Shawn barely made it to Australia's picnic table before the bell rang, signaling the start of the scavenger hunt. Less than two minutes later there was a mad rush of campers and kids – in their cabin groups – rushing down towards the tables as well. To Shawn's surprise, they weren't all holding pinecones, which was the first thing on Shawn's list.
Grant came running up, dropping a pinecone on their table.
"Hi, Shawn!"
"Hey, Grant. Good! A pinecone."
"We're off!"
No time for small talk, after all. Not when you had lots to gather and places to run. Especially when the others were yelling for you to hurry up. Grant ran off to where the other Australians were waiting – just on the edge of what they thought would be as far away as they could get.
"Let's go!" River yelled, cheerfully, waving his arm expansively, and they all ran up the hill in a group, followed closely by other groups all heading for different spots in the camp.
Shawn looked down at the list in his hand, marked off pinecone and saw that the kids were heading for the corral to see if they could talk the wranglers out of a horseshoe. Shawn looked over at Ann, who now had a pillow sitting on her table.
"Do you have a horseshoe on your list?"
She looked down at her list and shook her head.
"No. Do you have a lock of hair?"
"You have a lock of hair on your list?" Shawn asked, surprised.
Ann smiled and nodded.
"It's an extra credit item."
"We have a license plate," Kelly said from Spain's table. "Among other things..."
Shawn shook his head. What a nutty list.
OOOOOOOOOO
Janet looked up from her conversation with Doctor Kennedy when Sam emerged from Ian's room, Jake in one arm her crutch in the other.
"Did he kick you out?" Kennedy asked, smiling.
Sam shook her head, smiling as well.
"He went back to sleep."
Janet, however, was watching the way Sam was moving, which was definitely different than it had been earlier. Not a lot different, but enough for Janet to notice. Had Kennedy known Sam better – or had she spent more time with Sam – she might have noticed as well.
"At least we know he's not addled from the blow to the head," Kennedy said.
"True," Janet said. She looked at Sam again. "Are you heading back to the camp, now?"
Sam shook her head.
"I need to go do some shopping. Would you like to come?"
Fraiser nodded. She didn't have any more clothing and personal items than Sam and Jack did, and definitely would like to get a few things – especially deodorant and shampoo.
"I would."
"If you want to leave Jacob, I can baby sit," Kennedy offered.
Sam smiled, glad for the offer. She was still one of those moms who didn't like to leave her baby with just anyone, but Kennedy was a doctor, and Ian was close at hand if anything happened. Not that she expected anything to.
"That'd be helpful, thanks."
"If he fusses and isn't wet or hungry, just put him to bed with Ian," Janet said, obviously okay with the idea of leaving Jake with Roberta – which told Sam that Fraiser liked this doctor.
Kennedy smiled, and took Jake from his mother.
"We won't be gone long," Sam promised.
OOOOOOOO
Janet watched as Sam got into the truck, noticing that she didn't have much trouble – aside from the fact that the crutch was in the way and the brace didn't let her bend her knee. More obvious, though, was the decided lack of pain in Sam's expression when she moved.
"Why do I get the feeling you don't need that brace any more?" Janet asked as she closed the door and buckled her seatbelt, looking over at Sam.
Sam shook her head.
"I don't."
"Ian?"
Sam nodded.
"Who else?"
"Well… you do have a very good doctor, you know…"
Sam laughed, and started the truck.
"You could always ask about getting one of those Ancient devices to stick your head in."
Janet snorted, amused, and shook her head. She'd seen what Jack had gone through with the Ancient's knowledge downloaded into his head, and while Ian was handling his a lot better, it was still something she didn't want – even with the amazing ability he'd gained from it. There were too many side-affects for her comfort.
"I'll pass, thank you."
"When we get back to the clinic, I'll take a look at the knee, and if it's solid enough we'll take the brace off."
"That'd be great," Sam said with obvious relief.
"The cast stays on until we leave, though."
"Yeah."
They'd never be able to explain to anyone – especially Kennedy – how Sam's wrist managed to heal in only days.
OOOOOOOO
A piece of paper was slapped down on the picnic table with only a quick hello, and then the kids were off again, panting from all the running but still eager and willing to go find their next item. Shawn glanced at the note, grinned, and marked letter to parents off his list.
"What does it say?" Ann asked, curiously. She wasn't the only one looking, though. All the cabins had that item on their list, and so far none of them had been especially long ones – and all of them had been made up quickly and on the spot.
"Read it, Shawn," said Kelly, who was close by as well.
Shawn picked the paper up again.
"'Dear mom and dad. Here at camp, playing games. Got to go. Wilson says hi. Love, Chad.'"
"Well… it's better than mine," Ann said, looking at hers, which she'd received several items before. Hers had been even shorter.
Libby, who was now sitting beside Ann acting as her assistant since her sore legs had given out on her after only a little running around, smiled shyly. She'd been the one to write the letter and since she'd seen her parents only hours before there hadn't been much to say.
"What are yours looking for, now?" Kelly asked Shawn.
"A frying pan. Yours?"
"A feather. And then it's on to the extra credit items."
"Yeah, us, too."
"Although I'm afraid to even ask where Gary plans for them to find any of these things."
Since the gentleman in question just happened to be walking by, checking items and lists, he smiled.
"It's all about being creative, Ann," Gary told her. "They'll think of something, I'm sure."
Uh huh. Shawn considered himself fairly creative, but he couldn't figure out where Jack and the Australian boys were going to find a picture of dogs playing poker.