“Most of them were here for the first dig. They’d have camped here overnight, waiting for daybreak if I’d let them.” He laughed. “I told them to be careful. Can you explain that?”
“We learned something yesterday which indicates that this could be another important find.”
Benny also joined them, grinning broadly. “I think we have another important feature to add to the tour.”
“Are you sure?” Harry asked.
“He’s right,” Jones agreed. “There are two small boxes and the bones have been identified as cats, common household pets. But there’s also a human coffin, apparently a private burial site, maybe five to ten years older than the cemetery we uncovered last year. There’s a faded inscription on the coffin… something about Mother.”
Harry and Bertie looked at each other, smiling.
“You know anything about this?” Jones asked.
“Cassandra Germain, aunt of Oscar Germain who was Edith Pinkerton’s grandfather,” Harry said. “She lived in this community and was known as the Earth Mother.”
“In other words, Miss Pinkerton’s great-aunt,” Benny said.
“Great-great-aunt,” Jones corrected absently, looking at Harry and Bertie. “But, I think you two know more.”
Harry looked at Bertie and nodded his head.
“Miss Pinkerton sent us some information this morning. I printed copies for you so I won’t go into full detail. Cassandra was several years older than her brother, Jonas. When Jonas and his wife died several weeks apart, Cassandra took Oscar to live with her, against the wishes of her husband-to-be. She raised Oscar on her own and never married.”
“They came to Canada in the early 1900s, with a group of others from various parts of Europe,” Harry said.
Bertie picked up the story again. “Most of them came from farming backgrounds so they bought adjoining lots and set up a gated community pretty much in the centre. When Oscar left to work on the railroad, Cassandra decided to stay here, so he signed the land deed over to her.”
“Why was she called the Earth Mother,” Jones asked.
“Because she knew where to find, and how to use, all the wild plants and herbs with healing properties. She also knew how to cultivate them and had a garden on the sloping ground at the back of her house,” Bertie replied.
“You’re excavating her garden,” Harry said. “Her house would have been just in front of it.”
“She gave people her homemade remedies, in exchange for food or money, whichever they could afford, and she knew when to advise them to seek professional help,” Bertie continued. “She was also the community midwife.”
“Sounds like she deserved all the respect she got,” Benny said.
“Professor! I think you should see this!” One of the students was waving a hand and Jones hurried over.
Excitement showed in his broad smile.
“Memorial stone,” he said softly and held out his hand. “Brush, please.” One of the students slapped a soft brush into his hand and he began carefully brushing dirt from the stone. Finally, after what felt like hours to those watching, he rose to his feet. “It needs a proper cleaning, but the inscription says ‘Cassandra Germain – Earth Mother.’ It’s her.”
“So what happens next?” Benny asked.
