THE SAMPLING: Dinosaur Trouble: The Runaway Coat

By Kyle Mewburn & Donovan Bixley

The Runaway Coat is Book 3 of the brand new hilarious junior fiction series from the creators of the bestselling Dinosaur Rescue. Mewburn and Bixley have teamed up to create a revolting, funny series for younger readers – prequels to the Dinosaur Rescue books. In Book 3, it is mid-winter, and Arg’s sabre-tooth tiger coat has become very smelly. His mum throws it out of the cave. Arg runs to retrieve it, only to find it’s become hooked on the head of a panicking ankylosaur. Arg gives chase …

Chapter 3

Arg pushes through a curtain of vines … then jolts to a stop. He was right about one thing – it is a sabre-tooth tiger coat. But it is definitely not his coat.

This coat is still being worn by its owner.

The tiger is perched on a rock. It has a giant rat pinned under its paws. It roars a warning as it spots Arg among the vines.

“I’m not going to take your rat,” says Arg, backing away slowly. “I’m not even hungry.”

The tiger studies Arg as if it is trying to decide if he is food or dangerous. It has never seen a walking, talking plant before.

The tiger lifts its head to sniff the air. When it smells the dead mastodon, it roars again.

This time it is answered by a deafening S-C-R-E-E-C-H!

The ground shakes as the allosaur appears. It has been tracking Arg through the jungle. It is not going to let an easy meal escape.

The tiger looks around nervously. It is no match for an allosaur, but is too hungry to leave its prey.

Arg feels like a referee in a wrestling match. (Except that wrestling has not been invented yet. Nor have referees.)

The allosaur does not want to fight the tiger. It just wants food. It lunges forward and tries to crunch Arg between its razor-sharp teeth. Arg dives clear and tumbles away.

The tiger thinks the allosaur is attacking. It rears up and slashes the air with its claws.

The rat takes its chance. It leaps off the rock and scuttles towards the nearest cycad.

The rat is almost as big as Arg. It’s a whole meal for the tiger, but just a snack for an allosaur. But predators do not like letting food escape.

The tiger leaps!

The allosaur lunges!

S- C – R – E – E – C – H!

R-O-A-R!

Arg does not wait to see what happens next. He escapes through the jungle as fast as his legs can carry him. There is only one place he wants to be right now – home. If the cold doesn’t kill him, a predator surely will.

Halfway home, another flash of yellow catches his eye. He knows he should keep going. A coat is not worth getting killed for. But the cycad fronds are getting itchy. And there is no way he’s going to keep wearing a yucky mastodon fur. This time he will be a bit more careful.

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