The Deadly Past, Page 4

  “It’s your turn to feel what it’s like to be trapped,” Watch said as he knelt to pick up a rock. Yet the pterodactyl was not necessarily trapped. It could probably back up. Watch wanted it to back up and wander down to the lower level so he could roll the boulder on top of it.

  That is why Watch began to throw rocks at its head.

  The pterodactyl didn’t like that. Its screeches turned loud and bitter.

  “Watch!” Cindy cried from far above.

  “I’ve got it where I want it!” Watch yelled back to her.

  And a few minutes later he did indeed have it where he wanted it.

  The pterodactyl finally got annoyed being pelted with rocks and crawled back down the tunnel. It reemerged a minute later directly below Watch. Watch was waiting for it—he knew he had to act quickly. The moment the pterodactyl raised its head to look up at him, he gave the boulder a hard shove. The position of his prey couldn’t have been better.

  The pterodactyl let out a yelp as the big rock crashed down on its head.

  For a moment Watch thought he had killed it and felt inexplicably bad. The pterodactyl, after all, had been trying to kill them for half the day. But then he realized that the creature was still alive, only knocked unconscious. The boulder had rolled to the side and he could see that the creature was still breathing, although it was bleeding slightly from the side of its ugly head. Watch figured it would be up and hungry soon. He had to get out of this place as quick as possible.

  Yet as Watch hiked up to where Cindy was waiting for him, he continually glanced at the nearby volcano. From the amount of red-lit steam it was bellowing, it appeared to be on the verge of rupturing. That made him wonder if the volcano had something to do with the time warp. Because Watch did understand—despite what Mr.-Know-It-All-Bryce-Poole had said to Adam—that time and energy and space were directly connected. In fact, before Watch reached Cindy, he had changed his mind. He didn’t want to leave this primeval time, after all. At least not until he understood more about what had brought it into the present. He was willing to risk the obvious dangers of these weird forests and mountains to get to the truth.

  He could only imagine what Cindy would have to say about that.

  6

  When Adam, Sally, and Bryce reached Ann Templeton’s castle, they were horrified to find it under attack by a forty-foot tyrannosaurus. The most famous of all dinosaurs—and certainly the most feared—was immersed in the waters of the witch’s fabled moat. Seeing the monster, Sara, their obedient apatosaurus, quickly turned and tried to run away. But somehow Bryce managed to convince it to let them off before it headed for safer ground. Fortunately the tyrannosaurus saw neither Sara nor them. Together, the three of them huddled behind some bushes and watched as the tyrannosaurus took on Spooksville’s most powerful citizen.

  “Still want to go to the witch for help?” Bryce asked Adam.

  “I think Ann Templeton can handle this creature,” Adam said calmly, although he was far from sure. The roar of the tyrannosaurus made the screech of the pterodactyl sound almost welcoming. The alligators and crocodiles in the moat were all attacking the tyrannosaurus but they were mere annoyances to the dinosaur. It only had to step on them as they got near, and they were history. The tyrannosaurus seemed serious about getting into the castle. It was dismantling the structure brick by brick. To Adam’s amazement, Sally seemed to take pleasure in the battle.

  “I think this time she is going to get her backside whipped,” she said hopefully.

  Adam was disgusted. “How can you be rooting for the dinosaur? Ann Templeton has never done anything to you.”

  “Have you forgotten that she locked us in her castle and tortured us?” Sally asked.

  “She didn’t torture us,” Adam said impatiently. “She just made sure we had an adventure is all.”

  “Yeah. Getting attacked by her poisonous spiders was tons of fun,” Sally said.

  “Look!” Bryce pointed. “She’s sending out her trolls.”

  It was true—a small squadron of trolls had appeared at the top of the castle. They were armed with spears and long bows. Yet their arrows, as they landed on the thick hide of the tyrannosaurus, served only to anger the giant beast. With its massive head and seven-inch teeth it reached up and grabbed a troll in its mouth. The poor guy didn’t have a chance. Even as he started to scream, he was ground to pieces. He was swallowed with his legs still kicking. Sally turned her head away in horror.

  “You’re right,” she whispered. “I can’t cheer for this monster.”

  The tyrannosaurus snatched up a few more trolls before they could retreat inside the castle with the rest. These other victims were also chewed down, and their cries chilled Adam’s blood. He couldn’t stop thinking about Cindy.

  “I think the witch has met her match,” Bryce said quietly.

  “It ain’t over till it’s over,” Adam said without much hope. The tyrannosaurus returned to tearing down the thick castle walls. But then, a tongue of green flame suddenly leapt out from the highest castle tower. Adam just caught a glimpse of Ann Templeton standing above the dinosaur, wielding her mystical powers.

  The power of the flame sent the tyrannosaurus into a frenzy. It responded by tearing more fiercely at the castle. Once more Ann Templeton raised her arm. A second bolt of flame leapt from the tower. This one, blue in color, lashed at the seemingly impenetrable hide of the tyrannosaurus. But now the beast felt real pain, and perhaps fear. A gruesome cut now scarred its massive side. Rather than continue to attack the castle, the dinosaur plowed off in the direction of town. From far away Adam heard people screaming and tried not to think about what was happening to them. Beside him Bryce nodded with grudging respect.

  “She was able to drive it off,” he said. “But she can’t drive off all the dinosaurs. If the doorway is to be closed that is allowing them into our world, then we must go through the Secret Path now.”

  “We can’t go through the Secret Path without first walking all over town,” Adam said.

  “That’s not true, I know a shortcut,” Bryce said.

  “What?” Adam asked.

  “I am not going to tell you exactly how I do it,” Bryce said. “Just follow me, if you dare, and we will travel seventy million years back in time.”

  “Why won’t you tell me how you do it?” Adam demanded.

  “Because you don’t trust me, and I don’t trust you,” Bryce said simply. “Now come, let’s get to the cemetery before the tyrannosaurus returns.”

  Adam hesitated. “I still want to talk to Ann Templeton.”

  They heard more screams in the distance.

  It sounded as if people were being torn to death.

  And who really knew how many tyrannosauruses there were?

  Bryce stood impatiently. “How many people have to die while you talk to everyone in town?”

  “He’s right, Adam,” Sally said. “We have to act now. Soon there won’t be any Spooksville left to save.”

  Adam considered. “If we go back in time and fix what is causing the problem in our time, then all the deaths and injuries in our time would never have occurred. What I mean is, we should be able to fix everything in the present by correcting the past.”

  “Then it won’t matter how many die right now?” Sally asked. “They will be alive if we succeed in the past?”

  Adam paused. “It shouldn’t matter. I have to talk to Ann Templeton.”

  Bryce gave him a penetrating look and nodded. “Your theory sounds logical, Adam, and it might be true. But are you willing to risk Cindy’s life—and the lives of everyone else in town—for a theory?”

  It was the million-dollar question.

  And Adam wasn’t sure how to answer it.

  7

  As Watch and Cindy hiked toward the volcano, Cindy didn’t try to stop Watch from exploring more as he had worried she might. She was just so grateful to him for coming to rescue her that she said he could do whatever he wanted and she would stay by his side.
Watch thought Cindy was a great girl, as far as girls went. In reality Watch was still getting used to girls. They were not like boys, no.

  As they drew closer to the volcano, Watch realized he had been seeing something without consciously noticing it. The volcano had drawn him to it, but now he understood that a part of his brain must have realized what that shiny spot near the base of the volcano really was. He either had to get better glasses or else he had to listen to his own intuition more.

  There was a flying saucer parked near the base of the volcano.

  It was silver and shiny, but it wasn’t exactly shaped like the saucers they had seen when their friend Ekweel2 had visited them from the future. For one thing this saucer was much larger and higher relative to its width. Watch suspected it was from an entirely different race of beings, and of course Cindy wondered if they were friendly.

  “I wonder what they’re doing here,” she said.

  “I wonder what they’re doing here at this time,” Watch said.

  Cindy caught a peculiar note in his voice. “By ‘this time’ are you implying that we are back in time?”

  Watch shrugged. “It sure looks like it.”

  Cindy stopped him. “Wait. Then I’m confused. I thought this whole place came from the past and was overlaid on to our present. But that we were still in the present.”

  Watch removed his thick glasses and cleaned them on his pants leg. He still had no shirt. The high humidity of the area was fogging up his lenses. Putting his glasses back on again he scanned the immediate area. He was constantly on the lookout for dinosaurs.

  “We may have passed through the time doorway when we came here,” he said. “Or else we may still be in the present. I’m not sure. But I don’t think this ship is here by coincidence. It’s got to be related to what’s happening with this invasion of dinosaurs.”

  “You mean you think these aliens caused the rip in time?”

  “It’s possible. Or maybe they’re here to prevent the rip in time, too.”

  Cindy was doubtful. “They must be behind the attack of the dinosaurs. That makes more sense.”

  Watch gestured toward the volcano. “We won’t know until we meet them.” He started once more on his way. “We don’t have far to go.”

  They did, in fact, reach the saucer within the next half hour, but no one appeared to be at home. They shouted and even pounded on the shiny metal but no one poked his head out. There was, however, a black cave nearby, which could lead into the heart of the volcano. But just before they entered it the ground rumbled and a huge cloud of steam belched overhead. This cloud was shot through with a haunting red light, which obviously came from the hot fires percolating deep inside the volcano. Now Cindy was beginning to have second thoughts about exploring. She gestured to the cave entrance.

  “It feels awfully warm in there,” she said. “The volcano must be on the verge of erupting. Do you think it’s a good idea to enter an erupting volcano?”

  “I think it’s very dangerous idea to explore a volcanic cave at any time, especially now when it may or may not be filled with aliens,” Watch said. “But I also think it’s just as dangerous to return to Spooksville with the mystery of the time warp unsolved. For all we know our town could be under heavy dinosaur attack at this very minute. People might be dying.”

  Cindy stared at the dark opening. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “You can stay outside if you want. I won’t tell Sally.”

  Cindy smiled. “I’m not worried about Sally’s opinion. Did she get upset when I got carried away by the pterodactyl?”

  “She wept.”

  “No!”

  “Really. She was distraught.”

  Cindy shook her head in wonder. “So all I have to do to get her to like me is to die. Isn’t that weird?”

  “It’s the same with most people.” Watch gestured to the cave. “We better get inside. I wouldn’t be surprised if this volcano started dripping lava at any minute.”

  Cindy followed him. “If that happens we won’t be able to get back outside,” she warned.

  The interior of the cave was not merely uncomfortably warm but intensely hot. Had the temperature been any higher their skin would have begun to blister. Also, the air was thick with sulfur fumes. They tried not to cough because they didn’t want any aliens to know they were coming, but it was next to impossible to breathe normally. Cindy found herself growing dizzy and Watch’s vision began to blur. Still, they kept on because they were from Spooksville and they were used to adventures and saving the world.

  After about a hundred yards the cave split in three directions. It was like the Haunted Cave. They weren’t sure which tunnel to take. But Cindy believed she heard voices coming from the middle one. Yet she wasn’t positive. Watch couldn’t hear anything.

  “But we might want to come at them from the side,” he said. “And observe what they’re doing before we introduce ourselves.”

  Cindy nodded. “Why don’t we take the tunnel on the right then? It might loop around and join the others.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Watch said.

  They were in the new cave a few minutes when Cindy asked Watch, “Were you upset when the pterodactyl stole me away?”

  “I came after you, didn’t I?”

  Cindy leaned over and gave him a hug. “Maybe you should be my boyfriend instead of Adam.”

  Watch was astounded. “Adam is your boyfriend?”

  Cindy paused. “Well, yes, sort of.”

  “Does he know that?”

  Cindy frowned. “Maybe he doesn’t. Should I tell him?”

  Watch shook his head. “No. Why break up a perfect relationship?”

  The tunnel on the right eventually opened into a large underground chamber. They had no trouble seeing; the place was lit with simmering pools of lava, and alien light bulbs. The chamber was far from empty.

  There were four aliens in it, all working around a metal box that was as big as an office desk. The aliens could have passed for human beings except for their long white hair and shiny silver suits. But even though their hair was white, none of them appeared to be over thirty. Indeed, they were a beautiful-looking people with clear tan skin and bright blue eyes. On the metal belts that circled their waists they carried communication devices and hand weapons. It was these pieces of technology that made Watch hesitate to talk to them. He leaned over and whispered in Cindy’s ear.

  “They look friendly,” he said. “But they’re obviously armed. Plus we don’t know what that metal box is.”

  “You don’t want to talk to them?” Cindy asked.

  “I want to watch a few minutes more before deciding.”

  “What do you think the box could be?”

  Watch shrugged. “A computer of some kind. A bomb, maybe.”

  Cindy gasped. “A bomb? You mean, they might be trying to set this volcano off?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “Could the eruption of this volcano be responsible for the time warp?”

  Watch was doubtful. “By itself a huge explosion in the past should not affect the present. There have been big explosions all over the world throughout time. But maybe there will be something special about this explosion.”

  “What?” Cindy asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “But shouldn’t we stop them if it is a bomb?”

  Watch was doubtful. “It would seem so. But I’d rather wait and not do anything just yet.”

  “But what are we waiting for?”

  “For something to happen,” Watch said simply.

  Something did happen a few minutes later, something dramatic. Without warning red bolts of laser fire erupted from the far side of the volcanic chamber. Two of the aliens were immediately struck down. They fell to the ground with expressions of intense pain. The other two aliens fled in the direction of the tunnel where Watch and Cindy were crouched. But these two did not go down easily. They fired back as they fled, and Watch and Cindy hear
d a howl of pain rise from the unseen enemy in the far cave.

  Yet the two remaining aliens—the ones Watch and Cindy could see—had poor position. There was no cover in the chamber, and before they could reach the safety of the tunnel, they each took a laser blast to the chest and crumpled to the floor. There they lay on their backs with twisted expressions of pain on their faces. Their eyes were still open, however—they appeared dead. Cindy turned away in horror.

  “They just murdered them,” she moaned.

  “Yeah,” Watch whispered. The attackers had yet to show their faces, and the last of the aliens to go down had fallen not far from where Watch was crouched. But Watch feared to reach for the alien’s hand laser, afraid it would expose them to attack. It was probably a wise move because less than a minute later another group of four aliens appeared.

  These were also largely humanoid. Yet their heads were larger than humans, and they were completely bald. Also, their eyes were strange, more like black slits revealing empty souls than organs for seeing. They wore shiny black uniforms and moved quickly to secure the chamber, making sure that each of the four aliens was definitely down and out.

  Next they turned their attention to the metal box the others had been working on. They seemed to argue briefly over what the reading on the box’s instrument panel meant. Their voices were high-pitched and scratchy, and both Watch and Cindy became disturbed as they watched.

  “I think they’re bad,” Cindy whispered.

  Watch was unsure. “Why? Because they’re not as handsome as the others?”

  “No. You saw the way they just shot the others down without warning.”

  “But these two races are probably enemies. The first ones might have shot these guys down if they’d been given the chance.”

  Cindy shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t think any civilized race would kill without warning.”

  “Good point. But which one of these races is the most civilized? See, we don’t know anything until we know what that metal box is, what it’s here for.”

  “You think it may be here to cause the time warp?” Cindy asked.