Dinosaur Hideout by Judith Silverthorne Read Free Book Online

although when he looked at the cross again, he had a good idea. Brett and Wade’s comments came back to haunt him. He could feel himself shaking.
    “Look, I didn’t mean to intrude.” Daniel had to try reasoning with him somehow. He felt tremors of fear shooting up his spine. Maybe the old guy did murder trespassers! He took a deep breath as he tried to think what to do.
    “Maybe I could help you,” he blurted out, holding his fear at bay and hoping to appease the old man at the same time. Besides, now he was even more curious to know what Pederson was doing. He was sure the bones he’d seen were too big to be human. Maybe they were from some huge animal?
    “No. You get off my property right now. Go!” Pederson rasped out.
    Daniel stood his ground. “Wait. I didn’t mean to, but I saw the bones. On your table.” Sudden realization dawned on him. “Are they from dinosaurs?”
    Pederson stared fiercely at him, “Get. Now!”
    “Please,” Daniel’s voice shook. “I want to know if you’ve found something important. I’ve been searching for evidence of dinosaurs for a long time. I know there’s something special here. I just know it.” Daniel swept his arm across the panorama of hills.
    Pederson seemed to be wrestling with himself, weighing whether or not to speak. Daniel looked at him with pleading eyes.
    “Please. It’s important to me.”
    “Why? What makes you think I’d be collecting dinosaur bones? Does this look like a museum to you?” Pederson coughed into his handkerchief.
    “My rock – the other day. You knew what it was. You’re interested in paleontology, too, aren’t you? That’s why you’re here.”
    “What do you know about paleontology?” Pederson went into another coughing fit.
    Daniel started to move towards him to pat him on the back, but drew back when he saw the independent look in his eyes.
    He tried to explain. “Enough to know that this has to be a prime place for dinosaurs. Enough to be sure that some amazing species are just waiting to be uncovered.”
    Pederson eyed him suspiciously. “So dinosaurs lived here once. Eons ago. That’s no secret, given the makeup of the land.”
    “But that’s what you’re doing here, isn’t it?” Daniel quizzed him. “Digging for dinosaurs?”
    “Maybe, maybe not,” the old man shied away from the question. “What are you expecting to find, young man?”
    Daniel figured this was his chance to keep Pederson from doing anything bad to him, so he kept talking. Besides he felt tingly all over when he thought about his favourite topic. “I figure there’s probably a whole dinosaur here. I mean, if they found almost a complete tyrannosaurus rex over by Eastend, why not here? We’re only fifty kilometres or so away.”
    Daniel started clapping his mittened hands together to get the circulation going. He was beginning to feel cold, but he’d noticed the glint of interest in Pederson’s eyes.
    “What makes you so confident there’s anything right here? On this land?” Pederson demanded.
    “I’ve already found some fossils.”
    “What kind?”
    Daniel noticed Pederson’s increased curiosity. “Like what you saw the other day.”
    The old man shrugged, as if losing interest.
    “And more,” Daniel added shrewdly, wanting to keep his attention.
    Pederson sized him up. He seemed to be making up his mind about something.
    Daniel pleaded one more time. “Oh, come on. Tell me what you’re doing. Please. I’m not going to say anything. My parents don’t even know about my hideout. And my dad hates me mentioning anything about rocks and dinosaurs. All he’s interested in is farming – cattle and crops.”
    “Is that right?” asked Pederson. He had another coughing fit that seemed to take his breath away.
    Daniel shuffled uneasily, as he debated whether or not to confide in Pederson about his dilemma. Then he blurted out, “Did you know there’s an oil company trying to lease land around here?”
    “What?” Pederson