The Dinosaur Four by Geoff Jones Page B

followed along below him, enticed by a single individual breaking from the pack.
    Al marveled at the side view of the creature. Its neck looked too big for its body, like the neck of a hyena. The downy tufts growing on its back and flanks were thicker, matted, and ragged.
    Lisa looked up at Al. “So what happens if we do find a cave? We had food and water back at the café.”
    “ We hunker down until that monster loses interest and wanders off.” Al pointed over at the tyrannosaur, which continued to follow Tim along the cliff. “The important thing is to keep you safe. Once we’re sure the coast is clear, some of us can go back for supplies. And for Helen.”
    Hank shook his head. “And just leave her alone until then? I don’t think so.”
    Al answered carefully and slowly. “We have to find a stronghold. Some kind of high ground. Like this, but protected on all sides. Once we find that, we can send someone back for her. We’ve been away for less than half an hour. She’s fine. Besides, Tim says she isn’t alone.”
    “All the more reason to go back there,” Hank said.
    “Hey, it’s coming back.” Morgan pointed. The tyrannosaur was following Tim back to the group.
    “ I’ve got a better idea,” Tim said when he reached the others. “I say we kill this dinosaur.”

[ 19 ]
    “You’ve got my attention,” William said. He was glad for another option. This group argued more than his teenage sons.
    Tim waved them further down the cliff. “Come this way.” He walked near the edge, where he could get a good view of the clearing. The tyrannosaur followed along below.
    William sucked in a sharp breath. “Easy son. Don’t get so close.” William stayed back from the drop off, along with everyone else.
    Tim looked over his shoulder. “I work as a carpenter, framing houses mostly. I’m up on half-built rooftops all day. This is nothing.”
    He stopped the group at an outcropping that split off from the cliff face. A finger of rock the size of a car stuck straight up, with a four-foot wide crevice between it and the cliff. It looked like a chunk of ice ready to calve off from the end of a glacier.
    “We lure him over here and then apply a little leverage to that boulder,” Tim proposed.
    The luring part did not seem to be an issue. The tyrannosaur stood below the fractured rock, sniffing around. William imagined the boulder falling onto the dinosaur and breaking its leg or possibly killing it outright.
    Morgan tittered. “Now you’re talking. I want to find out what T-rex tastes like!”
    “I’m betting chicken,” said Hank.
    Tim walked away from the cliff. “Let me find a branch or something we can use.” He disappeared into the woods.
    The tyrannosaur tested the wall below in search of a foothold. The cliff here was taller and the dinosaur’s head no longer reached the top. The clearing widened a bit, giving the creature more room to pace around. Any time it started to wander off, Morgan drew it back with his clucking chicken imitation. He laughed and occasionally threw softball-sized rocks at its head. The dinosaur snapped at the air each time it was hit, like a dog biting at a bee.
    William looked down at the tyrannosaur. Before they became teenagers too cool for the zoo, William’s sons had loved the raised walkway above the giraffe exhibit. They always made him purchase a bag of “giraffe biscuits,” which looked suspiciously like wheat crackers. The giraffes’ massive heads came right over the railing and their long purple tongues took the biscuits from the boys’ hands. As William looked down at the tyrannosaur below, he thought of the giraffe exhibit. This was terrifying, but it was also awesome. I don’t care how old you boys are, you would love this . At the same time, he was glad they weren’t there.
    Tim returned, dragging a fallen sapling about eighteen feet long and as thick as his calf. “Come on. Let’s give this a shot.”
    The group gathered around and together they