Dinosaur Breakout (4 page)

The mother remained for several more minutes, although it seemed like hours to Daniel. His eyes watered from the reek of strong, unfamiliar smells. Just when he didn’t think he could stand it anymore, she lifted off, circled the tree, and headed back down to the feasting site. As she did so, Daniel mentally compared her size and wingspan to the diagrams in his books and figured she must be a
Pteranodon.

Nightfall covered the forest, and Daniel could barely see any movement below. Once he saw a thirty-foot
Triceratops
with its expansive bony frill protruding off its shoulders, two long horns above its eyes, and the shorter horn above its parrotlike beak. A small herd of some kind of night-feeder, no bigger than a white-tailed deer, but lizardlike, with sharp claws on short forearms and longish whipping tails, feasted on insects for a while, then disappeared into the dark. Everything seemed to go silent at once, and then he could only hear the odd nocturnal sound. The twilight faded quickly from the skies, but Daniel knew he couldn’t stay where he was for the night, breathing in the horrible stink when the mother returned.

With the little light left, he sidled his way off the branch and descended partway down to the next branch. As he reached what he thought was solid footing, he slipped. Although he managed to grab a good hold of a protruding limb above and eventually righted himself, he sent a multitude of bark pieces and twigs tumbling below. They clattered into the nighttime stillness, echoing deafeningly like the demolition of a high-rise brick building. Daniel cringed, waiting for the sounds to die away.

Suddenly, he heard quick, pulsating whooshes. The mother
Pteranodon
was just above him. Daniel held his breath and closed his eyes tight, tensing his muscles and willing the creature to leave. He clutched the side of the rough trunk, pressing himself against it, trying to blend in. His knuckles went numb. His toes cramped from the tight curl he had them in as he desperately tried not to move and at the same time to keep his sneakers from slipping again. He held his muscles so tight, they hurt. Great drafts of air made by the pterosaur whistled in his ears, and he shivered with the coolness.

When the gust of wind subsided, Daniel opened his eyes slightly. The huge winged reptile circled above, then swooped back down, heading directly towards him. He was too exposed! Quickly, he searched for a way down or a better branch to hide in. If he could just make the limb to his left, he could scramble into a tight crevice. Although her beak was long and narrow, maybe the
Pteranodon
couldn’t reach him. He saw the massive dark creature looming closer with every giant wing flap. He had to take a chance.

Daniel leapt! But he’d left it too long. The force of the gust of air from the downward draft of the wing flap sent him off-kilter. Tiny twigs, cones, and branches fell from above, hitting him. He grasped at a small limb. But the tip of a huge featherless wing caught him across the back, giving him a horrific thump that sent him crashing front-first against the tree trunk. He heard a cracking sound, just before everything went black!

Chapter Three

D
aniel couldn’t breathe!
With the wind knocked out of him, he lay on the ground paralyzed with fear, willing his body and his lungs to work. Several agonizing seconds passed. Then at last he was able to take in a huge gush of air. Sharp pains seared his lungs as he gasped to regain his regular breathing pattern. Even without moving, he felt every part of his body aching, inside and out.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to see a bright summer sun in a clear blue sky. With his hands at his sides, he clutched at the ground beneath him. Clumps of grass! He was home! Or at least he wasn’t in dinosaur time, anyway, because he knew that grasses hadn’t evolved until later in the Tertiary Period. How long had he been gone?

He raised his head and, several yards away, saw the large pile of rocks where the Nelwins had ambushed him. In the distance, he saw the figures of Craig and Todd hurrying across the familiar undulating hills. Had they tried to move him? Were they going for help? Or were they just leaving him here?

Daniel groaned. He had no strength to call after them. He’d best not wait for their return. He lay anxiously in pain, not sure how to move first. He’d just lived through the most terrifying incident in his life and his whole body felt limp, like his Aunt Deb’s overcooked spaghetti. He shivered. Well, he couldn’t stay where he was much longer.

Easing himself into a sitting position, he examined the back of his head. Gingerly, he pulled the rag away, grimacing as it stuck to the crust of the wound. As he unwound the cloth, something dribbled into his eyes. He brushed at it with his fingers, feeling scratches on his forehead and more blood. He must have cut himself when he smashed headfirst into the side of the tree after the
Pteranodon
’s wing clipped him. What a close call!

But how had he ever gone back into prehistoric time?
As he thought about his situation, pangs of hunger jabbed
his stomach. He hungrily opened his backpack, ate another
sandwich, the bag of chips, and the piece of cake, washing it all down with big gulps of water. Revived somewhat, he decided to head for home to clean up. He also had to find his dog.

“Dactyl, here, boy!” Daniel shouted feebly, but the words didn’t have much volume behind them. “Dactyl!” he called again.

He didn’t have the strength to call any louder, so he started for home without his pet, knowing he’d eventually show up. But it wasn’t until he reached the flat part of the pasture leading to the farmyard that Dactyl came scampering up to him. When Daniel bent to pet him, the dog sniffed, and whined, and sniffed some more. Then he gave a snuffling sneeze and ran ahead.

“Thanks a lot, pal!” Daniel called after his retreating pet. “You’d smell bad too, if you’d been where I was.”

When Daniel finally arrived in the yard, he found his mom in the garden weeding with Cheryl. His two-year-old sister chortled in delight when she saw him, running to him on chubby little legs. Mom wasn’t quite as pleased to see his condition.

“What on earth happened to you?” She demanded, dropping her hoe in the row of string beans and hurrying over to examine his wounds. “You’ve been gone less than a half-hour and look at the mess you’re in.” Her brown eyes widened in concern.

She picked up Cheryl and marched Daniel into the house. He didn’t mind the fuss his mom made over him. He was just glad to be home.

Mom directed him to a chair at the kitchen table and quickly filled a basin with warm water. She dabbed at his wound with a warm washcloth, removing the grit and flaking dried blood.

“Let’s just say I had a little run-in with a few rocks,” Daniel explained when Mom pressed him for an answer.

“What were you doing?” She examined the dirt and the rips in his t-shirt.

“Climbing. Maybe where I shouldn’t have been,” he answered, not sure how to explain where he’d really been. The thought of the attacking
Pteranodon
made him shiver.

“It looks like a little more than that,” Mom said, dabbing at his wounds with iodine.

“Ouch!” he complained. “Take it easy.”

“Let’s hear the whole story, then,” she said with concern, pushing a straggle of blonde hair that had escaped from her ponytail out of her eyes.

“Oh, all right! It was those Nelwins again!” he admit-ted. “They tripped me and I landed on some rocks. No big deal, Mom.”

“No big deal! Look at you, and your torn clothes!” Her face got that angry, determined look Daniel didn’t like, because it usually meant trouble for whoever crossed her.

“First I’m taking you to the hospital to have you checked for concussion, and then I’m going to march over there and speak to their father about this.”

“No, Mom, don’t. You know that’ll only make it worse. Their dad will only get mean to them, and they’ll get meaner to me. And I don’t need to go to the hospital!”

She checked Daniel’s eyes carefully, lifting his lids and moving her fingers in front of them to make sure he was tracking properly.

“Fine, I’ll talk this over with your dad when he gets home,” Mom said, efficiently bandaging his cuts. Then she gave him some Tylenol and told him to lie down for a while until it kicked in.

“I don’t want you to go out there again today,” she said, scooping up Cheryl and heading back outside.

“Aw, Mom, they’re gone now. There won’t be any more trouble.”

“Well, maybe not, but I’d rather you stuck around here.” She anxiously scanned him from top to bottom.

Daniel gave her a withering look. She stopped short and smiled at him.

“Oh, all right. I guess there’s no sense in punishing you for something they did wrong. Go ahead when you’re feeling better. But be careful to stay out of their way.”

“You bet I will,” answered Daniel. Then to himself he added, “Easier said than done with those two wily guys!”

Wrinkling her nose, she added, “You could use a bath and some clean clothes, too.” With that she carried Cheryl out the door.

Daniel rested on the couch, where he watched the last few minutes of a cartoon show. His eyelids felt heavy. He vaguely recalled his mother tiptoeing in to check on him at one point. He awoke fully an hour and a half later to the sounds of his family coming in for lunch.

Scrambling upstairs for a quick shower, he then joined them at the kitchen table for another “snack.” Dealing with dinosaurs had made him hungry.

Dad did a double take when he stepped into the kitchen and saw Daniel’s bandaged head.

“Now what?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

“The Nelwins,” Mom responded before Daniel could open his mouth. She gave Cheryl some homemade macaroni and cheese and passed the bowl to Dad. Then she set the salad on the table and served everyone a hot dog.

Dad’s face tightened. “Something has to be done about those boys! Their dad sure isn’t going to do anything to straighten them out. He’d never stay sober long enough, even if he did consider disciplining them. Maybe it’s time to bring in the law?”

By the concentrated look on Mom’s face, she seemed to be agreeing quite seriously with him. For her petite size, she could be feisty and determined when she needed to be.

“Not yet, Dad,” Daniel protested. “It’ll be my word against theirs and there are two of them. I won’t be able to prove anything. Besides, that’ll only make things worse for me.”

“Not if they’re locked up for a while!” Dad responded briskly, dishing some macaroni onto Daniel’s plate, then serving himself.

Daniel shifted nervously in his chair as he picked at his food. “They wouldn’t be there for long. Their dad would have them out in no time.”

Although he didn’t take much notice of his sons, Horace Nelwin wouldn’t like them spending any time in the slammer. He’d bully everyone involved until they let them loose. Daniel wouldn’t be safe for long, if they were even locked up at all.

“Even a few hours might give them time to think about their actions and the consequences,” Dad added.

“At least we’d have a little peace for a few months,” said Mom. Her brown eyes had gone dark and determined.

“But that’ll only give them time to think of worse things to do to me! How about we hold on a bit?” Daniel objected. “First, let me figure out a way to stop them.”

Mom opposed the idea instantly. “Daniel, you could get seriously hurt. Look at you now.”

He was sure he looked quite the ghastly sight with bandages on his head and scratches on his arms. They couldn’t even see the ones on his legs. Daniel bit his lip to keep from blurting out his adventure in the prehistoric world. The Nelwins were nothing compared to the
T. rex
and the
Pteranodon
he’d encountered, but he couldn’t tell his parents about that! Besides, he wasn’t even sure if it was real.

“I don’t think they meant for me to be hurt. They were probably just trying to follow me and find my hideout,” he said, shovelling some macaroni into his mouth and chewing quickly.

“Great, now they’re stalking you!” Mom said in exasperation.

“I’ll just keep a closer eye out for them and stay out of their way,” Daniel declared, reaching for the mustard and smearing it on his hot dog. “They won’t be back today, and I won’t have another chance to go to the hideout for awhile.” Then he added hopefully, “Maybe the problem will just go away.”