Authors: Dick King-Smith
Dinosaur Trouble (8 page)
The best-laid schemes often go wrong, sometimes badly wrong, and it is rare for a plan to succeed completely, turning out in every detail exactly as the planner had hoped.
But this is what happened for Nosy.
By now each member of the two families knew exactly what to do when the time came. They even rehearsed it, pretending that a triceratops, who happened to come down for a
drink, was Hack, and taking up their positions accordingly.
drink, was Hack, and taking up their positions accordingly.
Titanic leaned on the tree quite a bit, so that it was now not as strongly rooted as it had been.
Aviatrix went out on regular long-distance patrols so as to have early warning of the approach of the tyrannosaurus.
One morning, she flew back to the lake at top speed, crying, “Action stations!” and by the time Hack the Ripper came striding down for a drink, everyone was ready.
Clawed and Nosy took off to join Aviatrix.
Banty stood by the water's edge, looking inviting.
Titanic stood quite still behind the great tree, with Gargantua standing behind him.
Now Nosy flew down and flopped about upon the ground in front of the T. rex, who had by this time caught sight of Banty and was making for her.
But he took his eye off her, thinking that he would first kill and eat this annoying flapping, flopping, and seemingly flightless thing in his path.
Then Aviatrix flew in at full speed and scratched his snout, and he was blinded by rage, and by Clawed, who had spread his wide wings to spoil his viewâof Banty, of Aviatrix, of Titanic, and of Gargantua.
The harassed tyrannosaurus was totally bemused. He roared in rage.
“Now!” screamed Nosy at the top of his voice, and then everything happened at once, just as it was meant to.
Banty plunged into the lake, the three pterodactyls winged their way out of danger, Titanic pushed his great weight against the trunk of the
tree, and Gargantua pushed her great weight against him.
tree, and Gargantua pushed her great weight against him.
With an almighty crash, the tree fell, right on top of Hack.
Then all was still, save for one small movement, the movement of something that stuck out from beneath the wreckage.
It was the tip of the tail of Hack the Ripper.
It twitched once, twice, a third time, and then it was still, forever.
Between them, the apatosauruses rolled the tree trunk off the body of the T. rex for all to see, as Banty came dripping out of the lake.
“We've given him more than a fright,” said Nosy. “He won't hurt us anymore. He's as dead as he can be.”
“Well done, Titanic, old chap!” cried Clawed.
“I thank you too, sir,” Titanic replied.
And, “Well done, Gargantua!” cried Aviatrix. “Such potency!”
“There's one person,” said Banty, “who deserves all our thanks. If it hadn't been for him, none of this would have happened.”
“Who's that, then?” asked Clawed.
“Your son, sir,” said Banty. “My friend. Our hero. Nosy!”
Everyone looked at him and thought what a jolly fine young pterodactyl he was.
Then Titanic and Gargantua lumbered off onto the Great Plain, and Clawed and Aviatrix flew back to the woods.
“You must be tired, Nosy,” said Banty. “Take a break.”
Gently, Nosy let himself down to sit astride his friend's neck, and together they gazed reflectively at the great broken body of Hack the Ripper.
“We need never be afraid of him again,” said Banty.
“Or,” said Nosy, “as my mom would have put it, there is no longer any necessity to regard him with trepidation.”
“But,” said Banty, “he can't be the only T. rex in the world. Another might come one day.”
“Not to worry, Banty,” said Nosy. “If it does, I'll fix it. But you never know, this brute here may be the last of them. Neither Mom nor Daddy nor your ma and pa have ever set eyes on another one. T. rex may now be extinct.”
“What does âextinct' mean, Nosy?” asked Banty.
Remembering exactly what his mother had told him when he was a tiny baby, Nosy replied, “It means gone, finished, kaput, dead and done for.”
“Wow!” said Banty. “I like it!”
Copyright © 2005 by Foxbusters Ltd.
Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Nick Bruel
All rights reserved
Â
Â
First published in Great Britain by Puffin Books, an imprint of the Penguin Group
Published by Roaring Brook Press Roaring Brook Press is a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
Â
Â
Book design by Jaime Putorti
Â
Â
eISBN 9781429998581
First eBook Edition : May 2011
Â
Â
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
King-Smith, Dick. Dinosaur trouble / Dick King-Smith ; ilustrated by Nick Bruel.â1st American ed. p. cm.
Summary: Young dinosaurs Nosy, a pterodactyl, and Banty, an apatosaurus, become friends, despite their parents' prejudices.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59643-324-3
ISBN-10: 1-59643-324-8
[1. Pterodactyls-Fiction. 2. ApatosaurusâFiction. 3. FriendshipâFiction. 4. Parent and child--Fiction. 5. Prejudices--Fiction. 6. Dinosaurs--Infancy--Fiction.] I. Bruel, Nick, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.K5893Din 2008 [E]âdc22
Roaring Brook Press books are available for special promotions and premiums. For details contact: Director of Special Markets, Holtzbrinck Publishers.
First American Edition March 2008
Other books
Stormchild by Bernard Cornwell
Demonic Attraction by Kim Knox
Dear George Clooney: Please Marry My Mom by Nielsen, Susin
The Rough Rider by Gilbert Morris
Caprice: The Masqueraders Series - Book One by Parker, Laura
The Wish List by Jane Costello
Threads of Grace by Kelly Long
Miami Jackson Gets It Straight by Patricia McKissack