3 A stinky disguise

Chapter Three A STINKY DISGUISE "Hide!" Tamiko hissed. She and Cheng dived behind a large clump of ferns. The ground shuddered as a large, scaly foot crashed down nearby. Deadly claws raked the mossy ground. Tamiko counted eight scary Allosauruses prowling towards the Stegosaurus herd. They were enormous, with sharp, serrated teeth.

Long, razor-sharp claws gleamed on their forelimbs. Tamiko's throat felt dry and she and Cheng huddled close together. The Stegosauruses roared at the attackers and thrashed their tails in warning. The Allosauruses roared back. The baby hid behind its mother's legs as the herd prepared to fight.

An Allosaurus darted in and nipped at the mother Stegosaurus. With surprising speed, the Stegosaurus's spiky tail thrashed down. One of the spikes caught the Allosaurus on the rump. It yelped with pain and quickly backed away. "We need to leave," Cheng said, as an Allosaurus tail swished dangerously close to their fern clump. "If we get caught up in this fight, we'll never survive! One of the Allosauruses suddenly turned its head and sniffed the air. It had smelled something. Tamiko and Cheng shrank back. "I really hope that isn't us it's sniffing," whispered Cheng.

The Allosaurus flared its nostrils as it swung its head about, searching… And Tamiko's stomach flipped as it looked right in their direction. "It's smelled us!" Tamiko said in a tight voice. Cheng gasped. "What do we do now?" Tamiko looked around desperately. A short distance from their ferns was a pile of dark brown Allosaurus droppings. "Disguise our scent," she said, and pointed at them. Cheng's eyes widened. "You mean, cover ourselves in dinosaur poo?" "It's either that, or get eaten," said Tamiko.

Cheng groaned. "And I thought the ginkgo fruit smelled bad!" The dinosaurs were properly fighting now. The Allosauruses swung their massive heads, their jaws opened wide, while the Stegosauruses charged. Rumbles and grunts rang out. The Allosaurus that had spotted them twisted around and lunged at a passing Stegosaurus. "Now!" Tamiko said. "While it's distracted!"

They wriggled on their bellies across the open plain. Tamiko felt as if every one of her muscles was tense. At any moment, an Allosaurus might close its jaws around her… But they reached the heap of dino droppings without being caught. Tamiko grabbed two large fern leaves and handed one to Cheng. "Use this to smear it on," she said. "Gross," said Cheng. But he scooped up