Cretaceous Sea

pay.'

'If you two treat me like a baby, I'll just stay on the island. What will your Mr. Green say about that!'

'Joe ...' said Rick with quiet urgency.

'Has everyone forgotten her first morning here?'

'That was different,' said Rick.

'How was it different?' retorted Joe. 'A meat eater's a meat eater.'

'Mosasaurs probably learned to prey on wading ani-mals.'

'So? We'll be wading through the bushes.'

'It's different with land predators,' said Rick. 'Look, do you bite everything you see to find out if it's edible? Hunting takes effort and involves risks. Predators stick to recognized prey.'

'You're putting too much faith in a theory,' said Joe. 'Nothing doing.'

'You act as if I have no say in this matter,' said Con. 'I meant it about staying on the island. I'll sit on the beach with Daddy and Sara and be the perfect wet blan-ket. Imagine dinner after a few days of that!'

'She'll do it, Joe,' said Rick.

'Why do you want to risk your life?' asked Joe.

'Did you ever ride a horse?' asked Con.

'Not likely,' said Joe.

'Well, if you get thrown, it's important to ride again soon. You've got to conquer your fear.'

'That's what this is about? Proving something?'

'No ... No. This place is really special. I don't want to miss out because I'm afraid.' Joe turned to Rick. 'Have you been coaching her?'

'Hardly.'

'Well,' said Joe resignedly, 'I guess we're setting down. Rick, no looking at the scenery. We've got to keep her covered at all times.'

Without further discussion, Joe guided the plane to a landing spot about a quarter of a mile from the head of the herd. The gently rolling ground was covered with a low growth of plants interspersed with occasional clumps of bushes or solitary, broad-crowned trees. The herd was clearly visible. Once they exited the plane, Con headed toward the dinosaurs.

'Isn't this close enough?' said Joe, hastening to catch up.

'You got a lot closer,' replied Con as she continued to walk.

'I wish I'd never told you that story,' said Joe.

Rick followed to the rear, anxiously scanning the land-scape with his gun. Previously, when only Joe and he had landed, he had not been nearly so nervous. Then, Rick had felt he was risking only his life. Being responsible for Con's safety made this experience very different. Con's exuberance did not make matters easier. She walked rapidly and noisily through the knee-high plants toward the dinosaurs in the near distance. Rick began to repent what he had put Joe through earlier.

As they approached, the tumultuous parade was nearly overwhelming. Noisy, odorous, always changing, the herd was life on a grand, almost exaggerated, scale. The animals numbered in the thousands. They ranged from youngsters the size of large dogs to massive individuals over twice the height of a man. The herd varied in more than size. The grotesque heads displayed different con-figurations of horns and frills. There were several species of the short-frilled Triceratops. These differed in color-ation and the size and angles of their long eye horns. The huge, long-frilled Torosauruses stood out as the largest animals in the herd. The square-frilled Chasmosauruses were smaller, but still several feet taller than humans. Pointed bones, like small horns, lined the outer edges of their frills so they resembled giant saws. The various spe-cies tended to group together, so that the stream of ani-mals seemed to change continually. Rick watched Con as she halted, enthralled, not more than twenty yards from the moving herd. The beasts passed by, paying her no more attention than they would a stump. Rick's chief concern became that some animal might casually trample her on its path to a bit of green-ery. For a moment, his fears seemed about to be realized when a