They found Dr. Dumar sitting on a low rock, his head cradled in his hands. Tears had dried on his cheeks, and he was shaking his head from side to side when they came up to him.
“My specimens,” he said. “All gone. And my instruments.”
He kept shaking his head, and Chuck knew that a weaker man would have cracked under the strain of what the doctor had just been through. In a way, he was thankful that Denise had been unconscious throughout the ordeal. He looked at her now, still limp in Pete’s arms. “Doc,” he said, “see if you can revive Denise, won’t you? We want to find the rest of the party.”
Dr. Dumar nodded, sighed, and then got to his feet as Pete lowered the girl to the ground. Chuck smiled as he saw the doctor rubbing the unconscious Denise’s wrists and then started off with Arthur.
“Do you think he’ll be all right?” Arthur asked.
“He’s got something to do now,” Chuck said. “It’ll take his mind off his own troubles.”
They moved forward slowly in the darkness. The moon lighted the new landscape, casting a wan yellowness over the twisted trees and the sharply jutting rocks. Chuck could see plainly now, and his eyes carried shocked impressions of the torn land to his brain. He knew that upheavals such as this one, swift and violent, were common occurrences throughout geologic time. He wondered how Man had survived such earthquakes and then he wondered if any upheavals had taken place after Man evolved on earth. He grinned in the darkness. They had survived, hadn’t they? A short disturbance, true, but a particularly vicious one-and at least five members of the party had come through it all right.
What of the rest?
Dr. Perry, Masterson and Gardel.
He wanted very much to find Dr. Perry. As for Masterson and Gardel, he didn’t much care.
“That’s funny,” he said aloud.
“Huh?” Arthur asked. “What’s funny?”
Chuck faltered. “I… I don’t know.”
Arthur remained silent, his face puzzled.
“I mean,” Chuck said, “I’m not sure why I… why I…”
“Why you
“Why I dislike Masterson and Gardel. I just… just feel that I do. I mean, aside from all their griping and uncooperativeness. Something deeper. A real dislike. And yet, I have no real reason for it. That is…”
“They’re not hard to dislike,” Arthur said solemnly. “And they’ve certainly given you enough reason for it.”
“Yes,” Chuck answered, still struggling with something evasive in his mind.
“Right from the start,” Arthur went on, “when Masterson complained about being given a Junior Guide. And then that stunt with the force field, and that brush with the brontosaurs. You’ve really had your hands full with him, Chuck.”
“Why, yes,” Chuck said slowly, “I
“Why, sure.”
“A qualified Junior Guide. And on my eighteenth birthday, after I’ve completed ten time slips, I’ll be a… a…” He shook his head.
“What’s the matter, Chuck?”
“Nothing. I just feel as if I’m discovering all this about myself for the first time. As if I’m… I’m being reborn.” He grinned ruefully. “That sounds silly, I know.”
“How many slips have you been on so far?” Arthur asked.
“Why…” Chuck hesitated, concentrating hard. “Five, I think Yes, this is my fifth.” He passed a hand over his forehead. “Funny, I can’t seem to think straight. For a minute there, I almost said this was my
“Maybe the earthquake upset you,” Arthur offered.
“Yes, maybe,” Chuck said, nodding. They kept walking, Chuck’s brows still creased in deep concentration. He shook his head again. “I’m sorry, Arthur, but I feel as if I’m forgetting something important. As if a chunk of my mind has been shoved into a dark corner. Do you know what I mean?”
“Slightly.”
“It’s not a pleasant feeling.” He shrugged. “Well, I guess…”
“Chuck! Is that you?” The voice was a familiar one.
“Dr. Perry!”
Chuck and Arthur began running toward the sound of the voice. A smile erupted on Chuck’s face as he saw the paleontologist step out of the shadows.
“Are you all right, Dr. Perry?”
“Fine, fine.” The doctor’s voice grew concerned. “Pierre? Dr. Dumar? Is he… ?”
“He’s fine. We left him with Pete and Denise.”
“Well, that’s wonderful,” Dr. Perry said, his face plainly relieved. “That means the whole party is together again. I’ve got Masterson and Gardel back there in the ferns.”
A wash of disappointment flooded over Chuck. He tried to pinpoint its origin, but he couldn’t. “Oh!” he said simply.
“I’ll get them,” Dr. Perry said.
“Sure.” Chuck nodded glumly in the darkness. “Sure.”
Denise was sitting up when they reached the geologist and Pete. Her face was pale, and there were tired lines stretching from the wings of her nose down to her bloodless lips, hut she managed a weak smile.
Then they found a cave, a simple hole in the face of a sheer jutting cliff, miraculously untouched by the upheaval. They climbed inside like animals seeking shelter from the night. Pete started a fire, mumbling over the loss of their supplies.
“I could use a cup of coffee,” Masterson said.