Read Online Dinosaur Hideout by Judith Silverthorne - Free Book Online

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