Well ... not getting stuckoutin them.
Their steps were slow-going for the first thirty minutes. Debris littered their property. She directed Dad toward wherethe water had rushed through their south acreage and onto the Walker Ranch.
“Magnificent.” Dad pointed to a new gulley that had been formed. “Look at those layers of rock.”
At least forty feet deep. The difference in the landscape was astonishing.
They walked for an hour or so, following the fresh-cut gorge in the earth. Dad talked about the geology of the area, while she kept her eyes open for anything interesting.
The Green River was this whole region’s source of water. It fed hundreds of creeks along its course and had carved what Mr. John Wesley Powell about ten years ago had named Flaming Gorge when he’d done an expedition down the river. The immense and beautiful red sandstone cliffs surrounded a good part of the river south of them. And when the sun set, it would set those rocks aflame. At least it appeared that way.
It was one of Anna’s favorite places to visit. The beauty drew her eyes. Her father, on the other hand, was always on the lookout for fossils.
Today was no different.
“Over there, Anna.” He pointed. “Do you see what I see?”
She squinted into the distance. “Um, no, I don’t think so.”
“Let’s move closer.” He tugged at her elbow, and she followed.
Even though the majority of the water had merged back with the Green River or been soaked up by the dry terrain, there was still a meandering creek at the center of the gulley.
“Hope you don’t mind getting your boots wet.”
She hiked up her skirt at the challenge. “I should have known,” she mumbled under her breath. But the closer they crept to the forty-foot wall of rock exposed by the waters, the more her eyes widened.
“You see it now, don’t you?” Dad stood with his hands on his hips.
She bit her lip and nodded. There, in the wall, was a clear outline of what appeared to be a curved spine. From an animal much larger than anything she’d ever seen. “It’s ... magnificent.” Placing her hand on her father’s arm, she inhaled a sharp breath. “Is it ... is it a dinosaur?”
“I believe it is, my dear.” His voice warbled and then he laughed. “A dinosaur!” He put his hand to his chest. “Thank You, God.”
Her eyes widened. After all these years, could it be? To see her father’s dream realized before her took her breath away. Every fossil bed they’d gone to, they found a large bone or two intermixed with other animals, but nothing like this. Why, the entire skeleton could quite possibly be here! For the first time that day, her injuries from last night no longer hurt. Instead, every bruised and sore spot was sizzling with energy and excitement. The Great Dinosaur Rush had picked up steam the last couple of years as fossil beds had been found and historic discoveries gave them insight into the great beasts of the past. The more she read about it, the more she longed to be in it.
“Could you sketch this for me?”
Dad’s question broke through her thoughts. “Hm? Oh, yes. Of course.”
“Just a quick one. I don’t want to trespass on Walker’s property for too long and invoke the man’s wrath. But I will need it to contact my investors. That is, of course, if I can convince Mr. Walker to give us permission to dig on his land.”
That would be quite the issue. Mean ol’ Walker wasn’t nice toanybody. Ever. And he probably wasn’t happy about what the floodwaters did to his property.
Anna glanced toward the Walker ranch house. It now sat at least thirty feet above the gulley on the other side from where they stood. As she pulled her sketchpad and pencils from her satchel, she stared at what used to be the most beautiful garden in the whole area. Julian and his mother had workedtirelessly to make something gorgeous. Once his mother left, Julian did it all himself and made it even larger and more colorful. But he’d gone away a few years ago. No one could blame him. His father was not a pleasant man. The sad part was ... the garden was now dead. Brown. Overgrown.
Situating herself on a large log the waters had deposited, she turned away and focused on the sight before her. Even though it was hard to ignore the moisture seeping through her skirts, she kept her eye on the bones. The more she studied, the more she saw the great beast come to life. It was there. Once it was etched in her mind, she touched her pencil to the page. The more she drew, the faster her hand flew over the paper.
She finished the sketch and held it up to her dad. “What do you think?”
He analyzed it. Then examined the rock wall. Then studied the picture again. “It’s perfect.” Holding out a hand to her, he grinned. “Let’s get back to the house so I can search in my notes for what genus this might be.”
His excitement was palpable. She stood up and had a hard time keeping up with him as they trekked their way back home.
The biggest hurdle standing in her father’s way was Randall Walker. Would the man allow them to do a paleontological dig on his property? She glanced back over her shoulder, a slight chill making her shudder. Highly doubtful.
But she hated to rain on Dad’s parade. He was such an optimist that he would think long and hard about how to approach the unfriendly ranch owner and find some way to sweeten the concept of granting them permission.
Of course, she had no clue how Dad would do it. But this could be the pinnacle of his career. Hers, too. Especially if she was allowed to do all the sketching for published papers. Which her father would insist on, as he always did. A fact she loved and appreciated more than she could ever express.
