment. “You haven’t handed me the skull yet!” The two others looked at each other blankly. Each thought the other had found it, but both shook their heads. The skull remained to be found. They plunged their hands back into the earth. At that moment, there was a break in the cloud and moonlight flooded the field with a gentle white light.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzMzNzY=