Many pet owners in the past have found that washing their dogs can be quite a trial. Many dogs, even water dogs such as labs and spaniels, don't like baths, not matter how much they like the water at any other time. Which makes it difficult to get them to hold still for the cleaning process. Jack had never had that problem.

Jaffer loved baths. He loved the water, but more importantly he loved the way Jack's hands were all over him when O'Neill was washing him. He always had, even when he was a puppy. Jack's biggest concern when washing Jaffer was getting the dog out of the water when it was done, and even that wasn't all that hard. So it was hardly a chore for Jack to take Jaffer to the stream they'd found earlier and wash the black lab's head and chest.

The stuff that had been in the wall came off fairly easily, luckily. A little scrubbing with the fingers loosened it nicely, and then Jack just splashed water on Jaffer's face to rinse the mess off. Jaffer, of course, loved this game, and tried to catch the water in his mouth as Jack splashed him. Consequently, it took a little longer to wash him than it should have, but still far less time than it would have if Jaffer were like every other dog. And if Jack was a little wet by the time he and Jaffer came out of the stream (okay, a lot wet) oh well, it was warm, even though it was definitely starting to get late, and he could see that someone – most likely Teal'c – had started the campfire. He'd dry.

"Come on, little man," Jack said. "Let's get you dried off, and then get some dinner going."

Jaffer's brown eyes grinned happily up at Jack as the black lab shook himself coming out of the water. Yes! Dinner was definitely something they needed to look into getting started.

Teal'c was already ahead of Jack. The Jaffa had a large pan of hot water already boiling, and had coffee going in a percolator. Dinner was started.

"Sam with Daniel?" Jack asked as he came into their campsite and headed for his tent to get a towel.

"Yes. Daniel Jackson is most excited."

"Oh, I bet."

Teal'c gave that little half-smile he normally gave when something amused him, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he added the packages of dehydrated food into the boiling water, and began stirring it. In only a few minutes, they'd have a very good meal waiting for them. If they could get Daniel away from the wall long enough to eat it.

..............

He was right about how difficult it was to get Daniel away from the wall. The archeologist had a lapful of the little chip-like things, and was studiously trying to compare them to the notes he'd already taken on the pictures on the walls. Whenever he found one that didn't match a picture he'd already seen, he'd look at the wall next to him, then ask Sam if she could see anything that looked like the picture on the chip. Carter would take the chip from him, and go along the walls, looking frequently at the chip and at the wall. Daniel might recognize one of the drawings immediately, but Sam needed a little more time for each. Inevitably, though, she'd find one, and would bring the chip back to Daniel and tell him that, yes, it did match.

By the time Jack and Jaffer came over to the wall, Daniel (and occasionally Sam) had worked their way through about 40 of the little chips, but there were still a lot to look through. The bag was filled, after all.

"Dinner's ready," Jack said as Jaffer went over to Sam and whuffled her hand in greeting. Then he sneezed, and Sam wiped her hand off.

"Is he allergic to me all of the sudden?" She asked Jack, confused.

"I think it's either the stuff on the bag, or the stuff those little square things are made of," Jack said, calling Jaffer over to him. "Probably the stuff the squares are made of, since he didn't sneeze too much while I was washing him."

"But he sneezed?"

Jack nodded.

"The squares are made out of the inner bark of some tree," Daniel said, absently, just to get them to stop talking so he could concentrate on what he was doing. "So chances are the people who made them used an indigenous tree, and Jaffer's allergic to it. Or maybe it's just something that tickles his nose." Who knew more about allergies than Daniel, after all?

"Huh..." Jack shrugged. It was as good an answer as anything, especially since it was more of an answer than he had.

"Obviously it doesn't hurt him," Sam said, watching as Jaffer sniffed the bag, and sneezed once more. Daniel moved the bag a little, not wanting to get dog snot all over it.

"Good thing," Jack said, calling Jaffer over. "Daniel... dinner's ready. Put down your toys and let's eat."

"You guys go ahead without me, I want to get a few more of these-"

"Daniel. They'll be here when you get done eating."

He looked up, and saw that Jack wasn't going to budge on this one.

Daniel scowled.

Jack ignored it.

"Just a few more..."

"Just leave them where they are. None of us will play with them, and when you're done eating you can come back for a little while." Before it got too dark to see anything.

"But..."

"Daniel."

Damn.

"Fine." Daniel carefully placed the chips he'd already matched over to one side, and left the ones he had yet to look through on another side, and stood up, stiffly, since he hadn't moved in a couple of hours. "Don't let Jaffer eat any of them."

How well Daniel knew Jack's dog.

"He's coming with us, Daniel."

They all walked over to the camp, although Daniel looked back at the walls a couple more times, almost tripping over one of the ruined stone floor pillars, until Jack called him back to the here and now. It was annoying to be so close to solving a puzzle and be forced to walk away long enough to do anything. Even eat.

By the time he'd eaten, though, Daniel had to admit he was glad for the chance to rest his eyes. And his brain. The meal had been good. As good as anything Daniel made himself at home, and the company, as always, was enjoyable. He even managed to join in on the conversation that Sam and Jack had – teaching Teal'c all about making s'mores. There were, after all, various ways to stack the chocolate and the marshmallows, and Daniel knew his way was the best. Double-decker all the way, baby!

Jack shooed him away, though, when the meal was over, knowing that he wanted to get back to his little chips. He and Sam would take care of the dishes, since Teal'c had cooked, and Daniel was free to do as he pleased until bedtime. The archeologist immediately got to his feet and hurried back to the ruins, leaving his tray of graham crackers sitting there unguarded in his haste to get back.

Jaffer looked over at Jack, saw that O'Neill was deep in conversation with Sam and Teal'c about setting watches for the night, and looked back at the plate of crackers. Crackers that would definitely prefer to be eaten immediately before they could be smeared with melted marshmallow and chocolate – which, incidentally, Jaffer wasn't allowed to have. His eyes never left Jack as he leaned over and gathered the unsuspecting graham crackers into his mouth and slunk off quietly over by the dark side of the tent to eat them in peace.