three pterosaurs were hanging.
âAviatrix, dear,â Gargantua called up, âwe have come, Titanic and I, to thank your
husband for his heroic efforts in once again saving our child. What do you say, Banty?â
âThank you, sir,â said Banty.
âAnd please, sir, accept my grateful thanks,â said Titanic.
Daughter and father both calling me â sir, â thought Clawed. I wish the mother would too, but you canât have everything.
âMy dear Gargantua,â said Aviatrix, âonce again we are only too glad to have been of service. Had I been on duty at the time, I should no doubt have flummoxed the dastardly curmudgeon.â
Gargantua looked pleased.
Titanic and Clawed looked puzzled.
Banty and Nosy looked at one another with amusement.
âWell,â said Gargantua, âwe must be getting back to the lake. Why donât you all come and have a drink with us? To celebrate.â
âShall we, Clawed?â said Aviatrix.
âGood idea, Avy,â said Clawed.
As the pterodactyls, flying very slowly above their friends, followed the path by which the apatosauruses had reached them, they noticed the two great trees that had been felled.
Titanic stopped and stretched up his long neck to address Clawed hovering above.
âI must apologize, sir,â he said. âI got a bit stuck between those trees, Iâm afraid.â
âDonât worry, old lad,â replied Clawed.
âPlenty more trees about.â
When they had all reached the lake and Aviatrix had flown up on a quick reconnaissance patrol to make sure the coast was clear, she and Clawed went off to the dead stegosaurus for a feast of flies. Nosy and Banty went off to play.
âCry T. Rex!?â suggested Nosy.
âNo, thanks,â said Banty. âI never want to play that game again.â
âGosh!â Nosy said. âYour pa is so strong!â
âMa, too,â said Banty.
âYou will be, one day.â
âSuppose so.â
Nosy let himself down gently onto his friendâs neck. They had invented this position, which gave him a rest from flying and still allowed her, if she wished, to graze. One leg on either side of her neck meant that there was no danger of his claws scratching her.
âIâve been thinking,â he said.
âOh yes?â
âSooner or later, weâve got to do something about T. rex.â
âWhat can we possibly do? Your mom and daddy couldnât do anything, nor could Ma and Pa.â
âTrue,â said Nosy. âBut you and I might, between us. There must be a way to rid us of T. rex.â
âHow?â
âGive him a fright,â said Nosy. âHeâs always roaring about, attacking baby dinosaurs. I bet heâs really a coward. And if we attack him , heâll get the fright of his life and run away. Weâll scare him off.â
13
âYou must be joking,â said Banty.
âNo,â said Nosy, âIâm not. Think what we saw, just now, when we were walking or flying back through the woods.â
âWhat?â
âThose two great trees your pa pushed down.â
âWell?â
âSuppose,â said Nosy, âthat T. rex had been under one of those trees when it fell. That would
have given him a tremendous frightâand a real bump on the head. Serve him right.â
âWow!â said Banty. âBut how do we get him in the right place at the right time?â
âDecoy him.â
âDecoy him?â
âYes,â said Nosy. âSelect a tree, a really big one, for your pa to push over just as T. rex goes past. He could even loosen it a bit before, to make sure it would fall. It would be a kind of trap, you see, and all we have to do is to lure the beast into it.â
âAnd how do we do that?â asked Banty.
âLike I say, by using a decoy, so that heâs chasing it and, as he goes by the tree, your pa gives it