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Post by thundertail on Jul 4, 2008 5:25:45 GMT -5
NO WORRIES!:
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By: Thundertail
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Prologue:
The computer screen blurred for the fifth time that day, but it wasn't the computer's fault. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes; but this only lessened the blurriness. The spreadsheet before him jost wavered and shifted, and he had to get it along with nearly a hundred of them done by five! Looking in a side drawer he located his eyedrops, and spilled half on his cheek as he applied it. That seemed to work, for the screen cleared long enough to finish it. By five he had half his work done, but the buzzing behind his eyes and the numbness of his brain told him it would take more than one Martini to get rid of THIS headache!
By this time many of the other workers in this cubicle farm began clearing up and leaving, many wishing him good night as they passed by; but he just ignored them as he rubbed his temples. His concentration of this chore was disturbed by a grasp of the shoulder and a cough, and he looked up with a start to see the bosses' secretary staring down on him, wearing a smile she usually reserved for clients.
"Woah, hi Jenny...", he said. "Going to work late?"
"You kidding?", Jenny said. "But by the look, you should ask for a vacation!", she let go of his shoulder and he rose. "Richard, you look like a wreck!"
"I've been working hard lately...", Richard admitted. "But I got to get that project out before the boss fries my behind!"
"He has others to finish it.", Jenny said. "Why don't you at least take a few days off. It looked like your brain was exploding!"
"Yeah, I guess I better...", Richard said.
"I can stay and fill out a leave of absence request if you want...", Jenny began to leave.
"Naw, I'll do it in the morning...", he said as he began to get up.
"No you're not!", Jenny chuckled. "Tomorrow's Saturday!"
"Guess I need the vaycay worse then I think!", he chuckled back.
"Don't worry, I'll fix you up.", Jenny went back to her office.
Grabbing his coat, Richard Dennison left his cubicle and followed the mazelike setup to the main doors to the office, waiting a moment for the elevator; and outside the tall building where he worked, whistled for a cab. Halfway through the wait he realised all he had was bus tokens, and walked the block and a half to the nearest stop. The bus propelled him back as he grasped the rails above his head, and stopped eight times to pick up and drop off handfuls of people along the way; people of various walks of life, ethnicity and odor. At his stop he leapt off and briskly walked up the street to his apartment. One had to walk briskly in this neighborhood if they valued thier lives! He unlocked the inner door to his apartmnent building, relocking it immediately behind him and bolted up the stairs to his own apartment; shabby and smelly though it may be. His answering machine had two messages blinking, so he rewound the device and listened.
"This is Richard Dennison. I am not able to come to the phone right now, but if you leave your name, number and message at the tone, I'll get back to you as soon as I can...", his recorded voice said, then there was a bleep.
"Hello, this is Jeff Masteson, and I'm calling in reguards of your Gold card bill...", Richard stopped the message and deleted it.
"Richard, this is Samantha.", it was his ex! "I called to tell you that I'm going to California to visit my father, and I'm taking Jeremy with me.", that was his son, and he had him this weekend. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to see him your next scheduled time. Check with my lawyer if you have any questions.", she hung up without saying good bye!
Erasing the message, Richard steamed! He was going to take Jeremy to the zoo this weekend! Resetting the machine, he went to the side table by the bed and puored himself a martini from his last drop of Vodka, then sat in his worn leather chair to watch some TV. What a life, he thought. Stuck in a tedious, stinking job; and to have the wife skip out on him just because he didn't make enough money! Now she has the gall to take his son away on a whim! He gulped the burning liquid as he skipped through many channels to find the news. Finding nothing encouraging there, he drained the last of his Martini and turned to the bed. The drink only served to calm him down, and did nothing for his headache.
In the morning he still lay asleep, having forgotten to set his alarm made hip open an eye for a second; but then his brain realised it was saturday and shut itself back off. He awoke with a start in what he thought was a few seconds later, but turned out to be more than an hour; and woke to the sound of his alarm. Wait! That acn't be my alarm! And he woke even further to realise it was his phone ringing. He snapped out of bed, but didn't get there on time and the answering machine took over. Richard dennison sat on the bed with his head in his hands, listening to the other woman on the other end.
"Hello Richard, this is Jenny from work.", she said into the recorder. "I just called to say that your leave has been aproved...", he sprang to the phone.
"Jenny, it's me.", he said into the receiver. "That's great news...", he yawned.
"The boss saw how hard you were working, and how tired you were, so he signed right away.", Jenny replied. "Don't come in on Monday, and you can take the rest of the week off too."
"That's just swell!", Richard said. "Rest! At last!"
"Oh, by the way.", Jenny said. "How much do you have saved?"
"What do you mean?", he asked.
"Well, the boss has some spare reservations in the Bahamas.", she told him. "If you have money for a plane ticket, you can use his bungalow at the beach.", she heard silence. "Don't worry! He says he has to use it before the timeshare runs out anyway, but he can't go this year."
"Is this for real?", Richard accused.
"Of course!", Jenny said. "I can have someone go over there and give you the reservations..."
"I mean, why is he so nice to me all of a sudden?", Richard asked.
"Incentive?", Jenny offered. "Look, I don't know; but never look a gift horse in the mouth, OK?", she hung up.
Putting the receiver down, Richard Dennison turned and scanned his room for a moment. Of all the bad news he had received recently, this glimmer of good news was a godsend! Let his ex take his son on his weekend, this prospect was much better than any time at the zoo! Besides, he was working so hard lately that this vacation was just what he needed! He snapped oput of his morning reverie and began to pack his bags...
_
Staring out over the cobalt blue waters, seeing the surf break on the submarine boulders at the head of the harbor, Richard Dennison sighed and closed the patio door that was attatched to his bosses' bungalow in a really classy area of the Bahamas. This joint had all the amenities for sure! Seaside views from every window of the place, maid service all day long and a butler at night. The paved path to the beach held all kinds of traffic of the bikini type, and nothing but beauties were those! The food his boss ate while he was here sported all sorts of delecacies of the rich and tropical kind. Richard Dennison's boss surely knew how to live!
Along with the bungalow and surrounding territories, his boss had a hundred and ten foot sailing yacht at the marina down the road. And by some miracle, he told him by phone that he could use that while he was here too! The ship had a permanent crew of twenty, complete from captian to cabin boy; and they were all at his beck and call any time he wanted to sail around the islands or wherever he wanted to go! And since he had been hanging around the bungalo for the past day or two, checking out the native life so to speak; he decided to go to the marina and check out that yacht, and maybe take it for a little spin!
Once there he showed his ID to the man at the gate of the marina, saying that he had permission to be here; and in a few moments after a long distance phonecall, he found himself pacing down the maze of piers to the side of the most luxurious masted vessel he had ever seen close up! Richard Dennison whistled aloud as he found his way to the gangplank and got aboard. The teak decks were polished like glass, and the white fiberglass superstructure was done up like one of those ocean going cruise ships he seen on TV. Polished brass fittings were everywhere, and he saw many of the crew in impeccable uniforms tend thier routine shipboard duties. As he neared the space in the superstructure he thought was the bridge, a seaman in a deep blue cap and razor-pressed uniform stepped out and stopped him from entering there.
"Crew only from here on.", said the man. "Who are you?"
"I'm Richard Dennison.", he said. "My boss said I could use this ship while I'm here..."
"Oh, yes!", he said. "We were told to expect you. Have you decided on the destination?"
"Uh,... No, not yet.", Richard said. "I thought I'd have a look around first."
"Very good, sir.", the man said. "I am captain Simon Warner, at your service, along with my crew."
"Nice to know you.", Richard said. "Can anybody show me around?"
"I will send for somebody right away.", the captain said. "In the mean time, may I suggest the forward lounge? It's right over there..."
He indicated the superstructure forward of the mainmast, an alcove six feet square enclosed on three sides with plexiglass. Richard went in, spied a small bar in a corner and made himself a martini. Alone for the moment, he sat on a deck couch within and watched as a handfull of the hands scurry about, tying down rope, cleaning glass or decks and other maintenence activities aboard ship. As he watched the waists of these people pass by, he failed to notice the blonde girl in a yellow bikini saunter into the space until she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Uncle said we would have a guest,...", she said as Richard Dennison turned with a jerk, spilling drops of his drink. "Ooh!... Sorry sir!"
"I...uh,... Hi...", he stammered, wiping his shirt. "No problem. Can't handle my drinks!..."
"I'm Stacy, they say your boss is my uncle.", Stacy told him. She was neraly six inches shorter than he, yet oh! Was she built! "Like the ship?"
"It's fantastic!...", Richard said, then remembering his manners. "My name is Richard Dennison. I think it was nice of your uncle to invite me here."
"Well, what I've heard of it, you been working too hard.", said stacy. "He saw that the project you were working on was suffering, and you needed a rest.", she smiled. "Besides, I could use the company on the cruise we're going on..."
"What do you mean?", Richard asked.
"You weren't told, were you?", Stacy stated. "He told me I could go anywhere in the yacht I wanted, but he insisted I take a chaperone.", she huffed. "I mean, who does he think he is?... I'm well over twenty-one, you know! I can handle myself!"
"Maybe he doesn't want to see you hurt.", Richard offered. "He must love you very much to do this.", he thought. "I only wished he clued me in, is all..."
"That's all right!", she chuckled. "He never tells anyone!"
"You said we're going somewhere...", Richard finished his drink. "Where?"
"Well, I'm studying to be a marine biologist, see...", Stacy said offhandedly. "So I thought I'd stage a little expedition.", she looked at him. "Ever hear of the Sargasso Sea?"
"The Bermuda Triangle...", he had! "What's out there? I mean besides wierd stuff?"
"The Sargasso Sea is named for the seaweed there.", She explained. "Sargasso weed is a habitat for all sorts of sea life. Some of it might have never been catalogued. I was going to go there and write my paper on it, and maybe find new species of sea life - and get them named after me!"
"And your uncle knows about this?", Richard asked.
"Not telling the whole story kind of runs in the family!", Stacy giggled, turned and called. "Let me show you around!..."
Richard Dennison shrugged as he got up and followed this young beauty, not really knowing what he had gotten himself mixed up in; yet at the moment, not really considering it...
_
The next day and a half was quite eventful for Richard Dennison on his bosses' sailboat, yacht pitching and rolling on somewhat choppy sea a mosr unnerving thing for a person used to being on dry land. Though seasickness was not his norm, his total lack of nautical skill was evident every time he tried to pitch in with the ships' hands. Rope burn was treated when he held a rope for a hand that was dogging down the spinnaker, and much scorching was the case when he tried to repair Stacy's air pump in the hold belkow decks, which was used to recharge her scuba tanks.
When they finally reached the Sargasso sea, and Stacy was all awash in her charts; divining the proper spot for a dive, and choosing a clearer spot to the south of a large mass of the weed. She did not dive alone, for Richard knew even less about scuba diving then sailing; and captain Warner, an accomplished diver in his own right, went down with her operating her camera gear. Forty minutes later they were back on the surface, finding nothing groundshaking there except the usual compliment of fish, shellfish and other crustaceans; and they plotted a course more to the east. Along the way Stacy skimmed the way ahead with a dragnet, and snared many strange creatures normal for the sargasso sea; like mollusks, limpets, many species of infant fish, seahorses and one uncommon thing called a sea dragon - merely a specialised seahorse made to look like seaweed.
Her study continued on, focusing on the nature of seabirds in the area and noting where they were according to the fish species below. A day later and her leads were all but worn out, and she was at a loss on where to look next. Richard Dennison was no help as he never studied the marine sciences in college. His majors were business and languages, not anything of the natural world; and certainly nothing Stacy was currently engaged in!
Having a lovely young woman around certainly tempted him on many occasions that trip, for no sane man could resist having thoughts he constantly found himself having. It was all for his boss and his job that he made no attempt on getting friendly with her except on the strictly platonic level, no matter how open she seemed to be; and no matter how many times she became overly friendly with him. Richard held back with such obvious force at times that it almost made Stacy think untoward things about him, but he made light of it and went about his business at a more pronounced pace.
Eastward she had the ship sailed, toward the area of the Sargasso sea that was furthest from the mainland; toward the unknown and deep water of the Atlantic. It seemed the further they went, the rougher the seas became; and clouds were seen forming on the horizon. Stacy made great haste in organizing her next dive, and went over the side as the ten foot swells doubled and redoubled. Her and the captain came back up barely ten minutes later, he hysterical and saying he saw the largest shark he had ever seen; and she saying that she saw nothing, yet coming back up assisting the stricken captain. The captain quickly recovered, and had the crew put sail and retreat back to the mainland on the double. Stacy berated the captain, saying her expedition was not even half over. He retorted, saying that the storm on the horizon was building rapidly; and it looked like the ship would not withstand it.
All of a sudden a rolling was seen in the seaweed, and heaped up to slam against the ship; followed by another tidal surge that made a repeat performance. This spurred the crew to prepare to outrun the storm that was a lot more than it seemed. Within moments the sky turned gunmetal grey, and clouds stacked one atop the other; building until they filled the sky. That was when the lightning and thunder began, blue and green luminescence roiled through the cloud deck and deafening everyone on the ship. By this time the hands had gotten the sailing yacht under way and turned around, but it seemed they were way too late as the rains torrented down; soaking everything and everyone instantly, like being doused by a fire hose on full blast.
Richard, while trying to flee, looked up and saw the roiling malestrom above him; lightning flashed across the top of the mast and made the whole ship wince, and knocked him onto the deck. Stacy yelped and dragged him into the wheelhouse, and the captain leapt over them to man the wheel; which was nearly impossible. The crew scrambled around the deck, trying to stow sail and dog down any loose objects. The confusion on deck was total as the mainmast finally gave way, crashing into the wheelhouse and pulverising all the insreuments. It was fortunate that richard and Stacy was already on the deck, but not for the captain; for the mast crushed him as well as the wheel he was trying to keep steady.
The rest of the crew were rocked about the deck, hanging on for dear life while performing all the emergency procedures they were trained for. One of these procedures included passing out life vests, but few of the crew had those. Richard found one sliding on the deck, and placed it around Stacy, who seemed to be out cold; the dead captain had his on, and he removed it to put on himself. A huge swell engulfed the tiny seeming yacht, and water streamed over the vessel; making it list almost past the gunnels, and sweeping nearly everyone overboard.
Richard dragged Stacy from the protected place they were in, and struggled with the pitching ship to get her to safety; but flotasm from the wrecked superstructure hindered his every attempt. The ship pitched forward just then, breaking the lifeboat behind the wheelhouse from its' moorings; catapulting it directly at the pair. It hit Richard directly on the back, and he fell down the black hole of unconciouseness...
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Post by thundertail on Jul 4, 2008 5:58:24 GMT -5
ONE:
Richard Dennison felt the malestrom and became one with it, dipping and bobbing totally at its' mercy. The storm raged on, and the toy of the sailing yacht was its' plaything; and nothing could be heard but its' gleeful playing. He had lost conciouseness as the lifeboat broke free and clobbered him, and he knew no more until he began to hear the soft sussurus of a calm ocean on a desolate beach; but this did nothing to compell him to rise from unconciouseness, but something did! A biting pain on the fingers of his left hand stirred something within him and he lifted an eyelid with the greatest of efforts.
Alternately raising and lowering his pincers, then using them in an attempt to nip bits of flesh from the crook of his thumb and index finger; the tiny crab gurgled seawater as it probed. Richard took all his strength to flick the silver dollar sized creature away; and it complied by scuttling back into the surf. Peering further away caused a great disturbance to his vision, for his concussed brain made all around him seem like it was in a heat shimmer; like what one sees in the desert when one sees a mirage, and he spent many moments squinting just to see his desolate surroundings from where he lay.
Two hundred yards to his left a light colored blob began to take focus, which upon further squinting took the form of what was left of a ship. Richard knew it was the one he was on for the sail remnants flapping on lines and drooped over some of the superstructure. Red splotches began to form, and though his mind forgot the true color of the ship; his fear made him certain that it was blood. Focusing further he could see some of the damage the ship had undergone, for from his vantage point, nearly half of it lay in pieces; boards and planks strewn as far as he could see, flotasm either up on shore or still playing in the surf.
Fifty feet to his right a shattered keel and splintered boards was all that was left of the lifeboat that nailed him, and Richard reasoned that he must have clung to it to ride it to shore; but this was speculation as he was probably unconcious the whole time. It was at this point that he decided to try to rise, but quickly regretted it from the wave of nausea it caused. He lifted his hand to his temple and drew away fingers full of blood, and this was when he knew that he was seriousely injured. Richard gasped, but it came out a gurgle; and the spittle that came with it was also laced in blood. Giving up, he lay back on the sand; head facing right, where he dragged himself the few inches so he could see past the lifeboat wreckage.
Down the beach was also in a heat shimmer, and all Richard could see was that bouncing off a bluff in the far distance; nearly touching the narrow strip of beach beyond, and bringing to his eyes tearful waves of nothingness. Soon the shimmer in the distance began to take shape, an amorphous glob of grey and color; and it seemed to be walking directly for him, waggling and swaying on the currents of his betrayed vision. As the apparition seemed to near the knoll of rock, it began to shrink to almost nothing; but the pace on which it aproached seemed to increase, and it seemed to run the neared it came.
All of a sudden a noise like that of someone playing a tuba, only undulating and off pitch, sounded; and he swore he could hear the chattering of a child or young adult or woman - his hearing was also not up to par at this point, either! The tuba sounded again, followed by the chattering in acompaniment; and the form got even closer. The form was definitely humanoid in shape, running like it saw the ship and the rest of the disaster; but why was the ground also shaking, and why was there thunder in clear skies? The tremors slowed and halted, and Richard looked up again to see a grey mountain as backdrop for a skinny human boy; whose features were blurred by his battered condition, and hooting could be heard behind him.
"No, he does not look deceased...", the boy said, strange accent and all. "But he looks extremely injured."
"Wh...", Richard croaked.
"Do not speak, sir.", the boy warned as he crouched to examine him. "And please do not move! Everything will be all right."
The hooting sounded from behind once again, and a strange shape loomed into Richard Dennison's vision. A massive head on a serpant's neck hove into view, nodding and blinking dumbly; then it opened its' mouth and hooted loudly, spewing rancid breath into his nostrils. Richard Dennison's eyes went wide, he tried to shrink away from the beast with betraying muscles; then he moaned and fell back to the tan, wet sand in a faint!
"Massero!... Do not scare our guest!...", the boy said, but the sound was already far from Richard's ears...
_
Again the sound of waves crashing on the shore, but the sound changed nearly instantly into feet shuffling and things clattering together; and a few seconds later Richard Dennison heard people talking, but became worried when he heard some inhuman voice chattering in reply. He took a deep breath, which wasn't too painful; and he turned his head at a brighter source behind his eyes. When he opened them he was in a woodclad room, candle sporting chandoliers over head and more light spilling into the space by a large, wide window. There was a bed under that window, and a lithe form occupied it; the cast on the raised leg told him that he might be in a hospital of sorts.
He moved slightly to try and get up, but his weakness made it a feeble effort; and the dizziness the effort produced made him groan and slump back onto the rather hard pillow. The homespun blanket around him had floral design, and looked woven by an unskilled hand; and the bed itself seemed to be built for utility rather than comfort. Richard tried to speak just then, but it came as a croak; and this made the figure on the bed opposite him stir and turn her head.
"Richard? Are you OK?", it was Stacy! "Geez guy! You had us worried!...", then Stacy turned and yelled. "Hey guys! He's awake...!"
"W... what... happened...?", Richard worked his throat.
"Lots!", Stacy said. "See, the ship was caught in a storm, and we were washed up here."
"I know... that...", Richard croaked. "Where... are we...?"
"That's the strangest part...", she said. "They tell me this island is called Dinotopia..."
"Dino... what?", he asked.
"Dinotopia!", she repeated. "And you know why it's called that?", she paused, but didn't let him answer. "There are dinosaurs here!..."
"What!...", Richard almost shouted.
Just then a small bipedal saurian donning a nurses' cap of the 1800's strutted into the room, carrying linens. She placed them on a washbasin at the far end of the room and strutted out the other door. A human woman came in next carrying a large bowl of steamy water, and placed it on the basin as well. The saurian returned, babbled something to the human, who chortled back in kind, and both left the way they had come, still chattering to each other.
"Dinosaurs...!", Stacy spread her hands and giggled.
"I must be... halucinating...", he reached for his head and patted his bandaged scalp. "Or I... must be dead...!"
"I thought so too at first.", said Stacy. "But they seem friendly enough. When I woke up, I was told all I told you, and I had visits from the people who found us."
"How long... was I out...?", Richard asked.
"Almost a week and a half.", she told him. "You have a pretty severe concussion, they say. Also some damaged nerves, but they will heal over time. All your cuts and scratches are almost healed already!"
"And you?", he asked.
"Pretty much the same thing.", she said. "Broken leg, ribs, cuts and scratches. I'll live."
"The rest?", he asked.
"They say they found no other survivors.", Stacy said. "There were six dead on the ship; but I guess the rest were thrown overboard and drowned or something..."
"Too bad...", Richard tried to sit up a bit, only managing to shift position for the pain. "You know, I got... about a million questions. Like what is this place?..."
Just then another human female came into the room, her short hazel hair framed her not too old and not to young face. She wore attire akin to american Old West of the 1800's, and carried a stethoscope-like device around her neck. She looked at Stacy, who smiled a little at her; then she turned to Richard, and she scowled at his slouch before stepping up and placing the device on his chest.
"All your questions will be answered in due time; but the only thing you need to do is to stay there and rest...", she pulled the device away. "Everything is going to be all right!", the smile did more to calm him then the advice.
"He's awake! Isn't that nice?", Stacy said.
"You need to rest too, little lady!", the woman scowled as she turned. "Nothing but trouble ever since she woke up!", this the lady mumbled.
"Ain't it... the truth!...", Richard said. "If it wasn't... for her, we... wouldn't be in... this mess...!"
"How so?", the lady asked.
"I wanted to go explore the Sargasso sea.", Stacy told her. "I should have listened to the captain when he said to avoid the storm...", her head bowed.
"Well, you're here now.", the lady told her. "And there is nothing you can do about it. Best thing to do is relax!"
"Where is here?... Besides Dinotopia?", Richard asked. "And who are you?"
"You are at Irenic, a fishing village just south of Poktook.", she said. "And my name is Annmarie Grogan, leader and healer for the village."
"Nice to meet you.", Richard said. "I am Richard Dennison, from New York."
"Dennison, you say?", Annmarie's look told volumes. "Are you, by any chance, related to Arthur Dennison?"
"Who is he?", he asked. "Some criminal?"
"Quite the contrary!", she replied. "He is only the islands' most famous explorer and historian!", she turned to face Stacy. "About a hundred and fifty years ago both he and his son, Will, were washed up on shore. Once they got used to being here, they went all over the island, and even explored the World Beneath! They became quite famous as experts on the island, and Will went on to become a Skybax pilot..."
"That's all well and good...", Richard's head was beginning to hurt. "But family geneology was not one of my strong points. To tell you the truth, I have no idea whether they were my ancesters or not. My grandmother would know, but she is in a retirement home now..."
"See that?", Stacy piped up. "You're famous and didn't even know it!"
"Hush, child!", Annmarie scolded. "You're supposed to be resting!"
"So,... I may have famous ancesters here...", Richard considered. "I don't know the World Beneath(?),... or what Skybax means... I guess that's some kind of aircraft if you mentioned 'pilot'...", he looked thoughtful. "This is all too strange for me!... I was supposed to be on vacation for a week; and ended up having to chaperone Stacy on an expedition she cooked up!...", he sighed. "Look. I'm tired... Can I get something to eat? I been sleeping for more than a week, you know!..."
"Certainly, mister Dennison.", Annmarie said, then called out in what was assumed by him as dinosaur speech; and the little bipedal dinosaur returned a moment later. "Somalla, would you see about some food for these two?", Somalla squawked, nodded and fled the room.
Now...", she continued. "I'm sure the both of you have many questions. Please don't worry yourself about them right now, for everything will be made clear to you in time.", she paused. "I have other things to tend to at the moment; so I will leave you now, and return shortly...", she left without further preamble.
"Talk about research!", Stacy said after many moments of silence. "Who do you know has the opportunity to study LIVING dinosaurs! This will put the whole Paleontological guild on its' ear!"
"I still can't believe it!", Richard said, turning to stare at the rafters. "How can this island be hidden from everyone else? How could dinosaurs survive here? You know, if I wasn't sure I was alive; I'd swear we're dead, and this is either heaven or hell!"
"You're too morbid, Richard!", Stacy laughed. "Why don't you wait and see what happens. We aren't going anywhere any time soon anyway!"
"And there's the problem of getting back, you know.", he continued, turning to her. "We got to get back and report the wreck to your uncles' insurance people. We got to let them know we're all right. I only had a week's vacation, and I'm already in trouble with that!"
"I think it would be wise for us both to observe patience in this matter.", Stacy looked at him seriousely. "We must first heal from the accident. We should at least find out more about the place next.", she turned serious. "And then and ONLY then can we try to figure a way off the island. Right now there isn't a lot we can do about it!"
"I suppose you're right...", Richard sounded dejected. "I can barely lift my head as it is!..."
Just then, right outside the window, a rythmic thumping began to sound, getting louder as the creature making the thuds got closer. Stacy looked out as far as she could and stuck her hand out, shouting slightly for the thing outside to come closer. A moment later a huge grey head loomed in the windowframe, looking like a hippo head with an elongated snout. It eyed Stacy before peering inside with huge blue eyes. It boomed like an out-of-tune tuba, rumbling at the end of each short call. Richard's eyes went wide as a trace of memory from the beach played in his mind; and it was only then that he could find the words to speak.
"What is that thing?!", he tried to crouch back.
"This is Massero, and she's my friend!", the creature reached in further to get her muzzle patted. "Her Partner and she found us."
"The thing on the beach...", Richard stated. "I think I remember that - right before I passed out..."
"She was really worried about you.", Stacy told him. "Look! He's all right!", Massero cooed. "Well?... Go ahead and say hi!..."
"Hello,... Massero, right?", Richard was suprised at her chortling response. "Sorry for passing out back there... I was really sick...", it felt strange to him, talking with such a creature!
"Don't worry. It took me a few days to get used to her too...", Stacy said.
"How big is she?", asked Richard.
"Oh, really big!", Stacy said. "We're on the third floor of this building, and she's standing just outside it.", she stroked her muzzle again. "Massero is a dinosaur called a Massospondylus. A sauropod about forty feet long, and can rear up on her hind legs.", she smiled at the beast. "She's only a youngster! Her Partner, Teko Oombar, says she's about eight."
"What is a Partner?", he asked.
"I'm not too sure, but I think it's like a best friend.", Stacy replied.
It was at this time that Somalla returned to thier room, balancing a tray of food in her saurian forelimbs and toenails skittering on well worn wood floors. She noticed what was going on right away, and promptly set the tray down on the medical workbench near the door. Immediately she let off with a series of chittering squawks, and the majority of the tirade was directed at Massero! The larger dinosaur boomed and hummed in protest as she retracted her head from the window; then Somalla directed her scolding at Stacy!
"Please!... She meant no harm!", Stacy told her. "She was just worried about Richard!... Please don't be mad!..."
Calming down somewhat, Somala turned to Richard and pointed her clawed finger at him. He simply made defensive gestures and smiled, and this softened her demeanor to go back to the tray of food. She served Stacy first, then went to Richard with his serving. After many moments of indicision on his end concerning the meal, Somala made eating motions to coax him to eat. Before he eventually did, Richard asked her something.
"Can you understand English?", he asked, and she nodded. "I have been wondering all day about something. I was wondering what a dinosaur feels like.", he licked his lips and continued. "May I touch you?"
After a moment of unsure thoughts, Somala softly chirruped yes and came a little closer. She reached closer with her forelimbs and let his fingers touch hers. Richard's hands moved to her flank and pressed tenatively; feeling her dry yet sacle-less skin, and pulled them away after a moment. Once done he leaned back and looked somewhat flustered, then looked her in the eye and told her what was really on his mind.
"Thank you, Somala...", he said. "I just wanted to see if you were really there, is all...", he realised at that moment that he was indeed alive and here. "I just can't believe this!"
He bowed and looked at his meal just then, and Somala turned and left them both to thiers. Stacy was already well on her way through her food, and Richard got to work on his meal as well. Poking through it, he saw that the food was disappointingly meatless...
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Post by thundertail on Jul 4, 2008 7:08:16 GMT -5
TWO:
One day passes in bed, then two and finally three; but Richard Dennison eventually grows bored with the whole idea of staying in bed, recovering from the shipwreck. Despite what Annmarie, the leader and healer of Irenic said, Richard finally drew enough strength to sit up in bed; a feat of which he tried several times before this, and this time it didn't produce nausea.
"I'm gonna do this...", he mumbled to himself.
He looked around and saw Stacy in a sleeping pose, but her eyes were open, silently watching him; and the crazy smirk told him that she was silently rooting for his recovery. Poor Stacy, on the other hand, had more serious problems other than a healing concussion to recover from; for a broken leg and fractured ribs take weeks longer to heal.
"Wish me luck!...", Richard smiled at her.
Drawing more strength from his growing reserves, for these people fed them extremely regularly; Richard braced his hands on the hard bed and tried to thrust himself to a standing position.
"Woah!...", he sat back down. Another malady that was a result of the shipwreck was slight nerve damage when the lifeboat slammed into his back; and his efforts were for naught, for he slumped back to a sitting position on the bed mere seconds later.
"Great job!", Stacy said. "You almost had it."
"But not quite...", he slumped more.
"You're making progress!", she replied. "You'll be able to run within a week at this pace!"
Richard Dennison knew it was going to be a grueling week, for he feared that he would have to learn to walk all over again. Those were not his only fears, for the medicines they gave him had the consistency of coffe grounds; and the taste was more akin to week old tuna sanwiches and the smell was like printer ink! As the days passed, and many more tries; his legs strengthened enough to support his weight for longer and longer moments. Annmarie, Somalla and many more of their attendants saw his efforts; and gradually gave him assistence as he dragged his feet across the room, a foot or two further every time.
As the week drew to a close his efforts awarded him the use of crutches, enabling him to visit Stacy personally at her bed; and assist her in many uncomfortable adjustments, for her constant prone position was giving her bedsores. As the trips around the room became easier for him, he was eventually allowed outside the room; and he saw that the hospital they were in was actually a rookery of sorts, nestboxes lining niches along heated chambers with many attendants constantly servicing the future hatchlings. An excitement never before known came to Stacy at the news, for it was a mystery to her as to the nature of this aspect of the lives of dinosaurs.
While hobbling to another room of the building, which was perched on a bluff above the majority of the town, the window he passed told him; a little hatchling nearly ran into one of his crutches. He looked down into the most amazing eyes he ever saw, on the most inquisitive face he ever seen. The hatchling was of a Triceratops, he was later informed; and a sensation stirred in him he never knew was there as he smiled at the little one, who seemed to smile back playfully.
"Well, well! Hello, little one!", Richard cooed, the hachling cooed back. "Looking for mama?"
The hatchling mewled and grunted, capering and making inquiring gestures at his crutches.
"Oh, those?", he replied. "I hurt myself.", the little one made dejected sounds. "Oh, don't worry! I'll get better."
Richard hobbled around the hatchling and continued as best he could to another room, and then began his seemingly long circuit back to his bed; but all of a sudden heard more mewling at his feet. The Triceratops hatchling was still with him, shadowing his every move all this time! He looked down and smiled at the little beast.
"Well, well!", he said. "Looks like I got myself a little buddy!", the child grunted happily. "Hey, want to meet another friend?", the grunts turned to childlike braying! "Okey dokey then!... Follow me!"
The hatchling followed the human through the room and out into the hall, but they didn't go very fast due to the human's debilitated condition; and the little Triceratops knew not to rush things. Richard turned the corner to his and Stacy's room, and hobbled up to her bed as quietly as he could as she was dozing. He cleared his throat a little to wake her, and then he spoke.
"Hey Stacy!... Look!...", he pointed down, shrugging. "He just followed me home...", he joked. "Can I keep him?... Please...?"
"Oh! Would you look at this!...", Stacy turned as much as she was able and reached for the creature. "Isn't she adorable?...", the hatchling leaned up to let touch him. "Where did she come from?..."
"This is a hatchery, I guess he's a newborn...", Richard said, turning to the tiny Triceratops on the floor. "Want to go back home, little one?"
The hatchling squawked negative as he tried to crawl up onto the bed unsuccessfully, then he looked toward the door at a noise just beyond it. In shuffled Annmarie Grogan, looking in first before coming in; and when she saw the hatchling and all of us looking back with suspicion. Smiling, but in a stern way; she stepped right up to them and addressed them personally!
"There you are, Bolo!", she scolded. "We've been looking all over for you!...", the hatchling mewled.
"Aw, don't be mad at him.", Richard said. "I led him in here."
"It's nearly past his naptime...", she said, "But you're right he's a he...", she turned away, then back. "By the way, how did you know he was a boy?"
"I don't really know...", Richard said, not really sure. "He just... seemed to be a boy to me..."
"It's a very special gift to know things like that." Annmarie said philosophically before changing tactics. "Now, why is Bolo here?"
"I just thought the little guy would cheer Stacy up...", he replied. "No real harm done..."
"It really cheered me up!", Stacy said. "I was getting bored!"
"Well, in a few days I want you to try another idea I had so you won't become bored.", Annmarie told her. "Soon I want you to use mister dennisons' crutches, so you can begin recuperation."
"What will I use?", Richard asked.
"This:", she produced a cane with a stylized saurian hand done in silver for a handle, done up in a strange type of wood. She placed the tip on the ground with a bang, and leaned it to him. "You are coming along well yourself!", she smirked. "Come, Bolo..."
_
The next day or so Richard Dennison followed the healer's advice and got somewhat used to the cane rather than the crutches, and before the end of the third day was able to amble about almost as good as on the crutches. Stacy's condition required she receive more extensive therapy before attempting to stand or use the crutches once he was finished with them. While all of this was going on, Richard puttered around the hatchery; and was doing this to such a frequent degree that it was becoming a nuisence to the workers there, so Annmarie suggested he go outside and tour the town.
Since he was new here, a common worker was asked to help him move about, and give him a tour of the town. One of the only ones not really doing anything was a Dromeosaur named Sculeda, a head taller than Somala the Strutheomimus nurse and a mouth full of carniverous teeth! She could speak English fluently enough, but her barking dialect made it difficult at best for Richard to understand her. She seemed understanding enough to see to his needs, and lead him through the areas easiest to access with his dibilitated condition.
"Careful... human...", Sculeda rasped, guiding him down the stairs to the hatchery and onto the uneven street. "Sssslow,... ssslow..."
"What kind of place is this?", Richard asked as he got his first good look at the town of Irenic.
"Just town..." she replied. "Let show you..."
Irenic is a fishing village perched on the side of a sloping cliff facing the sea, it is built into and on top of a deep and rocky cove protecting it from the worst storms. The road leading down the cliffside to the piers at the protected cove is set with a series of switchbacks, and all the dwellings are situated along it; and they are all as level as the precarious rocky ground around them will allow, but looking at it from ground level, each building looks ramshackle and uneven in comparason with thier neighbor.
"The archetecture is...", Richard Dennison could not fathom a place, and nearly got trampled by a Montanoceratops pulling a cart of fodder. Sculeda rushed to pull him out of the way. "Interesting...!"
"Town built to nature.", she said. "Not other way around."
"Any unusual things happen here?", Richard asked.
"Only you and shipwreck!...", Sculeda chortled. "Come... I show you town!..."
He was led past a bakery up on piers overlooking the roof of a tailor shop, which was next to a shipwright's shop, the keel end of a boat for a sign. Down the slope next to the bakery was stables for saurians, human tenders treating thier customers like bellhops would thier customers in a classy hotel in the outside world. Fleet footed saurians of all sizes bustled by, and an equal number of humans were doing the same; carrying thier loads of goods or rope or other things, all busy like a hive of insects. A screech overhead and Richard looked up to see the largest flying creature he had ever seen, and he ducked convulsively until it flew to a neighboring arroyo and dislodged a rider. Sculeda chuckled and pulled him to his feet.
"Skybax courier come.", she told him. "Maybe bring good news."
"That... thing... is your airmail?", Richard pointed at the creature, who was getting fed by handlers who had climbed the arroyo via catwalks and ladders. "Holy...!"
"We send news of you first day.", Sculeda explained. "Maybe this reply!"
"You told who?", he accused.
"We tell senate at Waterfall City. They say take care until well.", Sculeda smiled. "You and female famous here!"
At an eatery they paused, she silently inquiring if he was hungry and he indicating no. They descended around another switchback, past a sailwright's shop and its' waving female propriator and along the front of a tavern sporting the tail end of a fish on the sign, which was obviousely the name of the place! An open air laundry was seen next, nestled in the midst of several shops selling fishing gear to washed ashore trinkets. At the level nearest the water were the boathouses for the fishing fleet, the shipping companies who shipped thier goods all over and the creatures that assisted in these endeavors.
"Is fishing the only thing this town does?", Richard asked at last, boat not unlike a Chineese junk near by at the pier.
"Fishing first, many other things next.", Sculeda replied.
"I bet all with all the other towns, fish is a valuable comodity.", Richard commented. "With all those folks eating your fish, it should be very profitable!"
"Profitable yes; but no eat.", she said. "They for tribute."
"Tribute for what?", he was confused. "Is it for your gods?"
"No gods. Tyranosaurs.", she told him. "Caravan go through Rainy Basin, need fish to appease Tyranosaurs. If no fish, caravan get eaten!"
"OH! I see...", Richard turned to her. "But you must like fish. You must be a carnivore, with those teeth of yours..."
"Me NO carnivore!... Clan give up meat!", Sculeda said hotly. "Eating meat wrong!", she caught herself. "Now clan eat special plants, high in protein."
"I see...", Richard said. "Say, sorry for bringing up something so upsetting. It was brash of me..."
"No worries...!", she placed a clawed hand on his shoulder. "You not know...", she sniffled a smile. "Now let's continue tour!..."
_
As the days passed, the town of Irenic became increasingly familiar to Richard Dennison; and soon he was navigating the twisted streets like he was born there. He enjoyed the ships coming in, and got to know many of the townspeople that scurried by in thier frenzied work; and thought that being somewhat of a celebrity here a novel experience indeed! More than once he accepted this or that trinket, mostly food like breads and fruits and such; all of which he offered to pay for, but any service he offered was gratiousely denied for his condition.
His condition was continually improving, for he gradually became strong enough in his walks not to rely too heavily on his cane. He would merely carry it in his travels, only using it on the more rougher terrain; and bandying it about on the smoother roads. He was fascinated by the lettering within the signs around town, the footprint script with the English equivelant under it; and eventually made connections from one script to the other. The words spoken by the saurians seemed to have connections from one saurian to the other as well, and he began to realise that they had a common language among them; and made pains to find the correlation between that and English. Eventually, through speaking to many people and borrowing a schoolbook or two from a few of the children; began to understand simple words and phrases like 'hello', 'good bye', 'thank you' and the like.
Richard Dennison came back to his bed nightly, and told Stacy everything he had observed and experienced that day. She was thrilled to find out every little thing he told her, and the main reason why they fished; even though they did not catch the fish for themselves. The mere thought of live Tyranosaurs in the Rainy Basin thrilled her and made her redouble her efforts on the crutches in order to recover in the shortest time possible. However, Annmarie kept on telling her to take it slow, and that the Tyranosaurs will still be there when she's properly healed! Richard warned her with rumors he heard of the horrors that can occur at the claws of such massive carnivores, but this did nothing to water down her enthusiasm.
"Yeah, everyone in town knows about us.", Richard told her one night. "They're all pulling for us to recover."
"Did you hear any word of my equipment?", Stacy asked. "That stuff's expensive!"
"They have it in a storehouse just down the street. They can't make heads or tails of it, and I told them it belongs to you."
"Well, at least they gave us back our clothes!", Stacy indicated her two suitcases and one makeup kit in her area of the room. "Now I can dress nornmally!..."
"I heard they had to mend most of it because it got ruined in the shipwreck. Most of the crew's clothes were there too; so we can have as many changes as will fit...", said Richard. "Only one thing. Don't go slinking around with that bikini on!... That will freak them out!"
"Them or you?", she giggled.
"These guys opinion of being scantilly clad is those 1930's swimsuits or something.", he said. "But if it were for me, I wouldn't mind!"
"Pig...!", she accused. "So, how's the people around here? Are they all this nice?"
"Are they ever!", Richard Dennison went on describing the people of the town, and every night told her of all the things they do.
Beth Ann foster owned the bakery, and kept him full of all the homegrown breads she makes. Sally and Magnum were the resident Cryptoclydus barge pullers, and their toothy grins betrayed thier inherent playfulness and affection. Shestus Mantoch was kind of the boss of the docks, for he was in charge of dispatching all the imports and exports of the town, both by sea and by land; but his stern demeanor softened when assisting newcomers.
They had a form of police there too, and Richard had asked directions many times from Deeya and Mocho, thier Strutheomimus constabulatory officers. There were many fishing families there too. Two of the most prominent families were the Oombars, led by Toko Oombar; and the Aoude's, led by Ahmed Aoude'. Both families owned a few vessels, and hired many crews and hands. The Oombar's main vessel was the 'Liopleurodon', a catamaran slooplike craft with painted gaping jaws along its' bow. The Aoude primary vessel was the 'Orient Lilly', the chinneese junk that was rigged up for trolling. He had made good friends with many of the crew on both vessels, and had gotten quite a few sea stories from many of them as a reward.
He had made friends with a man named Fransisco Draise and his Montanoceratops cart puller named Bolo. They told him about the many things they saw around Dinotopia, and all the other towns they had visited. This spurred Richard's curiosity about the island, and made him want to go visit those towns, and every other place on the island he could explore; but this he kept a secret from Stacy as they still had to try to find a way off the island, and he didn't want to disappoint her in that respect. This secret neither dared to tell anyone, for if they found out they might try to prevent them from doing so!
Instead Richard told her of the exploits of the humans there: Arthur, Bobby, Christopher, Jake, Deborah, Greg, Tabatha, Henry, Arman, Gigor, Franz, Popoo, and Samuel; who simply did anything asked of them, or volunteered on ships and things like that. The saurian compliment of the town did much the same thing. There was Ambray Harpymimus, Palomino Hadrosaur, Centro the Bracheosaur, Rhasmey the Parasolophus, Monifer the Triceratops, Gighi Harpymimus, Boris the Dromeosaur, Xialma the visiting Cryptoclydus, Torky Parasolophus and his favorite, Sculeda Dromeosaur. All had thier tasks to perform, and all of them did them with an unselfish pride unrivaled in any place in the civilized world.
It was a thing he had never seen before...
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Post by thundertail on Jul 10, 2008 18:50:37 GMT -5
THREE:
Although he kept on getting better every day, Richard Dennison still could not believe a place like this existed. Try and consider yourself in his position. Washed up on shore and rescued by these well meaning people - and to top it all off, there were living DINOSAURS here! And where was here, by the way? Lost in the middle of nowhere, only last reliable heading was just east of the Bermuda Triangle, on an island where all charts say there shouldn't be one. If they were so close to the mainland, then it shouldn't be a problem for the Coast Guard to send a rescue operation to these waters. Certainly his boss's insurance company would insist one be undertaken, wouldn't they? And wouldn't his boss be wondering what became of his niece all this time? A rescue party would certainly be called on account of THAT! And what of him? Wasn't he worthy enough to have a rescue party sent for him? He might be only a small scale office worker at the moment, but certainly his ex would want to know his fate, and his son would be without a father; so he was hoping that one woiuld be sent, if not for him, for everything else.
All this was on his mind as he strolled the uneven streets of Irenic, so he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going. He would meander around and observe life there, and see the people and saurians as they walked by. A few times he would wander the shops and witness the wares they had to offer, poking at this or that item or sniffing this or that strange fruit. One day he strolled along past a small curiosity shop, many of the propriator's wares outside on display; and something vaguely familiar caught his eye, so he went and picked it up. It was a guitar of sorts, and he remembered playing one in high school; though he had lessons on such an instrument, it was long ago and he played rather badly anyway. As he remembered, he strummed the misshapen instrument and tested the strings; the owner of the shop scuffled out and viewed him a moment before speaking.
"Planning to purchase that Zithar, kind sir?", he said with a strange lilt to his cackly voice.
"Uh,... I don't know...", Richard Dennison stammered, placing the Zithar on the ground where he found it. "I played something like that when I was younger..."
"All of us were younger!", he cackled. "Can you give me a song?"
"...I'll try...", Richard picked up the instrument again and strummed it, then picked out a few simple riffs that came out disjointed; and only came a little better the second time around. "Like I said, it's been a long time."
"I see...", the man considered. "Say, can you work?... If you work, you may have the Zithar.", then he squinted. "But I see from your condition you do not, mister Dennison...", he knew who Richard was too!
"It's all right. Just looking...", Richard said.
"Perhaps you could trade something for it...", the man offered. "Perhaps that cane you carry?..."
"I don't think I can.", Richard told him. "Your leader gave it to me so I could recover. I'm not sure if I should. See, the friend that came with me may need it next."
"I see...", he considered again. "It would have sure been a help to me, me being old and withered as you see...", he shrugged. "But alas!..."
"I'm really sorry, mister...", Richard said. "Here is what I can do:", the man said, snapping his withered fingers. "Take the Zithar, and you can recompense me any time you want."
"I don't have any money...", was the reply that was halted by a hand.
"There is no need! Just perform services to the people here, learn what you need and heal.", he said. "You do that and the payment is made!", he winked. "If all goes well, the leader may award me that cane after all!...", the man cackled and went inside, leaving an extremely perplexed look on Richard's face!
When he told Stacy about this that night, she was so amused about the whole thing. She sat there in bed picking at the offered instrument, and doing a slightly better job than he could. After a few moments of thought, she told him what was on her mind.
"So, I think the rules are different here.", she stated. "I mean, if there's no money here and all people work and everyone has everything they want; then I think thier economical situation is far more stable than in America."
"Not only that, everyone works solely for the benefit of all.", Richard told her. "Nobody seems to have an ounce of greed in thier bodies!... It just ain't right!..."
"Maybe not for us, but it works for them.", Stacy told him. "It's like, you know the throries about some dinosaurs running in herds?... Maybe they work on the herd mentality.", she strummed and gave the Zithar back. "All for one and one for all!"
"But it just can't work!", Richard said. "What about a persons individual prosperity? If you can't do what is beneficial for yourself, how can this way be better?"
"But it DOES work!", Annmarie walked in carrying thier fresh bedclothes. "Because everyone works for the common good, everyone benefits equally. One of our mottos is 'Survival of all or none', and it means just that. Stacy is right with her saying, 'All for one and one for all'; for if one creature perishes, all will suffer."
"So this Zithar...?", Richard began.
"Is yours.", Annmarie finished. "The shopkeeper wished to give you a gift, another one of our traditions. He saw you had need of it, and gave it to you provided you heal and learn what it is like to be a Dinotopian."
"And generosity like this is one of the lessons.", stated Stacy.
"Yes. It is a virtue most prized here.", the leader said. "And so is healing. Tomorrow your cast will come off, and you will undergo extensive therapy.", she looked at Richard. "Mister Dennison, the high council of Waterfall City has requested your presence at the soonest opportunity. You are now well enough to travel, and will be leaving as soon as transportation is arranged. Good luck in your future endeavors, and have a wonderful life among us..."
"Now wait a minute!", balked Richard. "Wouldn't it be best if I went with Stacy when she's able to travel? I mean, on the yacht, I was supposed to be her chapperone. I feel it is my responsability for her then as well as now, and I think I should be with her when we both go there.", he looked at Stacy. "I mean, wouldn't they want to see the both of us together?"
"Richard!...", Stacy giggled. "I can take care of myself...!"
"The high council is very curious about you, mister Dennison; a person whose namesake was the most famous person we have ever known.", Annmarie said. "But yes, I agree you both should be sent there together. You came from the same shipwreck, after all!...", both patients smiled. "I will send a message telling them such at first light. Now it is time to draw your beds..." _
Walking along the dockside one day, Richard Dennison watched as all the other deckhands loading one of the barges; moving in close synchronicity as they all pitched in with thier monumental task, never seeming to make a mistake. Small saurians of the burly type manhandled crates and barrels onto thick rope netting, where large Bracheosaurs would gather the nets and crane the loads into the air. Then human workers on the barges would lead the load onto the barge, where they would stack and sort the cargo evenly to prevent capsizing, so he was told. Walking by in amazement, he turned and strolled to another vessel, a fishing schooner of unknown design.
The hands on board were stowing sail and taking on provisions; preparing for thier day out to sea. A breeze picked up, and a swell swept into the cove; rocking the ship in its' moorings. One sail let go high above, sending the rigging astray to tumble on deck. The breeze was strong enough to spill some ropes overboard right at Richard's feet, and a saurian hand peered over the deck to him.
"Oh sir!", the Troodont's English was passable, if not without a nautical twang. "Mind drawing that rope up here?..."
"Sure...", he replied.
Richard bent to gather as much as he could hold, then he gave a great heave; whipping most of it high above his head. The Troodont reached out and snagged a loop of it in his trained talons, then he snapped that end and the rest of the rope whipcracked back onto the deck. Waving in a nautical way, the Troodont began re-rigging the errant rope and tied it off onto a lanyard on the foredeck. Richard waved back, then proceeded further down the dockside.
The next ship he saw was the 'Liopleurodon', a strange masted fishing boat with painted teeth on the bow; and the Oombar family's flagship. Here they were loading cargo as well, one of thier hands said they deliver cargo too; and Richard was asked to help. He spent most of the morning working with several Strutheomimus hands loading barrels of fish onto cargo netting, and guiding the load on board; hoisted up by thier dockworker, Centro the Bracheosaur. After the boat was loaded, he helped the ship to cast off, loostening the aft mooring from a dock pilon while one of the Struthies got the bow mooring. They watched the 'Liopleurodon' cast off and disapear around the rocky arroyos at the head of the cove; then having nothing better to do, Richard shambled along the shore road to the dunes beyond.
Out of the fishing village proper, he went through the naturally carved stone arch jutting out into the surf; which was connected to the neighboring cliffside, and was soon out onto raw beach. He looked out onto the endless ocean, and the gloom far beyond near the horizon. Just to think, that storm or one like it was the cause of him being here. A cruel fate, one that Richard Dennison saw little chance of changing; so grunting, Richard wandered on down the beach. He strolled zigzagging around the odd clot of seaweed, driftwood or other unidentifiable bit of flotasm; and it reminded him terribly of the day of the shipwreck.
As he remembered it, he swore the replay also included sound; for that strange tuba-like sound was drifting in on the seabreeze. As he traveled to a bend in the beach, he looked up; and what he saw was what his concussed mind saw that day, for a large creature was shambling up the beach, coming his way. Knowing this was no halucination, Richard smiled and waited for Massero to get closer; and before she came close enough to see the color of her eyes, he noticed that her partner, Teko Oombar, was with her as well. He was busy combing the surf, discarding many of the shells and things being washed up on the beach in that spot; and that was when Massero saw him, and lumbered straight for him.
"I see you are well!", Teko said as he dragged his naked toes out of the foam. "Out for a beachcombing expedition?"
"You could say that.", Richard told him, stroking Massero's snout, who rumbled in appreciation. "The only thing I found was memories..."
"I found nothing today.", Teko said. "But Massero said she saw a waterspout.", she nodded.
"Yeah, I was just out for a walk.", he told him. "How big is this beach anyway?"
"It circles the entire island, so they say.", Teko drew his hand out to emphasize. "It is said it would take a whole year walk the length of it."
"Have you?", Richard asked.
"No!...", the boy chuckled. "Mama wants us both home by supper, so we only travel a few miles at a time. Once she let us stay out over night, but that was because of the tsunami that struck the island. We moved inland to Callicos, beyond the Omnubian mountain range, until it blew over."
"Was the town destroyed?", He asked.
"We rebuilt it.", Teko told him, then changed the subject. "We were going home. Do you want a ride?"
"I never rode a dinosaur before...", Richard considered.
"I will show you! It will be fun!...", Teko went to Massero, and she knew what to do; so she crouched, neck almost touching the sand. "Come on!..."
Teko hopped onto her neck, then offered a hand to Richard. He awkwardly mounted the neck like one would a horse, and got a very unnerving sensation! Massero reared up on all fours, neck rising from the sand; and began to walk, neck slowly rising near vertical as she did so. Both Richard and Teko slid back almost to her shoulderblades, and she slowly got her multi-ton body into motion. Several of her strides later she was at a full walk, and the bouncy gait almost made Richard seasick!
"Wee...! Go, my friend!... Go!", Teko shouted, fist rasied in glee! "Isn't this fun, mister Dennison?"
"Yeah, real fun...", Richard's unamused voice quavered with each step.
Massero did not take them to the rookery where Richard had his bed, but through the dockfront and off to the beach on the other side; where there was a deep seaside cave systen yawning out into the surf. A series of beachworm paths led between the rock outcroppings inside, and these led to a series of cavern entrances; many of them large enough for massero and much cargo as well, the central one was flooded and sported many small barges.
"This is my family's fishery.", Teko said. "We moor here when the seas are rough.", the boy got down when allowed by Massero, and Richard did likewise.
He spent the rest of the day with the Oombar family, the mother, Pergran, mending sails with several helpers; and big sister, Marip, reweaving nets with her own set of apprentices. Teko led Richard up some steep boulders well worn with hand and footholds to his little alcove, a small cavern that served as his bedroom. He had quite a collection of bells, bosuns' whistles, compasses and other nautical devices that were washed up on shore; and the view from his alcove was one of the sea.
Richard described his day tp Stacy once he was back, carefully helping her to walk across the room; and once again she marveled at these people, how harmoniousely they existed together. Many days later she was well enough to venture outside and see for herself; and many weeks later she was able to join him in his jaunts unaided...
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Post by thundertail on Jul 12, 2008 17:40:25 GMT -5
FOUR:
"So, isn't this great?", Stacy said as she strolled, aided by Richard's arm. "Just imagine... All this here, and it's unknown to the outside world!"
"I could hardly believe it either,... Oh, hi Armon!...", Richard replied as he scooted aside to let one of his saurian worker friends pass by. "I mean, when I got out here and saw all of them in action - especially the dinosaurs...!", he stopped as a Brach made her way around the switchback they were nearing. "I mean, all this just blew me away!..."
"And this is just the beginning!", Stacy said. "I hear there is hundreds of communities just like this."
"And let's not forget the cities!...", Richard added. "Cities nestled in waterfalls and ones perched on the edges of canyons. Ones carved out of volcanoes and ones scooped from the sands of the deserts."
"And these nice people!", Stacy looked about. "Look at all they done for us!... And all free of charge!"
"Let's face it: we got lucky!", Richard stated, facing forward, and Stacy laughed. After a moment he spoke again. "Well, I'm going to do something for them to show our apreciation..."
Before Stacy could ask, a Skybax flew over thier heads, shadowing thier heads with his wings, if only for a second. It was thier cue to turn and return back to the rookery and thier rooms, but before thay had gotten halfway there many dozens of moments later; They saw Annmarie Grogan and the Skybax pilot walking side by side, heading straight for them. Both Richard and Stacy halted and waited for them to get near, then both put on thier best smiles. Before any of them could speak or make greetings, the female pilot, auburn hair of medium length, extended a hand and exclaimed!
"Unbelievable...!", she said.
"Hello, Stacy and Richard.", Annmarie said immediately after that. "I would like you both to meet Elana Dennison, master Skybax pilot and last direct descendant of sir Arthur Dennison."
"Hi...", Stacy mumbled weakly.
"Hello, Elana.", Richard said, finally shaking the hand. "Looks like we both have the same last names!...", he said with a weak smile.
"I can not say how much it pleases me to meet you at long last!", Elana said. "When I heard of your arrival, I could not wait to make your acquaintence!", she finally let go of his hand and backed up a pace.
"When I heard that I may have famous relatives here, I couldn't believe it either...", Richard said.
"Please forgive my rudeness earlier.", Elana said, bowing. "When I first saw you, I swore I was looking at my father, Will Dennison."
"We suspected as much as well.", Annmarie said. "The resemblance is uncanny!"
"Chalk one up for direct proof!", Stacy said. "Now do you believe you got relatives here?"
"Well... ", Richard said.
"Elana has a message from the high council of Waterfall City.", Annmarie cut in, unraveling the scroll in her hand. "It says that since you are both sufficiently recovered from your ordeal, you are to travel to Waterfall City and be officially welcomed by the council. There you will receive education and instructed on where you would be most suited to live among us."
"But we've got to get back...!", Richard said.
"My uncle's going to freak!", Stacy added.
"Didn't you tell them?", Elana asked.
"Not in so many words...", Annmarie replied. "But I thought that seeing the way we live, they would wish to."
"What are you getting at?", Richard asked.
"To put it briefly, there is no way off the island.", Elana said.
"The storm that wrecked your ship has surrounded our island for millennia.", added Annmarie. "The reef encircling the island has destroyed thousands of ships; and any who had attempted to leave by boat were destroyed as well."
"So, we're stuck here?", Stacy asked, not believing it.
"Precisely.", Annmarie told her.
"So it is in the best interests of all if you make the best of the situation.", Elana said. "You both are most welcome to stay with us, and make for yourself a new life!"
"I can't believe this!", Richard said. "Are you sure?"
"No records have been made of a successful escape.", Annmarie said. "Have there been any shipwreck survivors in the outside world that have claimed to be in a place such as this?"
"Not to my knowledge.", Stacy said. "But there have been many strange claims about other unusual phenomona at sea..."
"See? No one has successfully gotten off the island!", the leader of Irenic said. "Now,... we will arrange for your transportation to Waterfall City immediately. Your belongings will be loaded on a cart, and all your equipment in storage as well. Elana will deliver news of your impending arrival in Waterfall City, and anything else will be taken care of.", she gave a wink. "I suggest you start saying farewell to all your friends here!..."
"Will I see you again, Elana?", Richard asked as both of them scurried off to thier duties.
"I'm sure we'll run into each other from time to time - duty permitting, of course!", Elana turned back to her running and headed for the Skybax arroyo on the cliff face. "I guess we'd better get packed...", Stacy said as they continued toward the hatchery building...
_
The next morning, packed luggage next to the hatchery steps, Stacy and Richard went seperate ways in order to say thier good byes to the wonderful people of Irenic. Their ride to Waterfall City would not be there until midmorning, and they had to hurry if they were to meet everybody! Richard greeted every male member he met on the way, and had something a little special for the female inhabitants; so he spent a good twenty minutes with the flower vendor that had stopped into town that week, pushcart piled high with many arrangements of exotic flowers. His intention was to give every female one, a gesture of thanks and of farewell; and the Archeopterex vendor haggled over the cost all through Richard's talk. At long last she gave in, figuring he had done enough work around here to warrant all the flowers he could handle.
Richard Dennison went along, greeting the females this time; and at the end of each farewell would give her a flower. Many humans and saurians gave him shy looks, or knowing ones; and all were flattered beyond belief! At long last he returned to the hatchery, saving quite a few for the staff inside; and as he made his rounds, the last two to receive a flower were Annmarie Grogan and Somala the Strutheomimus nurse, both of which received thier folowers at the same time.
Somala turned away, profoundly embarassed; but Annmarie looked at him in wonder. "Mister Dennison, do you know what day this is?"
"Other than being the last day of enjoying your town's hospitality, no.", he said.
"Today is the solstice of summer and fall.", she said. "It is a very special day, for this evening the festival of Equinox Eve is celebrated.", she continued at his confused look, and Stacy entered the area at this time. "Equinox Eve is a time where a man and a woman discuss thier intentions for one another. A romantic evening reserved for lovers and suitors to be. The gesture you have given me indicates your intended devotion to me - and Somala!"
"Oh, no!...", Richard Dennison wailed. "I gave one to EVERY female in town!...", he looked up from his anguished stance. "It was merely meant as a gesture of thanks and apreciation for your hospitality! Not for THAT reason!... I'm sorry..."
"So, is it like Dinotopian Valentine's Day?", Stacy asked. "Boy, do YOU have a lot of explaining to do!...", she giggled.
"No explanation necesary. He did not know!", Annmarie said. "The gesture was thoughtful and kind; and I'm sure everyone apreciates it.", she thought. "But I may have to explain your intentions to the other females if asked..."
"I feel like a real dough-head!...", Richard Dennison mumbled.
Just then Massero thudded into the area. The only one Richard didn't give a flower to was her, and she was out beachcombing again with Teko; who was on her back, both nearly late for the sendoff. She nuzzled her way through the crowd and bellowed right behind Richard. He turned and placed a flower into her mouth.
"I love you too!...", he crooned sympathetically as he rubbed her muzzle.
That brought everyone that had gathered to laughing for the longest time! A few moments later a cart was pulled up the street and into the area, and most of the people and saurians that had gathered to see Stacy and Richard Dennison off scampered to the sides to let the all too large contrivance way. It stopped, and the Montanoceratops that was pulling it gave a trumpeting gasp, signalling the driver to climb down and stand beside the beast.
"Mister Dennison, Stacy, this will be your transportation for the first part of your trip.", Annmarie told them. "Fransisco and Piccolo will take you as far as Mollusk Town; and from there you will go by the normal Bracheosaur bus service."
"Bracheosaurs? Normal?", Stacy stated.
"You'll get used to things.", Annmarie told her.
"Here you go...!", Richard grabbed two of thier suitcases and began handing them to Fransisco. "Careful the Zithar..."
"Thank you, mister Dennison...", Fransisco went around back and slid them onto the lowered tailgate, then hopped up and secured them between other things back there as Richard toted the rest of the things from the steps. When the loading was done, he hopped down and joined the rest.
"I got all yer other things from the storehouse...", Francisco Draise stated, wiping sweat with a rag. "What are all those gizmos, anyway?"
"Those gizmos are the equipment needed for scuba diving.", Stacy told him. "There are two air tanks, weights, flippers, wetsuit, mask, weight belt, air compressor and several underwater cameras.", she looked at Annmarie. "I am a marine biologist by training... but I don't suppose there's a job like that here."
"Perhaps something similar.", she returned. "But that would be up to the matriarch to decide..."
"We are getting behind schedule.", Piccolo said.
"Yes!... We should get going.", Fransisco Draise said. "We need to make Mollusk Town in three days..."
"Of course!", Annmarie said. "Well you two. Hop aboard!"
Richard Dennison climbed the ladder up the side of the cart, clearly two stories tall and nearly the size of a small cabin; and Stacy was quick to follow him up. Fransisco Draise hopped up a moment later after he checked Piccolo's rigging, and plopped down on the front buckboard seat just above Piccolo's tail; grabbing the reigns and giving a whistle, the Montanoceratops slowly began turning the jointed contrivance around.
As this operation was happening, the street leading out of town was being filled with every citizen occupying the town of Irenic; and as the giant cart began its' uphill trip to the outskirts, everyone began to cheer and wave! Immediately after that a band began playing from some other street, homemade instruments played by nonprofessional musicians; and the people began to follow the giant cart, forming a makeshift parade up and up the switchbacks and out on top of the escarpment that protected the narrow plain beyond from the majority of the storms at sea.
As Piccolo pulled the cart further and further from the fishing village of Irenic, the sounds of the crowd diminished to nearly nothingness behind them. It was early afternoon before the forest ahead swallowed up the cart, and they were in the middle of its' coolness. As nightfall grew, Richard Dennison and Stacy began to wonder forlornly about thier future...
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Post by thundertail on Jul 26, 2008 19:25:48 GMT -5
FIVE:
When they stopped to make camp that night, they were still in the forest; and Fransisco Draise had chosen a well used campsite complete with a small firepit. Of course he had to do most of the work as Richard Dennison and Stacy were not too adept at roughing it, even though they inexpertly helped out in a few things. Piccolo thier Montanoceratops puller was unhitched and fended for himself foraging in the dense foliage before settling by the cart; and by this time a formidable campfire and sleeping arrangements had been set up. As thier driver poked at the flames and considered his route the next day, Richard picked cords on his Zithar as everyone else was deep in thought.
"You know, since you're new here, I best tell you about the place.", Fransisco said at last.
"I've heard of many cities on the island.", Stacy stated.
"Well, I been all over this area, and most of the country is pretty wild.", the driver began. "The best we'll see is a few towns, like Pumice Town, Volcaneum, Naranda and Horsetail Grove."
"What are they like?", Richard asked.
"Pumice town is chiefly a mining community, but they have crops and other things to trade there.", Fransisco said, and Piccolo grunted. "I know that!... I will pick up some supplies there, and be on our way to Volcaneum."
"Volcaneum?", Richard said. "I heard of that place!"
"Volcaneum is on the brink of an active volcano.", said thier driver. "We use the heat generated there to forge all our metallic objects and jewelry. They have the largest bell ever forged there!"
"And the other towns?", Stacy wanted to know.
"Naranda is a trading post, so I got to pick up some things for Horsetail Grove.", said Fransisco. "After we cross the Polongo River past Naranda, we'll be in wild country. We must ride fast through Raptor Flats!"
"Because of the Raptors?", Richard asked.
"No, mud bogs and quick sand!", he smiled. "Even Piccolo here can't pull us out of those!"
"Hey!.", Balked Piccolo.
"So, that's just a name...", Stacy stated.
"Yup! All Raptors follow the codes now.", Fransisco said. "Of course, there are still a few holdouts in the Rainy Basin..."
"This place would seem to hold its' own types of dangers.", Richard considered. "Well, with the both of you guarding us, I'm sure we will all be safe!"
"Thanks!", Piccolo rumbled, and Richard swore he understood it!
"What do you think will happen after that?", Stacy asked.
"I must turn around at Mollusk Town, and from there you're on your own.", he threw the stick into the fire. "That's all I can tell you all for now. I suggest you hit the sack early. It's going to be a long day tomorrow!..."
Richard dennison and stacy did as was suggested, having a hard time getting to sleep on the cold, hard ground; and both wishing they still had the way-too-hard beds they slept in at the hatchery of Irenic! Richard dreamed of his shabby bed at his apartment in New York city, and all the heartbreak and headache that seemed to be snatched up from him; and could not think of a better place than he was right now. Stacy dreamed the dream she always had before a day of adventure: finding the unknown and reveling in the glory it brought her. On the other hand, Piccolo and Fransisco couldn't conceive of such dreams, and they both dreampt about what might happen the next day.
In the morning they inexpertly helped Fransisco Draise break down thier camp and hitch Piccolo back up to the massive cart. Stacy folded the bedrolls wrong, and had to redo them as they ended up being twice the length they should have been. Richard had the job of rubbing Piccolo down, but he did a bad job and made the poor beast chafe for the rest of the trip! Upon later discussion between Partners, It was decided that they had better teach these two newcomers something about the basic chores of life around here - before they messed something else up!
They boarded the huge cart and headed out south down the dirt road, not seeing a living soul either on or off the road because it was so early. The earliness brought on the sounds of indiginous life, like gliding feathered lizards and tiny Pterosaurs in variety; but other than that there was nothing around. This seemed to spook Piccolo a bit, and he pulled the cart along with wary caution.
"This load is still a half ton too light.", Piccolo said in saurian, but neither of the newcomers understood.
"Would you rather it heavier?", Fransisco snapped at him. "I can arrange it, you know!"
"What's he saying?", Stacy asked as she scanned the jungles.
"He says he prefers a heavier load.", Fransisco told her. "He should be glad for the relief!"
"Yeah, Piccolo!", Richard said. "There is a saying from where I come from. It says: 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth'!"
"So enjoy the easy time!...", Stacy told the beast.
"You're right, I guess...", Piccolo said.
"Breathe deep, seek peace!", Fransisco added.
"What a lovely sentiment!", Stacy said.
"It is one of the credos we live by.", he replied. "It is also a greeting we use."
"You learn something new every day!", Stacy said as they continued down the road... _
PumiceTown was bleak and poor looking, and the residents there paid them no mind; thier unwashed faces denoted the heavy labor they frequently did. Fransisco picked up thier supplies at the trading post, swapping some choice items they had for such purposes; and they left the town without much more fanfare but that, and the residents didn't even wave good bye!
By evening they entered the outskirts of Volcaneum; and true to the town's name, a huge, active volcano was the backdrop for the town. Fransisco arranged for acomodations for the night, a hostel next to the livery for the humans in thier group and a stall for Piccolo; and they all traveled to the nearest tavern for dinner. Once it was over, overhearing gossip about local townspeople, the state of Dinotopian affairs and scuttlebut about two newcomers on the island - one of which had a famous name - they all decided to turn in for the night.
In the morning Fransisco hitched up Piccolo early, then went to rouse Richard and Stacy; who were mildly outraged at being woken just as the sun was lightening the sky! They boarded the massive cart and headed back out a side path that led across the morass field on the leeward side of the volcano, lave glass and igneous rock crunching under the wheels of the cart and Piccolo's feet. They traveled downslope until they entered the forest beyond; and before the sun was at its' highest they were peering through the foliage at the outskirts of Naranda.
Carved out of the forest lay acre upon acre of cleared farmland, crops ranging from corn to cucumbers in neatly planted rows lay before them; and the odd shed or barn dotted a corner of each of the plots. As they got closer Richard could see the variety of saurians working the earth and the humans that were among them; and Stacy waved and called at many as they passed by. These citizens returned the favor, and by the time they reached downtown Naranda proper, which was nothing more than a small collection of buildings, everyone in town knew they were coming. A youngish man with yellow flowing hair came from a tavern and stopped the cart right out in the street.
"Hail, travelers from afar!", the man said, lanky but extremely muscular looking. "I be Irwin Hanson, leader of this humble village."
"Hail yerself!", Fransisco drawled. "If yer not directin' traffic, I suggest you get owta the road!"
"Uncouth as ever, eh 'Fran?", Irwin chuckled. "And who be your passengers?", he stepped aside so Piccolo could pull the cart to the side.
"They're Dolphinbacks.", Fransisco said. "Treat 'em nice!"
"Ah! I was informed.", Irwin said, going to the side of the cart to help them both to debark. "A pleasure, miss Stacy!... And a special welcome to you, mister Dennison!..."
At the sound of Richard's last name, whispers reverberated up and down the street. People and dinosaurs poked thier heads up and stared at the two, and they both stared around as well. Noticing thier trepidation, Irwin Hanson escorted them to the wooden sidewalk and to the tavern door, then he faced Fransisco and Piccolo to address them.
"You may take that cart to the livery.", he instructed. "Cassini Minnola will take care of you."
"We got to leave quick!", Fransisco told him. "We got to get them to Mollusk Town in a twoday!"
"You'll never make it at this rate.", Irwin observed. "Why the delay?"
"Thought I'd go easy on 'em.", Fransisco replied, flicking the reigns. "Let's go see that jackal, Piccolo...", they rode off down the street.
"Now, my friends!", Irwin continued. "If you'll step this way...", he led them inside.
The room was brightly lit with lamps and the firepit, and had ample windows to let in natural light. Patrons of human and smaller saurian forms took all but a few round tables loosely spaced over the floor, but only two scraggly strangers graced the bar near the back kitchen. Instead of taking the table he had previousely occupied, Irwin led them to the bar; ordering a round of Jinka tea as he sat, and motioned for them to do the same. He watched the pair look around as previous conversations of lowered tones resumed, and as thier order arrived, only then did he smile and continue talking.
"Yes, Naranda is a humble village indeed...", Irwin said after a sip. "We pride ourselves on our hospitality."
"It is a lovely place.", Stacy agreed.
"The people are so charming, just like everyone we met so far!", Richard said.
"We do our best...", Irwin said with shyness as he took another sip.
"You are so young...", Stacy commented. "I mean, for a leader of a town."
"Yeah, it was kind of placed upon me.", he said. "Pa was the leader here before, and Ma passed when I was very young. I learned all there was to know around here, and Pa taught me all the things to run the town. I got good with politics, public relations, businesses and things like that...", he paused at a memory. "Then Pa passed saving the mill in Culebra, which flooded out... The town elders said I was ready to lead, and here I am."
"All this burden on your shoulders...", Stacy observed.
"And it seems you do a good job here.", Richard said.
"I keep things going, I guess.", Irwin said. "But I miss the things I could have become.", he sipped again. "But such is destiny!..."
"Irwin... Are you in there...?", bellowed a large saurian from outside the tavern, though Richard and Stacy couldn't understand.
"Please excuse me...", Irwin got up and went to the batwing doors. "Hey, Shelly. What's going on?"
"Cassini says that Fransisco's cart is all loaded, and they're ready to go.", Shelly chortled.
"Thanks...", he turned to the newcomers. "I guess you're ready to be on your way.", Irwin said. "If you'd follow me..."
"The visit was short but sweet...", Shelly smiled as both she and Richard got up. "Who's your friend?"
"This is Shelly.", Irwin introduced the eighteen foot long Iguanodon. "A good friend of mine..."
"Good? Friend?", Shelly bellowed as the group walked down the street. "We grew up together!"
"Yeah, we go way back...", Irwin said after translation. "We're Partners."
"I taught him to walk!...", Shelly said smugly, but he didn't translate. "... And we're here!...", this Irwin translated.
"There's the cart.", Richard stated.
"And there's Piccolo!", Stacy said. "Hi, boy!..."
"Got all th' crop.", Fransisco Draise told Irwin Hanson. "An' there's my passengers..."
"All set, I guess...", Piccolo rumbled.
"Take care of yourself...", Shelly told the Montanoceratops.
Richard dennison climbed aboard and helped Stacy up. Fransisco needed no help, and pretty soon Piccolo had the cart pointed to the street. Before they could start off again, many of the citizens came by, nodding farewell or voicing thier sentiments as they walked by. As soon as the streets cleared enough to accept the cart, Irwin turned to them all and smiled.
"Well, it has been a pleasure to meet people from the outside world.", said he, shaking Richard's hand and clasping Stacy's. "Good luck in your future, and I hope we meet again."
"I wouldn't be suprised if we came by.", Richard Dennison told him.
"It's a nice place.", Stacy said. "I'm sure I could make plans to stop by some day!..."
As Piccolo moved out, both of them waved at Irwin and his Partner, Shelly; and soon they were passing the outskirts of Naranda, on thier way to Mollusk Town...
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Post by thundertail on Aug 27, 2008 5:20:12 GMT -5
SIX:
Onward the miles went, and soon they came to a raging river; of which Fransisco Draise told them was a tributary of the Polongo river, which fed the waterfalls at Waterfall City. Richard Dennison reasoned that if they just followed the river, they would reach thier destination much quicker. Fransisco had to tell him about the rough terrain and gorges that were impassible along that route, which was made only for the heartiest of travelers, and not suited for quadropeds like Piccolo; so onward south they traveled until they came to a sturdy stone bridge that spanned a series of rapids.
Once across they were headed generally east, and through a wide rill the path they were on led them. Beyond this was a few clusters of farmsteads, manned by people and dinosaurs of the less than friendly type. These persons were so unfriendly that Piccolo would not stop, and they rode by them without so much as a good morning. The woods they entered that morning turned murky and humid, thickening to almost jungle-like structure; and the floor of this jungle was turning wet and boggy. Several tree skeletons stood to either side, and the openings in between them turned wider and wetter. If Raptor Flats actually had raptors in them, they would invariablly have to learn how to swim!
The path in the middle of this mess was paved in gravel and rock, but in places the edges of the bogs were inundating the roadbed; and many times both the cart wheels and Piccolo's feet got wet. Stacy noticed many dry seeming spots, but Fransisco said that looks are deceiving here; that quicksand hid under the grassy spots, and no sane traveler would venture far from the main road. They traveled through this place as quickly as Piccolo could pull the cart, ever wary of the eerie noises eminating unseen from the swamp; and it seemed that every creature calling this place home stayed well away from the water, leaping or flying from tree to tree or scampering across as fast as they could scurry.
Before the sun set, Raptor Flats passed thier carts' wheels; and more stable roads took thier place. Other small farmsteads passed them by, thier workers so intent on thier tasks that they went by virtually unnoticed; or on the rare occurance where one or two would shout greetings.
As they traveled down the road, Fransisco began to tell them of all the places he's been, and some detailed information of some of the major cities: Canyon City, Waterfall City, Culebra, Baz and many more. He goes on to tell them that Waterfall City is the seat of power and culture on Dinotopia, and there is where they will learn all there is to know about being a Dinotopian. They will be officially welcomed by the mayor, and treated like celebrities, as newcomers to the island is a rare occurance indeed.
By the end of the fourth day, the cart that Piccolo was pulling hit the cobbled streets of Mollusk Town. Richard Dennison observed that the only thing reminding him of the town's name was the shells and other sea creatures depicted on its' sign; and Fransisco said that immigrants from the sea founded this town, and it was a nexxus point for all Brach bus service on the island. At last Piccolo stopped, but it wasn't due to the greetings they were getting throughout the town; but because he had reached the turning point of his route: the Mollusk Shipping Company sign hung out over thier yard like a gaudy pall of smoke above a bustling trading post.
"You are two days late!...", a man came storming from the dispatch office. "Don't tell me: you've been goofing off again!"
"Look, I'm here, ain't I?", Fransisco was not the man to take berating lightly. "Consider yourself lucky!"
"The cargo is all here.", Piccolo added.
"Never mind, five-horn!", the man said. "I want an explanation!"
"Look, I had passengers to deliver too.", Fransisco tol;d him. "I wanted to take it easy on them, s'all..."
"Which passengers?...", then he saw Stacy. "Well...! I see you're riding coach.", he helped her down. "Don't mind him. He's a little rough..."
"Hi! I'm Stacy!", she stepped down.
"And I'm Richard Dennison.", he added.
"Pleased to meet you newcomers! I heard o' your arrival!...", he squinted. "A Dennison, you say? From which side o' the family?"
"My own, I'm afraid.", Richard said.
"Well, don't take it too hard!...", he chuckled as he observed his workers unloading the cart. "Cobalt!... Bring th' other cart here!...", the Triceratops near by complied.
"So, this is where we part company.", Fransisco was saying, shaking both our hands. "The bus depot is one street over and down the lane. You can't miss it."
"We'll miss you guys.", Rochard said.
"Especially you, big guy!", Stacy gave Piccolo a hug.
"Aw...!", he groaned.
Stacy and Richard reluctantly walked away from the cart, hoping Piccolo and Fransisco Draise would stay long enough to offload thier things; and went the short distance down the street to the ticket office to the bus station. It was a clapboard affair with a sliding window and a bookish little human inside. He opened the shutter as he saw them, and Richard stepped up to place thier destination.
"They said we were to go to Waterfall City...", he said, and the little man fumbled through his records.
"Waterfall City direct.", the man said snippishly. "Next scheduled departure tomorrow morning, eight o'clock sharp...", he abruptly closed the shutter.
"Oh well!", Stacy piped. "Looks like we sleep over!"
"Now to find a room..", Richard said.
They didn't search long as the remainder of the street was lined with rooming houses; and soon they had seperate rooms in the same building. Each was but a sparse cubicle, but the beds were at least marginally more comfortable than the ones they had in Irenic. They came out of the hotel at the same time, and noticed thier things were in the foyer of the building, waiting for other porters to take them to the bus station in the morning. Seeing that everything was in order, Richard suggested they get something to eat at a tavern across the street.
In the morning, they noticed thier things were already gone; and each had received a message to hurry if they were to catch thier bus, and they hurried to the terminal. Around a corner, where passengers were to enter the busses, huge wooden gantries rose high above thier heads; and they were required to ascend the steps to the loading platform above, not really knowing for what reason.
Soon the reason became aparent as a Bracheosaur sidled up to another gantry many yards away, and they saw the platform identical to the one they were on mated up to a huge canopied saddle upon the gigantic creatures' back. The Bracheosaur had metallic plates all along his neck, tail and strategic spots all over his body; and when the Brach they were to mount was similarily accessorised. With footfalls bringing up the bottom of the precussion, handlers loaded the cargo and supplies; and the driver for the beast unfurled the gangplank so Stacy, Richard and the other passengers could climb aboard and be seated.
Finally the driver came around, the squarish hat with tassels at the corners were a deep blue; and her crimson vest and blue pantaloons looked corney to Richard as she scurried all over the Brach, checking harnesses and thr rigging that held thier belongings along the gigantic saddle. At last she climbed a rope ladder to the saddle and wormed her way to the smaller saddle, right above the Brach's massive shoulders; and she checked the reigns that snaked up to the Brach's massive halter/helmet. The massive beast hooted loudly, proclaiming he was ready to travel; and the driver shouted down to the handlers to step aside. The gantry that leaned out to secure the massive beast was swung aside, and ever so slowly he took his first steps. Stacy grasped Richard's arm as the beast finally got under way... _
Richard and Stacy had plenty of time to look around as the massive Brach they were on navigated through the bus terminal and out into the streets of Mollusk Town. From this vantage point, there was nothing there that escaped thier gaze. The people and smaller saurians milled about intent on thier duties or destinations, and even the larger ones were either pulling thier already loaded carts or being led into thier carts, ready for transport. A half block ahead of thier Brach another one slowly lumbered out of his gantry, load of people and supplies rocking with each rolling step; and behind them another was just being loaded at his gantry as well, and all the pair did was smile dumbly at all the action going on!
Thier Brach bellowed as he made a turn at the end of the street, and the female driver shook the left reign, indicating the direction the giant beast was to go. Ever so slowly, they made the turn and headed down the road out of town; buildings thinning to the scant homestead here and there, and the road turning from cobbled neatness to gravel and then to just plain dirt. As the outskirts of Mollusk Town was aproached, several stands of trees merged into one and became a forest; and the road meandered between these rather large boles, and our Brach had to duck several times at a low branch.
"Easy, Stanhope...!", the driver commanded. "The forest's end is in sight...", the Brach boomed.
"This is a strong beast...", Stacy commented, and the driver turned.
"And brave!", the driver said. "Stanhope has made several runs through the Rainy Basin. But today we are going in the other direction, so there was no need for armor."
"Armor?", Richard balked.
"It would be foolish to cross the Basin unprotected!", the driver said and Stanhope boomed. "Or unapreciated!...", she chuckled. "Like you apreciate the lessened weight!"
"My name is Stacy.", she said after the laugh. "And this is my friend, Richard Dennison."
"Ah yes! I was told I would have famous passengers.", she said. "I am Marion Holmes, and you have met my Partner, Stanhope...", he boomed, turning his massive head to look behind him.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am...", Richard said.
"And you too, mighty saurian...", Stacy echoed.
"We are well met indeed!", Marion chuckled. "The clearing aproaches, Stanhope!..."
A vast meadow spread out in front of them, and Richard noticed that the Brach ahead of them had veered off to another road to the south. Looking behind, he saw that the other Brach was still with them, trundling along and booming as he too entered the clearing. The road meandered through the clearing and out the other side, showing them a narrow strip of more trees followed by fenced off portions of land, where homesteaders plyed thier trades and made a simple living of farming or other crafts.
"We are nearly at the outskirts of Bonabba.", thier driver told them. "There are a few things you might like to know about the territory we're going through.", she turned and smiled. "The Matriarch herself told me to instruct you for this trip."
"Matriarch?", Stacy asked. "I have heard of her. What is she like?"
"Well, no one is supposed to call her by her name, but she is called Elizabeth Reynolds.", Marion Holmes told them. "She runs Bonabba Earthfarm up ahead. She is in charge of many things in Dinotopia, and has a sense of the heartbeat of the island."
"How poetic.", Stacy commented.
"It is true.", Marion told her. "The leader of Irenic has sent word that mister Dennison has the same gift..."
"Nonsense!", Richard said. "How could she know?..."
"It is not my place to say one way or another.", she replied. "That will be up to her to decide. My duty is to get you to Waterfall City, and tell you of things along the way.", she turned to her work as Stanhope bellowed again.
At the next settlement all the passengers were allowed to climb down and stretch thier legs if they wished, and Stanhope and the other Brach were given food and water. This village had gardens only large enough to sustain its' people, but dealt mostly in small trade. Again the saurian alphabet was abundant on signs and the posted-up menus of the few restaraunts in town, but that was as far as they got as thier driver collected them so they could be underway once more. Along the way Marion told them many other things about Dinotopia in general and the Matriarch in particular; and after that both newcomers had a somewhat better understanding of what they were getting themselves into. Pretty soon they were in the middle of a marshy forest, trecherous parts held at bay by high roadbeds; and all of a sudden Richard noticed that the other Brach bus was no longer with them!
The nearly cloudless blue sky shone gloriously as both newcomers gazed all around until they saw an extremely large set of tall barns, Neat rows of farm houses with dorms and a churchlike structure with a whitely glowing object at the apex of a short tower at its' peak. The vast grassland they were crossing was something like a wheat field, they noticed; and many human workers worked amid smaller saurians as they harvested. Larger dinosaurs were there as well, pulling huge carts full of crop or waiting around for thiers to be filled.
Giant threshing devices pulled by Brachs were also there in the distance, looking like giant ocean tugs plying the waves in rows. Overhead, Skybax wheeled in the sky, only two of them landing in a field in the distance where a serise of perch logs were set up; and just as they did so, one Skybax took off as soon as it was clear. Many of the smaller saurians and humans they passed waved or bowed as was thier custom before scurrying off to thier tasks. Before long Stanhope slowed and stopped near a larger cluster of tall wooden buildings, where he bellowed for the handlers; and Marion scrambled down to prepare for debarkation, unrolling the rope ladder for the passengers to climb down to the ground. As Richard and Stacy set foot on the ground, a lady of medium age turned around and walked over; and startled the both of them as she announced herself.
"Ah!... Welcome to Bonabba!", the lady said, offering her hand to the both of them. "I trust your journey was pleasant so far."
"Just fantastic!", Stacy replied, showing laughing surprise as she was hugged. "What a place!..."
"So far, so good...", Richard said, receiving a kiss on the cheek.
"My name is Elizabeth Reynolds, matriarch of Dinotopia.", Elizabeth said as she backed up a pace. "This is Bonabba Earthfarm and hatchery, and I am your honored host."
"A pleasure, matriarch...", Stacy bowed, silly smile still on her face. "I am Stacy, and I'm new here."
"We are well met, ma'am.", Richard merely nodded. "My name is Richard Dennison, and I guess I'm new too!"
"A Dennison!", Elizabeth smiled. "And it is me that is the honored one!"
"Everyone says that!", Richard said. "Were the Dennisons really that famous?"
"That and more.", she said. "Follow me..."
They both followed the matriarch to a smaller building at the far end of the enclave, through a series of rooms sporting crowds of people and small saurians tending smaller eggs and expecting female dinosaurs. A moment to check a scroll carrying clipboard and Elizabeth led on to another room, which was complete with a desk and plenty of chairs. She stood instead of sitting, pointed at a painting behind the desk. Both Richard and Stacy swore it looked like him!
"This is Will Dennison, the best Skybax pilot of his day and expert explorer.", Elizabeth announced. "His father and he explored and mapped the entire island, and discovered many things thought lost to us.", she smiled. "Is that famous enough for you?"
"I guess...", Stacy breathed.
"That's very impressive!", Richard stated. "But really, I'm nobody special...", he chuckled. "I certainly can't live up to THAT reputation!"
"Only time will tell!...", Elizabeth winked. "Follow me."
They were led outside once again, where they saw Stanhope being rubbed down by a small army of attendants; Stacy laughing at his aparent humiliation, all amid the ordered chaos of the earthfarm. She led them further into the enclave, where an open air cafeteria of sorts was placed near a barn that had a grain silo attatched to it. There she bid them both to sit down, both noticing that many of the passengers that were with them on the trip were there as well; and had them order food from the menu the waitress passed out, which was thankfully in English. Once the Strutheomimus waitress left, matriarch Elizabeth Reynolds told them what seemed to be on her mind.
"Now, I have some important business to attend to in Waterfall City, so you will have an extra companion for the remainder of your trip.", she said. "Besides, it will give me more time to get better acquainted with the both of you."
"That so...", Stacy said as she noticed an Ankylosaur driven fodder cart lumber by.
"But why us?", Richard asked. "We're just ordinary people..."
"Having newcomers grace our shores is always a cause for great fanfare and concern.", Elizabeth said. "Newcomers are rare, and news of the outside world is always asked for. It is also my concern of the nature of the newcomers. What they are like, and whether or not they might bring,... shall we say unusual... ways with them. Ours is a very traditional society; and new ways and ideas might be harmful to it."
"But all we are is a student marine biologist and an office worker.", Stacy told her. "There can't be any harm in that!"
"That may be true, but the social environment you lived in may influence your actions here.", Elizabeth told her. "Many things of the outside world do not apply here."
"So you're saying that you're worried that we may 'rock the boat', as the saying goes.", Richard considered. "We are only two people, amid so many! I don't think our ways would matter all that much. It's true that your ways are strange to us, but we should learn to adapt over time."
"And adapt you should.", Elizabeth said as thier food arrived. "We will see that you do.", she eyed her meal. "I suggest we hurry if we are to be on time for Stanhope's departure!..."
After the meal and collecting the rest of the passengers, thier Brach bus was readied and departed amid mild fanfare. Four of the six passengers with them on the trip had stayed in Bonabba, and a family of three Stenoychosaurs took thier place; and with the matriarch of Dinotopia riding with them, the canopied saddle they rode in was once again full. It was a surprise for the other passengers to have the matriarch of the entire island riding with them, but soon that wore off as the miles roughly south and west disapeared under Stanhope's elephantine feet. Along the way both Richard and Stacy asked questions about Dinotopia, or heard instruction from the matriarch as the others listened on as well.
After a few more villages and outposts they passed through shrank behind them, the air got moist and the sussurus of falling water in the distance started becoming aparent. Soon the path ahead became slippery and wet, roadbed gradually becoming gravelly, changing seemingly without notice to cobbled streets and finally turning to mortared stone as they came upon some buildings and edifices. Elizabeth the matriarch told them they were now at the Great Canal, a waterwork made centuries ago to stem the floodwaters of the Polongo river and make the environs of Waterfall City safe to live in. Stanhope was too heavy to ride the ferrys that went up and down the locks, she said; but there was safer ways for the larger saurians to make the trip, and not long after this explaination they were traversing down a wide channel carved into the rock of some gigantic stone gorge.
Out onto the other side of this gorge many hours later, both Richard Dennison and Stacy saw a miraculous sight as they passed through the grove of maincured trees beyond. A pearly city, stretched out on some gigantic edifice; and the place was protected by hundreds of waterfalls both big and small that surrounded it like a watery giant shielding some precious thing with his hands. They gasped as they witnessed the splendor, and Elizabeth said nothing as she witnessed thier wonder; and after several moments for Stanhope to view this as well, he turned and headed for the road that would lead him to the bridge that would allow them all access to Waterfall City...
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Post by thundertail on Sept 19, 2008 19:50:58 GMT -5
SEVEN:
Richard Dennison and Stacy could hear the cheering and the music long before Stanhope reached the midpoint of the giant stone bridge, even over the rushing thunder that the myriad of waterfalls made; and wondered if all of that was for them. They could have been celebrating because thier matriarch was entering the city, but Elizabeth Reynolds told them that all of this was indeed for them! As they crossed the threshold of the main gates, the matriarch began waving and smiling; and she urged the two perplexed newcomers to do the same, and it was what was expected of them. Stanhope nodded and boomed at all the cheering that was coming his way, even though he knew it was not for him; and his driver and all the rest of the passengers waved and nodded as well, feeling privelaged to be a part of this most spectacular entrance!
With all the yelling the crowd made at thier arrival, Richard had trouble asking Elizabeth the reason for all this; and she told him that they were celebrities here, and to just go with it for thier sake. Stanhope turned down the lane and got to Morning Glory Promenade, crowds of people and dinosaurs lining the street; and with saurian guards making sure they stayed back, made slow progress all the way down the street. At the hall of Clocks he made another turn, and the wide stone steps of the Waterfall City court house could be seen at the far end of its' own square. It seemed like every resident of the city was there, cheering and waving, bellowing and hooting thier welcome; and Stacy and Richard wondered why all the fanfare for just them!
A moment later and Stanhope stopped, right at the ending fanfare the band in the crowd concluded with; and Marion Holmes got busy unhitching the rope ladder that scrolled to the ground. She descended it first, then assisted the other passengers to solid ground. Elizabeth was next, who courtseyed as she was helped down; and lastly Stacy and Richard was let down, and the crowd erupted with cheering once more! They thought it was for them once again until they saw the group of robed characters coming down the sprawling steps before them. The rest of these characters held back a few paces, and the one in the middle continued onward to address their group; exposing a hand to greet everyone.
"Ah! Elizabeth!", this important looking man said, grasping her hand. "I trust your trip went well...", he kissed it.
"It was a marvelous journey!", she turned the handkiss into a light hug. "And I had the most interesting traveling companions!"
"I see you did, my love!", he turned to Richard and Stacy. "A most joyous welcome to Dinotopia, my friends!", he offered hands to both. "I am Edward Reynolds, mayor of Waterfall City and speaker of the council of Dinotopia. I am totally at your service...", he stepped back a few paces.
"Charmed, I'm sure..", Stacy said meekly.
"It is the other way around, I assure you!...", Richard said for lack of anything else.
"Yes... Now I'm sure you both have many questions to ask.", the mayor said. "All of those will be answered in due time. But for right now, and if you'll follow me; we will see to your official welcome to our sunny shores!", he held out a hand and proceeded them up the steps.
The huge pair of doors, tall enough to accept a Bracheosaur delegate, opened at thier aproach; and they both gasped at the cavernous size of the inner space beyond. Large arched cupolas lined this vast, long space; and these were filled with medium sized saurian onlookers with humans dressed in all kinds of festive array, and all looked in thier direction and applauded politely as they passed. Mayor Reynolds nodded back as he passed, and urged Stacy and Richard to do the same as he turned; but his wife was already receiving these delegates, chatting quietly to them as she passed.
At the end of this long chamber another set of doors loomed, but these were somewhat smaller than the ones at the entrance; merely tall and wide enough to accept medium sized dinosaurs or smaller. Honor guards opened these portals, and inside they saw a chamber just as wide and long; but the center floorspace was filled with human and saurian seating, two of these sections lined a wide aisle down the center. The upper balconies were arched, and Stacy saw that they were being filled with Triceratops, Ankylosaurs, Hadrosaurs and the like; and all were decked out in finery suggesting thier anatomies and thier positions in society. At the very far end of this council chamber, high above on the far balcony; was a ship's bow, maiden stretching out to scrutinise the crowd below. The mayor, by this time, had suddenly disapeared; but now was seen high above; standing behind this figurehead, looking out and scanning the rapidly filling chamber.
Elizabeth Reynolds had somehow gotten near them, and had them sit at a table at the front of the aisle; where she took a seat in the front of the right hand row of seating. Within many moments the rest of the delegates had found thier places and began to settle down; and as soon as mayor Reynolds saw that everyone was all set, he tapped his gavel and got the meeting started.
"We're all here...", he said softly, smiling. "Ladies and gentilebeings of the high council of Waterfall City!", this the mayor said for all to hear. "Today marks a tremandous time for one and all, for two lowly waifs have found themselves on out humble shores. They were battered and beated by thier ordeal, confused and overwhelmed at what they had found; but they arrived in good standing never the less!", light chuckles rose, and he waited for it to ebb.
"I give to you miss Stacy, one of youth and intellect...", the mayor continued as she stood to receive her cheer. "And now I present mister Richard Dennison, a man of most esteemed name and rather bewildered humbleness!...". Richard merely nodded as he sat amid his applause, which was far louder than Stacy's. "The boy is shy...", mayor Reynolds said softly after it was done.
Smiling, he continued. "Now then, are there any words you would like to say in front of this court before we begin the next step of this meeting?"
The matriarch coached them both with her eyes for many moments before any of them made a move to rise or speak. Finally it was Stacy who rose, raising a hand before she did so, then she turned to face the denizens of the court behind her.
"People of the court.", she said. "It was beyond my wildest dreams to wake from my injuries to find I had been marooned in a place like this. Much less to find out this place was populated by living dinosaurs and the descendants of other shipwreck survivors from the past.", she looked back at the mayor. "Since I have been here, I have been allowed to heal and to find out more about you and the culture you have here. I am but a lowly college student, and was trying to earn my marine biology degree by chartering my uncle's boat to discover new sea life.", she turned back to the crowd behind her. "I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that what I have discovered here is better by far than some new fish!...", as she sat, the room gradually erupted in mild applause.
"That was excellent!", mayor Reynolds clapped right along, and continued as it ebbed. "And now, mister Dennison. What are your thoughts?"
"Mister mayor, matriarch, distinguished delegates.", Donald began with many coaxing glances from Stacy. "I am but a lowly businessman, toiling away at a desk all day. On the day my boss said I could use his vacation facilities, I was overjoyed; but it was a shock to have his ship crash on your shores.", he looked around. "I am but a shipwreck survivor, practically a stowaway; and not worthy in the slightest of the honors you do me...", he changed tack. "I hear that my name is one of fame and importance here, made by men of outstanding character and by men of outstanding valor. I am in no way like those men, but I will try not to sully thier name by my actions... Thank you.", he sat.
He still thought it strange, but the applause for Richard's speech was a lot more intense than the one for Stacy; and when it died down enough to be heard over, mayor Edward Reynolds spoke again.
"Yes, it would be prudent if you do not do that!", he replied before tapping his gavel. "And now my friends, we of the court officially welcome you to Dinotopia!", he prepared some papers before continuing. "If you would join me at the table in the corner over there, we will regester you into our roster..."
Ushered there by the matriarch, Richard Dennison and Stacy soon stood before a table; and the table contained many large scrolls and legers, all ancient beyond belief and containing the signatures of hundreds of names. Beside each name was the date, and those dates went back many hundreds of years; and many of the earlier names contained no dates, but by thier look, they were signed as far back as thousands of years! The mayor came next to them as they were scanning these pages, and startled the both of them as he brought his hands together to get the next step of the ceremony started.
"Shall we continue?", mayor Reynolds asked.
"Were all these people shipwrecked?", stacy asked, he nodded.
"Recorded on these scrolls, you can see the names of all those shipwrecked souls to whom destiny has delivered on our land.", the mayor told them. "They number in the thousands!... From all corners of the earth, from every walk of life and from every century. Those poor unfortunates, carried away on the winds of misfortune; only to find a better life. A life of harmony and fulfillment here on the shores of Dinotopia, and we are thier descendants..."
"If you look at this scroll, you will see names that are no doubt familiar to you.", the matriarch reached and unrolled it to the apropraite spot. "Here is sir Arthur Dennison, and under that is William Dennison, his son.", the dates beside each were November 10, 1862.
"Now, you may sign your names in this jounal, if you would...", the mayor said.
After they finished examining that scroll, he pointed to said journal, which was resting on a wooden podium. He offered a quill pen, and Stacy took it first. She signed with a flair, added the date and stepped back so mayor Reynolds could see.
"Welcome to Dinotopia, miss Stacy Taylor!", the mayor announced loudly, and polite applause occured once again.
Tha matriarch handed the pen to Richard, and he signed as well, only with less flair and less finesse than she did.
"And welcome to Dinotopia, mister Richard Dennison!", the mayor announced, and the whole court erupted with applause and cheering!
"I didn't know your last name was Taylor...", Richard said to Stacy confidentially.
"Go figure!", she said back.
"Yes, yes!... Well met indeed!...", mayor Reynolds said when it was quiet enough to do so. "I shall now tell you your fate, my friends! You will be enrolled in our schools for beginner students, and be taught in our languages and our ways... You will be screened to see who your saurian Life-partners will be...", he held a hand to quell any questions. "But before all that, you will be assigned your quarters, where you will stay for the duration of your time with us."
"To answer the question that your eyes are asking...", the matriarch said. "A saurian Life-partner is a dinosaur you will have as a close friend for life; like a marrage, only more platonic. It is a beautiful symbiosis between both species, and such relationships can become quite close."
"Elizabeth, do you think the volunteers are ready?", mayor Reynolds asked.
"Yes, thier quarters should be ready by now, too.", she replied.
"Then let us proceed.", the mayor said.
The mayor winked and and proceeded to lead them all out the door, matriarch following Stacy Taylor and Richard Dennison; and all the rest in attendance began to follow them out into the courtyard in front of the Waterfall City council chambers... _
Flanked by saurian guards, the crowds were held back and the square in front of the courthouse was empty; empty except for thier things, most of it was in a small cart. The dinosaur in front of this cart was rather small and armored; and Stacy commented that it might be an Ankylosaur, the only such type she knew. Matriarch Elizabeth Reynolds told her that it was a Gastonia, and Gillis would be happy to take her things, which were many and heavy, to her quarters in a moment. In the mean time, the mayor waved and generally kept the crowd happy with his presence.
Richard Dennison, on the other hand, still felt overwhelmed at all this, for nowhere he had been on this island so far displayed beings so enthralled by the pomp of his namesake; and he felt quite unnerved as the crowds cheered louder as he gazed upon them all. As he backed away slightly from the mayor and the rest, he came a little too close to the saurian guard behind him; and that one grunted to let the human know he was there, which unnerved Richard all the more! Mayor Edward Reynolds let the crowd settle down of thier own accord before speaking to them once more.
"Please!... People!...", the mayor implored. "Please calm down, and let these weary travelers catch thier breath!"
"I'm sure you all will get well acquainted with them over time.", the matriarch told them. "They will be our guests for many many months, after all!"
"Guards, kindly disperse the crowd...", Edward told them softly.
The saurian guards approached the masses on the sidewalks, who backed up a few paces before slowly leaving. Many long moments of reluctant confusion later and the area was bare save for the cart, puller and another domed bipedal creature. As the guards formed up at thier positions once more, it was time for the mayor to speak once more.
"Now, these persons will escort you to your domiciles for the night.", Edward Reynolds told them. "Adelade, you will escort mister Dennison to the Arthur Dennison house.", the domed creature bowed. "And Gillis, you will take miss Stacy to your Partner's home to stay.", the armored creature nodded as well, lazily swishing his bony tail.
"Mister Dennison always wanted to be on top of things.", Elizabeth Reynolds said to Richard, referring to his namesake, no doubt. "He had his home designed so he could look down across the city and see the court house.", she pointed. "See the building on top of the hill next to the farthest waterfall, the one with the glass dome?", he nodded. "That is the famous home of sir Arthur Dennison, which is also a museum.", she turned to him. "That is where you will be housed; and Adelade will be your host, for she is also the curator of the museum."
"I see...", Richard said. "But I thought we were to get the same quarters."
"Oh, but I'm sure you'll see plenty of each other.", she replied. "You will share many of the same instruction classes."
"Besides, I'm a big girl now!...", Stacy told him. "I can handle things...!"
"Ok, ok!...", Richard said. "Just suggesting..."
"I will escort miss Stacy to her place...", the matriarch said, strolling over to the cart.
"And I will escort you, my boy!", the mayor added. "I never miss an opportunity to see the Arthur Dennison house!..."
As the saurian guards got into formation, four got out of ranks and went to the soon to be split up groups; and this quartet split into pairs and each pair stood at attention at each leader, and waited for both parties to go thier seperate ways. Matriarch Elizabeth started out along side the cart carrying Stacy's things, and Gillis took that as a sign to get going. Stacy figured the poor little dinosaur had enough to pull, so she walked along side the cart as well.
They walked along the Grande Promenade to Fountain street, viewing the fountain in question as they passed. Elizabeth kept a running dialogue of all the sights as they passed them, making notes on the things she would find there and who to see for things she might need. Past the hall of hadrosaurs and Ceratopsians, a wide harbor could be seen, and docks holding all sorts of small boats, cargo barges and gondolas lined the stone embankments. At the end of Fountain street Gillis turned right and suddenly stopped at a building with wide arching portals with shallow alcoves under them, and beyond those were a series of wooden doors big enough to accept large carts. At one he brayed, and a man with scraggly sideburns and a sultan's attire opened it for him; and the tough little creature sauntered in like someone special.
"Hello, Herbert!", the bony creature garbled. "Here is our new guest, and her things!"
"What did he say?", Stacy asked.
"He greets his Partner.", Elizabeth told her. "This is Herbert Stevens, master of this warehouse and overseer of the harbor."
"Hello, sir...", Stacy called.
"And hello to you, little lady..", Herbert said as he scanned the contents of the cart. "And it's Herbert!... We're very informal here...", he turned to his matriarch. "Her apartment is all ready upstairs."
"That's wonderful!", Elizabeth said. "The Stevens's are an important family at the waterfront. They help keep trade flowing from here to all over Dinotopia."
"Well, thanks ahead of time for your hospitality.", Stacy said. "I'll try not to be a bother..."
"Oh, you'll be no bother at all!", Herbert told her. "I know that ladies don't travel light, but I wasn't expecting all this!...", he began to offload the cart. "I'll have to clear out the back store room for all this..."
"I'll leave you two to work things out...", Elizabeth bowed and went back the way she had come, guards following a few paces behind her.
After her things were unloaded and stored, Stacy was led upstairs to meet the rest of Herbert Stevens' family. Over dinner she met his wife Grace, who was a sailmaker; and apprenticed fifteen others in the trade. His son, Elmer was a netweaver; and boasted he could repair a net within moments of its' breaking. During the meal three small saurians came scurrying out, and Grace laughingly explained that they take care of others' children from time to time; and as the dishes were cleared, Stacy sat in the den to get to know these little saurian tykes a little better.
Her room was in the back, windows looking out over a central courtyard that had a saurian paddock and stables. In the morning she had a communal breakfast, being introduced to a barge captain named Dick Kilter; who was squint-eyed and sporting a grey goatee and an awkward gait of the sea. Thus began her first day on her own in Waterfall City... _
Richard Dennison watched as Stacy, her things, the cart they put them on, the puller of the cart, the matriarch and two saurian guards made thier way out of the courtyard surrounding the courthouse of Waterfall City; then he looked at the mayor, his guards and a smallish bipedal saurian with a domed head and shrugged. The excitement of the past several hours was really draining him, but he put on an air of false cheer and smiled. Mayor Reynolds took this as a good sign and smiled back.
"Well, my boy. Let's go see your new quarters...", he said, clapping his hands together. "Adelade, his bags..."
"Yes, sir.", the dinosaur said in grunting English, which surprised Richard. She picked up Richard's two large bags, but the dolphinback porotested.
"I can take those, ma'am...", he said, reaching to offer.
"My kind is very strong.", Adelade said. "But I can only take two at a time...", she pointed her dome at his small shaving case and Zithar.
Grabbing the indicated luggage, Richard followed Adelade and mayor reynolds out of the courtyard through another route, saurian guards following at a discreet distance. The mayor began telling Richard about the glory of the city as they traveled down Morning Glory Promenade at a sedate pace, saying it was the shining jewel in the crown of Dinotopia; and an example to the world what a sophisticated culture can do on its' own.
He told him of the many landmarks they began to pass, and the many things offered by the many varied people that populated the city; from baked goods to clothing, from jewelry to construction hardware and the many people who provided these things. A bistro they passed had tables out on a wide veranda in front of the place, and many customers either sat or were waited on inside; amd Edward told him that this was the Booraza Cafe', the finest restaraunt in Waterfall City, where the elite of society met to eat. Continuing on down Morning Glory Promenade they passed many streets and saw many buildings of whivch the mayor told Richard what was contained in each.
There was Troodont Hall, where many of the court officials hold private meetings, Fountain Street, bisecting the whole city and contained many shops of art and culture, the Painting Gallery building on the corner of Seedpod Street; and all the buildings than nurtured the arts of agriculture and farming all down that street. The city was bisected by a pair of canals: the Pliosaur Canal and the Ichteosaur Canal, and the latter they were now aproaching, and as they came out on a square that bisected the street and the end of that canal, a great spectacle met Richard's eyes.
It was a grand ziggurated pyramid with many twisting stairways leading up the sides; and on top of it was a great wide pillar with a shining coming from its' upper parapet. The mayor explained that this is where they kept the Prime Sunstone, the main source of thier power; and the building below contained a three dimensional maze. He explained the rest of the structure: crowned by the Celestial Dome, the codes of Dinotopia carved in stone lay inside, and beside it were two smaller towers, the towers of Peace and Reason. Before this grand structure was a grand parade ground, a hedge maze and a grand plaza, sometimes used for special ceremonies and for general public use the rest of the time.
Before this grand structure was the Ichteosaur Canal, the Bridge of Good Fortune that connected it to the rest of the city and many stone walkways that lined the canal for easier travel. Edward told Richard that behind the stone monolith before them was the Outer Harbor, and the Point Of No Return, where the waterfalls that gave the city thier namesake began. The mayor turned Richard's attention to the right and pointed at the buildings beyond that were built up a steep incline against the side of the great escarpment beside one of these falls, and indicated they go in that direction.
As they traveled along the canal they passed many places that mayor Reynolds pointed out: Musician's Lodge, the Serenade Bridge and the Concert Hall; where he said there were underwater windows that thew aquatic citizens could come and listen. They made a left and Richard looked up the length of Steep Street, a boulavard remeniscent of the hilly roads he had heard was common in San Fransisco. The street was lined with ancient yet elegant buildings, sporting elite shops in the lower levels, and could house many hundreds of humans each; and Bracheosaurus busses strained to get up and down the lane, and it was fortunate for these creatures that the road was terraced like the stairways of giants.
About half way up this street the mayor had the whole group pause, much to the relief of the panting Adelade; and indicated an extravegant flower shop, and the sweeping veranda over the entire store front. He said that this house was the abode of Ariana Dennison, wife of Will Dennison; and recently vacated as she passed on a decade ago, and was being renovated to become a museum. The group moved on once Adelade said she was rested, and soon came to the end of the street proper, for all that was left was a wide stairway made for smaller saurians and humans. This stairway had many landings at what Richard could see were landings for the buildings on either side to allow the residents egress to the street.
Ten minutes later they were at the top, on a walkway that led to a wall to the right; and this had a view of a tremendous waterfall a mere fifty feet from it, which would blow a monsoon onto the walkway if the wind was just right. Fortunately the wind was contrary, and they could see the bare rock escarpment at the end, marking the very back end of the house that was to its' right. The house seemed to posess all forms of archetecture, from old Roman and Greek accents to Dutch and French archetecture; and it was all blended together to blend form and function in a way that was perfect. The front door, simple yet fully functional, opened up at Adelade's skeleton key; and the foyer beyond reminded Richard of the cozy cottages of England of the 1800's, places to put outdoor gear and benches to assist taking off any wet foorwear.
Adelade set the luggage she was carrying next to an umbrella stand, and Richard set his shaving kit on the bench, placing the zithar atop the larger suitcases. Rushing away to start fires or fetch her guests some goodies or tea or something, she disapeared deeper into the house. The mayor reached for a turnkey switch, and lights came on throughout the small room and out into other parts of the house. The decor' of this foyer was wrought in meticulousely preserved artifacts and paintings, volumes of text and implements of exploration hanging on walls. Only the furniture betrayed signs of utility.
"While she is preparing things, let's look around. Shall we?...", the mayor said. "I can give a tour with the best of them!", he chuckled as he began leading Richard around.
He really could not disagree with the offer, especially as Edward Reynolds was practically leading him off by the hand! The guards stood by the door as the mayor led him around this room first. There was an ancient looking record player device on a hutch by a hallway, looking like the cylindrical record player invented by Thomas Edison; but presumably of saurian manufacture, brightly painted wood with curlicue designs. He showed him the sextant on the wall - original like everything else in the villa, he confirmed at every object shown.
The painting over the mantle was one of Will Dennison with his friend, Bix the Protocertaops translator; painted by Arthur himself and protected behind a glass pane. The mayor had Richard stand beside the almost lifesize painting, and confirmed that he was the spitting image of the famous Skybax pilot! Many quill pens and thier inkwells lined the mantleframe, along with small vases and baseball-sized geological samples like agate, geodes, black opal and other forms of crystalline minerals. Books and scrolls of various scientific subjects filled many a bookcase, many of which Arthur wrote himself by hand.
Mr. Reynolds assured him that the furnishings within the room were but reproductions, made for everyday use and he was permitted to use them; but the originals were either in the museum in the Waterfall City library or lost to time. The same went for all the other furnishings in the house, and anything original was either behind glass or preserved so it couldn't be removed. As he led Richard around the rest of the villa, and he saw portrates of Silvia and Oriana Dennison, of Will Dennison riding his Skybax, Cirrus and shadowboxes containing pressed leaves of many of the plants indiginous to Dinotopia.
A reproduction of Will's flying saddle rested in a case at the end of a hallway, and several Protoceratops-sized resting couches were featured in nearly every room. The four bedrooms were spacious and cozy; and featured items of thier former occupants, including nest beds in two of them. The two rooms no one could enter was a laboratory in one wing of the villa and an observatory dome over that wing; entry was barred by sheets of glass that was locked, but one could look inside to see all the wonders of Arthur Dennison's scientific endeavors.
Mayor Edward Reynolds eventually led Richard back out to the drawing room, and the kitchen and utility areas beyond; passing Adelade as they went. The dining area beyond was set for six, and the smells of food coming from the kitchen they pased through wafted into it. Framing this dining area was a massive row of oval bay windows, sprayed with water as if in a monsoon; and it was a good thing these windows were extremely watertight because it looked like the whole room would have taken on a lot of water if it weren't! The mayor of Waterfall City looked out through the rivuletted windows and sighed.
"So there you have it, my boy. This whole house is yours for the duration here.", he told Richard as they sat.
"Please! I couldn't!", Richard stammered, lost his wording, and regained it again. "I mean this is a museum!..."
"This is the Arthur Dennison house.", Edward maintained. "It's been a good long time since a Dennison lived in it. I'm sure you'll do Arthur proud!..."
Just about then there was a knock on the front door, and Adelade rushed out of the kitchen and went to answer it. "... Yes, they are here.", she was heard from the other room. "Please, come in..."
"Hello everyone!", came the voice of Elana Dennison, Skybax uniform making her form more stunning than ever. "I just thought I'd stop by,... OH! Mister mayor, I didn't know you were here..."
"Yes, I was just showing your reluctant cousin here around the place.", Edward said chucklingly, then more confidentially. "I think he's still a little overwhelmed!.."
"That's putting it mildly.", Richard Dennison broke in. "All this just for me,... It's all too much!..."
"You'll get used to things.", Elana told him.
"I will finish preparing Eveningmeal.", Adelade announced and left the room.
"Now my boy, I think I should tell you what is in store for you.", mayor Reynolds said as soon as the domed saurian left. "As you know, you'll soon begin learning all there is to be a Dinotopian; but there are other things you may not know."
"What things are those?". he asked, sitting on a small sofa.
"Well, it has to do with your name.", Edward replied confidentially. "Since you are a Dennison, certain things are expected. Arthur and Will were very dynamic people, full of spark and adventure. The people around here expect no less than that from you.", he looked at Elana. "Elana here is the best Skybax pilot of the day. Because of her name, she was expected to pass all the Skybax training with ease. Her record shows she had violated several of the rules as a cadet; but she improved greatly despite this, and now she shares the same fame as her father."
"My grandfather was a great explorer in his day, and mapped every square foot of Dinotopia.", Elana said. "He catalogued every useful plant on the island, and helped patch up many differences with the many remote towns across the island. He even made treaties with those on the Outer Island, and made a truce with the carnivores of the Rainy Basin.", she smiled. "Us Dennisons have a lot to live up to!"
"So, because of my name, I must do well here...", Richard concluded. "Either that or I make your ancesters lose face."
"That was what we were getting at.", Edward reynolds smiled. "He catches on quick!"
"Well, I'll try,", he replied. "That's the best I can do..."
"We wish no more than that from you.", Elana said, grasping his hand. "And if you need anything, anything at all; please don't hesitate to let me know. I have connections all over Dinotopia!"
"I suppose getting a ship sturdy enough to leave here is out of the question...", Richard smiled. "But other than that, all this is more than enough!"
Mild laughter followed that, and a little while later Adelade came out and announced that Eveningmeal was ready; and everyone should go into the dining area. The dinner was extremely tasty, if not spartain in presentation; where pastas and vegetables were of the main course. It was rounded out with a simple fruit and marmalade sauce medely and ended with a variety of hot and cold teas. After many moments to rest and light chitchat, Adelade slid her chair back and motioned all of them to go into the foyer. Richard, Edward, Elana and the guards presently complied; and Donald was ushered to sit in a chair around a low setee, where other chairs and resting couches were placed.
"I thought some mild entertainment was in order.", the domed saurian said as she took out the phonograph, and a tubelike record was selected.
As everyone sat, the phonograph started to play ; playing a strange yet familiar tune.The tune had definite undertones of classical music, yet played in a pitch and tempo that was odd; and with musical instruments Richard had never heard before. Some instruments sounded oddly like chanting, yet with voices no human could ever utter; and the only instruments he could identify throughout was the violin and oboe.
"That was 'the hunt of the Raptors' by Crookedhorn the gifted." Mayor reynolds said When it ended.
"Play another!", Elana Dennison smiled.
Adelade rose to insert another record she selected. This one was almost jazzy in tempo, punctuated by strange tingly string instruments and bold bugle-like undertones beneath snare drums and sounds like Bracheosaur footfalls. "That was 'The hadro Swamp Shuffle', by Flapfoot and his band!", said Elana when it was done.
That tubular record was replaced by another 'classical' symphony that was equally hard to follow; and then another was selected. Finally, an hour later, Adelade saw her house guest was practically noddong off; and gently put the record player away. mayor Edward Reynolds and Elana Dennison saw this too, and began to rise and take thier leave.
"Well, my boy.", the mayor shook Richard's hand. "You have a good night. Your classes won't begin for a day or so. I will have someone come and give you a tour of the city in the morning."
"Thank you.", Richard said. "It'd be a good thing to know my way around."
"And you have a good night too, my cousin.", Elana turned her handshake into a light kiss on the cheek. "I hope to visit again real soon!"
Letting themselves out, both mayor and Skybax pilot turned and headed for the door; and one of the two guards followed them out into the night. Adelade returned a moment after this, becoming upset at her missing her hostly etiquate of seeing them out; but didn't show it as she saw her guest and his guard standing there, looking sheepish and acting innocently!
"I have arranged both your sleeping arrangements.', Adelade said to them both. "Follow me..."
Adelade led them both along the hallway, to the bedroom where the larger of two nest beds were; and the guard was offered it for the night. He said in his own language that it was perhaps the easiest guard assignment he had ever had! Richard dennison was led into the room where Will Dennison used to use when visiting his father, proud portrait of him dominating one wall; and with a large bed that reminded him of home. Adelade bid Richard a fond goodnight as he went to test the bed, then she left for her own quarters; the room where Bix used to sleep in when visiting.
Fairly soon the lights were out and all of us that could were soon drifting off. The sight of Will in his dress Skybax uniform had reminded Richard of the Air Force recruiting posters he had seen in a train station in New York. As he drifted off, he thought it would feel good to have the clouds under him, going on missions; but any hope for that kind of life was over. Fate had turned the tides on him, and there was nothing he could do to change the situation. Richard Dennison turned over on the bed and drifted away, looking out over his Skybax's wings...
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Post by thundertail on Sept 23, 2008 17:03:22 GMT -5
EIGHT: Several days passed for Richard Dennison and Stacy Taylor, and they both began to know thier way around Waterfall City through touring and secluded excursions. They, either singly or together visited the Hall of Clocks and Sundials, the Hot baths, the hall of Microscopic life, the hall of Seeds and Flowers, the Dining Commons, the Tunnel Arcade and many more places of interest and wonders. Thier tours did not leave out the Aqua Stadium and the waterfall City Library, places where they were to spend a lot of thier time learning what they needed to learn. During the day they never seemed to be alone, for the local citizens never failed to greet them in passing or to begin brief conversations with them; especially with Richard as they wished to know more about the person whose name was that of one of thier dearest heroes. They made friends with many of the common citizens, some useful to know for thier importance in everyday life. Dolcie was a Stenoychosaur waiter in one of the many restaraunts lining the streets, and Terry Fitzgerald owned a shop filled with all sorts of oddities. Carol Butters was a local baker, and Alvie the Ankylosaur was a self-imposed diplomat and often thier guide. Crestus the Chasmosaur pulled his taxi cart around, and they often got rides with him. They often sent thier clothes to be mended to Marjorie MacGuire's seamstress shop, and they sometimes got rides with Hawkis and Slemmer, who owned thier own rickshaw company in town. As classes began for them, they were introduced to the classes of children and young saurians they were assigned to; and only a few private tutors were assigned, though many wished to volunteer. It was soon found out that, though Stacy Taylor claimed to be a college student; her attention and efforts in classes were rather lacking, and her retention of the lessons taught were lacking at best. Richard Dennison was already skilled in the mathematics department, only finding thier natural forms of geometric trigonometry mildly puzzling; and his skills in learning basic saurian language and thier form of writing were like his skills at learning any other human language, and he began to accel in this department as well. "Koom pala vog-oom pala.", said Amy Tucker, a private teacher, to Stacy as she struggled with the wording. "Say it." "Koon... pala... voog...oon... pala...", Stacy struggled. "Not Koon! Koom!... Koom is the context word and koon is a statement...", Amy shook her head. "Not voog either! Voog is a plural and vog is opposite the root statement." "I'm trying.", Stacy said. "I know, you're doing well.", Amy told her. "But at this rate, you'll be learning for years!... Once again, if you please..." This went on for another half hour that day, and ended when her other tutor came. Adam was a Microraptor, parrotlike and high strung; but seemingly more intellegent than any saurian she had met before. As the greetings ended, Adam told her something that would be a great help to her. "Now Stacy, the council has told me you are having a difficult time learning to read, write and speak our languages.", the little feathered dinosaur told her. "It was never my style.", Stacy told him. "I can do research and go on expeditions, but..." "That may be so, but to live here you need to know the languages.", Adam said. "You are not doing so well in that department, so they've assigned me to be with you as translator." "You?", Stacy asked, incredulous. "I mean, can't they wait until I get it?... No offense, but I'm just a slow learner!" "Evidentally, they wanted you to learn faster!", Adam said. "But be that as it may, I am to stay with you and be your translator and guide.", he hopped to the left of her on the table. "That is until you are sufficiently trained so as my services would not be necesary." "You'd be like my parrot!", Stacy thought. "I always wanted one of those...!" "Hardly!... Those primative birds do not have a tenth of MY intellegence!", he huffed as he looked at the tomes she had out for study. "Now, let's see how good you are at reading the Footprint language..." This went on for Stacy long into the afternoon; and though she thought she learned something, her retention proved nil by the beginning of the next day. All she really had a penchant for was to test out her Scuba equipment in Moasasaur Harbor, drawing great crowds as she dropped off the stone piers and plied the well used underwater landscape as she swam. Many times she encountered many aquatic dinosaurs as she went along, many of them curious as to why a human so decked out was swimming in thier realm. As the weeks slowly dragged on, her learning skills improved only marginally; and Adam was at her side continually correcting her, or having to translate for her when conversations got too hard for her to handle with just a few words. Even though her ackedemic skills were rather stunted, her social skills seemed to shine; for just about everyone she met, whether saurian or human, she was well known and well liked. It seemed to Stacy that she would eventually fit in on Dinotopia almost like she was born here... _ Richard Dennison walked down the street, nodding at every human that passed by; and concentrating on greeting the ladies formally, as what seemed the custom for the neighborhood he was in. Many saurians came by to greet him too, and he replied in kind; saying thier greetings in broken Saurian, as he was quickly learning how to do. The children played and frolicked energetically in the streets, chasing the odd ball or each other as they wove thier way throughout the passing people - as well as under his legs! He would scoot aside and smilingly caution them to be careful, sneaking out a pat on thier heads as they scurried on to thier childlike destinations. Richard's destination was the place where these tykes might have come from, for today was another one of his school days; and his private tutors were extremely proud of his progress. Presently he paced down the now familiar street; decked out in some spare clothes from the Arthur dennison house, trousers from Arthur's larder along with a tweed coat and shirt with other acoutriments from the clothes Will had left there. He felt quite the Dinotopian now, looking like someone a hundred years in the past; and respected like he never could have dreamed of back home, for in many cases his name preceeded him. Turning at the now familiar doorway of the Learning Hall, he paced up the somewhat narrow stone steps and entered the wide foyer that led to the many smaller classrooms. No private tutors were there yet, his usual ones were male and female Protoceratops named Poota and Toopie respectively; but a row of his homework lay on a table in the center of his classroom. No simple grade school math problems were these, for these were the daily tally sheets for all the businesses that wished for thier books to be balanced by his services. When his teachers saw how advanced he was in math and economics, and the way he could organise any type of spreadsheet and business document; they spread the word all over waterfall City, and pretty soon nearly every business wished to have him perform his services for them! Richard Dennison slid a chair to the table, grabbed a quill pen and an inkwell, took the first stack of documents and whistlingly got to work. Nearly an hour later, and half way through the last stack of forms, Poota waddled into the room. His piglike stature was quite comical, but one had better not laugh at it; for he was very sensitive of his diminutive saurian stature, a fact that Richard had found out the hard way one day! The dinosaur looked up, saw his star pupil hard at work and smiled before even making a sound; not wanting to disturb this potential genous from his diligent work, but shuffled slightly, creating noise and setting Richard's head to look at him abruptly. "Please,... continue.", Poota said in English. "I will try to be quiet." "Almost done...", Richard said, still concentrating on his work. Putting the last jot on the last paper, he placed it atop the last pile and stacked that pile with the others at the corner of the table. "Done!... And thier books never looked more balanced!" "Excellent!", this Poota said in saurian. "I'm sure they'll appreciate your efforts." "I try my best.", Richard said in kind. "Shall we start today by reading saurian poetry?", Poota had him select said book from a shelf behind him. "This excercise is to recite the poem in Saurian, then give your account of the piece in saurian. In your own words, if you like." "Sounds great!", Richard selected one in the aproximate center of the book; and after Poota got to the same poem in his scroll, had him begin the reading. One poem depicted a colorful Bracheosaur that had a hand in building the Annou Aqueduct system, hauling stone after stone to the site and having many comical mishaps along the way; and after reciting it in both saurian and English, told him it reminded him of how the old railroad system in America was built. Poota said that ke knew nothing of what a 'Rail Road' was, but it was a good comparason never the less. After several other poems that reminded Richard of some other kind of American literature he had read, Poota had him flip to another poem; and he had him recite that one too. "Begin.", Poota instructed. Richard licked his lips and recited in Saurian: "A Dimetrodon rolled down the hill, And fell in a pile of swill. He washed himself off In a Triceratops trough. Of which he was forced to refill...!" After that, he recited it in English, giving it the tempo where it was most comfortable. After many moments' thought, he said what was most prominent on his mind. "You know, this poetic style reminds me of the kind I remember as the 'Limerick'.", he said. "That style is called the Paddlewaddle style.", Poota said. "First coined by Shamus MacKay and his Partner Paddlewaddle nearly two hundred years ago. It's quite popular!" "I think it was invented in Ireland about five hundred years ago.", Richard speculated. "Lines one, two and five have the same amount of sylables and rhyme with each other. Lines three and four generally have less sylables, and rhyme with each other." "Well, old Shamus was a Dolphinback.", Poota said. "His schooner ran aground, and he swum ashore." "That explains it...", Richard said in saurian. Just then another Protoceratops entered the classroom. This one had less prominent facial features, marking her as female; and a well known one to Richard at that, for she was his other tutor by the name of Toopie. She loked around, found her mate and smiled a Protoceratops smile before speaking. "Is it my turn yet?", she asked in Saurian. "He needs to know the Dinotopian philosophies too, you know." "Just finishing up.", Poota told her. "Nobody collected the businessmen's reports yet, I see.", she said after she hopped up and looked on the table. "I'll send them it...", she proceeded to gather the papers with her mouth, and Donald assisted her, pushing them into the satchel around her flank. The soft footfalls of another saurian could be felt after a moment, but neither saurian seemed to notice. Richard could, and turned to the doorway as the frill and two and a half horns of a giant Triceratops made himself known at the doorway. This creature rarely made an appearance at the school; but when he did, one knew something important was on his mind! Rivers was the head of the Waterfall City School Commission, and anything he had to say about education of any kind was law around here! Richard ignored this giant for the moment and let him make his entrance. "Well, well...!", Rivers boomed in Saurian, startling Richard's two teachers. "How is our star pupil today...?" "They are doing fine!...", Richard said in Saurian. "They are starting to speak English perfectly!..." "Oh?... ", Rivers was taken aback, but only for a second."Ha, ha, ha...! Humans have a quaint sense of humor...!", he looked at the two stricken Protoceratopses. "Don't you think so...?" "Y - yes, sir!", Poota stammered. "I thought so too...", Toopie dared not disagree. "You know, Richard. Humor is one of the many specail gifts; and you seem to have so many.", Rivers told him in English. "I am thinking on reccomending to the High Council that you be made scholor, and have you study the ancient relics all over Dinotopia." "But I...", Donald was cut off. "Your skills in languages, writing, reading and discernment of facts and figures seem to be as advanced as the best I've seen!... Perhaps better than myself.", Rivers got closer. "You have the potential to supercede the works of your namesakes, and the Archaeological Guild needs persons such as you." "But what of what I want to do?", Richard said in English. "I thought if I do a good job around here, I'd be sent somewhere to settle down.", he looked down. "I really wanted to go to some small town and live a simpler life..." "You have so much potential; and doing just that would be a waste of your life.", Rivers said. "Don't you seek adventure? Don't you wish excitement?", he smiled a Triceratops smile. "Many humans wish a life like that..." "But the way I see so far, many humans do not get that.", Richard maintained. "They end up doing ordinary jobs, and settle into them for the rest of thier lives... Since my life has been hectic enough, all I really want is to settle down." "I will keep that in mind...", Rivers said as he began to turn around. "But my reccomendation to the council still stands!..." "Who does he think he is?!", Richard said softly after the giant creature was out of earshot. "A person has the right to do what he wants with his life!" "Things work different here." Poota told him. "You, being a student, must do what is reccomended." "He does have final say in such matters.", Toopie added. "Well, it's not fair!...", Richard stormed off, suprising both Protocerstopses!... _____
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Post by thundertail on Sept 27, 2008 6:08:05 GMT -5
NINE:
"Where does the time go?", Stacy Taylor asked after the saurian waiter left thier table. "Today I heard my tutor say that we've been here nearly three months!"
"They say that time flies when you're having fun.", Richard Dennison said in reply. "Have you been having fun?"
"More fun than anything else.", she replied back. "I'm just squeaking by in my classes, and Adam tells me he might have to stay with me long after I graduate - just until I can find my feet, he assures me!"
"That little guy is tough!", Richard replied, sipping his cold Jinka tea. "They say that if I stay on, I could become top scholor here."
"Why don't you?", she asked.
"I don't think that Rivers likes me.", Richard told her confidentially. "He said that he'd send me off some place to study Archaeology."
"Aw, he doesn't hate you!", Stacy said. "He's only trying to do what's best."
"That place I mentioned is out in the Great Desert.", Richard said flatly. "You only send people to places like that when you're trying to get rid of them!"
"Nonsense!... Maybe they need someone out there to bring back secrets from the past.", she sipped her drink. "Nobody here gets mad at anyone for long - if they get mad at all!"
Thier food presently arrived, and they dined in near silence until the end of the meal. For some strange reason, many people in Waterfall City had been giving them advice on life; and telling them of the many ways other towns do things, and many made somber good byes were also thrown into the mix. It was with that and many other strange occurrances that they knew thier tenure at Waterfall City was drawing to a close.
The businessmen in town knew that Richard's days among them would soon, and would certainly miss his accounting services he has given to them over the past few months. He knew this when many of them would give him handfuls of Drachs, thier form of currency that had a somewhat small monitary value; and even though he gratiousely refused the money, some were so insistent that he had to take it. Many of his friends around town suggested he should use the money and purchase things neede on the trip, like bedrolls, provisions, survival gear and Archaeological equipment. These things were beginning to pile up in a niche back at the Arthur Dennison house, rivaling the preserved exploration equipment already there.
Stacy's friends were feeling the same remorse, especially the many Cryptoclydus workers swimming in Mosasaur Harbor. Gillis the Gastornia kept on being a bother trying to assist her in anything she would do; and Elmer Stevens, son of her host Herbert, would fawn over her every action. Both chaps, though a bother, really had made her stay with them all that much better. With Adam the Microraptor on her shoulder for assistence, she gradually made her rounds all through the city, making her good byes as they presented themselves.
The scholors and mechanics among the citizens had become intrigued with her diving equipment, and took great pains to get her air compresser working again. They had delved into the library, seeking ways to make an internal combustion engine run without fuel; and found old plans on the ancient submarines that used to ply the waters before the treaty of Ahriman, and there lay the answer. Plans for a mechanical Sunstone generator was discovered in dusty tomes, and one was found in the back of a storage closet in the hall of Clocks and Sundials. This was quickly modifyed and mounted in place of the engine, and soon the device began working like it should. When Stacy heard of all they had done, she was very grateful; for now she could use the rest of her diving equipment once again!
Weeks later the both of them received an invitation to meet at the council chambers, but the message didn't say what it was about. It merely said to dress formally, and a chaperone may attend as well; and since neither of them knew the other had received the invitation, both were urged to bring thier most familiar saurian. Stacy Taylor invited her Microraptor friend, Adam; whom kept on complaining he hadn't a thing worthy to wear! Richard Dennison invited Adelade to go along with him, and the older Pachycephalosaur dressed in her finest shawl and a jeweled tiara; of which Richard assisted by placing it over her domed head. It was quite a surprise when they got there and found them both to be seated in places of honor in the center of the chamber.
"Ladies and gentilebeings, friends all!", mayor Edward Reynolds announced happily as soon as the room got into order. "Today marks a glorious day for these two Dolphinbacks, whom fate has decided to deliver into our midst. Months ago they came to us ignorant of our ways - and confused as all get out, if I may be so candid!", this got chuckles. "During thier tenure with us, they have learned every aspect of our society, and have done well assimilating themselves to our ways. It is said that in every beings' lives, it is time for all to roll out of the nest. Today is the day that Stacy Taylor and Richard Dennison go out on thier own and make a life for themselves among us."
A wave pf applaud rose in the court; and both were prompted to stand and take bows by matriarch Elizabeth Reynolds. As she got up, she had them take thier seats as she took over the rest of the ceremony.
"I am so proud of you for being here today, my children.", she said. "You are deemed old enough in both age and wisdom to set out on the land and do the thing you are most apt to do. I bless you and guard you from untoward circumstances as I bless you with your first assignments in your new lives."
Elizabeth went to a table, where two sets of scrolls lay; and she turned before she said anything to cue somber band music, playing the Dinotopian national anthem. The moving piece lasted a full ten minutes, forcing many in the audience to draw tears; and once it was over, many participated in muted yet patriotic cheering. After this died down somewhat, she turned back to the pair and bid them to stand.
"Stacy Taylor, please step forward.", Elizabeth said and she did. "I award you this diploma for successful completion of your acedemic training.", before she gave her the diploma, she continued speaking. "But I must tell you, you only passed by the slimmest of margins! Therefore I bid Adam to accompany you as translator until the time he deems you have sufficiently mastered the saurian dialects to part with you."
"I understand, ma'am...", Adam said from his perch.
"Now, with the power vested in me as matriarch of Dinotopia, I award you your diploma.", she handed it to her and Stacy nodded solemnly. "Do you have words to say?"
"N... no, ma'am.", Stacy barely whispered.
"Very well then.", the matriarch continued. "I have thought long and hard on your assignment, and I feel I have the perfect one. Stacy Taylor, I deem that you are of the sea, lively and bubbly yet blown where ever the wind sends you; which is a good thing overall, but your lack of discipline will surely be your undoing.", she took the other scroll. "Your assignment is to go to the Dragonfly Coast and study the Dolphins. You will use your equipment, and teach the others you meet how to use it. You are to take this scroll to Yalla the hermit and her Partner Coompie, and do what ever it is they say for you to do. Your transportation will arrive in a fortnight.", she smiled. "You may be seated...", and turned away.
Stacy's applause began just then, and she looked up at all that cheering and bowed before finally taking her seat. It was a rather long time before the cheering lessenrd enough for the ceremony to continue, and the mayor almost had to tap his gavel to regain order once again. At long last Elizabeth turned from the table and raised hands to finally quell the noise, and then she at last began the next part of her speech.
"Richard Dennison, please rise and step forward.", and Richard did as was told. "Before I award you your diploma, I wish to say that in no time in recent memory has a student done as well as you have in your acedemic training. All of your teachers are so proud of you. So much so that they wish to bestow on you the title of 'Scholor', and present you with this medal..."
Rivers, done up in his finest golden garb, horn jewelry sparkling in the chambers' light; sauntered up and offered an onyx box to Elizabeth, which was poised just behind his bejeweled nosehorn. He bowed and came around until he was to Richard's left. He bellowed as all the teachers at the Rainy Basin learning academy came out of the wings and stood stock still, each done in thier own human or saurian finery; and each bowed to Richard in turn and took a step back.
"Mister Richard Dennison.", Rivers said loudly. "With this token of our esteem, you are hereby declared 'Scholor', and laurate to the halls of learning forever. My matriarch, would you do the honors?"
"Yes, headmaster.", Elizabeth bowed.
She took the medal out of the box, and Richard noticed the golden orb had 'Knowledge is Power' written in saurian on the back and a depiction of a human and a saurian in the middle of a great discovery on the front. He bowed as Elizabeth placed the golden chain around his neck, and looked up amid a grand wave of cheering! As this ebbed somewhat, Rivers turned and bowed low, nearly scraping his nosehorn on the polished marble floor.
In turn, the other instructors did the same; placing a forelimb on thier chests; and just like that, they all filed out the way they had come, and Rivers winked before turning and returning to his spot in the upper tiers of the council chambers. As the crowd murmured during this, Elizabeth prepared for the rest of the ceremony.
"Richard Dennison, I hereby award you your diploma for outstanding completion of the Rainy Basin ackedemic training.", she continued as she handed him the diploma. "The Rainy Basin Business council would also like to express thier apreciation of your services these past few months. They say that thier businesses have never worked more smoothly!"
"It was all a matter of doing the job I had been trained for in the outside world.", Richard told them all. "It was rather easy - and quite fun!", chuckles.
"I assume it was!", Elizabeth said, then turned for the other scroll. "We all have been thinking of your first assignment in your new life, and we think we have come up with something you are most apt to do well in.", she saw his face change, and she knew he knew. "Richard, it was hard to place you in our society, for you do not fit any of our edicts. You are not of the sea, not of the sky, not of the land; for you are all of those, and more."
"I don't understand.", he said.
"You will.", she said. "You will in time.", then shuffled and continued. "You are to go to the ancient city of Carnassus, just east of the Great Desert. There you will begin your Archaeological training. You will take this scroll to Ben Hphestus and his Therazinosaur Partner, Softclaw. You will do what ever they will have you do.", she handed him the scroll. "Transportation for you will arrive in a fortnight.", she smiled. "You may be seated."
It was clear to all present that the cheering and applause for Richard dennison was indeed the loudest they had done so far at this meeting. It went on for much longer than any of them expected, but none of them gave any indication of stopping. At the prompting of the mayor of waterfall City, both Richard and Stacy rose and bowed, waved and gesteculated thanks to one and all; and it was only until they did this did the crowd gradually decided to stop thier applause.
It was many hours until Stacy Taylor and Richard Dennison could go somewhere for a little peace and quiet!... _
After the graduation ceremonies, Richard Dennison was too tired to think of anything but the ceremony itself; and as he sat in the den of the Arthur Dennison house with Adelade in the kitchen making Eveningmeal, he thought the whole scenario over and didn't like it one bit. He was honored that they should treat him so, of that there was no doubt; but to think that they could go and tell him where he could go and what he could do galled him to no end! At least in America they let you go out and get a job on your own, and let you live where ever you choose; but here they take that responsability to themselves and dictate where you are to go. This was just not fair!
The matriarch told him that he wasn't like all the rest, and that he was something more; but he just thought that all that was just some mystical garbage meant to justify where the council was sending him, and he didn't buy that for a minute. No, he didn't buy any of that at all! He sat there as he did after the end of nearly every day and thought long and hard like he did every day, trying to come up with some answers that were becoming close to needing solution; just as he did every day since Rivers had mentioned they would do this to him. Looking over to the niche he had been gathering his Archaeological equipment in, the pieces of his thoughts slowly came falling together.
Richard Dennison said nothing about what he had been thinking as he sat and ate Eveningmeal, nor did he tell anything to the people he passed as he searched the city the next few days; and hadn't told the curator of the library what he was looking for as he searched the tomes for an answer to his questions. Instead, he would tell the librarian that he was constantly learning things, and wanted to learn how this city maintained itself. She nodded her Lambeosaur head and told him that the best place to find that out was to go see the city's engineers at the waterworks department; thier offices were at the hall of records, the head of the cargo chute near Aqua Stadium and at the brink of Thundering Falls respectively. She said that those people would know more about the underpinnings of the city than what could be gleaned from a book. He thanked her for the information and presently went off to find these people, and combed every corner of the city in search of them as they were seldom at thier offices.
He found one member of the guild hanging over a stone abuttment, manipulating a wooden pole into the water below. The man, slightly older than himself, was dressed in a billowing yellow slicker and a bonnet of the same waterproof material. His jackbooted feet left the pavement, and Richard rushed over to prevent him from toppling over into the water twenty feet below. As the man came back up, still clutching the pole; he gasped and began pulling all the harder!
"Thank you sir...", the man grunted. "Can you give a hand?"
Richard Dennison grasped lower on the pole and lifted up the heavy object impaled on the hook on the other end; and once it was up high enough, he grasped the end of the somewhat large branch that the hook impaled. Between the two of them they wrestled the branch over the side, and it lay dripping on the cobbles at thier feet. Both of them crouched as they gasped for air, and looked at each other when they were done, breaking into smiles as they did.
"Thank you, lad!", the engineer said. "That was a big one!"
"No problem.", Richard told him. "I saw you falling over... What else could I do?"
"Well, ye' did the water works department a favor!...", he gazed at the branch. "Look!... Oak!... I know a nice young Brach that likes oak leaves. I can use th' wood for my stove, too!"
"That's nice...", Richard said. "You know, I been looking all over for one of you."
"That so? What about?", he asked. "Yer sink's plugged up?"
"No, not that.", said Richard. "I wanted to ask you something... See, I'm a scholor; and I wanted to find out how the city's water is distributed."
"A scholor!", the man said. "Well, th' library has all that information..."
"The librarian said to go seek you out.", Richard told him. "You work with water every day, and you'd know better than any scroll..."
"Modesty forbids... But truth is truth!...", the man chucklingly said. "Aye, I'll show you!", he extended a clammy hand. "Name's Finn."
"Richard Dennison.", he told him, grasping the slippery appendage. "Yes, I wanted to know how the water stays on this plateau; and not run out too quickly..."
"Aye, that's a secret passed down from father to son, that is!", Finn said. "The secret is that everywhere under the city there's aqueducts, viaducts and waterscrew pumps that keep the water in the city.", he started dragging the branch to a near by cart, and Richard helped. "Soon as I get rid o' this, I'll give you a tour!..."
Richard helped Finn push his cart to his home, where a baby Brach the size of a shetland pony was waiting for him. Finn chopped up the branch, gave the foliage to the youngster and chopped the rest of it into stove sized hunks; piling it up to dry, smiling as he turned to Richard. He presently waved for Richard to follow, and very near his dwelling was an iron grate set into a wall near a narrow canal with small unmanned boats in the water. Finn said that this was a loading zone for the cargo chutes that honeycombed the bowels of the city, and said that that was part of the waterworks system that fed the city the water as he unhitched the grate and crawled inside.
On a platform hung iron rungs, and down he climbed until he was on a platform not unlike a train platform. Where the tracks would be if it were for trains, a raging rivulet set in a culvert was present; and over this was a narrow bridge that spanned it and three others set in a row at that spot, where they shot off through three tunnels going in three different directions into the city. Going through a passage they met a solid wall with offshoots going left and right. Finn said that they were at the head casons of Mosasaur Harbor, and this mass of stone and concrete kept the harbor from flooding the city. He led the way to the right where several cargo chutes vectored off and began thier downward grade to lower parts of the system; and went through another small portal at the end of this chamber, and that tunnel sloped downward in a straight line until it came out on a sunlit space.
They were now at the base of one of the four waterfalls that surrounded the city, and a platform led to a stone path that traveled behind the falls. This was needed for maintenence on the falls, for the lip of the great edifice was shored up with iron reinforced casons and thick pylons that had to hold up the natural escarpment above; and he said that this place got inspected once a year. Richard stared down the path behind the falls and noticed it went all the way through, seeing a menagerie of greenery framed in the passageway hole; and Finn explained that sometimes they did repairs on the other side of the falls too. They noticed at the same time that it was indeed getting late, and Finn presently led the way back up to the surface.
Later on, back at the Arthur Dennison house, Richard's plan had finally found the last pieces of his disapearance; and he began work putting those pieces together. He got to work filling up a backpack with all the things he would need. He told Adelade when she became curious that he was practicing packing an Archaeological field pack, and when her curiosity was satisfyed, left the pack in the niche with the rest of his things. He had also amassed a compass, dried provisions, a self-drawn map of Dinotopia, a pair of canteens which he filled without Adelade's knowledge, a bedroll and several tools of an Archaeologist that would be useful in tasks other than what they were meant for.
Being the most useful looking, the rock hammer could be used as a hatchet for gathering firewood as well as being used as a weapon in case he met anything dangerous; and it was also good for grappling rock faces and other uses he could barely imagine. He would also bring along his Zithar, his companion ever since he'd been here; and would provide entertainment from his music lessons here. Who knows. He could go around towns and sing for his supper if worse came to worst, he thought wryly! Plans now falling into play, all he had to do was to wait for the right moment to stage his escape.
That moment came about three days before he was scheduled to leave for Carnassus, when Adelade left the Arthur Dennison house to visit relatives for the evening across town. He waited until nightfall, and when most of the residents had gone to bed so the streets were nearly empty save for an occasional guard. He grabbed his things and slipped out the side entrance of the house, keeping to the shadows for the most part; and eventually found his way to the grate that Finn had shown him. He set the grate back as he entered, and made his way in the dark through the underground passageways until it was safe to light the torch he had made.
Eventually he made it to the foot of the falls and extinguished his torch, moonlight slithering through the rippling , roaring curtain of water to light his way. At several spots he had to edge his way inches from the water due to the bulk of his pack and Zithar, but within many moments he found himself out on the other side. He crawled through the bushes and set off across the field of tiny boulders between thick jungle boles beyond, and there he picked up a path that led roughly east. From there he ran as fast as his pack would allow him all the rest of the night, never looking back...
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Post by thundertail on Sept 28, 2008 15:56:42 GMT -5
TEN:
Morning rose in Waterfall City; though instead of a morning of peace like it usually did, the streets were limned with an aura of alarm! One of thier prized Dolphinbacks had gone missing, and every guard not currently assigned to guard the gates were out, combing the city in search of Richard Dennison. When Adelade came home late last night, she had assumed that Richard was asleep in bed; but in the morning he didn't come out of his room for Morningmeal, then found he wasn't there when she went in to check! Out of the house she ran, bellowing willy nilly that her charge was missing, and eventually a guard came rushing in to see what was the matter.
Word spread quickly throughout the streets, and many volunteers came out and gave a hand looking. Within hours everybody in Waterfall City knew that Richard Dennison was nowhere to be found, and all were concerned. It is said that the ones at the top are the last to know, and this was the case with mayor Edward Reynolds and his wife and matriarch, Elizabeth; whom stood at a window of thier quarters and looked out over the glorious city, now tainted with this mystery.
"I wonder where he could be...", Elizabeth Reynolds asked the air.
"The guards are scouring the city.", the mayor stated. "Do you think they'll find him."
"Perhaps not.", Elizabeth told him. "He is rescourseful and smart. If I were to make wager, I would say he is not in the city."
"If he is not here in the city, he MUST be found!", Edward told her. "I will have the saurian guards search the surrounding environs!..."
"No dear. I think it's time for mister Richard Dennison to be enrolled in another lesson.", she told him cryptically. "Life can teach a person more than mere acedemics."
"What do you mean?", he asked.
"I mean it's high time he meet his next instructor...", she said and pulled out her Postal Bird whistle... _
The small caravan passed him by, and by a small margin indeed; for even though Richard Dennison hid well off the path, thier Ankylosaur pullers could have picked up his scent. He started breathing again and scooted further back behind the stand of fallen logs to collect his pack, discreetly looking one way and another as he strapped it onto his back. A screech from above told him he had disturbed another of the indiginous flying creatures native to this area once again. As soon as he was ready, he crept off deeper into the forest, slithering stealthily between the tree trunks.
It had been three days since he made his escape from Waterfall City, and he used his compass to keep on an aproximate eastern heading; but he was feeling kind of antsy as there seemed to be nobody following him thus far. He would have thought they would send a squadron of saurian guards after him, or at least send out Skybax patrols to scour the skies for him; but no such searches seemed evident to him. Even though it seemed strange to him, he was one not to look a gift horse in the mouth; and continued down this or that skinny path through the forest.
Never the less, he traveled by night and holed up in whatever shelter he could find during the day; avoiding the odd caravan or other traveler along the way, figuring he could get as much distance between himself and any possible pursuits. Through deserted fields and hiding as he neared civilized areas, he trapsed the countryside; and even though he wasn't really sure where he was going, he kept on moving in the direction his crudely drawn map told him to go. As his next days' nocturnal trek halted for the morning, he found himself near some crumbled down stones and demolished wooden buildings. An eerie feeling overcame him, and he quietly scouted out the entire area; but a thourough paranoid reconnaissance of the area showed that he was totally alone, if one didn't account for the varied woodland sounds coming from all around him.
Adrenaline slowing, he finally gave in to his weariness and set up his bedroll against some hewn stone knoll; in a crook between that and a stand of rotted boards that he fashioned into a lean-to of sorts. Poking through his pack, he saw that his food was running pretty low; but the abundant streams he had found along the way allowed his two canteens to be full as can be. He ate just enough to quell his hunger, took one last look around and settled into a torpid sleep as soon as he lay down. The noises in the forest never seemed to let up as he tried to drift off to sleep, and the bright sun coming dappling through the leafy canopy tried to defeat any sleep he could want to have.
Somehow these inconveniences faded away, and his slumber came to him as a disorganised dream of shipwreck, unknown monsters and doing things he didn't want to do. No noise woke him up, in fact no noise was the reason why he woke up and he sat bolt upright, looking around through the silent jungle. Instinct told him that danger was the only reason the wildlife would sqelch thier noise like this, and he slowly crept up from his sleeping bag; groping for his pack and the stone hammer he had packed there - his only weapon. Ever so quietly he rose to a crouch and maneuvered around his cramped campsite, finding the way out of it with his feet and with ears perked to the slightest of sounds. The rustling of his own feet was all he could hear, and he began to relax ever so slightly; and this was why he was surprised as the forest noises suddenly resumed for some strange reason!
Giggling to relieve stress, Richard Dennison lowered the hammer and went back to his campsite. Not wishing to stay in this creepy place, he began to pack up; leaving the hammer out just in case, looking over his shoulder every few moments and just hoping something would show itself. He donned the pack and traveled roughly south; for his crude map said a settlement would be to the east if he traveled much further. Several miles later he found himself on a major road through the forest, and this road took a more southerly route for many more miles before seeming to veer in a more eastern direction. The road was overgrown in places, and the shoulders and wheel ruts seemed like smooth mounds; and this told him that this was not a very well traveled road. Feeling safe to travel here by day, Richard Dennison found it prudent to put more miles on his trek that day.
Little did he know, but someone had found his trail through the forest; but got a little too close back there at the ruins, a mistake he was not willing to repeat. He huddled just out of sight hundreds of strides behind him, ducking for cover in case the human looked back and saw him. Hearing more acute, he timed his saurian footfalls to the humans', mimicking the echos his footsteps might make.... One step, two steps, three steps... CRACK! The saurian scampered behind a tree!
Richard Dennison spun around at the sound, scanning the foliage for the perpetrator; only finding bland greenery and brown trunks. A few hundred yards behind him a bush swayed ever so slightly, and Richard hoped it was just a breeze. He looked down and saw little sticks littering the path, and reasoned that the sound must have come from his own clumsey feet! Shrugging, Richard faced back and continued slowly walking down the path; ears perked for the slightest of untoward noise. Many steps later and he picked up some incongruent noises in his footsteps, and suddenly turned again; revealing a mansize bipedal saurian ducking into a bush!
"Ho, there!", Richard yelled. "Are you following me?"
No words came from that area, only slight shuffling. After another moment, he called again.
"Please, I won't harm you.", he said. "Please come out."
"Aww...!", the creature grunted. "Sorry, sir, for startling you.", said the saurian as he shuffled onto the path, light brittish clip to his words. "I was going the same way, you see. You looked troubled, and shouldn't be disturbed."
"So much for plans.", Richard said gruffly.
As the creature fumbled for the right thing to say, Richard Dennison took time to get a good look at this creature before him. He was slightly shorter than he, long snakelike neck arching from a gooselike body of bluish irridescent plumage. His tail was twice as long as his neck, sticking ramrod straight from the hind section; and the green trifold cap sat atop the muzzled cranium with a long feather of his own plumage sticking from it. The most prominent facial features were the slightly pinkish wrinkles on the muzzle and the short carniverous teeth along the jawline as he breathed through them. His faded green backpacks sat saddlebag style across his back, and the short staff he carried had plumage of another feather fastened to the high end of it. At last the creature smiled toothily and spoke.
"I tried to stay back from you in your travels.", the creature said. "Unfortunately, my gait is much longer than yours..."
"No harm done.", Richard said, beckoning him to come closer. "At least I now know what was following me... I thought you were something dangerous or something!"
"Fah!... Me?... Wouldn't hurt a fly!", said the creature. "My name is Rasputain, Troodont guide extrordinaire."
"Pleased to meet you, sir.", Richard Dennison said. "I am Richard.", he excluded his last name for obvious reasons!
"Ah! Richard!", the Troodon extended a four-fingered saurian hand. "A noble name if ever I heard one! And where are you headed, if I may ask?", he disengaged the shake.
"Wherever this road takes me.", he replied.
"What a most Dinotopian reply!", Rasputain chuckled. "And I suppose where you came from is equally Dinotopian?"
"Yup!... I came from back that way...", he pointed.
"Me too, but that was hardly Dinotopian!", chuckled Rasputain. "And I, also, am going that way.", he pointed. "Would you mind terribly if we travel together?... I mean until we must part company."
"I don't see why not.", Richard Dennison said. "It kind of gets lonely being out on your own."
"It does indeed!". Rasputain said. "Of one such as me, I'm well versed in being lonely."
"True.", said Richard. "Say, you said you were a guide. Do you know where this road leads?"
"Yes!... I am a guide.", Rasputain said proudly. "I am also an explorer, a woodsman, a philosopher; and I am also a finder of lost knowledge - a spy, for lack of better terms. I am also a trubador, an actor and a singer. I noticed the Zithar you carry; and I play the Dragon Flute. Perhaps we could strike up a band..."
"Woah...! Slow down!", Richard said. "I don't know you that well!"
"What is there to know? We are both going down the same road at the same time; and that is enough.", Rasputain said. "We will get to know each other in the mean time. Perhaps we shall chat..."
"I guess...", Richard shrugged. "So, this road leads where?"
"Oh!... The most amazing places!", Rasputain nearly swooned. "Follow me!..."
Rasputain took the lead down the path, Richard following at a discreet distance. He hoped this wierd little dinosaur would not attract any attention to him, and kind of figured he would; but at least he would have someone experienced with him as he traveled through these unknown forests, a concern he scarcely admitted until now. All in all, traveling with Rasputain was not altogether boring - though the creature seldom shut his mouth! He would go on for hours telling tales of his life, barely letting Richard get a word in edgewise when the creature asked for his opinion on anything; but at least it made the miles go by swifter having someone to talk to.
As the sun began to make it's colorful exit from the sky, they decided to make camp for the night at the side of the road where a stone wall gave way for a wooden gate. There was a stone bench next to the gate, and Rasputain saw that there was an already built firepit near by as he twisted his body to remove his saddle packs. Richard did the same, finding a flat spot near the stone wall to unroll his bedroll. The Troodont scraped together mounds of leaf litter and formed a depression in the middle of it before unrolling his blanket-like bedding atop it; then he went to the firepit and tended to that for a moment.
"I will go collect firewood, then we will prepare Eveningmeal.", Rasputain informed him. "If you would, please start the fire...", he hopped off.
"Ok...", Richard said, having no clue on how to do so.
He had read somewhere that you could start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, so he found said items and began doing so. Many moments later he was growing exhausted from the effort; and the tinder he had been using was not even scorched, so he tried another tactic. He fashioned a small bow from one of the sticks and some loose weavings from his bedroll; then twisted the string around the other stick, using a notch in a piece of bark for a brace. This method produced friction enough to get the tinder smoldering, but not much else; and after several of these tries, Rasputain strutted into the area carrying an armload of sticks for firewood. He saw Richard's progress and scowled while noisily dropping what he had been carrying.
"Heavens to Betsey!... You'll be there all night at that rate!", he stormed over and grabbed the bow out of Richard's hand. "Please, if you'd allow me..."
Rasputain went to his bags and rummaged through one until he came up with a small leather sack, then he brought that over to the firepit and set its' contents on a smooth stone next to it. Inside were two pieces of ordinary looking rock; one being deep grey in color and the other being absolutely black, the former had a sparkly texture while the other had a pourous texture. He grabbed both plumsize pieces and held both over the tinder from a short distance away. Next he struck both together at an angle, causing great sparks to fly; and after two or three strikes to get the aiming right, one landed on the tinder to immediately cause a ribbon of smoke to emerge. Immediately he hunkered to it and began to gently blow on it, and the tiny piece of tinder burst into flame! Rasputain worried it into the firepit and carefully ramped sticks over it until those caught too; and after several moments the fire was old enough to have some of the larger pieces of firewood placed upon it. As the growing fire snapped away cheerily, Rasputain looked at him quizically before speaking.
"You know nothing of living out in the forest, do you?", he poked at the fire.
"Not much, I'm afraid.", he admitted, "I spent a lot of time in the city."
"Looks like I have my work cut out for me...", he went to look into his larder.
"What do you mean?", Richard asked, looking into his own.
"I am a professional woodsman.", Rasputain said. "I assumed you at least knew how to start a fire, and a few other things on survival out here. Now I must teach you the basics if you're to ever survive out here at all!"
"I didn't mean to impose...", Richard pulled out some preserved bread.
"No worries, Richard!", Rasputain told him, grabbing a sack of fresh greens from his other pack. "It is the duty of all Dinotopians to help one another.... I'll consider it an honor!"
Rasputain presently went to get some pots from his packs, a folding grate and some spices; then went to work fixing them both a memorable meal from thier combined larder. Once done, they sat at thier bedrolls discussing the upcoming day; Richard sat crouched with his hands folded around the neck of his Zithar and Rasputain sprawled out smoking a long clay pipe. Presently Richard began picking a soft tune on his instrument while Rasputain rummaged through one of his packs and pulled out a clarinet-like flute with the roaring head of a dragon for the bell.
As the hauntingly soft tones emerged from it, Richard tried to immitate the strange tune; and within an hour the darkened forest around them fell quiet listening to thier badly improvised music. As the fire died down to embers, both put away thier instruments and soundlessly crawled into thier bedrolls... _
Stacy Taylor thought it strange that Richard Dennison would suddenly disapear like that, and was worried to no end of his wherabouts; but her assignment would not wait, as her transportation came right on time. The ride for Richard arrived too, and this caused quite a lot of dismay for his Overlander; who waited and balked until Elizabeth explained to him what had happened, and not to worry as everything was being taken care of. With nothing left to be done about this little dilemma, Stacy climbed aboard her Chasmosaur driven cart as the driver steered it down the road, out of the city and off toward her first assignment as a Dinotopian.
In the mean time Waterfall City continued thier everyday business like nothing happened, thier slight turmoil of the disapearance of Richard Dennison and the teaching of the two Dolphinbacks behind them now; but this didn't quell the sense of responasbility thier leaders felt for thier former charges. So far her message to Rasputain went unanswered, but he was a diligent dinosaur; and would see to Richard's needs better than any unprepared Overlander or average person he would be likely to meet, for he was the wisest and most worldly creature Elizabeth ever knew. She knew that where ever Rasputain would travel with Richard, he would do his best to teach him the ways of Dinotopia...
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Post by thundertail on Sept 30, 2008 18:24:04 GMT -5
ELEVEN:
The pair woke and broke up camp the next morning, Rasputain instructing Richard Dennison the most efficient ways to pack his backpack. He would caution the human to properly extinguish the campfire so as to not cause forest fires; and to properly dispose of any trash or personal waste so as to not cause pollution. By the time they had completely broke up camp, Richard was quickly becoming annoyed at this pushy creatures' constant nagging! About the only thing that halted Richard from snapping at Rasputain was the creatures' almost psychotic and jittery actions as he conveyed himself throughout the day, of which he thought was extremely funny!
In reality Rasputain was a person overeager to please and acomodate another, so much so as to be overly insistent on certain matters he thought important. Never tha less, Richard was glad of the company, no matter how strange; and walked beside this creatureas they walked down the path, and Rasputain rattled off tale after tale of others he had heard of that had done strange or interesting or heroic things, stories that had no doubt grown in the telling over the years!
"So they got the Bracheosaur out of the swamp, and the Bracheosaur was so grateful that he tagged along with the Freshwater Partners for days; causing more trouble than good.", Rasputain was saying. " They didn't want to send him away abruptly and make him sad, but they could not get rid of him!"
"Sometimes no good deed goes unpunished...", Richard commented.
"Too true!", the Troodont said, chuckling. "And I assume you have a similar tale to tell..."
"Not really.", Richard told him. "See, I was the son of an important businessman. My pop wanted me to do good in the business world, but all I could get is lower paying jobs in the profession: going over the books, troubleshooting problems, creating advertising campaigns that didn't pan out well... things like that."
"Do tell!... And I suppose you did the best you could.", Rasputain said.
"Yes, but it never seemed to be good enough.", Richard told him. "I worked long and hard, and still more needed to be done. I worked so hard that my work suffered and so did my health. At last the boss I worked for last suggested I go on vacation; but didn't tell me I had to take care of his neice in the bargain."
"I take it you are not experienced in babysitting.", the troodont stated.
"Not babysitting, she was a full grown young woman.", he said. "She was a graduate Marine Biologist, studying sea life. She and I went on a trip in her uncles' boat; but then a storm came up and wrecked it. We spent time recovering in a fishing village, and then we were told to go to a city to do some things.", he shook his head. "I couldn't take being led around like that anymore, so I left."
"And here you are...", Rasputain sighed. "Life is just full of mishap, Richard. There is one sure thing in this world, and it is there is no such thing as a sure thing. Bad things happen, and then good things do; but life never deals you a situation you can not handle - it just seems so, is all!", his eyes lit up. "My great, great grandfather lived off of mishap; and he was one of the greatest Troodont Knights of all time."
"Troodont Knights?", asked Donald.
"Long before Dinotopians became civilized, great wars enveloped the land.", Rasputain told him as they walked. "If peace was to prevail, troops to maintain peace had to be established. The Knights Of the Unrivaled traveled the land, making right what was once wrong and maintaining peace throughout the land. They did such a good job of it that pretty soon thier services were not needed, and they were banished from everywhere except the most remote places; and thier main stronghold was the lost city of Halcyon. For centuries they lived there, honing thier skills and preparing themselves for the time when they might be needed once again. One day Halcyon was rediscovered by a group of children, and during thier visit they told of how Dinotopia had evolved a great nation, and would welcome even the warlike Troodont Knights; and even though thier king was extremely reluctant, he sent a band of knights to see if it all was true."
"My great, great grandfather was among those knights who went out; and found that these childrens' tales were all true.", Rasputain went on. "His name was 'Wisenscales', and he was a chief antiquarian when not out doing other great things. He lived to inadvertantly cause disaster to prove the folly of ones' ways; and his nickname given by his unkind peers was 'Blundertail'. It was said that his head never knew what his tail was doing, but his tail seemed the wiser appendage! He performed many heroic acts; like showing the danger of a footrace, showing how being too busy to show courtesy can spell disaster - and he even saved a young Dolphinback from himself..."
Rasputain went on for the longest time telling the tales of his famous descendant, eating up the miles as the time rolled on. Richard no longer cared if he was seen on the road during the day any more; for he figured that if nobody had apprehended him by now, nobody ever would. By the time Rasputain ran out of the tales of his great, great grandfathers' escapades; the sun was sinking low for the third time since he and the troodont joined company. They veered into a half tilled field and set thier packs on the ground to survey the correct area to set up camp.
Richard Lit the fire after finding rocks sufficient enough to make the firepit, then he went off and found some fiddleheads and a strange type of melon-like fruit. Rasputain told him that the fruit, though looking like a casaba melon, was somewhat poisonus to humans; and only if it were peeled and boiled would it be palatable to saurians, so Richard tossed the fruit aside. The Troodont made the meal, and they ate it with hunger only the true hiker would know. After that and setting up thier sleeping acomodations, they chatted some more about themselves.
Rasputain, trying to match the honors of his forefathers, set out from the mundane life of a farmer, fisher or other types of work by being a guide to caravaners and others who wished to go places but didn't know the way. He was brash and headstrong in his younger days, meeting confrontation with confrontation; and he even dabbled in the seemier side of Dinotopian life, having dealings with thieves and other less than reputable sorts. But even though he did all these things, his knowledge of the goings on all over Dinotopia lent him to amass many skills both good and bad. He learned the arts and the sciences, and the many ways of the many types of people and dinosaurs spanning the island as well as the few smaller ones - including how to humor them. He had taken on many jobs in his tenure on the island, from the simple to the back-breaking to the administrative. The wisdom he had amassed had helped many a Dinotopian through the everyday problems of life; and at present, that was what he was doing right now, he claimed!
"This looks like a good spot to stay the night...", Richard said as he began going to a clear, grassy spot near the growing swamp they were nearing.
"I don't think so...", Rasputain said, scooting up ahead of him. "Look!...", he poked his staff into the soil and it sank in almost a foot! "Quicksand..."
"Never even saw it!", Richard commented.
"Over here looks like a good spot.", Rasputain steered his way back to the path, and next to it was a rocky area surrounded by a large stand of stunted trees. "Not very comfy, but safer...", he began to take off his packs... _
The expanse of forest they crossed was thick and lush, with little sign of civilization save for the path they were on. As Rasputain led the way like he was always prone to do, Richard Dennison took the rear; always looking ovewr his shoulder on the lookout for anyone following them as he listened to the Troodont carry on about yet another story with a moral twist. The many weeks spent on the road with this saurian made his leg muscles taut with muscle, and the things Rasputain taught filled his brain and spirit with new meaning of life here on Dinotopia; a meaning that was so profound that he would be more than glad to spend the rest of his life here.
Rasputain was just finishing up his yarn, about the many things possible out here on the road, and the many twists of fate that can make life more meaningful, when a signpost and crossroads came into the sharper eyed saurians' view. He timed the conclusion of his story to thier arrival at the signpost, and studied the words there like he had never been there before; a thing of which Richard knew was a ruse!
"Speaking of opportunities, here we have a choice on which way to go next.", said the saurian as he paused. "I have been leading the way thus far, but it wouldn't be fair if I didn't let YOU pick our next destination!"
"Me?", Richard was stunned. "I don't know where anything is."
"Go on. Give it a try!", Rasputian coaxed. "Any direction is better than no direction at all!"
"I don't know...", considered Richard. "What, exactly, is down these roads?"
"Well, back the way we came is where we were.", said Rasputain. "That direction represents the past, and we already know about that.", he gazed straight ahead. "Before us, to the east, lies Canyon City and Pteros. A long way away, and we have to travel through the Rainy Basin; where nasty carnivores would eat you so much as to look at you. That can represent the possible danger of staying ones' course"
"Pass...", Richard smiled.
"Um,... To the right lies the deserts and Carnassus, frought with robbers, unfriendly homesteads and other dangers along the way.", said the saurian. "That can be what one can receive from innocent seeming friends and the warm reception you would get, both good and bad."
"I heard a lot of bad things about Carnassus.", said Richard. "I won't choose that direction either."
"Well, the last direction is just about the best one - the only one left.", Rasputain smiled. " North lies the agricultural belt of Dinotopia. There are many farming and trading communities there. Real comfy and full of friendly and helpful people.", he thought. "Like coming in from the cold, and being welcomed by family!"
"Sold!...", said Richard. "Let's go north!"
"Very well... But since the choice in direction was yours, you may lead the way.", said the saurian under Richard's questioning glance.
"But won't I steer us wrong?", he asked instead.
"I don't see how that's possible.", Rasputain said. "The road ahead is a direct route, and there are few crossroads. Have you ever steered us wrong before?"
"No, but I hadn't yet led the way...", Richard told him.
"There you go then!", said the saurian. "There are times when one must lead and one must follow, and this is an opportunity to lead for a change.", he smiled. "Don't worry. I trust you..."
Shrugging, Richard Dennison led the way east, down the path to where rumor had it was the best place on Dinotopia... _
Still leading the way, but with his Zithar being strummed in his hands; Richard Dennison continued down the path with the Dragon Flute playing Rasputain marching behind him. They had traveled roughly east for many, many days now; and the road had split up many times during the trip, of which the Troodont indicated the correct way to go each time. A caravan of Ankylosaur driven carts were behind them several hundred yards back, and the pair was playing many Dinotopian tunes to entertain them; and if they got curious as to who they were, they would simply think they were some wandering trubadores making thier way to the next town. This was the assumption both Richard and Rasputain were hoping for, because Richard didn't want anybody to get wise about his true identity - especially his traveling partner; and Rasputain had said that his less than Dinotopian actions had given him a less than savory reputation!
Onward they played until they came upon another crossroads, where they halted thier marching and playing at the same time to let the caravan pass. Each nodded at these cargo laden contrivances, and at each puller and passenger in turn; and these people and saurians nodded back, some tossing Drachs thier way for the entertainment. As the caravan veered down the right hand path and out of sight, Rasputain put away his flute and quickly went to scoop the money from the ground; and deftly began to count and split up the profits.
"That's six Drachs for you and seven for me...", he handed Richard his share.
"Hey! What about being fair?", Richard balked.
"It was my idea to play for them.", Rasputain told him matter of factly. "Besides, you can't split a Drach coin in two!"
"What ever...", Richard counted. "Is this a lot?..."
"Not much...", the Troodont shoved his into a the small sack he kept his flints in. "It can buy you a room and meals for about three days in any town in the area."
"That much...", Richard said as he looked around. "So, want to stop here for the night, or do you want to move on?"
"Richard, there is something I have to tell you...", Rasputain suddenly became somber. "It has to do with those things I told you I did..."
"What is it?", Richard asked, taking off his backpack.
"These towns all around here was where I was banished from.", he told him, taking off his own packs. "I can never show my face in those towns again..."
"But where will we go?", Richard asked.
"I will go to where the fates send me next...", the Troodont said philosophically. "Your fate sends you in a different direction."
"I don't understand.", said Richard.
"You have expressed to me how much you'd like to settle down some place.", Rasputain said. "The towns ahead are the perfect places to do so - if you don't start too much trouble, that is!", he smiled. "I think I have taught you all I can, and now it's time you roll out of the nest, as we Dinotopians say."
Thier usual happy banter at camp soon changed to the somber reality of thier parting in the morning. They ate without much appetite when thier meal was ready, and neither of them felt like playing music to while away the hours before they turned in for the night. The morning came up cold and grey, but soon warmed up somewhat as the sun found its' way through the trees; and each began cleaning up thier share of the campsite before they went thier sepreate ways.
"You know, you're the first dino I've actually begun calling a friend.", Richard said as he folded his bedroll. "I'm really going to mis you, you know..."
"Me too, Richard.", Rasputain said. "You were the first person, human or dinosaur, that didn't judge me for my deeds.", he looked distraught. "Here... Something to remember me by...", he got the sack he kept his firestarting flints in, and handed them over.
"I can't take this!", Richard said. "Here, I'll trade you...", he pawed through his pack, spreading out his equipment until he found his compass. "Here..., in case you get lost..."
"That would come in handy...", Rasputin sniffed. "I often become lost, you know!", a fake smile.
"Well, I guess this is it...", Richard said as he completed packing his backpack and putting it on many moments later.
"Yeah...", Rasputain paused, looking at him. "Come here, you monkey!...", he grasped the human in a hug, then whispered. "I'll miss you terribly, Richard Dennison...", and drew away.
Richard stepped away, a look of incredulous surprise on his face. The Troodont knew who he really was all along! Rasputain winked at him and spun in place before sprinting off down the path the way they had come...
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Post by thundertail on Oct 8, 2008 19:37:48 GMT -5
TWELVE:
The day was rather hot, and the humidity made his backpack chafe; but onward Richard Dennison walked, legs pumping away the miles and strengthened by the many miles behind him. The signpost he passed an hour ago said that he was getting close to many small communities: Baz, Sparklebrook, Doondawdle and Redwick; but his desire was to continue straight down the road, and he soon found himself in the cultivated land just south of Baz. Miles behind him, the dirt path grew wider and the wooded land gave way to cleared land bordered with stone walls and wooden fences studded with ancient trees.
Many single travelers passed him going the other way, both human and saurian; and caravans of goods traveled in both directions around him. The closer he got to the settlement the more crowded the road became; and before long the farmsteads he currently passed grew thicker until they became a small town of meager wooden buildings and shops selling many wares. The variety of people and dinosaurs were as varied as the garb they sported, and the feel of the town seemed to Richard a cross between a Wild West boomtown and an ancient Arabian bazaar. There were livery stables, trading posts, mills and agriculture in the area; evident by all the carts coming in with vegetables and grains. There were shops of every description, kiosks selling many unusual wares and even venders picking spots at the side of roads to spread out thier blankets of wares to sell.
Richard got nods and verbal greetings from nearly everyone he passed, many eyeing the Zithar on his back; or the more swarthy looking ones giving his backpack and the possible valuables it may contain, an unusual amount of scrutiny. As he looked around the main streets, quite a few questions arose in his head. One was the possibilities of finding work here to earn his keep, and another was finding a place to spend the night. The few Drachs he posessed would only last a few days, and he was too inept a musician to sing for his supper, even though he had lessons in Waterfall City, plus the inexpert pickings he performed along the road with Rasputain; so the first thing he did was to visit a few of the business establishments to see how they were doing for help.
As Richard walked down the walk beside the main avenue amid vendors and thier wares, a lumbering Ankylosaur came into view on the main street; club tail swinging from side to side for balance. The creature scooted aside to let one of his bretheren pass by hauling a cart of baskets, and came too close to the fruit vendor's wares; and set off a cascade of oranges all over the street! Richard was in the midst of this, and scooted around trying to gather the fallen fruit, many more in the crowd bent to help out too; and the greybearded vendor came stalking out of his shop, hands on hips in an accusing pose!
"Who did this?", he bellowed. "Who disturbs my fruit?!"
"The Ankylo got too close.", Richard said, depositing an armload back onto the display, which now pitched precariousely. "This stand is a bit broken... Got a board or something to prop it up?"
"I am terribly sorry, sir.", the Ankylosaur returned to say. "Me and my tail!..."
"No worry. The display was old anyway...", Greybeard said, turning to Richard. "Say sir. If you help fix this, you may have some fruit."
"Certainly, but I have no tools or wood...", said Richard.
"Go through my shop and out the back.", the man said. "There is a shed out back, and plenty of wood."
Richard went where told, and found the scrubby lot out back was a sea of old carts, crates and other wooden flotasm. The shed was as ramshackle as the crates he had gotten the wood from; and as he laid his materials and tools down, he took off his backpack and got to work. Carpentry wasn't really his skill, but before long and with many trials, the display was put back together. The loose leg was supported by a crossmember underneath, and as a preventitive measure he did likewise for the others. To prevent easy spillage in the future, he took wooden slats and made a railing around the box of the display; which looked like a row of miniature fenceposts and crossmembers. Standing back after the hours' worth of work, he marveled at the handiwork that he didn't even know he posessed!
"Mighty fine display now...", the owner came out to say. "You are a master carpenter, then..."
"Gee, no!... This is my first try.", Richard said, handing him back the tools. "Say. You know anybody looking for someone to help out. I was looking for more steady work, not handiman work..."
"I see...", Greybeard said, thinking. "Well, I'll tell you. There are three or four trading companies in town, and they are always looking for hands and drivers.", he winked at him. "See the drivers and pullers often find themselves other work in other towns, and never come back from thier runs!..."
"That's silly...", Richard said. "To do that when there's steady work right here. Maybe the trading bosses should give out some better incentive..."
"You sound like you have a sharp business sense.", said Greybeard. "You stand a good chance o' doing well here!", he handed Richard two handfuls of mixed fruits before turning into his shop. "Good luck!"
Shrugging, Richard put the fruit minus a few tidbits to eat now into his backpack and put it back on; then he continued on down the street. A few paces further laughter and carousing of a tavern tempted him inside, but his business afforded him a mere turn of the head for a look; and onward he went down the street. At the end of the main street, the buildings formed an intersection, and a guard in an ornate toga stood there with green and red signs; and the way the larger saurians obeyed her told Richard that she was a crossing guard, like a living street signal leading one saurian through while halting another.
"Excuse me, officer!", Richard called. "Can you direct me to the shipping companies?"
"Right, then down for two more streets...", she replied, then abruptly turned her attention. "Halt!...", the surprised Lambeosaur stopped dead in her tracks as a tiny herd of hatchlings scurried across her feet! The guards' attention returned. "There you'll find the 'Mollusk Shipping Company', 'Trilobite Shipping', 'Thunder Falls Transport' and 'Megaraptor Movers'.... Move along, sir...", Richard complied.
As Richard got to the indicated streets, he turned left then right; seeing only four signs on massive buildings and barns along each street. A sea of activity passed his view as he took the left hand street, sporting signs for 'Megaraptor Movers' on one side and 'Mollusk Shipping Company' on the other. Both companies' convoys seemed nearly ready to travel, and inquirys on jobs told him in no kind terms that there was no work for him there. Dejected but not defeated, he ambled from that street and down the other; where 'Thunder Falls Transport' and 'Trilobite Shipping' had thier headquarters.
Unlike across the intersection, this street seemed empty save for the occasional pedestrian; and it looked like these companies had abandoned thier shops. 'Thunder Falls Transport' had a note on the door saying it was under new management, and all holdings were under escro pending deliberation of the property. The note on the door of the 'Trilobite Shipping' company said a different story entirely. They were all at a conference in Azonthas, and all shipments would be postponed for a fortnight. Richard went back to the other street to ask when they had left; and found they had been gone for many days, and would return in a few more days.
Richard had an idea, and went back to the Trilobite Shipping Company; opening the unlocked door and stepping inside. He noticed the waiting room typical of almost any office around the world, done up in a style of a century or more in the past, furnatire and decorations showing decades of use. The counter near the back had two large desks behind it, and many wooden cabinets that could hold all sorts of paperwork; but most of what they could have contained lay strewn all over every surface the office posessed! He wanted to leave them a note, saying that he was willing to work for them if they wished; but could not find any blank paper or writing implements due to all the mess!
Before he could do anything, Richard got to work sorting all these papers and scrolls, placing the scrolls in alphabetical order and sliding them into thier niches; then went to work doing the same with the papers, but leaving out the ones dated most recently and the most important looking. It was nearly dinner time by the rumbling of his stomach by the time he was finished enough to find the blank paper and stylus and ink. He then penned his note, placed it onto the counter next to the blotter and left the office.
Out in the street two desires took over his thoughts. One was to find a room or some place to sleep for the night, and the other was to find some place to eat. He wanted to conserve the five Drachs he had, so he took some of the fruit given to him by the vendor and began munching an apple; looking this way and that for a cheap place to sleep, but then the former concern took his thoughts and turned back to the shipping company. Next door to the office building a tall and wide barn stood, and to the other side of it was a huge warehouse; so he tried the barn door and found a cavernous space dominated by hay dust and old animal smells. His idea was to sleep in one of the paddocks, but as he turned to view the stalls where the saurians slept, he took quite a few steps back!
When the workers of the shipping company left, they had obviousely neglected to clean out the paddocks; and old Copro and other wastes littered the hay strewn floors. The smell was tremendous and the debris was insurmountable, and there was only one thing for Richard to do before he was ever to sleep here: he had to clean the paddocks, and find some way to eliminate the horrid smell! Groaning, he located a pitchfork and got to work on the first stall he came to; tossing the waste into a large pushcart found in another part of the barn. Taking the cart out back, Richard found a back door to the lot behind; where piles of the stuff were already piled, and dumped it there. Several hours later all the paddocks were devoid of used hay, and he proceeded to refill each one with new hay; but the lingering smell would still be a problem, so he searched the entire barn until he found a small bin built into the side of the barn containing a whitish poudery substance, which smelled like chalk.
This he sprinkled liberally into each stall, down the aisle between them and out into the barn proper; but this did little to remove the smells, rather to render the barn smelling somewhat stale. Doing all he could to make the barn presentable, he resolved himself to sleep near the main door of the barn for ventilation; just inside it and as far away from the smelly paddocks as possible. Though sheltered like he hadn't been in many weeks, Richard tossed and turned; hiding his nose in his bedroll all night to avoid the barn smells. In the morning he woke and repacked his backpack, then he closed the barn door behind him and began to explore the smallish community of Baz... _
The street he was on was just beginning to show signs of life, but not the signs he was wishing for. The people working at the 'trilobite Shipping Company' was away on business, and thier street was nearly devoid of activity; but thier note said they would return in a few days, and Richard Dennison hoped they didn't mind him sleeping in the barn over night! He had figured it was a fair trade for him organizing thier bosses' office as well as cleaning out the paddocks for them; so as he closed the barn door, he looked up and down the street trying to decide the way to go in his exploration of the town.
The town proper was set up like the grid of a tic-tac-toe game, two streets running parallell to one another going roughly north and south and the other two running parallell going roughly east to west; and many side lanes snaking off in different directions, off to the area farmsteads and roads leading to other towns across the island. He had found that the many people there were of the trading kind, but out here in the styx, they tended to trade things more of the crop variety - or so the many passer-by he chatted with stated. The community had many attributes, as Richard soon found out; for Baz was a trading hub with the rest of the northern parts of Dinotopia, a nexxus for trading activity all over the island.
They had two bakeries, a blacksmith shop, many curio shops and food vending shops, nearly each building had its' own ajoining warehouse or barn, it had three taverns that served as hostels, two regular hotels, a mill to grind the grain for the bakeries, seven outlying farms that grew the grains and other crops, a hatchery that was a bit larger than the one in Irenic but smaller than the Romnana hatchery, many stables to house the saurian residents and nearly all the human and smaller saurians had apartments or houses above the shops or thier own private homes near the outskirts of the town proper. As Richard walked along the streets that morning, eating the last of his fruit; he meandered up the path near the edge of town to the building that had a large glowing object in its' tower.
Door being unlocked, he stepped inside; and the humidity of the place nearly took his breath away. The entrance was not unlike the parlor of a victorian house or the reception are to a fancy hotel, but looked like it had seen decades of use; and the chairs and other seats of human and saurian anatomy looked like they could handle beings of any size. A large archway was at the near end of this room, and beyond the three steps leading down lay row upon row of niches; hay and other bedding lining them with eggs of various species nestled in many of them. He had found the hatchery, he guessed; and his rememberances of the one in Irenic made him smile, for this was the kind of place he had made his recovery, and was introduced to the many wonderful things of Dinotopia! He strolled the rows, looking at the many different types of eggs, and seeing the differences in color, noticing the many different sizes.
He turned a corner and walked down the side row, where niches were piled high against the wall, where what he thought was sunlight was streaming on them from above. Turning his head to avoid a small table near the end, he barely noticed in time an egg in a niche inches above his head wobble, its' occupant squeaking in alarm; and barely got there in time as the medicine ball sized egg fell out, him catching it mere feet from the floor! The egg squeaked and the human grunted at the unexpected weight, and he collapsed to further absorb the shock.
"Woah, Nellie!...", Richard gasped as he scrambled to his feet. "I don't think you should be out of your nest just yet!", he cradled the egg in his arms.
Just then a human attendant came out of a side room, her hands went to her mouth. "What are you doing?!... Put him back!"
"Sorry, ma'am...", Richard said like a caught child. "It just rolled out of the box up there... I was there and caught it."
"It fell?... Bring him over there.", she indicated the other table, where a shallow nestbox lay. "I have to check to see if he's hurt..."
Richard complied, setting the greenish egg with yellow speckles gently on the hay. The lady, chestnut hair and of middle aged features, went to a highboy in the corner and took out ancient medical instruments. Next she rushed over with them and inspected the egg for damage, listening to the inside with a hornlike stethoscope; and once the examination was done, she looked at Richard with the relaxed look of relief.
"Good thing you were there.", she stated instead of thanking him. "Triceratops births are rare indeed around here. If this one died, the whole island would have suffered.", she caressed the egg, smiling. "So, what is your name, and where did you come from?"
"My name is Richard.", he said, omitting his last name again. "I came from the south. Following where the road leads me... I'm looking for work, you know..."
"And you came here seeking employment?", she asked. "I'm very sorry, but the hatchery does not take applications..."
"I looked in town for work, but the shipping companies are all full up.", he explained. "One might not be, but they are away at a meeting."
"Yes, the Trilobite Shipping company is part of the Dinotopia Trading Guild. They often go off to those things...", she remembered her manners. "Um,... My name is Anna Forsythe, assistant leader of Baz Hatchery.", she offered a hand.
"Pleased to meet you, Anna...", Richard said, shaking it lightly. "You know, I was on a fishing vessel, and we got too close to the Razor Reef. We were washed ashore, and recovered in a hatchery in another fishing village. It was there that I learned that I really liked hatchlings...", he didn't know why he told that story.
"Do tell!...", Anna said. "And I see you're also a minstrel..."
"Oh, the Zithar!...", Richard blurted. "I'm really not that good."
"I'm sure you do your best.", she replied. "We have hatchlings here, too. I'm afraid they are taking thier naptime right now..."
"You don't say...", he returned. "It must be pretty rough around here. I mean, the hatchery I told you about was a little smaller than this; but there were eight or nine attendants."
"We run in shifts.", Anna said. "My apprentices and I have this shift, and the hatchery supervisor and her apprentices take the afternoon shift.", she looked into the room she was in, listening. "Then the graduates take the overnight shift."
"I saw how a hatchery was run, but didn't much understand the procedures they were doing.", Richard told her.
"Well, the hatchery is designed to take care of laying adults, incubateing eggs and prenatal care of hatchlings.", Anna Forsythe told him. "Laying chambers are in the back paddocks - fully heated, by the way. Next the incubation room here is tended for the entire term of the eggs' hatching. Once they are hatched, we take care of the hatchlings until they are ready for the parents to take them home. The Sunstone in the apex of the tower uses sunlight to heat water; which is pumped all over the complex. This keeps the entire building at a perfect temperature for incubation as well as warm enough for developing hatchlings. The laying adults have to be warm as well to ease thier laying; as well as recovery afterward."
"Very interesting.", Richard said. "All I saw at that hatchery was everyone scurrying around with no aparent order..."
"It may seem so, but there is order under that chaos.", Anna said. "The place must have been quite busy.", she looked through the doorway again. "It gets that way around here, too!"
"You look like you think it's going to get busy pretty soon.", he stated.
"The hatchlings' naptime should be over soon.", Anna told him. "I better get ready for it...", she took a step.
"Why?...", Richard asked, and found out why as something snuck up from behind and tugged on his pantcuff. He looked down quickly. "Well!... Good morning, little one!", he smiled at the shin-high biped at his feet, who was smiling back up at him. "Done with nappy?", she squawked once, leaping slightly.
"Lillith, what are you doing out of bed?", Anna scolded.
"Other up...", the little one squeaked.
No sooner than she said that then many pint sized dinosaurs bounded out of the other room! There were hatchling Triceratops, Hadrosaurs, Lambeosaurs, Hadrosaurs, Stenoychosaurs, Dromeosaurs and others Richard couldn't name; two dozen in all, and full of well-rested energy. they bounded all over the incubation room, racing down aisles and screeching to a halt when they encountered each other; only to run the other way until they discovered more of thier peers. Richard laughed at the silliness until some of them noticed him, haltinmg and looking up at him and his zithar questioningly. He fended ignorance at thier questioning looks until Anna stepped in with a scolding look on her face.
"How many times do I have to tell you not to make noise in the incubation room?", she announced.
"Oh, don't be so hard on them!", Richrd told her sympathetically. "They're young, is all...", he crouched. "How about this? If you all go back to the other room, I'll play you a song...", they all nodded, and he smiled! "Great!...", he got up. "Let's go!..."
Like the Pied Piper, Richard Dennison led a parade of miniature dinosaurs through the incubatiuon room and into another room with many tiny nest beds, the center carpeted and set up like a daycare center; toys and other juvenile paraphanalia strewn everywhere. He found a short bench and grunted as he sat on it, then he reached for the Zithar and adjusted it for play; and in the mean time many of the hatchlings gathered on the floor before him in preparation for the concert they were about to receive.
Richard thought a moment before strumming his first note, then selected a tune from memory and began to play. He played two of the childrens' songs that he remembered from his own childhood, one about a train and the other about a dog; and the saurian children grunted and squealed with glee, nearly roaring thier cheers at the end of each song! Anna viewed all this from the doorway, broad smile on her face; and from other doorways leading off to other parts of the hatchery, a small human boy poked his head out to listen as well.
A soft braying from another doorway proved that there were others about as well; and a little human girl came out leading a baby Brach whose knees were bandaged, both halting at the doorway they came out of. An older human boy came from outside carrying firewood, and paused as he dropped his load in an alcove next to what Richard guessed was the kitchen of the building; and these children stopped to appreciate Richard's music as well. As soon as he ran out of songs to sing, he pantingly placed the Zithar on his back and began to stand; and all the children moaned as thier concert was finished. this was Anna's cue to enter the room for real.
"This is Richard, and he came to play for you today.", she told them. "Wasn't that nice of him?", brays of agreement.
"If you want, I can come back later and play again.", Richard told them as he stood. "You kids are so nice, I can't wait to return!"
"Now, I'll need to make it official with the hatchery master...", Anna told them. "If you would follow me, Richard..."
Anna led him back out into the incubation room, where they had left the Triceratops egg; and she immediately went over to tend to it. She turned the egg slightly, giving it a last looking over before it was to be put back in its' niche. Richard Dennison followed her over there, reaching for the hefty thing and fingering it as she prepared his nestbox with the aid of a stool. "You sing and play better than you know...", she said offhandedly. "You also have a wonderful way with the hatchlings. I will really tell the hatchery master about you, if you want.", she smiled, pointing at the egg. "Could you bring him over?..."
"You don't have to do that.", Richard said, hefting the egg gently. "What I really want to do is work at the shipping companies; but I really like these kids...", he handed the egg to her, then cooed. "Careful next time. Ok, fella?...", he rested his palm on it one last time.
"Well, the decision is yours, of course.", Anna grasped the egg and placed it in the niche. "But maybe you could stop by from time to time. Your playing is a wonderful treat, and they seem to obey you well."
"I'll try...", he thought. "Maybe I could work here part-time! I'm pretty good at multitasking..."
"What is that?", Anna asked.
"It means I can do more than one thing at once.", he explained. "Maybe I'll be good in both shipping and the hatchery...!"
"You are a strange yet wonderful person, Richard.", she said. "I hope you stay in Baz a long time!"
"Me too...", Richard shuffled. "I'll be around town, so I guess we'll see a lot of each other.", he turned.
"Where are you staying?", Anna asked suddenly.
"Nowhere in particular.", Richard told her. "I spent the night in the barn of the Trilobite Shipping company, and I was thinking of getting a room in town..."
"No wonder you smell that way!...", she chuckled softly. "Maybe you could stay at the hatchery...", she blurted. "I'm sure there's a spare room around here..."
"Well, if I can't find some place cheap in town, I might take you up on the offer!", Richard Dennison smiled at her, and from the look on her face, he knew she liked it! "See you around...!", he called as he found his way out of the Baz hatchery...
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Post by thundertail on Oct 12, 2008 20:28:25 GMT -5
THIRTEEN: Richard strolled down the lane from the hatchery toward the town of Baz, smile on his face yet he wasn't sure why. There was several factors he had to consider now that he visited the hatchery. One was the charm that those small beings eminated, and the charm that this made him eminate from himself. His singing and his musical prowess on his Zithar only increased when he was in thier presence, and he felt that he was beginning to love those little ones already! There was another factor that was a total surprise to him, for the attendant there really seemed to take a shine to him; even though he was all but sure that it was only his imagination! He hoped it wasn't his imagination, though; for he was beginning to think that the feeling was mutual...!
Having these musings as he walked into town, Richard soon became aware of his ever present dilemmas as he paused to nod at the occasional human or saurian that passed by. One of those problems came as a rumbling in his stomach, and he had remembered he had eaten the last of the fruit that greybeard the fruit venror had given him. He had to find something to eat pretty soon as lunch time was evidentally upon him; and the smell coming from one street enticed him to no end, for the bread of the bakery down there smelled like it just came out of the oven! He turned in that direction and quickened his pace to the door of a small shop featuring a carving of a loaf of Italian bread as the sign above the door. The bell tinkled as he opened it, betraying the presence of another customer, of which he was it.
"Coming!...", came a female voice in the lilt of a sweet old grandmother. "Browse around, if you want..."
"Just looking...", Richard called back.
The shop sported lines of wicker baskets under tables and displays, all full of breads of many shapes and grains in paper; and many other baked goods and pasteries on the tables above him. His eyes feasted on all this baked goodness, and his rumbling stomach sounded mighty jealous of his eyes about now! Fortunately there was a smaller table by the counter sporting sliced breads with jars of jellies and condiments, and the sign above all this said 'Free samples' in both human and saurian; and that bade him to take some samples as he waited. The slice of two tone bread he slathered with a minty jelly, which lasted no longer than a few seconds; and he was just about to try a dainish like treat when the beads behind the counter parted to reveal the hind section of a stooped old lady, bringing out another tray of rolls behind her.
"The ring-bread is especially good today...", she announced. "The wheat was threshed fresh last twoday...", then she turned to place the tray on the counter, smiling at Richard with a missing tooth grin.
"Good morning, ma'am.", Richard said, smiling back. "I was walking along, and the smell was so wonderful that I couldn't help but stop by!"
"Welcome to Crocker's bakery, sir.", she cackled. "Finest bakery in town... Come to think of it, the ONLY bakery in town!"
"And easy to find!...", Richard cut in. "Just follow your nose!..."
"And how may I help you?...", she asked after her laughter died down.
"I was considering purchasing some of your wares,". he began. "However I discovered my purse somewhat lean.", he looked worried. "I mean, I have enough for some bread; but my money will not last long at this rate..."
"I understand, sonny.", she said, beginning to put the rolls into a basket. "You sound new to town."
"I just got here yesterday.", he told her. "I looked for work all day yesterday, but no luck so far but odd jobs."
"And what did you do?", she asked, tilting a head.
"I repaired a display, I cleaned out some stables and I organised an office.", he said simply.
"Well, I'm sure they apreciated it.", she considered. "And so do I!... So much that you may take what you need."
"But I...", he began.
"Tutt, tutt...!", she held up a hand. "But if you insist on working for your lunch, come by here at dawn tomorrow and help out. An old lady like me can't be up so early!"
"One as young as you?... Phah!...", Richard sounded offended. "Well, never let it be said that Richard the wanderer wasn't helpful to the young ladies!... I'll be here tomorrow morning, once I find a place to stay, that is..."
"Well, never let it be said that Beaitrice Crocker turns away gallant men!", she chuckled. "Where did you sleep last night, boy?", she asked with slyness.
"In the stables I cleaned up.", he told her.
"It shows!", she cackled, thumbing her nose. "Um,... Say!... I got a room out back. Not much, just a store room; but the roof don't leak, and you can use it if you clear some room."
"But I...", Richard began, but was cut off.
"I won't hear anything but yes!...", Beaitrice Crocker held up a bony finger. "Rawls!... Where you at?..."
A few moments later a domed Pachycephalosaur came lumbering out of the beaded back room. "Yes, Bea...?", he rumbled.
"Please show this gentilebeing to the store room.", she commanded.
"But that's MY job!", he complained, misinterpeting her command.
"No, no! He will be staying there until he can make better sleeping arrangements.", she explained, patting his saurian shoulder, receiving an annoyed grunt. "Do be a dear and show him."
"Yes'm...", he grunted, permanent scowl furrowing. "Follow me, sir..."
"While you're at it, see if Topsey is around.", she winked at Richard. "Always late...!"
Nodding his thick cranium, Rawls loped out the front door; and Richard shruggingly followed the mansize creature with his things. At a skinny alley he turned and went down between the bakery and the warehouse that was right next to it. Near the back of the building lay a tiny courtyard that serviced the backs of the adjoining four buildings, and the saurian turned again at a squarish shed that butted up against the back of the bakery; then he wrestled the loose door open to reveal a tiny area only twice as big as a walk in closet, bags of grains and flour lining all four walls nearly to the rafters of the shack. There was another door that led back through the kitchen, and the walkway between the bags was the only free floorspace available. The saurian muscled several fifty pound sacks out into the kitchen, and turned to leave Richard to his devices without so much as saying how do you do!
He took off his backpack and set his Zithar aside for the moment, figuring out how to arrange his sleeping area. The bags of grain and flour had to be rearranged so he could lie down, but the uneven wooden floor of the shack looked leess comfortable than the rough ground he had been sleeping on the past few weeks; so a thought hit him to use several of the sacks as a makeshift mattress, once sufficient room for it plus a walkway could be devised. After many moments of muscling a dozen sacks, a corner of the shack was cleaned out and restacked; and his mattress was soft, but not very giving and lumpy.
Finished for the time being, he headed out through the kitchen with his Zithar and his good intentions. Mrs. Crocker had some bread for him for lunch, plus a hearty meal of lentils and pasta to go with it; saying she couldn't send someone out hungry. Then she told him what she wanted him to do for the use of the store room, which was to light all the ovens and sift a bin full of flour; necesary tasks having to do with baking for the day, and let him leave to find more work after the memorable meal was done. Upon leaving the bakery, Richard was almost bowled over by this Strutheomimus that sputtered and apologised profusely; her apron dangled from not being tied, and she accepted his help tying it.
"Oh!... Thank you, mister!", she repeated. "I'm so sorry!..."
"Topsey?... That you?", Mrs. Crocker called from the shop. "You're late."
"Ooh!... Got to go!...", she scurried into the bakery, being verbally scolded as she entered.
Smiling, Richard continued on to his wanderings; stopping by the Trilobite Shipping company just in case the owner and crew had decided to return. He saw the place deserted like the last time he was there; office empty save for his organizational handiwork, and the barn lay still devoid of life save for the ever present sweaty dinosaur stench. Before he continued his wanderings, he thought hard about some way to remove the stench in there; and short of going to the outside world and getting a few cases of deodorant spray, could not think of anything that would suffice around here!
He resolved to wander the streets until he came up to some sweet and pleasant smells, and found a flower vending cart on a corner with its' Archaeopterex venders proclaiming her and her mates' wares. They animatedly flitted from potential customer to potential customer, making suggestions to woo thier ladies with them, or wish someone good health and similar forms of verbal persuasion; and then they spied Richard on the opposite corner, watching them selling thier flowers.
"What troubles you, kind sir?", one asked, flitting to his shoulder.
"Having troubles with a lady?", the other asked, landing on his other.
"No, not really.", he replied in kind. "I have an odor problem..."
"You smell fine...", one misunderstood.
"All humans smell thus!...", the other said.
"No!... Not that!", he chuckled. "See, I was trying to clean out some stables, but can't seem to get rid of the smell."
"Flowers smell fine, even when they wilt.", the first Archaeopterex said.
"We send them to the Copro Guild when they go stale.", the other said.
"I think we could let you use them instead!", the first stated.
"Meet us at main street at the end of our shift.", the other told him.
"Bring something to put them in, and all will be yours!", stated the first.
"That sounds great!", Richard finally got thier plan. He was to spread the flowers in the paddocks, making them smell better! "When is the end of your shift?", they told him.
After the conclusion of the day, where he stopped to help the fruit vendor shore up another one of his displays; he met up with both birds at main street with the wheelbarrow he got from the Trilobite Shipping company barn. He thanked them as he placed all thier old flowers into it, and wheeled his way back to the barn. Taking a pitchfork found in the tool area of the barn, he spread the flowers all over each paddock; and within hours the whole barn began to smell like hybiscus and rose and geranium - with the ever-present undertones of manure, which couldn't be helped!
That done, Richard went back to the bakery; where he received yet another glorious meal from the aged and evidentally lonely baker, talking to her about what went on that day. Richard really got to know her helpers, Rawls the Pachy and Topsie the Strut; mentioning that he stayed at a female Pachy's place when he visited Waterfall City, and told Topsie that he had never met a nicer person than she. Mrs Crocker smiled at the conversations and asked when was his hatchday, reason being so she could bake him a cake! Meal over, he went to the store room for the night; and in the morning he woke to light the stoves and sift out the flour, making sure he cleaned up after himself, before setting out with his Zithar to visit the people of Baz one more time.
The first place he visited was the hatchery, singing himself hoarse to the cheering of many hatchlings; and getting a small lesson on how to examine an egg in the bargain, of which the Hadrosaur egg had dried out and needed tending to. Anna talked to him about the many details that needed to be performed by every hatchery worker twenty four hours a day, and the fact that each shift neded two or more workers in order to properly tend to everything; and introduced him to her three apprentices, Christopher, Samantha and James. These three children were sixteen, eleven and five respectively, and seemed well versed in both hatchery expertise and manners; and dutifully went back to thier work right after they said hi to Richard. As he eventually left, Anna squeezed his hand and was reluctant to let go as they split apart; and Richard left the hatchery to go back into town.
The one thing that he noticed when he came out into the main street was the relative quiet that prevailed there. Usually the whole place was abustle with activity, but this morning only light traffic and moderate city noise seemed to be the order of the day. The area that seemed the most noisey was the streets that the shipping companies were on, and when Richard got there he didn't see much activity down one street; but the other was so full of people, saurians and carts he wasn't sure he was at the right place!
The Trilobite Shipping company had come home at last!... _
Richard Dennison had to wind his way through the crowds of carts, people and saurians; down the street to the cluster of unfamiliar carts, careworn and dirty yet full of all sorts of things originating from every point of Dinotopia. Extra workers had come from the other shipping companies in town to offload the goods, which must have been very valuable indeed for the care they were taking in thier work. He passed a Hadrosaur driven contrivance and skirted between that cart and an even larger cart being pulled by a Stegosaur; and finally made it to the front of the buildings on that side of the street.
An older man with the build of a gorilla stood at the head of the throng, holding a scroll-carrying clipboard and intermittently checking off his list while bellowing orders to the throng of people crowding around his carts. The drivers were directing the way the others were doing thier jobs from thier seats, or hopped down to undertake the unloading themselves; and each seemed as tough and weatherworn as the carts they drove, as were thier pullers. A Triceratops bellowed and whacked an errent worker in the gut with his nosehorn as the Troodont tried to unfasten his halter, which caught on his eyehorn painfully, Richard figured. The human driver stepped down, shoved the Troodon out of the way and ripped the halter off the creatures' face, sticking his tongue out at him in the process before continuing the unhitching procedure himself.
The confident lady driving the Hadrosaur driven cart hopped down, undoing the hitch pin in the process and led her puller into the barn. The Dromeosaur hissed at several human workers as they crashed around several crates, making them drop the boxes; and showed them with a taloned finger that the contents were fragile, using the finger in a throat-slashing gesture and making the workers decide to help unload another cart! Needless to say that the activity around the Trilobite Shipping company was a scene that was no less than chaos!
As the unloading ebbed as the goods were distributed to where they were supposed to be, the gorilla-like man finished checking off his list and turned to go back into his office. The drivers took thier pullers and led them into the barn, leaving thier carts there in the street for easy loading in the morning, or so Richard thought as he followed the boss to the doorway. He saw his unknowing shock as he went into his office and came out a few moments later; and his flash of understanding as he read Richard's note left on the counter his first day in town. The man finished reading the note and looked up to see Richard standing there.
"You Richard?", the man barked. "Yes, sir...", Richard said, pretending to be brave.
"You did that?", the man pointed a thumb behind him.
"Yes, sir.", Richard said. "I couldn't find anything to write with, so I cleaned up until I did..."
"You nit!... You ruined my system!", the man bellowed. "How am I gonna find anything in there?!..."
"I organized it alphabetically, sir. It should be real easy to find things.", Richard said.
"Prove it...", the man said. "Go find the Horsetail Grove cargo manifest for last harvest."
"Yes sir.", Richard went into the office, noticing how the man towered over him, and how he hovered as the right papers were found. "Here you go...", he handed the papers.
"Find the annual profit report for last decade.", he ordered.
"It's right here.", Richard went to a smaller file cabinet and only took a second. "See? Easy to find!"
"Well, my system is like this: 'A pile for everything and everything in its' pile'.", the man said, then softened his tune. "But yes, I do see how this system is more efficient.", he hung his head. "Name's Sidney Mallone, owner of the Trilobite Shipping company.", he offered a meaty hand. "Sorry for being snippy..."
"No worries, sir!", Richard said. "I had no right to mess with your system..."
"Well, I was thinking to using YOUR system all the time from now on.", Sidney said. "See, I was never good wid the books..."
"Say boss!...", called a man looking like he came from India. "We got a problem in the barn!"
"What is it now, Hannibal?", Sidney asked gruffly.
"The barn is all clean and smells good...", the man said.
"So? You did your chores for once...", Sidney said tersely.
"That's just it!", the man insisted. "We forgot to clean the barn before we left.", he looked worried. "Somebody must have done it while we were gone..."
"Ah,... Excuse me...", Richard cut in. "I cleaned the barn.", he shuffled. "I got here a few days ago, looking for work. I spent my first night here in your barn, but it was so smelly that I had to clean it. I couldn't do much for the smell, so I worked out a deal with some flower venders for thier dead flowers. Makes a good deodorant..."
"Wait!", mister Mallone said. "You mean you straightened the office AND cleaned out the barn?", Richard nodded, and Mallone smiled. "Boy!... You must want a job really bad!...", the other man chuckled.
"Yeah! We could use a stableboy!", Hannibal commented.
"Well, we wouldn't need one if you did your job!", Mallone gave an evil stare, and Hannibal scooted out of the office. He smiled. "We do things off the cuff here...", he said. "Now... About that job."
"I won't ask for much...", began Richard.
"And it won't BE much.", said Mallone. "You get free room and board, and if we make a big profit, you get a cut.", he led Richard out of the office and headed for the barn. "You are to keep the barn clean, make sure the books balance and tend to the pullers when they're here."
"Sssay bosss...", hissed the Dromeosaur. "You did not ssay we'd get a ffree meal!"
"Who's the cutie?", asked the lady, brushing down the Steg.
"He's more my type!", said the other man.
"I thought I was...", said the female Troodont.
"Pipe down, everyone!...", barked Mallone. "This is our new stableboy. He'll also straighten out the books."
"That would prevent us from that repremand from the Transportation Guild, like last year...", said Hannibal.
"Shaddup!", Mallone cleared his throat. "Now, I want you all to introduce yourselves to him..., AND BE NICE!", he stormed back to the office.
"Hi...", Richard said meekly.
"Aw!... Don't mind us...", said the Triceratops in the stall nearest him. "We don't bite!"
"Much...", added the Dromeosaur.
"Costello! Leave the man be!", said the lady. "Um,... my name is Emily Freedom. You are?..."
"Richard.", he returned.
"Richard what?", asked the other male Triceratops down the row.
"Um, just Richard.", he said.
"Well 'just Richard', nice to know you!", Emily said. "This is Hannibal Presha. Over there is Costello. Pitching hay is miss Gill. Over there is Paul Grimes.", she pointed out the Indian man, the Dromeosaur, the Troodont and the other man in turn. "Down the line in the stalls are Flatbottom, Pinney, Malachi, Croaker and Cordial.", she pointed at the Triceratops, the Ankylosaur, the other Triceratops, the Hadrosaur and the Stegosaur in turn.
"We have dorms above the stalls, and a kitchen opposite the grain silo.", said Hannibal. "The dorms are for both male and female, so no funny business!...", the rest laughed lewdly.
"We like plenty of hay and grain in our feed, and plenty of water after a run.", said Flatbottom. "And don't touch us unless we ask!"
"I don't mind...", said Cordial, and Croaker nodded.
"Anyway, the stableboy is responsable for all our laundry.", said Paul. "There is a laundrymaid in town, and we all pitch in for her fee."
"Other jobs include keeping all the tack and harnesses straightened out,", said Malachi. "and the wagons must be kept clean."
"Oh, yeah!", Flatbottom added. "Upon request, you are supposed to groom us. You know, rub us down, give us mudbaths, manicures and the like..."
"Flatbottom!...Paul!...You fibbers!...", Pinney scolded. "He's not supposed to do all that!", the Ankylosaur turned to Richard. "Really, our drivers are supposed to take care of us pullers, and they are supposed to take care of themselves."
"I see...", Richard looked at all the guilty faces. "Well, I wouldn't mind doing all that once in a while. I like working around dinosaurs!"
"A person will do anything for honest work...", said Pinny. "Go on, Richard. Say hello to your new workmates!..."
"Yeah,... why not!", Costello said, extending a clawed hand; and remembered to retract them for the shake.
Richard went right down the line, first greeting the drivers, and then the pullers. Hannibal Presha had a vicelike grip, and moved with a swagger to accept the handshake. Paul's grip was even stronger, and he didn't let go right away; but smiled a cheesy smile with his goateed face before hopping back onto the paddock railing he was sitting on. Emily Freedom's grip was right up there too, but her shake was a little looser than the rest; and she winked at him before letting go. Gill took his handshake with shyness; but her saurian strength was even more intense than the humans present, she smirked and went back to her chores. A lick was what Richard got when he aproached Flatbottom, and the Triceratops let him touch his nosehorn with a rumble. Pinney cooed and preened at a slow pat on the muzzle, swaying her clubtail in a friendly manner. Malachi merely let Richard get as close as the paddock gate before grunting caution and making the human take steps back. Croaker croaked greeting before extending a saurian paw, and receiving a mild, unsure shake fior the effort. Cordial accepted the noserub, and reciprocated with a mild handlkck before bowing as Richard drew away. He figured this was enough of an initial greeting so far, and he would get to know them all over time; however, liking them could prove to be another matter entirely!
"Now, up this ladder is the dorms.", Emily said as she went to them. "I'll show you..."
"No flirting up there!...", said Paul as Richard followed, getting more jeers and catcalls.
She ascended the ladder with practiced ease, but Richard took a little longer, and figured he would get used to this as well. The hay littered space had rows of bunks down one side set head to foot, and the other side had a foot locker and a wardrobe locker per bed. The loft could hold ten beds easy, but only eight were present; and of those only a few looked occupied. The rest of the space was taken up by a communal table and a highboy that Emily explained held things like cards and other games of chance - just to pass the time between runs, she assured him. Richard took the bunk cxlosest to the ladder that wasn't occupied; and this one had no bedclothes to speak of - not even a pillow, but it would be way more comfortable than the grain sacks he had been sleeping on the past few days.
"Um,... I had to get a place to spend the night.", Richard said to her. "I got a place at the bakery, in the store room. I got to go back there and tell them I can't stay there any more."
"Well, the barn door's always open!", Emily said, smiling. "You go get your things and come back here.", she turned back before going down the ladder. "Tomorrow the work will REALLY begin!"...
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Post by thundertail on Oct 16, 2008 5:04:26 GMT -5
FOURTEEN: Mrs. Crocker was sad to see Richard leave the bakery, and promised him free bread for as long as he stayed in Baz. Her helpers, Rawls and Topsey, gave him a warm good bye; and promised that he'd get to know them both a lot better, a thing of which he did over time. He collected the contents of his backpack and loaded them in, took up his bedroll and stacked the flour sacks he had been sleeping on back into thier piles, grabbed his Zithar and headed for the door through the kitchen. Richard was surprised at the fact that everyone in the bakery was there to see him off, along with many of the bakerys' best customers; and said his farewells to them as well. He stepped out the door at the end of it all and headed across town to the Trilobite Shipping company, nodding at every passer by he came across. He met many now familiar faces along the way, from the two Archaeopterex that let him have thier flower leavings to mister Randall Sommers the greybearded fruit vendor he helped by fixing his fruit display; and once he got there, mister Mallone stopped him from going up in the barn for a moment, beckoning him with a finger silently. He led him through the foyer of the office to the office proper, and Richard saw that his paperwork was strewn everywhere again! "I just can't wrap my head around these figgers...", Mallone told him. "The way you do it is so neatly done..." "Don't worry sir. I know just what to do!...", Richard assured as he sat right at the desk. "All it takes is a little organization and a little math..." Richard Dennison put all of his business skills into play as he shuffled the papers before him to figure out what mister Mallone was trying to do. The newer papers were the manifests for thier last trade expedition, thier cargo and thier supplies, what they delivered and what they picked up in every town they passed through; and each was done for every cart they had, which was five teams. He was trying to figure out the profit they had just accrued, and the figures were not very extensive had they been more organised. Richard sorted out all the paperwork for all the carts, coallated what was delivered and picked up to who did what town. Then he began the task of tallying things all together. "You're not very good at this, are you?", Richard commented as Mallone bowed in shame. "Have you taken school, by any chance?" "Nay, who needs it?", he replied. "Well, if you want to run a business, you got to have an education", Richard said. "You got to at least know basic math..." "Can you teach me?", he asked meekly. "I don't want anyone to know, so shut up about it!" "I'll teach you, but will you promise to learn?", Richard asked, Mallone nodded. "Now, let's see here...", he got back to work. The total goods they communally delivered had a value of about twelve hundred Drachs, calculated by a basic goods valuation chart he had found earlier under the pile of papers; and the goods they brought back was valued at about one thousand six hundred and seventy Drachs, and that meant a trip profit of three hundred and thirty Drachs. Richard showed him the results; and even though he looked like he understood the shape of the numbers in general, he had a hard time figuring out how Richard came up with the number. "So, we got that much, huh?...", the burly man considered. "Got to pay the help..." "OK!... So, there is twelve of us including you...", Richard said. "I get half off the top!", Mallone insisted. "So you get one hundred and sixty five Drachs.", Richard corrected. "Now one hundred and sixty five split with eleven workers is sixteen Drachs each." "You counted yourself, right?", Mallone asked, Richard nodded. "Dont!... You weren't employed when we made that profit." "OK, so that divided into ten is sixteen and a half Drachs apice.", he scratched his head. "Wait! You can't split a Drach in half..." "If there are half shares, the drivers get more.", Mallone told him. "So, the drivers get seventeen and the pullers get sixteen...", he looked puzzled. "Is that fair?" "Anybody don't think so can find other work!", Mallone gruffly said. "They know this, and now I'm telling you!" "Got it!...", Richard said as he cleared up his workspace. "Anything else you need? I got to claim my bunk before they're all taken!" "Nay,... Off with ye'...", Mallone scooted, then turned to the back room and his quarters. Richard Dennison picked up his pack and his Zithar from the waiting room and walked out of the office, then turned and opened the human size door next to the main bay door of the barn. The interior was lit by many lanterns spaced around the paddocks, and the upper loft was similarilly lit; and each of the paddocks' occupants were in the middle of thier dinner, being tended to by Hannibal Presha and Gill the Troodont, and those two were receiving terse replies for thier services. Richard waved at them and climbed the wooden rung ladder up to the loft, seeing the rest of the pullers deep into some game of cards at the table at the far end of the loft. He grunted as he made it to his feet, and went to the empty bunk nearest to the ladder, which had a headdboard, a rock hard mattress of straw and no pillow or bedclothes. Shrugging, he took off his backpack, laid aside his Zithar and began to unfurl his bedroll to use as a blanket; then he took out all the hard goods inside his backpack in preparation to use it as a pillow. Once this was done, he began to arrange his belongings to be placed in his foot locker across the way. Sitting on the bed he claimed, Richard scarcely noticed that a presence was standing beside him as he mused over the firestarting items in his pack; and turned with a start at the female coughing sound near him. "All settled in?", Emily Freedom didn't wait for his reply. "Good!... We're having a game of 'Put And Take' over there... Want to join in?" "No, thank you...", Richard said. "I'm pretty beat..." "Come on!... It's early!", she insisted. "We won't beat you too badly..." "I don't know how to play that game...", Richard told her. "Everyone knows 'Put And Take'...!", Emily turned. "Say guys! He don't know how to play!..." "I mean, I haven't played it since I was a child...", Richard dared not let them think he wasn't born on Dinotopia!... "I was pretty bad back then, and I forgot nearly everything I knew." "Well, come on over and watch.", Emily suggested. "Maybe it'll spark your memory..." "That ain't all she's trying to spark!", Costello hissed, and the man next to him snickered. "Are you going to deal, or what?" "Get over here and deal already!...", Paul Grimes then added. Emily Freedom shrugged and walked back over to the game, and Richard Dennison got up from his bunk and followed her. As she sat, Richard merely leaned against a beam to watch; and then the game began in earnest a few moments later. The game seemed to be similar to 'poker' and 'go fish' all at once, and slight wagering took place from time to time. It seemed to be played as a catalist for conversation, and the conversation that wafted around the table was racy and rude, not at all for the ears of a true Dinotopian; and all of them repeatedly apologised to Richard for thier words, of which he replied 'to each thier own'. By the time the first lanterns had used up thier supply of fuel, Gill and Hannibal had already finished thier chores down in the barn and had already gone to bed. The three playing cards had the looks of bored determination on thier faces as they tried to outdo the other in thier card playing prowess. This strategy, to Richard's estimation, made the overall contest a three way tie; and at long last the trio decided to turn in for the night. For Richard it was still rather early, as the sun had only set a handful of hours ago; so he stood up in the loft looking out over the darkened barn below. Already the heavy sussurusses of several saurian sleepers reached his ears, along with the gentle crashings of said saurians turning in thier slumber. By the time he turned back around, he noticed that the rest of them were now sound asleep as well; and having nothing else to do, felt his way to his bunk and bedded himself down for the night... _ Something hard yet giving collided with Richard Dennison's gut, making him spring to a sitting position in a flash; looking around confused until he finally realised where he was. Nobody was in the loft except the Dromeosaur named Costello, he was just straightening his bunk; which was now pillowless, smirk on his face made the human know who was the perpetrator of the prank! "What the...?!", Richard gasped. "Now get up!", the saurian rasped. "You're already late!" "I had this wierd dream...", the human yawned. "Well, if you don't get up, the nightmare will begin!", Costello told him. "The boss wants you to clean out the stalls and bring in fresh hay. Chop, chop!", the Dromeosaur stole over to retrieve his pillow and placed it on top of his bunk three beds down. Richard got up, straightened out his own bunk and was down in the barn proper within moments. He gathered the wheelbarrow, rake and shovel and wheeled them to the paddocks; seeing the other drivers prepare thier pullers to leave and go out back, where a corral of sorts was located. As he got to work he saw that Flatbottom was still there, moaning and disturbing the hay on the floor with a nosehorn. The creature looked like he was in pain, so Richard went over to look. "Go away, human...", the Triceratops said as he noticed him. "Leave me be..." "What's wrong?", Richard was concerned. "Nothing...", the creature winced. "I'll live..." "You're hurt. Please..., what is it?", Richard got just to the paddock gate. "I can find a healer..." "You try pulling three tons of stuff and see if you like it!", Flatbottom bellowed, obviousely in pain. He gasped, giving up. "Look, it's my back, OK?!" "Well, somebody better look at it.", Richard told him, getting into the paddock. "You can't go pulling your cart in this condition...", he got to the flank of the animal. "You really care,... don't you?", Flatbottom calmed a bit. "See, I got this lumbago or something. It usually goes away with rest." "I been all over, and had some great massages in my lifetime...", Richard was saying, examining the creature's back inexpertly with his hands. "They usually fix me right up..." Flatbottom didn't protest, so Richard began rubbing hands all up and down his flank, reaching up to the spine and down toward the short ribs and out to the base of the tail. This produced a soothed rumbling in the creature, and soon Flatbottom turned to see what was going on. "It usually starts in my neck...", he sounded calmer, but gasping. "Here?...", the human began to rub just behind the frill, and the Triceratops moaned with relief. "That's it...!", Flatbottom melted. "That's the ticket!...", he stood there, enjoying the attention, rear leg practically shaking like when one scratches a dog's back! "You know,", the beast said after many long moments of this procedure. "Nobody ever treated me this good... Maybe that's because I was such a mean one all my life..." "Doesn't your Partner care?...", Richard asked. "Look at this!... Your muscles are all tied into knots!...", he redoubled his efforts. "You're too tense..." "No kidding! I never took no guff from anyone...", Flatbottom conmtinued. "My first Partner I kicked around, just for ignoring my wishes. I met up with many nasty people in my travels, like pirates and unfair merchants; none of which got what they came for out of me, let me tell you...! I even went through the Rainy basin once, and rammed a Tyranosaur into next week!", he slumped. "What does your Partner think about this?", Richard asked. "I guess nobody likes me... And Paul Grimes don't care about anybody.", the creature said. "Maybe because he's not my Partner." "You're pulling my leg!...", Richard said as he listened. "You'd be dinomeat if that Tyranosaur got you!...", more rubbing. "And no creature on Dinotopia I ever knew was as mean as you say." "It's true! I swear!", the beast maintained. "Now, as for me...", Richard continued his massage. "I had many jobs, and did all sorts of things. Never stayed in a place long enough to find a Partner,... or girlfriend, for that matter....The thing that got me was people always telling you what to do; like they knew better than you on what you were to do or something...", he paused to look at the saurian eye next to him. "I got a brain, and I know for myself what I want to do... Is there any crime in doing what you want to do?" "No, not really.", Flatbottom said after thought. "But it is sometimes prudent to take what they give you. What were you doing right before you arrived at Baz?" "I was on the road, walking from place to place.", Richard admitted. "I was being told to go someplace I didn't want to be, so I left on my own... I was in a bad way and needed work, then I came here to find work on my own." "And did you find what you were looking for?", the beast asked. "I don't know yet,...", Richard paused his massage. "But this was my own choice, and it seems to be turning out better than the prospect of what I was told to do." "You think so, huh?...", Flatbottom chuckled and arched his back. "Hmmmm...! Good as new!...", he smiled into Richard's face. "Keep that up and I might grow to like you, human!", he nosed the paddock door open and sauntered out into the corral. Smiling inwardly, Richard continued cleaning out the paddocks, and when he was done with one load, he brought the wheelbarrow out back to the Copro pile. He noticed the other dinos out in the corral, pacing about, talking or off on thier own. He saw Malachi the other Triceratops and Cordial the Stegosaur over by a bare, barkless tree; and they were taking turns either ramming it with thier horns as Malachi was doing or battering it with thier spiked tail as Cordial was doing, getting out some of thier frustration, he figured. Pinney and Croaker was near a wooden barrel laid on its' side, and both Ankylosaur and Hadrosaur were kicking and clubbing it around like a soccer ball. He smiled at thier antics, dumped his load and wheeled back into the barn. As soon as he was half way through with his chore, for he still needed to spread fresh hay into the paddocks, mister Mallone came into the barn and looked around until he spotted him. He walked over and shadowed Richard with his hulking form before speaking. "I just went to the bank and cashed in my cargo vouchers.", he said flatly. "Time to pay the help... Follow me." Richard did as was asked, leaving his tools and work the way it was for now. He followed mister Mallone out into the street and into the office next door, and in to the office proper right at his feet. Inside was a small box looking more like a treasure chest than anything else, built in lock operated by a skeleton key adorning the front. Mallone opened the box and displayed the many newly minted Drach coins inside, dumping them onto the desk in a pile. Richard knew what to do immediately, and began counting the money, placing them in stacks of ten drachs each; and within five or six minutes had thirty three piles of Drachs in mister Mallone's blotter. "It's all there, sir...", Richard said. "Now, your cut was a hundred and sixty five Drachs..." "Wait!... How you know it's all there?", he asked. "Well, each of these piles have ten Drachs in them.", Richard figured that he knew nothing about counting! "There are thirty three stacks; so that makes three hundred and thirty Drachs, like last night...", he tried to coach his memory. "And that means I get sixteen stacks, plus five from another stack?", he asked. "Yup!", Richard figured he knew money then; especially if it concerned him! "Now, the drivers get seventeen...", he started by placing five of the stacks of ten out, then took three off five other stacks, rearranging them into stacks of ten, making one and a half stacks. "And the pullers get sixteen...", he placed five stacks of ten out, then placed six drachs beside each of those until there wasn't any Drachs left. "Put the pay in these envilopes...", Mallone went to a shelf and pulled down many light leathern pouches vaguely resembling envilopes. "Put it in...", he held each up so they could be filled. He directed Richard to place the small sacks into the chest, pullers toward the right and drivers to the left, while he went to get other things from a side room. Mallone came carrying a tiny folding table and a folding chair. He had Richard take these items out while he handled the chest, and led the way out to the barn. Once there, he had Richard set up both table and chair while he went to see where the rest had gone off to. "Ok, listen up, you mutts!", Mallone bellowed many times as he paced from area to area. "Gather 'round cuz it's payday!..." None of them needed to be told twice as a near stampede of humans and saurians came from wherever they had gotten to to stand in a loose knot before the table. For such a small group, they made quite an awful lot of noise; and mister Mallone was kind enough to wait an extra few seconds before yelling once more as he sat. "Pipe down, you guys!...", said he. "Like I said, today is payday. When we're done here, you're dismissed for a twoday", cheers. "Remember!... No drinking, fighting or causing trouble in town!... If the constable catches you, I'm not bailing you out!" "What if they started it?", either Hannibal or Paul asked, Richard couldn't tell! "Then it'll be ME you'll deal with!...", said the boss. "Now, who wants thier money, or what?", all conferred all at once, and he glared at them. "Richard, the box..." "Here you go...", said Richard. "Costello!", Mallone barked, and the saurian trooped up and snatched the envilope out of his hands. "Emily Freedom!", he called, and she sashayed up and slipped it out of his fingers. "Hannibal Presha!", said he, and the man shuffled up and hed it placed in his hands. "Gill!", Mallone yelled softer, and she grasped it meekly. "Paul Grimes!", Mallone barked, and the man held out a hand before snatching it away. "Pinney!", Mallone said, and Richard placed the envilope into her mouth. "Croaker!", the Hadrosaur scooped the envilope in her saurian hands. "Malachi!", Richard stuck the envilope into his beak. "Flatbottom!", he did the same with him. "Cordial!", he wanted the envilope balanced on his snout. Each employee went thier seperate ways to count thier money, some rolling thier eyes at how skimpy the pay was while others figured it would be so little. Thier drivers converged on thier pullers to help them sort the money, but some had mixed emotions about the affair! "Aw!... Richard didn't get any!", Emily Freedom observed. "That's ok.", Richard said. "I'll get paid next time." "Say Flatbottom...", Paul Grimes said as he got near the Triceratops. "I'll flip you for your pay...!" "I'll flip you across the barn if you touch my money!", he replied! "Don't worry, Pinny.", Hannibal said sweetly. "It'll be enough..." It went on like this for a while as each started planning how they would spend thier pay, going thier seperate ways in the barn to do so. Mallone nudged Richard and indicated he should take down the table and chair, and to follow him back out into the midmorning street. They put everything away in the office before Mallone turned to speak to him. "You know, the past day I've seen this place run smoother than it has ever been.", he told him. "The way you run the books shows you really know your stuff. I'm real glad you showed up!" "Thank you, sir...", Richard said solemnly, and meant it. "You don't know how grateful I am that you gave me a chance!" "Aw!... I needed the help...", the man said simply. "And cut out the 'sir' copro!... Just 'Sidney' or 'mister Mallone' is fine...", he turned to go into his office, then turned back. "Oh, by the way... Here!...", he flipped him a Drach! "Thanks!", Richard gushed. "You know, I'm good at making businesses run better. You know, I look for things that need improvement, and find ways to make it better", he paused. "I noticed there might be a few things that can make this company more profitable. I could work on them and see what I come up with, if you like..." "That might be a good idea. Sure as heck the place needs a lot of improvement...", Mallone considered. "Now, didn't I notice you had to finish the barn?", he smiled with broken teeth. "Um,... Yes sir!", Richard prepared to scoot. "I'm on it right away!", and out the door he went! Richard Dennison got to work as fast as he could, spreading hay from the storage loft onto the paddock floors. By the time he was done he noticed no drivers or pullers were present in the barn, off painting the town red, he figured! Mister Mallone wasn't in the office when he returned there, either; and the note he found said he was arranging other contacts for more cargo runs, and would be back this evening. As soon as he heard this news, he figured he had the rest of the day off; so he grabbed his Zithar from the loft and walked as fast as he could to the hatchery of Baz... _ "Hello, sir.", said the little girl that opened the door for him. "How have you been?" "Just fine, little lady!", Richard said. "And you?" "Just fine as well.", she replied as she led him inside. "The hatchlings missed you this morning." "I'm sorry. I had some important business.", he said. "Do you know if Anna is around, Samantha?" "She teaches the hatchlings this morning.", said Samantha. "Things have become really busy of late. Several eggs are about to hatch!" "How exciting, don't you think?", said Richard. "New lives to grace Dinotopia!..." "How poetic!", she smiled as she led him to the hatchling room. "I will tell her of your arrival...", off she went. Richard waited at the doorway as Samantha quietly rushed to Anna's side and whispered. The older one carried on teaching the seated or squatting hatchlings, who were loosely paying attention to what was being taught; and put down her pointer after a short while. Anna left thier presence and came to Richard in a smiling rush, then drew him back out into the incubation room. "I have some wonderful news!", Richard told her so as the ones in the other room couldn't hear. "I have a job at the Trilobite Shipping company! I worked there for a day; and between the things I did and the way I worked after they got back, I think the position is permanent!" "Oh...", Anna sounded dejected. "Then I suppose you can't come and work at the hatchery..." "Well, the job is pretty hard and time consuming...", he told her. "But I can come here on a part time basis. All I do is clean out the barn, prepare the carts and do the paperwork.", he smiled. "After that, the rest of the time is mine!" "I'm very happy for you...", she still looked sad. "I told the hatchery master about you. I said you show great love for the hatchlings, and show great interest in how the hatchery is run..." "I do care about the hatchery... I really do!", Richard told her. "I can work both places, I know I can!... Remember that multitasking thing I told you about?", she nodded. "Well, both jobs will make me one busy man, you think?", she smiled. "The hatchlings miss you.", Anna said. "Oh yeah!... Right...!", Richard scurried into the hatchling area. "Here I am, kids!... Sorry I'm late!..." The hatchlings instantly became a sea of childlike roaring and cheering, hovering around him as he got to the blackboard that Anna was using. Richard giggled and laughed as he received all thier greetings, responding to them by name; and at last got to the stool next to the only other musical instrument there, which was a saurian piano. He smiled at them all as he took his Zithar and prepared it for use, strumming on it and adjusting the tuning knob on the center string until it musically meshed with the rest. Then he immediately began to pick a tune he had just made up, simple yet spritely with a tinge of Western style. The words were made up as he went along, and soon he invented a tune that had the hatchlings smiling and bobbing to the beat. He sang the silly song many times until the hatchlings were trying to sing along, then he tried it with just one or two until all eleven hatchlings had the song down pat. Unfortunately thier vocal cords could not pronounce human speech - even if they were adults - and Richard simply had them repeating one or two words. At the end of the song he was asked by thier cheering to make up a new one; so he did, making up another tune and ad-libbing the lines: ~"Me-yow goes the kitty, bark-bark goes the dog, cluck-cluck goes the chicken, croak-croak goes the frog. I work all day on a farm, you see; and this is the way the animals talk to me!"~
~"Hee-haw goes the donkey, neigh-neigh goes the horse, quack-quack goes the ducky, oink-oink goes the hog. I work all day on the farm, you see; and this is the way the animals talk to me!"~ For this song, all he had the children do was to make the animal sounds, and sent the rest of the ones watching into peals of laughter! A shocked Anna even broke down, weeping with laughter as she watched the little ones squeak or honk or bark! As the little ones began to grow tired, Anna discreetly put the sleepier ones to bed, and pretty soon all that were up in the hatchling room was Anna Richard, Christopher, Samantha and James; apprentices drawn into the room by the music, and only now shooed out to thier duties. "You have a unique flair for music - and the children just love you!", Anna was saying as she cleaned up the wooden blocks and other toys. "I must hand it to you, Richard. If you can do all this, you will do well in Baz!" "I'm just grateful for the chance around here.", Richard was saying as he set aside his Zithar. "This sure beats being on the road all the time..." "I'm sure you'll settle down here well...", she had a knowing look as a form shadowed the doorway. "Would you like to stay for lunch?" "Of course.", Richard said and followed her back into the kitchen. An older lady was there, preparing a meal in large pots and pans; stirring away while she prepared other things to eat. Anna went to a cupboard and got down six placements, then set them out on a table in an adjoining room that looked like it could hold several dozen humans. She directed him to sit at one of the placements as she went back to assist the other woman. Presently little James came in and sat several places down on his right, then Samantha came in and sat opposite him; and finally Christopher joined them, sitting beside James. Anna and the other lady soon came out carrying platters of food and pitchers of drink, placing each in the center of the table before both taking seats closer to Richard. "Thank you for joining us for our midday meal.", Anna said as she sat. "You bring honor to it.", she bowed at the older lady. "Sitting with this lovely family brings honor to me...", the lady returned. "Especially when it means to dine with such a fine gentileman!" "Oh, I'm nobody, really!...", Richard replied. Anna got to work serving the children, placing childsize servings atop thier plates, eyeing them to make sure they would eat it all; then got to work filling the plates of all adults. As soon as her plate was served in front of her, she sat down and spoke. "Before we begin, I would like to inform you, Richard; that James, Samantha and Christopher are my children.", Anna smiled at Richard. "I just thought you would like to know. You see, usually apprentiship is passed from parent to child." "Oh...", Richard didn't see that one coming! "I thought they were simply neighborhood children..." "These are my loves and joys.", Anna said, stroking Samantha's hair as she ate. "And I'm sure they like you." "He's a good man.", Samantha replied. "He sings funny songs!", James said, toying with his food. "Well, he ain't brave like dad!...", said Christopher, who had already half devoured one of the courses. "Christopher!...", Anna scolded. "My apologies!... How children speak thier minds!..." "No worries!", Richard made an awkward smile, turning to Christopher. "It's not that I'm not brave. I just got a strong sense of self-preservation!", all chuckled, but the adults did so nervousely. "Richard, there is someone I want you to meet...", Anna announced after a few moments of eating. "I would like to introduce to you miss Francine Rivers, leader of the Baz hatchery." "Hello, ma'am.", Richard turned to the older lady, who seemed to have an air of mysterious authority. "Glad to meet you at last." "Miss An na has told me a lot about you.", she told him. "And seeing your behavior this morning, I see it's all true!", she chuckled. "Just entertaining the kids...", he said. "They're such darlings!..." "You have a very special gift with them. This is a thing that is rare.", Francine Rivers told him. "I have also heard that you are very helpful elsewhere in Baz." "Yes. I was just telling Anna that I've found a job at the Trilobite Shipping company.", Richard told her. "I also help out the other shops when I can." "Do you know the reason why I know your activity in Baz?", Francine asked. "I keep my ear to the ground... I have to since I am also the leader of Baz..." "You are?... I'm honored!", Richard said. "And being leader, I am also privy to ALL things concerning Dinotopia.", Francine said. "I also know about your past..." "You do?", Richard gulped. "Yes, but I like to keep things peaceful.", she said, pushing her plate away. "You don't seem the dangerous type, or one apt to cause trouble. The contrary seems to be the case with you.", she leaned closer. "How about this: If you promise to never cause trouble, I will tell the Matriarch I never saw you..." "Richard! What is she talking about?", Anna wanted to know. "I suppose you don't want her to know the details.", Francine said to him. "So, let's just say that he had some unsavory feelings where he came from, and wished to seek his fortune on his own.", she looked at Anna. "If Richard wants to divulge to you who he really is, he may do it in his own time. I request you do not push the issue." "I'm harmless, really...", Richard added. "Please don't worry. I will tell you sooner or later..." "Very well, Richard.", Anna said. "I trust you are a good man, and mean only the best for everyone. I won't push you to tell me something you don't want to." "Thanks... You're the best!...", Richard said with smiling eyes, then turned to Francine. "And thank you too, my mayor; for your trust in me. I will not let you down, either!..." "Excellent!", Francine said as she got up. "And now for the second reason you were invited here... Follow me." Francine Rivers got up from the table and paced out into the incubation room through the other passage. Richard Dennison followed seconds later, and Anna Forsythe and her children rose shortly thereafter. Richard noticed that other hatchery workers were preparing tables and nestboxes in the center of the room, and others were taking down several eggs in preparation for what was to become of them. It never occured to Richard his role in the fate of one of them... _____
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