Chapter 19
The Hornadays spent the next three days taking in the sights of Waterfall City with Croco and Cassie as their tour guides. Croco showed them the hall where the great spiral clock that kept the time for all of Dinotopia and introduced to his good friend Malik while Cassie took them to the temple where the stone containing the Code of Dinotopia among other places. But when the time came for them to leave, there was another set of long, emotional goodbyes between Croco and the Hornadays...especially between Croco and Nobby. He just loved that old triceratops to death and didn't want to leave her for one second. But he knew that they had to get back to Neopylos so he finally parted ways and headed back to his room with Cassie.
About a couple weeks after the reunion, Croco was just returning from the Aqua Stadium after an evening swim when he saw Timbo and a white-haired man walking and chatting away. He rushed up to greet Timbo when they both turned around.
"So is this your friend you were talking about?" Croco asked him. The white-haired man smiled as he shook his hand.
"You must be th' lad Timbo's been tellin' me about over these months," he said with a fairly thick Irish accent, "Name's Robert Hallaway an' it's a pleasure to meet you." Timbo stepped aside just as Croco was about to introduce himself.
"I'm truly honored. My name's Joseph Hallaway, but everyone calls me..." Robert cut him off as soon as he heard the name Hallaway. It was the first time that Croco introduced himself as Joseph since he had been on the island.
"Another member of the ol' Hallaway clans from the Emerald Isle, eh? And just.....you're Joseph???" Croco nodded and Robert was in disbelief. "Impossible!" he cackled. "I don't remember Hannah leaving you with me!"
"Hannah?" Croco asked.
"Yes...m'son Patrick met a girl named Hannah o'er in England during the Great War. Flew a Tripe 'gainst those bloody Germans and was pretty good at it." Croco was interested in hearing the elder Hallaway's tale and asked what happened to Patrick.
"What happened?" Robert grumbled, "I'll tell ya...that little bugger Voss shot 'im down in a ball of flames but not 'fore he sent 22 of 'em bastards down 'imself. He was just a kid 'imself...had to be 'bout your age." Croco remembered his father telling him that his great-grandfather Patrick had shot down 22 enemy aircraft in World War I and was shocked.
"So...how did Joseph come to be?" he asked.
"Came three months after he died," Robert told him, "Hannah decided to move to America and that's th' last I knew of 'im. I ended goin' out t'sea after that and spent two years on th' open waters 'fore a bloody typhoon got us after we left India." Croco was in an even deeper state of shock after Robert's latest revelation and asked one final question.
"Your grandson..." he asked, "...was his name...Joseph..Patrick...Hallaway?" Robert cackled with glee.
"Sure is!" he said, and with that Croco ran off back to the Haven.
"What's gotten into him," he asked Timbo. All he did was shrug and directed him to where Croco was heading.
Cassie was just walking around the Poet's Hall, reading some of her favorite poems which included one that Croco had written and had translated into Saurian when out of nowhere, Croco bounded into the room and in a highly excited state, tackled her to the ground. At a good four-hundred fifty pounds, Cassie was definitely surprised by this.
"Croco!" she gasped, "what's the big idea?!?" Breathless, Croco proclaimed the news to her and Cassie casually followed him out while he raced out to meet them. They all met in a corridor and Croco had his arm around Robert.
"Cassie...this is my great-great-grandfather Robert," he said as hand met front foot. "My Grandpa Croco told me about him...he said that Robert was lost at sea but I didn't believe for a moment that he had landed here!" Robert was a little confused as to who "Grandpa Croco" was and didn't hesitate to ask.
"My Grandpa Croco would be your grandson," Croco said as he started to tell the story of how he got his nickname while flying a fighter plane in World War II. He also told him how he had 28 confirmed fighter kills and many more either unconfirmed, shared or non-fighter kills which he added up to around 170 total. Finally, he went on to explain how the nickname "Croco" got passed down from generation to generation until it got to him.
"...and that's how I got to be...Joseph Patrick Hallaway, the third...better known around here as Croco Hallaway." They all started back to his room while at the same time Robert explained to him that now he knew for sure that he was his great-great-grandson that he wanted to march in the parade in Sauropolis during the Day of Ancestors celebration on the thirteenth of February. Croco, of course, was flattered that he wanted him to march with him and his companion Graniteback, a Ankylosaurus. They went into the dining hall for a quick snack of fruit and fresh mango juice before retiring for the night. However, Robert announced his intentions of staying in Waterfall City and that he had sent a Skybax rider to fetch for Graniteback, and that delighted the younger Hallaway very much. And as he went to bed, Croco knew that he had one more person he knew he could trust in his great-great-grandfather Robert Hallaway.
The Hornadays spent the next three days taking in the sights of Waterfall City with Croco and Cassie as their tour guides. Croco showed them the hall where the great spiral clock that kept the time for all of Dinotopia and introduced to his good friend Malik while Cassie took them to the temple where the stone containing the Code of Dinotopia among other places. But when the time came for them to leave, there was another set of long, emotional goodbyes between Croco and the Hornadays...especially between Croco and Nobby. He just loved that old triceratops to death and didn't want to leave her for one second. But he knew that they had to get back to Neopylos so he finally parted ways and headed back to his room with Cassie.
About a couple weeks after the reunion, Croco was just returning from the Aqua Stadium after an evening swim when he saw Timbo and a white-haired man walking and chatting away. He rushed up to greet Timbo when they both turned around.
"So is this your friend you were talking about?" Croco asked him. The white-haired man smiled as he shook his hand.
"You must be th' lad Timbo's been tellin' me about over these months," he said with a fairly thick Irish accent, "Name's Robert Hallaway an' it's a pleasure to meet you." Timbo stepped aside just as Croco was about to introduce himself.
"I'm truly honored. My name's Joseph Hallaway, but everyone calls me..." Robert cut him off as soon as he heard the name Hallaway. It was the first time that Croco introduced himself as Joseph since he had been on the island.
"Another member of the ol' Hallaway clans from the Emerald Isle, eh? And just.....you're Joseph???" Croco nodded and Robert was in disbelief. "Impossible!" he cackled. "I don't remember Hannah leaving you with me!"
"Hannah?" Croco asked.
"Yes...m'son Patrick met a girl named Hannah o'er in England during the Great War. Flew a Tripe 'gainst those bloody Germans and was pretty good at it." Croco was interested in hearing the elder Hallaway's tale and asked what happened to Patrick.
"What happened?" Robert grumbled, "I'll tell ya...that little bugger Voss shot 'im down in a ball of flames but not 'fore he sent 22 of 'em bastards down 'imself. He was just a kid 'imself...had to be 'bout your age." Croco remembered his father telling him that his great-grandfather Patrick had shot down 22 enemy aircraft in World War I and was shocked.
"So...how did Joseph come to be?" he asked.
"Came three months after he died," Robert told him, "Hannah decided to move to America and that's th' last I knew of 'im. I ended goin' out t'sea after that and spent two years on th' open waters 'fore a bloody typhoon got us after we left India." Croco was in an even deeper state of shock after Robert's latest revelation and asked one final question.
"Your grandson..." he asked, "...was his name...Joseph..Patrick...Hallaway?" Robert cackled with glee.
"Sure is!" he said, and with that Croco ran off back to the Haven.
"What's gotten into him," he asked Timbo. All he did was shrug and directed him to where Croco was heading.
Cassie was just walking around the Poet's Hall, reading some of her favorite poems which included one that Croco had written and had translated into Saurian when out of nowhere, Croco bounded into the room and in a highly excited state, tackled her to the ground. At a good four-hundred fifty pounds, Cassie was definitely surprised by this.
"Croco!" she gasped, "what's the big idea?!?" Breathless, Croco proclaimed the news to her and Cassie casually followed him out while he raced out to meet them. They all met in a corridor and Croco had his arm around Robert.
"Cassie...this is my great-great-grandfather Robert," he said as hand met front foot. "My Grandpa Croco told me about him...he said that Robert was lost at sea but I didn't believe for a moment that he had landed here!" Robert was a little confused as to who "Grandpa Croco" was and didn't hesitate to ask.
"My Grandpa Croco would be your grandson," Croco said as he started to tell the story of how he got his nickname while flying a fighter plane in World War II. He also told him how he had 28 confirmed fighter kills and many more either unconfirmed, shared or non-fighter kills which he added up to around 170 total. Finally, he went on to explain how the nickname "Croco" got passed down from generation to generation until it got to him.
"...and that's how I got to be...Joseph Patrick Hallaway, the third...better known around here as Croco Hallaway." They all started back to his room while at the same time Robert explained to him that now he knew for sure that he was his great-great-grandson that he wanted to march in the parade in Sauropolis during the Day of Ancestors celebration on the thirteenth of February. Croco, of course, was flattered that he wanted him to march with him and his companion Graniteback, a Ankylosaurus. They went into the dining hall for a quick snack of fruit and fresh mango juice before retiring for the night. However, Robert announced his intentions of staying in Waterfall City and that he had sent a Skybax rider to fetch for Graniteback, and that delighted the younger Hallaway very much. And as he went to bed, Croco knew that he had one more person he knew he could trust in his great-great-grandfather Robert Hallaway.