 |
|
|
|
|
Real Fossil Bones?
"Are you visiting family?" asked Ned.George said, "My father and I travel together looking for dinosaurs bones for museums."
"That's what I want to do!" Ned said. "I want to find a dinosaur and have it in a museum!" He kicked at the dirt. "But I haven't found any good fossils yet, just a few shells."
George said, "My father says you have to look real hard. It's easy to miss fossils."
"But dinosaur bones are big," said Ned. "You can't miss them."
"The bones could be buried," George said. "Only a little piece might show."
Ned looked around carefully. He had never been so far out in the west field before.
Suddenly he saw some strange bumps sticking out of a slope.
"Hey George!" Ned cried. "Look at that!"
The boys ran over. George brushed away the dirt. Then he shook his head. "Just cattle bones," he said. "Dinosaur bones have been in the ground so long, they have turned to stone. These bones aren't stone yet."
"If they were real dinosaur bones, I'd be a real dinosaur hunter, like you and your pa," said Ned.
"Looking hard makes you a dinosaur hunter already," George said. "Most of the time we look hard, but we don't find anything."
"I wish I could keep looking for fossils, but I've got to get back to checking the fences," Ned said, "You can look in the south field if you want."
"Thanks," said George.
Ned slid down the slope. He didn't see any breaks in the fence. All the poles were in place. He looked back at George and wondered if he had found any fossils yet.
"Dumb old fences," Ned muttered.
Then Ned saw odd shapes in the dirt near the fence. Quickly he got off his horse and knelt down. He brushed them gently, the way George had. They felt like stone, but they looked like bones. And they were big.
"George!" he yelled, "Come quick!"
Copyright ©2003 by Elaine Marie Alphin
