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Mysteriosaur & the Saltwick Sphinx preview

Mysteriosaur and the Saltwick Sphinx

1

My phone vibrates again, for the fifteenth time since I got on the train in York. It’s my mum.
     Again.

Have a lovely time, love.
Hope the weather’s nice.
Say hi to everyone and
don’t forget to brush your
teeth. Did you see the

Moors yet? Don’t get in
your uncle’s way. Be nice
to Keisha even when she’s
being a drama queen. And
remember to say thank you.
What an adventure!

     I love my mum, of course, but it isn’t easy to have an adventure when she is messaging me with instructions every two minutes! I bet James Cook didn’t get phone messages from his mum all the time when he was sailing the Endeavour round the world to discover New Zealand.

Hope you’re having a lovely
adventure, James. Don’t

forget to change your socks.
Did you wash your face, and
have you discovered any new
continents today?

     Anyway, the train has reached the river now and they’ve announced that we arrive in Whitby in a few minutes, so I shove my phone back in my pocket and look up at my bag on the rack. I’ll have to climb onto the seat to fetch it down so I think I will wait until the grown-ups have all got off, especially that angry-looking old man near the door. Don’t want him shouting at me.
     The whistle toots, the brakes grince and grumble, the train slows and we arrive.
     As I step out of Whitby station I panic just a little. This is my first trip alone and I haven’t seen Keisha for two years, except on my phone screen of course. Will I recognise her? How tall is she? I doubt I will recognise Uncle Andronicus as I’ve only ever seen him in photos, and also once on an old video clip on YouTube where he was explaining how T-Rex fossils ended up in the rocks in an old riverbed in Texas.
     ‘Toby?’
     I spin round and there she is.
     Keisha is taller than me! Which is annoying since we are both eleven years old. She still has big brown eyes and cornrow hair and she is wearing a huge smile.
    But the person standing next to her isn’t Uncle Andronicus. Nothing like him.
    ‘This is Steve, one of Dad’s assistants,’ Keisha explains. ‘He’s taking us to the caravan park.’
    Steve is a tall thin student-looking guy with his hair in a ponytail, little round glasses, jeans and a denim jacket over an old Nirvana t-shirt. Classic hippie basically.
    ‘Hi Toby,’ he laughs, shaking my hand. ‘Ready to party?’
    I follow them both across the car park weaving between several big 4×4 cars. I am trying to guess which car we are walking towards. Ahead of us is the harbour and the masts of the copy of James Cook’s boat that sailed round the world. Seagulls are squawking overhead.
    ‘What?’ I say, open-eyed
    ‘Nice wheels, aren’t they?’ grins Keisha.
    ‘We’re actually travelling in that?’
    ‘Yeah!’
    Steve is handing out the helmets. Mine is furry and orange like a muppet monster. Keisha’s helmet is green with leopard spots.
    ‘You’re in there and I’m riding pillion,’ Keisha says, pointing at something straight out of a cartoon.
     There is a turquoise sidecar shaped like the weird little cartoon rockets you see on fairground rides. It is stuck to the side of an old motorbike.
    Sprayed along the body of the sidecar are the words

              ROAR OF GLORY!

     My backpack goes behind the seat and Steve opens the tiny door for me to get in. I sit down and feel like a total pilchard as he fixes my seatbelt.
     Everyone in the car park is staring at the weird machine with the crazy kids and the hippie.
     Steve kickstarts the bike and it fires up with a deep and throaty roar. He pulls down the visor of his black skull and crossbones helmet, and we head off over the swing bridge, along the harbour and then up Green Lane. It’s late afternoon, the sun is shining and the breeze is warm.
      Beside me, on the motorbike, Keisha gives me a thumbs up. Beneath my muppet monster helmet, I give her a stupid grin. Now we are out of the town and there’s no one gawping at us and thinking we are idiots, what’s not to like? I take a few pictures on my phone. Maybe Mum was right after all, maybe this really will be an adventure!

2

Once we get onto the country road, near the Abbey, Steve glances over his shoulder. He gives me a thumbs up and a thumbs down to check I am OK. I give him two thumbs up.
   The fields flash past in a blur as the narrow road weaves south-east. A left turn towards Saltwick Bay and a few minutes later we reach the caravan park and the journey is over.
     ‘We’re in these four caravans,’ Keisha tells me, pointing. ‘That’s where Dad, Winston and Brad sleep. That big one over there is where the rest of the team sleeps. You and me are in this one here. And that one is where we all eat. Come on.’
     Steve has taken the helmets and is already halfway to his caravan.
     In our caravan, Keisha shows me our room. It is quite big, she is at one end and I am at the other. We’ve got our own shower and everything.
     ‘The beds are a bit lumpy and everything creaks when it’s windy,’ Keisha explains, ‘and really noisy when it rains. It feels like you’re stuck in a washing machine with a million frozen peas but, apart from that, it’s cool. Once you’ve sorted your stuff out I’ll take you down to the dig.’
     Two minutes later we are taking the path that runs from Cleveland Way down to the sandy beach.
     ‘There was a storm last winter,’ Keisha explains. ‘Part of the cliff collapsed near the old alum mines and now there’s a deep cave. The whole area has been roped off and the council are deciding whether to fill the cave in to prevent further rockfalls. Dad has permission to check the cave for fossils while they decide what to do.’
     There’s a stretch of sandy beach and, when that ends, we are walking on a flat grey rockshelf that Keisha says is called mudstone. Near the cliff in the distance a couple of tents have been set up behind the safety barriers.
     To our left, overlooking the sea there is this big lump of rock that looks like the back and the head of an animal.
     ‘Dad says it looks like something he saw in Egypt. He calls it the Saltwick Sphinx.’
     ‘Yeah, I can see that,’ I tell Keisha. ‘We were learning about Ancient Egypt at school and there’s a huge stone lion lying on the sand by the Pyramids. It looks just like that!’
     About three metres up the cliff to our right there are two big openings leading into the rock.
     ‘What are those?’ I ask Keisha.
     ‘They’re called the Smugglers Holes. No one really knows what they are. One of them goes quite a long way into the cliff.’
     ‘Hey Keisha!’ shouts a woman, stepping out of the tent. ‘So this is your famous cousin. Great to meet you, Toby!’
     Not sure what I am meant to be famous for and I decide not to ask.
     ‘Hi, Ameena. Is Dad around?’ Keisha asks.
     Ameena rolls her eyes and nods her head towards the back of the tent. ‘They’ve been in there since six o’clock this morning. Won’t even come out to eat. We keep telling him it’s lovely and sunny outside and why not eat his sandwich on a rock looking out at the sea, but you know what he’s like.’
     ‘Have they found anything?’
     ‘Nobody’s saying but Ben came out an hour ago and said the roof was creaking again,’ Ameena says. ‘I think they’re all worried the cave could collapse and that will be it. They’re desperate to get the main fossil out as quickly as possible.’
     ‘Can I take Toby inside?’
     Ameena puffs her cheeks and thinks. ‘OK, but no shouting and don’t touch the walls or any of the supports that they’ve put up. And if someone tells you to leave you leave, understood?’
     Keisha nods and grabs my sleeve. ‘Come on.’
     ‘Wait, it’s cold in there. You need vests, helmets and torches!’
     By the time we are ready to enter we look like real explorers. We’ve got yellow waterproof jackets (mine is too big for me and has the sleeves rolled up), hard hats with built-in torches, and gloves.
     ‘Don’t have any boots your size,’ Ameena explains. ‘You’re just going to have to dry your socks and trainers on a rock when you come out. Second thoughts, I’m coming with you. Follow me.’
     She pulls open a door at the back of the tent and we follow her out. The cave entrance is hidden behind a swaying, dripping mass of slimy green weeds, like a monster mermaid’s hair. Ameena holds it aside as we pass into the cave. She goes first, with me in the middle and Keisha at the back.
     Lit in the narrow beams of our headtorches, the jagged rock walls are all different colours: oranges, browns, greys, yellows and black. They glisten with the water that ripples and trickles all around us, and drips onto our helmets from the ceiling. The cave twists and turns so it is hard to see ahead and almost immediately we cannot see back to the outside either.
     ‘There are several dead ends,’ Ameena says quietly, ‘so stay close to me. I don’t want to lose you. Watch your feet.’
     Too late. I stumble as my foot catches a rock and almost pull Ameena down with me.
     The air is getting colder. We can hear a quiet tap tapping sound but I can’t tell where it is coming from.
     ‘Not far now.’
     I guess we are about twenty metres in.
     ‘Is that a fossil?’ I ask, stopping and pointing at a shape on the wall. ‘Is that what we are looking for?’
     ‘No. That’s just an ammonite,’ Keisha says, behind me. ‘There are millions of them here. Very common.’
     Well pardon me for being such a dumbo, smarty pants.
     I turn to find Ameena has disappeared.
     ‘Hurry up or we’ll lose her,’ Keisha says.
     I follow the path around the corner only to find we have reached a junction.
     ‘Left or right?’ I ask.
     ‘How would I know?’
     ‘Well you must come here every day,’ I say.
     Keisha sighs. ‘Left, I suppose.’
     We must have made the right choice because, a few seconds later, there is light up ahead and the tapping is louder now.
     Suddenly the tunnel opens up and we step into a space the size of a classroom. Massive shadows are dancing on the walls and ceiling. At the far end of the space bright lights have been set up. Five people are bent over working with their backs to us, chipping at the rock face with hammers and chisels. Ameena reaches them and taps one on the shoulder. As the people straighten up, I glimpse a long shape on the wall behind them. Like the head of a crocodile and full of teeth!

3

Silhouetted against the lights, the tallest person waves us forwards.
     ‘Well, well, well, what have you brought me, Keisha?’ says a booming bass voice. ‘This little fellow looks remarkably like my golden-haired nephew, Master Toby Silver!’
     He walks over and shakes my hand so hard it nearly falls off. Uncle Andronicus is huge, a man mountain with the same brown eyes as Keisha and darker skin.
     ‘You were no bigger than a chicken when I saw you last,’ Uncle Andronicus laughs. ‘It is a pleasure to remake your acquaintance, young man. How are your parents?’
     ‘They’re OK,’ I mutter, rubbing my hand. ‘What is that on the wall?’
     ‘Ah! That is Mystriosaurus, one of the teleosaurid crocodyliforms of the Early Jurassic. A fossil crocodile to you. This splendid specimen must have been nearly five metres long. If you are looking for the winner of the Mr Nasty Smile Full of Hundreds of Sharp Teeth competition you have hit the jackpot. If you want, Ameena can take a photo of you both next to our monster and then I am afraid you must leave. We have much work to do to extract the fossil from the rock and I fear we’re running out of time.’
     The team step back to allow Ameena to take a photo of Keisha and me standing by the giant fossil skull. Then Ameena takes a photo of us with the team. There’s Simon, Brad, Carly and Winston. And Uncle Andronicus. Everyone smiles for the photo then gets back to work.
     ‘This is amazing!’ I tell them. ‘I’d love to do this!’
     ‘If we’re still here in ten years’ time when you’ve finished university and become a palaeontologist yourself, that’s what we call fossil scientists, you can join the team, Toby,’ suggests Simon, wiping the sweat from his brow.
     ‘If we’re still here, we’ll be the dinosaurs,’ laughs Carly.
     ‘Careful on the way out, kids,’ booms Uncle Andronicus. ‘Maybe see you for supper.’
     Keisha doesn’t look very happy about being sent back outside so quickly but her dad doesn’t appear to notice. Ameena leads the way as we head back to the tunnel.
     We are maybe halfway back to the outside when Keisha grabs my arm. ‘Can you hear that?’ she asks, standing at the entrance to one of the side tunnels.
     More tapping. Coming from the darkness.
     ‘Maybe it’s the other scientists chipping away at a different fossil,’ I suggest.
     Keisha shakes her head. ‘The whole team are with Dad. Except Steve who is up in the caravan, and Ameena.’
     By now Ameena has disappeared ahead of us, we can’t even see the light of her torch anymore.
     ‘Let’s go and have a look,’ Keisha says.
     ‘Are you sure? Won’t your dad be …’
     ‘I don’t care what he thinks, he just treats me like a stupid little kid. I want to explore for myself,’ Keisha says. ‘Are you coming or not?’
     ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’ I grin.
     We enter the side tunnel and follow it along as it winds left and right getting narrower and narrower. The ceiling is also getting lower and we have to bend down to walk along.
     ‘The grown-ups will be really jealous when we make our own amazing discovery,’ Keisha says happily. ‘They couldn’t come down here even if they wanted to. They’re all too big.’
     The tapping sound is growing louder, like it did in the other tunnel. I am pretty sure we will turn a corner and find people with hard hats and hammers.
     But we don’t.
     We reach a dead end.
     And we can still hear the tapping sounds.
     And something else …
     … a muffled chattering sound in the ammonite covered walls.
     I am beginning to feel cold and damp and just a little bit scared. And, just to annoy me, my headtorch starts to flicker!
     ‘I think we should go back, Keisha. My torch is …’
     Her torch also starts to flicker.
    ‘OK,’ she says. ‘If you’re frightened.’
    ‘It’s not that,’ I protest.
     As Keisha turns round in the narrow tunnel she pushes against the rough tunnel wall and it just crumbles away. Before she can stop herself, Keisha is losing her balance and tumbling towards the hole and the darkness beyond!