EXPLORERS IN DINOSAUR WORLD

The small boat rose and fell on the waves. Without power it was at the mercy of the sea. In the quiet, Wendy seemed to hear ordinary sounds louder than they actually were: water lapping against the hull, the faraway rumble of volcanoes, the mew and cry of a gull overhead. She looked at her brother. He was standing up in the front of the boat, shading his eyes and gazing across the water like an explorer in a new land. He turned and grinned at her and she felt better.

"Hmmmm," said their guide. "Guess it's time for me to earn my keep.” With that, Jake pulled two oars from the bottom of the boat, passed them through the oarlocks and began rowing toward Pangaea.

They were still several hundred yards from shore when Wendy yelled, "Look!"

The colossal creature churning through the water towards them was perhaps the most terrible monster to ever hunt in the ancient oceans of the earth: a kronosaur. It was over fifty feet long and had jaws even bigger than the great tyrannosaurus rex—over eight feet long. As it swam, its massive tail whipped the water to foam.

Just then, Pete saw another sea-giant nearby—an enormous turtle bigger than a car—and it was heading straight for Pangaea! It gave the boy an idea. He pawed furiously through his pack until he came up with a long rope. "Jake! If we could lasso that archelon maybe it could tow us to shore!"

"Good thinking, Pete!" The kronosaur was obviously after the archelon, but their boat was in the way. Jake made a loop and whirled it over his head, just like a cowboy roping a steer, only he was trying to rope the biggest turtle that ever lived. The rope spun silently across the water, landing perfectly over the archelon's head. The determined beast never even noticed—it just kept swimming, pulling the boat and its passengers out of the jaws of danger to the safety of the island.

Behind them the hungry kronosaur roared in frustration and anger as it watched its breakfast escape.