A few feet from my face, huge jaws smiled menacingly, revealing curved sharp teeth perfect for tearing flesh. The creature looked ready to pounce if I moved so much as a baby finger.
“That is one big ugly dude,” my cousin Nick said, shaking his spiky black hair out of his face. I jumped in spite of myself. Our friend Robyn repressed a shudder as she took in the blank eye sockets that seemed to look down from the bony skull.
The dinosaur skeleton had to be at least twenty feet tall. The neck swooped toward the floor, as if it were chasing smaller prey.
Our class was on a field trip, visiting the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. The Tyrrell Museum is famous for its fantastic dinosaur fossils. The badlands around Drumheller are some of the best dig sites for dinosaur fossils in the world.
Robyn, her freckled face scrunched into a frown, had made me promise before we left not to get us into any trouble at the museum. Like it’s all my fault that weird things happen around the three of us. I have nothing to do with that. If anyone was to blame for getting us into sticky situations, it’s Robyn. She’s pretty nosy, even for a girl.
“He’s one of the most complete specimens of the Tyrannosaurus rex ever found,” Hailey Ross said. “My mom said it took years to find all the pieces.”
“How do you know it’s a he?” Robyn flicked her ponytail over her shoulder.
Hailey shrugged. “Females have a different substance in some of their bones. Paleontologists figured that out on a T. rex skeleton in Montana. Before that, we just guessed.”
“Did your mom actually work on digging it up?” Nick asked.
“Yeah, she did. The digs are her favorite part. She likes teaching too though.” Hailey glanced toward the front of the line, where her mom Jamie was leading the tour. “It’s too bad that she might have to give that up.” Hailey’s expression hardened.
“Why?” I asked.
“We might be moving.” Hailey’s answer was so brief that I didn’t want to ask anything more. Hailey was a nice kid. She never bragged, but we all knew that Dr. Ross had her name in the newspaper a lot when it came to important research in paleontology. Dr. Ross didn’t look famous. She was dressed in khaki pants with multiple pockets, hiking shoes and a white blouse. She wore her brown hair cut blunt at her chin, just long enough to tuck behind her ears, and no makeup. Hailey looked a lot like her, except her hair was usually twisted into a long braid down her back.
Dr. Ross headed up important digs for the Tyrrell Museum, but she also spent part of her time at colleges and universities as a guest speaker.
I cleared my throat in the awkward pause that followed Hailey’s comment and searched for something to say. “How come your dad didn’t come today?” I asked at last. Hailey lived most of the time with her father in Calgary, which is why she went to our junior high. They commuted out to stay with her mom on the weekend. He had volunteered for some of our field trips last year.
“Because my mom said she would guide the tour with our class. She doesn’t usually do them anymore,” answered Hailey.
“Boys and girls,” Dr. Ross called out. “I want to call your attention to this display. Do you notice the layers of rock surrounding this fossil? See how they are distinct colors. Each layer represents a different time in history. We call these strata. This is one way to date fossils.”
The class began to drift over to the glass case that Dr. Ross pointed out, but I paused for another look at the giant bone structure. I leaned forward, holding onto the slick nylon band that held visitors back from the display. I wanted a closer look at those vicious teeth.
Without warning, the rope released with a sudden snap and retracted into the nearby steel pole.
“Whoa!” I teetered, about to do a major face-plant on the floor of the display.
“Trevor, don’t!” Robyn cried as I grabbed hold of the only solid thing within reach— the dinosaur’s lower jaw.
But it was too late. The dinosaur swayed. I held on instinctively, trying to steady myself with the huge bones. That was a big mistake. My weight made the dinosaur’s jaw swing to the side, sending a ripple through the entire skeleton. The tail flapped once, as though the dinosaur was alive. I heard an awful groan as the bones loosened. Then the whole thing cratered.
Thud…thud…CRASH! The skeleton collapsed in a roar of noise. Bones rattled down. A few bounced crazily in all directions. Some kids had to duck. I rolled out of the way as the huge skull dropped. Within seconds the impressive display was nothing more than a heap of old bones. Dust puffed from the crevices.
Coughing, I stared in horror at what I’d done. The rest of the class came running. Dr. Ross was right behind them.
“Holy bananas, Batman,” Nick said, wide-eyed.
“Is everyone okay?” Dr. Ross shouted.
“What happened?” Nick asked, lifting the collar of his shirt over his nose and mouth as the dust thickened.
“I—” Dry-mouthed, I stopped. How could I ever explain?
“The rope broke,” Robyn said. “I saw it. Trevor lost his balance and started to fall. He grabbed at something to get his balance and…”
“That happened to be the dinosaur skeleton,” Nick finished. He groaned. “Trevor, why do these things always happen to you?”
I shook my head miserably. I wished I knew.
“Oh well. It’s not as bad as it seems,” Dr. Ross said cheerfully.
“Not as bad as it seems?” Hailey gestured to the rubble in disbelief. “This is bad enough, isn’t it?”
“Oh, it’s a mess all right. But we’ll get it cleaned up,” said Dr. Ross.
“But what about all these broken fossils? They can’t possibly be replaced,” Robyn said. “Everybody knows how rare they are.”
Dr. Ross started to laugh. “That’s true. But these aren’t fossils. They’re plaster replicas!”
“What?” I gasped.
“We had them made for the children’s display. The real fossils are in the central area of the museum. We put up a display that kids could get close to—to see and touch. But kids were trying to climb on this guy, so we roped him off.”
I found I could suddenly breathe again, in spite of the dust. “Really? This dinosaur was a fake?”
“Yup.” Dr. Ross grinned. “As fake as the smile on a kid’s face for school pictures!”