away the cliff and release the curies for us “We need help,” I said, though I did not like to admit it We had already had so much help from the village since Pa’s death, and it were hard to ask for more without paying, especially when it was to with curies Fanny Miller weren’t the only one who hated fossils “Let’s ask Miss Elizabeth what to do.” Joe frowned Like Mam and Pa, he had always been suspicious of Elizabeth Philpot He couldn’t understand what a lady like her would want with curies, nor why she was willing to have anything to with me Joe didn’t get the same feeling when he found a cury as Miss Elizabeth and I did, like we were discovering a new world Even now, with something as amazing as the crocodile, he was quick losing his excitement, and only seeing the problems I wanted to go to Miss Elizabeth not only because she could help us, but because she would be as thrilled as I was We stayed a long time, chipping at the croc with my hammer and talking about what to do We spent so long there that the tide cut us off and we had to climb over the cliffs back to Lyme—not easy with baby in my arms Poor mite He died the following summer I always wondered if it weakened him, being taken upon beach in the cold Of course, so many of Mam’s babies died that it were no surprise he didn’t last But I could have stayed inside with him, and gone the next day to see the croc That’s how fossil hunting is: it takes over, like a hunger, and nothing else matters but what you find And even when you find it, you still start looking again the next minute, because there might be something even better waiting I hadn’t ever seen anything better than what Joe found that day, though That brought the lightning straight through me, as if waking me from a long sleep I was glad to see it I just wished I had discovered it rather than Joe It was a surprise to everyone that Joe found such an unusual specimen, for it weren’t in his nature to look out for something new That was what I was good at I tried not to be jealous, but it was hard Soon enough, people forgot it was Joe who found the croc, and made it my croc I didn’t stop them, and Joe didn’t seem to mind He was happy to step back from it and just be plain Joe Anning rather than a hunter who could find a monster It was hard for him, being part of a family so talked about and judged If he could have stopped being an Anning, I think he would have Since he couldn’t, he kept his thoughts to himself Next morning we took Miss Elizabeth to see the skull It were one of those clear cold days that makes all the rocks look crisp, though it didn’t last long, the winter sun just skimming the horizon past Lyme Bay Despite the cold, Miss