The Peter Charles - 53. Chapter 53

Christmas was very much family time and that, we’d celebrate at home. On the twenty-sixth we flew to Peru and began an extraordinary adventure touring the ruins of the Inca Indians. The boys were getting deep into the culture of these people. I don’t think there was a book printed that the boys didn’t buy. I noticed David was very interested in the culture and the construction of their temples. I’d find him looking at something, deep in thought.

“Dad, why did they believe in human sacrifice?”

“It’s thought that they believed that the person who was sacrificed would carry a message to their god.”

“Do you believe that people from outer space came here?”

“That’s a good question. Look at this carving, what do you think? People see this as a man in a space suit. And there are those pictures taken from the sky, they say they are runways, like for an aircraft. I don’t know if a being from outer space came here or not. There are a lot of mysteries here that haven’t been solved.”

“This book said that the civilization here was about the same time as Egypt. It says that the same aliens that helped Egyptians build the pyramids are the ones that helped these people build these temples that look like pyramids.”

“David, there are a lot of mysteries around these people. The descendants of those peoples are living here today, they dress pretty much the same, raise the same crops and even speak the old language. Living here in these mountains has kept them isolated enough that they have maintained their old ways. I find it fascinating that there’s enough remnants of the old ways still around that gives you an idea of how it was thousands of years ago.”

David smiled, he was a deep thinker. On the way home, David was still back in the mountains.

The boys said they had a fantastic time. Our resident artists had drawings that I knew would turn into paintings. Each time we visited the boys, they’d show us what they were working on. Between school work and hobbies, they didn’t have much time.

“Glen, have you been at the Gallery recently?”

“No, do you want to stop at lunch time?”

“Yes, let’s do that and we can check on the boys while we’re there.”

The Gallery was well organized, Tony did a good job. As we walked through, we talked about the times when we saw this or that. But the best were the paintings of The Peter Charles. This was turning into a walk through our past with the boys. I was surprised that Tony would ask questions about this painting or that painting. He showed us a new area that he was just about to open to the public. There we saw the boys’ paintings of all of us, Glen and I, individually and together, portraits of the boys, Mom and Dad and a few of Shawn with his pipes. This was family as the boys saw it. “We have to bring the boys to see this.”

Scott and Travis were in class so we didn’t get to see them. We thanked Tony for showing us the new section and went back to work.

On the way home, “Did you see the price tag on some of those paintings?”

“Yes, do you think they actually sell?”

“I don’t know, I can check their accounts and see. I think they should raise the price after all they are our boys and they are good.”

“Do I see a little fatherly pride showing?”

“Yes”

That Saturday we loaded the boys in the van and took them to see Scott and Travis. We used that as an excuse to show them the Gallery. When we walked into the family section, that’s what I called it, the boys laughed. They talked about the paintings and thought Glen and I should buy them for the house. I thought maybe that isn’t a bad idea.

We walked up to Scott and Travis’s apartment, I say we but one little guy rode up on someone’s shoulders. “Scott, Travis, we just came to get you for lunch. We saw the family section in the Gallery, very nice. The boys want to take them to the house. I’d take that as a compliment.”

“Dad, there’ s a new Chinese restaurant that just opened. The kids at school say it’s very good.”

“Good, let’s go there.”

Walking in, everything looked so new and had that new smell, freshly painted walls, table and chairs looked like they just came out of the factory. Crisp, colorful table clothes and a smiling hostess to show us to our table. I noticed Scott looking out of the large plate glass window that overlooked a very colorful garden.

“That garden is very pretty. Are the Chinese people very artistic?”

“From what I have seen they have an ability for colors.”

“I’d like to paint that. Do you have your camera with you?”

“No, but there is one in the van. I’ll get it.”

“Thanks Pop”

Glen came back with the camera. Scott asked if he could take a picture. The hostess smiled and opened a side door for him. We watched him, he must have taken a dozen pictures from all angles.

“How many pictures did you take?”

“I don’t know exactly, a lot. I think I’ll do a series of flowers for the Gallery. Trav, you can do that as well.”

Lunch was great, the food wasn’t unusual for a Chinese restaurant but here it seemed fresher or maybe it was having the family together, it just tasted better. We were drinking a cup of tea, the table was cleared, when a man approached us. He was the owner, I think when he saw the amount of money we spent and the size of our crowd, he definitely wanted to make an appearance.

“I hope everything was good”

“Yes, it was very good.”

“My daughter said you were taking pictures of my gardens, may I ask why?”

“I’m a student at the University majoring in art. I find your garden very attractive and want to paint it for my room.”

“You’re a painter. Yes, a painting of my garden would allow my flowers to live for a long time. When your painting is finished, I’d like to see it.”

Finishing eating, we left. Scott and Travis had smiles, they had a new project.

Scott showed us his room. Just like home, he had canvases all over the place. Some of the paintings were half finish and some were just being started.

“Scott, I thought once you started a painting you’d finish it before starting a new painting.”

“Normally I do, when I get started on one at school, I bring it home to finish. Most of these I started in art class. We don’t have time to finish them there and I don’t like to leave them in case they get destroyed or ruined. Each one represents a different technique of painting. Travis and I just finished portraits of each other for the Gallery.”

“Are you going to have enough room in the Gallery when you finish all of these paintings?”

“Yes, Tony can rearrange them.”

I was interested in how Jim was doing, he was the only one I knew that was going out beyond the old limits.

On Tuesday I went to his house to check on him and Uncle. I wanted to make sure they were comfortable and didn’t need anything. When I arrived at Jim’s place, Uncle and him were having a beer, a real beer and not my root beer.

“Hi Jim, Uncle, so the Captain’s Table has moved from the Wharf to here”

“Not quite, but the company is more enjoyable here.”

“I came to see if everything is okay and whether you needed anything more.”

“No, everything is fine.”

“Have you heard anything from Gus?”

“No, nothing, I expected a card or something at Christmas but nothing.”

“I thought I should have offered him one of these homes.”

“No, he wouldn’t have taken it. If you haven’t notice you’re not one of his favorite people.”

“I never knew why he didn’t like me. I certainly didn’t treat him any different then I did the rest of your table.”

“I think that’s Gus, he either liked you or hated you, nothing in between.”

“I just hope he’s okay. Jim, have you started fishing?”

“Not yet, next week maybe if I get my boat back.”

“Why don’t you have Tony put fiberglass on it? It’s easy and quick to do and it’ll give your wood surfaces good protection. Besides with fibre glass you can fish further out. Give him a call and see what he’d charge you to do it.”

“I could ask and if it’s too much we can continue to fish where we have been fishing.”

I stayed until one of the kids came and got me. He said Glen was looking for me.