Botheration: Part Two: Waves of Dinosaurs

By Vito DiBarone

When seventeen-year-old Matty Weber agrees to escort Freddie Carter to Dinosaur National Monument in eastern Utah on a school trip, he encounters more than a quiet intellectual visit. They were supposed to be there to see one of the country’s best dinosaur excavation sites, but instead, Matty immediately finds himself saving a young paleontology major from New Zealand.

Amidst the chaos, Matty nearly misses his chance to score points with his dream girl Samantha Carter. Along the way he fights the raging waters of the Green River and intellectually duels with a general a Santa Claus look-alike. After almost losing Freddie, Matty temporarily loses himself in underground tunnels before reuniting with Samantha and friends and eventually wanders through waves of dinosaurs.

Picking up where Matty and his friends left off in the Botheration series, Matty gets into all sorts of trouble on what was supposed to be just another ordinary day. Most importantly, though, he continues his quest to discover more about trust, develop new interpersonal skills, and be more social.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Dec 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665732925

Vito DiBarone

Vito DiBarone grew up in the metropolitan New York City area. Studying physics, he attended college and earned his degree. He traveled the United States and around the world as an engineer while tinkering, learning languages, and meeting new people. Currently, he calls both Las Vegas parts of California home, where he works on cutting-edge technology for airplanes, land and water vehicles, and missiles.

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Copyright © 2023 Vito Di Barone.

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ISBN: 978-1-6657-3293-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3294-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-3292-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022921508

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Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/01/2022

CONTENTS

Chapter 1Too Close for Comfort

Chapter 2From Auckland with Love

Chapter 3These Times, They Are A-changing

Chapter 4Touchdown

Chapter 5It Is Only Rock and Roll

Chapter 6Like a Rolling Stone

Chapter 7Let’s Do It Again

Chapter 8Holy Bones

Chapter 9Who Do You Trust?

Chapter 10Back to Basics

Chapter 11Field Trip to the Field Museum

Chapter 12As the Footprints Become Deeper

Chapter 13Said the Spider to the Fly

Chapter 14Good Day, Mr. Bond

Chapter 15Dad?

Chapter 16Which Way?

Chapter 17Such Good Fun

Chapter 18Was I Really Here Before?

Chapter 19ALH84001

Chapter 20On Again and Off Again

Chapter 21Home Again, Home Again

Chapter 22What Are We Waiting For?

Chapter 23We Are All Here

Chapter 24Tortoise Soup

Chapter 25Deeper and Deeper

Chapter 26Life Begins at Seventeen

Chapter 27More of the Same

Chapter 28Read between the Lines

Chapter 29Rebecca and Willy to the Rescue

Chapter 30Why?

Chapter 31Why Not?

Chapter 32Because

Chapter 33Or Is It like This?

Chapter 34Just Another Brick in the Wall

Chapter 35Never Say Never Again

Chapter 36OK, OK

Chapter 37Hello Again

Chapter 38Afterburners on Full

Chapter 39Does Gold Really Glitter?

Chapter 40You Take the High Road

Chapter 41I’ll Take the Low Road

Chapter 42And I’ll Be in Scotsbourgh before You

Chapter 43Whatever Remains

Chapter 44Earth to Moon Lander

Chapter 45If It’s Jelly …

Chapter 46There’s Doughnuts for Everyone

Chapter 47Gabriel?

Chapter 48Destiny

Chapter 49Mirror, Mirror

Chapter 50All Is Not Real

Chapter 51Aren’t I Real?

Chapter 52Picking Up the Pieces

Chapter 53Pickup Sticks

Chapter 54Lab of Life

Chapter 55Imprisoned?

Chapter 56Who Do You Like the Best?

Chapter 57Work to Do

Chapter 58A Flower by Any Other Name

Chapter 59SIASE?

Chapter 60SIASE, SIASE, SIASE, SIASE

Chapter 61Ready or Not

ONE

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT

Y ikes! A lady is dangling in the air! And she’s upside down, Freddie said. Funny, he added as his forehead furled. Why isn’t she screaming?

I looked in the direction Freddie was staring. A woman with curly blonde hair was hanging with her body facing away from the wall. Her hair is probably in her mouth, I quipped as the image in front of me slowly sank in. I figured she must have fallen while examining the collection of 150-million-year-old vertebrae on the Dinosaur Wall of Bones in the multifloor Quarry Exhibit Hall. This was the last thing I had expected to see at the Dinosaur Natural Monument in Utah. As I examined the situation, it looked as if she had fallen near the end of the two-hundred-foot-long exhibit. She was hanging upside down, as Freddie had said. He had a quick mind.

Matty, help her! Freddie said. After all, you’re seventeen, you’re bigger than me, and I hear you took many gym classes last year.

I looked around for someone to help us, but nobody was in sight. Freddie and I plotted a path to a spot directly beneath her and ran. My mind raced as I worked on a plan to help her. I figured I needed to unhook her from her harness and then cushion her fall to the ground. What a time to be without our cell phones! I said.

As we neared her, I saw her eyes were closed, and she looked unconscious.

Freddie, go to the front desk to get help. Tell them what happened and where to find us. OK?

Freddie nodded, turned, and ran off.

With her hanging only inches above me, I saw no signs of blood. I reached up and touched her head. Her blonde hair was soft and wavy, with scents of vanilla that sent me into an altered state. I began acting on impulse. I felt around on her scalp, noticing a bump. It must have resulted from her head hitting the rock and dirt wall. I stroked the swelling to help circulate blood flow, but she didn’t react.

Even though I enjoyed massaging her head, I realized I needed to release her from her predicament. I could not detect whether or not her breathing had changed from the massage. Stepping back a few feet, I examined how she was supported. Her harness was suspended from a point ten feet above. Luckily, she had a quick-release harness latch on her waist. But if I pushed it, she would fall headfirst to the ground and possibly injure me. I didn’t want that to happen. She looked older than I was, but she was thinner and probably weighed less.

At five foot five and 120 pounds, I wasn’t tall or strong enough to support her alone, so I had to find a way to wake her up and get her facing upward before she landed on the ground. Hopefully, by then, she would be fully conscious and could help herself.

What am I missing? I clenched my jaw and looked closely at my surroundings again.

Then I saw it: a coiled, clay-covered hose connected to a faucet was on the ground not ten feet away. It was probably used to clean dirt and dust from the fossilized bones. I rushed to the valve and turned it on. Water softly oozed out of the opening. Darn it!

I turned the faucet hard clockwise. Nothing.

What gives? I said softly.

Then the faucet coughed and exploded as water gushed out of the hose. Grabbing the end with both hands, I directed it toward the girl. My intention was only to wake her, not drown her.

But the water had a mind of its own, and it rushed out faster than I could control it. I did my best to direct it, but the stream was alive! It hit her in her torso, pushing her body against the wall.

Crap, I don’t know what I’m doing! I exclaimed.

I used all my concentration and strength to hold the hose, allowing the water to bounce off the wall before hitting her head. That lessened the power of the water hitting her and moved her away from the wall.

Was she OK? I hoped it wasn’t too late.

Hey! a feminine voice yelled. Stop it. I already showered today.

I yanked the hose downward away from her. Are you all right? I asked as the water ricocheting off the wall soaked me.

I will be when I get down and right side up. She managed a weak smile. My hero!

Is everyone all right? A male voice interrupted as a man turned the faucet off. He was tall and gaunt, peering down at me through horned-rimmed spectacles. He almost looked as if he had stepped out of the Wall of Bones. He was temporarily winded, probably from running from the office. Apparently, Freddie had completed his task, but where was he?

The skeletal man agilely inserted himself between the soaked girl and me. He placed a wooden ladder against the wall and climbed up to help her. Hey, kid, hold the ladder while I unhook Wilhelmina from her harness, Dusty said.

Thanks, Dusty, she said.

I braced myself against the ladder while I watched Dusty easily lift her up into his arms and uncouple her harness. The ladder squealed. Watching them so close together caused a stirring in my stomach.

Hurry up! I yelled. I don’t think this ladder can take the added weight for long.

Don’t worry, kid. One more minute, and we’ll be down. Dusty laughed.

The ladder squealed loudly. As if the ladder knew what he had said, it caved inward toward the wall. Dusty fell straight down onto his back, leaving Wilhelmina momentarily suspended in midair. I stiffened my posture and held out both arms to catch her as if we had practiced this act.

She landed in my outstretched arms, albeit like a ton of bricks. I fell back onto the wet floor, and she landed on top of me.

My hero. She grinned. Again! Still pinning me, she smiled through her mop of blonde curls. I’m Willy Fredrickson, and that guy over there is Dusty Miller.

I felt momentarily out of breath but said, Hi. I’m Matty, and—

At that moment, Freddie appeared, also winded from running. Hi. I’m Freddie. I’m ten years old. Did you say your name is Will? That’s a boy’s name.

No, my name is Willy, but if that is a problem, she said, you can call me Mina.

Freddie, reach down and give Mina a hand up, I said.

Mean-a. Are you mean? Freddie said as he took hold of her arms and yanked her straight up.

Be careful, Freddie. She might be injured. Maybe a concussion, I said.

Mean? she said with a devilish look. I’ll give you mean, Mr. Freddie.

With that, she let go of Freddie’s grip, and he fell into the muddy water at our feet. Splash!

See? I told you. Freddie laughed. Mean.

I looked at Freddie and shook my head. My young friend Freddie and I are here from Scotsbourgh, California, to participate in a special dig seminar at the Dinosaur Monument. What were you doing hanging on that wall?

Well, actually, it’s none of your business, Mina said, and then she blushed. I’m sorry. Pardon my manners. I, uh— She turned toward the wall. Well, can you see those extraordinary vertebrae up there? I was examining those for my summer project. I’m a paleontology major at the University of New Zealand, she said in an accent that sounded weirdly British.

Now that she was standing up, I could see that she was my height, and her curly hair hung down, framing her cute face.

I love dinosaurs and everything about them, she added. I grew up in Auckland.

Ouk-land, Freddie said as he stood up. More funny words. Where is that?

It’s in the Southern Hemisphere, in the South Pacific, Dusty said as he dusted himself off from his fall. "I figure you have no idea where that is, do you? Do you have a map? No? Well, anyway, on the map, it looks like Earth is spelling and. Willy—or Mina, as you know her—is a Kiwi. She prefers to be called Mina, by the way."

Kiwi? More funny words. South Pacific! Wow! Freddie gestured as if he were playing the ukulele as he sang, Did you swim here?

Swim? Do you want to swim in that muddy water again? Mina said.

Paleontology? I wrote a paper on the radiometric method of dating, I said, trying to defuse the situation. But before I could finish, I noticed the rock wall plummeting toward us.

I screamed, Everybody, run!

TWO

FROM AUCKLAND WITH LOVE

S mall rocks and pieces of fossilized bone rained down on us. Mina seemed torn. She looked like a zombie with her hands outstretched. Catch those bones! she said. They’re millions of years old. If they break, they can’t be replaced.

I thought that statement was a little strange coming from a paleontologist. After all, the bones were heavy and could injure us, but Mina interrupted my thought as she strayed under the torrent of bones and rock. To avert more injuries, I took hold of one of her arms, and Freddie grabbed the other as we yanked her to safety.

What did you have to do that for? she screamed.

‘That for’? Who talks like that? I said quietly.

You might have been buried like the dinosaurs for millions of years! Freddie laughed.

Do you realize this quarry is precious and priceless? This is one of the major Jurassic dinosaur sites in the world, Mina said.

In case anyone cares, I’m OK. Dusty’s voice chimed in.

We looked behind us and saw a very dusty Dusty holding a 150-million-year-old stegosaurus leg bone.

Nice catch, Freddie said.

My hero, Mina said to Dusty, forgetting what Freddie and I had just done for her. I’m glad someone had the wherewithal to know what’s really important.

I shook my head and thought it was time to move away from the fallen rubble and clean up. There had been a time when I would have acted like Mina. But time and the events leading me there had altered my perspective on life and science. I felt like I was on a ride but was still not the captain of my journey. I wondered what was in store for me.

By then, people were assembling to find out what was happening. I felt nauseous, and the added dust from the rockslide wreaked havoc on my allergies.

Achoo! I sneezed.

Was that the mating cry of the stegosaur? Freddie said.

Freddie, I think we should continue on our exploration. Let’s clean up in the men’s room and then return to the second-floor viewing area. OK?

OK.

We walked along the ramp to the second floor, past the exhibit’s end. From our vantage point, we saw more people flocking to see the result of the falling rocks and fossilized bones.

Do you always make a habit of leaving a scene before it turns into a circus? Freddie said. We could have had fun with those people. Especially with dusty Dusty and mean Mina.

I thought it was good for us to move on before there was more trouble. After all, you’re here to take part in a dig, right?

I know, Freddie said.

Looking to my left and away from the mob, Freddie pointed at the edge of the Wall of Bones, where it seemed to merge with the tall windows of the Exhibit Hall.

Gee, look there, Freddie said, pointing to an area between the windows and the wall. It looks like a good way to climb up to the top of the wall. Someone could easily climb between the Wall of Bones and the building. I wonder if that is how Meana got to the top, Freddie said.

The area looked like a halfpipe crawl space, and I could picture how Mina would have gotten to the top. Unfortunately, due to the slope of the wall, I could not determine if it would have been possible to maneuver along the top of the wall. Perhaps there was a way to secure ropes to the top of the building.

Yes, take some close-up photos of the building’s ceiling structure, I said. Mina could have climbed up there, but I think she got up another way. They wouldn’t let anyone up there. So why didn’t she have help? Maybe she free-climbed and anchored her rope.

Look at all those vertebrae on the wall. What was so special about that one she showed us? She nearly killed herself! Freddie said.

Special? Good question, I said. A stegosaur fossil? Hmm. After all, this wall has tens of sections of sauropod vertebrae. Freddie, start taking close-up photos of all the vertebrae. Then we can examine them back in our room. It would be nice if there were an on-site paleontologist here to ask that question.

What does a paleontologist look like? Freddie laughed.

Paleontologists could be a male or female in a business suit, or they could have plaster-of-paris stains on their hands and dirt on their clothes, I said rapidly. Actually, they could look like anyone—young or old, male or female, tall or short. Ah yes. Dusty told us that he is one.

Meana? Freddie said.

I don’t think so; there is something peculiar about her. Hmm, maybe she’s a paleontologist in training, I said.

Can we ask Dusty?

He didn’t seem that friendly. There is a gift shop in the main building. We can ask someone there. Come on. Let’s move along—that is, if you are finished taking photos of the fossilized vertebrae.

I would like to get another photo of that string of bones at the top of the wall, Freddie said.

Freddie stood on his tiptoes and extended his arms across the railing to take his last photo, when he slipped. Grabbing the top of the railing to steady himself, he dropped his camera.

Hey, I dropped my camera! Freddie shouted toward the first floor.

Didn’t your sister, Samantha, buy you that camera especially for this trip? I hope it isn’t broken, I said.

If Freddie had broken his camera, I would have to explain why and how it had happened. I knew Samantha wouldn’t like it.

The camera dropped straight down toward the first floor’s hard surface, to what looked like its eventual destruction. Lucky for us, the crowd had moved from their previous spot and dispersed along the wall directly below us.

Hey, look what landed in my bag. Where did this come from? an unsuspecting tourist loudly said. Funny—it’s a camera! Is there anything that isn’t falling from the wall?

Hey! Freddie said again. That’s my camera. I’ll be right down.

The tourist looked up and saw Freddie. OK, I can meet you halfway up the ramp.

Freddie ran down the ramp to meet the lucky boy who’d caught his camera and then ran back to me, smiling at his escape from disaster.

Can you be a little more careful with your camera now? I said.

I know, I know, Freddie said. Forgetting the immediate past, he shot past me along the walkway and began taking photos of another new fossil.

I was about to say something about dropping his camera again, when I saw Dusty talking to an older man below us. Dusty must have had eyes in the back of his head, because he turned toward me and focused on me. Dusty pointed at me and then spoke excitedly to the other man. Why would Dusty be so excited and weird? Freddie and I had just been with him. The other man also seemed excited, and then he pointed at me. They both stared at me. Who was his friend? He didn’t look familiar. Was he connected to the museum? Did the older man think I was responsible for the bones falling from the wall?

Dusty yelled something to me. I couldn’t understand what he said, due to the noise of kids screaming nearby. He repeated his mouth movement and shook his hands as if he were getting frustrated. He and the other man began to walk up the ramp toward me.

Should I run?

I realized I was responsible for Freddie, yet I had a different path to follow. I turned to see how far Freddie was from me before venturing on to the next step in that unknown land. First, I had to meet Dusty and the older adult. I hoped that whatever they wanted was benign. However, if it was dangerous and I lost sight of Freddie, I would take the blame and the responsibility for letting Samantha down. Ah, Samantha. Sweet Samantha. Just thinking of her name brought up memories of her warm kiss at the high school event and the adventures we had shared a few months ago.

I looked around for Freddie, but he wasn’t on the second floor anymore. I was beginning to feel the familiar wetness in my armpits. I couldn’t lose him!

I looked to my left and then to my right. Luckily, from the second floor, I could see that the transportation shuttle had arrived downstairs. The shuttle was the main link between the visitors’ center at the entrance and the Quarry Building, where we were. I could plainly see Freddie’s bright red T-shirt as he stood in line to board the shuttle. I was glad he had the sense to leave while he had the chance.

I reversed my decision to make my presence known to Dusty and the other man. Quickly and stealthily, I made my way to the outside ramp. If they were after me for some reason, I had to protect Freddie somehow. Perhaps I could act as a decoy or just slip away. I hoped I could make it before they noticed I was gone.

Once on the ramp, I descended to the shuttle. My plan was to keep a distance from Freddie. If they wanted me, they wouldn’t bother with him. But who was I kidding? How would Freddie do by himself?

I winked at Freddie as I passed him to take a seat in the back of the second car of the three-car shuttle.

Taking a seat between two groups of kids, I blended in as best as I could without it seeming evident that I was a stranger to them. Just as I settled in, the shuttle started up. I breathed easier. I noticed Dusty and the other man rushing toward the shuttle. The older man was huffing and puffing. They would never make it. Ha ha.

Then the shuttle jerked to a stop. It caused such a commotion from the riders that the shuttle driver had to announce that we would be delayed for dignitaries. He said their names. With the noise from the surrounding kids, I caught only the word doctors.

So they were both doctors. I wondered if they were medical doctors or perhaps PhDs. I guessed that Dusty was a PhD. That meant the other man likely was also one. Maybe the older man was a paleontologist or geologist. I had been Freddie’s age when I presented my first paper at the Natural History Museum in New York. Back then, I’d had a following for my work in geology and paleontology. Maybe they were fans. I racked my brain but couldn’t come up with a name or a position for the older man. Why would he want to talk to me now?

From my vantage point, they just seemed interested in getting on the shuttle and not finding me. Strange!

They sat in the first row in the first car. Lucky for me, they didn’t see Freddie or me. Instead, they were laughing and talking with the driver. Maybe I was just paranoid.

Without further incident, the shuttle started up again, and we arrived at the visitors’ center. I watched as the driver escorted the two men into the center. Freddie turned in his seat and caught my eye. I put a finger to my lips and then signaled him to wait for me after most of the people had exited the shuttle and assembled near the main conference hall door, possibly for a lecture or something.

I crept in line with the other kids. Freddie joined me.

Thinking we were out of trouble, Freddie said, What gives? Why all the cloak-and-dagger stuff? Did you forget to pay for our admittance to the museum? If not, let’s relax, huh? Matty, can we spend some time in the gift shop? They probably have books you like and things we can buy for my mom, Samantha, and your grandmother.

Oh, nothing terrible, I whispered. It could be nothing more than some of my fans or relics of an adventure that never really ended. Remember when your sister and I were at Lake Tahoe?

Sure, Freddie said. From what I heard, you joined the popular group, and everyone had fun while my dad, my mom, and I were in Las Vegas.

Yes, I said. Well, it might seem like we had fun, but not all the puzzle pieces were answered, and there were people who never were held accountable. So I was just wondering.

If those people are Dusty and that older man? Freddie said.

I nodded slightly. I don’t know where those two went, but I think it might be OK to go to the gift shop for a short time. Besides, we have over thirty minutes before the next bus arrives. Let’s go. But keep an eye open for them. If we get separated again, we meet at the front door to the visitors’ center.

OK.

Wandering around the gift shop, I could see how big Freddie’s eyes were as he buzzed from exhibit to exhibit. I guessed my eyes were the same as his; there were many great things in the store. I was drawn first to the books on dinosaurs and then the clothes hanging on the back wall. I was lost in the assortment of shirts, when I heard Freddie’s voice.

Wow, Matty, Freddie said. Look at these great fossils of Camarasaurus! I have always wanted a fossil.

Freddie, look at the price, I said with my mouth agape. Wow, it’s ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents! And it says it is only a reproduction of a fossil.

Wow, Freddie said. Almost a hundred bucks! What’s a reproduction?

It means it is not a real fossil, I said. But it is a cast-off of a real one maybe.

What other reproductions do they have? Freddie said. Wow, look. They have Camarasaurus skull fossils. He opened his wallet, counted his dollars, and dropped his jaw. I can’t afford it, he said.

I patted Freddie on the back.

Freddie moved away to seek something he could afford.

Let me buy it for you, said a deep male voice behind me.

I looked around to see Dusty and the older man moving toward me.

As they approached, I could see the intensity in their eyes. They were converging on me. I had no escape route.

THREE

THESE TIMES, THEY

ARE A-CHANGING

W hy were they interested in me? Was this about my father or his business? Dusty and that other guy must be essential people , I thought. Why would the tram driver stop to pick them up if they weren’t? If so, they perhaps had a legitimate reason for talking to me. But ordinary people would have called me on my cell phone. They would have communicated to me their needs. Or could they have my school call me? Grown men did not follow teenagers without some devious reason. Had I ever seen them during any of my symposiums? No. At my school? No. I didn’t remember them from Lake Tahoe. No, the two men were new to me. There is something I have to learn from and about them. But I’ll have to turn the tables on them to do that! I could follow them and patiently wait until they showed their hand. But wait, Matty. There is always another way. I could walk up to them and say, Hello. I’m Matty Weber, and so on. The most important thing now was to make sure they did not hurt Freddie. Before my own problem was my promise to Samantha to take care of him. After all, it had