Camping With Daddy

Part Four: Musical Musings

"How about a look at that banjo, Dave?" MacGyver suggested, leaning back lazily after the meal.

Dave shrugged. "Suit yourself; I'm still not sure I'll remember how to play even if you manage to get it in tune."

MacGyver laughed and rolled to his feet, playfully slapping his friend's shoulder as he passed. "You'll do fine," he promised. He seated himself on a log and opened the case, frowning when he saw the amount of debris that had somehow managed to accumulate even inside the case. "Looks like somethin' may have had a nest in there, Dave," he remarked as he lifted the banjo out and blew the dust off.

Cassie giggled. "What, Mr Mac? What was it?"

"A mouse, I'm guessing; look, it musta chewed its way through the case."

"Wonderful," Dave groaned. "Look, kids, let's not tell your mother, shall we?"

"Where's the mousie now, Mr Mac?" Cassie asked, peering into the banjo case as if expecting to find it still hiding there. *

"Raised its family and moved on, I guess," MacGyver answered. He plucked experimentally at the strings, finding them so loose they barely made a sound. "Well, this could take a while," he remarked, settling back and tightening one of the pegs a little.

"Give it up, Mac; guitar sounds fine by itself."

"Nope; you don't get out of playin' that easy. Unless you wanna try the guitar? It's not all that different, ya know."

"No, thanks; rusty as I am, if you're going to make me play, I'd better stick with what I'm used to."

MacGyver flashed him a quick grin before going back to his tuning.

As he tightened one of the pegs one final turn, the string snapped, springing back against his fingers. "Ow!" he exclaimed, sticking the injured finger in his mouth for a moment.

"You all right?" Dave asked.

"Yeah," MacGyver answered, looking at his finger and seeing that the string hadn't drawn blood. "Ow," he muttered again, shaking his hand out one more time.

"You're not going to make me play minus a string, are you?"

"Nope; I got some spares in my guitar case."

"But those are guitar strings; will they work on a banjo?"

"We'll make 'em work."

Dave sighed. "Yeah…guess I forgot who I was talking to."

"Daddy, why don't you want to play?" Cassie asked anxiously.

"It's not that I don't want to, honey; I just haven't played in so long that I don't think I'd be very good at it anymore."

"I bet you will!" Cassie declared loyally.

Dave chuckled. "Thanks, sweetheart."

"Well, we're about to find out," MacGyver remarked. "Here, Dave, give that a try."

Dave took the banjo and ran a hand over the strings. "Sounds good," he admitted.

"Just follow along until you get the hang of it again," MacGyver told him, settling the guitar on his knee and strumming an extemporized intro before shifting smoothly into a song that had been one of Dave's favorites to play in college.

Dave picked out only a few of the notes at first, but gradually his old skill came back to him, and the banjo began to hold its own with the guitar.

"Guess I'm not as bad as I thought," he commented after a rousing chorus he had enjoyed as much as MacGyver and the kids.

MacGyver grinned and started playing another song, a light of mischief glinting in his eye.

"Aw, Mac, you're not serious!" Dave groaned. But the look in MacGyver's eyes was a challenge, and he couldn't resist taking the dare, playing the banjo part over and around the guitar.

In the middle the guitar dropped to the background, and Dave's fingers flew to maintain the tempo MacGyver had set. Just when he was sure he couldn't manage to keep it up without missing a note, the guitar joined in again, and together he and MacGyver brought the piece to its finale.

In the sudden silence, the kids burst into spontaneous applause, and flushing slightly, Dave made an exaggerated bow. "I'll get you for that, Mac; I think my fingers must be bleeding!"

MacGyver's chuckle was without sympathy. "You'll live. What do you think; time we got these kiddos to bed?"

"Guess so," Dave agreed.

"Come see the fairy flies, Daddy!" Cassie exclaimed.

"Fire flies, Cassie!" Dylan corrected scornfully.

Cassie crossed her arms. "I call them fairy flies, 'cause they look like fairy lights!"

"Aw, you can't just rename things, can she, Mr Mac?"

"Don't see why not. Where I grew up, we called 'em lightning bugs."

Cassie stuck out her tongue at Dylan. "See?"

"Hey, hey!" MacGyver protested. "You two call that bein' good?"

Dylan shrugged, and Cassie tugged on her father's hand. "Come see them, Daddy!"

Dave stood up, looking helplessly at MacGyver. "Coming, Mac?"

"Sure," MacGyver agreed, walking with them to the stream.

"There they are!" Cassie cried excitedly. "See, Daddy, see? Fairy flies!"

"Wow," Dave whispered, as mesmerized as the kids had been by the twinkling lights. When he turned away, it was only to look upward. "Is that the big dipper, Mac?"

"Yup, and there's the north star."

"Where? Where? Show me, Mr Mac!"

Grinning, MacGyver picked Cassie up and pointed into the starry sky. "Right there, at the tip of my finger."

"I see it!" Cassie cried. "It's sparkling at me."

"Yup, an' now it's time for little girls to go to bed."

"We should take Ma camping sometimes," Cindy remarked as she skipped back to the fort holding her father's hand.

Dave laughed humorlessly. "I wouldn't count on it."

"Why not, Daddy?" Cassie asked earnestly. "There aren't any bears or wolves!"

"No, but she'd be afraid of getting bugs and spiders in her hair, and she's convinced sleeping in the night air will make you catch your death of cold."

"But, Daddy, all air's night air at night!" Dylan protested.

"He's got ya, Dave," MacGyver teased.

"Sure, I know that, but try convincing Celia!"

Cindy frowned. "You mean, Daddy…Ma wouldn't have wanted us to come camping…even with Mr Mac?" Cindy asked anxiously.

"Probably not," Dave admitted, "but it's fine with me that he took you. Look, don't count on your mother ever coming with us, but I'll talk to her, and how about the five of us do this a little more often?"

"Yippee!"

"But, Daddy, you can't cook," Dylan protested.

"Well, we won't be able to do it just like with Mac; we'll bring sandwiches from the house or something, and I guess I remember how to make a fire. Now get to bed, all of you."

When the kids had been tucked in, MacGyver and Dave sat beside the dying fire, MacGyver plucking idly at the strings of his guitar. "Glad ya came?"

"You know I am, Mac," Dave replied, stretching out lazily. "Aah." He was silent for a moment, staring into the flames and listening to MacGyver's soft playing. "I apologize again for not warning you how rambunctious my kids can be," he said at last.

MacGyver only grinned. "Don't mention it."

Dave sighed. "I wish I knew why they act that way."

"I think ya do know."

Dave frowned. "I suppose you're going to come down on me for not disciplining them enough. You're a fine one to talk, Mac, with no kids of your own!"

"You said it, not me," MacGyver pointed out mildly. "Some of it may be mischief and high spirits, but subconsciously maybe they're just trying to get attention."

Dave snorted. "If I know you, Mac, you gave them all the attention anyone could want; why'd they give you such a hard time?"

MacGyver shrugged. "Partly force of habit, I guess." He glanced sideways at Dave. "'Sides, it wasn't really my attention they were after." He yawned and set the guitar aside to stretch. "I'm about ready to turn in; want the blankets or the sleeping bag?"

"If it's all the same to you, I guess I'd rather have the sleeping bag," Dave admitted.

"Sure thing," MacGyver agreed. "Coupla blankets are downright cozy compared to how I've had to rough it sometimes."

Dave glanced curiously at him, but didn't question again how exactly MacGyver spent most of his time.

"Oh…guess I should warn ya…" MacGyver realized when they were bedded down in front of the fort. "Last time I woke up with Cassie on my sleeping bag…if she gets scared tonight, I'm not sure which of us she'll crawl in with."

Dave grinned. "With me using your sleeping bag, I bet she won't be too sure, either."

But tonight, with both MacGyver and her father outside the tent entrance, Cassie felt completely secure and slept soundly until morning.

I am open to suggestions for additional "Kids" outtakes! I could use minor pranks for Monday and Tuesday, funny but not malicious pranks for Wednesday, something for them to do Thursday afternoon (keeping in mind that Mac still wants to keep Dylan relatively quiet), and "ingenious" ideas for keeping busy on a rainy Friday.

* Illustration for this scene can be found at deviantart . com [slash] femalechauvinist [slash] art [slash] Anybody-Home-890563950

(The link to the previous chapter's illustration is now up at the end of that chapter!)

Next week I start posting my crossover story between MacGyver and New Avengers! (The 1970s British TV show, NOT Marvel comics/superheroes) It's all right if you're not familiar with the Avengers characters; you can just read them as OCs and enjoy MacGyver!

I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!

Please note that I have only minimal internet access, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. (But they are much appreciated, even if you're reading this story long after I originally post it!) If you have questions regarding my MacGyver alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie