Kate and the Wyoming Fossil Fiasco

by Janice Hanna

  She startled to attention as she heard Conner’s voice.

  “I … I’m sorry. What?”

  He gave her a funny look. “Were you daydreaming? I was asking if you would like to be the first one to use your tools to excavate.”

  “Um, sure.” She reached for her chisel and moved to a spot next to him. Then, as he instructed, she began to chip away at the ground. Kate whispered up a prayer, asking the Lord to help her during this very exciting week. What would He unearth? Only time would tell!

  Unearthing New Clues

  After just a few minutes of digging, Conner and Megan dismissed the campers to the main building for lunch. Kate’s tummy grumbled in anticipation. She could hardly wait to eat.

  McKenzie looked her way. “What did it feel like, Kate?” she asked. “Using the chisel, I mean.”

  Kate shrugged. “I didn’t really get to dig long enough to find anything, but it was fun.”

  “It was just a practice run,” Megan said, stepping alongside her. “We always choose one camper to demonstrate. You did great! I have a feeling you’ll do fine at excavating.” “If I can just pay attention,” Kate said, then laughed. “What do you mean?” Megan looked at her curiously. “I just mean that my mind wanders,” Kate explained. “I’m usually thinking of other things and other people.” Like my teacher. And the Camp Club girls. And Dexter. For some reason, she couldn’t help feeling a little guilty about the fact that she was having so much fun and he was back at Yellowstone without her.

  “Well, I don’t know about you, but I was thinking about lunch!” Megan laughed. She hollered out to the group. “Follow me to the lunchroom, everyone!”

  They walked around the back of the building, past a door that read PRIVATE, and kept going until they came to a door leading to the lunchroom. As they entered, Joel walked beside Kate and McKenzie.

  “Did you have fun?” he asked.

  “Yes.” Kate nodded. “Can I ask you a question, Joel?”

  “Sure.” He shrugged.

  “Can you tell me about the fossils you’ve found? The valuable ones, I mean. And don’t leave out a thing. I have a lot to learn and I have a feeling you could teach me what I need to know.”

  He nodded. “Sure, but it might be easier to show you. After lunch I’ll take you into the museum as we can talk about the fossils I found and actually see them at the same time. Like I said, the most valuable ones are still here. I couldn’t take them with me.”

  McKenzie’s eyes widened. “I still can’t get over the fact that you’re just a camper like us, but you actually have fossils on display here. That’s so cool.”

  He shrugged. “It’s really not that big of a deal.”

  “Not that big of a deal?” Kate stared at him. How could he say that? “Those fossils were buried deep in the earth thousands of years ago! Of course it’s a big deal.”

  When he shrugged again, she thought about how strange he was acting. Maybe her feelings about him earlier were right. Something about this guy was suspicious. Maybe Joel really wanted Conner’s job. Maybe he was really the one who had forged the fossils. But why would he do such a thing? To make someone else look bad, perhaps? None of this made sense. And if he did do it, how would she ever prove it? There was only one way. She had to win his confidence. And then she had to somehow get his fingerprints.

  Kate and McKenzie got their trays and walked to the lunch counter to get their food.

  “I’m starving!” Kate said. “I can’t wait to eat my lunch. Then I’m going back to the cabin and eat some of the cookies my mom packed for me.” She gazed at the plate, confused. “What is this stuff?” she asked.

  “Oh, they always give us fun stuff at mealtime,” Joel explained. He pointed to the fish sticks. “They call these Knightia Nuggets. Get it?” She shook her head. “You know. Knightia,” Joel repeated.

  When she shook her head a second time, he explained. “Knightia is an extinct species of fish, found in Wyoming. They’re trying to be funny and clever. Today it’s fish. Tomorrow they’ll probably serve us chicken legs and call them dinosaur bones. It’s supposed to get us in the mood to excavate.”

  “Oooh, I see.” Kate smiled.

  “Very funny.” McKenzie led the way to the table and sat down.

  As they ate, the girls from Kate and McKenzie’s dorm all gathered around with their food. One of them—what was her name, again? Lauren? Yes, Lauren. She acted as if she had a little crush on Joel. Not that he noticed. He just kept talking about fossils, fossils, and more fossils. Half of the things he talked about Kate could figure out. The rest? Well, some of it just didn’t make sense. This guy really knew his stuff!

  “Do you feel like you have a lot to learn?” McKenzie whispered in Kate’s ear.

  She nodded. “Yes, and I don’t think a three-day camp is long enough! I never realized how little I knew about all of this. But I’m willing to learn.”

  “Me, too.” McKenzie nodded. “And I can’t wait to share what we learn with the other Camp Club Girls.”

  They enjoyed their lunch and getting to know the others. Kate especially liked Patti, who kept them entertained with stories about her friends at school.

  “She reminds me of Bailey,” McKenzie whispered.

  “I know!” Kate grinned. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  Before long, McKenzie told the others about Kate’s gadgets. “You should see all of her stuff!” she said. “She has a pen that records text, a miniature camera, a digital recorder, and a wristwatch that sends e-mails.”

  “No way.” Joel looked at her as if he didn’t quite believe it.

  “It’s true.” Kate lifted her wrist and showed off the watch. “I’ll send an e-mail right now.”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Lauren asked, looking stunned.

  “Nope.” She typed a quick e-mail to Elizabeth.

  Thanks for your prayers. We made it to the quarry safely.

  Then she pushed the tiny SEND button. Joel looked on, still not looking convinced.

  A couple of minutes later, the little watch let out a beep and she pushed a button, showing off Elizabeth’s e-mail response.

  Glad you made it. Talk to you tonight online!

  “See!” She held her watch up for Joel to read the note. He shook his head. “Man. That’s really something. What else have you got?”

  “Oh, bunches of stuff. My dad is a robotics professor. You should see the cool electronics we have at home. Robots galore!”

  “No way.” Joel stared at her. “Are you serious?”

  “Yep. We even have a robotic security system. And a robovac to clean our carpets. His name is Robby.”

  “Her dad always gives her the neatest things,” McKenzie explained.

  “Well, sometimes his students invent things and we end

  up with the beta versions.”

  “What’s your favorite thing?” he asked.

  “Hmm.” She thought about it for a minute before answering. “Probably the wristwatch. But I love my mirrored sunglasses, too. They’ve come in really handy.”

  “Did you bring them with you?”

  “Sure.” She shrugged. “I’ll wear them to the dig this afternoon if you like.”

  “That would be cool.” He gave her an admiring look and she felt embarrassed. She finished up her meal then quickly changed the subject.

  “Do we have time to look in the museum before we head back out to the excavation site?”

  “Plenty of time,” he said. “They always give us an hour break after lunch, anyway. Would you like to go look at my fossils now?”

  “Sure. Why not.”

  Kate and McKenzie trudged along on his heels as he led the way to the small museum. As they walked inside, Kate noticed an older man with thinning hair carrying some large boxes. He was dressed in dark pants and a Stone’s Throw work shirt. Both were wrinkled and dirty. And his hair—what little of it there was—was sticking up on top of his head. In fact, it looked like it hadn’t been
combed all day.

  The sour-faced man grunted as the kids walked by. “You kids watch where you’re going and stay out of my way,” he mumbled. He began to mutter something under his breath

  about how kids were always getting under his feet, and Kate took a giant step away from him. She wondered why he was in such a terrible mood.

  “Who is that guy?” she whispered as they turned toward the first display.

  “Oh, that’s Gus,” Joel said with a shrug. “He’s only been here a couple of years. Gus is the one who packs and ships the fossils. If I were you, I wouldn’t bother him. He’s a little cranky.”

  The older man almost dropped one of the boxes.

  “See what you did?” he said with a grunt. “You kids made me lose my train of thought. I almost dropped this.”

  He carried the boxes to the door marked PRIVATE, then put them down on the ground to open it. Seconds later, he disappeared inside.

  “What’s he cranky about?” McKenzie asked. “We didn’t do anything to him.”

  “I know.” Joel shook his head. “I’ve never been able to figure him out. Trust me. No one has.”

  “Still, he needs to be nicer to people,” Kate said. “There’s no excuse for being so mean.”

  “Sounds like he’s got a great job,” McKenzie added. “I think it would be fun to prepare the fossils and ship them all over the country. I think it would be a blast. A person with a job like that should be in a good mood!”

  “I know.” Joel shook his head. “I’ve never understood why, but he’s always moody. I’ve just learned to stay away

  from him. And trust me, I’ve been coming here for years, so I know what I’m talking about. Everyone around here calls him Grumpy Gus.”

  Kate frowned. “Maybe he’s in a bad mood because people stay away from him. I’ll be extra nice to him for the next few days and see if I can get him to smile.”

  “Good luck with that!” Joel laughed. “You won’t be the first person to try, and you certainly won’t be the last. But I’ll bet you can’t get him to smile, Kate.”

  “Oh really!” She took those words as a challenge. Before fossil camp was over, she would get Grumpy Gus to smile, no doubt about it.

  As they entered the museum, she looked at the door the older man had walked through. “What’s back there?” she asked.

  “That’s where Gus works,” Joel explained. “I’ve only been back there a couple of times. If you want to know more, ask Conner. He hangs out in there a lot. It’s where the fossils are cleaned and prepared for packing.”

  Kate nodded, but didn’t say anything. She couldn’t help but try to figure out what lay behind that door with the word PRIVATE on it.

  McKenzie cleared her throat and Kate looked her way. “What?” she mouthed.

  “I’ll tell you later,” McKenzie whispered. “Something about that man seemed suspicious. Maybe we can talk about it later this evening when we’re alone.”

  Kate felt a shiver run up her spine and she nodded. Something about Grumpy Gus made her very nervous, too.

  They wandered through the museum, looking at all of the displays. “I wish I had more time to explain all of this,” Joel said. “But it’ll have to be a fast tour.”

  “That’s okay.” Kate gave him a warm smile. “We’re just happy to be here.”

  “Thanks.” He looked embarrassed. “Remember I talked about the Knightia at lunch? This is a sample.”

  “Wow.” Kate stared at it, mesmerized. “It’s so … perfect.”

  “Yep.” He nodded. “And over here we have several other species of fish. “The Mioplosus. The Diplomystus.”

  “Goodness.” Kate shook her head. However did he remember those complex words?

  After looking at several specimens, they reached the far wall. Joel looked around, his brow wrinkling in confusion. “That’s weird,” he said.

  “What?” McKenzie asked.

  “Well, the stingray fossil that I discovered is usually mounted in a box right here, but it’s missing. Conner never mentioned anything about taking it down. It’s the most valuable fossil of all the ones I’ve found, so I’m especially proud of it.”

  “Seems odd that the most valuable one is missing,” Kate said, growing more suspicious by the minute. Had Grumpy Gus stolen it? Her imagination almost ran away with her as she thought about the possibilities. Kate pulled out her camera.

  “What are you taking a picture of?” McKenzie asked. “There’s nothing there to photograph.”

  “Sure there is.” She pointed to the plaque that read HELIOBATIS STINGRAY.

  “Why take a picture of that?” Joel asked.

  “For research.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t see the point.” Shaking his head, he added, “I just wish I knew what happened to my stingray specimen. I dug for hours to get that one … and now it’s gone.”

  “Are you worried that someone stole your fossil, Joel?” McKenzie asked.

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Could be they’ve loaned it out to another museum. They do that a lot.”

  “I know,” Kate added. “My teacher is a curator at the science museum in Philadelphia, where I live.”

  “You’re kidding.” He gave her an admiring look. “That’s impressive.”

  “I help her sometimes.” Kate shrugged. “For fun.”

  She didn’t tell him about the fake fossils they’d discovered. No point in sharing too much information, just in case.

  Joel sat on a nearby bench, looking sad. Kate sat down beside him.

  “What are you really worried about?” she asked. “You have something on your mind. I can tell.”

  He sighed. “This is the deal. Every year the quarry offersa six-week internship to one camper who shows potential. A couple of famous paleontologists are coming to spend the rest of the summer, and I wanted to spend it with them. Can you imagine what an honor that would be?”

  “Um, sure.” Kate shrugged. Might sound like fun to Joel, but she couldn’t imagine spending the whole summer outside digging with chisels in the rock and the dirt.

  Joel rose and started to pace back and forth, his brow wrinkled. “That fossil is my best sample. How will they ever know what I’m capable of if it’s gone?” He continued to pace.

  “Are you worried some other camper will get the internship?” Kate asked.

  “Maybe. It’s pretty complicated,” he explained. “This internship is open to kids all over the world. More than three hundred teenagers have competed for this honor. I really thought I stood a chance … until now. Now I’m ready to give up.”

  “Give up?” McKenzie gave him a curious look. “Over a missing fossil?”

  “That stingray fossil is my biggest achievement and now it’s gone. There’s no proof that I discovered it. It’s like someone just walked away with the proof that I’m valuable. That I’m worth anything.”

  Kate gasped. “Well, of course you’re valuable!” She looked at him, stunned, not quite believing he had said that. “You’re one of God’s kids. We’re all valuable in His sight.”

  Joel shrugged. “You don’t get it, Kate. Where I come

  from, you have to prove yourself. In my house, you have to get straight As on your report card or make the honor roll at school to get noticed.”

  “But that doesn’t prove you’re valuable,” McKenzie argued. “Even if you got Bs or struggled in school, you would still be valuable to God.”

  “Try telling that to my teachers and parents. You girls just don’t understand.” Joel plopped back down on the bench and sighed.

  “I do.” Kate sat next to him. “My dad is really, really smart. He’s a professor, remember? But he would be the first to tell you that our real value comes from God.”

  She pointed at the wall. “All of these things are worth a lot of money. I know that. But I also know that you’re more valuable to God than all of them put together. And you don’t have to prove anything to Him. He loves you, even if you’re not always the one wh
o gets the internship or gets straight As.”

  Joel bit his lip and Kate could tell he was really thinking about what she had said. After a while, he shrugged. “I guess. If you say so.” He gave her a funny look then glanced at the clock on the wall. “Oh no! It’s five minutes till two. We’ve got to get back out to the site. This is the best part. The excavation begins right away!”

  “Do I have time to get my mirrored sunglasses?” Kate asked.

  “Only if you hurry!”

  The kids took off running toward the quarry as fast as their legs could go!

  The Big Dig

  Kate ran behind Joel and McKenzie, stopping to get her sunglasses out of the bunkhouse. She arrived at the excavation site huffing and puffing, but right on time.

  “Take a look around you,” Conner said to the group as he gestured to a large open field. “It’s hard to believe, but this area used to be a lake.”

  Kate paused for a few breaths, then paid close attention.

  “Wow. We’re standing in the middle of a dried up lake,” McKenzie whispered. “Good thing I brought my swimsuit!” She laughed and Kate giggled.

  “This region of Wyoming is loaded with fossil specimens,” Conner explained. “Thousands of years ago rains would fall and the water would flow down the mountain, forming lakes.”

  Megan stepped up beside him. “Another theory is that the whole earth was covered in water during the Genesis flood, creating the perfect environment for fish.”

  “The Genesis flood?” Patti, the little girl with the red hair and freckles, looked confused.

  “You know,” Kate threw in. “The story of Noah and the ark. It rained for forty days and nights.”

  “I remember hearing that story in kids’ church,” Lauren said, tossing her hair. “Can you imagine being on that ark with all of those stinky animals?” She made a face and pinched her nose. “Gross!”

  This got all of the girls tickled and before long, everyone was laughing. Well, everyone but Kate. She was still thinking about what Megan had said.

  “Regardless,” Conner said. “The waters dried. When that happened, millions of fish died in just a short period of time.”