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­Craig.
    “Depends on how much of the skeleton we find and what we can prove once it’s excavated.”
    “How long will that take?” Todd ­asked.
    “Again, that will depend on what we find and how difficult it is to ­extract – ­whether there’s a great deal of rock and topsoil, and whether it’s spread over a wide area or not. We could have it out as early as the end of this summer, which is what I hope, but it most likely will take longer. Even several years.”
    “So we have to keep it secret for a long time?” Craig ­asked.
    “That’s one of the hardest parts about ­paleontology – ­keeping the information from the public until we know for certain,” Daniel said, knowing from ­experience.
    His excitement at finding fossils always took over his reasoning, and he wanted to broadcast it to everyone right away. Already, Daniel could hardly wait to tell Jed and Lucy, and the rest of their families, what they had found. But that would have to wait until they had more evidence. Several of the Lindstrom family members had a difficult time keeping secrets, Jed included. And the Stygimoloch was an important find that would bring lots more tourists to their site. No point in letting the immediate group know too far ahead in case they slipped with the information when visitors came. They didn’t want anyone leaking information that might be ­wrong.
    “We can discuss it amongst ourselves here and let the rest of our group know back at the house once we have verified it,” Pederson ­confirmed.
    Staying on their farm depended on the success of their dinosaur tourist camp and the excavation site operation. If they didn’t make a go of it, Daniel knew they’d have to leave and he would be far removed from the paleontology that he loved. This discovery was an exciting bonus to their findings and would be sure to keep them on the ­farm.
    And all at once, Daniel realized how much he wanted to return to the prehistoric past. Going there again would be an exceptional opportunity to explore, and maybe he’d even see a live Stygimoloch . He didn’t recall coming across any of them when he’d accidentally travelled back before. But then he’d been too intent on surviving and hadn’t stuck around to look for much of anything. Now his thoughts had turned to the possibility of going on a deliberate exploration of the world of dinosaurs. He had an almost sure way of going and coming back. All he had to do was plan it ­properly.
    Daniel hardly listened as Pederson said, “Finding something interesting is one thing, but getting it out is another.” He indicated the shovels and pointed to the lofty ­hill.
    “Why is it done like that?” asked Craig, staring at the wide, square levels cut progressively into the hillside like a huge set of stairs. Each step was about a metre square and about thirty centimetres ­high.
    “It keeps the wall solid as we excavate,” Pederson said. “If we had a sheer face, there would probably be some slippage and breaking off, which would bury what we’ve already uncovered in the fossil bed below. This way, we can contain it and also have a more convenient way of getting up and down.”
    Mr. Pederson said. “Most paleontological work is pure hard digging. You only get to work around actual fossils with the smaller tools about ­one-­third of the time.” He turned to Craig and Todd. “So, boys, what do you think so far?”
    Todd’s enthusiasm seemed to diminish with the mention of all the digging, but Craig seemed keen. “Where do you want us to start?”
    As Mr. Pederson directed the Nelwins’ digging, Daniel sidled off with a hasty wave goodbye. He quickened his steps across the pasture, almost forgetting how tired and sore his legs were from all the walking he’d done that day. He’d suddenly remembered that he hadn’t checked his computer at all that day. He and Mr. Pederson were expecting some ­e-­mailed photographs of Roxanne, the Edmontosaurus that Mr. Pederson had