5 Dino dinner time

Chapter Five DINO DINNER TIME Tamiko couldn't believe she was about to see a dinosaur hatch! She spotted a clump of soft moss and gently settled the egg into it. She and Cheng kneeled beside it. The egg cracked open a little more. Then a piece of shell fell away and a tiny creature pushed its way out. Tamiko thought it looked exactly like a mix of a bird and a lizard. It had scrawny

feathers and bright, curious eyes. "Amazing!" she murmured. The baby Archaeopteryx fluffed out its tiny feathers, opened its jaws and squawked. "I think it's hungry," said Cheng. Worry fluttered inside Tamiko. She knew all about fossilised dinosaurs, but she had no idea how to look after a living one.

The Archaeopteryx squawked again and opened its jaws, as if it expected Tamiko and Cheng to drop some food inside them. "We need help," Tamiko said. "Let's ask the Secret Explorers how we should look after it." Tamiko pulled up a clump of moss and lined the pocket on the front of her hoodie with it. Then she carefully scooped up the baby Archaeopteryx and tucked it inside.

She noticed that it still had a piece of shell stuck to its wing, and she couldn't resist tucking it into her jeans pocket as a souvenir. They set off for the swamp where they'd parked the Beagle. They passed the clearing where they had found the baby Stegosaurus, and hurried through the ferns and drooping ginkgo branches. As they approached the swamp, they heard screeching. The Beagle was covered in little pterosaurs! They were flapping their leathery wings and squawking at each other.

KRAAA! KRAAA! KRAAA! screeched the pterosaurs. KRRR-P! PIPP-PPP! the Beagle beeped back. It sounded very cross. Tamiko laughed. "I think the Beagle's trying to tell them to go away! Go on, shoo!" she called, running towards them and waving her arms. The pterosaurs flew off, and the Beagle gave a satisfied beep.

Cheng jumped into one of the seats and tapped a screen on the dashboard. "I hope this works," he said. "We're one hundred and fifty million years away from home…" He switched on a microphone. "Calling Exploration Station! Exploration Station, come in!" The screen flickered. The faces of the other Secret Explorers appeared, all gathered around a screen. "Hi, guys!" said Connor. "How's it going in the Jurassic?"