6 Dinosaur Valley

　　“Annie， look at this!”Jack called. “Look what I found!”

　　Annie had gone up to the hilltop.

　　She was busy picking a flower from the magnolia tree.

　　“Annie， look!A medallion!”

　　But Annie wasn’t paying attention to Jack. She was staring at something on the other side of the hill.

　　“Oh， wow!”　she said.

　　“Annie!”

　　Clutching her magnolia flower, she took off down the hill.

　　“Annie, come back!”　Jack shouted.

　　But Annie had disappeared.

　　“I’m goint to kill her，”　Jack muttered.

　　He stuffed the gold medalllion into his jeans pocket.

　　Then he heard Annie shriek.

　　“Annie？”

　　Jack heard another sound as well. A deep, bellowing sound. Like a tuba.

　　“Jack!Come here!” Annie called.

　　“Annie!”

　　Jack grabbed his backpack and raced up the hill.

　　When he got to the top， he gasped.

　　The valley below was filled with nests. Big nests made out of mud. And the nests were filled with tiny dinosaurs!

　　Annie was crouching next to one of the nests. And standing over her was a gigantic duck-billed dinosaur!

　　“Don’t panic. Don’t move，”　said Jack. He stepped slowly down the hill toward Annie.

　　The huge dinosaur was towering above Annie. Waving her arms. Making her tuba sound.

　　Jack stopped. He didn’t want to get too close.

　　He knelt on the ground.　“Okay. Move toward me. Slowly，”　he said.

　　Annie started to stand up.

　　“Don’t stand. Crawl，”　said Jack.

　　Clutching her flower, Annie crawled toward Jack.

　　The duck-billed dinosaur followed her. Still bellowing.

　　Annie froze.

　　“Keep going，”　Jack said softly.

　　Annie started crawling again.

　　Jack inched farther down the hill. Until he was just an arm’s distance from Annie.

　　He reached out—and grabbed her hand.

　　He pulled Annie toward him.

　　“Stay down，”　he said. He crouched next to her.“Bow your head. Pretend to chew.”

　　“Chew?”

　　“Yes. I read that’s what you do if a mean dog comes at you.”

　　“she’s no dog，Jack，”　said Annie.

　　“Just chew，”　said Jack.

　　Jack and annie both bowed their heads. And pretended to chew.

　　Soon the dinosaur grew quiet.

　　Jack raised his head.

　　“I don’t think she’s mad anymore，”　he said.

　　“Thanks， Jack， for saving me，”　said Annie.

　　“You have to use your brain，”　said Jack. “You can’　t just go running to a nest of babies. There’s always a mother nearby.”

　　Annie stood up.

　　“Annie!”

　　Too late.

　　Annie held out her magnolia flower to the dinosaur.

　　“I’m sorry I made you worry about your babies，”　she said.

　　The dinosaur moved closer to Annie. She grabbed the flower from her. She reached for another.

　　“No more，”　said Annie.

　　The dinosaur let out a sad tuba sound.

　　“But there are more flowers up there，”　Annie said.　She pointed to the top of the hill. “I’ll get you some.”

　　Annie hurried up the hill.

　　The dinosaur waddled after her.

　　Jack quickly examined the babies. Some were crawling out of their nests.

　　Where were the other mothers?

　　Jack took out the dinosaur book. He flipped through the pages.

　　He found a picture of some duck-billed dinosaurs. He read the caption:The Anatosauruses lived in colonies.While a few mothers baby-sat the nests， others hunted for food.

　　So there must be more mothers close by.

　　“Hey，Jack!”　Annie called.

　　Jack looked up. Annie was at the top of the hill. Feeding magnolia flowers to the giant Anatosaurus!

　　“She’s nice， too， Jack，”　Annie said.

　　But suddenly the Anatosaurus made her terrible tuba sound. Annie crouched down and started to chew.

　　The dinosaur barged down the hill.

　　She seemed afraid of something.

　　Jack put the book down on top of his pack. He hurried up to Annie.

　　“I wonder why she ran away，”said Annie. “We were starting to be friends.”

　　Jack looked around. What he saw in the distance almost made him throw up.

　　An enormous ugly monster was coming across the plain.

　　He was walking on two big legs. And swinging a long, thick tail. And dangling two tiny arms.

　　He had a huge head. And his jaws were wide open.

　　Even from far away Jack could see his long, gleaming teeth.

　　“Tyrannosaurus rex!”　whispered Jack.

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