No Time For Dinosaurs

by John Benjamin Sciarra

  “Now it’s your turn. I told you my unbelievable story. Now you tell me yours.”

  Kyle took a deep breath and from beginning to end recounted the trip he Teresa and Sonja took to the past, his second trip to retrieve Priti, his trip to near paradox in the future, his trip back to return Priti and his recent excursion to get the tape of Nessie.

  His grandfather sat there with his mouth hanging open.

  “You don’t believe me, do you Gramps. I can tell. You think I made the whole thing up. Right?”

  “Actually, the only thing I have trouble believing is that dunce of a son-in-law of mine, no offense to your father, actually invented something. Never thought he’d amount to anything. And if you made that all up, you must be one of the greatest storytellers of all time, because that is quite a story, young fella!”

  “You mean, you believe me?” asked Kyle incredulous

  “Of course I do! And it seems to me that you may already have the proof you need to convince the world. Then, maybe people will start to believe both of us.” His grandfather smiled from ear to ear.

  “We better get some sleep if we’re going to find Nessie in the morning. I called ahead and got us a guide with a boat!”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  The next morning, the four of them got up early and stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast. Everyone marveled as Kyle wolfed down four Egg McMuffins, three hash browns and a large orange juice, the equivalent of what the other three consumed all together.

  “Do you think that will hold you til lunch,” his grandfather asked.

  “Depends. As long as we have lunch at 11:00.”

  Teresa and Sonja rolled their eyes.

  The docks were quiet at 7:00 AM. Several large cabin cruisers bobbed in the water and Kyle got excited.

  “Are we going in one of those?”

  “Nope. End of the dock. Our boat and guide should be there waiting.”

  “I don’t see anything yet,” said Teresa. “Maybe he’s still sleeping.”

  “Nope. He’ll be there. Promised me.”

  Kyle had a bad feeling their boat wasn’t a cabin cruiser. They reached the end of the dock and looked down to the surface of the water. A twelve foot long, Boston Whaler with equipment all over the deck awaited them. The guide was a short, thin, black man in his fifties with grayish beard and frizzy gray hair. He had an affable smile through a broken front tooth.

  “Whale if it ain’t my good fren, Caleb! Good ta see ya old man!” the man drawled.

  “Who you calling old man and stop with the old black negro from the south routine. These are my grandkids. This is Teresa and her friend, Sonja. And here’s my grandson, Kyle.”

  “Sorry,” said Moses in an English accent. “I’m so used to pretending I’m the old man of the sea, I forgot myself. Come aboard. Please excuse the mess. Been fishing the last couple of days and haven’t had much chance to clean up between that and taking tourists out to see Champ.”

  “You…saw Champ?” asked Kyle his eyes wide and slightly disappointed he wouldn’t be the first.

  “Ha ha. Nah. No one has seen Champ in a long time. I never have and most of the locals never have either. It’s always been some tourists claims they saw him.”

  “Or her,” added Kyle.

  “Ha ha ha! Yes, I suppose it could be a her. No one has stopped long enough to check! Ha ha ha!.”

  Caleb looked Moses square in the eye. “I think your boat is about to come in, old friend.”

  ***

  The boat puttered along slowly to the sound of the 25-horse engine until it was adjacent to a tall cliff with lots of evergreens hanging over the side. Moses cut the engine and cruised along for a few minutes.

  “Okay, then. Make your magic. This is one of the places where there have been several sightings over the years. See that road off to the side of the cliff? Young woman got a beautiful picture once. Film actually. Clear as a bell. No one believed her, though. Typical. Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t see…what’s that you got there, Kyle?”

  “This…is a recording of…something. Everyone be really, really quiet.”

  Kyle turned on the sound of the whistling. It sounded like several creatures whistling in harmony.

  Moses eyes got big. “I’ve heard that sound before.”

  “Really?” Kyle whispered.

  “Yeah. Where did you get it?”

  “It’s…a long story, sir.”

  “Well…seems like we have a little time?”

  Kyle again went into the story of his, Teresa’s and Sonja’s trips into the past and future. Moses eyes were wide, the whites so big they looked like moons in contrast to his blackened skin.

  “Either you are the world’s youngest storyteller or that’s so unbelievable as to be true,” he said.

  Caleb answered him. “Believe it, Moses. You may get to meet Champ yet?”

  However, it was already noon by the time Kyle finished with his story and the girls added their embellishments and there wasn’t a sign of a creature anywhere. Moses had an idea.

  “Well, we should head in and grab a bite. However, I have a suggestion. Did you ever consider a hydrophone?”

  “A what?” asked Kyle.

  “Why, that’s an excellent suggestion Moses,” said Caleb. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Cause you ain’t as smart as me, Misuh,” said Moses with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “What is a hydrophone?” asked Sonja.

  “It’s an underwater speaker,” answered Caleb. “It would make the sound travel farther since sound waves travel greater distances in the water.”

  “Are there underwater tunnels here, Mr. Moses?” asked Kyle.

  “It has been speculated that there are. Why?”

  “I…have a feeling that these creatures live in tunnels, just like they did in the past. I think that’s why they weren’t killed by the comet. They were underground and in the tunnels.”

  “Interesting theory. Do you think they are plesiosaurs?”

  “I’m no expert, Mr. Moses. But I don’t think they are. They look similar, but they aren’t carnivores. Their snout is long, but their mouths are small…like a sea horse. I think they eat things like shrimp. They whistle to communicate. If they’re like the creatures from the past, they’re friendly. But it seems they’re afraid of humans. Maybe that’s why so few people have seen them.”

  “Why don’t we go out tonight?” suggested Caleb. “It’s just a gut intuition, but maybe these creatures aren’t even in the lake during the day.”

  Kyle knew what his grandfather was getting at. He remembered the story of the Loch. He heard Nessie at night. Maybe Champ would be more likely to show up at night.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  They spent the afternoon going from shop to shop, Kyle, Teresa, Sonja and Caleb. They took a tour of a small museum and examined hundreds of photos of Champ sightings and artifacts. One of the artifacts was a supposed recording of Champ. Kyle enthusiastically put the earphones on and listened. He was disappointed.

  “That isn’t the animal, Gramps.”

  “Let me listen,” said Caleb. After a few seconds, Caleb smiled. “You’re right about that. That’s a loon. A type of water bird. Seems someone didn’t do their research.”

  The proprietor of the museum overheard them and walked over. He reminded Kyle of the museum guard from the paleontology exhibit in Boston. The one who made fun of him when he told the man that Priti was a herbivore.

  “What makes you think it isn’t Champ. You ever heard ‘em?”

  Kyle couldn’t stop himself. “You wanna hear what Champ really sounds like?”

  His grandfather tried to stop him. “Kyle? You sure you want to do this?”

  “Like you said, Gramps. Sometimes you have to stick your neck out. I’ll be right back.”

  Kyle went out to the truck and got his tape recorder.

  “This is what Champ sounds like.”

  He played the tape. The man smiled and
then began laughing. “You want me to believe a bunch of kids whistling is Champ? I’ll tell you who’s the loon, and it ain’t me. Ha ha ha!”

  Kyle was livid. “My grandfather says that your recording is of a loon and I believe him. You’ll see. I’ll show you Champ and you’ll eat your words.”

  The man was insulted and made a gesture toward Kyle, but his grandfather stepped between them and raised his hand up.

  “Don’t get any ideas, mister.”

  “Get out of my museum before I call the cops and have the bunch of you thrown out of town.”

  “We’re leaving. But you’ll be sorry. That I guarantee you.”

  “Oh? And what are you going to do about it old man?”

  “Nothing. Nothing at all. But watch the papers. You may see something in them that will put your museum out of business.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  “Not at all. Just giving you the facts. Watch and see.”

  Caleb smiled as he shut the door.

  “Guess that will give him something to think about. But, be careful who you tell about this, Kyle…all of you. Let’s not draw any more attention to ourselves than we have to…at least until we have the proof we need to shut the skeptics up. Okay?”

  “I’m sorry Gramps. Guess I’m just a little bit sensitive.”

  “I thought I was going to have to pop ´em one. Hate to use what I know. Too easy to kill a man.”

  “Would you really…kill someone…Gramps?” Sonja was somewhat uncomfortable calling Caleb Gramps. In time, she would get used to it.

  “Well, I do hold a black belt in karate. Don’t like to use it though. Sometimes, you just react and that’s usually bad for the other person. In the end, it’s worse for me when they arrest me and put me in jail. You must always consider the consequences of your actions before you act. Always.”

  Kyle noticed his grandfather looked at him for the slightest of seconds, but it was enough. He felt bad enough about all the things that happened simply because he was so pigheaded. If his father ever knew everything that had gone on…

  “Okay kids,” said Caleb. “Let’s get some dinner and then get ready to meet Moses at the boat. I hope he was able to get a hydrophone from the local college.”

  The group hopped into the truck. In the doorway of the museum, the proprietor stood and watched them leave. He wrote down the number of the license plate.

  “Hmmm. Let’s see what this bunch is up to.”

  ***

  Night fell rapidly and a thick blanket of smog rolled across the lake. Occasionally, heat lightning lit up the clouds above. There was no roll or clap of thunder accompanying the flashes since they were too high and distant. The sound of the small outboard engine reverberated across the water. In the distance, they heard a dog barking and then, all was eerily silent.

  “Did you hear another boat a minute ago?” asked Kyle.

  Everyone shook their heads. “Nope. Didn’t hear a thing,” said Moses. “Probably an echo across the lake of our engine before I shut it off.”

  “Oh. I thought it sounded…different than our engine.”

  “Maybe there are other people on the lake,” offered Sonja. The girls had been relatively quiet the whole trip, just taking everything in, although they whispered among themselves which drove Kyle up the wall.

  “This is as good a spot as any, “said Moses. “If there are any underground caverns or tunnels, as you suggested, this would be a likely location for them since it is the closest place on the lake to the ocean.”

  “Okay. How do we hook up the tape recorder to the hydrophone?” asked Kyle.

  “You have earphones for it?”

  “Yeah. In my backpack.” Kyle pulled out the small earpiece.

  Moses took the hydrophone and spliced the wires into the earphone leaving the plug intact.

  “That should do it. All we need to do is to lower the hydrophone down as close to the bottom as possible.”

  “Then what?” asked Teresa.

  “Then we wait for the monster!” said Caleb.

  “Grandpa, you’re scaring me!”

  “Sorry, Teresa. I’m just kidding…sort of. I mean, we are here to see if we can get Champ to come here, right?”

  Sonja and Teresa looked at each other. “Uh…I guess.” said Teresa somewhat hesitantly. She remembered what the animal in the past looked like. Despite Kyle’s assurances, she was frightened nonetheless.

  Moses slowly lowered the hydrophone over the side. He had two hundred feet of cord before he had to stop.

  “How deep is it here, Gramps?” asked Kyle.

  “Probably close to 350 feet. Sound travels farther underwater than it does in the air. So the range should be very good. If there’s a creature here within fifty miles, they will probably hear the recording. Go ahead and play it. Turn the volume up all the way. We won’t be able to hear it. Leave it on continuous loop so it will play over and over again.”

  Kyle turned on the recorder. “How will we know it’s on?”

  Caleb reached over and unplugged the hydrophone, the sound blared across the lake, and a dog began barking again in the distance. Then he plugged it back in and the sound stopped.

  “Yeah, I guess it’s working. Don’t think the dog likes it though.” said Kyle.

  “Soooo…what do we do now?” asked Teresa.

  “Wait…quietly,” said Moses. “If there’s anything down there, it may take it some time to reach us from wherever it is.”

  Flashes of lightning illuminated the fog and, a minute later, they heard the faint sound of thunder.

  “Looks like a storm is brewing out there. I’d say about two hours away. We’ll give it an hour and a half. If nothing by then, we should head in,” said Moses.

  Caleb passed around a Coke to everyone and they all sat quietly sipping soda as the water lapped at the boat with a gentle slapping sound.

  Kyle turned around and strained in the direction of the opposite shore. Something about the sound of another boat still bothered him. He wasn’t really convinced it was the echo of their boat reverberating across the water.

  ***

  An hour and a half passed quickly with everyone in tense anticipation. They watched the water expecting a sea monster to pop out of the water at any second. Less than one hundred yards away, a pair of eyes watched them through an infrared camera.

  The thunder grew closer and closer. A light sprinkle replaced the fog, but it was still dark as the moon disappeared behind the thickening clouds.

  “We better think about packing it in,” said Moses. “We can try again tomorrow. I’m available.”

  Reluctantly, Kyle agreed while the girls enthusiastically applauded the idea. Moses pulled the cord up and Caleb coiled it on the floor of the boat. Fifty feet. Seventy-five. One hundred. One fifty. Then it stopped.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Caleb. Kyle joined them and looked down into the depths as if he could see anything in the dark water.

  “I…I don’t know. It’s…stuck.”

  “On what?”

  “There shouldn’t be anything there. We’re in the middle of the water column. It’s…as if something is pulling it…Ow!”

  Moses let go as the line to the hydrophone splayed out.

  “What on earth…?”

  Kyle shut off the recorder and the line stopped. “Huh?”

  “It’s slack again,” said Moses. I’ll try and pull it in. Unplug it from your recorder. We don’t want to lose that recording.”

  Kyle complied. Moses pulled on the cord again and brought the hydrophone to the surface and on board. On a whim, Kyle turned the recorder on. The harmonious whistles echoed across the lake. Everyone sat perfectly still. Kyle shut off the recorder and listened.

  A faint whistle reverberated in the distance then stopped. Kyle looked at his grandfather with wide eyes.

  Again there was a faint whistle. Then another behind them. Then another. And another. Then they seemed to converge until the whistling har
monized and then it stopped.

  All faced toward the middle of the boat and looked at one another. Lightning continued to flash with the sound of rumbling rolls of thunder following a few seconds later. At first, there was nothing there and then… Kyle saw something emerge from the water directly behind his grandfather and Moses. A flash of lightning lit the night and there was an immense creature with its head rising up out of the water ten, fifteen and then twenty feet into the air.

  The girls screamed.

  “Gentlemen, I asked you here to see something truly amazing. You have all been supporters of this museum now for many years and I appreciate the support. However, it is getting harder and harder to meet the bills every year that goes by. People just aren’t interested in sea monsters the way they used to be.”

  Jeffrey Handleman had been the proprietor of the “Museum for the Study and Preservation of the Lake Champlain Monster” for over thirty years. His father started the museum back in the late 1950’s and Jeffrey inherited the business when he passed away in 1975. It was the only livelihood he had ever known and it was in serious jeopardy from debt due to his gambling habits. Now, it seemed, something was about to change Jeffrey’s fortune. An opportunity had virtually knocked on his doorstep.

  “I had an expedition in here the other day in search of Champ.”

  “Are you talking about the old men and the kids? ‘Cause if ya are, I ain’t got time for this baloney, Jeff!”

  “Now Cal, just hold onto your horses for a moment. I’d a felt the same way as you, ‘cept, I got curious. I thought they were just another group of the usual tourists until I did a little investigatin’ myself. Now, the young boy and his grandfather figured out about the tape right off, so I knew they were no dummies. Old man nailed the loon and the kid knew it wasn’t no sea creature. In fact, he came back and played something for me that ‘bout made my hair stand up on end.

  “I remembered something my dear dead daddy once told me, rest his soul. He said he heard a sound one night that sounded like birds whistling in harmony. Not a minute later he seen the monster—he seen Champ! I swear on his grave! And I believed him.