“So this is Tout Quarry.” Derek, surveyed the rocky landscape. “Doesn’t seem to be a lot happening.”
“I don’t think it’s a working quarry now,” said Jayne’s Mum. “They don’t cut out the rock anymore. It’s a sculpture park.” “Watch out!” Derek suddenly jumped onto a large boulder. “I thought I saw a Megalosaurus behind that rock!”
“No you didn’t,” said Tom. “Anyway, you would be running back down that hill if you saw a real Megalosaurus or you’d be dinosaur dinner!”
“Not me!” Derek waved his arms in the air. “Come out wherever you are! I’m not afraid of dinosaurs!”
“Derek, come down.” said Jayne’s Mum. “Don’t encourage Tom to start climbing. It could be dangerous.”
Jayne walked on ahead along the pathway between the huge grey boulders. Some were balanced on others, like a stack of giant’s building blocks. She thought of the giant dinosaurs that once walked on Portland. How tall were they? Would the Megalosaurus’ head have reached to the top of those boulders? It was at least three metres tall.
“Found them then?” Derek caught up with her.
“Pardon?”
“The dinosaur foot prints.”
“I haven’t looked,” said Jayne.
“I’d like to see them,” said Derek. “But they might not be in this quarry. This isn’t the only quarry on Portland. Portland is famous for its Limestone. Do you know they built St. Paul’s Cathedral in London from Portland stone? Imagine transporting tons of this to London. And that’s before fast cars.”
“You two, look what I’ve found.” Jayne’s Mum had overtaken them. “The sculptures!”
“Don’t start hammering,” said Derek, laughing.
“Let me see!” Tom raced to the slabs of white stone. “People have been carving the rock. Look, Jayne!” He pulled back a sheet covering one of the sculptures.
“Tom, don’t do that!” his Mum shouted. “You shouldn’t touch people’s work.”
“It’s a dinosaur! Mum, it’s a dinosaur’s head!”
“He’s right,” said Derek, joining Tom at the sculpture.
“Derek, make him cover it up,” said Jayne’s Mum.
“May as well look at it whilst it’s uncovered,” said Derek. “It’s well done - a really good carving. I wonder who did it.”
“It’s T. Rex!” shouted Tom. “Jayne, come and look!”
“It’s not big enough,” said Jayne, looking down at the snow white carving.
“It could be a baby,” said Tom.
“There’s some writing on it,” said Derek. “Could be someone’s initials.” He knelt down to look closer. “L. W.”
“Those could be the initials of the artist’s name,” said Jayne’s Mum. “Linda Wallace or Lucy Wakefield.”
“Why does it have to be a girl’s name?” asked Tom. “It could be Luke Winters.. or Liam Walters.”
“What about Luton Wanderers?” said Derek.
“I think we ought to cover it up again.” Jayne’s Mum pulled the sheet back over the sculpture. “Jayne, let’s play Hide and Seek!” Tom raced off to hide behind a large rock. “Come and find me!”
But Jayne wasn’t listening. She was still thinking about the initials on the sculpture - L.W. They reminded her of a name. A name she’d seen on the Internet -it was a website. The image of a golden castle in a night sky flashed before her eyes.
“Jayne!” Tom called again. “It’s your turn to hide. Run! I’m the Megalosaurus!”
“Perhaps we should leave the museum for another day,” said Jayne’s Mum, as they left the stone quarry. “The weather’s so good, it would be nice to walk along the beach.”
“Good idea,” said Derek. “Look, there’s the footpath down to Chesil Cove. We can go down to the harbour that way.”
“Yeah!” Tom raced on ahead.
“Hope it’s not slippery,” said Jayne’s Mum, looking down the grassy bank leading to the beach.
“The ground should be dry in this weather,” said Derek. “Follow me.” He set off down the path.
“Come on, Jayne.” Her Mum took her arm. “We’re going this way. Are you daydreaming again?”
“No, I was just thinking about something I saw this morning.” This seemed a good quiet moment to tell her Mum about the sea creature she saw from the window. “Mum, I saw something strange in the bay this morning.”
“Strange? What do you mean?”
“A creature with a long neck.”
“When were you looking at the bay?”
“First thing this morning. I took a photo of the sunrise.”
“It was probably a trick of the light. The sky can be ablaze with colours.”
“It wasn’t a colour,” said Jayne. “It was a shape.”
“I don’t know, luv. Maybe it was the tall mast of a sailing ship. When the light dazzles your eyes you can never be sure.”
“Hey, you two, stop dawdling!” Derek shouted from ahead. “We’re melting in this heat. We want to catch the next boat back to Weymouth.”

“Another boat trip. This is a real treat.” Jayne’s Mum settled into a seat at the front of the boat. “And the breeze from the water will cool us all down.”
“I could do with an ice lolly to cool me down,” said Derek. “When I get back to Weymouth I’ll buy five.” “Five! That’s greedy,” said Tom.
“I might give you one - if you’re good.”
“Mum, I can have a lolly can’t I?” Tom complained loudly.
“Yes, but sit down. We’re pulling away from the quayside.”
“Look at the colour of the water out there,” said Derek. “Makes me feel like diving in.”
The boat picked up speed. Jayne watched the castle grow smaller in the distance, as they sailed out into open water. “Dolphin astern!” There was a sudden shout from the man at the wheel. “Look to the stern and you’ll see the dolphin. Now that is big! I don’t think it’s the same one we had a couple of weeks ago.”
“Dad, look!” shouted Tom. “It must be about six metres long.”
“Now that’s some size for a dolphin,” said Derek.
“I think we’ll race on,” said the man. “I wouldn’t like a thing that size to think it could play with the boat. We could capsize if it hits us full on.”
“It really is big,” said Derek. “Mammoth sized.”
“It’s as big as an Ichthyosaur!” Tom shouted. “It’s a Sea Dragon!”
Sea Dragon! Something stirred in Jayne’s memory - a dragon - a real live, fire-breathing dragon - scorching the sky with its flames…a creature of legends.
Legends! Jayne remembered where she’d seen the initials on the carving before.

Legend World

legendworld.co.uk……the dragon website!