A ripe area untouched, unspoiled by man. Anticipating finding such a prize was the ultimate high, almost as good as sex. Her pulse raced, and senses heightened whenever Benita Kyser dug into such virgin territory. She was living a geologist's dream.

Excited, she strode into camp. Thirsty didn't come close to describing how she felt. All she could think about was easing her parched body with a quick drink of cool water. Afterward she'd grab a bite to eat, and then head back up the mountain.

She was grubby from the morning's digging, but she didn't care. Soon they would find the elusive mineral, anglesite. She could feel it. Knew they were close. All that mattered was that it had to be blue.

"No bere! Toscàdu! Cadamàle!"

"Stop!" Karl Johnston knocked the ladle out of her hand.

She snatched it up just as it hit the dirt. "You didn't have to do that."

"Ramo is saying something about the water being contaminated and that it's bad, very bad." Karl took her hand. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She tugged out of his hold. "Of course not."

Ramo, the local villager she'd hired to cook for the expedition, came limping across the campsite muttering.

Perplexed by the anxiousness in his tone, she walked toward him still holding the canteen she'd been trying to fill. "What's he saying now?"

"He just keeps repeating that we shouldn't drink it," Karl said.

"Didn't he boil the water, run it through the filters or use the purification tablets?"

Karl turned to Ramo. Even though he wasn't well versed in the Sardinian dialect, Karl could communicate since he was fairly confident with conventional Italian. "He says he's following all the standards you've set."

Good thing Karl came along. Beni couldn't say much more than hello and goodbye in any version of Italian. "That's odd. Usually once it's purified it's fine."

"It got contaminated." Chad Parks, a University of Florida graduate student, bounded up the path. He'd already cleaned up.

Beni felt every inch of her grimy body just looking at him. The kid was good at pointing out the obvious. "I know that, Chad."

"Any kind of animal could've gotten in our water supply and took a crap," Chad said.

Ah, the male ego. Chad now felt the need to show that he knew what he was talking about. Typical man. Beni was accustomed to them having to constantly prove their supposed aptitudes.

"Or it could be something as simple as a leaf with fresh excrement on it dropping into the water supply," Karl said.

And right on cue, Karl adds his two cents. Men. So predictable, but necessary. Good thing the other members of the crew were Sardinian. Well, except for Wade Evans. Quiet, and unassuming. He fit in better with the men from the island. At least she didn't have to listen to him or the locals pontificate. "It really doesn't matter. How'd Ramo realize the water was bad?"

Karl translated. "He said one of the men has the runs."

Ugh. There was nothing worse than being out in the middle of nowhere where toilet paper was scarce and having diarrhea. She wouldn't wish that on anyone, but she was glad he found out before she took a drink. "Is he okay?"

"Ramo says he'll be fine," Karl said after translating. "He sent him back to the village and his brother should be here by tomorrow to replace him."

At least the wages earned would go to the same household. Most of the villagers who worked for them were the young sons of the families. "Do we have any acqua that's drinkable?" She motioned with her hand like she was holding a glass and drinking.

"Si." Ramo pointed a gnarly finger at a different container. "Qui."

"Here." Karl translated as if she couldn't figure that out on her own.

She walked over to Ramo. "Grazie."

He scowled, then turned and shuffled back to the fire pit in the middle of the semi-circle of gray tents. She didn't have to worry about him wanting to take control of the group. She smiled. Wouldn't life be easy if all the men around her only did their job and expected nothing else?

"You must be really thirsty if filling up your canteen can make you smile." Karl stood a little too close.

And reality strikes with a vengeance. Karl wanted more from her than she wanted to give. She stepped away. "Something like that." Taking a large swig, she gulped even as it dribbled down her chin. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. She was quite sure it made a nasty, dirty streak across her face. Real attractive. She grinned. Let's see him want her now.

"Are you going to go down to the river to clean up? Do you want me to come with you?"

So much for that tactic. "I'll just get dirty again. There's no reason." Her stomach grumbled.

"Gustàri." Ramo's rusty voice announced lunch right on time.

Gustàri actually meant breakfast and lunch. Beni felt a small sense of pride at learning a few Sardinian words. Hungry enough to eat the proverbial horse, she piled her plate with a healthy portion of beans and bread. Ramo hadn't gotten the hang of cooking without burning the food at the bottom of the pot. If you didn't scrape the edges, everything tasted fine. Most important, it filled the void and kept her going.

Karl and Chad joined her, while Wade sat with the local men on the other side of camp. She studied the tents as they ate. The clearing they'd chosen was about a third of a mile from the river, and almost eight miles to the vehicles. Getting all the equipment here had been a bear. Sometimes even in the remote areas, the locals had three wheelers. No such luck here in one of the most uninhabited areas of Sardinia.

"You think we might find something today?" Chad didn't cover his mouth giving her a nice view of his chewed food.

"I'm feeling good. I think we're close." Beni never questioned her sixth sense when it came to finding minerals.

"Cool." Chad grinned.

"You are logging all the details of the find in a journal?" She scraped the last bit of food off the plate. The last bite went as quickly as the others.

Chad shifted in the chair. "Every night."

"Why's he doing that?" Karl asked.

Impatient to get back up the mountain, she stood. "He's going to write up the summation report for the grant."

"What?"

She understood Karl's amazement. Summation reports weren't simple, but there was nothing better than on the job training. "Chad said he wants to go on for his doctorate. Compared to what he has to do for that, this will be a piece a cake."

When Karl only frowned, she continued, "It will be good practice and experience." She needed to shut up. It wasn't necessary to explain herself. "Let's get moving." She took her plate and fork to the large tub of water and dumped them inside.

The equipment tent held her most precious property, her precision tools. Since Anglesite was relatively soft, its extraction needed to be slow and delicately performed, if you wanted large, intact specimens. Which, she did.

Excited to get back to work, she zipped open the tent. This is going to be it. Going straight to one of the trunks, she threw up the top and reached inside. "Dammit! Where the hell are my tools?"