yesterday.”
His dad mumbled something that didn’t sound quite like a real sentence, then put down his drill, reached into his pocket, and handed Martin a crisp Lincoln.
“Thanks!”
Mr. Tinker seemed like he might say something else, but within two seconds Martin was gone.
It took him less than five minutes to pedal to the Food Bear, where he headed straight for the meat department and spent two dollars and fifteen cents on a small package of raw ground beef. He didn’t want to buy a lot at once, because he knew it wouldn’t keep long and he didn’t want to raise suspicions by storing it in the fridge. So there would probably have to be many trips to the market.
More and more thoughts like that came into Martin’s head as he hopped on his bike and started for home. But all that thinking took his mind off his steering, and at the edge of the parking lot he ran into a curb and took a wicked header over the handlebars. Luckily he landed on a patch of soft grass and avoided any serious bodily damage. But the bike wasn’t as lucky: the chain had been knocked clean off the gears.
“Oh, no,” he grumbled as he checked it out, worrying more about the delay to Rufus’s breakfast than the needed repair job.
“You okay, Martin?” The voice was familiar, but Martin was still a bit surprised to see his science teacher, Mr. Eckhart, approaching.
“Oh, hi. Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Little mechanical malfunction there?”
“Can it be fixed?”
“Let’s have a look.”
As Mr. Eckhart put down his bag of groceries and got to work on the chain, Martin started thinking again. Maybe this would be a good time to clear up a few nagging questions.
“Mr. Eckhart, do you know a lot about animals?”
“Well, that’s what they told me when they gave me my zoology degree. I guess I’ll take their word for it.”
“Zoology? I thought you were just, like, a general science person.”
“Nah, I just teach you guys science to pay the bills while I work on my master’s degree. Hope that doesn’t disappoint you.”
“No…. So…what kind of lizard has three toes—well, four, counting a little one in the back—and walks on two legs?”
“I give up. What kind?”
“No, it’s a real question.”
Mr. Eckhart looked at him with an arched eyebrow. “Okay, none of the above. Lizards have five toes and walk on four legs.”
Martin spent a moment processing that. “So if a lizard has three toes and walks on two legs, that means he’s a mutant?”
“Could be. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Well, what you’re describing sounds more like a bird than a lizard.”
“Bird…?”
“Yep. Or a dinosaur. There y’go. How’s that?” He put the bike upright—chain back on, good as new. Martin hardly noticed.
“But dinosaurs are extinct.”
“That is correct. Well, unless you count Barney.”
He looked to Martin for a reaction, but he didn’t get a chuckle, or even a smile. A thought was forming in Martin’s head, and the joke didn’t get through at all.
“Hello?” Mr. Eckhart said. “Unless you count
Barney.
”
Martin suddenly got a burst of energy. “Thanks!”
He jumped on the bike and raced off down the street, leaving his teacher standing there, his hands coated with grease, his face a picture of bewilderment.
All the way home, one outlandish thought rattled around in Martin’s head.
A dinosaur?
The thought had occurred to him before, of course, but he had always dismissed it right off the bat. After all, there had been no dinosaurs for sixty-five million years. But then again…?
When he got to the house he dropped his bike in the front yard and raced up to his bedroom. No need for a trip to the library this time; he remembered a book his mom had given him for his ninth birthday. It took only a short search to find it under some junk in the back of the closet:
All Things Dinosaur.
In a flash he was off to the barn, stopping only long enough to throw open the fridge and grab a leftover
His dad mumbled something that didn’t sound quite like a real sentence, then put down his drill, reached into his pocket, and handed Martin a crisp Lincoln.
“Thanks!”
Mr. Tinker seemed like he might say something else, but within two seconds Martin was gone.
It took him less than five minutes to pedal to the Food Bear, where he headed straight for the meat department and spent two dollars and fifteen cents on a small package of raw ground beef. He didn’t want to buy a lot at once, because he knew it wouldn’t keep long and he didn’t want to raise suspicions by storing it in the fridge. So there would probably have to be many trips to the market.
More and more thoughts like that came into Martin’s head as he hopped on his bike and started for home. But all that thinking took his mind off his steering, and at the edge of the parking lot he ran into a curb and took a wicked header over the handlebars. Luckily he landed on a patch of soft grass and avoided any serious bodily damage. But the bike wasn’t as lucky: the chain had been knocked clean off the gears.
“Oh, no,” he grumbled as he checked it out, worrying more about the delay to Rufus’s breakfast than the needed repair job.
“You okay, Martin?” The voice was familiar, but Martin was still a bit surprised to see his science teacher, Mr. Eckhart, approaching.
“Oh, hi. Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Little mechanical malfunction there?”
“Can it be fixed?”
“Let’s have a look.”
As Mr. Eckhart put down his bag of groceries and got to work on the chain, Martin started thinking again. Maybe this would be a good time to clear up a few nagging questions.
“Mr. Eckhart, do you know a lot about animals?”
“Well, that’s what they told me when they gave me my zoology degree. I guess I’ll take their word for it.”
“Zoology? I thought you were just, like, a general science person.”
“Nah, I just teach you guys science to pay the bills while I work on my master’s degree. Hope that doesn’t disappoint you.”
“No…. So…what kind of lizard has three toes—well, four, counting a little one in the back—and walks on two legs?”
“I give up. What kind?”
“No, it’s a real question.”
Mr. Eckhart looked at him with an arched eyebrow. “Okay, none of the above. Lizards have five toes and walk on four legs.”
Martin spent a moment processing that. “So if a lizard has three toes and walks on two legs, that means he’s a mutant?”
“Could be. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Well, what you’re describing sounds more like a bird than a lizard.”
“Bird…?”
“Yep. Or a dinosaur. There y’go. How’s that?” He put the bike upright—chain back on, good as new. Martin hardly noticed.
“But dinosaurs are extinct.”
“That is correct. Well, unless you count Barney.”
He looked to Martin for a reaction, but he didn’t get a chuckle, or even a smile. A thought was forming in Martin’s head, and the joke didn’t get through at all.
“Hello?” Mr. Eckhart said. “Unless you count
Barney.
”
Martin suddenly got a burst of energy. “Thanks!”
He jumped on the bike and raced off down the street, leaving his teacher standing there, his hands coated with grease, his face a picture of bewilderment.
All the way home, one outlandish thought rattled around in Martin’s head.
A dinosaur?
The thought had occurred to him before, of course, but he had always dismissed it right off the bat. After all, there had been no dinosaurs for sixty-five million years. But then again…?
When he got to the house he dropped his bike in the front yard and raced up to his bedroom. No need for a trip to the library this time; he remembered a book his mom had given him for his ninth birthday. It took only a short search to find it under some junk in the back of the closet:
All Things Dinosaur.
In a flash he was off to the barn, stopping only long enough to throw open the fridge and grab a leftover
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