• Chapter 1
    The Crossing


    It had been hours since Lee had seen the outside world of the old museum. School trips had become more uninteresting as the years of schooling continued. As she sat on the wooden bench outside of the door that led to the Neolithic era room Lee felt like she had been imprisoned in this old place as a punishment of some sort. She hated history and found no point in learning about it. The only reason she wanted to go on this field trip was to get out of school. But now she was thinking that school would have been more enjoyable then learning about old bones and places where all this history took place. As she continued to stare at a model of a caveman, Lee didn’t notice that her teacher Mr. Woodrick was approaching her. He had noticed she had been sitting on the same wooden bench since the moment they had entered the museum. Clearing his throat he saw the girl turn to look at him. Watching as she rolled her eyes it was his automatic reaction to cross his arms.
    “Now Miss. Green may I ask why you aren’t with the rest of the class or even trying to show some interest in this work,” Mr. Woodrick asked watching the girl slouch lower into the bench. “I wish you were more interested in this like you were in grade nine.”
    Glancing up at her teacher Lee rolled her eyes again this time crossing her own arms and giving a heavy sigh. “There’s no point.” She muttered for her teacher to hear. This time Mr. Woodrick sat beside her looking at the caveman model dressed in hides with messy brown hair holding a wooden spear looking ready to attack. Putting his hands on his lap he himself gave a heavy sigh.
    “Why is there no point, Lee?”
    His voice was patient and soon he saw the girl sit up and try to sit like he was. She was one of the top students in his class yet she had no passion for this form of study at all. Lee didn’t look like a smart girl even though she was. Her light brown hair was always in a braid with her floppy bang always hanging in front of her face. She had bright green eyes that showed when she was determined to get her point across as she was trying to do at this point in time. Lee never had a lot of friends and she mostly was off on her own to think or to work on something. Most people thought of her as a freak because she never lied and always talked about things no one her age was interested in. School clubs never interested her and now Mr. Woodrick was wondering if anything actually interested this student of his. Watching as she looked back at the caveman she leaned her chin into the palms of her hands. That’s what happened when she was trying to gather all her thoughts. Sitting up straight again she turned to look at her teacher.
    Mr. Woodrick had been her teacher for social studies since she was in grade nine. He had told her that he would always been open to talk but she never took him up on the offer. Always dressing in a tie and a suit of either blue or black Mr. Woodrick looked twice his age. By the looks of it he was around his late twenties but when he wore his suit he looked in his late thirties. For some reason he had always reminded her of an older brother. She didn’t know much about him other then he had his Master’s in Prehistoric History and Bachelors in Neolithic studies. Everyone knew him as the History Geek and for some reason it suited him more then his actual name. Leaning his head back against the wall he waited for his student’s answer as she continued to look at him.
    “There’s no point because these things have happened and not important things either. Sure they made fire but that’s pretty much it. They lived in caves and didn’t have T.V big deal! People still live like that today in parts of the world. What’s the big deal about learning about some caveman guys that turned into us? They died anyways so what’s the point?” After stating what was on her mind she waited for her teacher to answer. All he did was grin at her comment as he fixed his tie, which had looked fine before he had touched it. Sitting back up he looked his student in the eyes and answered her question.
    “The reason why we learn this history about these people Lee is because we as historians are interested in how these people we able to survive as long as they did without T.V and electricity or maybe running water or grocery stores. If you look into how much these people interacted with the earth and were able to develop into a form of us it is truly amazing. It saddens me that you like many of my students don’t see or appreciate that.” Standing from the bench he brushed his hands again his pant legs as he turned to look at the girl that sat looking at him. “But at least they are trying to see the importance of them. Hopefully after I leave, you'll go into that room and take a look around at a few things.” Walking off again towards some of his other students Lee leaned harder back into the bench.
    How dare he tell me what to do, she thought crossing her arms as she glared at the caveman figure again. It’s not like I care about this stuff and plus this kind of history doesn’t change my way of life or thinking just because I’m not learning about it. As she continued to glare at the caveman a feeling came over her. It was a strange feeling as if someone was watching her from affair. Looking around quickly she didn’t see anything or anyone. The museum wasn’t echoing anymore and she didn’t hear the laughter of her classmates in the distance. Feeling a little uneasy she grabbed hold of her bag and started towards the door that had a large sign saying Neolithic Era in large gold letters. Moving the heavy black drape that kept the light out of the room she walked in. More figures of cavemen and women stood in different posses. Some seemed to be working in fields while other’s looked as if they were ready to pounce on their pray.
    Pictures of animals and fossils were hanging on the walls along with lots of stone tools that seemed to have been discovered with the animal bones. Each wall was covered with information about what the items were and where they were from. As she was beginning to forget about her uneasy feelings she had back in the other room they seemed to return again but this time more. Every caveman or woman seemed to have their eyes set on her now. They aren’t really looking at me, Lee thought rubbing her eyes again. They are models of the real thing and they can’t move. Looking at the models again she watched as each one seemed to wait for her to move. Taking a deep breath she shook her head as she turned to look at another curtain. Lee you are driving yourself crazy. Stop it now and just keep on walking. Taking a deep breath she hurried herself towards the curtain she had faced. The sign above read in large gold letters Cave. When she walked in it was dark and damp. Sounds of dripping water gave her the sudden feeling that she needed to go to the bathroom. Other sounds of scratching and small squeaking came from within the dark room. As she rubbed her hands against the wall of the cave she could feel the slimy moss and the uneven rock base.
    Sliding her feet across the floor she stumbled along the scattered rocks and sticks that where in the way. The sounds of the mystery creatures continued and the further Lee made her way in she wished she had just gone back to the bench. Stopping for a moment she glanced up and tried to focus her eyes in the dark cave. There were no lights to show a safe path out but there would only be one way out if it were a fake cave. Taking a few more steps a chill ran up the back of her spin as she heard a stick snap from behind her. Forgetting about how dark it was she just felt like she had to get out and back into the museum where the others were. Running and tripping over things in the dark she started to see a faint light in the distance. Feeling herself pick up the pace she shot through what seemed to be a bright blue light that blinded her for a moment as she fell to her knees. Resting her head between her elbows she tried to catch her breath. Remembering the noise she had heard in the cave she turned back around to see that there was nothing following her.
    “Thank God!” Lee shouted out as she swallowed hard closing her eyes again. Lifting her head up she opened her eyes.
    There above her was a clear blue sky and a warm bright sun. Dragonflies flew overhead and so did some birds. Knotting her eyebrows she looked back down. There in front of her was a small group of people who seemed to be looking at her with the same amount of surprise. Rubbing her eyes she opened them. Once again the people stood there looking at her with surprise. Each of them wore some kind of hide and seemed as if they never bathed in their lives. Their hair was knotted and they each carried spears. All of them looked like strong men and Lee figured they were hunters. Their foreheads seemed a bit slanted over their eyes but each man had different coloured hair and varied. They were defiantly not like the cavemen in the museum they were more like the other exhibit that her classmates had headed to. The Cro-Magnons.
    “Oh no!” Lee shouted covering her mouth after the thought came to mind of where she might be.