The sound of thunderous galloping was overwhelming. The dust was making it hard to see but it looked like a herd of . . .
Robert wiped the dust from his eyes and peered down into the cloud.
He almost fell out of the tree. Dinosaurs?!
He felt the fossil in his back pocket. ‘I’ve travelled back in time?’ This was impossible. Was someone going to come out from behind a tree and say ‘Just kidding!’?
The herd was galloping past, along the dusty path below Robert’s tree. They were fast, bird-like dinosaurs that ran on two legs. Real-life dinosaurs! Robert’s brain churned through all the dinosaur info he had stored in his head. He thought they could be ornithopods. If he was right, they were herbivorous, which meant they were plant-eaters and posed no direct threat to him. Although, if he’d stayed on the ground, it wouldn’t have been so comfortable getting stepped on by stampeding dinosaurs, even if they were small ones!
Once the dust cloud cleared, Robert coughed a little and took a few seconds to rub the dirt from his eyes, trying to remain quiet. He wasn’t sure if the ornithopods were being chased or whether they were just travelling to a new location.
When the last one disappeared from sight, Robert waited until he was sure no predator was following the herd, then he climbed down from the tree and onto the dusty track.
Okay, so he had travelled back in time. This wasn’t a dream or a practical joke. And it had to have something to do with the fossil he’d found. Even though he still felt dazed by the discovery, Robert realised that this was the chance of a lifetime. He wasn’t going to waste time thinking about it. He had things to check out! Robert started jogging along the path left by the ornithopod herd, excitement building in his chest.
As he ran, he recorded an update. ‘Can you believe it? I reckon that somehow I’ve ended up in prehistoric Australia, possibly some time in the Cretaceous period. It’s incredible. I’ve just seen my first herd of dinosaurs. I think the group were ornithopods, which are about the size of emus. They’re herbivores, they walk on two legs and travel in packs.’
Robert looked around as the landscape began to change. He was leaving the forest behind and could see that a clearing lay ahead. Travelling a few steps further, he paused when he found the pack had stopped to drink from a muddy riverbank. He crouched down, lowering his voice to a whisper.
‘Within the group, it looks like there are both adults and juveniles. The river they’re drinking from is probably familiar to them, as they seemed to know the direction they were heading in. And they’re not the only species using the river as a watering hole. I’m going to take a closer look.’
Robert snuck as close as he thought was safe, his shoes sinking slightly into the muddy soil. ‘Crikey, I think the other dinosaurs may be coelurosaurs. Amazing creatures! They’re brown and leathery with long necks and small beady eyes. They’re known to be carnivorous, which means they’re meat-eaters, but they don’t seem interested in taking a bite out of the ornithopods. They’re a smaller species. In fact – take a look at that – I can see a few of the coelurosaurs snapping at insects near the water’s edge. Smaller food items, like frogs or small reptiles, are probably more within their reach.’
Robert stopped recording and took a deep breath. What had started off as a really good birthday present – a dinosaur dig and fossil preparation – had just become a million times better! This present had become totally out of this world! If only Riley could see it as well – then he’d understand how awesome dinosaurs really were!
When Robert could bear to tear his eyes away from the dinosaurs, he took a closer look at the surrounding environment. It was a much cooler climate here than it had been in the hot sun of present-day Winton. He was lucky he’d kept his jacket on while he’d been in the lab. And there were no gum trees or grass here now. He knew that cycads, gingko trees and various different types of fern were a part of Australia in the Cretaceous period, but to see them with his own eyes was just incredible!
All of a sudden, an enormous roar ripped through the air. Robert stifled a yelp and sprinted as fast as he could into the relative safety of the bushland. He hid, shaking, behind a small tree fern at the edge of the clearing.
His heart was pounding.
Of course, it was fine to get excited about living in the time of dinosaurs, but the tricky thing was working out how to stay alive when there were so many enormous, meat-eating giants roaming the place!