Benny’s face was chalk-white. “My… my farm was once a graveyard? Where was the church located?”
“It did not look like a church,” Bertie explained, “because it was also used for all community functions.”
“But where was it?”
“That old building you use to store winter hay for the cattle,” Harry said. “That was the church and the little graveyard was behind it.”
“I’ve had problems with gophers out there in the past few years,” Benny said. “They might have brought the bones to the surface while digging, I suppose. So, what happens now?”
“That’s why I’m here,” said Professor Jones. “The University has a proposal for you. We would like to excavate the site. It would be excellent field study for our first-year archaeology students. They could study the bones and try to identify them. After we finish, we would rebury the bones, with a plaque on the new communal grave in memory of those who were buried there, and then erect a fence around it to protect it from further destruction.”
“That sounds like I’d have a tourist attraction on the farm,” Benny said.
“It is already a historic site,” the professor said. “But developing it as a tourist attraction would be your call.”
“Might be something to think about for when you retire,” Harry said.
Benny laughed. “Mildred and I were actually talking about that last night. We’re getting older and we’ve been slowly scaling things down during the last few years. This could be a whole different opportunity.”
“It would be a historic site and might qualify for some sort of funding,” Bertie said.
“Definitely something to think about,” Bennie said, “for when the students are finished. Professor Jones, your proposal sounds good to me.”
Jones nodded. “I’ll get our legal department to draw up a contract as quickly as possible and I’ll get back to you. We’d like to do is this summer if you’re okay with that?”
“Sounds good to me.” Benny smiled. “That will give Mildred and me some time to make plans for the following summer.”
As they were leaving, Jones told Benny he would get someone to erect a temporary fence around the site so the dog couldn’t remove any more bones. “Leave the others in the box as they are for now. We’ll take them back to the site after the fence is up.”
Benny nodded. “No problem.” Then he turned to Harry and Bertie, thanking them both for their help. “I think I’m looking forward to this new venture already.”
“That turned out very well,” Bertie said as Harry started the truck and pulled out onto the street.
“I think it’s going to give them a new lease on life, having something to occupy them in their retirement years,” Harry said.
