The Lost Plateau
The Brachiosaurus
The Lost Plateau
Ages 3–5 · 6 min
A sketch shows a neck so long it disappears into smudged ink. Deep in The Tangle, a river of mud is creeping toward the only clearing — and the Sun-Bridge won't last. The Crew has to look all the way up to find their answer.
The fire at Base Camp crackled and popped. It smelled like woodsmoke and, just a little bit, like Professor Hatch’s burnt porridge.
Ned sat cross-legged on the ground, his grandfather’s big leather notebook open on his knees. He traced a shape on the page with his finger.
The fire at Base Camp crackled and popped. It smelled like woodsmoke and, just a little bit, like Professor Hatch’s burnt porridge.
Ned sat cross-legged on the ground, his grandfather’s big leather notebook open on his knees. He traced a shape on the page with his finger.
“Look, everyone,” Ned whispered. “It’s another living puzzle.”
Professor Hatch and Vera leaned in. Bram scooted closer, holding his favorite wrench. On the page was a blurry sketch of a dinosaur. Its neck was a long, wobbly line that went up… and up… and then disappeared into a smear of old ink.
“What is it reaching for?” Vera wondered.
“I have a hypothesis! An idea we can test!” Ned announced, his eyes wide. “I think that long neck is a tool for reaching food that’s higher than anything else on the Plateau.”
Professor Hatch polished his glasses. “A fascinating proposition, Ned. We’ll need the Steam-Crawler to get a closer look.”
Vera grinned. “All aboard for the Tangle!”
CLUNK. The heavy door of the Steam-Crawler shut tight. Vera sat at the controls, her hands on two big brass levers.
WHIRRRRR. The engine started to hum. It rumbled like a sleepy giant waking up from a nap.
“Hold on tight, Discovery Crew!” Vera called out. She pulled a lever.
PSSSHHHH! A cloud of steam puffed out of the pipe on the roof. The Steam-Crawler began to roll forward.
As they left the rocky cliffs of Base Camp, Vera started the chant. It was the song that meant they were going somewhere new.
“Chuffa-chuffa-CLACK! Chuffa-chuffa-CLACK! Levers pull and pistons stack! Expedition on the track!”
Everyone joined in. “Chuffa-chuffa-CLACK! Chuffa-chuffa-CLACK!”
The world outside the window began to change. The red rock and dusty ground gave way to enormous green trees. They were entering the Tangle.
Vera took a deep breath. “Can you feel that? The air is getting thick and warm, like a cozy blanket.”
Big, shiny leaves brushed against the windows. DRIP. DROP. Water trickled down the glass. Inside, the brass pipes of the engine began to sweat. Everything was quiet and muffled, like they were driving through a tunnel of pillows.
Suddenly, the Steam-Crawler hit a big root hidden in the dirt. LURCH!
Bram, who was busy polishing his wrench, wobbled in his seat. The wrench slipped from his hands.
CLANG!
It landed right on his big toe. “Ow!” Bram yelped. Then he giggled. “Whoops! Wrench down.” He picked it up and went right back to polishing.
The Steam-Crawler rolled to a stop in a small clearing. The trees here were so tall, their tops were hidden in the clouds.
“This is the spot from the notebook,” Ned said, peering out the window.
But there was a problem. A slow river of brown mud was oozing across the clearing. GLURP. SPLOOSH.
“Oh dear,” said Professor Hatch. “That mud is heading right for our observation ground. We won’t be able to see a thing if it covers this spot.”
Vera pointed up. “And we can’t see the treetops until the Sun-Bridge gets here.”
They had to wait. Wait for the sun, and race against the mud.
The clearing was very, very quiet. The only sound was the soft GLURP of the mud getting closer. And then… Ned heard something else.
CRUNCH.
It was a soft sound, coming from high, high, high above them.
CRUNCH... MUNCH.
“It’s up there,” Ned whispered. “It’s eating.”
Just then, a single, bright ray of sunshine broke through the clouds. It was the Sun-Bridge! The light slid down from the sky, making a golden path right through the middle of the Tangle.
The light climbed up the trunks of the giant trees. It lit up the green leaves. It went higher, and higher, and then… everyone gasped.
There it was. A head. A friendly, gentle dinosaur head, nibbling on the leaves at the very, very top of the forest. Its neck was so long it looked like a slide that reached all the way to the sky.
The dinosaur let out a low, peaceful sound. RUMMMMBLE.
It didn't notice them at all. It was too busy having a snack. It stretched its long neck just a little bit farther to reach a perfect, tasty-looking branch.
RIIIIIP.
The dinosaur pulled the branch gently into its mouth. MUNCH. CRUNCH. MUNCH.
Ned’s hypothesis was right. The long neck was a tool for reaching the highest leaves, where no one else could go.
Professor Hatch pushed his glasses up his nose. “Scientific Fact! Absolutely extraordinary!”
“That amazing neck,” he continued, “is like a giant crane at a construction site, lifting its head all the way to the top floor! We are looking at a Brachiosaurus.”
The mud river finally oozed over their viewing spot with a soft SPLAT. But it didn't matter. They had already seen the magnificent creature, thanks to the Sun-Bridge.
Back at Base Camp, the fire crackled, warming their tired faces. The air smelled of woodsmoke and the sky was turning a soft purple.
Bram pulled out the big, heavy Census Log and opened it to a fresh page. He took out his special ink stamper.
“Discovery Number Six,” he announced. He lifted the stamper high and brought it down on the paper.
FWUMP!
The ink stamp hit the page. “Logged!” Bram said, his voice full of pride.
Ned looked down at his grandfather’s notebook. The blurry drawing with the long, wobbly neck made perfect sense now. He smiled. Up on the Plateau, another living puzzle was solved.
