“Dinosaurs,” Raymond whispered, staring at the creatures in the distance.
“I can’t believe it,” Hugh said, astonished. “I just can’t believe it! They’re so—so—”
“Big!” Raymond said.
“Right! Ain’t nothin’ alive stands that tall. Nothin’, I tell ya!”
Raymond stiffened as a thought struck him. “Hugh…do you believe in the hereafter?”
“Why?”
“The dinosaurs died out ages ago. If they’re here, then maybe we died too! Maybe this is heaven!”
Suddenly a rustling came from the brush behind the boys. A pink and yellow creature emerged. The calf-size dinosaur started making squawking sounds. They made no sense at first. Then the boys realized that the dinosaur was actually speaking to them.
“Not heaven, though some think it so,” she said. “I am Bix. Welcome you are. Welcome you both are. Welcome to Dinotopia.”
VISIT THE EXCITING WORLD OF
IN THESE BOOKS:
Windchaser by Scott Ciencin
River Quest by John Vornholt
Hatchling by Midori Snyder
Sabertooth Mountain by John Vornholt
Thunder Falls by Scott Ciencin
Firestorm by Gene DeWeese
The Maze by Peter David
Rescue Party by Mark A. Garland
Sky Dance by Scott Ciencin
Chomper by Donald E Glut
Survive! by Brad Strickland
Dolphin Watch by John Vornholt
DINOTOPIA TALES OF THE TROODON KNIGHTS
Lost City by Scott Ciencin
Return to Lost City by Scott Ciencin
The Explorers by Scott Ciencin
AND COMING SOON:
Oasis by Cathy Hapka
DINOTOPIA: WINDCHASER
Copyright © 2019 by BDSP, Inc.
Based on Dinotopia® by James Gurney. All rights reserved.
Cover illustration by Michael Welply.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Gurney Studios.
ISBN: 9781625361585
CHAPTER 1
September 20, 1863
Raymond Wilks sat on his bed, nervously handling his father’s pocketwatch. He didn’t have to look at its face to know the time. It was exactly one minute later than the last time he’d checked.
The thirteen-year-old waited alone in the cold, tiny cabin on the prison ship Redemption. His father was the ship’s surgeon. More than an hour ago, he was called above deck.
A storm raged, and lightning flashed through the porthole behind Raymond. Fists of hail beat against the glass in a furious rhythm. Shadows danced, and thunder rocked the walls. The cabin rose and fell, following the motions of the ship on the crashing waves.
The ship had sailed from London. It was bound for the penal colonies of Western Australia with a load of dangerous criminals. Days ago, the terrible storm had begun and blown the ship wildly off course. Today, the prisoners had taken advantage of the chaos and risen up against the crew.
All through the Redemption, a battle was raging. The prisoners were attempting to take control of the ship!
Suddenly, a shot rang out from the hall. Raymond shuddered as he heard a thump that sounded like a fallen body. The howls of angry men drifted close.
Another flash of lightning lit his cabin. Raymond saw his reflection in the glass of his extinguished reading lamp. A shock of brown hair fell across his forehead, and a haunted look crept into his wide blue eyes.
People often told Raymond how much he looked like his father. He had the same serious brow with the same strong, confident features in the making. But now Raymond could no longer see the resemblance. All he saw was his own terror.
Fighting back tears, Raymond felt ashamed of himself. He was acting like a child.
Before Stephen Wilks left, he gave his son strict orders to remain in their cabin with the door bolted shut until the trouble passed. Yet Raymond desperately wanted to run and find someone to tell him everything would be all right. He wanted his father to return to the cabin and calm him with his gentle smile.
A great wave caught the ship. Raymond cried out as the cabin lurched forward. The boy was tossed out of bed, onto the hard wood floor. He felt like a fledgling being hurled from the nest. Gathering his courage, Raymond rose to his knees and listened for a moment. The sounds in the corridor stopped.
The ship righted itself, sending Raymond sliding back into a wooden chest. He grabbed hold of it for support and hauled himself to his feet. The pocketwatch slipped from his hand. He picked it up and dropped it into his boot—a trick of his fathers. Raymond had seen him do this whenever they traveled through dark or dangerous terrain.
Raymond had once asked him, “Father, why not hide your money clip in your boot instead? If it’s thieves you’re worried about—”
“Money can be replaced,” Stephen Wilks had told his son. “Let them have the money, and perhaps they will search no further. This watch is special because of the memories attached to it. My father gave it to me the day I became a physician. And one day I will give it to you.”
“If I become a healer.”
His father had laughed. “No matter what path you choose, I will always be proud of you.”
A little more than an hour ago, his father pressed the pocketwatch into Raymond’s hands. A sad look came into the older man’s eyes when Raymond asked why he was being given the keepsake now.
“Just hold it for me,” his father said with a gentle smile. “I’ll be back for it. You’ll see.”
But he did not come back.
Now, more than an hour later, Raymond was going to find him. After taking in a deep breath, he unbolted the lock, eased open the door, and peered into the corridor.
Raymond could see nothing. The hall was shrouded in darkness. The lanterns that usually hung along the wall had either been taken or smashed.
Raymond’s knees became watery. A tightness formed in his stomach. He forced himself to think only of his father, then he left the cabin. He used the wall to guide him, and soon reached a ladder that would take him above deck.
He climbed to the top rung and stopped.
The trap door above him was closed. It took all of his strength to force it open. Icy wind and rain struck his face. He nearly lost his grip on the ladder. His flailing hand fell upon a coiled rope near the opening to the main deck. With determination born of fear, Raymond grabbed hold and pulled himself up.
The storm was worse than he imagined. He could see little more than a few feet before him. When he tried to stand, Raymond slipped on the slick hard wood of the deck. The breath was drummed out of him.
Above the rising wail of the wind, he heard pistol shots and the crashing of swords. Suddenly, a figure appeared before him.
“It’s the Wilks lad!” someone shouted.
“Come to join the party, has he?” another asked. The second man’s malevolent tone robbed Raymond of any hope that these men were crew members.
Raymond tried to scramble out of the path of the approaching figures, but his efforts were wasted. Someone else grabbed him from behind. He was hauled to his feet, his arms pinned behind his back.
A man carrying a lantern came forward. Pockmarks covered his face, and his eyebrows were a single line across his forehead. Long scraggly hair and an ill-kept beard framed his hard features.
“Greetings, son of Stephen Wilks, former ship’s surgeon,” the bearded man shouted over the storm. “I wonder if you will give us as much trouble as
your dear papa.”
Did this mean that his father was dead? Raymond would not believe it! “Where is my father?” Raymond cried.
The bearded man grinned, revealing a mouth filled with rotted teeth. “Gone, lad. We threw his body overboard! Same as we’re going to do to you.” With that, Raymond was hauled toward the side of the ship.
Thunder roared, and lightning ripped across the sky. A single bolt broke into three jagged branches. For an instant, the ship was lit up as if the sun had miraculously appeared.
In that brief moment, Raymond saw the black and churning sea. He thought of his father’s body sinking deeper, deeper into its bottomless depths.
This can’t be happening, Raymond thought. His father could not be dead! Raymond longed for a chance to touch him one more time. But even that had been denied him.
“Father!” Raymond cried into the wind.
The bearded man grabbed Raymond’s arm and hauled him to the rail. “Since you seem so intent on being close to your dear papa, I think I’ll send you right where he’s gone!”
Suddenly, before Raymond could be tossed into the sea, another figure leaped out of the storm. A heavy wooden object was brought down upon the bearded man. He sank to the deck, his lantern crashing and going out.
In the sudden darkness, Raymond felt a sharp wind rip past his left ear. The man who had been holding him from behind cried out and loosened his grip.
As lightning flashed across the sky again, Raymond saw a tall, thin young man standing over the body of the bearded convict. Raymond was startled to see that his savior was also a prisoner, and only a few years older than Raymond!
“These bloody fools can’t see what’s coming,” the black-haired stranger said as he grasped Raymond’s arm and pulled him toward the rail.
“But we can’t—” Raymond protested weakly. He could not believe it! Had this boy saved him only to send him to the same watery grave? But then, in the distance, Raymond saw a high gray wall racing their way.
The young prisoner was lean but strong. He gripped Raymond around the waist and launched both of them over the side. An instant later they struck the hard, churning waters, and vanished beneath them.
CHAPTER 2
The water was cold. Raymond broke the surface alone, gasping for breath. The older boy was floating beside him. For a minute, Raymond feared he would look back at the ship and see prisoners pointing their pistols at him. But when he turned, he saw something even more terrifying.
A huge, gray wave towered over the ship. It seemed to hesitate. On the ship’s deck, most of the men looked stunned. A few ran toward the rail.
“Swim, blast ya!” yelled the black-haired boy.
Raymond tried to force his paralyzed limbs into motion, but his mind was shutting down in the face of certain death. There was no point in trying to swim from here. The wave would be upon them before they were a hundred yards from the ship.
With a cry of frustration, the older boy grabbed the back of Raymond’s shirt collar and began to swim away. Flipping over, Raymond started to kick. He swam with a fury matched only by the young prisoner who had dragged him from the ship.
“That’s it, that’s right, come on!” the older boy cried. “Put your back into it, if ya want to live!”
Raymond did as he was commanded.
I don’t want to die, he thought. I want to live. I want to make all my father’s sacrifices mean something. I want to live!
Suddenly, several shapes appeared in the water beside the swimmers. They were dark and sleek, with fins that cut smoothly through the rough waves.
Raymond’s heart nearly stopped. Was he now going to become the main dish for two hungry sharks?
Then one of the shapes raised its head. Raymond gasped with relief as he looked into the noble face of a dolphin!
One of the dolphins glided beneath Raymond and rose up toward him, its fin suddenly appearing between his hands.
Extraordinary. Impossible. The dolphin seemed set on saving Raymond! Looking over, Raymond saw the other boy grab hold of the second dolphin’s fin. Raymond quickly did the same. The dolphin’s flesh was warm, despite the cool temperature of the ocean waters.
Behind him, Raymond heard the great wave crash down upon the ship. The sound rose above the endless drumming rain and churning waves. Raymond knew it would be a matter of only seconds before he felt the wave’s impact and was buried beneath the waters.
But suddenly, he was racing forward at a great speed. He felt the crush of water falling upon him, but by now he was clear of all but the tail end of the wave.
For a moment he and the dolphin were sent many feet below. In no time they were rising upward again, back to the surface. The currents created by the huge wave continued to propel them forward.
Raymond held on, though what little energy he had was now all but wasted. One hand gripping the fin, the other wrapped around the dolphins body, Raymond closed his eyes and hoped he would live to see daylight.
Some time later—hours, minutes, there was no way to tell—Raymond caught sight of a number of breakers. The other boy whooped and yelled, letting go of his dolphin and swimming toward the rocks.
The storm was lessening. In the rare flashes of lightning, Raymond saw the white sand of a shoreline.
“Thank you,” he whispered, then let go of the dolphin who had carried him to safety.
Moments later Raymond was climbing onto the rocks and grasping the arms of his rescuer. Together, they found their way to shore.
They both collapsed in exhaustion as a deep, dreamless sleep overcame them.
Raymond felt warmth seeping into him. It was wonderful! His eyes flickered open, and the glare of sunlight blinded him.
He rolled onto his side and stretched. The fine sand beneath him felt soft under his awakening body.
He yawned and, for a moment, even felt happy to be alive. Then thoughts came flooding back. He remembered the ship and his murdered father.
Raymond sat up. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked around him. Clear blue ocean waves gave way to the long, white sand beach. Beyond lay a dense green forest.
On the beach, several yards away, was a black-haired boy wearing what was left of a prisoners uniform. He was leaning on his elbows, staring out to sea. Raymond followed his gaze and was immediately taken by an odd vision.
Several dolphins raced back and forth, diving and bursting from the water. To Raymond, they seemed to perform a kind of aquatic ballet. The sight was both dazzling and strange.
“Don’t bloomin’ believe it,” the older boy said with a thick lower-class London accent. “But I think they been waitin’ to see ya was all right. All this hubbub started when ya come ’round.”
“Uh huh,” Raymond said, disoriented.
The older boy made his hand into a fist and showed the back of it to Raymond. “Quick! How many fingers am I holdin’ up?”
“That’s not funny,” Raymond said as he rose to his feet and stretched.
“Says who?”
The older boy looked back to the dolphins playing in the waters. He was thin and pale from his time in dark cells and the Redemptions hold. Nevertheless, he appeared quite strong, with curly black hair, bright green eyes, and sharp features. Though his clothes were torn, this boy gave off the pride and confidence of a prince.
Turning, Raymond looked toward the forest behind them. The flora was odd. Exotic, even. Though he was well traveled, he had never seen anything quite like it.
Something that looked like a pine cone the size of a man was plainly visible. Ferns grew from its crest. The trees were like palms, only stranger somehow—taller, fiercer. He was certain he spied oversized magnolias and ginkgos.
“The names Hugh O’Donovan, in case ya was wonderin’.”
The older boy’s words yanked Raymond away from his observations. Raymond looked over to his companion. “My name is—”
“Raymond Wilks. Yeah, I know. Your father was a good man. I’m sorry.”
; The thirteen-year-old turned his gaze downward. Tears began to choke him, and Raymond tried to hold them back. He did not want to cry in front of his new friend.
Then panic struck him. He yanked off his boot and turned it upside down. The pocketwatch tumbled out. Raymond clawed it from the cool sand and held it close.
The watch had stopped—just like his father’s heart. He pulled it away and stared at the cracked surface.
“What’s that?” Hugh asked.
“My father gave it to me,” Raymond said.
The older boy nodded and said nothing more.
“You saved my life,” Raymond said.
“Yeah. So?”
“I just—I wanted to say thank you.”
Hugh shrugged. An awkward silence followed. The dolphins finished their celebration and swam off. Hugh raised a hand in a slight wave.
Finally, Raymond asked, “Do you think anyone else survived?”
“I doubt anyone else had the brains to jump ship in time.” Hugh paused in thought, then added, “A lot o’ good men died last night.”
“Yes, the captain was very kind and—”
“I was talkin’ about the bloke I was chained up with.”
Raymond slipped the watch back into his boot. “Really?”
“Uh huh. Harry, he said his name was. Ya know what wicked crime he was payin’ for?”
Raymond shook his head.
“Stealin’ bread to feed his children. Odd part is, if he’d been fat and slow, they would’ve let him off! But Harry was young and strong—a real good worker—so he was put on the ship. Like me.”
“But that’s not fair,” said Raymond. “Why should a man’s sentence be decided by whether or not he’s a ‘good worker’?”
“Because the English crown has a bloomin’ new pact with the Aussies, that’s why!”
“Pardon?”
“The Australians. They need cheap workers, see?”
“Did your friend tell you all this?” Raymond asked. “The man you were chained up with?”
Hugh nodded. “The Aussies started all these townships out in the bloody boonies, way on the other side of the continent from their big cities in the east. So they need cheap workers to man their work camps and help build the west colonies up, y’see?”
Dinotopia: Windchaser Page 1