The Talking T. Rex by Ron Roy

CHAPTER 1
    Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose hurried toward the high school. It was July 3, so they all wore shorts and T-shirts. Josh’s dog, Pal, was leading the way on his leash. His floppy ears nearly touched the ground as he sniffed everything in his path.
    “I can’t wait to see Jud again,” Dink said. Dink’s full name was Donald David Duncan, but most people called him Dink.
    The three kids had met Jud Wheat when they visited his parents’ duderanch in Montana. When Josh found a huge gold nugget there, he gave it to Jud to help pay for college. Now Jud was coming to Green Lawn for a visit.
    “I wonder what the big surprise is that he mentioned in his postcard,” Ruth Rose said. She liked to wear one color. Today it was dark blue, from her headband down to her sneakers. The color matched her sharp blue eyes.
    “Read it to us,” Josh said to Dink.
    Dink pulled a postcard from his pocket. He read it out loud as they stopped at Pleasant Street:
    Hi, Dink, Josh, and R uth Rose,
I’ll be in Green Lawn on July 3 with
a huge surprise. Meet me at the high
school grounds at noon. Bye for now.
    Your friend
,
Jud
    “Maybe the surprise is a large pizza,” Josh said.
    “You wish,” Ruth Rose said.

    “Look, there’s Mr. Pocket,” Dink said, turning toward Center Park. Their friend Thaddeus Pocket was standing in the town rose garden. He wore work gloves and held a shovel. His dog, Randolph, was gazing at the ducks in Swan Pond.
    Josh dropped the leash, and Pal ran over to greet the fluffy little dog.
    “Hi, Mr. Pocket!” Ruth Rose said.
    “Well, hello, kiddos,” the white-haired man said. “All set for the fireworks tomorrow night? I noticed workers setting up near the swimming pool.”
    “We’re all going,” Josh said. “Will you and Randolph be there?”
    “I will,” Mr. Pocket said. “But old Randolph prefers to stay home. He doesn’t like the big booms.”
    “Pal is staying home, too,” Josh said. “He doesn’t even like birthday candles!”
    Mr. Pocket started digging up adead-looking rosebush that had no leaves or blossoms on it. In a wheelbarrow was a healthy bush, this one covered with shiny green leaves.
    “Want to help me plant this new one?” Mr. Pocket asked the kids.
    Dink looked at his watch. “Okay but then we have to meet a friend at the high school. His name is Jud Wheat, and he’s studying to become a teacher.”
    “He brought a surprise all the way from Montana!” Ruth Rose said.
    “This won’t take long at all,” Mr. Pocket said. He assigned tasks as he removed the old rosebush.
    Ruth Rose poured a handful of fertilizer into the hole.
    Dink shoveled in some of the loose soil.
    Josh used the garden hose to fill the hole with water.
    “Mother Nature may give us some rain by tonight,” Mr. Pocket said, glancingup at the clouds. He lifted the new bush out of the wheelbarrow and placed it in the hole. He made sure the plant stood up straight.

    “That looks splendid,” Mr. Pocket said. “You three are super gardeners. Dink, if you’ll return the wheelbarrow to the shed, I’ll fill in the rest of the soil.”
    Dink handed Mr. Pocket the shovel and steered the wheelbarrow over to a garden shed. An old screwdriver held the door closed. Dink opened the door and guided the wheelbarrow inside.
    There was barely room for the wheelbarrow in the packed little shed. The shelves were a jumble of pots, jars, bags of fertilizer, pails, books about gardening, and tools like the ones Dink’s parents owned. On the clean brick floor were rakes, shovels, gardening stakes, and coiled hoses.
    Dink left the wheelbarrow leaningagainst a stack of empty burlap bags at the rear of the shed. He replaced the screwdriver and left.
    Just as Dink reached the others, a red car turned off Main Street and drove toward the high school. Steam escaped from under the car’s hood.
    “Is that your friend?” Mr. Pocket asked. “I hope he didn’t drive all the way from Montana in that thing!”
    “We’d