Dinosaur Blackout by Judith Silverthorne Page B

one on Cheryl to get her to do something I want her to do, so give me some credit.”
    Pederson laughed sheepishly. “Okay then, why don’t you explain to me again how the time travel thing works.”
    “First off, we all have to stick together,” Daniel said. “I mean that very seriously.”
    Pederson nodded.
    “We have to be in contact so that we can all travel through time at once,” Daniel continued. “When I touch the leaf, you’ll be connected to me and we’ll instantly go. If I drop it or we lose it and we’re not touching each other, you’ll be stuck there and there’s no coming back for whoever is left behind.”
    “Do you have to hold the leaf the whole time we’re away?” asked Pederson.
    “No, I usually put it in my pocket. But as soon as I drop it – when it’s no longer touching me – I come back with whoever is connected to me.”
    “Okay, I’ve got that all straight. I have no intention of straying from either of you,” said Pederson. “So shall we give it a whirl?”
    “We haven’t even discussed where we’ll leave from,” Dr. Roost protested.
    “Details. Let’s just pick a spot and go for a few moments.”
    “We can’t do that, Mr. Pederson,” Daniel said. “We don’t want to end up in the middle of the sea!”
    “That’s for sure,” agreed Dr. Roost. “It’s slimy and the bottom sucks at your feet like quicksand, not to mention the hungry creatures lurking about.”
    Daniel added, “We have to be prepared in case we have to hide somewhere right away.”
    “You sure don’t want to be standing right in front of a T. rex with his mouth hanging open.” Dr. Roost looked at Pederson crossly.
    Meekly, Mr. Pederson sat back. “Yes, you’re right. I’ve waited this long. Guess I can wait a few more hours.”
    “Hours?” Dr. Roost stood up. “We can’t go today!”
    “Why not?” Pederson looked at her in surprise. “We can gather everything we need over the next couple of hours, surely.” He looked at Daniel. “How much time do you need?”
    “I suppose I could be ready in an hour or so. Maybe we could go after lunch.”
    Pederson turned to Dr. Roost, “Mildred?”
    “I suppose we could go then, but I still don’t understand what the hurry is.”
    “And I don’t see the need to wait,” said Pederson.
    Daniel had never seen the old man quite so determined. He seemed to have stopped worrying about the implications of what they were about to do.
    “All right, then, you two are the experts. Where shall we leave from?” Pederson bent to study the maps.
    “I’d say about halfway between here and my hideout,” Daniel estimated.
    “Near where you and Mildred returned this last time?” asked Pederson.
    “No, a little closer to my hideout and a little bit more to the east – more towards the quarry.” He pointed to a spot on the map.
    Dr. Roost used the pencil to mark the spot. “I’d say that’s about right, Daniel. We saw the Stygimolochs when we were nearly across that meadow, which I think is about here.”
    “All right, that’s where we’ll leave from after lunch,” Pederson said confidently.
    But at lunchtime Daniel could hardly eat a thing, even though Mom had prepared lemon meringue pie for dessert.
    “Are you feeling okay?” Mom asked.
    “I’m fine,” he said. “Just a little disappointed that there’s been no news from Corporal Fraser, I guess.”
    “That’s enough to put us all off our feed,” said Dr. Roost, swilling back the last of her tea.
    “I’m not leaving any crumbs,” said Pederson, wiping off the last of the meringue from his chin.
    “I’m glad to see you’re a little more chipper,” said Mom. “What do you attribute that to?”
    Pederson and Dr. Roost sat there with stony faces, not knowing what to say and not wanting to tell a lie. Daniel finally found his tongue.
    “We’re working out some strategies that might help find more information about the Stygimoloch . We’ve been studying maps of the area,”