In the Dinosaur's Paw by Patricia Reilly Giff
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To Joan Hanson
Chapter 1
Richard Best hid his green mittens under the bed.
Baby Christmas mittens.
He'd never wear them. Especially not to school.
Then he remembered. He needed a ruler today.
He looked under the bed again. He threw everything out of the floor of his closet.
“Hurry up, Richard,” his sister, Holly, screamed from downstairs.
His mother poked her head into his room. “This room is the worst,” she said. “I'm glad you're going back to school.”
Richard pulled out his dresser drawer. “I have to have a ruler,” he said.
“Why didn't you look for that on Saturday?” his mother asked. “Or the day after Christmas?”
“First day back is dinosaurs,” Richard said. “Ms. Rooney says we can't do dinosaurs without a ruler.”
“Richard,” Holly yelled again.
His mother looked under his bed. “No ruler,” she said. “But I found your nice green mittens.” She pulled them out. “Here.”
“I think it's late,” Richard said. He took the mittens. Then he tore down the stairs.
Holly was waiting at the door.
“You make me late,” she said. “Every day.”
“Go without me,” Richard said. He went into the kitchen.
He grabbed his lunch bag.
He sniffed it a little. Tuna fish again.
Horrible.
He banged out the door in back of Holly. They started for the Polk Street School.
Some winter this was, he thought. No snow.
Not one drop over the Christmas vacation.
If only it would snow.
If only he had a ruler.
“Hurry,” Holly said. She started to walk faster.
Richard walked slower.
He hated to walk to school with Holly.
As soon as they crossed Linden Avenue he stopped. He stood in front of the A&P store until Holly was gone.
There was a white mountain in the A&P store window.
It was made of toilet paper rolls.
Richard walked to the corner to wait for Emily. They were going to walk together every day now.
He didn't want people to see him standing in front of a toilet paper mountain.
He thought about school today. Maybe Ms. Rooney wouldn't let him do dinosaurs without a ruler.
He wondered how you did dinosaurs anyway.
Ms. Rooney hadn't told them that yet. She'd just said, “Don't forget to bring a ruler. After vacation we'll do dinosaurs.”
“Hey, Beast,” a voice yelled.
It was Emily Arrow. She was walking with Jill Simon.
Emily held up a red and green purse. “This is one of my presents.”
'Want to trade lunches?” Richard asked.
Emily raised her shoulders up in the air. “I have cheese. The orange shiny kind.”
Richard made a face. “No, thanks,” he said.
“I'm not trading,” Jill said. “I have peanut butter.”
They turned the corner. Richard looked at the house with the white fence. “I think that dog is outside,”
Jill shivered.
The dog began to bark. They started to run.
They stopped at the corner. Richard tried to catch his breath. “Ruff-a-roo,” he yelled back at the dog.
“Someday that dog might get out,” Jill said.
Emily laughed. “Don't worry. We're fast.”
“Do you have an extra ruler?” Richard asked.
“I was just going to ask you that,” Emily said.
' Hey. “' Jill pointed to the other side of the street.
Someone was hopping over a garbage can cover.
“Look at that grasshopper,” Emily said.
Richard laughed.
“What are you laughing at?” the boy yelled.
It was Drake Evans.
“Isn't that the kid who was in your class?” Emily asked. “Before you were left back?”
Richard nodded a little. He didn't like to think about being left back.
“Ruff-a-roo,” he yelled at Drake.
Drake started across the street toward them.
He had a mean look on his face.
“Yikes,” yelled Emily. “Let's go.”
They raced down the street toward school.
Richard looked over his shoulder.
Drake was running after them.
“I'm going to get you, Richard,” he yelled.
They turned the last corner.
Up ahead was the Polk Street School. Ms. Rooney was standing in front.
“Whew,” Emily said.
They slowed down. In back of them Drake slowed down too.
“Ruff-a-roo,” Richard said.
“Hi, Ms. Rooney,” Emily said.
“It's going to be a great day,” said Ms. Rooney. “I hope you remembered your rulers.”
“Did you have a nice vacation?” Richard asked Ms. Rooney.
“Super,” she said.
They went into Room 113. Maybe his ruler was in his desk, Richard thought.
While he was looking his friend Matthew Jackson slid into the seat in front of him.
Richard took a breath.
Matthew had the wet-the-bed smell.
“I have a new ruler,” Matthew said. “It's for the dinosaurs.”
Richard shoved his hand into his desk. There were piles of papers. He didn't feel a ruler.
He went into the coatroom. He dropped his mittens on the floor. He put his lunch on the shelf.
He wished it were Christmas again.
He wished he had a ruler.
Chapter 2
Ms. Rooney was drawing on the blackboard.
Richard was starving.
Too bad his lunch was in the coatroom.
Ms. Rooney stood back. She looked at her drawing. “Not too good,” she said.
She began to erase part of it.
Richard fished way back in his desk for something to eat. Maybe there was a piece of candy left over from before the winter vacation.
His hand closed on something. A ruler.
He couldn't believe it.
It looked a little like his old ruler.
But not exactly.
“Guess what this is,” Ms. Rooney said.
“It looks like a giraffe,” Richard said. “But I think it's a dinosaur.”
“Right,” said Ms. Rooney. “But it's not supposed to look like a giraffe.” She erased the dinosaur's neck.
Richard turned the ruler over. On the back there were big red crayon initials. D.T.
He looked around. There was no D.T. in the room.
They had a Dawn Bosco and a Derrick Grace.
“Yes,” said Ms. Rooney. “This is a picture of the fiercest dinosaur. His name was Tyrannosau-rus rex.”
Crazy name, Richard thought. He began to rub the red D.T. off his new ruler.
“We're going to pretend,” said Ms. Rooney. “We'll make believe that Tyrannosaurus lives in the hall.”
Richard closed his eyes. He could see the big dinosaur.
He was green. He had black spots.
He had a long purple stripe on his tail.
Matthew turned around. He pulled his lips back.
All his teeth showed.
“Grr,” he said to Richard. “I'm one of those Ty-Tyranno-what-you-call-its.''
“Ruff-a-roo,” Richard said.
“All right, class,” said Ms. Rooney. “Pick up your rulers and line up.”
Emily waved her hand around in the air.
So did Jill Simon.
Ms. Rooney sighed. “Don't tell me,” she said.
“I forgot—” Emily began.
“Your ruler,” said Ms. Rooney. “You too, Jill?”
Jill looked down at her desk. “Yes.”
Ms. Rooney reached into her desk. She pulled out two rulers. “Anybody else?”
Dawn Bosco raised her hand.
“Some people are going to be in trouble,” Ms. Rooney said, “if they don't start to remember.”
Ms. Rooney fished in her desk again. She gave Dawn another ruler. “Let's go,” she said.
Outside in the hall Richard waved his ruler around. He banged it against Matthew's.
Matthew banged back.
Richard tapped the ruler on Matthew's head. “Got you,” he whispered.
“Argg,” Matthew said. “I'm dead.”
“What's going on at the end of the line?” Ms. Rooney asked.
Everyone was quiet.
“Now,” said Ms. Rooney. “Just close your eyes. Make believe it's hot. Steamy. You're in a swamp.”
“What's a—” Jill Simon began.
“A swamp,” Ms. Rooney said. “That's a wet, marshy place. A place with snakes and crocodiles.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“There are dinosaur birds flying overhead,” said Ms. Rooney.
Richard could almost hear their leathery wings.
“Par, par, par,” Matthew whispered. “They're flying straight toward—”'
“On the ground,” said Ms. Rooney, “many dinosaurs are eating huge plants.”
“Crunch, crunch,” said Matthew.
Ms. Rooney stared at Richard and Matthew.
Richard took a step away from Matthew.
“And then there was Tyrannosaurus,” said Ms. Rooney. “He was the king. A terrible king.”
Richard shivered a little.
“He had teeth like knives,” said Ms. Rooney.
“Are you sure there are none left?” Jill asked.
'They died millions of years ago,” Ms. Rooney said.
“Whew,” said Emily Arrow. “I was getting worried.”
Ms. Rooney pointed to the ceiling. “Tyrannosaurus would take up two floors of our school.”
Richard could see the dinosaur's head.
It was poking up into the sixth-grade classroom.
Mrs. Kettle was screaming. Mean Mrs. Kettle.
It served her right.
Tyrannosaurus opened his mouth.
Next to Richard, Matthew giggled.
“Too bad there isn't one of those things left,” he whispered. “He could grab Mrs. Kettle.”
Richard smiled. “Just what I was thinking.”
Ms. Rooney frowned. “Is someone talking?”
Richard took another step away from Matthew.
“Ty was about forty-five feet long,” said Ms. Rooney. “That's from his head to the tip of his tail.” She looked around. “How can we find out how much space he'd use?”
Noah Green raised his hand. So did Dawn Bosco.
Richard ducked down. He hoped Ms. Rooney wouldn't call on him.
“Noah,” said Ms. Rooney.
Noah put his ruler up in the air. “My ruler is one foot long.”
“You're on the right track,” said Ms. Rooney.
Matthew leaned over. “Noah's always on the right track.”
“Vroom, vroom,” said Richard.
“If you put your ruler on the floor,” said Noah, “and move it forty-five times …”
“I was going to say that too,” said Emily.
“That's how long he'd be,” said Noah.
“Good thinking,” said Ms. Rooney.
Richard looked down at the floor. He didn't know what they were talking about.
“Start at the end of the hall,” Ms. Rooney said. “Move your ruler forty-five times. That's how long Ty is.”
“Simple,” said Matthew.
“Simple,” Richard said. He waited to see what everyone was going to do.
Emily knelt on the floor. She put her ruler down.
Then she put her finger at the end of the ruler.
She moved the ruler.
“Oh,” said Richard. He began to move his ruler along too. “One,” he whispered to himself. “Two. Three.”
After a while he forgot what number he was up to.
He made believe he was counting. “Twenty-one.”
He looked out the hall window. It was snowing.
In front of him Noah yelled, “Forty-five.”
Everyone stopped and looked at Noah.
They looked back to where they had started.
“Wow,” said Emily.
“That guy must have been a giant,” Richard said.
He followed everyone back into the classroom.
He took out a piece of paper.
He drew a dinosaur. A green one with a bunch of black spots. It had a purple stripe down its tail.
“This is my lucky day,” he told Matthew. “I wished for a ruler and I found one. I wished for snow. And look out the window.”
“Snow,” Matthew said. “This is my lucky day too.”
Then he pointed to Richard's ruler. “I just thought of something.”
“What?” Richard asked.
“D.T.,” Matthew said. “Dinosaur. Tyranno-saurus whatever-you-call-it. Ty.”
Richard looked down at his ruler.
He could still see the red crayon mark. D.T.
“Do you think maybe a dinosaur ghost …” Matthew said.
“Don't be silly,” Richard said. He put the ruler back into his desk.
He looked down at his drawing. It looked as if the dinosaur were smiling at him.
Chapter 3
It was almost time to go home.
Richard wondered how deep the snow was.
The pencil sharpener was next to the window.
He grabbed his pencil. He hurried across the room.
“Richard,” Ms. Rooney began. “How many times—''
Just then the door opened.
It was Mrs. Gates, Drake Evans's teacher. “I just had a wonderful idea/”she told Ms. Rooney.
Richard stuck his pencil in the sharpener. He stood on tiptoe to look at the snow.
He could hear Ms. Rooney and Mrs. Gates talking.
He pushed open the window a little.
There was a thick coat of snow on the window-sill.
Maybe there was enough for a snowball.
He'd scoop it up and carry it back to his desk.
He looked back over his shoulder.
Ms. Rooney and Mrs. Gates were standing at the door.
He grabbed a mound of snow. It was freezing cold.
He raced back to his seat.
Matthew was doing his math workbook.
Richard leaned forward. He put the snowball against Matthew's neck.
“Yeow,” Matthew yelled.
Richard dropped the snowball.
Ms. Rooney jumped. “I can't believe my ears,” she told Mrs. Gates.
“I can't either,” said Mrs. Gates. “I hope they calm down before they get to my class.”
Mrs. Gates went out to the hall.
Ms. Rooney closed the door. “Disgraceful,” she said. “We can't even have a visitor in this room.”
She looked around. “Who was that?”
Nobody answered.
Richard rubbed his hands on his jeans.
He could see the snowball on the floor.
It was starting to melt a little. But not much.
Suppose Ms. Rooney saw it.
“Who made that noise?
Matthew leaned over his workbook. “Nine and four,” he said. “Twelve. No, eleven.”
'I'm glad to see Matthew Jackson is working,” Ms. Rooney said. “Some people are very good workers. It's too bad that a few people spoil everything.”
Richard looked down at the snowball.
He wished it would melt faster. A lot faster.
“Mrs. Gates had such a lovely surprise for us,” Ms. Rooney said.
Maybe he should put something on top of the snowball. A book.
He reached into his desk. He could feel his reader.
Ms. Rooney would be mad if his reader got wet.
“We are going on a trip,” said Ms. Rooney.
He could feel the ruler in the back of his desk.
The D.T. ruler. The dinosaur ruler.
He pulled it out.
“Our class will go with Mrs. Gates's class,” said Ms. Rooney.
Richard pointed the ruler at the snowball.
If only it were a dinosaur ruler.
It would grant all his wishes.
It would melt the snowball in two seconds.
He looked down at the snowball.
It was melting. It was really melting fast.
“We are going to see a dinosaur,” said Ms. Rooney. “On Friday.”
“In a zoo?” Emily asked. “I thought there weren't any.”
Ms. Rooney shook her head. “Not a live one. We're going to a museum.”
Matthew looked back at Richard. “Yucks,” he said. “I knew it was going to be something like a museum.”
“I knew it too,” Richard said. He was still watching the snowball.
Only a sliver of white was left.
Richard looked at his ruler.
It wasn't a dinosaur ruler.
Only babies could believe that.
But all his wishes were coming true.
He'd have to tell Matthew.
“Yes,” said Ms. Rooney. “There is a big dinosaur in the museum. His bones were found. Someone put them together. You'll get an idea of what he was really like.”
Emily Arrow leaned forward. “Beast,” she whispered. She looked worried.
'Time to get your jackets,” Ms. Rooney said.
Emily's row stood up first. “It's going to be a terrible trip,” she whispered as she went past.
Richard sneaked into the closet. He looked around for his green mittens.
“We'll have to spend the whole day getting away from Drake,” Emily said.
His mittens were under Dawn's schoolbag.