The Stolen Bones Read Online Free PDF

Colorado, Arizona, and Utah.”
    “Have you had fossils stolen at this site?” Bess asked.
    “I don’t think so,” Kyle said, “but it’s always a worry. We try to keep the site location pretty secret, but of course we have to tell the volunteers. We never have money for a full professional dig, so we depend on volunteers. And that means you more or less take whoever you get.”
    He shrugged and gave us a sheepish grin, as if just remembering that we were volunteers too.
    “Who else knows?” I asked.
    “If we need access through private land, we have to tell the landowner. People on the museum staff know. And we report on our digs through the museum website and newsletter. We only name the general location, but it’s possible someone could use that to track us down, or even follow us out here. I think last year’s report mentioned finding this fossil.”
    “So anyone could find out if they really wanted to,” I said.
    “Yes, I guess so,” Kyle said. “Usually it doesn’t matter too much. The fossils we find are good andimportant for the museum collection, but they’re not that rare or valuable. I hate the idea of thieves making money off of them, but it’s not a huge loss.”
    I glanced back at the spot where Steffi, Abby, and Grayson were working on the fossil. “But that one is rare?”
    “Yes.” Kyle stared at them, his jaw set. “That’s why we’re going to keep it safe, no matter what.”
    Bess put a hand on Kyle’s arm. “If you have thieves around here, we’ll find them!”
    “Kyle, how about giving us that tour,” I said. “How big is the site?”
    He gestured around the hollow, which was perhaps twenty feet by forty feet. “Basically what you see here.” He stepped over to the cliff wall, and we gathered around him. We could see bands in the rock, like layers in a cake. The bands had different colors, from pale tan to dark brown to reddish. In some bands the rock looked hard; in others, crumbly.
    Kyle said, “Most dinosaur fossils are found in sedimentary rocks, like this. Sedimentary rocks are made up of sediments such as sand, gravel, mud, or clay. They’re usually deposited in bodies of water.”
    Bess looked around. “So what are they doing here in the desert?”
    Kyle grinned at her. “It wasn’t always a desert.” He gestured across the hollow. “This used to be a river, millionsof years ago. Ancient rivers are a good place to find fossils, because the mud covers bones quickly. If something dies out in the desert, its bones might be scattered, or just decay. The river mud protects the bones, so they’re still here for us to find. Plus, this hollow is still a river during flood season. That helps us because the water washes away the soil and exposes new things.”
    We walked in a circle around the site. I scanned the ground for footprints or dropped objects, but I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. With so many people wandering around the site, I probably couldn’t have identified the thief’s footprints anyway.
    While Kyle was explaining some paleontology facts to Bess, George whispered to me, “What do you think? Jimmy?”
    I frowned. “He’s the most suspicious person we’ve met so far. But what about those missing fossils last night? If Jimmy and Erlinda had learned how valuable fossils are only when we told them, they wouldn’t have had time to steal those.”
    “But they might have already known. Erlinda could have been putting on an act. Or Jimmy might have known, even if she didn’t.”
    I nodded. “They’re definitely suspects, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions. I don’t see any cowboy boot tracks here, like the ones last night. Everyone on the dig is wearing hiking boots.”
    Kyle turned to us. “Any more questions? I really should get to work. Our priority now is to get that fossil out.”
    “How long will that take?” I asked.
    “Unfortunately, it won’t be ready today. After we expose the top, we plaster over one side of the