The Dinosaur Four by Geoff Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

She pursed her lips and shook her head at Hank. “I am not leaving this café. Whoever sent us here will surely try to bring us back. I intend to be right here when that happens.”
    Al wondered if the old woman might be on to something. If the group wandered away, they might miss out on a chance to get back home. Back to their normal lives.
    Hank looked at Helen. “Those things don’t seem to be going anywhere. At this rate, we might be trapped in here for a while, no matter what we want to do.” He turned to Lisa. “How many more muffins do you have stashed away?”
    “Not enough.”
    “That’s great,” Morgan said. “You can add starvation to our list of problems.”
    Beth chuckled. “Morgan, you don’t need to worry about starving. You’re gonna piss off someone and get thrown into the river long before that point.”
    “I might jump in the river myself if I have to sit huddled back here with all of you much longer. Is it still out there?” They had not heard anything for several minutes.
    William leaned around the counter. “Let me have a look.” He stood and crept out into the room. A moment later, he told them the coast was clear.
    As Al rose to his feet, Beth placed her hand on his arm. “Hey. That was a pretty cool thing you did earlier, saving my boss.”
    Al felt his heart speed up. Normally, Beth would not give him the time of day. She was out of his league. To be fair, Lisa was out of his league as well. But Beth was far too cute to even talk with someone like him. Now she was holding onto his arm, right in front of everyone.
    “Um, thanks,” Al said. He wondered how old Beth was. Her face was perfectly smooth, without a hint of a wrinkle.
    Beth smiled, gave his arm a squeeze, and let go.
    Al felt scared, but he also felt excited. Attention from two babes in one day. He wondered how much he really wanted to go back to his normal life.

[ 13 ]
    Thick chunks of white skin hung from the bricks where the hadrosaur cow had scratched herself. The stink of vinegar and rotten vegetation filled the room. Lisa felt a gag in her throat. Morgan walked over and pulled a piece of skin from the bricks.
    “Don’t touch that,” Lisa said. “ It’s disgusting.” Downy tufts clumped on the skin. “It looks mangy.”
    Morgan held it up in the air. “I’m touching actual dinosaur skin. No other human being in the history of time has ever done that.” He leered at Callie. “Now you can put me in the record books too.” The others crowded around and examined the skin, but no one else felt the need to touch it.
    Outside, t he sun had climbed above the treetops and now shone on their building. Most of the hadrosaurs settled into the cool mud halfway between the river and the tree line.
    Lisa retreated to the back corner. She felt more comfortable there, partly because it was where she normally worked and partly because it was as far from the water and windows as she could get. She sat on the station that held sugar, creamer, and wooden stirrers.
    William sat down at a table near the front corner. Beth took a seat next to him. Tim stood nearby, watching out the windows. The three of them had formed a tidy little group, Lisa realized.
    Al wandered back and sat next to her. Lisa leaned into him and he put his arm around her.
    Hank paced back and forth through the room. “There must be something special about this location. Most of us don’t even know each other. We all just happened to be here at the same time. It’s the only thing we have in common.” He stopped next to Helen. She had produced a ball of yarn and knitted away at one end of a short red scarf. Lisa found the noise of the clicking needles comforting.
    Hank put a hand on Helen’s shoulder. “I think you might be right. We need to stay close by, in case someone comes looking for us.”
    Al spoke up. “A few minutes ago, you wanted to leave.”
    Hank looked up, nostrils wide. “I don’t know what we should do. I just don’t like being