Armand Baltazar - Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic

“Oh,” Diego said, catching up. “Right.”

“Uh-huh,” Petey said, grinning. “I know what’s got you distracted.”

They fought through crowds of lower-grade and high school students and visitors to the museum, finally catching up to the rest of the class as their teacher, Mr. Nelson, was taking attendance. “All right,” he said, “we’ll be joining the other upper-grade classes in the exhibit hall. Right this way.”

“Wait, hold on,” Petey said. He grabbed Diego by the shoulder and turned him toward Sue, the famous T. rex skeleton, a relic from before the Time Collision. “Is that the blond skater that was outside with Paige?”

“No way.” Diego saw that Lucy had traded in her skater clothes for a prim dress with a white collar and high boots, her hair tied back.

“Looks like your crush is actually a Steam Timer.” He punched Diego’s shoulder.

“Maybe,” Diego said. He couldn’t get over how different she looked.

“Come on, you’ve gotta say hi,” Petey said, elbowing him in the ribs.

“Nah,” Diego said. “She probably won’t even talk to me.”

“Come on, D. Besides, she’s gorgeous. If you won’t, I will.”

Diego took a deep breath. “Okay, fine, but you’re coming with me.” He dragged Petey along by the arm and made his way around the back of their class, keeping out of Mr. Nelson’s sight.

Paige spotted them approaching and whispered to Lucy. They shared a laugh, and Diego wanted to die. Still, he wasn’t going to turn back now. He willed one foot in front of the next until they were right beside the girls, who were now acting more interested in Sue, as if Diego and Petey didn’t exist.

“Hey,” Diego said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“What you want, North-sider?” Paige snapped.

Diego looked at Lucy. She eyed him curiously. “I’m Diego,” he said. “This is Petey. We just want to, um, welcome you to our school, and . . .”

Lucy smirked. “Are you the official Mid-Time welcoming committee?”

She had a thick accent, and it took Diego a second to decipher what she had said. “Oh, you’re from . . .” He was trying to place it. “Over there . . .”

“Over there ?” Lucy said. “Indeed . . . if by ‘over there’ you mean across the Vastlantic. And how uninformed of you to think that you’re from here and we’re from there , as if one is superior to the other. If that were true, it would certainly be that there was here and here was there .”

“Wait,” Diego said. “I wasn’t, um, saying that. I just . . . your accent . . . it’s . . . Irish?”

The second he said it, Lucy’s mouth dropped open.

“Oh, sorry, I mean Australian.” There was a more obvious spot he could have named, but it was like his brain was a steam compressor on the fritz.

“My manner of speech is neither from an island of peasant farmers nor one of criminals,” Lucy said.

“Hey,” Diego said. “Watch it. My mom’s from Ireland.”

Lucy made a face Diego couldn’t decipher. “Be that as it may,” she said, “for your information, Mid-Time American , I am a loyal subject of the true sovereign of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty Queen Victoria—”

That was it! England!

“And I’m not new to your school,” Lucy continued. “I was homeschooled when we first got here, but I’ve been here in your eighth grade for a few weeks now. And I will be for the rest of the semester while my father is in town on important business. Now why don’t you little boys go find some other tikes to play with.”

“We’re not little boys,” Diego said. “We’re both thirteen.”

“You sure act like little boys,” Paige said. “Now step off and go back to your playdate.” She and Lucy turned toward Sue.

“Come on,” Petey said. “Let’s go find some real girls to talk to.” He started to turn away.

But Diego stood his ground. There was something about this girl.

“Why are they still hanging around?” Paige said, her back to the boys.

“I haven’t the foggiest idea,” Lucy said.

“Hey,” Diego heard himself blurt out. “You think that T. rex is so cool, maybe you’d like to see a real one.”

This made Lucy glance over her shoulder. “How’s that?”

“Well, my dad loaned the museum some equipment to help install their new T. rex exhibit, and when I helped deliver the loaders, I memorized the combination to the service entrance door. It’s here in the Ice Age hall. That new dinosaur’s got skin and everything. It looks alive.”

“D,” Petey said quietly by his shoulder. “We’re not supposed to leave our class. We’ll get in huge trouble if we’re caught, and our parents will kill us.”

“Well, then, we won’t get caught,” Diego said, shrugging. “Come on, Petey, where’s your sense of adventure?” He grinned at the girls.

Lucy and Paige shared a glance.

“We’re not going to let these North-side runts show us up, are we?” Paige said.

Diego was surprised to see uncertainty on Lucy’s face.

Paige leaned toward Lucy. “It’s not gonna bite.”

“It’s really cool,” Diego added. “Besides, you’ve got me and Petey to protect you.”

“Please,” Lucy said. “I don’t need a boy to take care of me.” She nodded and glanced at Paige. “Let’s humor them.” She took a deep breath as she said it.

Diego glanced back at their classes. “We should stay with our groups until we’re down the hall a little farther. Then watch for my signal.”

After what seemed like a never-ending lecture by Mr. Nelson, the classes split into four-person groups and were allowed to take in the rest of the exhibit on their own. Each student was given a small chalkboard to gather at least three interesting facts from the displays. The boys scribbled down as much as they could at the first exhibit about mammoths and then announced that they were headed for the restrooms, and set off to find Lucy and Paige.

They spotted Lucy with her school group over by an exhibit about glaciers. Paige was with hers by the mastodons. Diego nodded to each of them, then waited over by a diorama featuring Neanderthal hunters confronting a saber-toothed tiger.

“Those would be good friends for you two,” Paige said as she and Lucy arrived.

“Actually,” Petey said, waving his hand dismissively at the exhibit, “that’s not even close to what a real Neanderthal looks like.”

“Like you would know that, North-sider,” Paige said, one eyebrow raised.

“Actually, Petey and I have been out to the wild lands,” Diego said. “We’ve seen the Neanderthals firsthand.”

“Oh, really?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah,” Diego said. He didn’t add that technically they only thought they’d seen a Neanderthal tribe, from a far distance. At the time, they’d been running from that dimetrodon.

“You’ve actually been out to the wild lands?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, right,” Paige said. “These two couldn’t even survive a walk in Cicero. There’s no way they’ve been out in the wild lands.”

“We’ve been there a few times,” Diego said. “And I’m not sure you could handle it.”

“Oh, I’m about to show you what I can handle,” Paige said, putting her hands on her hips.

“Hold on,” Lucy said, grabbing Paige’s arm. Diego noticed that her eyes had widened. “But aren’t there . . . dinosaurs out there? Like, real ones?”

“Oh yeah,” Petey said, “lots of different kinds. Man-eaters, giant herbivores that could squash you with a single step.”