Tooth & Claw — Robert Appleton

The age of steam meets the time of the dinosaurs in this rip-roaring short story set in the aftermath of Prehistoric Clock.

With everything she owns packed onto her steam-powered penny farthing, nineteen-year-old Beth Rawtenstall is determined to leave the county she grew up in. Her father recently died, leaving her with a struggling farm and no prospects. Even the boy she loves is unattainable--his relatives, the aristocratic Allenbys, have shunned Beth all her life, and she's finally given up on him.

But she's picked the wrong day to say goodbye. A giant creature no one in Victorian England has ever seen before is terrorizing the quiet countryside. Her countryside. It's a predator from another age--one of the deadliest animals that ever lived. But if Papa taught her anything, it's to never back down from a fight. Especially when the prize is the life of the boy she loves.