An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs by Kenneth Oppel Read Free Book Online Page B

show you to the pool now.”
    Swift was waiting for them outside Miss Frost’s door, standing as still as a department store mannequin. He made Giles’s skin crawl. They were led back downstairs, then outside onto a broad patio that was surrounded on all sides by a ferociously overgrown garden.
    “Here we are,” said the assistant.
    Giles frowned. “Um, where’s the swimming pool?”
    “Here we are,” Swift said again, looking straight ahead, hands clasped behind his back.
    “I don’t understand,” Kevin said.
    Swift sighed, picked up a small stone and threw it into a ragged patch of greenery.
    Plok!
    “There’s water underneath all that?” said Giles, incredulous.
    “As Miss Frost indicated, it’s in rather poor repair,” said the assistant, and with that he turned and marched away.
    All three of them stood there in stunned silence.
    Giles walked cautiously to the edge of the concrete patio for a better look. It was as if the entire garden had just grown right into the swimming pool. A thick carpet of green algae and lily pads covered the water, and strange-looking plants sprouted leafy tendrils across the surface.
    “Look at all that glurp!” said Kevin.
    “That’s not a word, Kevin,” Tina told him.
    “I’d say glurp is a pretty good word for what we’re looking at,” Giles said.
    A big, oily bubble bulged on the water’s surface and burst with a thick popping sound.
    “It’s like a prehistoric swamp!” he exclaimed. “How are we supposed to see what’s in the pool?”
    Tina turned thoughtfully to her brother.
    “Kevin, how would you feel about stripping down and just having a little paddle around?”
    “Forget it!” Kevin exclaimed.
    “No, I didn’t think so,” said Tina regretfully.
    “You really think there’s some weird creature in there?” Giles said.
    “Of course not,” said Tina confidently. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for what Miss Frost saw.”
    Another big bubble popped the water’s surface, and a gurgling moan welled up from the depths of the pool.
    Giles looked nervously over at Kevin.
    “Could have been the wind,” Kevin said quickly.
    “Well,” said Tina, “there’s only one way to find out. We’ll have to go underwater with the bathysphere!”
    “The bathysphere?” Giles said to Kevin.
    “Don’t even ask,” Kevin replied wearily.

Chapter 3
Into the
     Deep
    “It looks like a washing machine!” Giles
     exclaimed.
    Tina sighed long-sufferingly. “Barnes, even the greatest
     inventors are forced to work with the raw materials at hand. In this case, a
     washing machine happened to be the most suitable starting
     point.”
    “Mom was not impressed,” panted Kevin, who had
     single-handedly pushed the huge contraption from home. He was lying flat on his
     back on Miss Frost’s patio, catching his breath.
    “We can’t go underwater in this thing!” Giles
     said. “Look at it! There are still dials on top that say RINSE and SPIN
     CYCLE!”
    “I don’t think either of you fully appreciate the
     greatness of my latest invention,” Tina said haughtily. “Thisbathysphere is capable of going underwater to great depths,
     while safely carrying three people inside. It will allow us to make a thorough
     aquatic examination of the pool.”
    Giles walked slowly around the bathysphere, taking a good look.
     Tina had certainly made a lot of alterations. At the rear was a huge propeller
     that looked suspiciously like the ceiling fan from the Quarks’ dining
     room. Four bicycle lights had been bolted to the front. On either side of the
     bathysphere were bolted, big oil drums, which sounded hollow when Giles tapped
     them. Thick rubber hosing was wrapped all around the outside, and truck tires
     were nailed to the base. It was much bigger than a regular washing machine.
     Giles peered through the round glass hatch. Still, it looked like a tight
     squeeze in there.
    “I’m not sure about this,” Giles
     said.
    “It’s