Tiny-Tricera Troubles Read online

  “These corn dogs are amazing,” Dr. Carlyle said. “It’s like they come with their own ketchup.”

  “I know, right?” Lin said with her mouth full.

  Behind us, Pizza and Cornelia romped and played with Bruno as we munched our lunch. I had just taken a big bite of corn dog when I watched Bruno trip backward over a log. This would normally be something Bruno would actually enjoy, and certainly something that would make us laugh, but this time his trip sent him in the worst possible direction.

  Directly through the Expand-O-Shrink-O-Portal. Next thing I knew, I was looking up at a large puppy-saurus. In less than a second, Bruno had expanded. From my ant-sized point of view, he looked larger than a skyscraper.

  “WHAT? That’s impossible!” Professor Penrod shouted as he jumped up from his seat, but it was too late.

  “How did that happen?” I asked. It made no sense. Things were only supposed to go back to “normal” size. Bruno had grown to the normal size of his ancestors, turning him from Microsaur to dinosaur in a blink of an eye.

  “Is the portal still on?” Lin asked, looking as confused as I felt.

  “I didn’t think so, but accidents happen,” Professor Penrod said.

  “Quick. Turn it off!” Dr. Carlyle shouted, but once again it was too late. Pizza and Cornelia chased after the rolling Bruno, dashing through the portal and exploding into giants. Their shadows covered most of the Microterium, and filled my heart with panic.

  The sound of the barn-lab being tossed around rattled loud in our ears, and the four of us went immediately into rescue mode.

  “We’ll stay here and figure out what happened to the Expand-O-Shrink-O-Portal. You two go get the Microsaurs before, well, before it turns into a disaster!” Professor Penrod shouted as we jumped into action.

  “Let’s go!” Lin yelled, and I started running alongside her. We dove through the portal and landed inside the barn, back to regular size. Boxes had been knocked from the shelves, and there was a large hole in the front door of the barn-lab.

  Lin was a few steps ahead of me, and she looked out the hole in the door. “Oh my gosh. They are massive,” she whispered.

  I walked up behind her and saw them. Bruno was rolling on his back in the grass, and Pizza was watching Cornelia bonk her head against an apple tree. Little green apples were falling down around them like unripe hail. Something about seeing them in the real world really did make them look much bigger, but there they were. Three large, young Microsaurs, looking more dinosaurish than ever before.

  “What do we do?” Lin said.

  “Same thing we do in the Microterium, I guess. Go hang out with them and try to get them to walk back through the portal,” I said.

  “All right. You go get Bruno, and I’ll pick some of those apples and try to use them to tempt the twins. It looks like they are enjoying them.”

  Lin went off toward the old apple tree, and I quietly walked toward my trusty pal. “Hey, Bruno. Wanna give me a ride, big guy?” I asked.

  Bruno stood up, looked over at me, lolled his big pink tongue out of his mouth, and panted.

  “That’s a good boy,” I said as I approached. “Now come, buddy. Let’s get you back to the Microterium.”

  I looked over at Lin. She was trying to convince Cornelia to stop thumping the apple tree, and Pizza was finding the whole thing hilarious. I was about to run and jump on Bruno’s back when I heard loud music thumping in the air. The music caught Bruno’s attention, too. I wasn’t sure if he’d ever heard music before, but he immediately liked it. He started bounding from right to left, and he shook his head. If we were in the Microterium, it’d be downright adorable, but something about the way he was acting made me nervous. If he decided the music was something worth chasing, there wasn’t much I could do to hold him back.

  The music was getting louder as Bruno began dancing his way to the front of Professor Penrod’s house.

  “Hang on, buddy. You’re going the wrong way,” I said.

  Then the worst thing I could have ever imagined happened. The source of the music drove around the corner, right into Bruno’s view. It was the Tomato-Mobile in all its shiny red glory.

  Bruno lowered his head and charged as the music-playing Tomato-Mobile zoomed away, heading toward the festival. The fence that surrounded Professor Penrod’s yard crumpled like paper as Bruno smashed through it, heading for trouble.

  CHAPTER 3

  COME BACK!

  “Lin!” I shouted, but she had already seen what had happened.

  “Pizza. Cornelia. You stay!” she said in her stern, dog-trainer voice. Pizza sat and Cornelia rolled over. Not exactly what she had in mind, but close.

  I ran through the truck-sized hole Bruno had burst in the fence, and before long I could hear Lin’s skateboard rolling up behind me. I couldn’t see Bruno, but it was easy to tell where he had been. A stop sign was bent in half, a bed of red roses was smashed to smithereens, and a red wagon had a big Bruno nose horn–sized hole right in the middle of it.

  “What are we going to do?” Lin asked as she caught up to me.

  “I have no idea,” I admitted as I jumped over a red bicycle in the sidewalk that was twisted up like a pile of spaghetti. I heard big footsteps and turned to look. Pizza and Cornelia were running up behind us, and I nearly screamed in frustration. We needed fewer Microsaurs running around, not more. Lin saw them, too, and skidded to a halt.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “We need help,” she said as she held out her hands and stopped the twins. “And these two are going to give it to us.”

  “But … what can they do?” I asked.

  “If these two Microsaurs can round up a whole herd of stampeding stegos, they can certainly help us catch Bruno,” she said. She took a step on Cornelia’s large back leg, then climbed on her back. Cornelia looked shocked at first, then roared so loud it gave me the shivers. I looked over at Lin. She wasn’t worried a bit. In fact, she was grinning from ear to ear, which made me feel a bit more confident.

  “But I have never ridden a T. rex,” I said, looking into Pizza’s big round eyes.

  “Neither have I,” Lin said. “HeYA!” Lin nudged Cornelia’s ribs with her heels and they were off, following Bruno’s path of destruction.

  “All right, Pizza. Let’s do this.” I carefully climbed aboard the towering T. rex, and he took off after his sister. After riding Bruno, riding Pizza was like riding a rocket ship covered in muscles and scaly skin.

  On the one hand, I guess we were lucky to have the tomato festival going on the same day that three dinosaurs were running through town. On any other day, we’d have been spotted immediately. Riding two dinosaurs down the street would have been the biggest news story of the century. Heck, of the last 64.5 million years, ever since they went extinct. But on the other hand, we couldn’t have picked a worse day for Bruno to find his way to our regular-sized world. There was something about the color red that drove the normally lovable and super-obedient Microsaur totally wacko.

  We entered the parking lot that surrounded the festival to the sound of car alarms ringing in the air. The alarms were only coming from red cars, so at least we knew we were heading in the right direction.

  “I’m not getting a good feeling about this,” I said to Lin as we rode toward the stadium on the backs of two very obvious Microsaurus rexes.

  “Yeah. Me neither. And I have some bad news,” she said, pointing straight ahead as she pulled Cornelia to a stop. “It looks like Bruno found the Tomato-Mobile.” Sure enough, there was the big tomato-shaped truck lying on its side near the entrance of the festival grounds.

  “Great. Just what we need,” I said.

  Then Lin and I rode the twins toward the smashed Tomato-Mobile.

  CHAPTER 4

  THE TOMATO-MOBILE

  “Oh man, this is bad,” I said. The Tomato-Mobile was toppled, its wheels still spinning in the air.

  “Really bad,” Lin agreed.

  The back doo
r to the Tomato-Mobile was swinging wide open, so we peeked inside. “Hey. Is there anybody in here?” I asked, but it was pretty obvious that the driver had run away. Probably terrified out of their mind.

  Lin pushed her way past me and entered the tomato truck. “There are three Bruno-horn-shaped holes in the side of this thing. I can see the sky through them.”

  “Are you serious? He actually punctured the Tomato-Mobile?” I said, half worried and half impressed.

  Cornelia followed Lin through the back door of the truck and entered the tomato. I could hear Lin giggling as she tried to make room for her oversized friend.

  “Hey, Lin. Is there room for two T. rexes in there?” I asked in a hurry.

  “Uh, maybe, but it’ll be tight,” she said. “Why?”

  “Because we have company. Scoot over,” I said. I pushed Pizza toward the door and he happily smashed inside with his sister. Since the two Microsaurs shared a single egg, they loved smashing into tight spaces together. Lin climbed out the front door of the truck, coming out on top.

  “Quick. Jump down. They’re coming!” I said.

  “Who’s coming?” Lin asked.

  I pointed across the parking lot at the two people who were obviously heading in our direction.

  “Oh man, I’m going to say it again,” Lin said.

  “Yeah. Me too,” I said.

  Then we both spoke together at the same time. “This is bad.”

  We were standing with our backs to the door of the Tomato-Mobile, and just before our two visitors got to us, I noticed the top of a Microsaurus rex tail sticking out the door. I stuffed it inside. “You two be nice and quiet. Okay?” I said, just before I closed the door.

  “It was right here. I’m not kidding,” a man wearing a puffy tomato hat and a bright red shirt said. “It was a real rhinoceros. I mean, it had to be. What else could knock over my precious Tomato-Mobile like this?”

  He was frantic, but the security guard he had with him was as calm as could be. She looked around at the truck, then at the two of us. She looked like one of those gruff detectives on TV, and I had a feeling she was going to get to the bottom of the upturned Tomato-Mobile filled with Microsaurs in about thirty seconds. She studied Lin and me up and down, then turned back to the driver.

  “So, Mark. What you’re telling me is that a rhino chased you through town, smashed into every red car in this parking lot, then rammed into the side of your precious tomato truck,” she said.

  “Tomato-Mobile,” Mark, the driver, corrected.

  “Yes. The rhinoceros rammed into the side of your Tomato-Mobile, flipping it over in the parking lot,” she said. She pulled out a little notebook and wrote down a note.

  “Exactly. That’s exactly what I’m saying. A rhino smashed my Tomato-Mobile.”

  “And where is the rhino now? Hiding in the back of the truck?” the security guard asked.

  One of the twins thumped the inside of the truck, making a bonking noise. Lin thumped the truck again, making it as obvious as possible, trying to cover up the noise.

  “Oh no. That’s impossible, now, isn’t it? We got here a few seconds ago to check if everything was all right, and there are no rhinos in the back of this truck. That much I can tell you for sure,” I said, telling the truth, but feeling guilty for not really telling the truth.

  “I’m sure that boy is right,” Mark said. “There’s no way you could fit a rhinoceros in the back of my Tomato-Mobile.”

  “Two baby T. rexes, sure. But not a rhinoceros,” Lin said, not helping at all. The security guard gave her a little smile and a wink.

  “Well, something happened here. I don’t imagine a tomato truck can just flip itself over,” the security guard said.

  “Tomato-Mobile,” Mark said. “It’s a Tomato-Mobile.”

  “Right. I’ve got that written down now,” the security guard said.

  “Well, there was a big gust of wind a while back. Maybe it was the wind,” I said.

  “Or maybe a rhino escaped from the zoo, chased me through town, and then tried to flatten my tomato truck,” Mark said.

  “Your Tomato-Mobile,” Lin corrected.

  “Um, yeah. That’s what I said,” the driver said.

  A dinosaur growled quietly from inside the truck.

  “Oh. Sorry. I haven’t eaten all day. I’ve been saving up for some festival food. Darn my growly stomach,” Lin said with a grin.

  “You should try the corn dogs, young lady. They are so good they don’t need ketchup,” the security guard said.

  “Thanks. I will,” Lin said. She rubbed her stomach and growled.

  The security guard took a step closer to the Tomato-Mobile and was about to have a look inside, when someone screamed behind us.

  “That sounded like it was over by the food tents,” Lin said, pointing with both hands toward the sound.

  “It did,” Mark said. “I bet it’s the rhino!”

  “Okay, Mark. Let’s go look for the rhino. Then we’ll call a tow truck and get your Tomato-Mobile flipped back over,” the security guard said. “And you two better be moving along, too.”

  “We will. Have a nice day. Watch out for charging rhinoceroses,” Lin said as the driver and the security guard ran toward the food tents.

  I looked at Lin. “Come on. Let’s go. We have to get to Bruno before they do,” I said. I took a step, hoping to get there before the security guard, but Lin grabbed my shirt and pulled me back.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  She smiled and pointed in the opposite direction, away from the food tents and toward the fairgrounds. That’s when I saw him. Bruno was staring down a garbage dumpster that had been recently coated in a bright red layer of paint.

  CHAPTER 5

  CHASING TROUBLE

  Before we ran after Bruno, we let the twins out of the Tomato-Mobile. They looked like they were enjoying the snug little space, but when Lin instructed them to go round up Bruno, their eyes flashed with excitement. They might not be very good at staying put, but the twins were excellent at herding Microsaurs.

  Pizza and Cornelia burst away, sniffing the ground and tracking Bruno down. Lin and I chased after them as they ran through the parking lot, but there was no way we could keep up. When they were only a few feet away from Bruno, he noticed them approaching. He stood still for a few seconds, and then it looked as if he was showing off or something, because he reared up on his back feet, lowered his big powerful crest, then charged into the big red dumpster.

  The loud clang rang through the air and echoed off the stadium. The music in the concert was too loud for anyone inside to hear, although I was sure that the security guard would come running to check things out. But it was Pizza and Cornelia that got the worst of it. They had never heard anything so loud in their lives, and they completely forgot Lin’s commands to round up Bruno as they ran off into the carnival booths like a couple of scared kittens.

  “You go after Bruno,” Lin said as she tapped on the Invisible Communicator. “And I’ll go find the twins.”

  “Sounds good,” I said as we split up. Lin and I usually work better together, but desperate times call for desperate measures. It’s always good we can stay in touch, though. I made a mental note to thank my dad for the one hundredth time for inventing the little ear devices.

  Bruno was thrashing the dumpster to the beat of the music when I arrived. I had to shout three times to get his attention. I was worried that he’d run, but he actually looked really happy to see me. His tail was wagging so much that his entire backside twisted back and forth, and his tongue drooped out of his mouth, wagging a little, too.

  “Hey, big guy. How are you doing? Are you okay?” I asked in my most soothing voice.

  Bruno hopped from foot to foot, turned, and nudged the garbage dumpster with the side of his crest.

  “Yup. That’s right. You’re doing a great job smashing that big red dumpster. But I was wondering if you could just take it down a notch?” I took a few steps clos
er to Bruno, holding out my hand in front of me. I was only a foot away from reaching his nose horn. Bruno chuffed a little bark, then grinned.

  “For sure. You’re having quite a day, aren’t you?” Bruno nodded and chuffed again. “Hey, bud. How about you sit and we can work this out, okay?”

  Bruno plopped his big backside down. His tail was still wagging so much that he made a little dust cloud behind him.

  “That’s a good boy. What do you say you and I head back to the Microterium? We’ll get you a nice stick covered in peanut butter, and give you a big old belly rub,” I said. I grabbed on to his nose horn. It was scuffed and scratched with red paint. Actually, his whole crest was covered in nicks and dents. I clicked on my earbud and spoke to Lin.

  “Hey, Lin. I think I figured something out,” I said.

  “This better be about how to get two Microsaurus rexes out of the merry-go-round,” Lin said.

  “Well, it was going to be about why Bruno was attacking red things, but I guess that can wait,” I said. “How’s it going?”

  “Uh. Merry-go-round. Twins. Not so great,” Lin said. I could tell she’d been running because she was breathing really hard. “You?”

  I reached around and put my hand on Bruno’s back. He was calming down a little, and I was going to jump on his back and start riding him, but something caught his eye. Bruno stood up, his eyes got a dangerous look in them, and then he tilted his head and charged.

  “Oh man. I was going to say good, but guess who just found the bumper cars?” I said.

  “Oh boy. That sounds like trouble,” Lin said. “Hey, Pizza. Climb down from that giraffe!”