“Now, how about washing up so you can help with supper?” she asked gently, as she poured a can of mushroom soup into the pan. The aroma of simmering meatballs made Daniel’s stomach rumble.
He whirled out of the room. At least he had until Tuesday to figure out a plan. He couldn’t believe Dad’s attitude! Just because he wasn’t interested in archaeology, didn’t mean he had to be so boneheaded.
He thought again of the table full of dinosaur relics at Pederson’s, and the huge excavation site the old man was working on. In another instant, he pictured everything destroyed as a huge earthmover clawed at the land. He couldn’t let that happen!
~
The next day after early morning chores, Daniel rode to town with Dad and Cheryl for their usual Saturday shopping trip. His mother had worked the night shift at the hospital and was joining them at the Linder Café for breakfast.
When they entered the small coffee shop, the aroma of just-brewed coffee and fresh-baked cinnamon buns enveloped them. The place was already filled with other customers, some of them their neighbours. They knew practically everyone, Daniel realized, greeting people as they made their way to the only available booth, at the back by the swinging kitchen doors.
Every time the waitress passed through the doors, a whiff of grilling bacon filled the air. Daniel saw Jed and his family and nodded across the room. Brett and Wade’s families sat at one big table together, laughing and chatting without a care in the world.
Once they’d ordered, Mom played absentmindedly with her coffee spoon until Cheryl let out a squawk from her high chair and demanded it from her. Dad sat glumly, clicking a pen and making occasional scribbled notes on a scrap of paper on the table in front of him. From the short clips of conversation that Daniel heard buzzing about him, the major topic of the day was the oil company and what it meant to the community. His parents avoided the subject.
“I asked for more shifts,” Mom said, then shook her head. “But there just aren’t any. In fact, now that it’s become a Wellness Centre instead of a fully operating hospital, they’re cutting back even more on staff, so I’ll probably lose some shifts that I already have.”
Dad’s expression reached another notch of desperation. Daniel turned his attention to Cheryl, keeping her quietly occupied with the dancing antics of a stuffed toy so he could listen.
“I could try going to the hospital at Shaunavon and see if they could use me there. Qualified nurses are hard to get in rural areas, especially out here,” she offered.
“No, that’s too far for you to drive every day.”
Mom protested, “It’s only forty-five minutes away!”
“Closer to an hour and if you times that by two...” Dad shook his head emphatically. “That’s too much time out of the day spent driving, especially in the winter.”
Her shoulders sagged.
“Maybe I’d better get over to the bank.” Dad checked his watch. Mom leaned over to look, too.
“Too early,” she said, patting his arm. “It’s not open yet and you haven’t even eaten.”
Just then their food arrived. The chatter of conversations swirled about them, but the only sound at their table was the clanking of utensils on plates as they ate their $2.99 bacon and egg breakfast specials. Except for Cheryl, who played with a crust of toast and cooed at an elderly lady who used to own a dress shop in town. She made funny faces at Cheryl from across the aisle.
~
Later, while Dad went for his appointment with the bald-headed bank manager, Daniel and his mother checked the specials at the local Co-op store and picked up a few groceries, before heading home in her car. Just a typical Saturday excursion, he pretended, as he watched the snow-covered farmyards flicking by through the car window. But his stomach flipped and contracted in alternate bouts, telling him otherwise.
~
Daniel sat hunched over a dinosaur book at the table when Dad returned from town later than expected. Mom had been holding lunch for over an hour when he finally came into the kitchen, and Cheryl was already down for her afternoon snooze. Dad seemed unusually subdued, not saying much as he sat down.
“So I saw the Schelova’s have a new truck,” Daniel said, in an attempt to break the silence. “What happened to their last one?”
Dad didn’t respond.
“Mom? Did they have another accident?” He looked at her.
“I don’t know, dear,” she shrugged and glanced over at Dad.
“Do you know, Ed?”
Dad shook his head. Then he stared out into space.
“Looks like Misty is going to have kittens. Jed said this would be the last batch his folks will let her have.”
Daniel was met with silence.
“How about if we take a couple?” he asked with an innocent look towards his parents, knowing they had plenty of cats. “We could use a few more to keep the mouse population down.”
Mom and Dad kept eating, not saying a word for several more minutes. Finally, Mom seemed unable to stand the silence and asked what had happened at the bank.
“We’ll talk about it later, Libby,” was all Dad said.
Daniel eyed them anxiously, but neither brought up the subject again. This worried him, but he knew he’d have to be patient. Mom planned on sleeping for the afternoon and evening, because she had to work the night shift again, and Dad had to help one of the neighbours for a couple of hours. They both disappeared from the table abruptly.
This gave him just enough time to head back over to Pederson’s to see more of his dig. He ran up to his room, grabbed his most comprehensive dinosaur resource book, and headed out. Maybe he could also persuade Pederson to speak up, so he could convince his parents not to lease the land.
As he put on his gloves and boarded the snowmobile, he called for Dactyl. His dog came on the run, yipping and tearing around in circles. Daniel started the Ski-Doo and headed slowly across the pasture. Dactyl loped at his side, only once in awhile venturing off around a bush or out of sight into a gully.
When Daniel arrived at Pederson’s place, he decided to take him seriously. He knocked on the door. Then waited. He knocked again. Still no answer. He put his ear to the door, but all he could hear was Bear, barking from somewhere deep inside. He debated what to do. Finally, he rapped again, then opened the door and hollered.
“Mr. Pederson, are you here? Mr. Pederson?”
Everything was dark and quiet, except for Bear’s continual barking. Daniel stepped inside, leaving Dactyl outside, and called to Pederson’s huge mutt.
“Bear, here boy. Come on Bear.”
Scrabble, scrabble. He could hear Bear coming up the passageway, breathing hard.
“Good boy, Bear,” he said soothingly, stepping back somewhat in case the dog decided to take offence. But Bear whimpered as he approached Daniel. Daniel stroked him. “What’s up, boy? Is something the matter?”
Bear paced back and forth towards the entrance of the passageway, as if indicating that he should follow. Carefully, Daniel skirted the long table with the array of fossils and bones, and followed him.
“Mr. Pederson? Are you here?” Daniel called as he walked along the dimly lit corridor. “Mr. Pederson?”
Suddenly, as he rounded a corner near the open dig, he heard a moan. It was Pederson, lying on the ground! He ran over and gently examined him for injuries. Then, seeing no blood, he shook his arm. He heard a rattling in the old man’s throat. His face was pale and haggard, and his lips were turning blue. Daniel shook his shoulder a little harder.
Pederson stirred, gasping. His face was full of fear. Then he rasped out in a whisper, “My pills, on the table by the skull. The white ones.”
Daniel rushed into the cabin and grabbed the bottle of pills, and then a dipper of water from the pail by the door, before racing back to Pederson. As he opened the pill container, he spilled some of the tiny tablets, but he didn’t take time to pick them up. He had to get one in the old man’s mouth. As he tried to give him some water, Pederson
turned his head away.
“No water. Just need a minute,” Pederson whispered as he lay back with the pill under his tongue. He closed his eyes. When he began breathing easier, Daniel helped him sit up against the wall of the dirt passage.
“Thanks, lad.” He opened his eyes for a moment. Then he shifted himself into a more comfortable position. “My heart medicine. Nitroglycerine.”
Daniel began picking up the tiny white pills, but they were hard to find. Using a flashlight, he crawled on his hands and knees scouring the ground to make sure he had them all, brushing the dirt off them before placing them back in the vial.
“Sorry,” he said to Pederson, as he handed him the container.
“No matter,” the old man replied quietly, placing it in his shirt pocket. “Guess I overextended myself.” He pointed to the excavation site.
~
Daniel walked over and took a look. Another section had been uncovered. He crouched down near one end and stared at the massive skeletal remains. All at once, he noticed something else half-hidden by the bottom of the rib cage. A nestlike indentation with what looked like fossilized fragments of shells! He stood up abruptly and faced Pederson.
“Is that...?”
Pederson nodded.
“You’ve actually found a nest,” Daniel whispered. “This is a fantastic discovery!”
“Look a little more closely,” whispered Pederson.
Daniel dropped to his knees and crawled closer to the spot where the egg fragments lay embedded in the rock. There seemed to be almost a whole one. Gently he fingered the pieces. Then, moving a piece of cloth slightly, he uncovered the remains of a tiny skeleton. A whole baby Edmontosaurus!
Pederson and Daniel stared at one another, their eyes moistening.
“Do you know what this means?” Daniel finally gasped, in total awe.
Pederson nodded again. Daniel let out a whoop.
“Geez, this will make Saskatchewan famous in the paleontology world! First you found a whole Edmontosaurus – and now the nest! This’ll be bigger than when they discovered the tyrannosaurus rex. Now you can tell everyone!”
“No!” Pederson rasped out, greatly agitated. “No one must know yet.”
Bear barked and eyed Daniel, but stayed put, waiting for a command from his master.
“Take it easy, Mr. Pederson,” Daniel said, going back over to his side to reassure him. “I’m not going to say anything.” He patted his shoulder gently.
“Okay,” Pederson said, still breathing heavily, but looking him intently in the eyes. “Just keep it that way until I say so. You have to promise.”
“Promise,” Daniel said, crossing his heart. “Scout’s honour.”
Pederson struggled to get to his feet, coughing. Bear paced beside him.
“Maybe I should get you to a doctor,” Daniel said, as he grabbed his arm to steady him. “I have my snowmobile here. I could take you.”
“No, I’ll be fine, young man.” He leaned a little against Daniel as they staggered back to the main room. Bear followed right behind protectively.
Daniel thought for another moment. “Wait! My mom’s a nurse. I could take you home. She’d know how to help you,” he offered as Pederson sank heavily onto the bed.
“It’s just a touch of angina. I’ve had it for years,” Pederson rasped out as Daniel covered him up with a couple of woollen blankets. “I just need to rest.”
“Are you sure?” Daniel noticed that the old man’s lips weren’t so blue, but his face was still pale.
Pederson nodded and closed his eyes. Daniel stared down at him for a few minutes not speaking.
“Thanks, Daniel Bringham,” Pederson said after awhile, patting his hand without opening his eyes.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Pederson,” Daniel said, tucking up the covers. “You sure you’re going to be all right?”
“I’m sure. This has happened before. You’d best be going before your parents start looking for you.”
Bear curled up at the bottom of the bed, his solemn dark eyes glued on his sick master.
Daniel stared at Pederson for another few moments, watching to be sure he was breathing easier. He seemed to be. So, reluctantly, Daniel turned and left for home.
Chapter Six
After he got back, Daniel spent most of the afternoon mulling over his books, studying everything he could about the Edmonto-saurus. He already knew they had lived in the Cretaceous period in Saskatchewan, and were one of the first dinosaurs to be discovered on the prairies. But until now, no one had found a whole one, nor a skull, and certainly not a nest of eggs! And he’d seen it with his own eyes! Unbelievable! He could hardly wait to tell everyone.
~
Later that night after Daniel came back up to his bedroom, he heard his parents’ raised voices. They must be deciding something important. They sounded upset. He crept out of bed and partway down the stairs. The dining room door had been left ajar. He could see Dad sitting at the table going through his bank statements and scribbling notes again. Mom stood against the china cabinet, her hands clenched at her sides.
“Well, it looks like we don’t have much choice anymore, Libby. The bank won’t give us another extension on our loan so we can try to lease more land from old Pederson or someone. In fact, they want us to pay off our line of credit right away.” Dad ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair, greying around the edges.
“But why now all of a sudden?” demanded Mom as she walked over to the table and stared at Dad.
“Some new bank rules from head office. To do with the falling economy and the drought. They’ll let us pay it off in two installments, but we have to make a payment next month and another in the spring.”
“That still doesn’t make sense,” she objected, her face crumpling.
“It made sense the way the manager explained it. The bank is afraid of losing all their money because so many farmers didn’t have good crops with the drought again this year, and most can’t collect crop insurance. I don’t agree with it, but the rules are the rules.”
Mom paced behind Dad. “How can they be so inhuman?” she asked in a trembling voice.
“Guess we shouldn’t have overextended ourselves buying that new tractor back when you were working full-time, before Cheryl.
“Oh, Ed. I can’t believe we have to do anything before Christmas.” Mom stopped, pulled down the bunched sleeves of her sweater, and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Well, it’s either put the place up for sale now. Or lose it next year and end up with nothing,” Dad’s troubled voice echoed across the room.
Daniel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Sell it? He jumped to his feet and pounded down the stairs.
“We can’t leave this place! We’ve always lived here,” he argued desperately, clinging to the door frame. “Besides, you’re always saying how important it is to stick at something no matter how tough the going gets.”
Daniel’s quick entry had startled his mother. “Oh, Daniel. We thought you were asleep. But now that you’re up, you might as well hear. We were going to tell you tomorrow anyway.”
He shuffled into the room and sat on the edge of a cushioned chair.
Dad cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Son, there just doesn’t seem to be any other way. We just don’t own enough land to make the farm viable now that we’ve had two dry years in a row. There’s no pasture for the cattle, and the bank won’t give us any more time, or money for leasing land. We have nothing as collateral, nor any realistic way of making an income.”
“What about selling the new tractor?”
“We don’t own it to begin with, so that wouldn’t help. Besides, our old one won’t run anymore and we need something to use.”
Dad stood up and pushed his chair back before continuing. “They said agreeing to the drilling lease wouldn’t help much. We’d be better off bartering for extra pasture land or selling entirely.” He began to pace the room as Mom had. “I’m sorry Danny. I know how you fee
l. But we may have no choice. Try to understand.”
He came to a stop a few feet away from Daniel. He continued speaking as though mesmerized, all the while running his hands through his hair. “Even if we did have enough land, the crops have been so poor lately that we still might not be able to make a go of it. There just hasn’t been enough rain for the last few years. As it is, we haven’t even paid the taxes. And it goes without saying that if we lose the land, we can’t keep the cattle or horses. We’d have nowhere to pasture them and nowhere to grow feed.”
“What about Mom’s nursing job? Doesn’t that help?” Daniel asked. He could feel his body tingling as his heart thumped erratically.
“It keeps food on the table, but it’s only part-time now and not enough.” Then Dad added quietly, “The next payment is due at the end of next month. It’ll wipe out just about everything we’ve saved. I’ll see about finding a job off the farm, but we may well have to move.”
Daniel stood there in disbelief, clenching his fists at his sides. His shoulders felt stiff and heavy, and his eyes stung as he looked from Dad to Mom.
“Move where?” he demanded. His stomach tightened and rolled in protest. “Not Swift Current or Moose Jaw!”
“We might have to go as far as Medicine Hat or Regina. Wherever we can make a living. It’ll be a change, but we’ll all get used to it.” The worry lines deepened in Dad’s face.
Daniel felt twinges of concern for Dad, but he couldn’t help himself. “We can’t go,” he insisted. “Our family’s been here for years. It’s all I know.” His voice shook. “What will happen to Dactyl and Gypsy? And Pepper, we’ve had him for years! And what about my friends? I’ll never see them again.”
“I know it’s a shock right now, Danny boy, but if we have to leave, we’ll find a good home for Gypsy and Pepper. Maybe you can keep Dactyl. And you’ll certainly be able to visit your friends. And you’ll make new ones.”
“No, I don’t ever want to leave this place. I won’t go anywhere without Gypsy! There must be a way we can stay.” Daniel grasped Dad’s arm and pleaded. He felt his mouth tremble.
Dinosaur Hideout Page 6
