Adam Blake - 80. Chapter 80

I woke to the first alarm, I felt great. A glass of orange juice, a run with the boys teasing me. I felt I was off to a great day.

Walking into the office, I saw one of my boys leaving at a very face pace. “James, what was Gene doing here?”

“He asked when you were coming, I told him you should be here soon, when he saw you he took off.”

That was perplexing. I just sat down at my desk, when Gene came in with a cup of coffee, “Here’s your morning coffee, Dad.”

I looked at James, he looked perplexed as well. “Thank you, Gene” I pulled him into a hugged and kissed the top of his head. His face lit up in a big smile. I gave him another cuddle before he left.

James kept looking at me, “Alright, what happened?”

“I’m not sure. Unless Johnny said something because of the time he spent at the cabin.” I knew different. There are no secrets among these boys. I’m sure Gerry told them everything.

I called Dad and told him I would be home Thursday night with a guest. I had some banking business to do on Friday.

I looked over a few invoices as I drank my coffee. I saw a note from Seth wanting to give me a demonstration of the joust. I opted for some games for the students, like three-legged races.

“James, we need to award the boys for participation in the fair. I was thinking of a badge, highlighting the fair. Maybe the Name and the date, then we could paste stars on their badge for first place, and everyone would get a star for participation.”

“You would need to make sure that everyone had an equal chance to win a star.”

“Let’s pull together some games, like a three-legged race. I’m sure there are others. When does Seth want to show us the joust?”

“Since you are going home this weekend, maybe next Monday.”

“Yes, that’ll do. I need to do a quick tour and see what I missed while I was gone.”

I headed to the Dining Hall and saw part of a sign further down the hall. Walking towards the sign, I started to laugh. There hung outside on the wall just beyond the doorway was a sign, Castle Keep with three lions. Able did a perfect job.

I walked into the Dining Hall and saw all of my Knights sitting at the table enjoying their breakfast. At one of the tables, Angelo was sitting with some staff and Able. I walked over to them, “Able, I saw the sign, you did an excellent job. Angelo, I expect some canvases from this young man. We need to showcase his talent.”

He smiled, Angelo leaned over and said something, he looked at me and smiled again.

I looked around the table as I ate. There isn’t a boy here I wouldn’t be proud to call my son. “Dad, have you heard of FaceTime ?”

“No, George, tell us what you know?”

“It’s a new computer program that allows face-to-face contact. It would be like the other person is sitting across from you.”

“I remember a program that we used at the University for presentation. But it was shown on a screen, like a movie screen. It was mostly one-sided and the professor at the school could pose questions. It was a marvel to us then. There was even talk about small systems you could wear on your wrist and talk face to face.”

“If you have time, I’d like to show you.”

“Yes, George, maybe after supper”

It was set, I was going to get an introduction to FaceTime.

We finished breakfast and I headed to the gym. I saw the door open to the custodian’s quarters, I yelled hello and kept going. I was really surprised when I walked into the gym. Lights have been replaced, the floor was polished and there was water in the pool. I saw Coach coming out of the locker room. “I say, you have been busy.”

“The boys did most of this. They wanted to swim, I asked them to wait until you got back.”

“Before they go swimming, I think we need a swim coach and some way of determining their skill level. I certainly don’t want anyone hurt.”

I left him after a small discussion concerning games on the other court. Then I remember Henry was supposed to be here last weekend.

“James before you ask, I have no idea what is going on. Did Dr. Henry Stevens call or show up last weekend.”

“No Dad, he didn’t show up. He may have tried to call but I didn’t get to answer.”

“Don’t be a smarty, I don’t know what’s going on.”

“You called them sons”

“I have always called them sons only it was generally on a one on one basis. I thought I would play along with the father thing.”

I called Henry, “Good morning, I hope I didn’t interrupt your breakfast. I called to see if we could schedule another time to come north.”

“Yes, it was sad” I forgot that Henry had connections. “Yes, I stayed with him until all of the business was concluded. I felt sorry for him and all of my boys. It isn’t a normal childhood… Yes, I understand that but your heart goes out to them. So are you coming?” That would be fantastic, it would handle the coaching spot but what about computer technology?” Ok, send me the information. Thanks, Henry, we should get together sometime … I’ll need help staffing my college.”

We chatted for a few minutes, catching up on some common friends.

I looked at James and he still wasn’t buying it. There was nothing I could do, secrets must be kept. I started to open the correspondence from the families of the boys.

I looked at the first letter I opened, instead of one line of salutation, There was a second line, Royal Guardian. I must have stared at that too long, James came and looked over my shoulder.

“Royal Guardian, what is that all about?”

I got up and closed my door. “James, what I’m about to tell you is top secret, you must never and I do mean never mention what I’m going to tell you.”

“Doc, I’m privilege to a lot of information, what you tell me won’t leave this room.”

“I’m sure you know that the boys here are not what they seem to be. Gerry’s father was dying, that is why I made arrangements to fly him home. As it turned out he did see his father before he died, his father made me Gerry’s guardian until he is 21. When Gerry becomes 21 he will assume his father's position. Until that time, Gerry has given me the right to make decisions that affect his country. I’m sure that’s the source of the dad or father comments. These boys know each other on a level outside of school. They have trust in each other and are developing very close friendships that will do this world good and make us proud. Now, do you understand?”

He sat down in the chair. He looked at me for a long time, “Events around you don’t just happen, do they? Someone is causing them to happen. This school needed you, that is why you are here. That is why you were successful in cleaning up the mess. I want to stay close to you because whatever it is, I’d like some of it to rub off on me.”

“Nothing magic, just do what’s right.”