Dinosaur Breakout (14 page)

“I’m up,” Daniel said, groaning as he rolled over to face her. His body felt stiff and sore all over. Maybe once he moved around a bit, it would be better.

“Book?” she asked, smiling at Daniel. Her blonde curls lay in disarray all over her head, as if she’d just woken as well.

He sighed. “Okay. Book.”

She toddled out of the room and came back carrying her favourite book,
Go Dog Go.

He reached over and painfully helped Cheryl climb onto his bed. She sat in the middle of the covers in her sleepers. He tried to sit up, but his head pounded, so he lay back down again and helped her crawl up beside him. She lay back on the other pillow, and held the book for him. He began to read just as Mom called in a quiet voice from down the hall.

“Cheryl? Where are you?”

She giggled and her eyes twinkled at Daniel, but she kept silent.

“Cheryl?” Mom called again softly.

“She’s here, Mom,” Daniel said, and Cheryl tried to hide under the covers.

Mom came to the side of the bed, smiling. She was still in her dressing gown, with her hair all ruffled too.

“Guess Cheryl’s gone,” said Mom in a singsong voice. “Guess I get to eat her pancakes instead.”

All of a sudden, Cheryl threw back the quilt and popped her head out.

“Here!” she said, laughing.

Mom reached over and picked her up, teddy bear, book, and all.

“How are you feeling this morning, son?” she asked, turning her attention to Daniel. She examined his cuts and bruises.

“Stiff, sore,” he admitted.

“When you’re ready, let’s get you up and moving. Getting some circulation going will help,” she suggested. “I’ll have breakfast on in ten minutes. We all seemed to have slept in this morning.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Daniel said, glancing at the clock. Nine a.m. They really had slept in. He heard the shower running; must be Dad, running late too.

Then Dactyl began barking below his window and he heard the crunch of gravel as a vehicle drove into the yard. Daniel eased himself out of bed and over to the window. An rcmp vehicle stood in the driveway. He heard Mom hustle down the stairs with Cheryl, then the opening of the back door.

“Good morning, Jim,” Mom called out cheerily.

“Morning, Libby,” he heard Constable Fraser say.

“Come right in. I’m afraid we’re later than usual this morning. We had a rather active late night. I’ll get some coffee on right away.” He could hear the scrape of a kitchen chair across the linoleum and the squeak as the officer sat down.

“Daniel,” Mom called up to him.

“Coming,” he called back, reaching for his clothes. Manipulating them and dressing was one of the toughest things he’d done in a long time. This must be what it feels like to be a really old man in pain, he thought, as his body creaked and protested with each movement.

At last he made it downstairs. Dad was already there, shiny and fresh from his shower. The officer had his statement pad out on the table, and Mom poured coffee for everyone, then set a plate of banana muffins down. Cheryl sat in her high chair, mashing a peach. Daniel sat down beside her, suddenly shy with Constable Fraser in their house on police business.

“You know our son, Daniel, from the baseball field, of course,” Dad said.

“Sure do!” the constable smiled and shook his hand.

“How are you doing, sir?” Daniel said politely.

“I’d say a mite better than you, by the looks of you, son.” He peered over at Daniel with twinkling eyes, taking in all of his wounds and bandages. “Heard you had a bit of a run-in with the Nelwin brothers. They did all of this to you last night?”

“Well, I did have a few marks on my head from some
thing else before that,” he admitted, thinking of his
encounter with a tree trunk.

“They also ambushed you, and you smashed the back of your head into a rock a couple of days ago,” Dad noted.

“Yeah,” said Daniel, touching the bandage at the back of his head.

“And tell them what happened on your way to town yesterday,” Dad prompted.

Daniel launched into the highway scene and the incident with Lucy. Mom hovered in the background pre-paring the pancake batter, listening intently. Constable Fraser jotted the important details down on his notepad.

“Guess we can see about adding dangerous driving to the list of charges. I’ll speak to Mr. Pederson and see what he has to say.”

He continued to write the account of the night before,
without emotion, pausing only to ask for more clarification on some detail as Daniel explained what had happened.

Finally, Constable Fraser stopped writing, tucked the notepad under his arm, and stood up. “Now, I guess I should take a look at the damage from last night.”

“Sure thing,” Dad said. “We can take the truck.”

He turned to Daniel. “Are you up for this, son?”

He nodded and rose out of his chair stiffly. “Just a little sore, is all,” he said, limping to the door.

When they arrived at the rest area, they found only one picnic table had been seriously damaged with carvings. But the Nelwins had spray-painted the backs of the outhouses in glowing purple and orange offensive graffiti. They also saw evidence of various objects having been shifted. The garbage cans were tipped over and one of the benches parked upside down over the hitching post.

Daniel stood at the edge of the hill and looked down to where the barrel lay damaged at the bottom, resting beside some bushes.

Beside him, Constable Fraser whistled. “That’s quite a hill.”

The hill was even steeper and longer than Daniel recalled. No wonder the horrible trip down had taken so long! The constable started heading down.

“Hop in the truck,” Dad offered. “We’ll go down the easy way.”

Reluctantly, Daniel climbed in. He wasn’t eager to see that barrel again. As they jostled along, a warm breeze puffed into the open windows. Songbirds greeted them, and a few grasshoppers made their first morning forages. The sun was already warm and the few clouds drifted high in the sky. It was going to be another hot day!

The offending barrel, although dented from the unexpected trip down the hillside, would still be useful as a container for grain or water. Once Constable Fraser had a look at where it lay, Dad tipped it back upright. Daniel peered inside. The interior was covered with rust flakes, most of which had fallen off on the tumble down. Dad turned it over and banged out the loose grit. Then he loaded it onto the back of the truck.

“You certainly do have a lively anecdote to tell now,” said Constable Fraser. “Good thing you weren’t more seriously hurt!”

“I know,” said Daniel.

They slowly made their way back up to the rest area in the truck. Once the barrel had been deposited in its place, they headed for the house. They stood talking in the yard by the police car.

“So what happens now?” Daniel asked, dreading the outcome.

“Well, I’ll go and have a little chat with Jed and Lucy, then with the Nelwins.”

“Then what?”

“We’ll see if the story checks out –”

Daniel started to protest. The constable held up his hand, motioning him to wait to hear everything he had to say, and continued.

“Which it probably will, seeing as how you have two witnesses.”

“So they’ll be out of the way for a while?” Dad asked.

The Constable pursed his lips. “Well, it depends on what you want to do. The process could take some time. They could be charged, if we feel the mischief and bodily harm warrant it,” he automatically put up his hand again to stop Daniel from protesting, “then they’ll go to court in Shaunavon. If they plead guilty, the judge will decide on the sentencing, but if they plead not guilty and it goes to trial, the process could take several months.”

Daniel sighed and shook his head, then looked up at his dad, who didn’t seem too happy about the prospect either.

“Well, at least then they’ll be put away for a while, right?” Daniel asked with renewed enthusiasm.

“Not necessarily. Only if they’re convicted and if they have several previous serious offences, then the judge might sentence them to some time in a juvenile detention centre,” the constable said. “That could take a while. And they probably won’t be held in custody while they await trial.”

“So then, what are the possibilities for punishment?” Dad asked. “Or even of restitution?”

“Depends on how lenient the judge is and how serious he feels the other charges against them were in the past. These two are fairly well-known in these parts,” the constable answered. “This is a case of assault and we can
certainly charge them, if all the conditions are met in
the investigation. The judge might give them one last chance and tell them that with the next offence they’ll go to jail, or a youth facility. Then he might sentence them to restitution and/or community service, and probably some counselling.

“But they’ll be back at it again soon either way, won’t they?” Daniel asked.

“That’s always a possibility.”

Daniel looked over at Dad for support and asked, “So what good is charging them going to do?”

“Let’s hope they can’t keep doing these kinds of
things without some sort of serious consequences,” Dad said, clearly agitated by the possibility that the Nelwins might not have to suffer what he thought were proper consequences for their actions.

“At least, they’ll have to consider what they’ve done,” said Constable Fraser, “and counselling sometimes helps.”

Dad stroked his chin thoughtfully, and his eyes
seemed deep in thought.

Daniel sighed. They’d also have time to think about how to get back at him when they were free again.

“What do you want done, then?” the constable asked.

Daniel could see no great long-term solution, only maybe a reprieve for a bit, if the Nelwins stayed clear of him while their charges were pending.

“”Restitution would be good for a start,” Dad said, surveying the damage. “I don’t know that locking them up would help anything. It never did their father any good! What do you think, Daniel?”

“Yeah. They sure made a mess!” Daniel agreed,
shaking his head. “A lot of hard work gone down the tubes.”

Constable Fraser said, “All right, I’ll get this paperwork filed and go talk to the others involved. I happen to know the Nelwins aren’t going very far. I’ve confiscated their dad’s truck. He was a little unstable for driving last night. The boys will be sticking close to home.”

Somehow that didn’t feel very reassuring to Daniel.

Chapter Ten

D
ad came out to help Daniel with the chores,
and by the time they were finished, he found Mom had been right. He didn’t seem quite so sore. Not that he could do any acrobatic movements or run any marathons, but at least he could function again without being in total pain.

Just as they finished a hearty breakfast of pancakes and eggs, Mr. Pederson arrived to check on Daniel. He sat down for a cup of coffee.

“Glad to see you’re none the worse for wear, young man,” Pederson said. “I don’t suppose you feel like coming over to the dig site for a while this morning?”

“You bet I do,” Daniel looked over at Mom for
approval. He might be in pain, but he didn’t want to miss an opportunity to do some digging.

She nodded reluctantly.

“Just as long as you stay out of the sun as much as possible,
and if you’re tired or feel sick, you come home right away.”

He nodded and turned to Dad.

“Dad, can you spare me?”

“You bet. Doug and I are almost done the other work at the campsite. Besides, the work you’re doing is important too!”

Daniel was pleased to hear his dad so enthusiastic.

“When do you want me?” Daniel asked Mr. Pederson.

“Any time you’re ready.”

“How about now?”

Pederson pushed his chair back and got up. “Okay.”

Daniel suddenly remembered that Jed was probably coming over with his dad. “Is it okay if Jed comes later?”

“Certainly! We’ll make a paleontologist out of him yet!”