Fossil Fools

Chapter 7. The hammer of never letting go.

I went back to the house and grabbed my tools. I gently placed Grandpa's hammer in the bag together with three different chisels, goggles, bubble wrap, Field lens, specimen bags, marker pen, and cloths.

"What's the hurry Bro?" Adam called after me.

" I want to see what has happened down on the beach. There was a landslip or something. The earth shook, remember?"

"Oh, yeah..... Well whatever happened has happened. So what's the rush?"

" What's the rush? You just don't get it do you?" I said.

"Shame that tree didn't get you after all, Jasper. Life would have been so much better this morning, you little schnip. Hope a rock fall get's you if the tree didn't!"

So there we were, squelching up the path together in silence, apart from the 'tin tin tin' leaking from his ear buds mixing with the warble of a songbird and the call of a passing gull.

I could smell the sea now and taste the salt in the air. My heart pumped a little fuller and faster with anticipation as we rambled up the slope, I stopped a few yards before the cliff edge, catching my breath, leaning forward and holding my knees.

"Get fit fattie" Adam mocked.

It was true, and I knew it. I so wanted my body to get on with growing up, so I could lose the extra weight and look like Adam. Not sure I could be bothered with all the gym stuff he does everyday though.

This time I ignored him, was more interested in what was right in front of me; That view!

That view, I had known every year since Dad carried me on his back as a baby, Mum holding Adam's stupid little hand. Today it looked extra special, emerald green in places, and sparkling in the bright sun. The sweep of the bay.... Stunning! But something was different. The shape of the cliff line to the West had changed. I took a sharp breath.

I pointed along the coast, arm ram rod. "Look at that Adam. Look at Black Venn, it's

collapsed!"

"Wo!" he said open-mouthed. We stood for a few seconds in silence just looking, taking it all in.

Thousands of tons of rocks, boulders and gray glistening mud had collapsed from the cliff blocking the beach in a vast tumbling steaming pile.

"Fricking hell!" I shouted out excitedly to the French across the sea.

I flew down the rough track that led to the beach, the heavy shoulder bag banging against my hip, leaving Adam to meander down at his own pace.

"Be careful Bone Boy!" he called after me. "You and your bloody fossils!"

Being careful was not top of my priorities right then.

Finally, I was down there on the shingle and stony beach. The tide was out. Gentle waves lapping the shoreline 50 metres away. The sun kept shining.

Paradise. All around, classic fossil bearing boulders, smooth, gray, flat sided and about 12 inches across, like fat freshly caught carp. I was breathing fast, didn't know where to start, like a kid in a sweet shop. I put my bag down, adjusted the strap of my safety goggles, and took Grandpa's heavy hammer out. It may be old, but it felt so good, perfectly weighted and balanced.

"Happy now are we Bone Boy?" Adam snorted, "Mums stuck in a ditch. Gran's house has half fallen down, and you want to play on the beach!"

"Well, what exactly are you doing here yourself Adam?"

"I'm here to torment you as always," he sneered.

Right in front of me were several likely looking ammonite candidates. I rested one rock against another to stabilize it, just as Grandpa had taught me. Kneeling down, I lifted the hammer high and brought it down hard on the edge of the rock with a dull thud. Small shards of limestone flew off in all directions. Four or five times I whacked it, knowing that if there were a big ammonite inside, the hammer blows would weaken the bond between rock and shell. Finally, a hairline crack appeared, an excellent sign. Now I had to be more delicate so as not to break the fossil itself, if there were one inside. Turning the hammer around to use the sharp chisel end I tapped gently along the fracture line, and then a little harder.