128-Day of the Dinosaur by Franklin W. Dixon

Author:Franklin W. Dixon [Dixon, Franklin W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-08-07T15:15:01+00:00

Chapter 9

Night Prowlers

"Yow!" Joe yelled. "Watch that thing!"

Frank's muscles strained as he struggled against the weight of the case. But he could feel it slipping from his fingers.

Suddenly, other hands appeared on the case. Frank looked up to see Parker pulling beside him. They hung on, fighting the heavy, bulky object, freezing it in midfall. But even with both of them, the case was too heavy to be pushed back onto the dolly.

From the corner of his eye, Frank saw Smedly running across the Hall of Prehistory. At the same time, Joe rolled away from the teetering case. With Smedly pushing and Frank and Parker pulling, they eased the case upright.

Frank kicked the broken dolly out of the way.

Finally, the case creaked back to a standing steady rest.

"Nice save," Joe said. "A few more inches and you'd have been preserving me for the museum."

"I'm glad you showed up when you did," Frank told Parker, flexing his fingers to get some feeling back into them.

"Me, too," Parker said. "I only came in here to see if you boys were available."

"I wasn't here when the case fell off the dolly," Smedly quickly said to Parker. "I had nothing to do with it. I didn't know the dolly was broken."

Parker gave Smedly a puzzled look. "It's okay. No one is accusing you of anything."

Frank retrieved the wheel that had detached itself. "I wonder why this came off?" he said. "Maybe the case was too heavy for the dolly."

"Unh - uh!" Joe knelt on the floor, examining the dolly axle. "Looks like the nut that held the wheel in place fell off or was never there."

At the same time, Smedly and Parker took small wrenches from their back pockets. Parker grinned. "I guess working here teaches you to be prepared."

"I'll get it," Smedly said hurriedly. "I always carry some extra nuts and bolts."

The custodian quickly secured the wheel with twists of his wrench.

Taking no chances this time, Frank dropped to one knee and checked the tightness of the nut that now held the wheel in place.

"Let's see how the sculpture made out," Parker said. He popped open the glass door atop the display case, and the four of them looked at the bison sculpture. Parker reached in and felt the clips holding it in the case.

"Jostled a little loose at the base," he said. "But otherwise it looks all right."

"What's that?" Frank said. "It looks like a piece broke off." He pointed to a corner of the case.

Parker grabbed the small, dark-colored piece of clay. He turned it over in his hand, scowling at it.

"Do you think it can be reattached?" Frank asked.

"Huh? Be attached? Oh, no problem," Parker answered absently. Smedly's smile disappeared as the scientist examined the clay chip. Frank watched the familiar nervous look return as the custodian began wiping a bandanna over his brow.

"Since we're all here, let's move the case where Dr. Smith wants it," Frank suggested.

"Good idea," Parker said. Smedly pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Right over there," he said, pointing to the wall farthest from them.

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