The Triceratops

Chapter 8

Alan got into the seat, leaving Ian behind Ellie, he longingly looked out of the opposite window, while Ian rattles on to Ellie. He briefly wondered how Katie was getting on in the other with the kids and the lawyer. He wondered if she was enjoying it so far, but he doubted it none of them had even seen anything yet.

"You see? The tyrannosaur doesn't obey set patterns or park schedules. It's the essence of Chaos." Ian said to Ellie who had seemed to forget her boyfriend was there with them.

"I'm still not clear on Chaos." Ellie replied. Alan rolled his eyes while staring outside.

"It simply deals with unpredictability in complex systems. It's only principle is the Butterfly Effect. A butterfly can flap its wings in Peking and in Central park you get rain instead of sunshine." Ian explained, but Ellie gestured with her hand to show this information has gone right over her head.

Alan was vaguely listening but he didn't even know what Ian meant.

"I made a fly by, I go too fast."

Looking out of the opposite window, Alan finally sees movement at the far end of a field. He sat bolt upright, trying to get a better look. Ian, looking for another example.

"Here. Give me that glass of water." He motioned, she grabbed it for him. He dips his hand into the glass of water. He took Ellie's hand in his own.

"Make like hieroglyphics now watch the way the drop of water falls on your hand." He flicked his fingers and a drop falls on the back of Ellie's hand.

"Ready?" She nodded.

"Freeze your hand. Now I'm going to do the same thing from the exact same place. Which way is the drop going to roll off?"

"Uh let's say that way." She motioned with her hand to the back of it.

"Okay, back over your wrist. Because and here is the principle of tiny variations….the orientations of the hairs..."

Ellie then noticed Alan was not paying attention. "Hey Alan listen to this."

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I bored out of my mind listening to the kids argue over who stole the last of the pizza last night and how Lex thought she was a hacker. It was really getting irritating and it looks like the lawyer was getting fed up with it.

"Right you guys are getting really irritating now." The lawyer turned around in the back, but then stopped when he noticed Dad and Ellie getting out of the second car.

I looked at the other car, and wondered what they were doing before me myself opened the door and jumped out after my father and stepmother.

"Hey what you two doing?" I shouted running after them. Ellie stopped and looked at me, while Dad kept going.

"Alan thinks he saw something." The sound of two doors banged and it was the kids and the lawyer following us.

For the first time, I noticed the sky has darkened rather early in the day. Tim dogs Dad's footsteps, he was so excited he can hardly keep his feet on the ground. Me and Ellie are holding hands as it was difficult to keep up straight and we could easily fall as the ground bumpy as hell.

"So like I was saying, there's this other book by a guy named Bakker? He said dinosaurs died of a bunch of diseases? He definitely didn't say they turned into birds."

The lawyer who was scared as hell, following us like a lost puppy, his head was darting left and right. I chuckled shaking my head. "Alan? Where are we going?"

"You see something Dad?" I asked, as he walked like a man on a mission.

"Uh….anybody else think we shouldn't be out here?!" The lawyer shouted. No one answered him though.

"And his book was a lot fatter than yours."

This caught Dad's attention, "Really?"

Ellie quickly reassured him. "Yours was fully illustrated, honey."

"Anybody at all. Feel free to speak up." The lawyer said once again.

Lex stumbled all of a sudden and Dad quickly took her hand, to stop her from falling. She looks up at him and smiled. "You alright?" he asked, and he gave her a grin back and tries to recover his hand, but Lex holds tight. He seem massively uncomfortable me and Ellie noticed this and we looked at each other in surprise.

Suddenly we all stopped in our tracks. Dad stopped everyone from going forward. "Wait, everybody stay here let me go first."

Dad disappears into the bushes, and Tim walks after him, "Timmy, Timmy." Lex cried, I tried to grab a hold of him, but he shook me off.

"Come back here, blanket head." Lex said trying to follow him, but I held her back. Tim walked bravely forward behind Dad.

We all then decided to follow him as we heard voices. "Hi everybody, Don't be scared. She's tranquilized."

It was a Triceratops, a big one lying on its side and it was blocking the light at the end of the path. It has an enormous curved shell that flanks its head, two big horns over its eyes, and a third on the end of its nose. It doesn't move, just breathes, loud and raspy, blowing up a little clouds of dust with every exhalation.

"Oh my God." I whispered, my jaw dropped open in fascination and wonder. It was a real dinosaur, not a dinosaur just in bones but a real flesh dinosaur!

Dad stands next to the ranger, almost in a daze. "Is it okay? Can I touch it?" the ranger nodded.

Dad walks next to the animal and stroked its head. Ellie moved forward to the animal.

"Oh Ellie. It's beautiful. It's the most beautiful thing I ever saw." He said softly, I thought I seen tears in his eyes.

"Hey baby." She laughed as tears fell from her eyes. I smiled too while touching the dinosaur softly, her skin was rough.

"It's your favorite." She said, they both kneel, checking the animal. Ellie furrows her brow, noticing something, all professional curiosity now. The animal's tongue, dark purple, droops limply from its mouth.

"Ok let's take a look at this yeah, baby girl, it's okay." She gently touched the dinosaur's face.

She scratched the tongue with her fingernail. A clear liquid leaked from the broken blisters. I winced, Euk.

"Micro vesicles. That's interesting." She made a face in disgust. Dad with the animal still fascinated, wandered all the way around to the back of the animal. He motioned me for to come over to him.

"Come here, and listen." He said to me helping me lean on it to listen to it breathe. I smiled and laughed. He smiled back to a light in his eyes. "Isn't this amazing Katie.… God this is all I ever wanted in my entire life." He said.

Not three minutes did our little moment last, just like that my smile dropped from my face and I carefully leant away from the dinosaur and my chest hurt again as he managed to say things that would hurt me. I should have been used to it by now but I apparently wasn't. He didn't seem to notice my expression because he was too enticed with the sick dinosaur beside us.

Lex was keeping a fare distance from it as was Ian and the lawyer. Tim walked over to Dad and started speaking to him, but I went over and sat with Ellie as she inspected the dinosaur.

"What are her symptoms?" She stood up.

"Imbalance, disorientation, laboured breathing. Seems to happen about every six weeks or so." Dr Harding said.

"Six weeks?" She took the penlight from the veterinarian and shines it in the animal's eyes. The poor animal eyes closed and opened and was in great pain.

"Are there pupillary effects from the tranquilizer?"

"Yes, mitotic, pupils should be constricted."

Ellie shook her head. "These are dilated. Take a look." She gave the torch back to him to look. I looked at Dad and he was still checking out the animal's body.

"That's pharmacological from local plant life." She turned and studied the surrounding landscape. Ellie's mind was really at work, puzzling over each piece of foliage. I followed her along.

"Katie, what do you thing this looks like?" I took a good look at it and knew what it was.

"Is this West Indian lilac?" We both asked at the same time.

"Yes. We know they're toxic, but the animals don't eat them."

Ellie didn't look convinced, "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." He replied.

"There's only one way to be positive." She looked at me then. I knew what she need to do next and it grossed me out. "I need to see the dinosaur's droppings."

"You won't be able to miss them." Dr Harding said as Ian walked by us.

"Dino drop-droppings? Droppings?" He repeated himself, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah." She walked away, me and Ian stare at her as she walks back over to the animal.

Ok this should be fun.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

I liked this chapter, it was quite a long one! I hope you all like it. Next chapter I think is where the fun begins if you catch my drift lol. ;) Alan and Katie a very small moment there but got ruined by Alan..grrr…

Thanks to my reviews, I hope I get more!

Sarahmichellegellarfan1