Dinosaur Stakeout Read Online Free PDF Page B

­Periods – ­the extinction of the dinosaur world.”
    “Amazing that we can actually see where the changes happened,” said ­Craig.
    “Yeah, I never thought about what was below us before,” said ­Todd.
    Then Craig, with a curious expression, asked, “Is that about where we were when we went back in time?”
    “Yes,” said Daniel, studying the hillsides. “It’s hard to tell exactly where, because we’re talking about millions of years in time.”
    “Wow.” Todd seemed mesmerized by the ­implications.
    “Weird how you can actually see the past in the present,” said ­Craig.
    “Wait until we get to the quarry,” Daniel said. “You’ll even see more things like that. We have some evidence of garfish skeletons.”
    “But those are fish from now, aren’t they?” asked ­Todd.
    Daniel said, “You’re right. They do live now in the southern United States and in South America, but they’ve existed for millions of years. They look very much the same today, except they are quite a bit smaller. They somehow made it through all the extinctions with many of the other creatures.”
    “I thought everything went extinct with the dino-saurs,” said ­Craig.
    “Not all creatures,” Daniel said. “Some adapted.”
    “You mean everything didn’t just die off right when the meteor struck?” Todd asked in ­amazement.
    “No, the extinction of some creatures took many thousands and millions of years, and some of them evolved over time,” Daniel ­explained.
    “Aren’t birds supposed to be related to the dinosaurs?” asked ­Craig.
    Daniel turned to him in surprise. “How do you know that?”
    “It just makes sense because of the way they both walk.” Craig blushed when Daniel continued to stare at him. “I was looking through your dinosaur book,” he ­admitted.
    Daniel grinned. Craig was getting hooked on paleontology!
    As Todd and Craig discussed the point, Daniel’s mind drifted off again to all the layers of creatures that had lived at various prehistoric times several metres beneath ­them – ­in an alien world so many fathomless years in the ­past.
    He pictured the prehistoric shorebirds they’d seen, wondering exactly what type of insects they ate. Were any of those insects poisonous? And what about the herbivores, would they totally ignore humans? He sure would like to go back and investigate these things in more detail. A sudden trembling swept through him at the thought of the danger he would be in and he quickly brushed the thought ­away.
    They reached the last hilltop and began their descent into the quarry. Daniel couldn’t see any sign of Mr. Pederson or Mildred Roost. Where had they ­gone?
    All at once, he spied Pederson lying on the ground at the edge of a narrow ledge, slightly hidden from view by an overhang. He must have found something! Daniel whistled their special code, but there was no response. He gave another piercing whistle. Nothing ­happened.
    Daniel realized that Mr. Pederson was lying on his back, an unusual position when one was looking for fossils. And he wasn’t moving at all! Not even a finger, nor could Daniel detect any rise and fall of his chest! Daniel didn’t want to alarm the others, but what if something had happened to Mr. Pederson? And where was Dr. ­Roost?
    Daniel hollered as loud as he could, yet held back his fear. “Mr. Pederson!” No answer. “Mr. Pederson!”
    Again, there was no response. “Dr. Roost!” he hollered. “Mr. Pederson!”
    Maybe he’d had a heart attack! Daniel gathered speed as he watched the prone body on the ledge below him. The others followed behind, seeming to sense something exciting, but not realizing Daniel’s ­fear.
    Stumbling down the steep incline, Daniel rounded a curve and ran as fast as he could towards Mr. Pederson’s prone ­body.

Chapter Four

    A s Daniel crunched his way over the cleared terrain of the excavation site, he kicked up clouds of dust. Breathing hard, he kept his eye on Mr. Pederson,