Chapter Thirty Three
After packing up and using the bathroom, they headed back down the trail towards New Franklin. About a quarter of a mile out, they saw the train tunnel. It was made of stone blocks the arched up about thirty feet from the ground. The tunnel was about 500 feet long and the outside was covered with soil, grass and trees.
"Cool!" Chaska said as he and Christopher rode into it first.
The others followed and Doc showed Namid what it looked like while everyone stopped just inside it in order to get a closer look. High above them on the ceiling, the stones were blackened by years of exposure from soot as the train's smokestacks came through. The Doctor took a flashlight out of his trouser pocket and aimed it up at the ceiling as the children looked up.
"Wow, this is neat. I wonder how many steam engines came through here?" Christopher asked.
"Forty billion two million," Alan said.
"Nuh-uh," Christopher said as Alan snickered.
"Okay, two," Alan amended as Christopher gave him a playful slap on the arm.
Suddenly, the Doctor heard Namid shriek and he spun around, his body tensed.
"There's something on me!" Namid said, pointing down to her right leg where a black beetle was slowly climbing up it.
The Doctor grinned and sauntered over as everyone laughed. He bent down to her.
"Problems, my jewel?" he asked her.
"Yes, there's something going up my leg. Can you fix it?" Namid asked.
"Well, that something is a beetle and yes, I believe I can fix it," the Doctor said before he plucked the bug off her leg.
He held it up in front of his face as the beetle flailed its legs.
"Sorry, mate, that was not a tree you were climbing up and you better get away from my daughter before you end up having a hand crush your body."
He put the bug on the wall and watched as it climbed up it.
"Problem solved by brilliant me once again," he said, picking Namid up. "I have saved you from the beetle going up your leg."
"Yay!" Namid said as she hugged him tight.
He crooked his arm and supported her butt as they walked around the tunnel. Up ahead near the end, Christopher was looking at something and he called to Chaska. When Chaska came up beside him, Christopher pointed to what he was looking up and Chaska ran to get his father.
"Daddy, come here, you gotta see this. Two birds are play fighting like you and Uncle Alan did!" he said, pointing to the other end of the tunnel.
Everyone followed him and came up behind Christopher who pointed to two birds several feet away. One bird was large and brown while the other was slightly smaller and bright blue. The bright blue one fluttered up and mounted the other on the back for a few seconds, then jumped off and both of them circled each other before the blue bird repeated the mounting gesture.
"Um, I don't think they're playfighting," Rain said. "I think they're doing something a bit more adult than that."
"What do you mean, Mummy?" Sokanon asked.
"She means that these two are probably doing a mating ritual," the Doctor said.
"What's that mean?" Chaska asked.
"Um…" the Doctor said, trying to be discreet about the answer. "Means that the blue bird is trying to impress what I figure is the female with his colorful feathers and dancing and if she likes him they'll make a nest and have babies."
"Ew…" Christopher said, making a face. "They wanna have sex?"
Everyone stared at him.
"Yeah, where did you learn about that?" the Doctor asked.
"One of my friends at the academy told me about sex."
Rose rolled her eyes.
"That figures," she muttered while Alan patted her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll talk to him and find out what he knows," Alan said to her.
They watched as the birds continued the mating ritual.
"Go blue!" Jack said as the blue bird tried to mount the female bird.
They laughed when the female suddenly turned on him and chased him around, trying to peck him.
"Apparently she's not interested enough," Rain said.
"Nah, he's not that blue. I've seen bluer," the Doctor said as they headed back to their bicycles.
On the way back, they saw a young man and woman walking their golden retriever. Both of them were lean and muscular, the man had floppy brown hair with bangs that hung over his eyes, a chiseled jaw and green eyes. The woman had long red hair, green eyes and a heart-shaped face. Both were wearing jean shorts and t-shirts. They waved at everyone as they came into the tunnel.
"Good afternoon, great day for a hike," the man said.
"That it is. Have you been traveling long?" the Doctor said as he sat Namid down on the ground and Sokanon took her hand.
"Not long, we just came from Rocheport," the man said as the children came up and petted the dog. "We live there and we're just taking the dog for a walk. I'm Brian and this is Meg and our dog is Buster."
The Doctor introduced everyone and they spent a moment talking while the children petted buster and scratched his ears. Finally, Brian and Meg went on and the children said goodbye to Buster while the three of them walked off. Doc helped his daughter back to the bike while the others got on theirs. They waved at their friends as they rode past them and headed on towards New Franklin.
Halfway to New Franklin they reached a wooded area that was bordered on the right side by a high cliff wall. On the other side was a wooden bench and they all stopped for a rest. As soon as Rain got a look at the bench she noticed a yellow triangular metal sign mounted beside the bench and bent over laughing. When everyone looked her way, she pointed to it.
FALLING ROCKS.
The Doctor raised his eyebrow and a bemused grin spread over his face.
"They put a bench next to the falling rocks?" he said as everyone laughed. "Is this for anyone who likes a bit of danger when they're resting their feet."
"Where are falling rocks?" Sokanon asked, looking around.
The Doctor pointed up to the cliff wall.
"I assume they mean this," he said. "I'm sure sometimes piece of the cliff break off and fall but normally you wouldn't put a bench where the rocks could fall on ya."
Alan flounced over to the bench and slammed down hard on it.
"YODEL-LAY-HEE-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he bellowed up at the cliff face as everyone laughed. "HEY! ROCKS, HERE I AM. FALL ON ME!"
He twiddled his thumbs and waited, then shrugged when nothing happened.
"Wussy rocks," Alan said, going back to his bike. "They must be afraid of me."
"Oh God, please let a rock fall on this head right this very minute and prove him wrong," Rain muttered under her breath as the Doctor snickered and grabbed the water bottle from the holder on his bike.
He took a long swig and made an exaggerated ecstatic face while Rain gave him an odd look.
"Ahhh, I love these water bottles the TARDIS came up with. Keeps the water nice and cold no matter how hot it gets and…"
He let out a yelp as Sokanon lifted up his trouser leg and put her ice cold water bottle on his bare leg. He tried to put his on her cheek but she ran away giggling.
"Just wait. I have a long memory and I'll return the favor when you're least expecting it," the Doctor said.
He took another swig and Rain laughed when he gargled the water, swallowed it and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, demurely dabbing it at both corners of his mouth.
"Okay, Lord Doctor the Aristocrat, I think you got all the water droplets off your mouth," Rain said as the Doctor gave her a cheeky grin.
They got back on their bikes and gasped when Alan zoomed past all of them before they even got going.
"I AM GOING TO WIN THIS RACE!" they heard him scream back as he zoomed around a bend and down a hill.
Chaska and Christopher laughed and took off after him as everyone else followed. When they rounded the bend they saw Alan far ahead of them giving the two boys the evil eye as they tried to catch up with him.
"NO, YOU WON'T OVERTAKE ME! I WILL WIN!" Alan screamed at them as he pedaled faster. "EAT MY DUST!"
By now, he was about a quarter of a mile from everyone else and the boys were trying to catch up to him. The others pedaled leisurely and when Alan reached another bend in the road about a half mile from them, he stopped and stared at his slow poke family.
"HEY, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? PEDAL FASTER, YOU GITS!" he screamed at them. "IT'S NO FUN WINNING THE RACE WHEN YOU'RE TWO MILES BEHIND ME!"
They watched as Christopher and Chaska came up behind him and stopped. They laughed when Alan made a big show of pointing to them and pointing at his watch, then pointing to them again as the boys laughed. The two boys turned their faces towards them.
"COME ON!" Chaska screamed.
"YEAH, TIME'S A-WASTIN'! GET A MOVE ON!" Christopher screamed.
Rain smirked. She slowed to a stop and yawned as she put her feet on the ground.
"I think it's time to rest," she said, getting off her bike as everyone else stopped beside her.
They laughed at Alan's shocked look while Rain went and sat in the grass and laughed harder when he shook his fist at them.
"COME ON, LEAVE RAINY PAINY IN THE DIRT AND GET THE LEAD OUT!" Alan screamed. "I WANNA RACE ALL OF YA!"
"YEAH, WE WANNA RACE," Chaska screamed.
"Gee, think we should catch up to them?" Rain asked the others. "Cause I could just lay here aaaall day loooong."
"Nah, we better catch up to him before Alan goes and causes trouble," the Doctor said.
Rain let out a melodramatic sigh.
"Okay, if we must," she said, getting up and walking to her bike.
She got back on and they headed towards Alan who was pointing violently at his watch as he held his arm back up in the air. They took their time and leisurely came towards them. The moment they rounded the corner, Alan quickly mounted his bike and sped away followed by Christopher and Chaska.
"Whoooo-hooo, eat my dirt!" Alan said as he zoomed away. "Race time!"
"You know, I hope he doesn't round a corner and slam into some hapless bikers or hikers," Doc said as he pedaled his bike.
"I'm hoping he does just so we can stand there and watch the other people beat the snot outta him," Jack said.
"I second that," Rain said, rolling her eyes as Alan whooped and yelled in the distance and taunted them to keep up with him.