"You!" cried Mrs. Larkin at Jennifer and Tom, "all laid out like a churnadryne!" Mr. Looper, museum keeper of Redwood Cove, thinks the beast he saw on the peak of San Lorenzo was a prehistoric sea creature, Elasmosaurus californicus. But when Tom and Jennifer see it themselves, Jennifer knows it must be the terrible churnadryne. And what if everyone in Redwood Cove knew it was real?