《恐龙当家》第14章

Arlo gulped. "Rustlers?" he asked.

Butch walked further ahead and found a dead longhorn in the tumbleweed. "We gotta move," said Butch. "Hya!"

The T-rexes took off, running swiftly and quietly. Spot and Arlo followed as they tracked the prints until they disappeared over the top of a small hill. When they got closer to the edge, the T-rexes crawled on their bellies to get a view of the herd a short distance away. The dinosaurs quietly took in the scene below.

Arlo crouched down, too. There—out below the big, blue sky—was the herd, quietly grazing in the tall grass. It seemed very peaceful.

"I don't see any rustlers," whispered Arlo, wondering where the thieves could be.

"They're out there," said Butch, slowly inching forward. He turned to Arlo and squinted, sizing him up. "I got a job for you."

"I'm not really good at... jobs," Arlo responded timidly.

Butch pointed out to the right of the herd. "I need you to keep on the dodge and sidle up the loblolly past them hornheads, just hootin' and hollerin' to score off them rustlers. We'll cut dirt and get the bulge on 'em."

"What?" Arlo asked, blank-faced.

"He just wants you to get on that rock and scream," Ramsey said, clarifying. She pointed to a large rock in the field near the longhorns.

"They'll come right at you," added Butch. "You hold your ground. Don't move."

"Don't move?" asked Arlo nervously. "What if they have claws and big teeth?"

"Don't overthink it," Butch said. Then he pushed Arlo right out into the field!

With Spot on his back, Arlo nervously looked around. He glanced at the T-rexes and Butch confidently nodded him forward.

Arlo took a deep breath and tried to get over his fear. He moved forward, slowly creeping through the grass. When he turned back, the T-rexes were gone! He panted as he anxiously continued toward the large rock.

Once he reached it, he carefully climbed up to the top. Trembling, his legs shook and his knees knocked into each other as he tried to muster up some courage. He took a deep breath and finally, opened his mouth to roar. A low, strained whisper came out. He took a breath and Spot watched as he tried again. But Arlo's "roar" barely made a squeak.

Taking matters into his own hands, Spot chomped down onto Arlo's leg and Arlo let out a piercing scream!

In an instant, Arlo saw the tall grass quiver and move. He could hear something coming toward them rapidly, but he couldn't see what it was. His mouth went dry and he could barely breathe. Once again, Arlo was terrified.

"YEEEHAWW!" A voice hollered. "Pervis, get 'im!"

"I am getting him!" shouted another voice.

"Whoooweeeee!" shouted a third voice. "Not before me!"

Three of the thieves appeared: they were nasty looking Raptors. Each had a mouth full of big, pointy teeth and a sharp curved talon on each foot. Arlo turned to see another one—even bigger than the others—coming right at him. He froze in fear.

Just as the giant Raptor lunged at Arlo, Butch leaped out of the grass and grabbed it mid-air! The other three Raptors jumped and bounced, and Nash swiped at them. As the Raptors and T-rexes battled, Arlo was right in the middle of the chaotic brawl.

The Raptor named Pervis landed on a rock in front of Arlo and jumped at him. "I GOT YA!" he yelled, standing right over Arlo.

BOOM! Butch head-butted Pervis and he went flying. He landed with a thud, right in the middle of the herd. The noise stirred the longhorns up and they began to stampede. They trampled right over Pervis and were headed toward Arlo.

Arlo was petrified, but Spot barked and hopped onto his back, snapping him out of it. Arlo took off running.

Ramsey dashed toward the stampede and called to her brother. "Nash! The herd! Hya!"

"Giddyup! Come on now! Giddyup! Hya!" Nash shouted, following close behind.

Then Ramsey noticed a Raptor right behind Nash. "Watch out!" she screamed.

The giant Raptor jumped onto Nash and they began to fight. Nash got in a few good punches, but the Raptor managed to peg him down. It held up its claws, ready to strike, when Ramsey charged into the fight—nailing it with an impressive tail whip. CRACK!

The Raptor went flying back. And when he finally stood up, he touched his lip and realized it was bleeding. Then he pulled out a tooth. "Shoot! That's my favorite tooth!" He threw it aside and looked up at Pervis.

"Ah, quit bleedin' Bubbha," Pervis said. Then he and the Raptor with the missing tooth went straight for Ramsey and Nash, ready to rumble.

Meanwhile, Arlo and Spot ran from the stampeding herd, getting tossed around along the way. Spot barked as Arlo ran behind a boulder. Arlo caught his breath, and Spot continued to bark and growl.

Just then, a Raptor named Lurleane landed on a nearby boulder. Arlo ducked for cover, trying to stay hidden. But she sniffed around, looking for someone to fight. All of a sudden, Spot jumped out, growling at her and egging her on. But Arlo grabbed him back, hoping she wouldn't find them.

"It's playtime," Lurleane said creepily. "I know you're there. I can SMELL ya."

Without warning, Butch charged in with Pervis on his back and Lurleane joined in the attack on Butch. Arlo tried to get out of the way, but got whacked by Butch's tail in the scuffle.

The Raptors pinned Butch to the ground right in front of Arlo. "Nab his tail!" Butch yelled, but Arlo was scared stiff. Spot nudged him, growling, and Arlo knew he had to help. Without giving it another thought, Arlo ran straight at Pervis, screaming like a crazed dinosaur.

Arlo head-butted the Raptor clear across the field! He couldn't believe he had actually done it. He smiled proudly but the feeling quickly faded as soon as Lurleane slunk toward him.

"I'm going to love ending you," she said with a terrible growl. She lunged at Arlo but before she could reach him, Butch snatched her up by the tail. Butch roared as he hurled her off into the distance. Then he chased the other Raptors away, biting their blue-feathered tails as they ran.

Nash ran up. "Come on, we gotta drive this herd outta here," he said, nipping at one of the longhorns. "Hya! Come on now!"

Arlo and Spot couldn't believe it, but they'd survived. They shared a glance and proudly galloped along with the T-rexes and the herd as they moved the longhorns on to safer pastures.

阿乐喉头一紧。“迅猛龙？”他问道。

布奇走上前去，在风滚草丛中发现了一头死去的长角牛。“我们得赶紧追上去，”布奇说，“快！”

霸王龙们出发了，他们悄悄地飞跑起来。小不点和阿乐跟着霸王龙们循着脚印一直追踪到一个小山顶上，直到发现脚印消失了。霸王龙们在靠近悬崖边缘的地方趴下，爬行着前进，不远处牛群的一举一动尽收眼底。他们静悄悄地观察着下面的景象。

阿乐也蹲了下来。在广袤的蔚蓝天空下，一群牛在高高的草丛中静静地享用着美食。一切看似都很平静。

“我没看到任何迅猛龙啊。”阿乐嘀咕着，心想那些贼能在哪儿。

“它们在那里。”布奇一边说，一边慢慢向前移动了一点。他看着阿乐，眯着眼睛估算着他的能耐：“我有个任务交给你。”

“我不是很擅长……做任务。”阿乐怯怯地答道。

布奇指向牛群的右边：“我需要你悄悄地靠近那群长角牛前面的火炬松，然后只要大喊着赶走这些迅猛龙，让它们哑口无言。接着，我们会快速杀出，这样我们就占了上风。”

“什么？”阿乐一脸茫然地问。

“他就是想让你爬上那块岩石，然后大声尖叫。”拉姆齐指着田野里一块靠近牛群的大岩石解释道。

“它们会朝正对着你的方向走过去，”布奇补充道，“你就坚守阵地，不要动。”

“不要动？”阿乐紧张地问道，“万一它们有爪子和巨大的牙齿怎么办呢？”

“别把偷失贼想得太厉害。”布奇说道，接着他就一下子把阿乐推到田野中去了！

小不点坐在阿乐的背上，阿乐紧张地环顾四周。他看了一眼霸王龙们，布奇自信满满地向他点了点头。

阿乐深吸一口气，努力克服自己的恐惧。他向前走着，慢慢地爬过草丛。他一转过身，霸王龙们就不见了！他气喘吁吁地继续焦急地朝大石块前进。

他一到那儿，就小心翼翼地爬了上去。在他试着鼓起勇气时，他全身都在哆嗦，双腿在打战，两个膝盖也在互相打架。他深吸一口气，终于张开口准备吼叫了，他发出了低沉而又紧张的低语声。阿乐再次深呼吸，小不点看着他又试了一次，但是阿乐的“吼叫”几乎算不上是吼。

小不点挺身而出，咬住阿乐的腿，阿乐发出一声刺耳的尖叫声！

刹那间，阿乐看到高高的草丛在颤动，他能听到有东西正快速向他们靠近，但看不到是什么。他嘴巴变干，几乎不能呼吸了。阿乐又一次被吓到了。

“呀嗬！”一声大叫传来，“佩维斯，抓住他！”

“我会抓住他的！”另一个声音喊道。

“喔喔！”第三个声音大喊道，“不要抢在我前面！”

其中的三个贼出现了：它们是长相凶恶的迅猛龙。它们嘴里都长满了又大又尖的牙齿，脚上都长着锋利如钩的爪子。阿乐转身看到另一只迅猛龙——它比其他同类还大——正朝他飞来，阿乐吓得全身都僵住了。

就在这只巨大的迅猛龙冲向阿乐的危急关头，布奇从草丛中跳出来，在半空中抓住了它！另外三只迅猛龙上蹦下跳，纳什朝它们猛击。迅猛龙们和霸王龙们互相扭打着，阿乐就恰恰夹在这混战之中。

名叫佩维斯的迅猛龙落在阿乐面前的一块岩石上，扑向阿乐。他站在阿乐的正上方，喊道：“我逮住你了！”

砰！布奇用头把佩维斯撞飞了。佩维斯砰的一声正好落在牛群中间。这声响惊动了长角牛，它们开始乱窜，从佩维斯的身上踩了过去，朝阿乐奔来。

阿乐吓呆了，直到小不点尖叫着跳到他的背上，对着他猛咬一口，这才回过神来，拔腿就跑。

拉姆齐冲向混乱的牛群，对弟弟喊道：“纳什！赶牛！快点！”

“走哟！快点！走哟！快！”纳什紧跟在牛群后面喊着。

就在这时，拉姆齐注意到，在纳什的身后有一只迅猛龙。“小心！”她大喊道。

那只巨大的迅猛龙跳到纳什身上，他们开始厮打起来。纳什对迅猛龙一顿猛揍，但迅猛龙却成功地控制住了纳什。他举起双爪，正要反击，这时，拉姆齐冲进来，加入了战斗——她用她那令人印象深刻的尾部鞭击打败了那只迅猛龙。噼啪！

那只迅猛龙飞了回去。当他终于站起来的时候，他摸了摸嘴唇，发现嘴巴在流血。接着他拔下一颗牙齿：“哎呀！那是我最喜爱的一颗牙齿！”他把牙齿扔在一边，抬头看向佩维斯。

“啊，不流血了，谢天谢地。”佩维斯说。然后他和这只少了颗牙齿的迅猛龙径直向拉姆齐和纳什飞去，准备大干一场。

这时，阿乐和小不点从仓皇逃窜的牛群中跑了出来，一路上连滚带爬的。阿乐跑到一块巨石后面躲着，小不点则咆哮起来。阿乐歇了口气，小不点则继续在尖叫、怒吼着。

就在这时，一只叫乐琳的迅猛龙落在了旁边的一块巨石上。阿乐躲闪着寻找掩护，努力把自己藏起来。但是她四处嗅探，寻找着打架的对手。突然，小不点跳了出来，对着她咆哮，想挑衅她。但是阿乐把他拽了回去，心里暗暗地希望她不会找上他们。

“是时候来玩玩了。”乐琳有些毛骨悚然地说道，“我知道你们在那儿，我能闻到你们的味道。”

没有任何征兆地，布奇突然冲了过来，而佩维斯还在他背上，乐琳也加入了攻击布奇的行列。阿乐极力闪避，但是在混战中，他还是被布奇的尾巴狠狠地抽了一下。

迅猛龙们把布奇摁倒在了阿乐面前。“抓他的尾巴！”布奇喊道，但是阿乐被吓呆了。小不点吼叫着推了推他，阿乐知道他必须要帮助布奇。来不及多想，阿乐径直跑向佩维斯，像疯了一样地尖叫着。

阿乐用头将一只迅猛龙彻底撞出了田野！他无法相信自己真的做到了。他自豪地笑了，但是当乐琳偷偷走向他的时候，他的自豪感很快就荡然无存了。

“就这样结果你，感觉真好。”她用可怕的咆哮声说道。她冲向阿乐，但她还没碰到阿乐，她的尾巴就被布奇抓住了。布奇怒吼着用力把她扔出老远。接着，其他迅猛龙纷纷逃跑，布奇咬住他们长着蓝色羽毛的尾巴，把它们赶跑了。

纳什跑了过来。“快，我们必须将牛群赶离这里，”他紧追着一头长角牛说，“快点！快走！”

他们竟然活了下来，阿乐和小不点不敢相信。他们对视了一眼，自豪地与霸王龙和牛群一起飞奔着，护送牛群回到更安全的草场。