Dinosaur Stakeout (12 page)

Dr. Roost poked her cane into the opening. Daniel shuddered at the thought of what she might be ­disturbing.

“I don’t think you should do that,” he said. What if it were a den for baby ­meat-­eating ­dinosaurs?

Dr. Roost retrieved a flashlight and bent to take a look and declared it safe. “I’ll be right here.”

Daniel nodded and scrambled up the tree as quickly as he could. By the time he reached a good vantage point, he was breathing heavily. He dug out the binoculars and surveyed the scene below, following the path they’d just come down. His stomach became one balled knot as he saw the creature they’d almost run into
.
He had to get down to Dr. Roost as soon as he could. A
Troodon
was bounding their ­way.

Daniel slid halfway down the tree, but the close sounds of the
Troodons
crashing through the trees made him ­freeze.

“Dr. Roost,” he called as loudly as he ­dared.

She poked her head out of the den of fallen logs. Quickly, he told her what was coming. She looked at him in horror, knowing that a
Troodon
would rip them apart in ­seconds.

“You’ll have to get as far back in as you can,” he said. “Quick!”

Mildred Roost ducked back into the hole, just as the
Troodon
made the last turn around a bush and skidded to a stop beneath Daniel’s tree. Balancing itself with its tail, it slashed towards Daniel with its long, clawed fingers. Daniel scooted higher up the tree again as fast as he could, not daring to look down until he figured he was ­safe.

By then the creature’s big, keen eyes had spotted Dr. Roost’s hiding place. It sniffed around the opening, clawing at the dirt with its ­sickle-­like toes. Then it tried to reach in with its claws on the end of its shorter ­arms.

Daniel had to do something! Dr. Roost must be terrified, and what if it managed to snag her and drag her out with its long powerful legs? Known to have a relatively large brain, the
Troodon
was thought to be very intelligent. Daniel was sure it knew something alive and worth eating was inside. It wouldn’t give up ­easily.

Quickly, he swung his backpack around and rummaged through it. The whole scene was a like a déjà vu. Every time he came to the past, he ended up a tree with something attacking him from below! Aha! He grabbed a package with some sandwiches, and with as much force as he could, he threw one far down the path. The
Troodon
sprang after it and snatched it in a ­millisecond.

“Don’t move a muscle, Dr. Roost. And don’t answer me or it will know for sure you’re in there,” called Daniel, as the ­fast-­moving ­meat-­eater dashed back towards them. Hopping over to the tangle of branches where Mildred Roost hid, it attacked the brush like a giant, rabid ­wolf.

“I’m trying to think of something to distract it long enough so we can get you out of there,” he yelled again, just as the
Troodon
leapt at the bottom of his tree trunk once ­more.

If only they were close together, Daniel could drop the cone and they’d be back home, safe. Somehow he had to get her out of there and they had to escape the
­Troodon
.

Chapter Nine

T
hen Daniel remembered his whistle.
Yanking it out, he blew on it shrilly several times. The creature paused in momentary confusion, but then let out an angry, ­high-­pitched snarl and vaulted back over to Dr. Roost’s hiding spot. It attacked the fallen debris with renewed vigour. As some of the brush began to fall away, he heard Dr. Roost scrabbling back as far as she ­could.

“Stay where you are!“ Daniel yelled, knowing he had to come up with another plan quickly. “I’ll tell you when to come out.”

He repositioned himself and dug out more sandwiches. It was the only distraction he could think ­of.

“Get ready,” Daniel yelled. Then, flinging several as far and as fast as he could in a wide arc, he prepared to scuttle down the ­tree.

The
Troodon
took the bait, diving after the sandwiches one after another as they lay scattered throughout the forest floor. The creature was fast, though, and Daniel knew he’d barely have time to get down before it returned. And then what? They’d both be stuck on the ground and he might not make it over to Dr. Roost’s lair in ­time.

Then a surprising thing happened. Other smaller creatures darted out of the underbrush and snatched at the sandwiches. In turn, the
Troodon
pounced on the tiny animals, taking time to devour them in quick, snapping bites as if they were nibbles in a bowl of ­snacks.

“Now!” Daniel ­yelled.

With a swiftness that surprised Daniel, Dr. Roost emerged and wrestled herself to her feet with Daniel’s ­help.

“We’ll have to return to our own time,” he said, reaching for the pine cone in his ­pocket.

“No!” she said. “We’re just getting started.” She might be an old lady, but Daniel saw the resolve on her weathered ­face.

“But you’ll have to climb, Dr. Roost,” he explained. “It’s the only way.”

“I can do it,” she said, with determination. “But you should go home,” she ­declared.

“No way! Besides you’d be stranded in dinosaur time!” Daniel insisted. “We’ll be fine if we’re in the trees.”

“Then let’s do it.”

They ran to a huge tree with sturdy branches that would hold both of them. Dr. Roost hesitated for a second. Then she looked over her shoulder towards the sounds of something crashing through the ­brush.

“You don’t need to go really high,” he encouraged her. The
Troodon
wasn’t much taller than an ­ostrich.

She dropped her cane against the trunk. Daniel cupped his hands, one under the other for strength. She gritted her teeth and stepped into them. A moment later, she grabbed onto a branch, and she hoisted herself up, as Daniel helped boost her into the tree. At first, she clung awkwardly, not ­moving.

“You have to go a
little
higher,” he shouted, giving her bottom a hard ­shove.

She struggled, but managed to inch upwards. Daniel grasped a lower branch and swung himself up. Then he worked his way around the trunk onto some limbs just slightly above her and helped her get higher. Her plump arms had surprising strength in them, and within moments, she was wedged in the crook of a branch, her hat cockeyed, and her clothing askew. Her hair stood out like a scarecrow’s with bits of twigs and leaves stuck in it. Daniel giggled quietly, both from her comical look and from a nervous reaction to fear. Dr. Roost laughed a little too, as she concentrated on staying ­put.

Daniel balanced himself on another branch nearby, keeping his eye on Dr. Roost. She wheezed and stared about. As she twisted her head this way and that, her Tilley hat caught on a branch and fell to the ground. In the same instant, the vicious creature erupted again from the undergrowth and pounced on ­it.

Dr. Roost ­shrieked.

In a split second her hat was in shreds. Daniel gulped and clung tighter to the tree ­trunk.

“That could have been one of us!” Dr. Roost panted, her face ­white.

They stared down as the ­sharp-­clawed ­meat-­eater leapt towards them, snarling fiercely. It scoured the ground at the base of the tree, moving between there and Dr. Roost’s previous den. At one point, it sniffed at her cane and knocked it to the ­ground.

“
Zapsalis
!” Mildred Roost suddenly ­screeched.

“Pardon?” Daniel looked at her with ­surprise.

“I bet that’s a
Zapsalis
,” she said. “It’s definitely from the Troodontid family, but smaller. We don’t know too much about this animal, but for certain, it ate meat.”

“I didn’t think they lived around here,” Daniel ­said.

“They found the teeth just across the border in Montana, so I guess they were here ­too – ­obviously,” she answered with a nervous chuckle. “Never thought I’d see one quite this close.”

Daniel wished they weren’t this close ­either.

Dr. Roost struggled for her camera, nearly losing her balance. Soon she was snapping as many photos as she could of the
Zapsalis
. After quite some time, the creature gave up and finally wandered off. As Mildred Roost shot photos in every direction that she could see, Daniel surveyed the landscape, trying to decide which way to ­go.

On higher ground, he could see tall deciduous trees towering above the rushes that lined the various riverbanks. Then he noticed a stronger flow of water. As his eyes followed it, he saw that the mouth of the river connected with the giant shallow sea. This had to be the same river he’d seen the last time he been ­here – ­the one where the female
Edmontosaurus
­nested.

“Uh, Dr. Roost,” Daniel said at last. “I think it’s safe to go now.”

“Okay, young man,” she said, tucking her camera ­away.

“Do you need some help?” Daniel asked, seeing her sudden look of ­terror.

“Maybe,” she said ­tightly.

Daniel groaned ­inwardly.

“I’ve never rightly been up a tree before. Not sure I
can
get down.”

“Dr. Roost!” Daniel couldn’t hide his ­dismay.

“Don’t worry, Daniel,” she said, easing herself out of the crook of the tree and grasping a nearby bough. “I’m a believer in Newton’s law of gravity.”

With sudden realization, Daniel chuckled. “What goes up must come down.”

She smiled, and then began the descent in earnest, grabbing at branches and muttering under her breath whenever she hit a snag or couldn’t find her footing. Daniel slid down the other side of the tree quickly and waited at the bottom, helping her as best he could. Her bulky figure was too much for him to catch and she dropped that last few feet to the ground and ­rolled.

“Whew!” Dr. Roost said, struggling back to her feet. “That was quite an experience.”

“Let’s hope we don’t have any more of them!” Daniel said, helping to brush her off and picking up her cane. She took it ­gratefully.

“Would you mind picking up my hat?” she asked. “I’m sure Ole will get a kick out of it.”

Daniel retrieved the shredded hat, and she tucked it into a side pocket of her backpack. Then he crept forward, keeping a sharp lookout. Now that he knew in which the direction the river lay, he headed there. They wouldn’t stop until they reached their main ­destination – ­the nesting
Edmontosaurus
. But they had to get a move on! Danger lurked everywhere. This wasn’t some fossil field expedition where everything stood still and he had all the time in the world to ­investigate.

They pushed on through the undergrowth, weaving through dense bush and marshy areas, avoiding any places that seemed likely to be inhabited. There was little time for conversation and Dr. Roost ploughed valiantly along behind him for quite some time. Daniel thought they must be getting close to the meadow, but as he searched for an opening in the trees, he suddenly realized he was in unfamiliar ­territory.

The trees seemed larger and towered higher above them than anywhere else. Other plants and vines wound around the densely packed trees, reaching towards the sunlight. As Daniel and Mildred Roost went farther along, they found themselves under a canopy of vegetation that seemed dark and foreboding. The foliage formed an umbrella over them and blocked out the sun and the mist. He froze! Where were ­they?

“Something wrong, Daniel?” Dr. Roost asked, noticing his ­hesitation.

“I just need to check something.” Dragging off his backpack, he dug out his ­hand-­drawn map. Then he pulled his compass out of his pocket. As he studied his surroundings, he realized he was lost!

Mildred Roost peered over his shoulder. “So what’s the prognosis?” she ­asked.

“We’re a little off course,” he managed to croak out. “We’ll have to do some backtracking.”

“You’re sure, lad?” Dr. Roost asked, trying to keep her voice ­steady.

“Yes,” Daniel answered, his own voice wavering ­slightly.

“Do you know where we went wrong?” she asked gently but ­firmly.

“I think so,” he answered, looking carefully ­around.