LEAGUE OF ALPHA S TRILOGY

“Debbie, I require you, Atticus, Hazel, and Sophie to begin today on the north side of the cave entrance. Sophie is also needed.Just dig a little bit below the soil surface until I can come look.Elizabeth gives the first group of students instructions.

"We're doing it!"Jane responds enthusiastically as she leads the other three people into the cave.While the remaining students remain huddled in front of the lab trailer, Elizabeth continues to distribute assignments.

"Ted, you can return to cleaning up the units we finished at the end of the day, along with everyone who helped you yesterday.I require high-quality profile drawings.When you are finished, have Jane check the drawings, and when she approves them, come get me and I will take some unit photos.Keep in mind that the ruler is your friend!

She hopes that the tall British university junior will understand that in order for his graph paper drawings to be accurate, he actually needs to measure the layers of soil.She sometimes wondered how he had gotten to this point in the program.

"Charlie, Julia, you and the professor are working in the lab today."As she nods, sophomore Julia's curls bounce, indicating that she is pleased with her assignment.

"Do you want us to finish going through the artifacts from earlier this week or start washing the new stuff from the cave entrance right now?"Charlie, Samantha's lab student leader, inquires.

"No, let's start today with the entrance units.We can finish processing the other finds if it rains on Friday.We need to know what's inside the cave as soon as possible, and that's where our door is.She exclaims enthusiastically, "Alright everyone, hop to it!," as she finishes assigning tasks to those still present.If you require me, I will be in my office.

Elizabeth takes a break now that she is by herself.The nerves she brought with her when she arrived in England as the new American summer field school professor have barely subsided after only a week and a half on the job.

In an effort to bolster her sense of leadership despite her fish-out-of-water feelings, she repeats in her mind, "You've got this," for the millionth time.

She ascends the metal steps into the large trailer that houses her laboratory and the British professor's offices.Their temporary residence for the upcoming months.She turns and faces the site, bustling with the twenty or so students under her supervision, resting her arms on the blue painted metal rail before entering.

She closes her eyes for a split second and enjoys the cool morning air as she listens to the chorus of archaeological music: shovels striking the ground, trowels scraping the soil, leather-gloved hands pushing soil through screens, orders being given, and the crew tending to their units laughing and quietly chatting.

She refocuses on the scene in front of her and can't help but smile at the cave's large, dark entrance, which is built into the side of a hill that isn't very tall and has a gentle slope.She once more lets the realization that she is actually digging the site that she had only ever dreamed of for several years sink in.

"Tuppence for your consideration."She is distracted from her thoughts by Professor William's now-familiar sagelike voice, so she turns to greet the elderly scholar and her British counterpart, who had somehow managed to leave the trailer without her hearing.

She says, clearing her throat.Gracious, not much.Just taking everything in and pondering how I was so fortunate.She turns her attention back to the Avebury Cave location and tucks a lock of her shoulder-length auburn hair behind her ear.

The professor acknowledges with sincerity, "Luck had nothing to do with it, my dear," placing his reading glasses on top of his balding head.Your timing and effort alone were all to blame.That's all there is to it: you were noticed.“And maybe the alignment of the stars had just a little something to do with it,” he adds with a smirk.

As the man, decades her senior and everything an eccentric scholar should be, tries to dispel her apparent apprehension, Elizabeth laughs out loud.