August 2012

"Ahh, there we go," said Thaddeus Post admiringly, the brush in his hand outlining another bone in the reddish dirt. Jenny hiked up her khakis and crouched beside him, examining the long bones of the partially uncovered skeletons.

"Proof of the location of the last Bunyip clan?" She nodded to Daniel, who adjusted the light he was standing near. Her breath fogged slightly in the cool night. "And their caern?"

"Nearby, no doubt," Post said, still working on removing the earth from a shin bone. "See here, the skeleton is smaller than their European cousins. In hominid form they appeared as the aboriginal. Peaceful and quiet - the Bunyip knew little of war before it was forced upon them."

"This is even smaller -" Jenny started, and then sighed. "A child."

He nodded, sitting back on his heels beside her. "The whole species was wiped out in the War of Tears. Though some speculate the Bunyip managed to migrate to the New World, there have been no findings to prove the rumor." He brightened. "Perhaps we will go there next."

Jenny brushed his hair away from his dirty forehead. "Another grand adventure?"

"There is always another one, my dear," Thaddeus said, smiling in the moonlight.