Running Back

I loved that book. I especially loved the pictures of the Tuatha Dé Dana

In the last years of high school, that settled into a more academic interest in the original people of Ireland, who were mentioned in several of the classical Greek sources. The explorer Pytheas of Massalia visited in the fourth century BCE, and Ptolemy wrote a general geography in around 150 CE. Ptolemy called the island as a whole “Ivernia,” and noted that the name was the same as that of a people who lived in the extreme southwest, who may once have been the first inhabitants of the land. He located a city in their territory named Ivernis.

Which I decided to find.

It wasn’t that easy, of course. Archaeology didn’t happen as quickly as it looked in two-hour NOVA specials or made-for-TV movies. Archaeologists didn’t just show up on a plot of land armed with shovels and machetes and have at it. Instead, we had to broker deals with landowners and governments and partner universities.

And by “we,” I really mean grad students.

It had taken me three months to get Mr. Patrick O’Co

Patrick O’Co

But I didn’t get any answer until three days later when I was on the commuter rail up to Westchester for my weekly di

And thank God for that bit of good news, because I needed to get through di

I walked the several long blocks from the station to my parents’ house. They’d upgraded after I left for college, and while the new house was undoubtedly nicer, it seemed too large for only two people.

I cut across the immaculate lawn to the back door instead of using the imposing front entrance. I pushed open the unlocked door. “Hello!”

Unlike the house I’d grown up in, everything about this one was oversized—big kitchen, high ceilings, large leather couches across from a massive television. Several shots from my mom’s modeling days used to hang in the old house, but now only large, posed family portraits decorated the wall.

I hugged my parents and we unpacked the take-out Dad has just picked up. Things went downhill almost immediately.

Mom stirred her fork and took small, mincing bites. “This isn’t very good.”

My father stopped cutting into the fillet, his clenched hands stalled at ninety degrees. “We didn’t have to order it.”

“You said you wanted Thai.”

“We could have gone to Lemon Grass.”

“But you’re tired of their menu.”

I leaned into their line of vision, swooping the menu off the table. I flashed a smile to the right, then the left, forcing eye contact on both my parents. “Let’s make a note on the menu, and then we’ll know not to order from it next time.”

Dad finished cutting off a small corner and popped it in his mouth, then spoke around the mouthful. “I don’t dislike it.” He leaned backward in his seat.

As though pulled by a taunt string, Mom leaned forward. “But do you like it?”

He shrugged.

I put the menu down. “I have good news! I got my grant for Ireland. Isn’t that exciting?”

My parents didn’t often agree with each other, but now they looked aghast.

“I don’t understand why you can’t stay here.” Mom reached out and ran her fingers through my thick blond hair, which I’d left loose as a concession to her. “You just got back.”

I frowned. “I told you. I went to Ecuador for a specific class, but since I want to write my thesis on Ivernis, I need to spend the summer in Ireland. I can probably even spend most of the year there, since I’ve finished off all my coursework.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do? You’re so pretty, Natalya.” Mom’s famous gray eyes mourned. “I thought maybe we could spend some time this summer seeing if there were any photo shoots you were interested in.”

I looked from her to my father, and both appeared unhappy. “Oh.” My voice came out smaller than I’d intended. “You didn’t expect me to get the grant.”

“It was very competitive—” Mom said hastily.

“We didn’t want you to get it,” Dad said bluntly. “How long are you going to do this, Natalie?”

I slowly straightened. “How long am I going to do what?”

He waved his fork through the air; Mom tracked it, her gaze pi

I had to press down on my frustration, because I didn’t want to get into a fight with Dad. Peace was fragile enough in my parents’ house without me adding to the unbalance. “Dad, I’ve been in my program for the past three years. What did you think I was going to do?”

He finally put his fork down. “You said you were going to be a professor.”

I nodded slowly. “Yes, and I still probably will, but this is my fieldwork. I have to do it to get my doctorate.”

He shifted. “But you don’t have to do it with that idiot—”

My fork clattered against the table. “Professor Anderson’s not an idiot.”

“No? He hasn’t found anything in half a dozen years. I read up on him. He’s essentially the laughingstock of the academic community.”

“Well, you’re not part of that community, so I don’t see why you—”

A thunderous expression crossed his face. “We have supported you in whatever you want to do, but enough is enough. What am I supposed to tell people when they ask where you are? Say that you’re off chasing leprechauns? What was wrong with Ecuador, for Christ’s sake? If you have to stay in this ridiculous profession, can’t you at least be realistic? If you align yourself with Jeremy Anderson, no one is ever going to take you seriously.”

My nails bit into my palm and my mouth tensed. “Dad, I got a grant from an independent non-profit. And the whole reason I received it was because of all the research I did, which shows there is a very, very good chance that the harbor of Ivernis is buried somewhere on Kilkarten. So, no, I don’t think I’m being ridiculous or following insubstantial rainbows. I’m doing my work, and I expect results. Results that I intend to present to the American Academy of Archaeology in September.”

Mom tilted her head. “The what?”