"Then talk to him tomorrow."

"Today's better," said Roosevelt.

"Why do I get the feeling there's something you two ain't telling me?" said Cody.

"I don't know," answered Holliday. "You got any idea why he feels that way, Theodore?"

"Well, he's not telling you about dentistry and I'm not telling you about taxidermy, just for a start," said Roosevelt.

"All right, all right," said Cody. "Enough bullshit. If you want to see the Professor, we might as well go now, before I get so annoyed I blow the both of you away."

Cody led them to the stabling area-a crude lean-to with a bunch of water buckets and a long hitching post. A few minutes later they were saddled up and passing through the camp.

"Which way?" asked Roosevelt.

"They headed that way this morning," said Cody, pointing due north. "But even if they've moved, they'll be easy to find. They ain't the quietest bunch of men you've ever come across. And of course, any time they come to bedrock and start whacking away at it with their hammers, you can hear it at least a mile off."

"Then let's head north," said Roosevelt, moving his horse to the front of their short line as the trail began winding its way to higher ground.

Holliday began cursing his horse and briefly pulled him to a stop, much to Cody's amusement. He urged the animal to begin walking again once Cody had passed him, confident that the showman hadn't figured out that he'd been manipulated between them so they could better protect him should one of the dinosaurs suddenly appear.

But nothing appeared except some meadowlarks and a family of grey partridges, and they progressed slowly through the uneven landscape for the better part of two miles before they could hear a couple of men yelling to one another. Roosevelt angled his horse in the direction of the noise, and a moment later they came upon a rocky outcropping where Marsh was directing the work of two dozen men, while some others were digging about forty yards away.

Marsh noticed them and stepped away from the outcropping to approach them, and the second he did all work came to a halt.

"Mr. Roosevelt," he said by way of greeting. "Doc Holliday. I thought we'd seen the last of you. I'm delighted to see you back here, but you've come at an inopportune time. I'm afraid this site has nothing further to yield."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Roosevelt.

"My only hope is that swine Cope is having the same luck where he's at."

"It was Cope we came here to talk about," said Holliday.

"Not before dinner," said Marsh with no hint of humor. "You'll ruin my digestion." He looked around at his men. "Nobody told you to stop working!"

"We'll keep hammering and digging, Professor," said one of them, "but I don't think there's anything here."

"You know that for a fact, do you?" demanded Marsh.

"No, but-"

"Then get to work!"

"Theodore," said Holliday softly, "the only way to get him to leave here, and especially to go work side-by-side with his favorite swine, is going to be at gunpoint."

"Perhaps," answered Roosevelt. "But let a politician try first."

"Be my guest."

Roosevelt edged his horse forward a few steps.

"So you're not having much luck here?"

"We've had better," replied Marsh.

"That's a shame," said Roosevelt. "You know we've just come from Cope's camp"-he purposely did not use the word Professor-"and given your acknowledged skills I would have thought..." He let the words hang.

"So the fool lucked out and found a fossil," said Marsh, his voice reeking with contempt.

"Actually, the fool found himself a whole dinosaur," replied Roosevelt.

Marsh stared at him furiously.

"A big one," continued Roosevelt. A pause. "Bigger than an allosaur." A longer pause. "Alive. Doc and I had to kill it."

Marsh staggered as if he'd received a heavy blow to the head. Then he stood up on a rock where everyone could see him.

"Pack your gear!" he cried as Roosevelt shot Holliday a triumphant grin. "We're breaking camp!"

THE TRIP TO COPE'S CAMP took five uneventful hours. Marsh refused to stop and rest the horses, and they were all dripping with sweat when they arrived.

"We're here," announced Roosevelt, turning to Marsh, who was sitting atop his lead wagon. "I think you'd better let Doc and me go ahead and break the news."

"You do that," said Marsh. He turned to his men and raised his voice. "But just in case that bastard wants to keep this find all to himself, have your guns ready."

"We didn't bring you here to start a war," said Roosevelt, hoping that Marsh was so obsessed with his hatred for Cope that he wouldn't bother to wonder why they did bring him here.

"We won't fire the first shot," said Marsh. "But if there's any shooting, we'll by God fire the last." He turned back to his men. "Cody, get up here! I didn't hire you for your fancy buckskins! Get that gun out of its holster!"

"I sure am glad you're not looking to precipitate a gunfight," said Holliday sardonically.

"Says the notorious gunfighter!" snapped Marsh.

"Bill," said Holliday to Cody, "Cope knows you, doesn't he?"

Cody nodded his head. "Yes."

"Okay, hop on the wagon with me and come with us to meet him and explain our peaceful intentions."

"I don't know about that," said Cody.

"Oh, they're peaceful," said Roosevelt. He raised his voice and spoke to Marsh's men. "If there's any shooting, you men are going to be up against the Younger Brothers. Is he paying you enough to do that?"

Cody seemed about to mention that two of the three notorious Younger Brothers were dead, but Holliday caught his eye and shook his head almost imperceptibly. Suddenly Cody grinned and remained silent.

"That's good enough for me," said one of the men. "I'm quitting right now."

"You quit now and you aren't getting a penny!" snapped Marsh.

"You owe me for six weeks' work!" yelled the man. "They don't need the Youngers. Maybe I'll just shoot you myself."

"Stop!" said Roosevelt firmly. "There's not going to be any shooting! If you men keep your weapons holstered, you don't have to quit. And if you stay, and Professor Marsh doesn't pay you, I'll personally help you beat the money out of him. Is that fair enough?"

Marsh was apoplectic, but nobody else uttered a word.

"All right," said Holliday. "You wait here. We'll let Professor Cope know that he's got company, and since he's every bit as sweet and loveable as Professor Marsh, it'll probably take us a few minutes to explain to him that no one's going to shoot anybody. I expect you to stay right at this spot until we get back."

"Unless a dinosaur shows up," said another man. "I can't speak for my friends here, but the second that happens I'm going to run like hell."

"Yeah," said Cody. "I don't imagine you can reason with them."

"You can't outrun them either," said Roosevelt. "I've only seen the one dinosaur, and he was charging into the worksite at the time. But in general, almost every carnivore that's ever walked the earth is programmed to chase just about anything that's smaller than itself and runs away from it. It'll take all your courage, but you'll be much safer standing your ground than running away."

"It sounds good," said another of the men. "But saying it and doing it are two different things. Maybe I'll just jump off my horse and slap him on the backside. He'll take off like a bat out of hell. Let the dinosaur chase him and leave me alone."

"You could do worse," said Roosevelt, nodding his approval. "All right, Doc, Bill-let's go."

It took them about ten minutes to reach the clearing where Cope had pitched his camp. It had a new shack, doubtless built to accommodate the remains of the tyrannosaur.

"Howdy Doc, Theodore," said Younger, walking forward to greet them. Finally he begrudgingly added, "Hello, Bill."

"Hello, Cole," said Roosevelt. "We need to speak to the Professor."

Younger nodded and ushered them to the older shack, where Cope was cataloging the day's finds.

"Theodore and Doc!" he said with a smile. "Welcome back." He turned to Cody. "And the famous Buffalo Bill. I'm thrilled to see you've finally left that thieving swine."

"He loves you too," replied Cody with a smile, and Younger laughed aloud at that.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" asked Cope.

"We've brought you some other visitors," said Holliday.

"Visitors?" said Cope, frowning. "If that bastard thinks he's going to share my find..."

"I hate to contradict you," said Holliday, "but that wasn't your find. You didn't go looking for it. Hell, if anything we were its find."

"It's mine!" bellowed Cope. "Any court in the land would see that!"

Holliday turned to Roosevelt. "Why don't I just kill them both? That ought to solve all our problems."

"I want you both out of my camp now!" yelled Cope. "Cole, run them out of here!"

Younger looked at Cope as if he was crazy, and kept his hands in plain sight.

"May I see your deed?" said Roosevelt.

Cope merely glared at him.

"Now, try to calm down enough to pay attention," said Holliday. "Because a lot of lives depend on it. Some of them are important lives, and some are yours and Marsh's, but what we're going to tell you is vital."

"That's Professor Marsh," said Cope.

Holliday blinked his eyes very rapidly. "I thought you hated his guts?"

"I hate the man, not the position."

"All right," said Holliday, "Professor Marsh. Now, have you got all the screaming out of your system?"

Cope glared at him and didn't answer.

"Then I want you to listen, and pay attention. Do you know where you and Marsh-Professor Marsh-are digging?"

"Wyoming," said Cope sullenly.

"That's true," interjected Roosevelt. "But you're also digging-desecrating, one might say-a sacred burial ground of the Comanche."

"What do you want of me-of us?" demanded Cope. "We have to dig where we think the fossils will be." He gestured to the piles of carefully stacked and marked bones. "And we were right. There's the proof of it."

"There's more proof than that," said Roosevelt.

Cope stared at him curiously.

"That tyrannosaur was further proof," concluded Roosevelt.

"What are you talking about?" demanded Cope.

"The reason we're here, Theodore and I," said Holliday, "is because Geronimo warned me that-"

"He's an Apache, goddamn it!" yelled Cope.

"He's a medicine man, and he told me that if you insisted on digging in their burial ground, their medicine men weren't going to risk any braves by attacking you." He paused and stared at the scientist. "They were going to resurrect some of these monsters and sic them on you."

"That's ridiculous!"

"Then how do you explain the creature we killed, a creature that you yourself assured me has been extinct for millions of years?" continued Holliday.

"I was wrong," said Cope. "Some clearly survived."

Holliday sighed deeply and turned to Roosevelt. "Can I kill him now, Theodore?"

Younger took a step forward, then decided that Holliday wasn't serious, and relaxed.

"It's awfully tempting," admitted Roosevelt. "Professor Cope, Professor Marsh and his crew are going to share your camp until we've resolved this problem. You can object all you want, but the fact of the matter is that due to the nature of Tom Edison's weapons and their need for a power source, we can't protect two locations at the same time."

"Let a carnosaur eat the son of a pig, and good riddance!" snapped Cope.

"Clearly the two of you come from different backgrounds," said Holliday with an amused smile. "He calls you a son of a bitch."