âNo, theyâre not. But theyâre also not not-cats, either.â Lina said, shaking her head. âThereâs a bit too much of a difference, especially with how their middle ear bones are structured to differentiate them from true cats. So itâs more like⌠a horse and buggy canât be considered a vehicle. But itâs still a mode of transportation as opposed to being a banana.â
Lachlan snorted. Lina was trying to calm down from her explosive nerdery and go back to explain things a bit better, or answer Victorâs questions.
âThe Mesozoic Era is the stretch of time that encompasses all the periods the dinosaurs lived in. So if you combine the Triassic, the Jurassic and the Cretaceous, you get the Mesozoic. So when the dinosaurs ended, so too did the Mesozoic Era. The Triassic Period on the other hand is when dinosaurs first started appearing. It was the period that directly followed the Permian era, which itself was the end of the Paleozoic Era. But itâs not the end of the Phanerozoic which â you know, nevermind. That gets confusing. Even I mess up.â
âWeâre here anyway.â Lachlan said, turning into a dirt path and following the road for seven minutes along the grassy fields until the came to a barn. There were benches set up just outside a large horse training ring, which also seemed to be set up for something.
Lina undid her seatbelt and leaned over Lachlanâs seat. âOh my god is that Victoria?â
âMight be. I didnât think sheâd be here. Maybe she came overseas for a movie or something.â
Lina fell back into her seat, grinning at Victor. âToday is Lachlanâs day. So weâre going to watch him participate in his hobby.â
âMaybe after the main event Iâll let you have a go, Victor.â Lachlan said, jumping out of his car. He gave a wicked grin at the younger boy. âIf youâre brave enough.â Lina smacked his arm. âAhahâow! Stop doing that!â
âCome on, Iâll introduce you to the rest of the group.â Lina hopped out of the car.
So much information, so little time. Victor wondered if he was going to remember it all. He listened intently as Lina continued to correct his mistakes and misconceptions. The Saber-Tooth bit made enough sense. The explanation of the different eras was harder to keep up with. But regardless, Victor nodded along and at least tried to look like he completely understood everything.
At the announcement of arriving, Victor looked outside the car window and smiled widely at the grassy fields and soon at the barn. He was more used to being in forests but this was a decent second. But what really caught this attention was the mention of a name. The teen perked up at the name âVictoria.â He couldnât help but wonder if this could somehow be his sister, who had the same name. There was no way but the thought was a fun one.
He was brought back into focus by Lina and Lachlan. He could feel himself start to get excited for what he was going to watch but not so much at the time of participating himself. Victor gave a nervous laugh, âI-I donât think I can manage to be brave enough to participate, honestly.â
He then got out of the car, ready to follow the two towards the rest of this group.