Pike turned his head sharply. “Just get back to work. We’re not out here to piss around. If we don’t get the last of these seeds in before the next rain we may not have a crop to sell. Carter’s incompetence already set us back.” He studied the men in his crew for a second. They had all gathered in a tight circle and were openly fascinated by something. “I’m serious, man, this thing is cool. Looks like it’s been here a long time.” At that, Pike’s interest piqued. Dollar signs flashed before his eyes. Casually he strolled over to the group, not wanting to look overly interested in their find. So far the cultivating had gone slow. Clearing plots of ground in the thicket was much more difficult than plowing an open field. But they couldn’t plant their crops in plain view. No…cash crops of this nature needed a bit of camouflage. “What do ya have?” He nudged his way into the circle. “A stick? You stopped working to play with a damn stick? I swear all you lazy asses have done is piss around looking for useless Indian relics.”
