Free Dinosaur Breakout by Judith Silverthorne Page A

instructions. The woman was a bit of a bully, but the old man didn’t seem to take offence. They headed into Jack’s Café.
    ~

    “ S ome things are just better to go along with than cause trouble,” he said later when they were back on the road.
    The woman had talked non-stop, filling Pederson in on all the latest developments in the Alberta paleontology world, including news about the various people they both knew. Daniel sighed in relief as he listened to the barrage. Mildred Roost had given him a reprieve from telling Pederson his weird story, but the tide turned again when they were back on the highway.
    “Okay, young man, let’s hear the rest of your story!” Pederson said, concentrating on his driving,
    “First, tell me what you think so far,” Daniel said, fidgeting in his seat. He ran his right hand up and down the seat belt that ran across his shoulder. “Sounds like you think it’s just some story I’m making up.”
    “I know you better than that, lad,” said Pederson.
“I’m not sure what to make of it just yet. Anything i s
possible – something could have altered your state of mind when you hit your head...”
    “See, I knew it,” Daniel interrupted. “You think it’s all because I hit my head.”
    “Or it could have been a dream state, some sort of delusion from the bump on the head...” Pederson continued patiently as if Daniel hadn’t interrupted.
    “But, but...” Daniel protested, straining the seat belt as he turned to Pederson.
    “No, let me finish, “ Pederson continued kindly. “Or there is a possibility you really did go back in time through some sort of shift in reality. Now, if that’s the case, we need to have proof. Remember, we are scientists.”
    Daniel settled back, somewhat deflated, yet not altogether discouraged.
    “First, we need to examine each of the possibilities from various perspectives to eliminate those that didn’t happen,” Pederson explained. “Then we need to test the one we think is the right answer. Fair enough?” He turned to look at Daniel.
    Daniel nodded and thought about the possibilities. “So you might just believe me?”
    “Let’s do our research and then I’ll give you my opinion,” Pederson suggested.
    “Okay,” Daniel said reluctantly. Man, this could take a long time. How was he ever going to prove it to Pederson? At least the old man hadn’t laughed him out of the truck, or told him he was a flake and that he never wanted to work with him again.
    Daniel took a deep breath and told Pederson the rest of the story. When he finished, Pederson nodded. “Thank you, Daniel. I can see we’ve got a lot to think about.” Daniel relaxed, glad he’d told someone.
    “Look!” Pederson pointed to the valley on their right.
    Several antelope were crossing a ravine down below them, headed towards a small stream. Pederson slowed and they watched them for several minutes until they drank and disappeared into a bluff of trees. For the next few miles Daniel and Pederson were silent, each caught up in their own thoughts as they watched the passing landscape.
    As they neared Shaunavon, pumpjacks over oil wells began popping up everywhere across the country-
side, even several close together on some people’s land. Daniel considered again how lucky he had been that his family hadn’t been forced to go that route. Although the fields looked fine now, with crops surrounding the pumpjacks, he knew there had been seismic testing, and roads cut through the land, while the drilling crews brought in the necessary equipment.
    At the time he hadn’t understood all the rigmarole, but he knew there had been a bit of a tussle with the Crown for some people in the area, as they didn’t hold all the mineral rights on their land. Only some of those who had original homesteaded land managed to own the mineral rights, which included oil and gas. Everyone else had only what was called “surface rights.” Even though they’d bought and paid for their land,