Suddenly Masterson seemed to come awake to the danger. He got to his feet rapidly and began running for the truck. Gardel kept firing from the cab. Owen sprinted for the jeep as the stegosaurs charged into the clearing, bellowing wildly, blind rage guiding their powerful muscles
“Get this baby started,” Chuck said to Arthur. There was an undertone of anxiety in his voice. He wet his lips as the stegosaurs roared forward, trampling over the spot Owen and Masterson had just left.
Chuck heard the motor whine as Arthur stepped on the starter. Owen reached the jeep and hopped aboard.
“Let’s get out of here,” he panted. “Fast!”
The stegosaurs stopped, raising their heads, seeming to sniff the air for their enemy. Arthur tried the starter again. A complaining moan came from beneath the hood of the jeep.
“What’s the matter?” Owen asked. He watched the stegosaurs as they lowered their heads again.
“I… something’s wrong. She… she…” Arthur swallowed hard, glanced up briefly at the herd of reptiles.
“What is it?” Chuck fairly shouted.
“She won’t start!” Arthur blurted. “Something’s wrong with her.” He looked at Chuck helplessly. When he spoke again, his voice was edged with panic. “She just won’t start!”
Well…” Owen wiped a hand over his face, cutting himself short. He glanced uneasily over the windshield. The truck had already begun to move out of the clearing, and the stegosaurs studied the area with dull, unintelligent eyes, seeking a new prey.
Arthur’s hands were trembling, but he climbed out of the jeep in spite of his fear, walking to the front and lifting the hood quickly. He looked over his shoulder at the mountainous beasts and then ducked his head over the engine.
Chuck was beside him instantly. He’d taken apart his own hot rod so many times that he knew engines the way he knew his own name. He’d never tinkered with a jeep, though, and he’d never had a herd of dinosaurs looking over his shoulder while he worked.
“What is it?” Arthur asked. There was concern in his voice, but the panic was gone now.
“I think the plugs are wet. Driving through all that wet shrubbery probably did it. We’ll need a rag.”
Arthur didn’t hesitate a moment. He seized his shirt at the top and ripped it over his head. He pushed it off his arms and handed it to Chuck. “Hurry,” he said simply.
Chuck glanced at the stegosaurs. They were beginning to move again, slowly, just the way they had before. They moved toward the jeep, their awkward gait looking almost comical.
Chuck took the T-shirt and began drying the plugs. “Get back in the jeep,” he said. “Start her up. We haven’t got time to waste.”
Arthur ran around the side and hopped in behind the wheel. He stepped on the starter.
Nothing.
“Keep trying!” Chuck shouted. He wiped at the spark plugs frantically, drying them carefully, soaking up the water that clung to the engine, too.
Arthur tried again. There was a faint cough, a sputter and the exasperating, wailing whine again.
The stegosaurs were gaining speed. The earth began to shake as they swung around toward the jeep, great clods of mud and greenery bursting into the air beneath their hoofs.
Chuck ran to the other side of the jeep, tossing open the hood and starting on the spark plugs there. Arthur tried the starter again. The sound was lost in the overwhelming thunder of the approaching reptiles. There was another timid cough, a sputter, and Chuck saw the fan belt whirl as the engine caught. He leaped onto the fender, the hood still open, and shouted, “Let ‘er rip!”
Arthur backed the jeep in a wide, screaming curve as the stegosaurs closed the distance. He turned the wheel sharply and jammed his foot against the accelerator. The jeep jerked forward like a bullet from a pistol, narrowly missing a cycad, almost knocking Chuck loose from his precarious perch on the fender.
The stegosaurs trampled past in a cloud of mud, ferns and flying leaves. The jeep bounced as the armored tons of flesh shook the ground. There was a whirl of gray and green and agitated brown. Suddenly the stegosaurs were gone and the jeep was scrambling across the clearing like a frightened rabbit, Chuck clinging to the fender for dear life.
Arthur stopped the jeep for a moment while Chuck leaped to the ground and onto the seat in one quick motion. The jeep lurched forward again. Behind them, the stegosaurs wheeled for another charge. The truck had stopped at the edge of the clearing, and Chuck could see Masterson and Gardel leaning over the tailgate, firing at the animals behind the jeep.
When the jeep got closer, the truck started moving again, with rifle fire erupting in sharp, even cracks from the tailgate and small blossoms of yellow sprouting from the hot barrels.
Arthur kept his big, brown hands firmly on the wheel as he followed the truck around the clearing and through the ferns. The noise of the stegosaurs was growing fainter, and Chuck knew they would soon outdistance the lumbering beasts.