The Dino Files #2

by Stacy McAnulty

  “She took her bike,” Mary says. “She’s going to rescue Mike. Then Mommy and Daddy won’t be so mad about the broken camera.”

  Rain taps on the side of the house. A crash of thunder makes the walls shake and the lights blink. A second later, there is scratching at the door to the garage.

  Mary gets up from her chair. Before I can stop her, she pulls it open.

  Peanut runs into the room and jumps into my arms.

  “I knew it,” Mary squeals. “I knew you had a dinosaur!” She pats Peanut gently on the top of his head.

  “This is Peanut,” I say.

  Another crash of thunder booms. Both Peanut and Mary jump.

  “We better help Sam,” I say. “Come on.”

  I take Mary’s hand and shove Peanut under my shirt. We run across the parking lot to DECoW. We get soaked.

  “What are you doing out in this weather?” PopPop takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes.

  “Sam is gone. She went to the old house,” I explain.

  “What? Why?” PopPop is on his feet.

  “She went to rescue my rapper,” Mary says.

  “It’s a long story,” I say.

  “We don’t have time,” PopPop says. “This is a bad storm. Let’s go.” He yells for one of the workers to lock up.

  Saurus is waiting for us under the car. Somehow she’s not even wet.

  PopPop can’t drive fast. The rain hits the windshield so hard it’s like we’re going through the car wash.

  “What was that girl thinking?” PopPop mumbles.

  “She’s trying to do the right thing.” I don’t usually stand up for Sam. I hope PopPop and Mary don’t tell her.

  When another flash lights the sky, I can see the old chimney in the distance. Peanut must sense we are getting close. He starts his cry that sounds like a violin.

  The road is filling with water. PopPop drives around a puddle as big as a pond. The car slips. Then stops. Then it feels like we’re sinking.

  “Rats!” PopPop exclaims. “We’re stuck in the mud.” The car spins and groans, but it doesn’t go forward.

  “Let’s get Sam and Mike, and then we can get unstuck,” I say. Not that I know how to unstuck a car.

  “Who is Mike?” PopPop asks.

  “My rapper,” Mary says.

  I open the door and jump out. The rain has let up a little, or maybe I’m so wet that I can’t tell anymore.

  As I run to the trailer, I look back over my shoulder. PopPop, Mary, and Peanut are right behind me. Saurus stays in the car and watches us.

  Peanut catches up. He is definitely smiling. He likes adventure.

  We splash through the yard filled with puddles. A big wind pushes us faster. The trailer rocks. Sam’s bike falls over.

  “Sam!” I shout.

  “Mikey!” Mary yells.

  Lightning strikes a tree at the end of the yard. The tree cracks in half. Sparks fly.

  Just as we get to the trailer, the door opens. Sam is holding a shaking Mike in her arms.

  PopPop comes to a stop like he ran into a glass wall. “Is that…”

  “It’s a Velociraptor,” I say, but there’s no time to explain.

  Sam jumps out of the trailer. Mike leaps from her arms. He goes to Mary first. She gives him a crushing hug. Then Mike tackles Peanut, which I think is his way of saying hello.

  “It’s not safe out here,” PopPop says. “We need to get home.”

  “We better hurry!” Sam yells. “Look!” She points down the road. It’s a tornado!

  My mouth drops open. I’ve never seen a tornado in real life. It’s scarier than a monster movie.

  “There’s an old underground storm shelter around here. I remember from when I was a boy,” PopPop says. He starts counting his steps at the corner of the stone fence.

  The tornado is getting closer. It sounds like a big rig truck driving straight at us.

  “Hurry, PopPop,” Sam says.

  “Thirty-two. Thirty-three. Here!” He kicks something metal with his foot. Then he bends down to lift a handle. Mud and bushes cover the shelter door.

  “Help me, kids.” We all start digging.

  PopPop tries to lift the handle again. The door opens.

  “Quick, down the ladder.” PopPop holds the door open.

  There isn’t any light in the storm shelter, and it kind of smells like a bathroom. I don’t want to go into the scary hole.

  But then I look up and see the tornado. I’m the first to climb down. If there is a monster in here, it doesn’t attack. I help Mary down the ladder. Sam hands me the dinosaurs one at a time. She and PopPop come in last. The door bangs shut behind them.

  “Saurus!” I yell. I try to scramble back up the ladder, but a hand stops me.

  “You can’t go out there,” PopPop says.

  Something brushes against my leg. I hope it’s a dinosaur and not something scary.

  A small light appears. It’s PopPop’s cell phone.

  “Can’t make a call, but it works as a flashlight,” he says.

  I look around the shelter. It’s the size of a big closet. There is a high shelf with some dusty cans on it and two metal benches. And on one of the benches is my cat.

  “Saurus! How did you get here?” I pick her up. “And how are you not wet?”

  “Well, we’re all safe,” PopPop says. “Now we just have to wait out the storm.”

  We sit on the benches. PopPop turns off his phone to save the battery. I hold Saurus in one arm and Peanut in the other. I want to keep them close in case Mike gets hungry.

  “If someone had told me when I was a boy that I’d return to this musty storm shelter with my grandkids, their friend, a cat, and two dinosaurs…well, I never would have believed him.” PopPop laughs.

  “How will we know when the storm is over?” I ask.

  “Oh, you’ll know. Just listen,” PopPop says.

  So I do. I hear the big rig again. I know it’s not actually a truck. It’s the tornado.

  It gets louder. The door bounces a little and bits of light pop in. I liked it better when it was dark.

  The shelter shakes. The big rig sounds like a train now. It’s just missing the whistle.

  “It’s almost over!” PopPop yells.

  Sam grabs my hand. I close my eyes. Maybe a tornado is what made the dinosaurs go extinct the first time.

  “Count to one hundred,” PopPop says. “Then it’ll be over. That’s what I used to do when I was a boy.”

  “I can count to a thousand,” Mary says.

  “You won’t need to, sweetheart,” PopPop says to her.

  Sam, Mary, and I count together. The train seems to drive away. By the time we hit fifty, it’s all quiet. The door has stopped rattling.

  PopPop gets up to check it out. He flings open the door. The sunlight hurts my eyes.

  “What a beautiful day,” he says, and smiles.

  We climb out of the shelter. To the west, the sky is sunny and blue. The end of the storm moves away from us.

  “Look at the trailer,” Sam says. It has been knocked on its side.

  “Good thing we got Mike out,” I say.

  The car is still stuck in the mud. PopPop’s cell phone doesn’t have a signal. So we walk the two miles home.

  Gram and Mr. and Mrs. Stark are waiting for us on the front porch. We must look pretty weird walking up the dirt road. Three kids, two dinosaurs, one cat, and PopPop.

  They run out to meet us.

  “That is a Velociraptor!” Gram yells. She pulls Sam and me behind her. I think she’s trying to protect us.

  “I know.” I smile.

  Gram looks at Mrs. Stark. “That is not an Andean condor.”

  Mrs. Stark picks up Mary and hugs her tight. Then she points at Peanut. “And what is that?”

  Mr. Stark gets down on his knees and looks closely at Peanut.

  “He’s a Wyomingasaurus,” Sam says.

  “Hot dog!” Gram stares at Mike. “I can’t believe this.”
<
br />   “Me neither,” Mr. Stark says.

  “Maybe we should talk about this in the house,” PopPop says. “It’s been an exciting afternoon.”

  We all sit in the living room. Gram gives Peanut a salad and Mike an uncooked hamburger.

  “I guess I broke the camera for nothing,” Sam says.

  Gram shakes her head.

  “Where did Mike come from?” PopPop asks.

  “He found us in Perth, Australia,” Mrs. Stark explains. “It was almost ten years ago. We were filming one of our first documentaries. Mike just walked into our camp. We gave him some of our dinner, and he became part of the family.”

  “He didn’t hatch from an egg?” Sam asks.

  “He may have,” Mrs. Stark says. “But we don’t know when or where. We’ve been traveling the globe searching for more Velociraptors and other dinosaurs. Peanut is the first one we’ve met.”

  “Awesome,” I say. “That’s what I want to do when I grow up. Travel the world looking for extinct animals.”

  “You’re off to a good start,” Mrs. Stark says.

  “So you found another dinosaur,” Sam says. “Our dinosaur. Now what?”

  “Can we keep him?” Mary asks.

  “No!” Gram and I answer.

  Mary makes a sad face. It doesn’t last long because Peanut jumps in her lap.

  “What’s your plan for Peanut?” Mr. Stark asks.

  “We’ll build him a home here,” Gram says. “Our neighbors are donating land, and so are we. We need to make Peanut a safe place to roam.”

  “We’re going to need a big fence,” I add.

  “Perhaps we could find room for Mike. If you’re interested.” Gram scratches the Velociraptor under the chin.

  “We’re not interested,” Mrs. Stark says.

  I guess no one wants to give up a dinosaur.

  “You’re going to finish the documentary, right?” Sam asks. She puts her hands together and begs for the right answer.

  Mr. and Mrs. Stark look at each other.

  “We were talking about that,” Mr. Stark says. “And we think we want to do a shorter documentary. Like a twenty-minute show for a website. Something for kids. Sam, would you like to narrate for us?”

  “Yes!” She whips out her plastic microphone faster than I’ve ever seen.

  The Starks promise to keep Peanut a secret from the rest of the world. And we agree to keep Mike a secret. At least until they each have a safe and happy habitat. I’m worried that without a big, long documentary, DECoW won’t have enough money to build Peanut’s home. But Gram tells me that is something for grown-ups to worry about, not me.

  The next week goes by super quick. It might be the most fun week of my life. We spend the days digging out the Wyomingasaurus fossils. We spend the evenings having cookouts and letting our dinosaurs play together. Chase is their favorite game. Mary and I would rather play dinosaur trivia. She knows a lot, but I always win. Except when I let her win.

  Today, Mr. Stark, PopPop, and I sort the new fossils in the DECoW lab. It’s like putting a giant puzzle together. We take a break when the camera repair guy shows up.

  “It’s all fixed,” Joe the repair guy says. He has a name tag pinned to his shirt. He’s skinny and tall but looks more like a kid than a grown-up.

  “We recovered the footage too,” he continues. “It’s all there.”

  A lump grows in my throat. I swallow it down. I remember what was on the camera. Why we broke it in the first place. No one would believe Sam’s story about a real dinosaur in a garage. Would they?

  “Great,” Mr. Stark says. “And thanks for delivering it. I thought I would have to pick it up.”

  “No problem.” Joe smiles. “I wanted to see DECoW. I’ve lived in Wyoming my whole life and have never been here. This place is cool.”

  “Take a look around,” PopPop says, and then he gives Joe a free ticket.

  “Thank you, sir.” Joe walks into the museum.

  PopPop turns to Mr. Stark. “How much do we owe you?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Mr. Stark says. “We appreciate you letting us stay here. And you saved Mike’s life. I think we still owe you.”

  “Not at all,” PopPop says. He pats Mr. Stark on the shoulder.

  I don’t feel like sorting fossils anymore. A worried feeling grows in my stomach. I want to talk to Sam and check on Peanut.

  “I’ll be back.” I hang up my lab coat and leave.

  As I walk across the parking lot, I can see Gram and PopPop’s house. It looks dark and quiet. But then I notice someone crawling in the bushes.

  A burglar!

  My heart thumps.

  I’m about to run back to DECoW for help when the person stands up. It’s not a burglar. It’s Joe, the camera repair guy. He’s taking pictures through the window of the house.

  He’s taking pictures of Peanut!

  “Hey!” I yell. “Stop!” I run toward him.

  “Oh, hey.” Joe waves at me. Then he takes off faster than a track star.

  “Stop! Now!”

  He doesn’t. He jumps into his van. As he speeds by me, he shouts out the window, “Cool dinosaur!”

  Glossary

  Here are some words and definitions, in case you aren’t a dinosaur expert like me.

  Andean condor: not a dinosaur. It’s a vulture that lives in South America.

  carnivore: a meat-eating animal. Examples: Velociraptor, T. rex, tiger, shark.

  carrion: dead meat. Some animals think carrion is yummy.

  DECoW: Dinosaur Education Center of Wyoming. My grandparents own it.

  fossil: proof of a living thing saved in rock. This can be footprints, bones, leaves, and more.

  habitat: a natural home for an animal or plant. Peanut needs a big one.

  herbivore: a plant-eating animal. Examples: Peanut, Triceratops, rabbit, some humans.

  Ichthyosaur: not a dinosaur or a fish, but a reptile that lived in the ocean during dinosaur times.

  Oviraptor: a birdlike dinosaur that watched over its nest of eggs.

  paleontologist: a dinosaur scientist. Actually, paleontologists can study any kind of prehistoric life, not just dinos.

  Supersaurus: a giant plant-eating dinosaur that lived near Wyoming (before it was Wyoming).

  Velociraptor: a smallish dinosaur that had feathers and walked on two legs. Its name means “speedy thief.”

  Wyomingasaurus: a new species of dinosaur. Peanut is one. We came up with the name—it’s not official yet.

  About the Author

  Stacy McAnulty does not have a dinosaur. She does have three kids, two dogs, and one husband. She has been on a dinosaur dig in Wyoming, where she found a small fossil. It wasn’t an egg. Stacy grew up in upstate New York but now calls North Carolina home. (She still really wants a dinosaur—maybe an Iguanodon.) Learn more about The Dino Files at thedinofiles.​com.

  About the Illustrator

  Mike Boldt loves ice cream, comics, and drawing. He is the illustrator of I Don’t Want to Be a Frog and the author and illustrator of the forthcoming A Tiger Tail. Mike lives in Alberta, Canada, only a couple of hours from Drumheller, the site of that country’s largest collection of dinosaur fossils.

  A shaking wakes me up in the middle of the night. At first I think it’s Peanut jumping on the bed. He does that sometimes.

  “Frank, wake up.” It’s my dad. He is shaking me by the shoulders.

  “I’m awake. I’m awake. What’s wrong?” I ask. My pets are awake too. Peanut stands on my legs. Saurus stretches by my feet.

  “I need to tell you something.” Dad sits on the edge of my bed. It’s getting very crowded.

  “What?”

  “Or maybe I’ll show you.” Dad pops up and goes to the desk. It used to be his when he was a boy. The whole room used to be his. He pulls out the top drawer and flips it over. Pens and pencils fall to the floor. Peanut jumps up to see if there is anything good to eat.

  A piece of paper is taped to the bot
tom of the drawer.

  “Here.” He unfolds it and hands it to me.

  On the paper is a drawing. It looks like an eel but with four small legs. Written in the bottom corner is Dad’s real name (Brian) and one word.

  “Nothosaurus,” I read.

  “Yes!” Dad says. “That’s the creature I found when I was a boy.” He taps the paper.

  “Really?” I ask.

  “No way,” Sam says. She walks into my room without knocking and takes the picture. “Is this the dinosaur you always wanted, Uncle Brian?”

  “It’s not a dinosaur,” I say. “The Nothosaurus is a prehistoric reptile that lived in water.”

  Sam rolls her eyes. “Aren’t dinosaurs prehistoric reptiles?”

  “Yes, but not all prehistoric reptiles are dinosaurs,” I say. “Just like cats are mammals. But that doesn’t mean all mammals are cats. You’re a mammal, and you’re not a cat.”

  “It’s basically a dinosaur,” Sam shoots back. I need to start a dinosaur school for her and other confused people.

  “Do you want to hear my story?” Dad asks.

  “Yes!” Sam and I both answer. We sit on my bed. Peanut curls up in her lap and Saurus in mine.

  “I was twelve,” Dad starts. “And I was canoeing on the river with three boys from scouts. We stopped to take a bathroom break.”

  “There are rest stops on the river?” Sam asks.

  “Boys don’t need an actual bathroom,” I answer.

  “Gross.” She sticks out her tongue.

  “I finished my business and got back first,” Dad continues. “And there it was. A Nothosaurus. Sunning itself right next to our canoe.”

  “Did it attack you?” Sam asks.

  “No. It just stared at me. The Notho was longer than our boat. It had purple-gray skin. No scales. And large black eyes.” Dad scratches his beard. “What a sight. It wasn’t afraid at all. At least not until the other boys came out of the woods. They were laughing and joking and being pretty loud.”