Dinosaur Lake 3: Infestation (10 page)

“I’d pack Ann off to Zeke’s house as I did during some
of our previous dinosaur crises, but if our prehistoric friends are already
outside the park and in the town, I’d have to send her a lot further away than
that to keep her safe. And there’s nowhere else I could stash her. All our
family and friends live nearby, except for you Justin. And I know my wife, she
won’t agree to being five hours away from her precious newspaper and Zeke. So for
the moment she’s as safe here in our sturdy cabin, stocked with high-powered weapons,
as she’d be anywhere else. So far we’ve only encountered those small monsters
and those living in the lake. Besides, I don’t think she’d leave anyway. And
she can be a stubborn woman when she wants to be.

“The way it’s going, could be someday,” Henry’s
eyes had returned to the dark windows, “they might have to wall in the whole
place, make it off limits. Too many rogue dinosaurs prowling around. Too
hazardous for human beings to be here.” There was regret, but resignation, in
his voice. “At least none of my men have reported seeing any of those giant flying
gargoyles yet. We can be thankful for that.” He paused, thinking.

“Someday,” Justin echoed in a pensive tone, “if
what I fear comes to pass and dinosaurs are being birthed along the entire western
coast beneath other active volcanos, we’ll have more to worry about than just this
caldera and particular section of forest land being invaded with ancient human-devouring
species.”

“Wow,” Steven had been listening and interrupted, “if
there are other locations having the identical difficulties we are, we’re in
for a real fight. A dinosaur war. That’d be something.” He was shaking his
head, his eyes glinting with excitement. Oh, the ignorance of the young, Henry mulled.
A dinosaur war would not be anything to desire.

 “Yeah, that would be something all right,” Henry groused,
weary and fed up. Of all the times they’d been plagued with prehistorics, this
could be the worst. It could mean the end of his and Ann’s idyllic life and
everything they loved. They might have to vacate the park for good and that depressed
him.

The men didn’t stay up much later, knowing dawn
would arrive all too soon, but headed off to their bedrooms before twelve.

But Henry’s sleep was restless. Strange night
noises kept rousing him. Was that a bear or was that a dinosaur crying out? Was
that a mountain lion or a prehistoric
velociraptor?
He had to be
vigilant because they were out there and who knew when or where they’d strike
next.

He dreamed of that reddish cat-snatching dinosaur.
In his dream it grabbed Sasha between its sharp claws and bounded off into the darkening
woods with her. He could hear her terrified meows as he chased them through the
trees, swearing and stumbling. He had one chance to get the cat back, but when
he caught up to them he raised his arms only to discover he had lost his gun
somewhere along the way. And as he stood there the dinosaur ripped his little
Sasha into bloody fur bits and stuffed them down its gullet; defiantly glaring
at him the whole time. Licked its lips. Smiled. Honestly. Smiled.

Worse, there came a multitude of the creatures slipping
out from behind the trees and around bushes, surrounding him. Larger ones. Licking
their lips. Staring. At. Him.

In the dream he turned and ran for his life.

But he never knew if they caught him because he
kept waking up.

Finally, he fell into an uneasy sleep and the dream
didn’t return. He was grateful for that because he was sick of witnessing his
cat’s bloody demise over and over. Sick of running for his life.

Chapter
5

Steven

The next morning Steven, Justin and Chief Ranger
Shore, or Henry as he’d asked to be called, were up early, in the kitchen
drinking coffee and eating a coffee cake Henry’s wife, Ann, had taken out of
the freezer the night before. Strategizing. Getting ready to leave. Ann was
still sleeping and Henry let her.

Steven looked out the windows, hoping to see a live
dinosaur. No luck. Darn.

Henry wanted to send him away. Out of the park. Steven
didn’t want to go, but his host insisted. “You’ll be safer far away from here.
Farther the better. So going is what you’re doing.”

His friend Justin, hoping to gather more facts and
learn more, was driving down to the California coast to interview Chief Ranger
Witter from Redwood National Park. Witter had come across what he feared were signs
of dinosaurs in his park as well and Justin wanted to talk to him and the other
rangers. So Justin was heading out, too. But not content to end his adventure
yet, Steven had convinced his friend to let him tag along again. More fodder
for the book he was writing. He’d leave his car at the lodge and they’d take
off from there, with a ranger escort through the park for protection, of course.

Earlier Henry had suggested, “Since you’re leaving
this morning, I’d propose, Steven, you leave your car at the lodge if you’re
going to ride to California with Justin. Jimmy, the lodge’s owner, won’t mind.
He has a large parking lot. I’ll have one of my armed rangers escort the both
of you onto the main highway and get you on your way. In case you cross paths
with any more of those pack dinosaurs. That way it’d be three against a bunch
of those little monsters, as Ann calls them. That should keep you from becoming
their breakfast.

He and Justin didn’t protest. A well-armed escort
was welcome under the circumstances. He kept seeing the ferocious blood-lust of
those lake Nessies in his mind and, as much as he’d love to come across some of
the land dinosaurs, so he could say he’d seen them, he didn’t want to end up in
their stomachs, either.

“Don’t be afraid, Steven. I’ll help protect you. I,
of course, have my own weapon,” Justin disclosed with an amiable grin. “And I
know how to use it.”

“That he does,” Henry had agreed. “You’d be as safe
with Justin as you’d be with me or any of my men.”

So Steven and Justin took leave of the ranger after
they’d had their coffee cake. Steven had enjoyed the feeling of having a
family, if just for one night and morning. He was alone way too much since his
wife, Julie, had died. Staying overnight with the ranger, his wife, and Justin
had reminded him of what he’d lost and still missed. He almost hated to leave,
but the promise of a new adventure was a powerful lure. He was happy to travel
to California and hear what the ranger there had to say. See the dead dinosaur
Justin supposed they had in their possession. That would be so neat.

“I wish I could say goodbye to Ann before I leave,”
he informed Henry. “It was so kind of both of you to let me stay here last
night. You have such a beautiful home. Well, except for the people-hungry
dinosaurs lurking outside in the woods.”

“I’ll tell her you said our home was beautiful. She’ll
appreciate that. We’ve worked hard to make it this way. We love our home. I’ll skip
the stuff about
except for the dinosaurs.
” And the ranger looked miserable
as he’d said it, his eyes roaming over the kitchen as if it might be the last
time he saw it. Steven felt bad for him.

Then Steven and Justin got in Justin’s Land Rover,
leaving his Chevy station wagon at the lodge to be picked up later, and drove through
and out of the park with a ranger escort tailing them. They saw or encountered
no prehistoric beasts of any size or kind.

Ann had asked Justin the night before if on their
way he could go through town and drop off a container of homemade chili for
Zeke and also to kind of check up on the old man. Make sure he was okay. Justin
had agreed. So they stopped at Zeke’s house and had a visit. Once they got
there, though, Zeke didn’t seem to want them to go. He must be a lonely old
guy. Steven looked at the man and, frighteningly, saw himself in forty years if
he never found any one else to love and need him. It was a sobering
realization. He wasn’t getting any younger and he knew it. He couldn’t be a
lone traveling troubadour forever.

“Seen any more of those squirrel-eating forest critters
since we left here yesterday?” Steven had quizzed Zeke before he and Justin had
driven away.

“Not a one. But haven’t seen one solitary squirrel
or rabbit, either. I just pray those monsters aren’t down the street somewhere snacking
on one of my neighbors’ pets or one of my neighbors. Wolfing down the Johnson’s
poodle or the Polk’s golden retriever. I do believe if those monsters would
have caught me, they would have thought I was just an extra big hairless
squirrel and ate me, too.” The old man gave him a rascally grin. “Let ‘em try
it now, I’m armed to the teeth. I bought a new rifle this morning. Just got
back from the gun store. I’ll shoot their stupid heads off. And I’m a crack
shot.”

“Colorful old guy,” Steven told Justin as the man
dwindled in the car’s back window, then he turned his head to look around as
they drove through town. He didn’t want to miss any wandering dinosaurs if
there were any to see. But everything looked normal. A normal small town on a
normal summer’s day. Darn.

“You going to miss any singing gigs by coming with
me?” Justin was swatting at a mosquito that had been trapped in the car, while he
was trying to drive. It was flying around the inside of the windshield and his
hand kept missing it. “I have no idea how long this trip will take, other than
Redwood National Park is about six or seven hours away and we’ll most likely be
spending a night or two, at least, in Crescent City where park headquarters is
located. It depends on what we find at Redwood and how cooperative their Chief
Ranger is.”

“Nah, it’s providence, I had an eight day break
between the lodge engagements and my next booking at the Red Carpet Nightclub in
Tulelake. Now that this weekend’s gig at the lodge is canceled, I have two
weeks free. You think we’ll be gone longer than that?”

Justin finally squashed the pesky mosquito, turned
the wheel and they were on the highway leading out of Klamath Falls. Destination
California. Not a dinosaur anywhere in sight. “I better not be. As you know
Laura’s five month’s pregnant and she didn’t like the idea of me going in the
first place. Her anxiety level is already at an all-time high. She’s worried about
having the baby and now worried about me. With dinosaurs loose again and all.”
Justin seemed to remember something and abruptly stopped speaking.

Steven knew what his friend was thinking. He always
knew. They were alike in so many ways. Which was why they’d become instant
friends that night so years ago when Justin had been in the audience at one of
his very first gigs–gosh he’d been young, all of sixteen then–and asked him to
play a tune he’d always liked. They’d began talking and had just hit it off. “It’s
all right. You can gush about your lovely nurse wife, the baby coming and your
happy life. I can handle it. Now. Julie’s been gone long enough that the pain’s
gotten better, bearable.” He smiled sideways at his friend. “I’m happy for you
and Laura. I know you’ve wanted a second child since you married her, even
though you love her Phoebe.

“So, when we get to Crescent City where will we be
bunking for the night?”

Justin’s eyes were scanning the trees along the
highway, inspecting the sky. “An inexpensive, but comfy motel called Quality
Inn & Suites in downtown Crescent City. It’s barely three miles away from park
headquarters. So it’ll be convenient.” He looked at the dash clock. “If we make
good time, we should have enough to check in before we meet Chief Ranger Witter
at headquarters around six this evening, as he’s getting off duty. I figure we
can talk to him tonight, maybe over supper, and, if he has something to show us
out in the park as he claims he does, tomorrow morning bright and early we’ll
take a hike out there with him to see for ourselves.”

“Sounds like a plan. What’s the weather like on the
California coast anyway? I’ve always meant to go, see the majestic Redwoods,
walk the beach, but somehow have never made it.”

“It’s strange you’ve never had a singing gig
there.”

“It is. Never have, though.”

“Well, weather along the coast? I hear it’s always
between forty and sixty degrees Fahrenheit all year round. So I hope you
brought a jacket.”

“I always have one with me and, yes, I grabbed it
from my car. I come prepared. I also have munchies in my suitcase for the motel
tonight. A bottle of Jack Daniels. I recall you like that brand.

“You know, this is like a vacation to me.” He was
grinning again as the scenery swept by. The sun was out. It was a beautiful day
and he was glad to be alive. After two years of grieving for his dead wife, it
felt good to feel happiness again. It was still new to him. Being with his
friend, Justin, helped. Though he’d met many people on the job, out in the
nightclubs and bars, very few could he say were his friends. Fans, possibly, or
hangers on, but seldom did he become close to them as he had with Justin and
Laura. Justin was smart, ambitious and, scientist or not, he had the soul of a
poet. No wonder they got along so well. And Laura was an interesting woman.
Kind, as her mother was. Her daughter Phoebe was a spitfire.

Truth was, Steven liked their whole family. Ann was
a sweetheart, also a kindred spirit being a journalist and all, and Justin’s
father-in-law, the chief park ranger, was a hoot. A protector of the forest
lands, a real adventurer and a dinosaur hunter. Kind of like Indiana Jones. The
older Indiana Jones. The ranger told a good story, too. Talk about interesting
people, they all were. In the middle of interesting lives.

“What do you think we’ll find when we get there?” he
questioned Justin, as he leaned against the seat, got comfortable. They had a
long ride ahead of them.

“I don’t know. Witter wouldn’t talk about it on the
phone. But he sounded a tad perplexed, scared, to me. So I figure he has
something to show us. We’ll find out when we get there.”

“I’ve been wondering about some things,” Steven broached
after some minutes of thinking to himself and observing the town they were
going through. One of those touristy quaint villages with historical buildings,
shops and souvenir stores on every corner. An old-fashioned square in the heart
of it, complete with band gazebo and ice cream stand. Looked like it was ready
for the summer crowds to fill it up; for the music, an old polka band or
something, to begin. Over the years, he’d played a couple places like it. He
could almost smell funnel cakes and fried chicken on the air through his open
window. He’d opened it because it had cooled down as they’d drawn closer to the
coast.

“Like what?” Hunkered over the steering wheel,
Justin appeared preoccupied with his thoughts but sent a quick look towards him,
his expression patient.

“I know you’ve told me the stories many times about
the dinosaurs you and your father-in-law have dealt with in the park already,
but, you know, I have to confess something. I never truly
believed
everything you said to me about those escapades. Until I saw those Nessies for
myself yesterday in the lake. I mean I believed you
believed
what you
were telling me, but I couldn’t
actually believe
a hundred percent. With
the initial exhilaration of the paleontological dig and the wall of fossils
you’d first discovered in the park, I thought you’d embellished the tales to
impress me.” He shrugged and was surprised when Justin laughed out loud.

“That’s nice to know. That you thought I was a
liar. I’m hurt to the quick.” Justin took his right hand from the wheel and
placed it over his heart, his expression a mocking wounded face. “But I bet
you’re a believer now, aren’t you?” His laugh this time was softer.

“I guess I am, but it’s still really hard. I’ve
been a skeptic all my life when it came to anything fantastical, supernatural
or previously…extinct.”

“I get it. Besides live dinosaurs you didn’t
believe in vampires, witches or ghosts either, did you? I know exactly how
you’re feeling. Now seeing real dinosaurs makes you question everything you
never believed in before, right?”

“Of course not! I still don’t think those other fictional
creatures exist. Do you believe in them?”

Justin shook his head and a flicker of light
bounced along the surface of his gold-rimmed glasses. He was still chuckling.
“Not until I
see
them.”

“No, wait a minute,” Steven again plunged in, “I’m sure
vampires and real witches don’t exist, but I’m not so sure about ghosts not
existing, though. Because you know, saying that reminds me of a story this crotchety
codger laid on me one night last year when I was doing a gig in Klamath Falls.
I’ll never forget it. I was taking a break, having a drink someone bought for
me. It was getting late and half the bar was empty. Outside it was storming. A
perfect night for a ghost story.

“This elderly man was perched on a nearby bar
stool, nursing a whiskey and soda. He leaned over and told me this wild tale.
Like he had the need to tell someone. He talked, I listened. You know me, I
have a weakness for stories. But the old guy really spooked me with his. You
want to hear it?”