River Rafting
After breakfast was finished, Lucas made
sure everything that carried a scent was put safely away, while Lucy helped
Tali and John pump air into the river rafts.
Lucas noticed the life vest he was going
to use was meant for a baby.
“Wasn’t there a vest without a baby
giraffe on it?” he asked.
John looked over to explain.
“It was the only one they had that will
fit. Don’t worry! You’ll grow out of it before you know,” he replied.
Lucas hated being so much smaller than
Lucy. He remembered the time he had to wear a baby’s suit and tie just to go to
a wedding.
“I can swim, I don’t need a life
jacket?” Lucas claimed.
“Of course, you do! It’s the law,”
replied John. “I am even going to wear one and I have been swimming for many
years.”
Lucas looked around hoping no one would
notice him putting on the life vest.
“Dad, why would you need a life vest?”
Lucy interrupted. “Didn’t you out-swim the daughters of Nereus and Doris?” she
asked.
Tali quickly turned to look at John,
surprised at the stories that he had been telling.
“John Henry!” Tali teased. “What have you been teaching our kids?”
John simply scratched his head feeling
just as surprised as Tali.
“I don’t remember telling that story!”
he replied. “I bet it was Pecos.”
Lucas forgot all about his life vest.
“When do we get to see Pecos again?” he
asked.
“He will probably show up one of these
days.” John replied. “You never know with Pecos Bill.”
“Let’s get going to the river. The water
is perfect,” Lucy insisted.
As they walked towards the river, John
noticed Lucas started looking out into the trees, expecting to see something.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Do you think we will see Paul Bunyan
today?” Lucas whispered.
John noticed how worried Lucas felt and
stopped to take his tiny face into his hands.
“Paul Bunyan is the nicest giant you
will ever meet,” he explained. “He is my good friend and probably can’t wait to
meet you.”
Lucas still did not feel much better.
“I just want to be prepared so I don’t
get too scared,” he replied.
“That's perfectly normal, maybe later
you can come with me to find him,” John suggested.
Lucas felt even more nervous.
“Today?” Lucas asked.
“Yes, I need to go right after we finish
our trip down the river,” John explained.
Tali and Lucy were right behind them as
they set their boats in the ice-cold water.
Tali lifted Lucas up and gave him a big
hug.
“Ranger Pam says Paul Bunyan is excited
to meet you!” she explained.
“How does Ranger Pam know Paul
Bunyan?” Lucas asked.
“Rangers protect more than just National
Parks,” Tali explained. “Like your father, Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe are
National Treasures.”
Without a warning, Paul Jr. came running
up to the family as they were getting into the boats.
“Hey everybody,” he shouted. “How far down the river are you going?”
“Who are you?” Lucas interrupted.
Lucy blushed nervously.
“This is my friend Paul, the one who
helped me this morning with the bear cub,” she explained.
“Paul Jr.,” Paul Jr. explained.
Lucas couldn’t help himself.
“A boy who is a friend?” he began.
“Please stop!” Lucy interrupted.
Paul Jr. began to laugh.
“Have you gone down the river?” Lucas
asked Paul Jr.
“Not this week.,” Paul Jr. replied.
“Can he come with us?” asked Lucas.
“He can if his Mom doesn’t mind,” John
said optimistically.
Paul Jr. jumped into the boat next to
John.
“She won’t mind, this is going to be
amazing!” he said looking directly at John.
“I’m rafting with John Henry,” Paul Jr.
whispered to himself.
Lucas heard him perfectly.
“Lucy told Paul Jr. that dad is John
Henry,” Lucas complained.
“It was my dad,” Paul Jr.
interrupted. “My dad told me.”
John laughed.
“When did you see your dad?” John asked
him.
Lucas and Lucy were beginning to feel
left out.
“We just had lunch,” Paul Jr. replied.
John was relieved to have Paul Jr.
around, just in time to meet Paul Bunyan.
“Paul Bunyan is Paul Jr.’s dad,” John
explained.
Lucy slipped and fell off the edge of
the boat into the freezing water.
“What?” she asked sharply, trying to
stand back up.
Lucas started to laugh.
“Why are you so small?” Lucas teased.
“You were born small like me,” he said cheerfully.
Paul Jr. laughed, feeling a little
confused.
“Why were you born small?” he asked
Lucas.
“That is something we are still trying
to figure out,” Lucas replied.
“Don’t worry about your height, just
enjoy any normal time you have while you have it,” explained John.
Paul Jr. looked over at Lucas and looked
back at John with one of the happiest expressions he had made all day.
“I still can’t believe I am rafting with
the mighty John Henry,” he cheerfully whispered.
John laughed, while Lucas grabbed one of
his arms feeling proud to have him as his dad.
“I love you!” Lucas whispered to John.
“I love you too, son!” John Henry
replied.
Lucy felt confused and a little sad as
they all pushed off into the middle of the river. Sitting behind her mother, she helped paddle
the boat in a straight line.
The water was calm and it gave Lucy a
few minutes to ask Tali a few questions.
“Is Paul Jr. going to grow tall like his
father?” she asked.
Tali turned to wink at Lucy.
“Paul Jr. will be tall, but I think he
would be much taller by now if he was going to be two hundred feet tall,” she
explained.
Lucy quickly felt relieved.
“How tall do you expect?” she asked.
“His mother is a mystery and it has been
told that she can change her height to match the height of any giant,” Tali
explained.
“That’s cool,” Lucy replied.
In the other boat, the guys were
beginning to hit the faster current in the water.
Tali could hear John’s laughter all the
way across the river as the boys tried to keep the boat from running into the
bridge.
None of them noticed a very large person
looking down at them from a cliff right below Half Dome.