Arlo screamed as the ferocious¹ T-rexes came roaring toward them. He turned to try and run the other way, but the Pterodactyls were blocking him. With nowhere to go and no idea what to do, Arlo curled up into a ball over Spot, protecting him.

 

The T-rexes were closing in, roaring so loudly it made Arlo shiver. But instead of attacking Spot and Arlo, the T-rexes grabbed the Pterodactyls with their teeth, and flung them into the air! After a few seconds of fighting, the Pterodactyls were scared off and flapped toward the horizon. Then the T-rexes turned and set their sights on Spot and Arlo.

 

Arlo, frozen with fear, could barely breathe as the T-rexes stomped² toward him and Spot. One of them leaned right above Arlo, and he was scared to death as he looked up at her enormous toothy mouth. Arlo flinched³, closing his eyes tightly as he prepared to be eaten. But she just put out her arm and helped him up.

 

"I hate those kind," said the T-rex. "Lyin' sons of crawdads. Pickin' on a kid!"

 

Spot smiled up at her, panting, with his tongue hanging out and leaned against her leg. She put her hand down for Spot to sniff⁴ and scratched the top of his head. "Well, ain't you the cutest thing," she said, adoringly.

 

Arlo smiled. "Hmmm, he likes you."

 

"Imagine that, Ramsey!" said the other T-rex, laughing and getting in her face. "Even with your stinky face."

 

Ramsey snapped at him, annoyed. "Nash! Boundaries!" She used her arms to demonstrate. "This is my personal bubble."

 

"Naw," Nash said. "That ain't your bubble. This is your bubble." Nash climbed on her and they started wrestling, punching and kicking each other.

 

An even BIGGER T-rex angrily stomped over to them. "Nash!" he scolded. "Get out of your sister's bubble." Ramsey and Nash looked up at their father, Butch, and stopped wrestling. Once Butch turned toward Arlo, Nash gave Ramsey one last push.

 

Arlo looked up at Butch. The big T-rex towered over him. Arlo noticed an ugly scar across his giant face. He was an incredibly scary looking dinosaur⁵! Butch eyed Arlo intensely, looking him up and down. "You got no business being out here," Butch said.

 

"Yes sir, I don't. I'm trying to get home, but I lost the river. Please, my Momma needs me," Arlo pleaded.

 

Arlo asked if they knew the way to Clawtooth Mountain but the T-rexes didn't have time to help. They were looking for their herd⁶ of longhorns and needed to find them right away.

 

"My genius brother lost our whole herd in one day," Ramsey explained.

 

"I did not lose them, Ramsey!" shouted Nash defensively. "How many times do I have to tell you this? They just, um... they just wandered off!"

 

"And we still gotta find 'em," said Butch. "We can't help ya, kid." Butch started to move off, but Arlo stopped him. He offered the T-rexes a deal. He and Spot would help them find the herd, if the T-rexes could take them toward Clawtooth Mountain.

 

"Spot can sniff out anything!" Arlo offered, trying to convince Butch to accept his offer. Butch thought about it for a moment and then agreed.

 

"Come on, Spot. Sniff it out, boy," Arlo said. Ramsey held out a piece of longhorn fur for Spot to smell, so he could get the scent⁷ and track the herd. Spot immediately took off, sniffing⁸ and hunting.

 

"Good boy, Spot!" cheered Arlo. But Butch wasn't so sure this would work.

 

The T-rexes slowly followed behind Spot and Arlo for a long while as Spot continued, nose to the ground, sniffing in search of the longhorns.

 

"If you're pullin' my leg, I'm gonna eat yours," Butch said, frustrated⁹ and impatient.

 

Arlo chuckled¹⁰ nervously¹¹ and whispered to Spot to try and move a little faster. Spot picked up the pace, searching through the open range.

 

Moments later, Spot shivered and tapped his leg against the ground, thumping¹² against it with excitement. Arlo happily blurted¹³, "He's got something!"

 

The T-rexes anxiously ran forward. Then Spot lunged at the ground and snatched a bug¹⁴. He gobbled it down, growling¹⁵ and chewing as Arlo nervously smiled.

 

"Ah, dang," said Ramsey, disappointed.

 

Butch frowned as he circled back to Arlo. "That leg is looking pretty good about now," he said.

 

Suddenly Spot began to race around, barking excitedly.

 

"He found somethin'!" said Ramsey.

 

They followed Spot and saw a single longhorn's track leading through some tall reeds. Beyond the reeds were dozens of tracks!

 

"Whooooeee!" cried Nash. "We got'em!"

 

"Wait," said Arlo, noticing a bright blue feather on the ground. "Do longhorns have feathers?"

 

"Rustlers," muttered Butch with a disgusted scowl¹⁶. He realized that thieves must have taken the herd!

 

当凶猛的霸王龙朝他们怒吼时，阿乐尖叫起来，他转过身想要从另一边逃跑，但翼手龙们挡住了他的去路。阿乐无处可逃，也不知道该怎么办，只能以小不点为中心蜷成一团，来保护着他。

 

霸王龙们渐渐逼近，他们怒吼得那么大声，把阿乐吓得直哆嗦。但是霸王龙们并没有攻击小不点和阿乐，而是用牙咬住翼手龙，将他们扔向了空中！经过数秒钟的搏斗，翼手龙们被吓跑了，拍打着翅膀飞向地平线。然后，霸王龙们转过身来，看着小不点和阿乐。

 

当霸王龙们踩着重重的步伐朝阿乐和小不点走过来的时候，阿乐吓得僵住了，大气都不敢出。其中一只霸王龙身体前倾，正好落在了阿乐的正上方。当阿乐抬头看到她长满利齿的大嘴巴时，吓得魂儿都没了。阿乐退缩了，他紧紧地闭上双眼，做好了被吃掉的准备。但是她只是伸出了手臂，将阿乐扶了起来。

 

“我讨厌那些翼手龙，”这只霸王龙说，“一群欺软怕硬的家伙，专挑小孩子欺负！”

 

小不点喘着气，吐着舌头，抬头对她笑了笑，然后将身子靠在了她腿上。她把手放下来让小不点嗅了嗅，然后用手挠了挠小不点的头说道：“哇，你最可爱了。”她满怀爱意地说。

 

阿乐笑着说道：“嗯，他喜欢你。”

 

“做梦呢吧，拉姆齐！”另一只霸王龙凑近她的脸大笑着说，“就你那副臭脸。”

 

拉姆齐恼羞成怒，厉声说道：“纳什！你管得着吗？”她用双臂示威，“这是我的私人领地。”

 

“才不是，”纳什说，“那儿不是你的领地，这儿才是。”纳什爬到她身上，他们你一拳我一脚地扭打起来。

 

一只更大的霸王龙踏着沉重的步子生气地朝他们走来，“纳什！”他怒斥道，“滚出你姐姐的领地。”拉姆齐和纳什抬头看着爸爸布奇，停止了打斗。布奇一转向阿乐，纳什就又推了拉姆齐一下。

 

阿乐抬头看着布奇，这只大型霸王龙比他高出许多。阿乐注意到他大大的脸上有一道丑陋的疤痕，他是一只看起来极其吓人的恐龙！布奇仔细端详着阿乐，上下打量了一番，“你是外地的吧。”布奇说。

 

“是的，先生，我不是这里的。我正想办法回家，但是我找不到那条河了。求求你，我妈妈需要我。”阿乐恳求道。

 

阿乐问他们是否知道去爪牙山的路，但是霸王龙们无暇帮助他。他们正在寻找他们的长角牛群，而且急需马上找到它们。

 

“我那天才弟弟在一天之内就把我们的整个牛群都搞丢了。”拉姆齐解释道。

 

“我没有弄丢它们，拉姆齐！”纳什大喊着为自己辩护。“我还要再跟你说多少遍？它们只是，嗯……它们只是自己走丢了！”

 

“我们还是得找到它们，”布奇说，“我们没有办法帮你，孩子。”布奇正要离开，但阿乐拦住了他。他打算跟霸王龙们做一个交易。如果霸王龙们能把他们带到爪牙山，他和小不点会帮他们找到牛群。

 

“小不点可以嗅出任何东西的味道！”阿乐提出，他极力说服布奇接受这个交易。布奇想了一会儿，然后同意了。

 

“来吧，小不点。把它找出来，小家伙。”阿乐说。拉姆齐拿出一块长角牛的皮让小不点闻，这样他就能记住这个味道，然后凭此追踪牛群的踪迹。小不点立即跑开了，一边嗅，一边找。

 

“好样的，小不点！”阿乐欢呼道。但是布奇并不太确信这个办法有用。

 

霸王龙们缓缓地跟在小不点和阿乐的后面，跟了很长时间，小不点一直鼻子贴地嗅着，寻找长角牛群的去向。

 

“如果你们耍我的话，我会把你们两个都吃掉。”布奇有些泄气又有些不耐烦地说。

 

阿乐紧张地轻声笑了，他小声告诉小不点再努力走快一点。小不点加快了速度，搜遍了整个开阔的牧牛场。

 

过了一会儿，小不点身子颤抖，腿在地上打着拍子，兴奋地跺着脚。阿乐高兴地脱口而出：“小不点有发现！”

 

霸王龙们心急火燎地向前跑。结果小不点却冲向地面，抓住了一只虫子。然后，他狼吞虎咽地把虫子吃了，还一边吼叫一边咀嚼，阿乐则紧张地笑了起来。

 

“啊，见鬼。”拉姆齐失望地说。

 

布奇折回来，走向阿乐，皱着眉头说：“现在那条腿看起来很不错。”

 

突然，小不点开始跑来跑去，兴奋地叫着。

 

“他找到什么东西了！”拉姆齐说。

 

他们跟着小不点，看到了一头长角牛的足印，足印通向高高的芦苇丛中。芦苇丛外还有几十个足印！

 

“哇噢！”纳什叫起来，“我们找到它们啦！”

 

“等等，”注意到地上有一片宝蓝色的羽毛，阿乐说道，“长角牛有羽毛吗？”

 

“是迅猛龙，”布奇咕哝道，他露出了憎恶的怒容。他意识到偷牛贼肯定已经偷走了牛群!

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