An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs Read Free Page B

newspaper.”
    “At least you’re not the one who goes home smelling like a barnacle,” Giles told her.
    “You’ve got nothing to complain about, Barnes,”Tina said. “Miss Frost is paying us all very generously to take care of the dinosaurs. A few more days and you’ll have enough for that remote-controlled airplane you’ve wanted for so long. Don’t you want to be rich?”
    Giles sighed.
    He supposed he did want to be rich. After all, who didn’t? And he definitely wanted that airplane. Yester-day he’d passed the store window where it was displayed. He was always a little afraid that the next time, it would be gone. Soon, though, he’d be able to walk right into the store, put his money down on the counter, and take the airplane home himself.
    But he felt uneasy. And it wasn’t just because he had to heft buckets of smelly fish around every day. He looked at the two hydrosaurs in the pool.
    “I don’t think they’re very happy, trapped like that,” he told Tina.
    “Don’t be ridiculous, Barnes,” said Tina. “They have brains the size of grape seeds. Would you feel sorry for a goldfish in a bowl? I don’t think so. These creatures probably don’t even realize they’re trapped!”
    But Giles wasn’t so sure. After they’d rolled the statueof Poseidon over the crack, the two hydrosaurs had prodded at it with their heads, and darted back and forth in confusion. And a ghostly moaning had drifted through the water. It was the most mournful thing Giles had ever heard.
    And Giles thought they looked a little listless sometimes, floating near the surface, their wedge-shaped heads peering out at him. At other times they seemed restless, churning the swampy water into a froth as they tore around the perimeter of the pool, faster and faster, as if they were desperate to escape.
    “How do you know they’re so stupid?” Giles asked.
    “Everyone knows the dinosaurs weren’t very bright,” Tina replied wisely. “All these creatures can do is swim and eat. They’re savage beasts. They’re eating machines.”
    “I wonder what Miss Frost is going to do with them?” Giles wondered aloud.
    It wasn’t as if she’d taken any real interest in the dinosaurs. She hadn’t even come down to the poolside to have a close look. A few times, Giles had turned to see her watching from her office window, but, once spotted, she always quickly disappeared from sight. What a strange person she was, Giles thought, working all alonein that huge house, with only her creepy personal assistant, Swift, for company!
    “I want to get a shot of the dinosaurs,” said Kevin, taking a camera from his backpack. “Barnes, can you stand by the edge, holding a fish?”
    “Do I have to?”
    “Yeah. It’ll be a great photo.”
    Giles faced Kevin, holding a fish head as far away from his body as possible.
    “A little further back, Barnes. You’re not in the picture.”
    He took another step back.
    “A little more! There’s plenty of room!”
    Another few steps.
    “Um, Barnes…” he heard Kevin say suddenly.
    The next thing he knew, he was deep in the pool, swampy water shooting up his nostrils. Spluttering, he fought to get back to the surface, but his clothes were drenched and dragging him down. His head popped up for a moment, but he just managed to suck in a breath of air before sinking under again.
    I’m a goner! he thought in pure panic. I’m about to get eaten by dinosaurs!
    Opening his eyes, he made out a blurry purple shape swirling around him, and then felt it brush past him. This is it, he thought, gritting his teeth. Here it comes. He felt the dinosaur nudge its head against his backside and then push hard. Giles was propelled up and out of the water, as if he were in an ejector seat! He sailed through the air and landed at the edge of the pool, dripping water, still spluttering.
    “Wow!” gasped Kevin.
    “Extraordinary!” said Tina, who had put down her glass of iced tea and was standing at the poolside with