The Promised One (25 page)

Richard nodded. ‘I remember, Lucy said it was “girls' talk” – I presumed it was just that.'

‘I asked her to tell all the animals to disappear completely into hiding if they ever heard the sound of an aeroplane again and, if one landed, to remain hidden until it had gone away. She immediately understood what I was up to and did just as I asked. The effect in practice was incredible: long before Julian and I had the slightest inkling that a plane was drawing near, the game disappeared as if by magic. The ground sloths had always been my biggest worry because of their enormous size but they moved more quickly than you'd ever believe and hid among the trees. By the time our pathetic human ears heard the plane the crater was already apparently deserted. When the pilot landed and we were chatting he actually expressed surprise at the paucity of animal life. I told him the plane had frightened everything away – which, in a way, was true.'

Richard shook his head slowly from side to side in admiration and whistled softly.

‘What a woman! When it comes to forward planning you run rings round us feeble males.' He looked at Julian who chuckled and said:

‘Yes, by the time we were rescued she had already convinced me that it would be disastrous for the flora and fauna of that special place if we ever revealed our
finds to other scientists and the public. And just as you can still publish about your bananas I think we can still benefit from our stay in the crater even if we keep it a secret. Having been there has given us a new insight into prehistory and we've already started on a major review article – it's called “The Pliocene revisited: fresh thoughts on old bones.” Nobody who reads it will ever guess that we've
actually
revisited the Pliocene but they certainly won't be able to prove that anything we say is incorrect!'

The three sisters came downstairs to collect stocks of snacks and drink to take back upstairs. The lounge door was open and the adults saw them go past, chattering and giggling. When the girls had gone Helen looked across at Julian. ‘And now,' she said, ‘I think it's time to tell them the really big news, don't you, darling?'

‘OK,' replied Julian. ‘I'm glad you're all sitting down, because you're not going to believe this.'

‘After what we've heard in the last few weeks we'd believe anything,' said Grandma. ‘Just try us!'

‘Well,' said Julian, ‘as you all now know, our lives in the valley were transformed after Lucy left because we had the sabre-tooths and the ground sloths to protect us. Three days after you left we made an expedition right across the valley to the precipice separating us from the other valley in the crater. Even though we started to set off on foot, a sabre-tooth came and lay in front of Helen. Its intention to give her a ride was unmistakable and it would have seemed unkind to refuse, so she got her prehistoric cat ride after
all. In the event it was just as well because the journey was difficult in several places and I think we'd have had to turn back much earlier than we did if she'd been on foot.' He broke off his story for a few moments and drew a map on a paper napkin so that Joanna and her parents would understand what he was describing.

‘We found that the sabre-tooths could cross the main river here,' he pointed to the map, ‘where it runs through a deep narrow gully and where a massive tree has fallen across the gap – it must have fallen years ago, because the trunk is now worn bare by the feet of all the animals that have crossed it. It's too high above the river for the caymans to pose any threat.' He paused to take a long draught of the beer Richard had set in front of him, then continued. ‘We had started very early and reached the cliff
about midday. It was even more impressive close to than we could possibly imagine, having only once briefly seen it from the air. The wall was a sheer rock face and it ran the entire length of the crater, as we had always suspected, and without any break that we could see.'

‘So the two valleys really are completely separate!' interrupted Richard. He was sitting forward on his chair listening intently.

‘Exactly,' Julian nodded. ‘Anyway, we started to walk along the foot of the escarpment and we'd gone only a few yards when we came across a lizard-like creature with a beak. It was lying on the ground – a perfect specimen. We'd only seen reconstructed fragments before but neither of us was in any doubt as to what it was, even though, so far as we knew, no traces of it had ever been found in South America.'

‘What was it and what was so special about it?' asked
Joanna. ‘I mean, apart from being in such good condition.'

‘It was a dinosaur,' said Julian, ‘a psittacosaurus or its South American equivalent, a species that dates from the Cretaceous period.'

‘Phew!' said Richard, ‘and to find a perfect specimen just lying on the surface! Presumably it had been exposed by a recent rock fall or something. That find alone is enough for your academic credentials – and you could have found it anywhere. You don't need to say anything about the crater.'

Julian looked at Helen and they both smiled.

‘You don't quite understand what I'm saying, Richard,' he said. ‘This wasn't a fossil. It was
alive
– just. It was bleeding from its beak and it died a few minutes after we found it. We think it had fallen from the top of the cliff. It had presumably clambered up the other side which, for all we know, is less steep than our side.'

‘But that means …' Richard began; he looked very excited.

‘Yes,' said Julian, ‘the other valley was isolated even earlier than the one we now think of as “ours”. This tiny dinosaur may just be a one-off survival freak but it probably indicates …' His voice trailed off. He didn't need to elaborate. His audience were all ahead of him. There was a stunned silence, broken eventually by Grandpa.

‘Did you find anything else?'

‘No, we spent the next couple of hours searching unsuccessfully for other finds along the base of the cliff and collecting rock fragments. As we returned to pick up our precious specimen we were just in time to see a large, vulture-like bird flying off with it. That, of course, is why
we didn't find anything else; it was obviously a favourite spot for scavengers and we were fortunate to have arrived just after the psittacosaurus had fallen. We couldn't stay any longer because we were keen to get back before nightfall and it was a very long way – even with the help of the big cats. We were only a short distance from the cave on our side of the valley when the sabre-tooths suddenly left us and we saw the ground sloths heading for the forest. At first we wondered what on earth was happening, then we heard the drone of the rescue plane and got back to the cleared strip just as it was landing. We never had another opportunity to go back, so it remains a tantalizing mystery.'

‘We've got to go back!' said Richard, glancing apologetically at his wife.

‘Tell me something I wasn't expecting,' she said with a resigned smile.

‘But we need Lucy …' Helen started, then looked at Joanna and Richard. ‘Sorry, what I mean is, it would be great if Lucy could come.'

Richard looked at Joanna. ‘I've got to spend some time in Brazil every year with the new job, as you know. Why don't we arrange a family holiday during the summer holidays so Lucy doesn't miss any school? We can all visit the Pantanal – a fantastic nature reserve – and then anyone who wants can come with me and Lucy and Helen and Julian to the new valley for a short expedition – say, a week. Anyone who doesn't can stay with José and his family, who I'm sure won't mind, and see all the sights around the mouth of the Amazon.'

‘Well, I know this is going to happen whatever I say,' said Joanna, ‘and as long as Lucy wants to go and doesn't miss any school I don't have a problem with it. I've always wanted to visit South America and I'm quite sure Clare and Sarah will jump at it.'

‘Do you think …' Julian began ‘… I'm jumping ahead now, but just say there
is
a valley containing dinosaurs, will Lucy be able to talk to them?' Richard looked at Grandpa, who thought for a moment before replying.

‘It seems almost incredible when we're talking about periods involving tens of millions of years, but I've seen her talking to birds and I know from Richard that she can speak to alligators and lizards. It's very likely that she
could
talk to dinosaurs. Having said that, there's obviously only one way we're ever going to find out. By the way, if there's room for wrinklies on this trip I'd love to come with you – and I can help out with some of the expenses.'

Just then Lucy came down again. ‘Where's the album with our holiday photos, Mum? I want to show Mark where we stay in Cornwall.'

Joanna went to a cupboard for the album and gave it to her.

‘Stay just a moment, Lucy, I've something to tell you,' said Richard. He told her what Helen and Julian had discovered.

‘Oh, that other valley,' said Lucy, flicking through the pages of the album. ‘Queenie called it the Valley of the Ancients. I thought it must be something a bit older than the one
you
landed in. Bye now!' She rushed back upstairs clutching the album.

The others looked at each other in amazement; then they all laughed.

‘What a kid!' said Helen.

‘What a kid!' they all chorused in reply.

Richard got up and disappeared for a moment. He returned with a bottle of champagne and six glasses.

‘I've been saving this for something really special,' he said, ‘and if this reunion isn't it, then I don't know what is.'

As he opened the bottle hoots of laughter floated down from above and the house started vibrating to the beat of music.

Joanna gazed up at the ceiling. ‘Something tells me,' she said, ‘that those kids are going to have some amazing adventures together.'

‘I think we all are,' said Richard, pouring out the champagne and handing the glasses round. He lifted his glass and proposed a toast:

‘Here's to the Future!' he said.

‘The Future,' they all echoed.