I dragged my gaze from her to the older man at the other end of the pit. A rifle was slung over one shoulder as if he thought he was on a goddammed safari.
He slicked his hair back with one hand. "Oh, hello."
Hello! My fists clenched.
The woman yanked off her hat and scrambled to her feet. "Who the hell are you?" she shouted, breathless but defiant.
"You're on my land," I said. "That's all you need to know."
She straightened, brushing wet dirt off her hands onto her shorts. "We're conducting a research dig," she yelled up to me, half-defensive, half-winded. "We have permits."
"Not for this land, you don't." I scanned my surroundings, checking whether anyone else was with them, but saw no one. "This is Koolaroo Ranch. Private property."
She hesitated and glanced toward the older guy.
"We've got permission to be here," the man said, but his voice lacked conviction.
"Like hell you do," I growled. "You're trespassing."
The heavens opened wider, and rain hammered into the pit as loud as a war drum. The hard-packed dirt turned to slush beneath my boots, and rivulets streamed over the rim, carving deep tracks through the fragile walls.
"Get out of the damn hole," I barked.
"Like hell," the woman shot back, dropping to her knees. She yanked a silver tarp from a weathered leather kit, frantically unfolded it, and tried to secure the tarp over one of the skulls in a useless attempt to shield the bone from the downpour.
What the hell?
"I said get out!"
"I can't!" she shouted, glaring up at me with rain streaming down her face. Mud streaked her arms, and her light brown hair stuck to her forehead. "These bones are precious! I have to save them."
Son of a bitch.
Thunder cracked directly overhead, and as sheets of rain hammered the area, the thick clay around my boots turned to treacherous slop. Water spilled over the edge, pouring into the pit like someone had turned on a massive tap.
Below, the wall behind the woman let out a deep groan as more sediment shifted. A crack split through the red dirt, zigzagging toward the ravine side as if a fuse had been lit.
"We have permission!" the man shouted, but his voice cracked. He knew he was full of shit.
"That's a fucking lie." I backed away from the edge before the whole thing gave out and took me with it.
The rain turned from a heavy downpour into a full-blown torrent. Muddy water roared across the land in sheets, hammering the ridge, doing its best to erase every trace of life, and surging into the creek bed that hadn't seen water in months, maybe even years.
"I told you to get out!" I yelled.
The woman was soaked to the bone, yet she was still on her knees, trying to wrap that tarp over one of the massive skulls.
Jesus. Stubborn as hell. Brave, too. But brave didn't mean shit when nature was set to show us who was boss.
"Leave it!" I roared.
"Piss off!" she shouted, leaning over the skull trying to protect it with her damn body.
Water surged across the red earth, gouging deep trenches and slamming into the creek bed like a battering ram. Rivulets turned to streams. Streams quickly swelled bigger.
The pit was filling up.
The man adjusted the rifle on his shoulder, eyes darting toward the far wall.