Dinosaur Trouble by Dick King-Smith Read Free Book Online

a good push and down it comes—straight onto T. rex.”
    â€œI see,” said Banty. “This decoy isn’t one of you, is it? He knows you could just fly away.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œAnd it isn’t going to be Pa, who’ll be waiting behind the tree. Ma too, probably.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œSo,” said Banty, “I am to be the decoy, am I, Nosy?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œJust suppose I can’t go fast enough. Just suppose he catches me.”
    â€œHe won’t. Mom and Daddy and I will fly in his face so he can’t see where he’s going. You’ll be all right, Banty.”
    â€œThanks,” said Banty. “Glad to know that.”

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    When they got back, they found their parents chatting, the pterodactyls hanging from a branch of a large lakeside tree, the apatosauruses standing below, long necks up-stretched.
    Nosy hung, Banty stood.
    â€œNosy has a plan,” she said to them all.
    â€œA plan?” said Aviatrix. “What about?”
    â€œT. rex.”
    â€œWhat are you going to do to him?” asked Gargantua.

    â€œFrighten him,” said Nosy. “Scare him away.”
    â€œDon’t be silly, Nosy,” said his mother. “Run away and play. Scare T. rex, indeed!”
    â€œHang on a minute, Avy,” said Clawed.
    â€œI am hanging on!”
    â€œYes, but let’s hear what the boy’s got to say. I
could do with a good laugh.”
    So Nosy outlined his scheme, as he had to Banty.
    â€œShe’ll have to be the decoy, of course,” he finished up.
    â€œIt’s so simple, isn’t it?” said Aviatrix sarcastically to the three adults. “Titanic just drops a tree on the brute. A tree, which is in the woods, which are on the other side of the lake, which means that T. rex will be chasing Banty for a long way, which means he’ll catch her. I never heard of anything more injudicious.”

    â€œWhat’s that mean, Mom?” asked Nosy.
    â€œUnwise.”
    â€œI quite agree, Aviatrix,” said Gargantua. “How perspicacious you are!”

    Aviatrix looked very pleased. I only taught her that word quite recently, she thought. There’s hope for her yet.
    Titanic, standing looking up at the three pterodactyls on their branch, looked farther up still.
    â€œI quite agree with your good lady, sir,” he said to Clawed. “To go all the way to your wood might not be wise. But this tree here is a very large one, which I make bold to say I could, I think, push over, especially with the assistance of my good lady. As close to the lake as we are, it seems to me that Banty could easily escape into the water.”
    â€œNo!” cried Gargantua. “Forget about T. rex. We must not put our daughter’s life at risk.”
    â€œIf we forget about T. rex, Gargy,” said Titanic, “our daughter may pay for it with her life.”
    There was silence for a while as they all thought about Nosy’s plan, a silence broken only
by a small snore as Clawed, tired by all the talk, dozed off.
    â€œWell, Mom,” said Nosy at last, “what do you think?”
    Aviatrix looked at her son. She suddenly felt very proud of him. Fancy him thinking up such a scheme all by himself. And this was the right spot, no doubt of it; this was where T. rex came to drink in the shade of this great tree. But wouldn’t he see Titanic and Gargantua waiting behind the tree? No, because she and Clawed would pester him all the time. She would use her aerobatic skills to scratch his beastly snout, and Clawed would spread his great wings before him, to confuse him, and Nosy—could Nosy do anything when T. rex came?
    â€œI think it is a fine plan, my son. But tell me, what will you do?” she asked.
    Nosy had a sudden brainwave.

    â€œI,” he said, “will be the first decoy. When T. rex comes down for a drink, I’m