Chapter 19
The Mudlarkers’ Club met for their first group mudlark a week later.
There was heat in the sun and a cowlick of cloud fringed the sky.
The foreshore shone with promise. They gathered at the top of the stairs at the north end of Southwark Bridge in central London in the early afternoon.
What a motley bunch they must look, Gemma thought, in their old clothes suitable for getting dirty.
‘Everyone, I’d like to introduce Laila,’ Timothy said. ‘This is her first time mudlarking.’
A chorus of hellos and do you know what you’re getting yourself into went around the group.
Laila’s mouth reluctantly stretched into a semi-smile as if it were a taut piece of elastic.
She appeared disinterested and bored already.
She was dressed all in black, with red-dyed hair and a multitude of piercings.
‘Timothy tells us you like history. That’s a very good place to start,’ Phyllida said.
Laila glanced at her grandfather. Underneath all the attitude seemed a shy girl. Gemma felt for her. When Gemma was seventeen, she was so shy she couldn’t even look dogs in the eye, let alone a fellow human being. And what about Gemma’s birth mother? She’d had a baby at the same age!
Timothy nodded to Laila, encouraging her to speak.
Laila shoved her hands in the pockets of oversized baggy jeans that swamped her small frame.
She scuffed the footpath with her boots.
‘Yeah, I kinda like watching YouTube history videos about famous women,’ she said.
‘Sassy women like Boudicea and Cleopatra. Although Hatshepsut was the most badass of all.’
‘Laila.’ Timothy gently scolded.
‘Hatshe …?’ Nick started but couldn’t pronounce it. Probably, no one other than Laila had ever heard of her before.
‘The longest reigning female pharaoh in Kemet, and one of the most successful,’ Laila explained.
‘Well, there you go.’ Nick sounded impressed.
‘Never let anyone tell you that the youth of today knows less than you do,’ Timothy said.
‘And being the youngest member, you’ll have the best eyesight, so I’m looking forward to seeing what you find,’ Phyllida added encouragingly. ‘And we have two mudlarking newbies – I’m including you in this, Nick, if you don’t mind.’
He traded a look with Gemma as if to say, Here goes Phyllida, taking charge again, but we don’t mind because she’s doing a very good job, isn’t she? Gemma smiled back.
‘Call me what you like,’ he said. ‘I won’t be offended.’
‘Okay, good. So given we have newbies, I thought Timothy, Gemma and I could offer some tips and tricks to help us get started.’
She waited for nods of agreement before continuing. ‘My advice is that as the river has a way of collating objects of similar weight and size together, if you find one item, there’s a good chance you’ll find more. Gemma?’
Gemma hated being put on the spot, even if it was talking about something she loved. ‘Um …’ Her mind had gone blank. Eventually she thought of something. ‘I suppose this is kind of obvious but anything that looks green or brown is slippery. You don’t want to fall on the rocks.’
‘Good point.’ Phyllida nodded. ‘Timothy?’
‘I recommend focusing on a small area at a time, especially at tide lines. A sweeping glance won’t get you anything.’
‘Excellent.’
‘Also, remember that perishable materials like wood, fabric and leather stay preserved in the mud because it’s anaerobic, without oxygen. It’s when you take them out that they start disintegrating, so you need to be careful and prepared.’
‘Like how?’ Nick asked.
‘Sealing finds in plastic bags as soon you can is a good idea. Then, when you get home, you need to implement preservation methods. For example, with wood, you don’t want it splitting and warping.
The best way is to freeze it and put it in a plastic bag pricked with holes to let it dry out slowly,’ Timothy explained.
‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find an ancient leather shoe?’ Phyllida sighed.
‘You never know,’ Timothy said. ‘People have found all sorts of things.’
‘Let’s get to it then!’ Phyllida let out a high-pitched laugh as if it was a call of the wild.
Gemma wondered if the heat was getting to her already.
‘Nick, you can trail Gemma, if you like. Obviously, you’ve got Laila, Timothy.
And I’ll float around between all of you.
Sun cream?’ Phyllida pulled out a tube of sunscreen from her day pack and passed the tube around, squirting cream onto everyone’s palms as the sun hid behind a cloud.
Gemma adjusted her kneepads, tightened her rucksack and headed to the wooden steps leading down to the beach. There was no point waiting for the others when they were still technically mudlarking solo. There would be plenty of time to chat later.