“And after 1350 it was all bad,” Artemisia added helpfully.
“You’ve read the records.” For a moment Ben saw a kindred soul and there was a spark as he looked at Artemisia.
“No,” said Artemisia. “I know the politics. Politics reflect the way the land hurts.”
Ben’s little spark turned into a flame. “Show me!” And Sylvia’s report was forgotten.
There were two results from this little moment. The first was that Sylvia’s somewhat negative neutrality about Artemisia turned into active dislike. The second was that Ben enlisted Mac and Artemisia as fieldworkers to help document species diversity. He wanted to test Artemisia’s statement about politics reflecting the state of the natural environment. He wanted to widen his information base.
The immediate consequence, however, was that Sylvia pu
