The Pachycephalosaurus

The fire at Base Camp crackled and popped. It smelled like woodsmoke and, just a little bit, like burnt porridge. Ned opened his grandfather's big, leather notebook.

He turned the page. A new drawing was there. It was a Mystery Sketch. It was blurry and smudged, but he could see the shape of a dinosaur with a strange, lumpy dome on its head.

"Look, team," Ned whispered. "What is that bump on its head for?" He held the book out for everyone to see. Can you see it, too? It's like a big, bumpy hat.

Professor Hatch polished his spectacles. "Hmm. Most peculiar. A very curious question."

Ned's eyes lit up. He knew what to do with a curious question. "I have a hypothesis! An idea we can test!" "I think," Ned said slowly, "that maybe it uses its hard, lumpy head… for bumping into things!"

Vera smiled. "There's only one way to find out. To the Steam-Crawler!"

WHOOSH! A lever was pulled. HISS! Steam filled the brass pipes. The Steam-Crawler's engine began to rumble like a waking giant.

Vera took the controls. "Hold on tight, Discovery Crew! We're heading into The Tangle!" She steered the rumbling machine away from the windy cliffs of Base Camp. The air changed. It got quiet and warm and a little… sticky.

"Time for the Steam-Chant!" Vera called out. "To give the engine power!" Let's do it together! "Pipes get hot! Piston POP! Chuffa-chuffa-chuffa-CLACK! Steam-Crawler on the track!"

The Steam-Crawler gave a big lurch. BOING!

From the back, there was a loud sound. CLANG! "Ow!" said Bram. He laughed a little. "My wrench found my toe again. I'm okay!"

Vera pointed ahead. "We're in The Tangle now." The light was green and dim. Huge leaves hung down all around them. The world was muffled and silent. The only sound was the dripping of water. SPLIP. SPLOP. DRIP.

"The air is so thick and wet," Vera said. "The pipes are sweating!" Can you feel how warm and sticky the air is getting? It feels like a big, warm hug from the whole jungle.

Suddenly, the Steam-Crawler slowed down. CHUG… chug… hsssssssss. It stopped.

Ahead of them, the path was blocked. A huge pile of thick, tangled vines had fallen across the trail. They were as big as tree trunks. "We can't go forward," Vera said.

Bram looked at a big brass gauge on the engine. A little needle was pointing to the word 'Empty.' PSSSHHHHH. A tiny bit of steam puffed out. "And we're almost out of steam! We can't go back, either."

The Discovery Crew looked at the wall of vines. It was too big to move. They were stuck.

Then, Ned held up a hand. "Listen." Everyone went very, very still. From the deep, green shadows of the jungle, came a sound. SHAKE-SHAKE-RUSTLE.

A dinosaur stepped out from behind a giant fern. It had a strange, lumpy dome on its head. It was the dinosaur from Grandfather's notebook!

The dinosaur didn't see them. It walked over to another pile of tangled vines near the path. It lowered its head.

It took a few steps back. It wiggled its tail. And then it charged!

THUMP! It hit the vines with its bumpy head. The whole pile shivered. The dinosaur shook its head, like it was shaking away a fly.

It backed up again, even further this time. It pawed the ground once. TWICE. It ran, faster now, its little legs a blur.

WHAM! The sound was huge! Like a giant knocking on a giant's door. CRACK! SNAP! FWUMP! The tangle of vines fell apart, clearing a little trail.

Ned gasped. "My hypothesis was right! It uses its head like a battering ram!"

Just then, the dinosaur turned and saw the Steam-Crawler. It saw the crew. It saw the giant wall of vines blocking their way. It tilted its lumpy head, as if it was thinking.

Then, it lowered its head again. It looked right at the big vine wall. It took a very deep breath.

It backed up, and up, and up. And then it charged with all its might!

B-B-B-B-BAM! Vines flew everywhere! SNAP! CRACKLE! WHOOSH! The path was completely clear.

Professor Hatch clapped his hands together. "Absolutely extraordinary!" he boomed. "Scientific Fact! That is a Pachycephalosaurus! And its head is like a built-in bowling ball, made of solid bone!"

The Pachycephalosaurus gave a proud little snort. It nodded its lumpy, bumpy head at them. Then, with a final RUSTLE, it disappeared back into the green quiet of The Tangle.

Vera pulled the steam lever. CHUGGA-CHUGGA-CHUGGA! The Steam-Crawler moved forward, right through the newly cleared path.

Soon, they were back at Base Camp. The fire was warm and the sky was turning purple. Bram opened the big Discovery Log on the table.

Ned smiled. "Today, we met the amazing Pachycephalosaurus," he said. "It has a super-strong, bony head that it uses to smash through anything in its way."

Bram picked up the heavy ink stamp. KA-CHUNK. He pressed it firmly onto the page. "Discovery Number forty-two, Logged!"

The whole crew sat by the fire, sipping warm mugs of cocoa. The steam from their cups rose up to meet the stars. "A living bowling ball," Professor Hatch said, shaking his head in wonder.

Bram wiggled his toes near the fire. "I know a little something about having heavy things land on you," he said with a grin. Everyone laughed.

Ned looked at the dancing flames. He was already wondering. What mystery would they find in the notebook tomorrow?