Chapter Two

“This ruins everything!” Craig spoke at last.
Dr. Roost stirred. “No way,” she growled. “We’ll find the bloody culprits.”

“Maybe,” said Daniel. “Look. Tire tracks.”

Craig joined him and the two followed the tracks for a few metres. “All-terrain vehicles, I think.”

Studying the ground, Daniel agreed. He and Craig walked some distance along the quarry, but the atv tracks disappeared into the scrub.

Pederson rose at last. “Let’s call in the authorities. They’ll have a better chance of following the trail.” He pulled out a cell phone and handed it to Daniel. “Here, you know how to use this contraption. Dial your folks for me.”

Daniel obliged and Ole Pederson explained the situation to Ed Bringham with a request to contact Corporal Jim Fraser at the Climax rcmp detachment.

“Use the west roadway when you come,” Pederson suggested. “The thieves seem to have come and gone to the east and we don’t want to mess up the trail.”

“Tell them to bring my camera too,” Daniel whispered to Pederson.

“Better yet, they could bring my digital,” suggested Dr. Roost, not bothering to lower her voice. “It’s in my truck. My spare keys are under the rear bumper.”

Pederson relayed the instructions and then his face dropped again. “Yes, the lot of us are mighty upset,” he said. He listened some more. “Yes, we’ll come up with a contingency plan.”

Pederson ended the call and turned to Daniel. “Jed left with his group only a few minutes behind us. They gathered early.”

“Oh, no! They’ll be here any minute,” said Daniel, shaking his head. “What’ll we do?”

Dr. Roost took charge of the situation. “Do the usual micro and macro displays. Ole, you up for that or shall I do the explanations?”

“No use whining about what’s happened, I guess,” he said. He massaged his wrinkled forehead with his fingers as if to ease a headache.

“Good.” She turned and pointed her cane at Craig. “You can explain about the cutting of the steps and layers of earth to get down to the fossils. Daniel, you run and meet Jed and have him direct the group to his own area first.”

Daniel nodded. Jed would be pleased. Usually his area was off limits to visitors because of the fragility of the find. He’d discovered rare tiny scratching marks of a birdlike creature. They were still trying to figure out its origins.

Mildred Roost continued. “I’ll watch for Ed and Corporal Fraser and direct them away from the tour group.”

“Wait a minute,” Daniel stopped in his tracks. “We don’t know what condition the rest of the site is in.”

“That’s right,” said Dr. Roost. “Craig, run and see if there’s anything left over there. Wave if it’s fine.”

A shrill whistle pierced the air. The pre-arranged signal warned them of the tour group’s imminent arrival. Daniel rushed off.

“Watch for Craig’s wave,” Dr. Roost called after him.

Daniel took off over the rise and met the tour group just on the other side. Jed looked puzzled, but Daniel shook his head slightly so he wouldn’t say anything.

“Welcome to the quarry,” said Daniel. “As Jed’s probably told you, we’ve made some interesting discoveries here this summer.” He stalled with general comments, watching for Craig. When he spotted the all-clear signal, he continued walking. “This morning we have a special treat for you. You’re going to see a rare find discovered by your guide, Jed.”

The four adults and two young boys seemed pleased. Jed still looked puzzled.

“First, if you’d like to step over this way, you’ll get a good view of the valley and quarry before we go down.” He led them to the top of the rise.

While the group was busy examining the view and snapping pictures, Daniel pulled Jed aside. “I can’t tell you everything right now, but you have to avoid going anywhere near the Stygimoloch site. Keep them busy with the micro and macro sites, and then take them the long way around to your special markings, and back to the farm.”

“What’s happened?” Jed kept his voice low.

Daniel pressed Jed’s arm and spoke softly. “The Stygimoloch bones have been stolen.”

“What?” Jed gasped. “Who could have done such a thing?”

“I have no idea. We just discovered it.”

Jed looked shocked.

“We’ve called Corporal Fraser, but we don’t know when he’ll get here.” Daniel gripped Jed’s arm. “Can you carry on? Pretend everything’s okay?”

Jed cleared his throat, swallowed hard, and then joined the sightseers. He explained that the different terms used at the site as he led the group towards Craig.

Who would steal the Stygimoloch and what did they intend on doing with it?

Daniel stumbled back into the quarry in search of Dr. Roost. She stood guard over the empty Stygimoloch site, looking more upset than ever.

“Is something else wrong?” Daniel rushed to her side.

Dr. Roost eyed Daniel for a moment before replying. “No, this is bad enough. I just can’t figure out who would have done it. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Could it be someone trying to get the credit for uncovering something new?”

She shook her head. “I’ve thought about that, but I can’t see anyone being able to pull it off. You and Ole have documented everything so well, including with photographs, and you’ve shown your findings and pictures to people at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, so it would be exceptionally difficult for anyone to claim the find as theirs. Besides, I don’t think people on the tours realized what they were seeing.”

“But what other reason could there be?” Daniel heard his voice crack with exasperation.

“Sabotage!” Dr. Roost looked grim again.

Daniel gulped.

Dr. Roost pointed with her cane. “Take a look at those tread marks. No one with any sense or knowledge about paleontology would be so careless with something so valuable.”

“An ‘outside’ job?” Daniel speculated.

A smile threatened to crack Dr. Roost’s face.

“You could say that.”

“Or maybe it’s an insider, making it look like an outside job.”

Dr. Roost guffawed at Daniel’s remark. “You’ve been watching too much tv! All this talk about insiders and outside jobs.”

“Well, it is possible isn’t it?” Daniel asked.

“Yes, it certainly is!” She pointed to a mound of earth that lay untouched. “But who on the ‘inside’ would do such a thing? We’re all part of the operation. Its success benefits for all of us.”

“True.” But Daniel’s mind flashed over the trouble he’d had with the Nelwin brothers earlier this summer. They had bullied him and damaged his hideout and the campsite. He shook the thought off. Craig and Todd had worked hard to make things right, and he couldn’t believe either of them would be involved after all his family had done for them.

Dr. Roost looked at him with curiosity. “You have an idea?”

Daniel shook his head.

“And what do you make of that?” Dr. Roost pointed to a section a little farther off where they’d started clearing some debris to expose tiny bones.

He started to head over to it, but Mildred Roost caught his arm. “Best leave it until after the police have had a chance to look at it and we’ve taken some photographs.”

Daniel squatted and peered at the mound from a distance. “I think whoever trashed the place just took what was easy. I don’t think they know that they’ll never be able to sell them.”

“I agree,” said Ole Pederson, coming up behind him. “Even if they eventually found some disreputable group to buy them, it would be years before they could allow them to surface, and that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Since when did stealing ever make sense?” asked Dr. Roost, snorting. “Is the tour group gone?”

Pederson nodded. “Thanks for distracting me earlier, Mildred. I’m calmer now.”

“Action in crisis is always the best,” she answered, lifting her eyebrows. “So how do you think we should proceed once the police have gone?”

Pederson stood with his hand under his chin, surveying the damage. “Guess that’ll depend on when we get any news about our Stygimoloch. The work on it has been seriously compromised. Who’s to say what condition the bones will be in, when and if we find them?” Pederson sighed and his eyes held a faraway look.

Everyone stood lost in thought.

“Well, there’s still Jed’s splendid discovery to finish collecting,” Dr. Roost stated quietly. “Those little markings could be an exceptional find!”

Pederson gave her a weak smile, but his shoulders drooped and he seemed frailer than Daniel ever remembered him being.

“We’ll get the fossils back,” Daniel said, patting Mr. Pederson’s hand, but he wasn’t so sure himself.

Daniel was relieved to hear the sounds of a vehicle coming their way across the pasture. Craig joined them and they all watched in silence as Doug Lindstrom’s old jeep stopped at the top of the hill. Corporal Fraser got out, along with Dad and Doug, and they all came down the steps to the quarry.

Doug let out a low whistle of disbelief. Dad’s lips clamped tight. Corporal Fraser looked grim as he surveyed the destruction.

“They were thorough, I will say that for them,” the police officer said.

Doug shook his head. “Why would anyone...?”

“Can you think of anyone that might want some kind of revenge?” the corporal asked.

“Revenge? I can’t imagine why,” Dad said, aghast.

“Looks like someone doesn’t want to see you succeed,” Corporal Fraser said.

“But the whole community is supportive. It’s bringing business to the area,” explained Dad.

“Dr. Roost thinks it’s sabotage too,” Daniel piped up.

Corporal Fraser nodded. “Sure looks like it.”

“But why?” asked Pederson, bewildered. “We haven’t done anything to anyone.”

“At least, not that we’re aware of,” added Mildred.

Pederson stared at her in shocked confusion, the way cattle do when they touch an electric fence that wasn’t there before.

“But who?” He began coughing and Dr. Roost walked with him over to a shady spot under an overhang, where they sat on a ledge and watched the proceedings.

Once he’d examined the site, Corporal Fraser allowed Daniel and Mildred to take photographs with their cameras, telling them what he needed for official documentation, including the use of a tape measure to indicate the scale of what was being documented. Ole Pederson then instructed Craig and the men in preparing plaster of Paris samples of the tire tread marks and the almost obliterated footprints. While they waited for them to dry, Dad, Doug, Craig and Corporal Fraser fanned out and examined the tire tracks across the hills.

When Corporal Fraser indicated it was okay to go back to the site, Daniel squatted beside the mound of dirt the thieves had disturbed, gently searching through the dirt. Dr. Roost and Ole Pederson peered over his shoulder. Several handfuls later, he found a small bone fragment and handed it to Mr. Pederson.

“Hard to say what it is; could be part of a foot bone.” The old man caressed it.

Daniel stared at the empty bed. Fragments too tiny to be of much use lay scattered about, but the main sections were long gone. They might find something more buried deeper, but there was no way of knowing that and additional bones wouldn’t be of much value without the skull.

Daniel watched the trackers disappear over another rise. “Doesn’t seem like we can do much more here. Maybe we should go back to the house.”

“Might as well,” agreed Dr. Roost.

“Hrmmph,” Pederson grunted and began climbing the hill, still muttering to himself, his back hunched, his strides a little less sure.

Mildred Roost sighed. “I’m worried about Ole. You know what this means to him.”

“Surely we’ll find the Stygimoloch!”

“I wouldn’t count on it, Daniel. Even if we find the remains, they may be badly damaged.”

Daniel wondered how they were going to find the culprits. Surely it couldn’t be anyone from the community. But then why would anyone anywhere want to sabotage the operation? He hoped Corporal Fraser would come up with some clues soon. Otherwise, where would they start looking?

As Daniel contemplated the disaster, he wondered why Todd hadn’t rushed to the site with the others. He’d thought Todd wanted to come with them to the dig this morning, but then he’d said that he’d better finish the harvesting. That must be what he was doing. Surely Todd couldn’t be involved – could he?