Dinosaur Hideout (8 page)

“Maybe there’ll be some good news,” Daniel attempted to distract Jed. “Maybe when the oil company does their testing, they won’t find anything, so they’ll go away.”

Jed shook his head. “They’ll still leave a mess.”

“You’re right. The damage would be done.” Daniel bowed his head, just thinking about it.

“We’d be worse off than before,” Jed added, turning back to Daniel. “I’ve heard that if they don’t strike oil, they leave the farmers without anything, and then the land is useless, too.”

Both boys sat in a dazed silence until the bus approached
Daniel’s stop. Daniel nudged his friend, and gathered his belongings quickly.

“See ya,” Daniel said solemnly.

Jed nodded, but kept his head down as Daniel left.

As Daniel jumped off the school bus, a truck pulled out of his driveway. When he saw the oil company logo on the side of the vehicle, he hurried into the house as fast as he could.

Once inside the back porch, he threw off his boots and rushed into the kitchen. Dad was once again studying papers on the kitchen table. It was like déjà vu, yesterday all over again. Mom stood at the counter by the stove, forming meatballs and dropping them into the sizzling frying pan. Both jumped as Daniel came in and slammed his backpack on the floor.

“Daniel, what’s the matter?” Mom asked, “You look all upset.”

“I am. I saw the truck. You didn’t sign that contract did you?” he demanded.

“Daniel! Drop the attitude this minute,” Dad snapped.

“Sorry. But did you? I have to know.”

“Not yet.” Dad gathered the papers into a pile.

“We have a meeting with their representatives next Tuesday afternoon,” explained Mom, turning her attention back to the stove.

“It’ll ruin everything if you do.” Daniel could hear his voice rising.

“Ruin what?” asked Dad.

“The land, for one thing. And – well, I can’t say exactly,” Daniel struggled for an explanation that wouldn’t give away Mr. Pederson’s secret. “But what if I told you that a really big scientific discovery could be made that would change everything for us. Maybe even make us enough money so we wouldn’t have to lease the west quarter.”

“And what might this amazing discovery be?” asked Dad with a touch of impatience. “I think I know what’s on my own land.”

“I can’t...but...well...what if I told you I was sure there had to be something even bigger than at Eastend out there?”

“Yes, I could see that might be worth something. But somebody would have to find it. Some expert. That could take years and a lot of money. We’re certainly not going to wait around for lightning to strike.”

“But, Dad, what if I was positive?” He had to make him see.

“Well, you’d have to show me proof. Convince me somehow, I guess. Then I might reconsider, but even so...” Dad looked at him expectantly. “Well, can you prove it?”

Daniel wrestled with his conscience, until he thought he would burst. But in the end he knew he had to hold his tongue, because of the promise he’d made to Mr. Pederson. He sighed. “Well, not exactly. I mean, I can, but just not right now.”

“We’re back to that again,” said Dad in exasperation, throwing his hands in the air.

“Daniel, we understand how important your scientific discoveries are to you, but...” Mom began.

“But you’ve got to understand our financial situation – we can’t take vague speculations to the bank!” Dad finished the sentence for her in the stern voice that meant there would be no more discussion. Then he shook his head at Mom, and threw his hands into the air a second time. “We’re doing it for his future, Libby. Doesn’t he get that?”

Daniel felt his blood surging through his veins and into his head until it pounded. “Well, you can just keep your money and your farm. I don’t want it,” he cried. “If you had any idea –” He gripped the taculite fossil in his pocket.

“Sorry, Son, that’s just not good enough.” Dad shoved the documents to the side of the table as Mom began setting plates out for supper.

“Daniel, we have to go to the bank first, and discuss our situation with them,” Mom explained calmly. “We don’t even know what they’ll let us do. Your dad has an appointment tomorrow to find out.” She turned back to the stove.

“Now, how about washing up so you can help with supper?” she asked gently, as she poured a can of mushroom soup into the pan. The aroma of simmering meatballs made Daniel’s stomach rumble.

He whirled out of the room. At least he had until Tuesday to figure out a plan. He couldn’t believe Dad’s attitude! Just because he wasn’t interested in archaeology, didn’t mean he had to be so boneheaded.

He thought again of the table full of dinosaur relics at Pederson’s, and the huge excavation site the old man was working on. In another instant, he pictured everything destroyed as a huge earthmover clawed at the land. He couldn’t let that happen!

~

T
he next day after early morning chores,
Daniel rode to town with Dad and Cheryl for their usual Saturday shopping trip. His mother had worked the night shift at the hospital and was joining them at the Linder Café for breakfast.

When they entered the small coffee shop, the aroma of just-brewed coffee and fresh-baked cinnamon buns enveloped them. The place was already filled with other customers, some of them their neighbours. They knew practically everyone, Daniel realized, greeting people as they made their way to the only available booth, at the back by the swinging kitchen doors.

Every time the waitress passed through the doors, a whiff of grilling bacon filled the air. Daniel saw Jed and his family and nodded across the room. Brett and Wade’s families sat at one big table together, laughing and chatting without a care in the world.

Once they’d ordered, Mom played absentmindedly with her coffee spoon until Cheryl let out a squawk from her high chair and demanded it from her. Dad sat glumly, clicking a pen and making occasional scribbled notes on a scrap of paper on the table in front of him. From the short clips of conversation that Daniel heard buzzing about him, the major topic of the day was the oil company and what it meant to the community. His parents avoided the subject.

“I asked for more shifts,” Mom said, then shook her head. “But there just aren’t any. In fact, now that it’s become a Wellness Centre instead of a fully operating hospital, they’re cutting back even more on staff, so I’ll probably lose some shifts that I already have.”

Dad’s expression reached another notch of desperation. Daniel turned his attention to Cheryl, keeping her quietly occupied with the dancing antics of a stuffed toy so he could listen.

“I could try going to the hospital at Shaunavon and see if they could use me there. Qualified nurses are hard to get in rural areas, especially out here,” she offered.

“No, that’s too far for you to drive every day.”

Mom protested, “It’s only forty-five minutes away!”

“Closer to an hour and if you times that by two...” Dad shook his head emphatically. “That’s too much time out of the day spent driving, especially in the winter.”

Her shoulders sagged.

“Maybe I’d better get over to the bank.” Dad checked his watch. Mom leaned over to look, too.

“Too early,” she said, patting his arm. “It’s not open yet and you haven’t even eaten.”

Just then their food arrived. The chatter of conversations swirled about them, but the only sound at their table was the clanking of utensils on plates as they ate their $2.99 bacon and egg breakfast specials. Except for Cheryl, who played with a crust of toast and cooed at an elderly lady who used to own a dress shop in town. She made funny faces at Cheryl from across the aisle.

~

L
ater, while Dad went for his appointment
with the bald-headed bank manager, Daniel and his mother checked the specials at the local Co-op store and picked up a few groceries, before heading home in her car. Just a typical Saturday excursion, he pretended, as he watched the snow-covered farmyards flicking by through the car window. But his stomach flipped and contracted in alternate bouts, telling him otherwise.

~

D
aniel sat hunched over a dinosaur book
at the table when Dad returned from town later than expected. Mom had been holding lunch for over an hour when he finally came into the kitchen, and Cheryl was already down for her afternoon snooze. Dad seemed unusually subdued, not saying much as he sat down.

“So I saw the Schelova’s have a new truck,” Daniel said, in an attempt to break the silence. “What happened to their last one?”

Dad didn’t respond.

“Mom? Did they have another accident?” He looked at her.

“I don’t know, dear,” she shrugged and glanced over at Dad.

“Do you know, Ed?”

Dad shook his head. Then he stared out into space.

“Looks like Misty is going to have kittens. Jed said this would be the last batch his folks will let her have.”

Daniel was met with silence.

“How about if we take a couple?” he asked with an innocent look towards his parents, knowing they had plenty of cats. “We could use a few more to keep the mouse population down.”

Mom and Dad kept eating, not saying a word for several more minutes. Finally, Mom seemed unable to stand the silence and asked what had happened at the bank.

“We’ll talk about it later, Libby,” was all Dad said.

Daniel eyed them anxiously, but neither brought up the subject again. This worried him, but he knew he’d have to be patient. Mom planned on sleeping for the afternoon and evening, because she had to work the night shift again, and Dad had to help one of the neighbours for a couple of hours. They both disappeared from the table abruptly.

This gave him just enough time to head back over to Pederson’s to see more of his dig. He ran up to his room, grabbed his most comprehensive dinosaur resource book, and headed out. Maybe he could also persuade Pederson to speak up, so he could convince his parents not to lease the land.

As he put on his gloves and boarded the snowmobile, he called for Dactyl. His dog came on the run, yipping and tearing around in circles. Daniel started the Ski-Doo and headed slowly across the pasture. Dactyl loped at his side, only once in awhile venturing off around a bush or out of sight into a gully.

When Daniel arrived at Pederson’s place, he decided to take him seriously. He knocked on the door. Then waited. He knocked again. Still no answer. He put his ear to the door, but all he could hear was Bear, barking from somewhere deep inside. He debated what to do. Finally, he rapped again, then opened the door and hollered.

“Mr. Pederson, are you here? Mr. Pederson?”

Everything was dark and quiet, except for Bear’s continual barking. Daniel stepped inside, leaving Dactyl outside, and called to Pederson’s huge mutt.

“Bear, here boy. Come on Bear.”

Scrabble, scrabble.
He could hear Bear coming up the passageway, breathing hard.

“Good boy, Bear,” he said soothingly, stepping back somewhat in case the dog decided to take offence. But Bear whimpered as he approached Daniel. Daniel stroked him. “What’s up, boy? Is something the matter?”

Bear paced back and forth towards the entrance of the passageway, as if indicating that he should follow. Carefully, Daniel skirted the long table with the array of fossils and bones, and followed him.

“Mr. Pederson? Are you here?” Daniel called as he walked along the dimly lit corridor. “Mr. Pederson?”

Suddenly, as he rounded a corner near the open dig, he heard a moan. It was Pederson, lying on the ground! He ran over and gently examined him for injuries. Then, seeing no blood, he shook his arm. He heard a rattling in the old man’s throat. His face was pale and haggard, and his lips were turning blue. Daniel shook his shoulder a little harder.

Pederson stirred, gasping. His face was full of fear. Then he rasped out in a whisper, “My pills, on the table by the skull. The white ones.”

Daniel rushed into the cabin and grabbed the bottle of pills, and then a dipper of water from the pail by the door, before racing back to Pederson. As he opened the pill container, he spilled some of the tiny tablets, but he didn’t take time to pick them up. He had to get one in the old man’s mouth. As he tried to give him some water, Pederson turned his head away.

“No water. Just need a minute,” Pederson whispered as he lay back with the pill under his tongue. He closed his eyes. When he began breathing easier, Daniel helped him sit up against the wall of the dirt passage.

“Thanks, lad.” He opened his eyes for a moment. Then he shifted himself into a more comfortable position. “My heart medicine. Nitroglycerine.”

Daniel began picking up the tiny white pills, but they were hard to find. Using a flashlight, he crawled on his hands and knees scouring the ground to make sure he had them all, brushing the dirt off them before placing them back in the vial.

“Sorry,” he said to Pederson, as he handed him the container.

“No matter,” the old man replied quietly, placing it in his shirt pocket. “Guess I overextended myself.” He pointed to the excavation site.

~