JUDITH SILVERTHORNE
Publications
Dinosaur Hideout
Excerpt:
Daniel made his way over to a special tree stump, which sat in the middle of the cave floor. Through the opening above him, he could see that the sky was now frosty and bright with early morning light. He plunked himself down on the cold surface of the stump and reached for a plastic ice cream pail that housed his latest rock find. Quickly, he dumped the contents onto the ground and began searching.
He chose a small rough stone and rubbed some sand off one side with his mitts. Darn, that wasn't what he was looking for! He set it back down again and then drew another and another, shifting through the pile on the ground. He was sure there had to a special rock in his collection. He'd just read a description in one of his books on dinosaurs at home the night before, and something clicked in his brain. He just had to find it!
Suddenly, he noticed a chunk of limestone near the bottom of the pile. He carefully wiped the odd shaped stone free of dirt.
"Hey, there's some fossil prints on this one!" He spoke to Dactyl, but the dog ignored him and continued sniffing in a remote corner of the cavern.
Could the fossil imprint in this rock be what he thought it was? Daniel brushed off more earth, feeling the excitement rise inside him. Handling it gently, he followed the indentations with his finger. He looked closer, and his eyes widened. Yes, this was definitely different from the others! It had criss-crossed markings on it. He set the stone back on the ground carefully, threw off his mitts, and then grabbed for his dinosaur book. He thumbed through the pages so fast that he almost ripped them.
All at once he sprang up and waved the rock at Dactyl.
"I knew it," he said. "There were dinosaurs living here! This is part of a receptaculites!"
He held the stone closer towards the light streaming through the opening, turning it over and over, studying it from all angles. The criss-crossed grooves looked just like the face of a ripe sunflower for which receptaculites were named. Now he had proof for the kids at school, who thought he was out to lunch with all his talk about dinosaurs being on his farm. He knew this particular sponge-like organism originally must have come from the north Cambrian Shield, and been carried by glaciers and dumped in the south of the province. But this also meant there had been activity in his area and who knew what else was laying in wait for him to discover?
"Wow." He cupped the stone in his hands and stared down at it. His whole body tingled. He closed his eyes.
Daniel imagined the bright blue of the sky reflected in the shallow clear sea at his feet. As he touched the warm sunlit water with his fingers, he peered at the brightly coloured coral polyps and the golden-topped stromatolites that formed on the bottom a short distance below. Crinoids with their orange fern-like flowers swayed near a huge dark red receptaculites that bobbed about in the soft current.
Then the image changed and the water became deeper and darker, and the faint outlines of sharks and rays swam through the long-stemmed clumps of sea grass. They made way for a large mosasaur that appeared from out of the depths. Its rows of sharp teeth protruding from its long open mouth warned of impending danger.
Suddenly, an unexpected noise snapped Daniel back to the present. Dactyl's
ears perked up, and at the same time he heard the loud crunch of snow
outside. A worn pair of boots and a rifle pointed into the doorway. He
instinctively jumped to the side of the opening as Dactyl barked and rushed
towards the entrance. A huge snarling hound met Dactyl head-on.
Startled into action, Daniel tried to reach for his dog's collar to haul
him back from the attack. His heart pounded as his mind raced over ways
of defending Dactyl and himself. Who or why was someone invading his hideout?
What were they going to do with the gun?
"Who's in there?" demanded a gruff voice.
"I am, don't shoot," Daniel yelled back, over the snarling of both dogs. "I'm coming out. Call off your dog."
"Bear. Here, boy," commanded the voice, yanking the brutish animal out of the opening. "Heel."
The large mutt obeyed the stern voice of his master. But in a flash,
Dactyl hurtled out after him, nipping at the strange dog's heels. Daniel
darted out and grasped Dactyl's collar firmly. He came face-to-face with
a monstrous man dressed in a raggy parka. His white hair bristled from
beneath a worn toque, and yellow teeth poked out amongst the prickles
of the bearded face. Gnarled fingers clutched a rifle in one hand, while
he gripped his huge beast that strained to get away in the other.
Published by Coteau Books in 2003
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