Kyle walked away from the raptor towards the capsule. “Fat chance of that anyway. If we stay here, we die with the dinosaurs when the comet hits…again. I’ve really had it with that comet.”
He put his hands on the gel until it spread. “Let’s go everyone!”
Medina took two quick photos of the raptors and placed the camera in her pocketbook.
Obediently, everyone quickly moved into the capsule. As the last of them entered, the violins began to play and the gel began to move. Teresa looked at Kyle questioningly.
“We are in sooooo much trouble when we get back, ya know.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Look.”
Teresa, Sonja and Kyle turned in the direction of his mother and Sonja’s mother. Both of them had a look of fear on their faces as they slowly faded out of existence.
“See? No problem. It will all…resolve itself in a moment.”
Teresa crinkled her forehead confused. “What just happened?”
Chapter Forty-Nine
The trio arrived yet again, sans their mothers. Again they eluded the scientist fathers and headed home. On the way, Sonja couldn’t contain her curiosity.
“What happened to our mothers, Kyle?”
“If all went according to plan—”
“Plan?” asked Teresa. “You can’t tell me you knew this was going to happen. Even you were afraid we weren’t going to get back.”
“Sure I was scared. Just because I think I know something doesn’t mean it’s true, does it?”
“Well…I guess not. But…are you telling us that our moms are going to be sound asleep in bed?”
“Well, let’s hope so. There shouldn’t be any reason they are up. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless Sonja’s mom gets up to use the bathroom again.”
“Oh, that is not very comforting, Kyle.”
“Just be careful. That’s all. Well…we’re going this way. Do you want me to accompany you back to your house?”
“Thank you, but no. I will be okay. I do not think there is much that can scare me anymore.”
“Great. We’ll call you as soon as we find out about the trip to Vermont.”
“We are still going? But what about the tape of Nessie?” asked Teresa.
“What about it?”
“You mean you got it?” asked Sonja.
“Well…of course I did. Do you think we went through all of that and forgot the tape?”
***
Kyle got up feeling on top of the world. The trip was scheduled since he had spring break. He jumped out of bed and checked to make sure his backpack was all set. Everything he needed fit in there: 1 pair of underwear, 2 pair of socks, a shirt, pants, his distortion device and, most importantly, the tape of Nessie and her babies.
He bounded down the stairs to the smell of a big breakfast.
“Hi, Kyle. Is your sister up yet?”
“Beats me. I had my hands full packing. A whole week ya know.”
“Good, dear. Do you have enough changes of everything?”
“Of course! What do you think? I’m a big boy now Mom.”
“Yes you are indeed. How silly of me to forget. Now sit down and have something to eat.”
Kyle sat down as his mother placed a big plate of eggs with cheese, English muffins and six sausages.
“Mmmmm. Smells great, Ma. They’re not brontosaurs, but they’ll do.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh…nothing.”
“Oh. By the way. Here’s my camera. You can use it…if…you promise to take good care of it.”
Kyle looked at the camera and remembered the last time he saw it. It seemed like yesterday, but it was millions of years ago.
“I erased some photos I had on there so there’s probably room for fifty pictures as long as you don’t use the high pixel setting.”
Kyle held the camera in his hand as he thought of how close he had come so many times to ending his very young life.
“By the way, did you take any pictures of a dinosaur exhibit without my knowing?”
“D-D-D—did you say dinosaur?”
“Yeah. There were a couple of pictures of dinosaurs on the camera. Looked very realistic!”
“Uh…did you save them?”
“No. I figured you’d need the space.”
Suddenly, Kyle didn’t feel like eating.
***
“Hi, Kyle, Teresa. Are you ready to go?”
“Hi, Gramps! Ready,” said Kyle. He quickly forgot about the dinosaur pictures.
Probably one of those time glitches. Too bad. I could have shown them to someone. Of course, they wouldn’t believe me anyway.
“And this must be Sonja?”
“Hello, sir. Yes. Kyle and Teresa have told me so much about you.”
“Oh? I can’t wait to hear about me, then.”
Kyle’s mom slapped her father on the shoulder playfully. “Oh, Dad. Don’t start already. You’ll have to forgive their grandfather, Sonja. He has, shall I say, quite the sense of humor?”
Sonja replied, “Well then, now I know where Kyle gets it from.”
“You…you think I’m funny?” asked Kyle surprised that anyone actually thought he was amusing.
“Hmmm,” said his grandfather stroking his beard.
Kyle’s grandfather’s name was Caleb Dejesus Santiago. His skin was perpetually tanned from his Hispanic heritage and his eyes crinkled at the corners giving one the impression he was always smiling. He still had a full head of hair, although at 57, much of it had turned gray as well as his beard and mustache, which turned down at the corners of his lips. He was average in height at five foot eight, still trim and muscular from working in his garden every year and the many excursions to unusual places around the earth.
“Uh, excuse me, sir,” said Sonja. “I wondered what I should call you?”
“Why don’t you call me Gramps, too? With two fair-skinned grandchildren, you could almost pass as my somewhat darker-skinned granddaughter.”
Caleb’s eyes twinkled and his teeth glimmered through his mustache as he looked at the kids. He looked forward to spending time with his grandchildren now that he was retired. No one really knew what he did for a living—not even his own daughter. He was a man of many secrets.
“Dad, are you sure that old truck of yours will make it all the way to New Hampshire?”
Hey, I rebuilt that baby myself. She may look old on the outside, but inside, whew! She’s hot! Just like me.”
“Daaad.”
“Come on gang. Here, let me get your suitcase, Teresa. Oofff! What do you have in here?”
Kyle jumped in. “That’s just her cosmetics. It takes quite a bit just to make her presentable.”
All laughed heartily…except for Teresa.
“You’re such a…a…doofus, Kyle!”
“Oooo. That hurt.”
“Okay, Kyle, Teresa. This is going to be a long trip. Let’s not get mean already,” said their grandfather. Then he added, “That’s my job.”
Their parents had no recollection of the trip and the rescue as Kyle had hoped. Most everything reset to the second trip. Kyle hoped they would never have to return to the land of the dinosaurs. Now he was heading to Lake Champlain with a recording of the creature from the pond. His hope was that, finally, he could prove that he did go back in time and discover living dinosaurs and that Champ and Nessie were descendants of the creature he discovered there. He was going to be famous and show his father he was a lot smarter than people thought he was.
“We there yet, Gramps?”
“Don’t start that already!”
“Just kiddin’. So, did you really see Bigfoot?”
Teresa scolded. “Kyle. Don’t say that about our grandfather!”
“That’s okay, Teresa. It is true. I’m sure you have had someone not believe you when you said you saw something, haven’t you?”
“I guess you could say that,” said Ky
le. The girls giggled.
“I hit on an inside joke?”
“We’ll tell you later. Tell us about Bigfoot.”
“Well, it was twenty-five years ago. I was on an expedition in the Himalayas doing an archeological survey on some of the upper peaks when I encountered a strange creature. You see, people get these ideas in their heads that a creature doesn’t exist and make a big deal out of the legend so that any scientific observations become a joke. They call an animal Bigfoot and it becomes a joke.”
“You were an archeologist?” asked Teresa.
“Not really, although I have been known to turn over a rock or two. I was their guide. I’ve always been a bit of an adventurer and I love climbing mountains. But, I hated school. I hope none of you take after me.”
Teresa started to say something, but Kyle gave her “the evil eye.”
His grandfather continued, “Of course, since you’re going on a field trip…for school, of course, that isn’t the case with you two. Right Kyle?”
There was a glint in his grandfather’s eyes that told Kyle he knew more than he was letting on.
His grandfather continued.
“We were just descending from an 11,000 foot peak and were exhausted. A strong storm came up and surprised us. The winds blew at hurricane strength and the snow so heavy we couldn’t see where we were going.”
“What did you do?” asked a wide-eyed Teresa.
“We managed to put up two pup tents, secured them and crawled in. The wind blew and shook the tents so that I thought we were going to blow off the mountain! It was so loud we couldn’t sleep—not that we wanted to sleep.
“We were there for three days. The storm dumped two feet of snow. When we were able to crawl out, we had to trudge through deep snow and rappel down a few deep cliffs.”
“What is ‘rappel?’” asked Sonja.
“That’s where you use a nylon rope to lower yourself down a cliff quickly. It keeps you from falling all the way to the bottom. That can be quite painful.” He smiled. The children hung on every word.
“There were four of us,” he continued. “Two men, a lady and myself.”
“You let a girl go with you?” asked Kyle. Both Teresa and Sonja gave Kyle a dirty look.
“Well…it seems to me you have two girls on your expedition.”
“Oh…yeah. Sorry.”
“Actually, the woman was the leader of the expedition team. She was a doctor of archeology and found several nice conch shells.”
“Conch shells?” asked Kyle shocked. “Aren’t conchs an aquatic snail? Like from the ocean?”
“That’s right.”
“What…are conchs doing at the top of a mountain?”
“That is exactly what the archeologists were trying to figure out. Most of the highest mountains were formed only a few thousand years ago. Most people don’t know that, but geologists and archeologists know that. These scientists think the Himalayas were underwater at one time. They find coral and shells all over the world on mountaintops. Maybe you should become an archeologist and figure it out?”
“Kyle is going to be a quantum physicist,” said Sonja confidently.
“Quantum physicist? My, that is a tough field…trying to study particles you can’t even see. Want to follow after your father, do you?”
Kyle suddenly became quiet. His grandfather noticed and went on with his story.
“Anyway, when we reached an area where there were trees, I spotted something moving. I pointed it out to the others, but they didn’t notice. We decided to rest and set up the tents again. This time we thought we would get some sleep.
“We all did fall asleep very quickly after the sun went down. The moon was out…and it was a full moon. It was so quiet, you couldn’t hear anything—perfect for sleeping. But…I heard a snap…like someone was walking around.
“I thought it was one of the men from the other tents and maybe he had to use the latrine.”
“Latrine?” asked Sonja.
“The bathroom,” piped in Kyle. “We had to build our own…uh, never mind. Go on Gramps. We’re listening.”
His grandfather lifted one eyebrow. Obviously, the kids had secrets he would have to unravel.
“Well, I peeked out of the tent and saw someone leaning over the supplies. I thought it was one of the scientists. I was about to go back in the tent, when it turned and looked at me. That’s when I realized…it wasn’t human!”
The children inhaled.
“Its face was more like that of a gorilla and it was huge! It stood up and I swear it must have been ten feet tall. It didn’t stand completely erect…like a human, but was hunched over, like a gorilla might be.
“Without taking my eyes off it, I reached behind me and fished around for a flashlight. I found it since I like to keep it handy when I’m hiking or climbing. I shined the flashlight on the creature and saw its face clearly. It was a gorilla, but unlike any I ever saw, even in a book. It was an undiscovered species. It was then I realized that I had just seen Bigfoot.”
“Wow!” the three of them exclaimed together. “Did you wake up the others?” asked Kyle.
“Indeed I did. But they were mad at me and said I was crazy. I got upset and left them on the mountain.”
“Why didn’t they believe you?” asked Kyle. “You were an adult.”
“Maybe it was the part about what the creature was doing. I probably should have left that out, but I always believed in telling the truth and presenting the facts…all the facts and then sorting them out.”
“What was the creature doing?”
“Drinking a Coke.”
They all laughed until they realized their grandfather wasn’t laughing.
“You see how difficult it would be to convince them? But the creature really had managed to pop the top on the can and tried to suck out the frozen soda that one of the scientists brought along not realizing he wouldn’t be able to drink it. The creature took the can and left.
“I pointed that out to them, but they still didn’t believe me so I told them to find their own way down and left.”
“You…left them on the mountain? To die?” asked Teresa.
“Nah. I went back and led them out after I got about halfway down the mountain. Besides, I thought maybe the creature would come back for pretzels.”
The children stared with blank expressions.
“I’m just kidding about the pretzels. We didn’t see the creature ever again. I made the mistake of trying to tell others and was never able to get a job as a guide again.”
“That is so unfair!” exclaimed Kyle. “No wonder Mom acted like she did. No one believed you and you were an adult. Who would ever believe me if I tried to tell them I saw…something?”
“Did you see something, Kyle?”
Kyle hesitated. He looked first to Sonja and then to Teresa questioningly.
“You all saw something, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, you can say that. But, I don’t think even you would believe our story.”
“And that is why you are going to Lake Champlain, isn’t it. This isn’t for a school project at all. What did you see?”
Kyle pulled out his recorder. “Listen to this, Gramps. Tell me what you think it is.”
Kyle played the tape while his grandfather’s eyes got wide.
“Nessie! You recorded Nessie! My god!”
Chapter Fifty
They arrived at the motel, quietly unloaded all the suitcases and checked into their rooms. They were spacious. The girls had an adjoining room of their own in the town of Port Henry. Everywhere they looked, there were references to Champ, pictures of Champ, signs about Champ and tours to see Champ.
Once everyone settled in and Kyle and his grandfather were lying on their beds, Kyle asked, “Gramps. How…how did you know?”
“About Nessie? I was on an expedition in the late 1970’s in Scotland to find Nessie.”
“You were? Mom never said anything…”
“Your mom
was…a little embarrassed about her father. I already had a reputation among some after the Bigfoot debacle; one of the researchers on the Loch Ness expedition believed me and invited me along. You see, it takes a certain amount of…guts to talk about something that everyone else thinks is foolishness, just a myth. Heck, they though Galileo was a quack when he said the world was round. Anyone who has fresh new ideas is immediately classified psychotic, a nut case.
“But enough about that. It seems we both have a bit to share, don’t we? Like, how you came across that tape. I heard the documentary on BBC and that isn’t the same recording. I heard Nessie on the Loch one night. It was early in the morning, about 2:00 AM. I went out to the boat because I couldn’t get back to sleep.
“The fog was really thick—like pea soup. I sat on the boat and leaned back against the railing and fell asleep. I don’t know how long I was out, but a splash in the water woke me. I opened my eyes and groggily looked around, but I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.
“I don’t mind telling you, I was scared out of my wits! I stopped breathing and listened. Something was breathing not far from the boat. Small ripples of water lapped against the bow, so I knew something was in the water.
“I didn’t know what to do. So, I whistled. The breathing stopped and so did the ripples in the water. It was listening.
“I whistled again. Tweeeet. Softly. Then…something whistled back. It was my turn to hold my breath. I listened. Nothing. It was waiting for me to whistle. At least that’s what I think. So I whistled again a little louder and longer. Tweeeeeeeet!
“There was a long silence. Then I hear a splash. Then another. I grew concerned. Waves were hitting the boat and it bobbed up and down in the water very gently. And then…I heard the most beautiful whistling of, not just one, but several creatures.”
“It was them, wasn’t it, Gramps? Just like on my recording.”
“That’s right. Of course, no one believed me then either. And here they were searching for the Loch Ness Monster! They searched the lake from one end to the other with sophisticated side-scan sonar and came up with nothing. They said I had imagined it and, you know what? I believed them. Thought I must have dreamed the whole thing…until…you played that tape.
No Time For Dinosaurs Page 22