Free Kate and the Wyoming Fossil Fiasco by Janice Hanna Page A

lot.”
    “Just like we like Megan.”
    Conner shifted his bag to his other arm. “We’re going to have a great morning, but I need to drop off these samples first. See you soon.” He walked through the door into the private area.
    “Maybe Conner will catch Grumpy Gus in the act,” Kate whispered.
    “Maybe.” McKenzie shrugged.
    Kate yawned as Megan passed by.
    “Sleepy, Kate?” her counselor asked.
    “Sort of.”
    “Didn’t you sleep well?”
    “Not really.” She shook her head.
    “Miss your family?” Megan asked.
    “Sort of, but I have something else on my mind. It’s hard to sleep when your thoughts are tumbling around in your head.”
    “Anything I can do to help?” Megan asked.
    Kate shook her head, knowing better than to say too much.
    Megan said, “The second day at fossil camp is always the best. We’re going to have a treasure hunt.”
    “Treasure hunt?” McKenzie looked confused.
    “Yes, we’ll divide the campers into two teams—boys and girls. I’ll lead the girls’ team and Conner will lead the boys’. We’ll give you kids a list of fossils—three different kinds—and the first team to find all three wins.”
    She began to talk about the treasure hunt so much that Kate found it hard to focus. She kept yawning. Hopefully she would wake up before heading out to excavate. She needed to pay close attention today. Surely an adventure lay ahead!

The Treasure Hunt
    As the campers gathered at the excavation site, Conner turned to them with0 a smile.
    “I have some news for you,” he said. “Most of you know Joel.” He gestured to Joel, whose cheeks turned red.
    “Because of Joel’s skill in locating valuable fossils, he’s our resident ‘rock’ star.” Conner slapped his knee and laughed. “Get it? Rock star?”
    Kate laughed. So did McKenzie. But not Megan. She rolled her eyes and whispered, “Don’t let Conner distract you. He’s just trying to get you girls worked up to think the boys are better than you are. He pulls something like this at every camp.”
    Kate giggled. “I won’t let him get to me, I promise.”
    Conner rubbed his hands together in excitement. “What we’re about to do is my favorite thing at fossil camp. We’re going to have a treasure hunt.”
    “Let’s divide into teams,” Megan instructed. “Girls, come and get in line behind me, and boys, you line up behind Conner.”
    Everyone quickly got into place.
    “I can tell you’re excited,” Conner said. “But try to stay calm, cool, and collected. That’s the best way to win this challenge.” He reached for his clipboard and pulled off two pieces of paper. “Each team has a list of three items. Three different kinds of fossils—
Mioplosus, Phareodus
, and
Knightia
. You will see the pictures here.” He turned the paper to face them. “The first team to return here to this spot with all three fossils will win.”
    “What do we win?” McKenzie asked.
    Conner’s face lit with excitement. “The winning team gets to go into the prep room to watch me clean and prepare the fossils. Then we’ll show you the process of packaging and shipping them all over the world.”
    He began to talk about all of the work that went on in the quarry’s prep lab, how the lab tech worked carefully to remove rock from ancient fossils, then prepare them for handling. The whole thing sounded really complicated … and exciting!
    Kate’s heart began to race. How wonderful it would be to get in that room! She would take her fingerprint tape and look for prints. Maybe they would match the ones on the fossils back home. Then perhaps Alexis’s uncle could help the girls figure out whose prints they were!
    “Conner does most of his work in that room,” Megan said. “He’s one of the best in the nation. He gets the fossils stabilized, cleaned, and prepared. Then Gus—I believe
    some of you met him—gets the fossils packaged to send out.”
    “We’ve got to get in that room!” McKenzie whispered. “So