Dinosaur Blackout (11 page)

As they mulled over the possibilities, they at last decided that a hand-pumped system might work.

“I already thought about that,” said Daniel, “but a little motor or something like an oxygen tank gadget would be too heavy to transport.”

“Maybe there’s some kind of canister we could find that would explode like a hand grenade,” Pederson offered.

“What about dry ice?” suggested Mildred Roost. “Dinosaurs are reptiles, after all, and they’re cold-blooded, which means that as the temperature falls, so does their metabolism. If we could get the temperature cold enough around them, that would slow them right down.”

“Not a bad idea, Mildred,” said Pederson. “But again, how much would we need and how would we be able to apply it in this situation? They’re not going to stand still while we pack it around them.”

“And how quickly does it work?” added Daniel.

“Obviously we have a little research ahead of us,” Pederson said. “How about we get started and see what we can find out.”

“I had another thought. How about lasers?” Daniel suggested, though he hadn’t finished the research on them.

“Great idea, Daniel,” said Dr. Roost. “Ole, do you have any idea where we might get some?”

“Not at the moment, but let’s get into town,” Pederson suggested.

“We can start at the library and with the experts at the T. rex Discovery Centre. Surely we can figure out something,” Dr. Roost said.

“We’ll see what else we can find while we’re there,” said Pederson. He turned to Daniel. “Okay, lad, we’ll drop you back off home for lunch and see you later.”

Daniel felt a lump of disappointment settling in his throat. He wanted to go with them, but that obviously wasn’t in their plans. Besides missing out on the action, he knew they’d go to Jack’s Café, his favourite eating place.

Dr. Roost patted his hand. “We’ll keep you posted on what we find out.”

Daniel sighed. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing. The two of them were keeping tight with their plans. He knew it was because they worried about his safety, but still, he couldn’t help feeling left out.

Several times throughout the afternoon, Daniel walked back over to Pederson’s. But the truck was nowhere to be seen. Finally, on the last trip over, he thought to peer through a small window and noticed Dr. Roost’s backpack and other gear on the table and he knew they still hadn’t returned from town. Mildred would never have left her gear behind, so they hadn’t hidden the truck somewhere as he was beginning to imagine. Even so, on his way home, he checked other locations he figured would be suitable for them to leave on a trip into the past. But there was no evidence they’d returned home and gone again without him.

Surely they wouldn’t chance going in the evening. He’d have to be up early, though, to catch them, if they were going in the morning. Maybe he was being too suspicious. They’d assured him they’d keep him posted.

But when he stopped to think about it, he realized Dr. Roost hadn’t been specific about when she meant. Would they keep him posted about the results from their trip to town, or would they fill him in after they came back from the past?

By the time he headed for bed, the paleontologists had not returned. Were they deliberately excluding him? Had they already travelled without him so he couldn’t tag along, even by accident? Daniel dropped uneasily off to sleep.

Chapter Nine

D
aniel awoke very early the next morning
to a quiet house and bright sunshine slipping through his blinds. Chickadees and sparrows chattered in the caragana hedge outside his open window. A breeze sent gentle puffs of cool air into his room. He breathed deeply and stretched, then rose quickly.

By the time he headed to the barn to do his chores, there was still no movement from anyone else. Only Dactyl padded up to him and pushed his head under Daniel’s hand for some attention. Daniel quietly slid the huge door open and started his morning routine. The crispness of the early morning refreshed him.

After Daniel finished his chores and went back to the house, Mr. Pederson drove into the yard, but didn’t stop. He waved to Daniel, who was standing at the kitchen window, from his old Studebaker truck and drove right up to Dr. Roost’s vehicle. She opened her camper door and scuttled into his truck. He backed around and the pair disappeared out of the yard and down the gravel road in the direction of his shack.

Daniel sprinted up the stairs and grabbed his backpack. On his way out, he scrawled a note for Mom and Dad, saying he would be back in a while and that he would be with the two paleontologists. They weren’t aware of it yet, but he had no intention of letting them get away from him.

Dashing across the yard to the corral, Daniel scrambled through the fence and whistled Gypsy over. His grey pinto mare whinnied as he clambered onto her bare back. Grabbing her mane, he rode her over to the gate, flung it open, and urged her through. Leaning over, he closed the gate and raced across the prairie towards the planned departure area. He didn’t want to lose sight of Dr. Roost and Mr. Pederson.

As he cantered over the last hill on the way, he could see Mr. Pederson’s truck bouncing across the rough terrain towards their destination. Daniel gave a light kick into Gypsy’s side and she quickened to a gallop. So far, Pederson and Dr. Roost hadn’t seen him. In fact, they weren’t looking in his direction. When they ground to a halt, they hauled out their equipment quickly.

As they put on their backpacks, Daniel yelled, “Wait!”

But his voice was lost in the wind. Pounding across the ground towards them, he let out another holler. This time they looked up. He saw Dr. Roost grab Mr. Pederson’s hand and nod to him. He plucked something out of his small notepad. Instantly, they were gone!

Daniel reined in and Gypsy came to a panting stop, her sides heaving.

“Good girl,” he said, patting her as he slid to the ground.

Retrieving his notebook from his backpack, he commanded Gypsy to “Stay.”

Gypsy snorted and began nibbling on the dry vegetation. She would be content until he returned. Daniel quickly moved to the exact spot where he’d last seen his two friends. He braced himself in anticipation of his journey through time. Opening his notebook, he snatched up his tiny branch. A whirling darkness engulfed him.

~

S
econds later, Daniel found himself on the verge of a clearing,
several metres from where they’d landed on their last trip. He recognized some of the markings on the trees that he’d made on earlier visits. Watching constantly to make sure he was safe, he searched for Dr. Roost and Mr. Pederson along the edge of the trees. He spotted them quite some distance away to his left, standing back to back scanning their environment, looking a little like Hansel and Gretel trying to find their way.

He tucked the branch into his pocket and returned his notebook to his backpack, then crept closer to the pair. Every once in a while, Dr. Roost waved her cane to scare off huge flying insects. She seemed to be allowing Mr. Pederson to pursue his research while she kept watch.

As they moved around the perimeter of the open area, Daniel kept himself well hidden, but tried to remain not too far behind. The blood pulsed through his veins and his stomach felt like it held a piece of lead. Every nerve in his body tingled with fear. This really had to be the last time he travelled to the Cretaceous Period!

When he looked up, he saw that the sky was an unusual shade of grey, like dense smog hovering over a big city. Perhaps it was going to rain. Yet there were no dark cloud formations, just a wash of slate grey that covered the entire sky. He pushed forward, watching and listening.

He tried to ignore the shroud of grey as he followed the two adventurers, who stopped often to take photographs. Daniel couldn’t believe how lucky they all were that no predators were about at the moment. Even sounds were muted and distant, as if this place was allowing them all to conduct a safe journey. But the air remained stifling hot and moist, and he began to have trouble breathing.

A foghornlike bellow burst through the stillness. Then answering calls. Hadrosaurs! Probably the herd of
Edmontosaurus Saskatchewanensis
they had seen before. All at once they burst through the trees. Daniel almost forgot all danger as he watched the incredible creatures forage for food along the edge of the meadow.

Moving on all fours, they twisted off lower twigs and bunches of conifer needles with their toothless beaks, passing the food into cheek pouches where hundreds of closely packed teeth ground it up. Daniel knew from previous research that
Edmontosaurus
were thought to have had sixty rows of teeth – eight hundred to over a thousand or so – but he didn’t want to get any closer to count them. One of the biggest duckbills ever, they were almost twice the weight of a rhinoceros and more than four times the length.

The flat-headed creatures moved slowly across the open area, ripping at tough vegetation. From time to time, they stopped and adjusted their position to get a better idea of their environment. The older ones blew their cheek pouches, which created the loud foghorn bellow. The young hid behind the larger adults.

Now the whole environment seemed to awaken at once. A pandemonium of rustling and squeaks of small creatures skittering through the underbrush, along with the buzzing of oversized insects, filled the early morning air. Daniel wrestled off a small branch and waved it about, in case any of them decided to take a nibble of him. He became so intent on watching the ground, he forgot to look ahead and nearly plowed into a huge
Triceratops
grazing on low-lying plants. He’d done that before because, he supposed, they blended in so well with their surroundings. And they made very little noise except for rooting and the odd grunt.

He circled around it and momentarily lost sight of the old couple. When he saw them again, he was astounded to see they had crept into the meadow, closer to the hadrosaurs. He was ready to charge after them, when all of a sudden a
Stygimoloch
appeared. Followed by another and another. The small
herd almost blocked his view of the hadrosaurs and of Dr. Roost and Mr. Pederson.

The plant-eating
Stygimoloch
stood alert on two legs, moving slowly like deer at the edge of a field. They were shorter than either Dr. Roost or Mr. Pederson and about two to three metres long. Their unusual domed skulls seemed to have some kind of thick covering that was a dark brown, compared to the light orangey-brown of its body. The skulls were adorned with three or four boney spikes, the largest about a hundred millimetres long. Several other knobs protruded around the nape of the neck.

Pederson shifted his attention from the hadrosaurs to the grazing
Stygimolochs
and began making notes on them, careful not to move too quickly. Even at this distance, Daniel could see the enthralled look on his face. Dr. Roost snapped photographs, not daring to go any closer.

Daniel found he was holding his breath. Creeping forward, he again checked for signs of peril. He peered up at the sky to look for pterodactyl-like creatures, but all he saw was the grey blanket that seemed to grow thicker as he pushed onward. When he was within a few metres of the action, he nestled down under a cycad and watched the
Stygimolochs
feeding.

He became fascinated by their small, curved, serrated teeth as they wrenched tufts of foliage from the ground and held it between their clawed, five-fingered hands. They ate quickly, only bending their heads to grab at their food, then standing upright as they munched, reminding him of kangaroos. He marvelled at how their stiff, heavy tails waved about in the air as they ate, balanced on long, powerful hind legs with three-fingered, clawed toes.

When Daniel looked up again, he noticed that the sky seemed even darker and specks of dirt seemed to be floating about, making breathing uncomfortable. Daniel reached for his bottled water to sooth his scratchy throat.

Other species joined those feeding in the meadow. Daniel wasn’t sure what they all were, except that they were plant eaters. He did recognize
Thescelosaurus
and
Torosaurus,
and even an
Ankylosaurus
wandered through. Mostly the different species moved placidly near one another, oblivious to the other browsing groups. As they foraged, one of them would stop and take stock of their surroundings, perhaps startled by an unusual sound that might signal danger.