Dinosaur Trouble Read Free Page B

they were interesting, especially the little one. It was rather sweet.

    Meanwhile Nosy and Clawed and Aviatrix had arrived back at their perch in the woods. Upside down, Nosy looked at the ground below, remembering the apatosaurus and its baby. It was rather sweet, he thought. Wonder why Mom and Daddy
were so nasty about apatosauruses. I thought they were interesting. I’d like to meet that little one again.
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    Early next morning, while his parents were still asleep, Nosy dropped off the branch and flew away in the direction of the Great Plain. Which is beyond the lake, he said to himself , and I can’t miss that.
    Sure enough, before long he saw beneath him the great sheet of water. Around its edges a number of dinosaurs were drinking—diplodocuses, ankylosauruses, stegosauruses, and many others—but Nosy could not see the apatosaurus family.
    This was not surprising, since all that was showing of them were, in deep water, the nostrils of Gargantua and Titanic, and in the shallows, where she was practicing going underwater, the very small nostrils of their child.
    By a lucky chance, Banty popped her head up as the young pterodactyl was flapping by.

    That’s it , thought Nosy, that’s the one, I’m sure, and he dropped lower and called out, “Good morning!”
    Banty waded out of the water and stood looking up at him.
    â€œGood morning,” she said. “You’re a pterodactyl, aren’t you?”

    â€œYes,” replied Nosy. “And you’re an apatosaurus. Excuse me for asking, but what’s your name?”
    â€œBanty. What’s yours?”
    â€œNosy” -
    â€œOh. Are you a girl or a boy?”
    â€œBoy. And you?”
    â€œGirl.”
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    â€œIt’s strange,” said Nosy, “but my mom and daddy are very rude about apatosauruses.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause you can’t fly.”
    â€œOh,” said Banty. “Well, funnily enough, my ma and pa are very rude about pterodactyls.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause you’ve only got two legs, so you can’t walk.”
    â€œBut I don’t want to walk,” said Nosy. “Flying’s nicer.”

    â€œAnd I don’t want to fly,” said Banty. “Walking’s nicer.”
    They looked at one another with interest.
    â€œTalking’s nice too,” said Nosy.
    â€œYes, it is,” said Banty, “but it must be tiring for you to keep flapping about, Nosy, while I’m standing comfortably.”
    â€œNo problem, Banty,” said Nosy. “If you’ll just walk over to this tree that overhangs the water …” and he grasped a convenient branch with his little claws and swung over to hang upside down.
    â€œWow! That’s cute!” said Banty, and she stretched up her little neck and pulled a bunch of leaves off the branch.
    â€œGosh! That’s clever!” said Nosy. “You must be a herbivore.”
    â€œWhat’s that mean?” asked Banty.
    â€œA creature that eats grass and leaves. Me, I’m a carnivore.”

    â€œWhere did you learn long words like those?”
    â€œFrom my mom. She knows lots of long words. She’s clever, my mom.”
    â€œSo’s my ma,” said Banty.
    â€œWhat about your father?” asked Nosy.
    â€œHe’s not all that bright.”
    â€œNor’s my daddy. Perhaps females are always cleverer than males. What do you think?”

    â€œI don’t think that’s true,” said Banty. “It’s obvious to me that you are a much brighter dinosaur than I am.”
    â€œWell, actually,” said Nosy. “I’m not strictly a dinosaur. I’m a pterosaur. Pteron means ‘wing’, and saurus means ‘lizard.’”
    â€œOh. Well, what does the dino bit of dinosaur mean?”
    â€œHuge and terrible.”
    â€œWow! I like it!” said Banty.
    She looked around at the sound of a mighty splashing