Digging For Trouble

by Linda Fairstein

  “Correction. Sticks,” Katie said. “Should I let Kyle in on what I’m thinking?”

  “That’s up to you. He’s kind of caught in the middle. Steve’s his friend, and he seems to know Chip Donner, too. But then, if he likes you, maybe he can keep a secret for a couple of days, until we figure this out.”

  “Would you tell Booker Dibble if they were your bones and he was along on the trip?” Katie asked. “He’s sort of to you what Kyle is to me.”

  “That’s insane,” I said. “Booker is like a brother to me. I’ve known him longer than I’ve known you. He’s my best guy friend. Practically family. I don’t have a crush on Booker. I can’t even figure why anyone would have a crush on him.”

  Katie opened her box and took out one of the three pieces, rolling it over and over in her hands as she eyed it. “Liza did when she was in New York last month. You told me that yourself.”

  “That’s Liza. Don’t put her feelings about Booker on me.”

  The tent flap lifted and Ling ducked under the edge of it to come in. “Way to go, Katie,” she said. “Isn’t it exciting to make a find?”

  “She’s thrilled,” I said, filling in for Katie’s momentary lack of enthusiasm. “Can we have a look at your tooth?”

  “Of course,” Ling said, bending over to put her box down beside Katie’s.

  My sleeping bag was head-to-head with Katie’s, while the foot of Ling’s bag was practically touching the bottom of Katie’s. I crawled over to check out the dental specimen.

  I opened the plastic box and saw a gigantic tooth, resting on camel matting “That’s huge!” I said.

  “Isn’t it? And it’s in perfect condition,” Ling said. “You can pick it up.”

  “What are you going to do with it?” I asked, nervously rubbing the surface of the ancient tooth.

  “I’ll give it to Steve, of course, for his research project,” Ling said. “I just want to have it beside me for the night. Like Steve said, I’m the first human to lay eyes on this fossil.”

  “Is it the first one you’ve ever found?” I asked.

  “Oh, no. But the first in Montana,” Ling said. “I’m from China. I’m just here for graduate school. I’ve done a whole bunch of digs in the Gobi Desert.”

  “Mongolia? You’ve actually been there?”

  “Six times. I’m getting my degree in paleontology. The Gobi is one of the most spectacular places in the world,” Ling said, and then she laughed. “In fact, there are Mongolian Badlands, just like the territory here. I’ve dug at Flaming Cliffs, the most famous dinosaur location in the world.”

  “Where is Mongolia anyway?” Katie asked.

  “It’s north of China, and south of Russia.”

  “Katie, I swear, it’s like you’ve forgotten all your geography once summer break started,” I said. “Mongolia is totally landlocked. Worse than Montana. It’s where Genghis Khan started his empire.”

  “I’m just distracted,” Katie said, tapping on the lid of her plastic box. “Would you trust Mr. Paulson with your treasure, Ling?”

  “Of course I would. He’s going to be working with a team at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and I’ll be bringing some of the specimens there myself next week.”

  “We love that museum,” I said. “It’s the favorite place of every kid in New York.”

  “It’s mine, too,” Ling said. “You’ll have to come visit me there.”

  “Listen, Ling,” I said, “will you take a look at Katie’s bones?”

  “I’m happy to do that. I’m not sure I can give you any more information than what you know, just with the naked eye.”

  “Well, what does your tooth tell you?” I asked. “Steve says a tooth is full of information.”

  Ling hesitated. “Under a microscope, he’ll be able to tease out more important details about these things. He’ll be able to compare it to teeth of species that have already been identified.”

  “But what can you find out without a microscope?” Katie said.

  “My first guess is that this animal was a grinder—that he was processing plant food, as opposed to eating meat.”

  “How would you know that?” I asked.

  “Because carnivores—carnosaurs, as we call them—usually have teeth with serrated edges, kind of like steak knives. I can’t quite see—”

  “Wait a minute,” I said, hurrying over to my backpack and extracting my favorite tool. “Will this help?”

  “A magnifying glass?” Ling asked as she held up the tooth to look at it through the lens. “You really came prepared.”

  “Dev didn’t come prepared for dinosaurs, Ling,” Katie said. “She thinks she’s a detective. Dev carries that thing around almost everywhere she goes because that’s what Nancy Drew did.”

  Ling laughed.

  “Would you please look at Katie’s bones with my magnifying glass?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  Ling turned the first piece over and over again, under the lens. She did the same with the second piece, without saying a word.

  “Aren’t Katie’s bones talking to you?” I said.

  Ling pursed her lips. “They’re not saying much, girls. That’s why getting them to a real museum is so impor-tant. There’s all kinds of sophisticated imaging the museum paleontologists can do. I’m still just a student.”

  I sat back on my heels, more confused than ever about what Katie had found and whether Chip Donner—under the watchful eye of Steve Paulson—had switched out her bones for ordinary old sticks.

  “I’ll see you two later,” Ling said. “I’m going to hang out with the other grad students for a while. I’m leaving the tooth in your care.”

  Katie and I knew what an honor that was, and that Ling would be close by so we really didn’t have to worry about her special treasure. We changed into our pajamas and waited for Kyle to come back to the tent.

  “Let’s not tell Kyle about Chip Donner tonight,” I said to Katie. “Ling’s almost an expert and she couldn’t even give us a clue about what’s going on.”

  “I trust Kyle completely.”

  “I know you do. I just don’t want to put him in a tough situation, between two groups of people he likes,” I said. “It wouldn’t be fair to him.”

  The flap of the tent rustled and I sat up with a start. “What’s that?”

  Kyle came through with water bottles and flashlights. “What did you think it was, Dev—a bear?”

  I took a few deep breaths to calm down. “Katie’s the one who’s afraid of bears.”

  “You bet I am,” she said.

  “Let’s level the playing field, Kyle,” I said, reaching for water. “You’ve been to New York, cowboy. Did anything scare you there?”

  Kyle lay down on top of his sleeping bag, one arm behind his head, and gave it a few moments’ thought.

  “Okay,” he said. “Sure. I was pretty much afraid of being underground, all closed in with no way to see the sky, riding on subway trains.”

  Katie laughed at him. “I can’t believe it. You never told me that, Kyle. Dev and I ride the subway every day.”

  “Well, I didn’t like it,” he said. “How about you, Dev? What’s got you spooked out here?”

  “Truth?” I said. “You’re not going to play another mean trick on me, are you?”

  “No way.”

  “Snakes,” I said, almost quivering as I spoke the word. “Katie’s dad says there are rattlesnakes out here, all over the place.”

  “We got plenty of those,” Kyle said with a mischievous grin. “I can wrangle one up for you if you like.”

  “You promised, Kyle. No games,” I said, pulling my knees up to my chest. “So name something else that scared you in New York.”

  He thought for another few seconds. “Tall buildings. We don’t have anything
in Big Timber more than two stories high,” he said. “Skyscrapers make me woozy.”

  “Like where Katie lives,” I said, slapping my knees. “I can’t believe it. What’s scary about them?”

  “Not her apartment exactly,” Kyle said. “Great big ones, like the Empire State Building. The Cions took me up to the observation deck on the top, and I thought I was going to lose my lunch.”

  “That’s so crazy,” Katie said. “Dev and I could dance around the edge up there with our ballet slippers on. She and I used to take dance lessons together. Who knew heights like those made you nervous?”

  “This is good for all of us,” I said. “I mean, to talk this all out. My mom says it’s okay to have fears of some things, as long as we know what they are and try to deal with them.”

  “Here we go,” Katie said. “That’s Dev’s mother talking. Did I tell you, Kyle, that Dev’s mom is the police commissioner of New York City? I mean, the entire city. And she’s the first woman ever to hold that job.”

  I was the one blushing now, biting my lip. I was so fiercely proud of my mother, who had been appointed to that powerful position by the city’s mayor.

  “I mean, when we’re home, Kyle,” Katie said, “Dev acts like she’s not afraid of anything. Nothing. That’s because she’s got the entire police force to back her up.”

  Kyle looked at me with all new respect. “That really rocks, Dev.”

  “Thanks, but I have nothing to do with it,” I said. “It’s all about my mother.”

  “What frightens you out here, Katie?” Kyle asked.

  “Mountain lions, for sure.”

  “There are mountain lions on your property?” I asked. “When were you going to tell me that?”

  “I spend so much time looking down in the tall grass so I can avoid rattlesnakes,” she said, “that my father keeps reminding me that the big cats pounce on you from above, where they hide in the limbs of trees.”

  “You were right the first time, Kyle,” I said. “These really are the Badlands.”

  “Not as bad as New York,” he said. “I hate crowds, Dev. I hate all that pushing and shoving that people do to get where they want to go. I sort of worry that I’ll be swept away with them and get lost.”

  “Don’t worry about that, Kyle. You come back to New York and I’m betting Katie won’t ever let you slip away in the crowd.”

  Katie tapped me on my head, which I had finally rested on my pillow.

  “That’s your whole list, Dev?” Kyle asked. “You bunking down for the night?”

  “It’s all I can think of for now.”

  “Then just be sure to shake out your moccasins in the morning, before you step into them,” Kyle said.

  “Why’s that?” I said.

  I looked down at the floor of the tent and almost gagged. A gigantic black creature with a bunch of legs and a long tail was crawling into my moccasin. It was a scorpion, making himself at home in my shoe, and starting to move it across the carpet, like he was driving it away. I let out a scream that was loud enough to bring everyone running to our tent.

  4

  Kyle picked up my moccasin and calmly walked out through the flap to dispose of the venomous creature.

  Steve Paulson followed Kyle back inside.

  “I’m so sorry for bothering you, Steve,” I said. “The scorpion kind of freaked me out.”

  “No problem at all, Dev. They come with the territory. Just be sure you close your eyes and start by counting sheep, like Mr. Cion has out back on the ranch,” Steve said, turning to walk out. “Don’t you conjure up visions of anything with eight arachnid legs or a tail that rattles when it’s unhappy. Scorpions won’t come after you. Just don’t step on him or you’ll feel that stinger. Better count sheep till you get drowsy.”

  I’d be counting for a very long time before I relaxed enough to fall asleep.

  “This time tomorrow we’ll be bunking in our own beds back at the house,” Katie said. “My brother is great at squishing bugs.”

  “I’m concentrating on the dig,” I said. Wilhelmina Ditchley had aimed to inspire confidence in her girls with every difficult experience. She’d never have let a scorpion set her back. “I want to find some fossils, too, and we’ve only got one day left.”

  “Kyle?” Katie said in her softest voice. “Maybe you and I can sit up for a while, over here on my sleeping bag, and keep a lookout for scorpions and stuff like that? Let Dev get plenty of rest for tomorrow.”

  That one really made me smile. I’d have to give Katie some lessons in subtlety when we got home. Did she really think she’d be making the tent safe for me by rubbing toes with Kyle Lowry?

  I rolled over and slid down till my feet touched the bottom of my sleeping bag. The day’s work in such intense heat had tired me out.

  I was pretty determined not to leave Montana empty-handed, so I zoned out on Katie’s chatter and set my thoughts on dinosaurs.

  I was awakened by the noise of Ling rolling up her sleeping bag and gathering her belongings together.

  “Good morning,” I said to Ling and Katie as I pushed myself up and reached for my clothes. “What happened to Kyle? Did you talk him out of the tent last night?”

  “Not funny,” Katie said. “He actually prefers to sleep out under the stars. It had nothing to do with me personally.”

  “You’ll be so much smarter once you turn twelve next week. Wait and see,” I said.

  “If you two girls want to see something really spectacular, get ready as fast as you can,” Ling said, “and we’ll run down to the foot of the gulch and watch the sun come up over the ridge, before Steve and his team arrive. By the time they have their coffee at the campsite, they’ve missed the most beautiful part of the day.”

  “I’m game. C’mon, Katie.”

  “What about my bones?” she said, holding up the plastic box.

  “They’ll be perfectly fine right here,” Ling said, “alongside my tooth. Even if you do get permission to keep them from the man who owns this land, you’d be doing a good thing if you let Steve have your fossils to study.”

  Katie placed her box on the ground. I could tell she was reluctant to leave it.

  We went outside together to wash up and brush our teeth. Kyle was sitting on a log, looking out over the dig site while he waited for us.

  “Here’s an energy bar for each of you,” Ling said, passing them out. “It’s better than weighing ourselves down with bacon and eggs at the start of the day. We can grab something more later on. Ready to head down?”

  “Sure,” Kyle said. “I told Steve we’d be waiting for him at the bottom. We can’t start till he gets here and gives us instructions for the day.”

  “Of course not,” Ling said.

  Kyle led us down a trail off to the side of the gulch. We wound our way down and around the scrub and sagebrush until we came to a clearing. The hillside looked even more daunting than it did the day before—higher and steeper, barren of all vegetation, and bound to be hotter once the sun reached its position overhead.

  “Can you see the Crazies?” Ling asked.

  “That’s no way to talk about those nice people we’re digging with,” I said, laughing at her.

  “Not unless you mean Chip Donner,” Katie said.

  Katie could hold a grudge, that’s for sure. She was still edgy about the fact that Liza and I had solved a crime last month without her help.

  “The Crazies aren’t people,” Ling said. “It’s a mountain range—that one in the distance with snow on the peaks.”

  “The Crazy Mountains?” I asked. I looked off to the west, just where the ball of sunlight over my shoulder was dancing on the snowcapped points. “That’s really what they’re called?”

  “They got their name when settlers were moving west through here, and the Native Americans—the Crows—used to ride up int
o the mountains because that’s where they saw visions,” Ling said. “Spiritual things.”

  “Badlands,” Katie said, keeping her eye on Kyle, who had wandered off and headed up the slope. “The Crazies. Bear paw markings and snakeskins that have been shed. It all kind of makes me long for Manhattan. Piano lessons and homework don’t seem so bad anymore.”

  Kyle was climbing fast now, probably higher than he should have been without Steve here to guide us.

  Ling cupped her hands around her mouth and called out to him. “Better get back down, Kyle. Steve’s in charge, you know.”

  He dropped to his knees on the brown sandstone. “You’ve got to see this, Ling! You’re not going to believe it.”

  Ling bolted in Kyle’s direction and I was only a few steps behind her. “You found something already?”

  “Wait up!” Katie yelled.

  “Grow those legs, Katie,” I said. “You’re moving slower than a brontosaurus.”

  “Oh, no!” Ling shouted, trying to keep up with Kyle as he got to his feet and veered off the hillside as though he was following a trail. “They’re tire tracks. And they’re right near where I found the tooth yesterday.”

  She pointed at the flame-colored orange circle she had spray-painted on the hill to mark her discovery.

  Kyle Lowry was standing still. “Look at this, Ling. There’s been a bulldozer here during the night. A small one, all right—like the size of a riding lawn mower—but big enough for someone to scoop something out of the bone bed with the bucket on the front of it.”

  “This is exactly where I was going to start digging today,” she said, leaning over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. “That was going to be my treasure to find.”

  “Hold on,” I said. “Aren’t you jumping the gun here? You don’t have any proof that someone found fossils during the night. There’s no evidence that something was taken out of the dirt, is there?”

  “You may know a lot about evidence, Dev, but I’ve been on dozens of digs,” Ling said. “This is what poachers do. They’re trespassers. They sneak into digs sometimes in the middle of the night.”

  Kyle kicked at the dirt with the toe of his boot. “It’s a big problem out west. Poachers trespass on private property when there are so many acres you can’t watch over all of them, like on this ranch.”