"Step by Step, Brother "

By Lorrie

Chapter 4 – Trails and Trials

Disclaimer: The following story is based on the characters of the TV Series "Drake & Josh". The characters belong to the creators and Nickolodian, but the story is mine. ALL DISCLAIMERS APPLY. (No copyright infringement is intended.)

It had been a long time since Drake had slept so soundly. He found himself awake long before Josh and Walter.

Walter sniffed the air, the aroma of fresh brewed coffee waking him. He nudged Josh. "Hey, I smell breakfast." Josh said.

They pulled on their clothes and poked their heads out of the tent to find Drake sitting by the campfire, scrambled eggs and sausage frying in the skillet and coffee brewing in the pot.

"I don't believe this!" Josh exclaimed as he joined Drake by the fire. "You're up before 7:00 on a Saturday?"

"Yeah, well I guess there's something to be said for this fresh mountain air, right?" He turned to Walter. "Mornin' dad. You guys ready for breakfast?"

"Definitely!" Josh replied.

"What time are we scheduled for the climb?" Drake asked.

Walter held up his finger while he finished chewing his eggs. "9:00."

"Cool!" Drake replied and grabbed a second helping of breakfast.

After breakfast, the troop made their way to the Jeep for the half hour drive to the climbing area. "I don't get it." Josh said to Drake, as Walter walked a little ahead of them.

"Don't get what?" Drake asked.

"You hate to cook, you hate getting up early, especially on Saturdays and you aren't even crazy about eggs and sausage, yet you got up and cooked breakfast for us before dawn . . . why?"

Drake shrugged. "I dunno, I guess it's just what I would have done with my dad had he been here, so . . ."

"So . . . does that mean that things are OK with you and dad?"

Drake stopped in his tracks and turned to Josh. "Josh, there was never a problem between me and dad. Was there?"

"I think dad just felt like maybe the two of you weren't connecting." Josh replied.

"Really?" Drake asked, looking up the path to his step-dad. "I didn't know that."

Josh's arm went around his brother's shoulders. "Doesn't matter much now anyway, brotha, I think you and dad are totally connected after this trip."

Drake smiled as he shrugged out of Josh's hug and continued up the path to the Jeep.

There were several vehicles already parked in the lot when the guys arrived. "Looks crowded." Drake commented.

"I guess that's why we had to make reservations." Walter replied. "Come on boys, let's go rent our gear."

After gearing up, the guys found themselves at the base of the wall. Drake stepped back slightly to see the top. "How high is this?" He asked the guide.

"This is the 40 footer."

Drake nodded his head. "Cool."

"Yeah, cool." Josh said with a slight nervousness.

"You'll both be fine, just make sure you follow all of the safety procedures that the guide gives you."

"That goes for you too dad." Drake said as he lightly punched Walter's arm.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Walter winked.

Soon the three began their assent. Drake first, followed by Josh and then Walter. Drake steadily reached for each hold with his hands, following with locating good footholds. "Josh, watch this next section, the holds are pretty far apart." He warned.

"Th-th-thanks." Josh stammered.

Walter steadily pulled himself upward behind Josh. "You're doing great guys!" He complimented.

Josh maneuvered the tricky section Drake had warned him about and shouted down a warning to Walter. "Dad, watch the next section. The holds are pretty far apart."

"Thanks for the heads up." Walter said as he continued to climb. Then, as he started to maneuver the tricky section, the boys heard scraping sounds as Walter tried desperately to find a foothold.

"Dad!" Josh shouted down and then quickly looked up at Drake. "Drake, dad's in trouble!"

Drake looked down, but from his vantage, he could see little of Walter. "Tell him not to panic. He is still is his harness, right?"

"Dad, are you in your harness?" Josh asked.

Walter fought to keep his grip on the rocks. "Yes!" He yelled just as his hands slipped and he began a rapid descent on the safety line.

When he reached the ground, his foot buckled beneath him. "Ow, ow, ow!" He yelled as a team of paramedics gathered around him.

"Did he make it OK, Josh?" Drake asked.

"I think he's hurt. It looks like the paramedics are checking him out." Josh reported.

"OK, carefully, start making your way back down. I'm right behind you." Drake instructed.

Josh began his descent followed by Drake. By the time they reached the bottom, Walter's ankle had been wrapped and he had been given a set of crutches.

After unharnessing, both boys ran to him. "Dad!" They both called out.

"I'm fine guys; just a little sprain." He explained.

Drake helped him up and offered his shoulder as support. "You're sure?" He asked, his voice full of concern.

"I'll be fine. One of you will have to drive though." He reached into his pocket for the keys.

"I'll drive and you can keep dad company in the back." Drake said as he reached for the keys.

"Oh no! You drove the Jeep last time, so it's my turn." Josh shouted, reaching for keys.

"I'm driving!" Drake yelled.

"No, I'm driving!" Josh retorted.

Walter put his two fingers into his mouth and whistled. "Boys! That's enough!" He looked at Drake who was now standing with his arms folded in front of him, tapping his foot impatiently and handed the keys to Josh. "Drake drives the first stretch on the way home."

As soon as Walter's back was turned, Drake childishly stuck his tongue out at Josh, who returned the gesture.

"Dad, what do you want for lunch?" Josh asked as he slid behind the wheel and Drake took the passenger seat, giving Walter room to stretch out in the back.

"I don't care. You guys pick."

A few miles down the road, Josh pulled through the drive-thru of a Mr. Taco and ordered lunch for everyone. From there they continued back to the campground.

After parking the Jeep, Josh and Drake gathered the food and began to walk towards their campsite. Walter cleared his throat as he reached for his crutches. "A little help here, guys?"

The two stopped and looked at each other. "I drove." Josh announced.

"And my hands are full." Drake replied.

"So are mine." Josh said.

Drake shook his head in anger and piled the food that he had been carrying on top of what Josh was carrying. "Fine. You take the food and I'll get dad."

"Hey! I can't carry all of this." Josh complained. "My nachos are getting crushed." He whined as Drake walked away.

"Sorry dad." Drake said, letting Walter lean on him while he got his crutches in place.

"Thanks son." Walter replied, happy to have someone to lean on.

"Can you handle those things, are would you rather lean on me?" Drake asked, pointing to the awkward way Walter was handling the crutches.

"I'll get the hang of it in a minute." Walter said as one of the crutches slipped slightly. "I'm OK." He said quickly as Drake reached for him.

"I know when I broke my leg a couple of years ago, it took me a week or more to get the hang of those things." Drake confessed.

"That must have been hard on you." Walter replied as they started down the path.

Drake waved off the comment. "Nah! It was a great way to attract girls! For some reason, they seem to really dig a man in pain."

Walter stopped. "Um, is that so? I sure hope your mom feels that way when I call and tell her what happened."

"Why call her?" Drake asked.

"What do you mean?" Walter said.

"Well, why tell her until you have to? I mean, we still have the rest of today and tomorrow before we leave . . . " He paused. "Unless you would rather leave now."

"No. I'm fine." Walter said.

"Well, what I mean is why tell mom over the phone now when you'll see her tomorrow."

"Drake, your mother has a right to know what happened. She worries about us."

"I know, so why make her worry more. If you tell her that you're hurt, she'll want to be with you now, right?"

Walter nodded slowly. "Right."

"So, why make her worry unnecessarily."

"I see your point." Walter replied. "This kid is good." He thought and smiled to himself.

After lunch, Walter settled down and fell asleep. "Hey, want to go hiking on the trail?" Drake asked Josh.

Josh shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Just leave dad a note. We probably shouldn't wake him." Drake said.

Josh wrote out a note: Dad, we've gone hiking. We should be back in a couple of hours. It's 2:00 now. Josh & Drake"

The trail had grown more and more narrow as the boys continued to hike. "Drake, are you sure this is even the right trail?" Josh whined. "We've been walking for almost three hours. I told dad we'd only be gone two."

Drake stopped and looked at Josh. "I don't know, OK! I don't know if this is the right trail or not. We should have reached the falls by now, but we haven't!"

"So we're lost? You said you knew where you were going! I've never been lost in the woods before and now . . ."

"Josh, so help me, if you don't stop whining . . ." Drake slammed his fist into a tree and then drew it back quickly. "Owww."

Josh rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Are you OK?"

"Do I look OK? I feel like I broke my hand."

"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you for getting us lost." Josh started.

"No, I'm sorry. You're right. I said I knew where I was going and I didn't, but we probably need to concentrate on finding our way back. I mean, it's going to get dark out here soon." Drake said.

Josh looked up past the canopy of treetops. "You're right." He looked back in the direction they had just traveled. "There's really no trail there, how are we going to get back?"

"I don't know." Drake replied.

Walter woke up and stretched, the pain in his ankle reminding him that he was injured. He looked around the camp and seeing no sign of Drake or Josh, pulled himself up. The note Josh had left, fell to the ground, brushing Walter's hand in the process. "What's this?" He picked up the note and then looked at his watch. "It's almost 6:00!" He said frantically. "Something must have happened!"

To be continued . . .