PARENTHOOD
Chapter Twenty Eight The little group continued down the dirt trail. They were passing alongside the Missouri River on their left sides and fifty foot rock walls on their right. Occasionally they would pass through a dense patch of trees that obscured the sunlight temporarily but for the most part they were out on the open road and the sun beat down on them as they pedaled along. While they rode, several people passed them from behind. One group of ladies caught sight of Jack as they rode past. Jack grinned and waved when they did a double take and gave him appreciative looks. Then they caught up with Alan and did the same as Alan smiled and gave them a salute. The women did double takes when they saw the Doctor and Doc as they rode beside each other and chatted. "Wow, there are a lot of cute guys in this group," one brunette woman said to her companions as they passed the Doctor and Doc. "And sadly, only one of those cute guys is available at the moment," the Doctor said when they were out of earshot. "I'm the cutest!" Alan yelled out. Doc glanced back at him. "How'd he reckon that one out?" he said to the Doctor. "His enormous ego told him so," the Doctor replied. Up ahead of them, the women were riding and chatting while Sokanon rode with them and Christopher and Chaska were riding as fast as they could ahead of the pack. The Doctor raised his eyebrow when he noticed they were too far ahead for his liking. He mentally told his son to slow down and heard Chaska tell Christopher that he wanted them to slow down. Both boys stopped their bikes and looked at the Missouri River while they waited. Then he saw them dismount and walk their bikes over to the right while Chaska pointed at something ahead of him. By the time the rest of the group caught up, both boys were staring at a large opening in a forty foot rock wall. Everyone else stopped and stared at it. It was the opening to a cave and inside they could hear rushing water. Across the way was a large wooden sign, one of many along the trail that gave out information about the history of the place or local sights. Jack walked over to it. "Oh!" he said after quickly scanning through it. "This is that Lewis and Clark cave and according to this, the Indian petroglyphs are above it and to the left of the cave opening." The adults looked up and studied the cliff face trying to find them. "What are petroglyphs?" Christopher asked his father. "They're pictures that people have carved or painted on rock walls. So look up and see if you can find a picture of some sort," Alan said to them. The boys and Sokanon looked up and tried to find any pictures while the adults frowned and scanned the rock wall. "Where? I don't see anything," Rose said, shrugging. Jack who was farther back suddenly pointed up. "I see it!" he said. They stared at him before they all walked to his side and looked where he was pointing. They finally saw a faint picture painted in red ocher about halfway up the cliff face. The bottom part of the picture resembled the Nike swoosh with a red dot up above it. Beside it was the remains of another picture but the cliff had eroded and most of the pieces had fallen away leaving the one pictograph intact. They stared at the picture. "What's it mean?" Christopher asked his father. "Guess is as good as mine," Alan said. "Just a clever design someone came up with?" "Oh come now, Brother, surely you recognize ancient high Gallifreyan when you see it," the Doctor said. Alan and Doc stared at him. "That's ancient high Gallifreyan?" Rain asked, pointing up to it. "Yup," the Doctor said. "How you know, Daddy?" Sokanon asked. He grinned. "Cause I wrote that," he said. Everyone giggled as Rain gave him a yeah, right look. "Right, dear, that's your handiwork there," she said, pointing to it. "It is. Oh, I did neglect to mention I was with Lewis and Clark on their expedition and when we got to this spot, I climbed up there and put that there." "What's it say, Daddy?" Chaska asked. "Says, piss off," the Doctor said as Alan and Doc laughed. "I was in a surly mood that day and wanted the world to know that I wished to be left alone." "No, you didn't, Daddy. You didn't put that there," Sokanon said, giggling. "I most certainly did. That's my handwriting," he said, pointing up to the petroglyph. "So nah!" "Who are Lewis and Clark?" Namid asked. "They were two explorers who explored the western half of the United States in 1803 after Napoleon sold this territory to Thomas Jefferson. They went all the way to the Pacific with Sacajawea, her kid and her French trapper husband. They mapped this place and that encouraged people to come and settle here. I came along to offer my invaluable expertise. " "What happened, Daddy?" Chaska asked. "Well, naturally I was brilliant but that Sacajawea...she just kept dumping her kid on me and wanting me to babysit the brat while she went off to snog her French husband. So there I was with a papoose on my back while Sacajawea was off putting her tongue down people's throats. Then of course, there were all the hostile Indians along the way. People say that Lewis and Clark encountered only peaceful tribes but that's a lie. I remember the day I had to single handedly fight the Wimpwonk tribe and their leader Mantua and his army of brainwashed grizzly bears with rocket launchers on their backs. There I was with a papoose on my back dodging missles while Sacajawea snogged and Lewis and Clark looked at maps. No wonder I wrote piss off up there at the end of the day." "No, you didn't," Namid said to him while everyone laughed. "I did too. Why doesn't anyone believe me? I risked my life fighting off the hoards of brainwashed rocket launcher grizzlies so Lewis and Clark could explore the country. I shoulda been given a medal just for that and a second medal for lugging around Sacajawea's brat on my back." "You did not," Namid said, giggling. The Doctor let out a sigh and looked at Rain. "Kids, they just won't believe a word I say," he said to her. "That's funny cause I don't believe it either. Especially this Wimpwonk tribe...why have I never heard of the Wimpwonk tribe before?" "Probably because I obliterated them off the face of planet Earth," the Doctor said. "That and there were only two people in the whole tribe, Mantua and his daft brother FroFro. I beat them easily." "I'm bored with Daddy's lies, I'm gonna explore the cave," Chaska said as everyone laughed. Alan bounced down the short grassy hill in front of the cave and ran past him. He pointed to a small sign beside the cave as Chaska and Christopher walked up to him. "Sorry, according to this sign, this is private property and we're not to enter because there are rare and endangered bats in here that the owner wants us to leave alone," he said as he pointed to the sign. "So?" Chaska said, pushing past him. "So..." Alan said, grabbing him as everyone laughed, "that means you don't go in there." "Never stopped Daddy before," Chaska said. "Yes, well, you're not your daddy and I forbid you from going in...because I'm going in first. Excuuuuuse me!" "Oh, no you don't, me first!" the Doctor said, leaping down the hill towards him. Chaska and Christopher came up beside them as the brothers stood at the entrance peering into the darkness while they listened. "Sonic screwdriver?" Alan said to the Doctor. "See if we can wake up the bats?" "If you do, warn us so we can get out of the way of the swarm," Rain said as she and the others stood on the trail and watched them. "Do it, Daddy," Chaska said, tugging on his trouser leg. "I dare ya." "Ought oh," the Doctor said to Alan, "I've been dared to do something. Should I resist?" "Ummm, dunno, it sounds like there's water in there. Is it worth fording a river to disturb the bats?" "Depends on how rare the bats are." "Right, dear, like you would go in and harm bats," Rain said. "What are you talking about? I've been harming forest creatures all day, haven't I, Mi-mi?" he asked her while she giggled and nodded. "But we better not, I'd rather not fall in the water and get guano on my head, might make me want to climb back up this cliff and put another rude expletive up there. So if everyone's ready, let's get going so we can get to Rocheport within the hour." The others agreed with him and the Doctor and Alan put their hands on their son's shoulders as they walked back up the hill towards their bikes.
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