“‘You see, everything changes, the world and everything in it. Everything but me. Goodby, little friends.’
They stood openmouthed, but no words came to them. There was so much they wanted to say. They wanted to persuade him to remain, to explain how much he had done for them, and to assure him that the ranch on Cricket Creek would never be the same without him. Surely, if they all put their minds to work on the problem, they must find a solution somewhere.
But the stegosaurus didn’t give them a chance to regain their breath and recover from their surprise. He turned on his huge padded feet and started up the cliff. A moment later his jagged shape had melted into the rocks.”
That is how The Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek ends. George, the Shy Stegosaurus is back in the sequel to Cricket Creek, written in 1962, seven years after George’s introduction.
The main human in this story is Huck, a Klickitat Indian. Huck attends the agency boarding school nine months of the year and lives with his grandfather, Opalo, a tribal medicine man, in the summertime. If you have read the first Shy Stegosaurus book (which you really should do before you read this one), you won’t be as surprised as Huck is when he notices that someone has been clearing sagebrush on his grandfather’s property. You already know sagebrush is the stegosaurus’s favorite food.
When Huck decides to stop at a hot spring on his way into town so he can wash his shirt, you will also remember that the stegosaurus likes the hot mineral water better than cold fresh water. And you will know why it looks like someone has been digging around the spring since the last time Huck was there.
From Huck’s spring, he can look over a ledge and see a summer resort with an outdoor pool. For a couple of weeks, he has seen a boy and girl about his own age swimming in the pool during the week when there aren’t many resort customers. The two children look like twins, and they have red hair. Aha, Huck is about to meet some of our familiar friends.
Huck is terrified when he first sees the stegosaurus. He goes as quickly as he can to Chief Whitewater to tell him there is a monster someone needs to kill. Of course, the chief doesn’t believe him. So, the next time Huck goes to the spring to wash clothes, he takes his grandfather’s gun with him.
Before Huck can shoot the dinosaur, he learns that George is friendly, and he also learns that the two children, Joey and Joan, already know George. Huck goes to the resort to swim with them, and they go fishing with Huck. They take George with them and introduce him to picnics. He likes the food and loves Indian wrestling, which Huck teaches them all. It’s great fun for George because he wins every time.
One of Huck’s biggest fears is that Chief Whitewater, and many of the other “progressive” Indians, think Opalo is too old to be living on his own during the winter while Huck is at school. They want to move him to town and make him live with one of the Indian families. Several of these people think Opalo is crazy, because they don’t believe in his medicine or his claims that he speaks to the spirits. Grandfather is sure the spirits won’t let the chief make him move. The decision will be made after the Huckleberry Festival.
As much as George fears strangers, he can’t keep away from the Huckleberry Festival once he finds out that it’s like a picnic but with even more food and with Indian wrestling. The children don’t expect George to come to the festival, so they aren’t prepared to hide him. George hides himself in Opalo’s tepee, which he carries with him to another spot where he can see the wrestling better.
Opalo is positive his tepee was taken away by an evil spirit because his people no longer show proper respect for the rituals of the Huckleberry Festival. To drive away the spirit, Opalo begins a ceremony which includes chanting and making noise with a drum, a bone rattle, and a bell. When George finally runs away, taking Opalo’s tepee with him, his escape happens at just the right time to convince the onlookers that Opalo is still a medicine man worthy of respect.
In the end, arrangements are made for Opalo for the winter that allow him to maintain his dignity. Huck, Joey, and Joan have to go away for school, and George thinks he’s going to be distraught when they leave him. But cooler weather comes, and George’s instinct makes him fall asleep before he has a chance to miss the children. They know they will all come back next summer, and George won’t miss them because he will sleep through the winter without realizing how long they have been gone.
The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs, published in 1962, has been reprinted, along with the original Shy Stegosaurus book, by Purple House Press.
You can find out more about the Stegosaurus books at Biblioguides.