ping … ping … ping …
“6,000 Feet” blinked on the display.
“Wowzers!” said Andrew. “Beeper’s more than a mile away!”
Andrew’s and Judy’s slippers were slippery, but they started slogging their way in the direction of the signal.
Judy shook her head. “The ferns and bushes are so tall and thick we can’t even tell where we’re going.”
“I see a path,” said Andrew.
He pushed his way to a place where the ferns were squashed flat.
“Uh-oh,” said Andrew.
In the middle of the flattened plants were gigantic holes—footprints! The three-toed footprints of something enormous!
meep … “Tyrannosaurus footprints!” said Thudd.
Andrew leaned down to take a closer look.
“Wowzers schnauzers!” he hollered. “There are sneaker prints inside this gigunda footprint! This has to be the way that Beeper went.”
Judy shook her head.
“I can’t believe we’ve gone back to the beginning of the universe in our pajamas, we almost got bitten by a six-foot centipede, and now we’re disguised as poopy ferns following the footsteps of a Tyrannosaurus. This is so your fault, Bug-Brain.”
Andrew shrugged. “We have to rescue Professor Wilde and Uncle Al,” he said.
“Cheese Louise!” said Judy, looking down. “We can both fit inside the Tyrannosaurus footprint!”
“Yeah,” said Andrew. “Beeper would fit, too.”
Suddenly the big purple button in the middle of Thudd’s chest popped open and a purple beam zoomed out. A smiling Uncle Al was at the end of it.
“Hey there!” he said.
The last time Andrew and Judy had seen him, Uncle Al had been completely wrapped in a furry skin to keep warm. Icicles had been hanging off his nose. Now there were no icicles and the furry skin was tossed over his shoulders.
“Hi, Uncle Al!” said Andrew.
“Hiya, Unkie!” said Thudd.
“Wait till you hear where we’re stuck now!” said Judy.
Uncle Al’s eyebrows came together in one fuzzy line. “Where are you?” he asked.
Uncle Al was using his Hologram Helper to communicate with Andrew and Judy. He could hear them, but he couldn’t see them.
“We’re walking in the footsteps of a Tyrannosaurus rex!” said Judy.
“We stopped at sixty-five million years ago,” said Andrew. “Three hundred million years ago, we picked up Doctor Kron-Tox’s nephew, Beeper Jones. He’s got a DNA Detector. It gave us a signal that Professor Winka Wilde might be here.”
Uncle Al’s eyebrows went up. “Professor Wilde!” he exclaimed. “I was going to tell you where she was last time, but my batteries went out.”
“And now we have to get Beeper back, too,” Judy said. “The little bozo took off into the forest.”
“I know Beeper,” said Uncle Al. “He visited my lab when he was knee-high. An … um … interesting boy. He was nutty about dinosaurs. He found a fossil dinosaur egg when he was only three years old.”
“Wowzers!” said Andrew.
“He’s still an annoying little creep,” said Judy. “But I guess we can’t let him get eaten by a Tyrannosaurus.”
Uncle Al shook his head. “You kids are amazing,” said Uncle Al. “But I’m very worried.”
“Oh, we’ve got protection,” said Judy, rolling her eyes. “We’re wearing fern fronds dipped in Alamosaurus poop. The ferns were my idea. The Time-A-Tron came up with the poop idea.”
Uncle Al smiled. “Judy, you’re a brilliant young woman,” he said. “And the Time-A-Tron is very intelligent. But the most important thing is that it cares.
“By the way Doctor Kron-Tox stole a DNA Detector from my laboratory. He must have given it to Beeper.
“But that’s good. The DNA Detector has the records of our family DNA and Winka Wilde’s, too. I’m sure Doctor Kron-Tox added Beeper’s DNA and maybe his own. So you’ll be able to find …”
The Uncle Al hologram was getting fuzzy. Uncle Al’s voice sounded far away.
“Uncle Al!” shouted Judy. “Don’t go!”
The last words they heard were “… batteries not …”
The Uncle Al hologram disappeared into a purple fog.
Swsssshhhh …
The sound was coming from the bushes.
Akkkkk! Akkkkk! Akkkkk!
Screeee! Screeee!
A possum-like creature ran by them. Something was chasing after it! It looked like a bird and was about the size of a big chicken. But this animal had few feathers and arms with claws at the end!
meep … “Bambiraptor dinosaur chase mammal called Alphadon,” said Thudd. “Mammals very small in dinosaur time.”
“Is the little Alphadon one of our ancestors?” asked Andrew.
“Noop!” said Thudd. “Drewd and Oody ancestor is little animal that look like shrew.”
Andrew pressed the DNA Detector’s Find It button again to get Beeper’s location.
ping … ping … ping …
Following the signal, Andrew left the path and pushed his way through the ferns to a patch of sand.
Suddenly the ground beneath his feet felt as squishy as a bowl of pudding.
“Yikes!” yelled Andrew.
The sand was slurping him down!
“Andrew!” yelled Judy. “Get out of there!”
“I can’t!” said Andrew.
meep … “Quicksand!” said Thudd.
Andrew kicked his feet to keep from sinking, but the harder he kicked, the quicker he sank.
Andrew tossed the DNA Detector to Judy. Then he pulled Thudd out of his pocket and put him on top of his head to keep him dry. Thudd was never supposed to get wet.
meep … “Drewd can float on top of quicksand,” said Thudd. “Quicksand is plain sand with lotsa water underneath. Drewd gotta stop kicking. Kicking make Drewd get sucked down fast, fast, fast! Drewd gotta move slow, slow, slow. Then float.”
Andrew stopped kicking. As soon as he did, he stopped sinking. He put his head back. Thudd crept onto his forehead. Andrew slowly pulled his legs up.
“YES!” said Andrew. He floated on his back and pushed the sand with his hands. Soon he arrived at the edge of the small pool of quicksand.
Judy leaned toward Andrew. “Grab my hand, Bug-Brain,” she said.
Andrew reached out, but he wasn’t close enough.
THUMMMPP … THUMMMPP … THUMMMPP …
The ground was shaking.
meep … “Is a—“
“Tyrannosaurus rex!” yelled a familiar voice.
It was Beeper! He pushed his way through a clump of ferns toward Judy.
“Pee-yoooo!” he said. “Something smells like dinosaur poop. Hey! It’s you!”
“Cheese Louise!” yelled Judy. “Help me drag Bug-Brain out of the quicksand before we all get eaten!”
THUMMMPP … THUMMMPP … THUMMMPP …
The footsteps were faster now. The quicksand jiggled with every step.
RRROHHHURROHRR!
High above the ferns appeared a head as big as a refrigerator. Dark, ragged stuff was stuck between its dagger teeth.
The dinosaur’s tiny arms waved excitedly. With each step, it crossed the distance of a room.
Beeper belly-flopped onto the quicksand. Judy was as frozen as a snowman.
“Oody!” shouted Thudd. “Jump in!”
RRROHHHURROHRR!
The sound hurt Andrew’s ears. “Judy!” he yelled. “Get in here!”
Judy shivered, dropped the DNA Detector, and plopped into the squishy stuff.
The Tyrannosaurus was at the edge of the quicksand pond. It stopped and looked down.
Andrew heard Judy’s teeth chattering. He felt a scream creeping up his throat, but he knew that screaming would be a bad idea.
The huge head lurched toward the sand.
“Hold your breath and duck your head under the quicksand,” he whispered to the others.
Andrew took a gulp of air and dunked his head into the cool sand. He tried not to sink too low. He couldn’t let himself get sucked into the sand, and he couldn’t let Thudd get wet.
RRRRROOOOHHRRR!
The Tyrannosaurus’s roar was a rumble in Andrew’s mud-filled ears.
Suddenly he felt something scratch his scalp. Could it be … a Tyrannosaurus claw? In a second, it was gone. And something else was gone—Thudd!
Andrew lifted his head out of the quicksand. He was nose to toes—huge, clawed toes—with the Tyrannosaurus! He looked up past the enormous scaly legs. The dinosaur was holding something shiny in its little front claws.
Thudd! thought Andrew.
The Tyrannosaurus turned and trudged away.
In a few seconds, Judy and Beeper popped to the surface for air. Judy wiped mud from her face. Beeper blew sand out of his nose.
“The Tyrannosaurus has Thudd,” Andrew whispered.
Andrew, Judy, and Beeper grabbed branches hanging over the edge of the quicksand and pulled themselves onto solid ground.
“Uh-oh,” said Andrew, looking at his bare feet. “The quicksand sucked off my slippers.”
“Me too,” said Judy. “This is just great. We’re barefoot and we’ve lost our poopy ferns.”
“I’ve got an idea how we can get Thudd back,” said Andrew. “Run to the other side of the quicksand. Hurry!”
As soon as they reached the far side, Andrew cupped his hands around his mouth and started yelling. “Come and get it, Tyrannosaurus!”
“WHAT?” yelled Judy, clapping her hands over Andrew’s mouth.
Andrew pulled her hands away.
“We’ve got to get the Tyrannosaurus to come back,” he said. “When it tries to get us, it’ll fall into the quicksand. Then it’ll have to use its claws to get out, so it’ll have to drop Thudd.”
“You’ve got a major case of nuts-o!” groaned Judy.
“Super idea!” said Beeper. “Hooeeey!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Hooeeey!”
“Hey, Tyrannosaurus!” yelled Andrew. “Delicious kids here! Here, dino, dino, dino!”
“Oh well,” said Judy, rolling her eyes. “Hey, fatso!” she yelled. “Get your big, ugly tail over here!”
The Tyrannosaurus stopped. It turned.
RRROHHHURROHRR! it bellowed.
The front of its body leaned forward. Its tail stuck out straight behind. It began racing toward them at an awful speed.
Andrew was sweating with fear, but he waved his hands so the Tyrannosaurus would be sure to see him.
As the Tyrannosaurus lunged toward them, one of its legs sank into the quicksand! The enormous creature teetered, twisted, and fell onto its back. It was so huge that its body stretched clear across the quicksand pond. The top half crashed to the ground right in front of Andrew.
“Run!” yelled Andrew to Judy and Beeper. “Head for the forest!”
RRROHHHURROHRR!
Andrew was so close that he got a stinky blast of Tyrannosaurus breath. It smelled like a garbage dump.
The dinosaur’s little arms were thrashing. It was still holding Thudd in its claws!
Andrew stayed out of range of the sharp hooks. But as they came by, Andrew swatted at Thudd.
Thudd fell to the ground.
meep … “Scared! Scared! Scared!” said Thudd.
“It’s okay Thudd,” said Andrew, scooping Thudd up.
He ran to the other side of the quicksand pond, picked up the DNA Detector where Judy had dropped it, and raced to catch up with the others.
meep … “Hurry, Drewd!” yelped Thudd. “Tyrannosaurus get out soon!”
“It’s going to be one angry dinosaur when it does,” said Andrew, running fast.
He was almost out of breath when he heard a voice.
“Hot doggies!” came a shout. It was Beeper.
The ground got swampier as Andrew followed the voice into the forest. He sloshed through the muck in his bare feet.
When he found Beeper and Judy they were waist-deep in a stream. Judy was washing quicksand out of her hair.
“Come on in!” said Beeper, slapping the water at Andrew.
Andrew looked around. The trees were thick. It didn’t look like the Tyrannosaurus could follow them here.
Hmmmmm …, thought Andrew. It sure would feel good to get this quicksand off of me.
SLUUUUURRRSHHHHHH …
Andrew turned toward the slithery sound.
Something as big as a giant tree trunk was sliding into the water—a tree trunk with dead-looking eyes….
EEEK! “Crocodile!” squeaked Thudd. “Super-crocodile! Eat dinosaurs for lunch!”
Andrew had seen crocodiles at the zoo, but this one was so much bigger than those. This crocodile was longer than a dump truck!
Judy didn’t see the crocodile. She was digging sand out of her ears.
“Everybody out!” yelled Andrew.
“Eeeeeyah!” yelled Judy as she stumbled and flopped through the water.
Beeper had already sloshed his way to the muddy stream bank.
meep … “Crocodile bite strong, strong, strong!” said Thudd. “No animal bite hard as super-crocodile bite. Not even Tyrannosaurus!”
Andrew left Thudd and the DNA Detector on a flat stone. He splashed into the water and yanked Judy up.
BROOOAAARRR!
A rumble like a terrible toilet flushing came from behind them. Andrew turned to see the crocodile lunge forward. It opened its mouth so wide, Uncle Al could have stood up inside it! It slammed its toothy jaws shut so fast that Andrew didn’t see them close.
“Yeeeeeouch!” screamed Judy. “It’s got my hair!”
The crocodile was pulling Judy backward through the water.
“Yaaaaaaaaaaaah!” she screamed.
Andrew grabbed one of Judy’s legs.
“Beeper!” yelled Andrew.
Beeper was holding Thudd up to his ear.
“Hoo boy!” yelled Beeper. “Thudd says we gotta hit the croc on the nose!”
He picked up a stone and threw it. It splashed down in front of Andrew.
Judy reached behind her. She began to beat the crocodile on the nose with her fists.
Whap! Whap! Whap!
The crocodile snapped its jaws open for a second and Judy tugged her head away!
Beeper threw another rock. It landed in front of the crocodile. The crocodile dove to search for it.
Andrew and Judy scrambled out of the water. All three of them ran deeper into the forest.
After a few minutes, they were out of breath and stopped.
“Here ya go,” said Beeper, handing Thudd back to Andrew.
meep … “Oody okey-dokey?” squeaked Thudd.
“Yeah,” said Judy, “but my hair feels shorter.”
Andrew broke off a large leaf from a tree and wrapped it around Thudd.
“My pockets are wet,” he said, putting Thudd in his pajama pocket. “This leaf will keep you dry.”
RRROHHHURROHRR!
THUMMMPP … THUMMMPP … THUMMMPP …
The ground shook.
meep … “Tyrannosaurus come back!” squeaked Thudd.
“Not again!” hollered Judy.
Andrew couldn’t see the dinosaur through the trees, but the thumps were getting louder.
KRAAAAAACK! KRUNNNCHHH!
Trees were snapping! The Tyrannosaurus was knocking them down!
They ran deeper into the forest. Andrew spied a rocky wall ahead. He couldn’t see a way around it. They were trapped!
“We’ve got to climb that wall!” shouted Andrew.
Andrew started up first. The black rock was jagged and rough on his bare feet, but he found places to step and places to grab. There were small trees growing between cracks in the rock. Andrew hung on to these, too, as he scrambled up.
“Hoo boy!” said Beeper, following. “This is better than the climbing wall at the mall. They make you wear a harness.”
They reached a place where the rock
wall was smooth and bare. Andrew couldn’t see a way to get any farther up.
The Tyrannosaurus had reached the rock wall. Its scaly head was close to their feet.
RRROHHHURROHRR!
The sound shook Andrew’s bones and made his ears ache.
The edge of Andrew’s ledge began to crumble. He pushed his feet closer together.
Judy was standing on a ledge next to Andrew. Her ledge was crumbling, too.
“So what do we do now, Bug-Brain?” she asked. “We’re thirty seconds away from turning into a Tyranno-snack.”
“Just hang on,” said Andrew. “Maybe it will go away when it figures out it can’t get us.”
The Tyrannosaurus’s tiny arms were ripping bushes out of the cliff. The dinosaur was trying to climb up! Pieces of stone cracked away from the cliff and rained down to the ground below.
“Or maybe it will wait till there’s an avalanche and we fall into its mouth,” said Judy.
Suddenly something thick and green dropped down in front of Andrew. It was a rope made of vines!
“It’s safe,” came a voice from above. “All three of you can climb up.”
Andrew threw the end of the rope to Judy and she passed it to Beeper.
RRROHHHURROHRR!
Andrew climbed up quickly.
When he got close to the top of the cliff, he saw a tall woman in jeans and a T-shirt holding the rope. Long braids that hung all the way to her waist were tied back with a scarf.
“Well, hello, Andrew and Thudd!” she said, smiling. “And I see Judy right behind you.”
“Hiya!” squeaked Thudd.
“Hi there!” said Andrew, hauling himself onto flat ground. “You must be Professor Wilde! But how do you know me and Judy?”
Winka laughed. “Your uncle Al talks about you all the time.”
Judy and Beeper dragged themselves over the edge of the cliff.
Beeper went up to Winka and stuck out his hand. “I’m Beeper Jones,” he said. “Doctor Kron-Tox is my uncle. I know he kidnapped you. He even parked me three hundred million years ago to collect bugs.
“My uncle is kinda weird. But I sure liked collecting the bugs, especially the dog-sized scorpion and the six-foot-long centipede.”
With the Dinosaurs Page 2