Amanda in Alberta: The Writing on the Stone (7 page)

“Did you girls have a good time?” asked Amanda's mom.

“It was rad! I took heaps of photos to show my mates back home.”

“We saw a bone that Aunt Mary found.”

Mrs. Ross pulled out of the parking lot. “She was very excited when she discovered that bone. She's been involved in the museum since the beginning. By the way, I checked with her earlier and she is feeling much better. Would you like to stop at the gift shop before we head out to the Hoodoos?”

Leah looked up from her camera. “The what doos?”

“The Hoodoos,” Amanda replied. “You'll love them. Just wait and see. More photo ops for you.”

Once again they parked under the tail of the huge dinosaur at the Visitor Information Centre and gift shop. Inside the girls had fun choosing souvenirs. Amanda decided on a stuffed toy dinosaur. Leah bought a Triceratops golf club cover for her dad and a dinosaur head on a stick. By pulling on a string, the dinosaur's mouth opened, displaying its sharp teeth.

“My dinosaur can bite your dinosaur.” Leah opened the mouth and placed it around the stuffy's leg.

“Ouch, that hurt. Stop biting me.” Amanda pulled her dinosaur away.

“Please, don't break the toys until I've paid for them.” Mrs. Ross took the items and waited in line at the till.

The girls looked through a rack of books and magazines at the back of the store.

“Do ya think you might learn something?” asked a familiar voice behind them.

Amanda's muscles tensed. She exhaled and turned around. “What…are…you…doing…here… Hank?”

“Looking for a stone that I know you have. I saw you show it to the guy at the museum.” Hank smirked and held out his hand. “Give it to me and I'll leave you alone.”

“It's just a stone. Why do you want it so bad?” asked Amanda.

“I need it and you don't, that's why. Gimme it!” Hank lunged toward Amanda.

Leah stepped forward and kicked him hard in the shin.

“Ow!” Hank doubled over, holding his leg.

Leah grabbed Amanda's hand. They ran through a nearby service door down a hallway and into a dark entrance where a group of children waited in line.

“OK, the next group can enter,” announced a young woman wearing a T-shirt with
Drumheller Tourism
on it.

Amanda and Leah followed; looking back to be sure Hank hadn't followed them.

“We don't have tickets,” whispered Leah.

“Shh. Maybe they'll think we're with this group.”

“Your camp leader already gave me your tickets so go right into the dinosaur. There are 106 stairs to the viewing platform, so watch your step. Remember, only twelve people in the mouth at one time.”

Amanda smiled at the young woman as they marched by.

While they ascended the giant T-Rex, they observed interesting mural paintings, fossil displays and an explanation of the construction. They read that The World's Largest Dinosaur is actually four and a half times the size of a real Tyrannosaurus Rex, weighs 145,000 pounds, stands 86 feet tall and is 151 feet long.

Amanda read from a story board. “It says here that this is actually a female T-Rex, and she is made almost entirely out of steel. I always think of dinosaurs as being male.”

“Of course there were female dinosaurs, silly. How else would there be babies?”

They entered a spooky, dark area. “It feels like we have been swallowed by the T-Rex.” Leah trembled as they walked past white skeleton bones painted on the inside walls.

Soon they emerged onto the viewing platform inside the gigantic mouth. Looking through the beast's enormous teeth, they could see the Red Deer River wind for miles through the magnificent badlands.

“This is quite amazing, Amanda.” Leah brought out her camera and took pictures from every angle.

“There's Hank.” Amanda pointed down to the parking lot. “Looks like he's lost something.”

“Or someone.” Leah laughed. “I bet he wonders where we disappeared to.”

“Mom will be wondering too. We'd better get back down.”

“Where did you go?” Mrs. Ross frowned when she saw the girls. “I paid for the items and you had disappeared. I thought you wanted to go inside the dinosaur?”

“That's OK, Mom. We don't feel like it anymore. We want to get to the Hoodoos. Right, Leah?” Amanda headed for the car.

* * *

A short drive through the badlands brought them to an area that looked like another planet with supernatural rock formations emerging from the ground.

Leah sucked in a quick breath as she stared at rocks shaped like giant mushrooms. “Are those the Hoodoos?”

“Pretty cool, eh?” replied Amanda. “You better hope your camera still has battery power.”

Mrs. Ross's cell phone rang just as she parked the car beside a HandiBus. “I'm sorry, girls, but I have to take this call. It's important. Have a look around, but stay on the pathways. There are some good lookout spots to take pictures from.”

The hot sun blazed in the clear blue sky as Amanda and Leah followed the walkway past cream coloured columns layered in various shades of brown, grey and rust. Flat stones, balanced precariously on top of the pillars, looked like they might fall off at any minute. Some stood alone while others were grouped together like a family of Hoodoos. No two were alike. At the top of a lookout, Leah held her camera in front of her and Amanda. She took a selfie of them in front of a huge Hoodoo framed by badlands.

“Why are they called Hoodoos?” asked Leah.

“We learned in school that the name ‘Hoodoo' comes from the word ‘voodoo' and was given to these formations by the Europeans. We also learned that according to the Blackfoot and Cree traditions, the Hoodoos are believed to be petrified giants who come alive at night to hurl rocks at intruders.”

“Well, they are kind of scary and I wouldn't want to be here alone at night.” Leah grimaced.

“Look, people are climbing the rocks behind the Hoodoos.” Amanda pointed. “That looks like fun.”

“Your mom said to stay on the walkways.”

“I know the signs say we can't climb on the Hoodoos, but it doesn't say we can't climb on the badlands. It must be all right if other people are climbing over there. Let's check it out.”

They left the walkway and Amanda led the way up the side of the badlands. She turned around and said, “Leah, hurry, it's a great view from up here. You can get some super pictures of all the Hoodoos.”

“I'm coming.” Leah was out of breath when she reached the top. “I should have brought my water with me. Blimey, it sure is hot.”

She fumbled as she pulled out her camera from her pocket. It slipped out of her hand. The girls watched in horror as the camera tumbled down the rocky incline and behind a Hoodoo.

“Oh, no! My camera!” Leah scrambled after it.

Amanda followed her, slipping in her haste and scraping her hands as she tried to break the fall. She winced and brushed her hands on her jeans to get rid of the dirt and stones. When she finally caught up to Leah behind a large Hoodoo, she discovered her friend was not alone.

Hank stood grinning with the camera in his hand.

“Looking for this?”

“Give…her…the…camera.” Amanda glared at Hank.

“Sure thing, as soon as you give me the stone.” Hank squinted. “I figure that's a fair trade.”

“That's not your camera to trade with.”

“Finders, keepers.” Hank dangled the camera by the cord. “I could always drop it and step on it by accident.”

Boots crunched on the rocks behind them.

“Are you threatening these two young women?”

Amanda turned around and detected a pair of dark blue trousers with a gold stripe down each side. She looked up and recognized the grey, short sleeved shirt, dark blue tie and policeman's hat of an RCMP officer.

Hank took a step backwards and muttered, “I found this here camera and…and was wondering if it belonged to one of them.” His beet red face didn't help to make him sound very convincing.

“That's not what it sounded like.” The officer held out his hand.

Hank gingerly placed the camera in the outstretched hand.

“Aren't you Hank McGavity? I heard you were gone from these parts.”

Hank backed up further. “I was just about to leave, sir.”

The RCMP officer glanced at the girls. “Was he bothering you?”

Amanda thought about the stone in her pocket, which may or may not be a precious artifact. Not wanting to get into any trouble with the police, she replied, “No. I think he was just teasing us.”

Leah just stood there with her eyes wide open, staring at the young officer.

“You best be on your way then, Mr. McGavity. Keep your nose clean. I'll be keeping an eye on you.”

Hank pulled his hat down low and turned around. Taking very large steps, he sprinted toward the parking lot.

The officer shook his head and turned to the girls. “I'm Constable Rob Turner of the Drumheller RCMP. Are you enjoying your visit to the Hoodoos?”

“Oh, yes,” they said in unison.

“Is this your first time to see these crazy rocks?”

“I've been here before but it's the first time for my friend, Leah. She's visiting from England.”

Leah grinned from ear to ear. “Are you really a…a Mountie? I thought you would look different though.”

“I guess you expected the Red Serge and flat-brimmed Stetson. We only wear those for ceremonies, in parades and in the Musical Ride. Oh, and when we have our pictures taken for postcards.” The young officer winked causing Leah to turn a scarlet red. “You be careful now. These badlands are not always safe. You should stay on the pathways. By the way, we're on the look out for some artifact thieves. If you see or hear anything out of the ordinary, let me know.”

Amanda swallowed. She thought about the stone in her pocket and looked down at her feet. She hoped he couldn't read her mind.

“We'll let you know if we see anything suspicious.”

The officer handed Amanda a business card, touched the rim of his hat and strode away.

Once he was out of earshot, Leah turned to Amanda. “Blimey, are they all that cute?”

“Oh, for heaven's sake. He's over twenty years old. Way too old for us.”

“True, but he's very dreamy. I sure would love to see him in his dress uniform.”

“He's just a Mountie. They're everywhere.”

Leah smiled. “Well, you sure went gaga over the Bobbie in London, didn't you?”

Amanda's ears turned red. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Amanda! Leah! Over here.” Someone waved at them from a group on a nearby lookout.

“It's Sharon and the kids from the hospital!” Amanda waved back.

Amanda and Leah found a path that led to the walkway and soon joined the other kids.

Sharon smiled and said, “This is fun isn't it? It's so great that the walkways and lookouts are wheelchair accessible, so we can all come up here to view the Hoodoos.”

A nurse handed out drink boxes. She asked Amanda and Leah if they were thirsty.

“Thanks, I'm parched,” said Leah as she accepted the apple juice.

“Be sure to put your empties in this recycle bin,” said the nurse. “We don't want to litter this special place. We don't know how much longer it will be here.”

Amanda reached for a juice box.

“Oh, my. What have you done to your hand? It's bleeding.” The nurse examined her outstretched hand.

“I fell and scraped it on the rocks. It'll be OK.”

“We had better clean it up for you.” The nurse opened up a first aid kit and swabbed the cuts with disinfectant. Then she wrapped Amanda's hand with a gauze band-aid.

“You look like you've been in a fight with that plaster on your hand,” said Leah.

“What's a plaster?” asked Sharon.

“I think that's what they call a band-aid in England,” replied Amanda.

The nurse took some group shots of the patients including Amanda and Leah before the children had to leave.

“It was so great seeing you guys here,” said Sharon before she climbed into the bus. “You should come to my brother's lacrosse game on Saturday, in Medicine Hat. It's a fundraiser for the hospital. If you've never seen a lacrosse game, Leah, you would really enjoy it.”

“That sounds like fun. I'll ask my parents if we can go,” said Amanda.

They waved as the bus pulled out of the parking lot revealing the Ross's SUV. Mrs. Ross rolled down the window. “Sorry, that call took longer than I thought it would. Did you enjoy the Hoodoos? Oh no! What did you do to your hand, Amanda? Honestly, I can't leave you alone for five minutes without you hurting yourself.”

“It's nothing. I just fell on some stones and scraped it. A nurse cleaned it and wrapped it up like this. It looks worse than it is.” Amanda held up her hand.

“There's blood on your jeans as well. We'd better get you home before anything else happens. Besides I have some more work to do in Calgary.” She shook her head and started the car.

Once back home, Leah said to Amanda, “Your mom seemed annoyed. Maybe we shouldn't ask her to drive us places anymore.”

“She gets like that sometimes. She works too hard and gets stressed. Mom needs to take a break once in awhile.” Amanda placed the stone back on the bookshelf.

“And something else, why did you let Hank get off scot free? You should have told the Mountie that he was threatening us. That would've put an end to it.”

“I know. It was just that I was scared Hank would tell him about the stone in my pocket and say I stole it or took it illegally from the badlands.”

Leah sighed. “I do wish you would just get rid of it. It seems to be more trouble than it's worth.”

The next morning Don Ross entered the kitchen whistling. He spotted the girls eating cold cereal and asked, “How do you like those, who-do-you-think-you-are, Hoodoos?”

“They are totally brilliant,” replied Leah.

“Oh, Dad, you think you're so funny, but you're so lame.” Amanda punched her dad on the shoulder.

“Watch who you're calling lame.” Amanda's dad pretended to punch her back.

“How did those rocks get like that, I wonder?” asked Leah.

“The Hoodoos were formed by the erosion from the water, wind and frost,” said Amanda's dad while he poured himself a mug of coffee. “And you'll only find them in areas that have hot, dry summers and cold winters like here in southern Alberta.”

“I see,” said Leah as she took another mouthful of cereal.

“Or,” added Mr. Ross. “The ancestors of the First Nations believed the Great Spirit turned evil giants into stone to stop them from bothering the people.”

Leah shrugged. “That's an interesting story, but highly unlikely. Your first explanation makes more sense.” Her face lit up. “By the way, we met a real Mountie when we were there.”

Amanda kicked Leah under the table.

Leah gulped. “He was very nice and polite. He just wanted to know if we were enjoying the Hoodoos.”

Amanda quickly changed the subject. “Why are you home, Dad, and in such a good mood?”

“It's the first day of our holidays, sweetie. I'm letting your mom sleep in. She had one of her headaches last night.”

“So what are we doing today?”

“When Mom gets up, we'll drive down to Medicine Hat. The family reunion is tomorrow. We want to get settled into the hotel and have an early start to the pancake breakfast the next morning. Wait until you meet all of Amanda's crazy relatives, Leah.”

“You mean there are more of them?”

“Oh yes, lots more,” said Mr. Ross as he filled a bowl with cereal.

“Will Aunt Mary be there?” asked Amanda.

“Yes, she'll be coming with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Marjorie and the kids.”

Amanda smiled, happy about the chance to finally show Aunt Mary the stone.

* * *

That afternoon they loaded the car and headed down the Trans Canada Highway.

“This road is so straight,” remarked Leah. “I can see forever.”

The Ross family and their guest drove past flat, sage-green fields where delicate antelopes grazed. At times, little light-brown gophers scampered across the road, dodging traffic. Prickly tumbleweeds clung to barbed wire fences on either side of the highway. Occasionally, they drove past a herd of cows munching on grass and swishing their tails to keep the flies off their backs. The girls kept occupied by playing
I Spy
in the back seat.

Three hours later, after driving for what seemed like forever, they came over a hill and descended into a lush oasis. Spread out below them, a peaceful river flowed through the middle of a pretty city, surrounded by green trees and tidy brick houses.

A sign built of bricks read:

WELCOME TO MEDICINE HAT

“Finally, some trees and water,” remarked Leah. She pointed in the distance. “And what's that?”

High on a hill, a huge red, white and blue structure overlooked the city.

“That's the World's Largest Tepee,” said Amanda's dad. “It's in the Guinness Book of World Records.”

“Can we stop and look at it up close, Dad?”

“I've driven by it so many times and have never stopped to look at it closely. Today is the day we are going to change that.” Mr. Ross took the turnoff.

The tepee looked much larger when they got up close. Nothing covered the tall white poles that met at the top. A third way down, a red border with a zigzag design connected the poles. A blue border, with the same zigzag design, appeared two thirds of the way down. Under that were ten round storyboards facing inwards.

The girls walked inside the open tepee and looked up at the glaring sun.

“Wow, this is tall. How tall do you think this is?” asked Amanda.

“It says here that it is as tall as a twenty story building.” Amanda's mom read from a brochure she picked up at the entrance. “The colours of the poles and designs mean something; white for purity, red for the rising and setting of the sun and blue for the flowing river.”

The girls studied the hand-painted storyboards depicting native culture and history. Under each was a description. Leah read one that explained how Medicine Hat got its name.

“Sweet, so that explains it. It has to do with an eagle feather headdress with magical powers, found around here.”

“There are a number of legends that tell the story of how this city got its name. They all have something to do with a Medicine Man's headdress, or hat,” explained Mr. Ross.

All of a sudden Leah screamed. “S-something just ran across my feet. I think it ran down that hole.” She pointed with a shaky finger.

“Nothing to worry about. It's just a gopher,” said Amanda. “They're kind of cute. Look, there he is!”

A tiny, furry head popped up from a hole in the tall grass.

Leah relaxed. “He
is
awfully cute. It just startled me, that's all.”

They were about to leave the area when Amanda spotted a sign on a notice board. “This is the lacrosse game Sharon told us about. It's later today. Can we go, Dad?”

“Sure, we have lots of free time. Let's check into the hotel first.”

“I hope it's all right with you guys, but I think I'll just relax in the hot tub and maybe go to the spa,” said Amanda's mom.

“That's a good idea, Evelyn. You stay at the hotel and relax; I'll take the girls to the game. It's been a long time since I've been to one. I used to play lacrosse in high school.”

“I didn't know that, Dad.”

* * *

Later, at the entrance to the arena, Amanda spotted Dan jump out of a van. He leaned inside and pulled out a long stick with a net shaped like a bicycle seat on the end. It looked like something to scoop small fish out of the water or pick apples off a tree.

“Hey, Dan,” she called. “We've come to watch you play.”

Dan grinned and walked over to them.

“Thanks for coming. Sharon said she saw you in Drumheller. This game is to raise money to send some of the sick children from the hospital to camp, you know.” A sad look crossed Dan's face. “Some of those kids aren't going to get better.”

Amanda didn't know what to say. She wanted to ask him what was wrong with Sharon but felt awkward. It didn't seem like the right time or place. She looked at her dad.

“Oh, Dan. You haven't met my dad. Dad, this is Dan.”

Mr. Ross put out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Dan. I played lacrosse when I was your age. I'm looking forward to the game.”

Dan shook the outstretched hand. “What position did you play?”

“I played big stick, and you?”

“The same, defender.”

“I look forward to seeing you play. Look girls, I'll go get the tickets and meet you back here.”

“What is lacrosse anyway, is it like hockey?” asked Leah.

“Well sort of, it's really a combination of hockey, basketball and soccer. Our ancestors played it hundreds of years ago. They called it
baggataway
. The Europeans came and added a bunch of rules to make it more
civilized
.” Dan chuckled.

“Why is it called lacrosse?” asked Amanda.

“When the French missionaries first saw the game, they thought the stick with the oval net on top looked like the staff carried by the Catholic bishops. The staff was called, ‘
la crosse
' in French. The name stuck. It's an exciting game with lots of fast action. Keep your eye on the ball. You'll enjoy it. By the way, Sharon said a guy with red hair ran out from behind a Hoodoo yesterday, just before you guys came around the same rock. Hank isn't still bothering you, is he?”

“Oh, it was nothing.” Amanda looked away.

Dan put down his lacrosse stick. He placed both hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Amanda, promise me you will stay away from him. He's big trouble. I'm serious.”

“Dan, hurry up!” called one of his teammates.

“Time to go and get suited up.” Dan picked up his lacrosse stick. “Enjoy the game.”