Dinosaur Breakout by Judith Silverthorne Page B

sure have some nerve,” Jed said. “I’d like to teach them a thing or two.”
    “Wouldn’t we all,” said Daniel, pointing to the bruises on his head and face.
    “They’re such bullies,” said Lucy. “Seems they just get away with everything!”
    “I’ve read somewhere that some bullies are actually scared if you stand up to them, but I don’t know if that would work with those two. They’re so big!”
    “Yeah, and they’re always together – two picking on one isn’t fair!” Lucy added.
    “Guess it’s best if we just stay out of their way!” Jed said.
    “That would be fine, except they keep tracking me.” Daniel explained the last couple of days to Lucy. Of course, he left out the bit about going back into prehistoric time.
    Restless again, the three of them wandered over the pasture towards the edge of the land before it dipped into the valley. The sun hovered above the horizon in a blaze of oranges and golds. They sat on some rocks and looked over the landscape in front of them. Although it was somewhat scrubby and without monumental landmarks, there was something about the quiet and peacefulness as nighttime neared. A gentle breeze brushed their arms as the crickets started their evening chirpings and the frogs chorused by the dugout.
    From where they sat, if they looked to the distant right, they could see the rest station for the hikers, situated halfway down the valley on a flatter area at the top of a hill that gave a panoramic view of the coulee below. A small, open-walled structure, covered with a waterproof roof, had some benches and a couple of picnic tables in it. A hitching post had been erected nearby in case some people chose to ride horses. A couple of empty forty-five-gallon barrels that had years ago contained gas sat by some trees. One was for washing and drinking water for the horses, and one to hold their feed. Another couple of outhouses stood discreetly off to one side.
    As Daniel looked, he thought he saw movement, but he couldn’t be sure. The fading sun cast a shadow over the site. He ignored it until it happened a second time.
    “Do you see something moving down there?” he asked the others.
    They fixed their eyes on the rest area, waiting in silence.
    “There it is again!” Daniel lowered his voice, afraid to scare whatever it was off before they found out more.
    “I saw it,” Jed whispered back.
    “Me too,” Lucy said quietly.
    In unison, as if they’d made a verbal agreement, all three of them started moving stealthily down the hillside for a closer look. They darted from rocks to low bushes to dips in the landscape, zigzagging down the hill and keeping as quiet as they could. There was definitely someone down there. They could hear some sort of scraping going on.
    “I think there are two of them,” Jed whispered from behind a bush.
    The closer they got, the lower the sun set, until they were enshrouded in twilight. That made it easier for them to approach unnoticed, but more difficult to see what was going on. There was no mistake, though, when they heard a rough, rowdy laugh, that it was the Nelwin brothers, up to no good.
    Sneaking behind the outhouses, they could see the pair sitting on a picnic table, digging at the surface with something. Daniel decided it was time to confront them. They were damaging property! His property! He was just about to come out from hiding when Jed pulled him back.
    “They’ve got a knife!”
    Daniel peeked around the corner again. Jed was right! They were using a big jackknife. Probably carving their initials into the table. Daniel gulped and huddled with the others behind the outhouse.
    “Now what?” he murmured.
    “We get out of here as fast as possible,” Jed answered. “We’ll let the adults deal with it.”
    Lucy frantically nodded her head in agreement.
    “Okay,” Daniel agreed, reluctantly. He motioned for Lucy to go first. He’d take up the rear.
    By now it was quite dark and difficult to see where they were