Dinosaurs Before Dark (3 page)

Jack looked at the creature again. “Maybe he's a mutant,” he said.

The creature tilted his head.

Annie laughed. “He's no mutant, Jack.”

“Well, what's he doing here then? Where is this place?” said Jack.

Annie leaned close to the Pteranodon.

“Do you know where we are, Henry?” she asked softly.

The creature fixed his eyes on Annie. His long jaws were opening and closing. Like a giant pair of scissors.

“Are you trying to talk to me, Henry?” asked Annie.

“Forget it, Annie.” Jack wrote in his notebook:

“Did we come to a time long ago, Henry?”
asked Annie. “Is this a place from long ago?” Suddenly she gasped. “Jack!”

He looked up.

Annie was pointing toward the hill. On top stood a huge dinosaur!

“Go!
Go!
” said Jack. He threw his notebook into his pack. He pushed Annie toward the rope ladder.

“Bye, Henry!” she said.

“Go!” said Jack. He gave Annie a big push.

“Quit it!” she said. But she started up the ladder. Jack scrambled after her.

They tumbled into the tree house.

They were panting as they looked out the window at the dinosaur. He was standing on the hilltop. Eating flowers off a tree.

“Oh, man,” whispered Jack. “We
are
in a time long ago!”

The dinosaur looked like a huge rhinoceros. Only he had three horns instead of one. Two long ones above his eyes and one on his nose. He had a big shield-like thing behind his head.

“Triceratops!” said Jack.

“Does he eat people?” whispered Annie.

“I'll look it up.” Jack grabbed the dinosaur book. He flipped through the pages.

“There!” he said. He pointed to a picture of a Triceratops. He read the caption:

Jack slammed the book shut. “Just plants. No meat.”

“Let's go see him,” said Annie.

“Are you nuts?” said Jack.

“Don't you want to take notes about him?” asked Annie. “We're probably the first people in the whole world to ever see a real live Triceratops.”

Jack sighed. She was right.

“Let's go,” he said.

He shoved the dinosaur book into his pack. He slung it over his shoulder and started down the ladder.

On the way down, Jack stopped.

He called up to Annie, “Just promise you won't pet him.”

“I promise.”

“Promise you won't kiss him.”

“I promise.”

“Promise you won't talk to him.”

“I promise.”

“Promise you won't—”

“Go! Go!” she said.

Jack went.

Annie followed.

When they stepped off the ladder, the Pteranodon gave them a kind look.

Annie blew a kiss at him. “Be back soon, Henry,” she said cheerfully.

“Shush!” said Jack. And he led the way through the ferns. Slowly and carefully.

When he reached the bottom of the hill, he kneeled behind a fat bush.

Annie knelt beside him and started to speak.

“Shush!” Jack put his finger to his lips.

Annie made a face.

Jack peeked out at the Triceratops.

The dinosaur was incredibly big. Bigger than a truck. He was eating the flowers off a magnolia tree.

Jack slipped his notebook out of his pack. He wrote:

Annie nudged him.

Jack ignored her. He studied the Triceratops again. He wrote:

Annie nudged him hard.

Jack looked at her.

Annie pointed to herself. She walked her fingers through the air. She pointed to the dinosaur. She smiled.

Was she teasing?

She waved at Jack.

Jack started to grab her.

She laughed and jumped away. She fell into the grass. In full view of the Triceratops!

“Get back!” whispered Jack.

Too late. The big dinosaur had spotted Annie. He gazed down at her from the hilltop. Half of a magnolia flower was sticking out of his mouth.

“Oops,” said Annie.

“Get back!” Jack shouted at her.

“He looks nice, Jack.”

“Nice? Watch out for his horns, Annie!”

“No. He's nice, Jack.”

Nice?

But the Triceratops just gazed calmly down at Annie. Then he turned and loped away. Down the side of the hill.

“Bye!” said Annie. She turned back to Jack. “See?”

Jack grunted. But he wrote in his notebook:

“Come on. Let's look around some more,” said Annie.

As Jack started after Annie, he saw something glittering in the tall grass. He reached out and picked it up.

A medallion. A gold medallion.

A letter was engraved on the medallion. A fancy M.

“Oh, man. Someone came here before us,” Jack said softly.

“Annie, look at this!” Jack called. “Look what I found!”

Annie had gone up to the hilltop.

She was busy picking a flower from the magnolia tree.

“Annie, look! A medallion!”

But Annie wasn't paying attention to Jack. She was staring at something on the other side of the hill.

“Oh, wow!” she said.

“Annie!”

Clutching her magnolia flower, she took off down the hill.

“Annie, come back!” Jack shouted.

But Annie had disappeared.

“I'm going to kill her,” Jack muttered.

He stuffed the gold medallion into his jeans pocket.

Then he heard Annie shriek.

“Annie?”

Jack heard another sound as well. A deep, bellowing sound. Like a tuba.

“Jack! Come here!” Annie called.

“Annie!”

Jack grabbed his backpack and raced up the hill.

When he got to the top, he gasped.

The valley below was filled with nests. Big nests made out of mud. And the nests were filled with tiny dinosaurs!