Slave Graves (River Sunday Romance Mysteries Book 1) by Thomas Hollyday Page A
Authors: Thomas Hollyday
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Frank.
“She passed away several years ago. It’s just me. Me and my church.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I live with the loss of her. I gather you do a lot of this kind of archaeological work, working on real estate deals, I mean.”
“We get a lot of requests at the university for expert opinions on sites. There’s always someone who wants to build something and hits into an historic artifact. It always seems to be a situation that requires everything to be done in a hurry. It’s easy to understand if you think about it.”
“Why?”
“I got this theory. The colonials who settled these areas were not stupid. They picked the same sites that developers today want. The Native Americans, they were smart too. That’s why Maggie found all the arrowheads near here. Each new century people want to change what they built. However, they want the same strategic locations on river banks, same vistas, all that kind of thing. Bridges are always built at important spots. So when the rebuilding starts new owners run into the old construction and guys like me come out to see how important the artifacts are.”
“That’s where the trouble starts,” said Maggie from her digging place.
“Sure. The historians and the developers are going to go round and round.”
“Most of the archaeologists feel there is no room for compromise,” said Maggie.
Frank sat back on his heels. “Maggie was involved in that Southern Maryland controversy, yet you say you chose her to come down here. Why, Pastor?”
“Don’t you think she is qualified?”
“Of course she is qualified. One of the best I know.”
“Why should the controversy affect our choice on this site?”
Maggie added, “Frank, you thought that because I was fighting to save Confederate relics that I was a racist and unsuitable for work on a site that might have black history.”
“I know you’re not a racist but I thought there might be folks who would not understand what you did.”
The Pastor interrupted, “I don’t understand how I can see Maggie as a racist if she is just being a good historian. Her job is to find the relics and describe them and preserve them. What was it, some kind of site for Confederate spies during the Civil War? Just because it’s not likely that I will be interested in the history of men who wanted to keep my family enslaved, doesn’t mean I don’t want her to do her job as best she can. It also doesn’t mean that I can’t respect her. I wanted her down here because of her reputation. I know she will do this job correctly and that she will fight to save anything that is significant, no matter what it is.”
“You are thinking about my being politically correct, Frank, just like any modern college professor,” said Maggie.
Frank smiled, “Pastor, I like the way you talk. I got to admit, I’m jealous of Maggie’s freedom to fight for good research.”
“That’s why I’m a little worried about what you are going to do down here, Frank,” said the Pastor.
“We’ll all do the right thing if we find anything.” He looked at the Pastor. “Jake seems to think you are kind of controversial too.”
“We’re all controversial in one way or another.”
The Pastor stood up and stretched. He had left his coffee on the ground near his pit and he reached for the cup. “Did you see the Terment monument out in the harbor?”
“Jake showed it to me.”
“Bet he did. There were all these newly freed black folks living in the town after the Civil War. Instead of giving them jobs building the monument, the jobs went to returned Confederate soldiers. The irony of it was that the Terments bet their plantation on the outcome of the war.”
“Bet their plantation? You mean, Peachblossom?”
“They got family members into high level positions in the Yankee government and army. After the Civil War was over, turned out the family members on the Northern side had title to all the land and wealth. They arranged transfers of the land
“She passed away several years ago. It’s just me. Me and my church.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I live with the loss of her. I gather you do a lot of this kind of archaeological work, working on real estate deals, I mean.”
“We get a lot of requests at the university for expert opinions on sites. There’s always someone who wants to build something and hits into an historic artifact. It always seems to be a situation that requires everything to be done in a hurry. It’s easy to understand if you think about it.”
“Why?”
“I got this theory. The colonials who settled these areas were not stupid. They picked the same sites that developers today want. The Native Americans, they were smart too. That’s why Maggie found all the arrowheads near here. Each new century people want to change what they built. However, they want the same strategic locations on river banks, same vistas, all that kind of thing. Bridges are always built at important spots. So when the rebuilding starts new owners run into the old construction and guys like me come out to see how important the artifacts are.”
“That’s where the trouble starts,” said Maggie from her digging place.
“Sure. The historians and the developers are going to go round and round.”
“Most of the archaeologists feel there is no room for compromise,” said Maggie.
Frank sat back on his heels. “Maggie was involved in that Southern Maryland controversy, yet you say you chose her to come down here. Why, Pastor?”
“Don’t you think she is qualified?”
“Of course she is qualified. One of the best I know.”
“Why should the controversy affect our choice on this site?”
Maggie added, “Frank, you thought that because I was fighting to save Confederate relics that I was a racist and unsuitable for work on a site that might have black history.”
“I know you’re not a racist but I thought there might be folks who would not understand what you did.”
The Pastor interrupted, “I don’t understand how I can see Maggie as a racist if she is just being a good historian. Her job is to find the relics and describe them and preserve them. What was it, some kind of site for Confederate spies during the Civil War? Just because it’s not likely that I will be interested in the history of men who wanted to keep my family enslaved, doesn’t mean I don’t want her to do her job as best she can. It also doesn’t mean that I can’t respect her. I wanted her down here because of her reputation. I know she will do this job correctly and that she will fight to save anything that is significant, no matter what it is.”
“You are thinking about my being politically correct, Frank, just like any modern college professor,” said Maggie.
Frank smiled, “Pastor, I like the way you talk. I got to admit, I’m jealous of Maggie’s freedom to fight for good research.”
“That’s why I’m a little worried about what you are going to do down here, Frank,” said the Pastor.
“We’ll all do the right thing if we find anything.” He looked at the Pastor. “Jake seems to think you are kind of controversial too.”
“We’re all controversial in one way or another.”
The Pastor stood up and stretched. He had left his coffee on the ground near his pit and he reached for the cup. “Did you see the Terment monument out in the harbor?”
“Jake showed it to me.”
“Bet he did. There were all these newly freed black folks living in the town after the Civil War. Instead of giving them jobs building the monument, the jobs went to returned Confederate soldiers. The irony of it was that the Terments bet their plantation on the outcome of the war.”
“Bet their plantation? You mean, Peachblossom?”
“They got family members into high level positions in the Yankee government and army. After the Civil War was over, turned out the family members on the Northern side had title to all the land and wealth. They arranged transfers of the land
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