In the Ice Age : In the Ice Age (9780307532497) Read Free Page A

want you all to stay in my cave till I get back.” He pointed to a path leading into the glacier. “You’ll be safe and warm.”
    Uncle Al slipped out of the crevice and hurried after Doctor Kron-Tox.
    Winka, Andrew, Judy and Beeper made their way deeper into the glacier.
    “The light is blue in here!” said Andrew.
    Winka nodded. “It’s like the sea,” she said. “Light is made up of all the colors of therainbow. As you go deep into water or under ice, blue is the only color that gets through. All the other colors get filtered out.”
    Krik … krik … krik …
    “Hoo boy!” said Beeper. “My egg is cracking! It’s gonna hatch any second! Hey, I can see its teeth!”
    Judy patted Beeper on the back. “Even the little ones will try to eat you,” she said.
    They came to a low arch and crept under it. On the other side was a rocky cave. In the middle of the floor burned a small fire. Smoke curled up to a crack in the ceiling.
    “It’s cozy here,” said Judy. She squinted at the walls. “Look at this,” she said, tracing her fingers along the dark stone.
    The walls were covered with drawings!
    “Neato mosquito!” said Andrew. “I found a herd of galloping horses!”
    Winka pointed out long-horned bison drawn in brown and black.

    “Hey!” said Beeper. “I see a camel!”
    Winka came over to look. “Yes,” she said. “Camels lived in North America during the Ice Age. Look, there’s the beginning of another animal here, but the artist didn’t finish it.”
    Winka leaned down to examine a stone bowl on the floor. “I’ve found the artist’s tools!” she said.
    She held up fat sticks of black and red and brown.
    “The black one is charcoal,” said Winka. “The red and brown ones are made from a mineral called hematite. Hematite has lots of iron in it.”
    “Here’s a really strange picture,” said Judy. “I can’t figure it out.”
    Winka came over to see it. It looked like two mountains. Between them was a whitewall with a zigzag crack. Giant waves were painted all around it.
    “That must be the ice dam your uncle Al told us about,” said Winka.
    “Ouch!” yelled Beeper. “The Tyrannosaurus nipped my neck!”
    He held the cracked egg as far away from himself as he could.
    Winka hurried to a heap of fur scraps in a dark nook. “We need to wrap up that little guy to keep both of you safe,” said Winka.
    KREEEEEEEEEK!
    The cave trembled and the fire flickered. The baby Tyrannosaurus kicked off its broken egg and scrambled into Beeper’s arms.
    meep …
“Sound of glacier ice cracking,” said Thudd. “Ice crack. Ice move. Glacier noisy.”
    KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!
    The cave shook again. Bits of rock fell from the ceiling.

    “Down, boy!” said Beeper to the Tyrannosaurus baby.
    The Tyrannosaurus sank its teeth into Beeper’s cape, leapt out of his arms, and scampered out of the cave.
    “I’ll get it!” said Winka, chasing after the little dinosaur. “You stay here till I get back.”
    Judy rolled her eyes at Beeper. “Nice work, Bozo-Boy,” she said.
    Beeper picked up one of the colored sticks. In big letters on the cave wall, he wrote“I LOVE DINOSAURS!” Then he drew the head of a Tyrannosaurus.
    “I’m worried about those capybaras,” said Andrew, pacing the stone floor. “It’s too cold for them outside. Maybe we could find them. Then we could bring them back here where it’s warm.”
    “They were pretty cute,” said Judy. Her eyes had a faraway look. “They reminded me of my guinea pig, Nibbles.”
    “I remember Nibbles,” said Andrew. “He liked to eat my shirt.”
    meep …
“Not supposed to leave cave,” squeaked Thudd.
    Beeper stopped drawing. Andrew, Judy, and Beeper looked at each other.
    “Uncle Al and Professor Winka wouldn’t want the capybaras to freeze,” said Andrew.
    “For once I agree with you, Bug-Brain,” said Judy.
    “Hookay!” said Beeper. “Let’s go!”

  ON THE TRAIL OF THE GIANT GUINEA PIGS
    “Wait a minute,” said Judy.