A Tale of a Rock Angler

In 1968 my grandfather made a discovery of a life time. He worked for the Texas Highway Department as a mason building rest areas along the lonely highways in West Texas. While splitting limestone, he found a fossil of a fish never seen before. The split was almost perfect, except that only one piece had the face of the fish. He was so proud of his find and he proudly displayed it at his home. I was a young boy in grade school but he allowed me to take it to class as a show and tell event. The fossil was amazing and it was beautiful. I was so proud of my grandfather but during the summer of 1968, he was asked to return the fossil for study with the idea that it would be returned to him. You could see his disappointment etched in his face and from that time on he was never the same. I would ask him when he was getting it back and his reply would be, soon. I felt deep inside that when they took it, it was as if I had lost a family member in death. Years passed until everyone either forgot the fossil or they died and than it didn't matter. The problem was that no one in our home town ever knew about the stunning discovery nor did they ask because dead men tell no tales. It's been 50 years and here I am asking about it and this is where it gets interesting. I found two old news paper archives that told the tale of the fossil my grandfather had found. In detail, names were mentioned, places, times and the worth of the find, even the name of my grandfather. The problem was that this newspaper was not in our town but another city far away. There was a picture of a man who was holding the fossil and it reminded me of when Charleston Heston was holding the tablets in the movie, The Ten Commandments. The picture named the man as one who supervised my grandfather. The article credited my grandfather with the discovery and even mentioned that it belonged to him, having the right to decide where it would reside. This story is based on reality, that becomes, fiction and eventually transforms into a science fiction story. Some names have been altered but the event is real and what drives Billy is his desire for justice and credit to the man that was his hero, his grandfather. Billy ultimately becomes an archeologist based on his experience with the fossil and now has taken the the torch to see if he can find it. He does not realize that he is being followed and people are dying based on what they know. He has help from old school mates, people from Fort Stockton and Austin. Yet, there is another force in play here, which he does not know exist and when he discovers it, all is revealed. His grandfather's discovery is not in vain, for the fossil truly become a Texas Treasure. No man, even if his english is limited should be taken advantage of but should be given the opportunity to prosper like everyone else in word or deed. I hope, with all my heart, that this tale will be woven into a happy ending by the good people of Texas and that the real Rock Angler, my grandfather is honored for what he did in finding a national treasure.