Adam Blake - 118. Chapter 118

I was ready to get up in the morning, I took a glass of orange juice and headed out for my run. I had finished one lap when the runners came, Johnny caught up to me. “How’s the leg muscles?”

“They were a little sore yesterday the coach suggested to go and sit in the pool, I didn’t realize the pool was heated.”

“Neither did I”

“Billy is going to try out for the Olympics, we’d like to go and cheer him on.”

“Is that a hint?”

“He said you promised to be his coach”

“That’s true, as soon as I know the date we’ll see .”

“I know the date.”

“You do? Tell James and I’ll see what we can do.”

“I was doing my cool down when the coach approached me, “Adam, the boys want to go and see Billy try out for the Olympics. can we do it?”

“I’ll do my best coach”

I called Bill, Jen answered, “Hello Gram, how is the little devil?”

“Oh, Adam he’s so precious. You won’t recognize him when you see him. He has filled out and Scotty is teaching him football with a nerf ball. Bill’s not here, he’s in New York.”

“I called to see how Bobby was doing but also when are Billy’s Olympic trials ?”

“Let me check, I know he has it marked on the calendar. He’s showing three days, the week of March 11 through 14.”

“Thanks, if you could remind him, I should know before my students.”

The morning started with the mail being dropped on my desk. I need to teach James how to sort mail. I separated the letters into students' families, requests for start-up dates for King’s College, I put them into a special pile because only the students here know about the name.

I began getting calls from people who Charles had frozen their accounts. The first was a belligerent man who said I had no right to freeze his accounts. I asked for his name saying I’m sure there must be a mistake. He gave it to me, I notified the IRS that this man had an account that included money not earned and suspected of being illegally attained. I even got James into the act. There was so much graft going on that I was on a first-name basis with the IRS agent.

Now I just needed to hear from the trustee’s solicitor.

Later that evening, the Ambassador land on my doorstep. He walked into my office and just smiled. “You did it didn’t you?”

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about?”

“One of your trustees, I think he was the one who quote, ‘It'll be a nice to have a little part of England in the States.”

“Yes, I remember him, a quiet man, I liked him best of them all. I may ask him to assume a position on my Board of Directors. I have been asked by the gentleman, who will remain anonymous, to head up the Board of Directors of Kings’ College and the Knight’s Academy. You know I have already begun my recruiting and have hired 6 so far from Europe.”

“Some of the brightest I’m told.”

“I’m not sure about being the brightest but they all have read my book, and were very vocal, in a good way, had a lot of questions. I got to know them very well.”

“You stirred a hornet’s nest”.

“Probably, but sometimes you have to do that to destroy the nest.”

“What if they refuse your demands?”

“You’re aware they have hired a solicitor who claims I’m wrong and they’ll go to court. I told him to read the agreement and the responsibilities they all agreed to when they were appointed trustees. He’s to call me back when he’s finished.”

“You’ll be getting a letter soon, the solicitor has read their agreement and has informed them to pack their bags. They will offer their resignation if you don’t pursue the case”

“I’ll accept that. My point was made.”

Gerry came in and felt my chest, “Very warm Father.” I smiled and kissed him on his head.

“He calls you father now.”

“Yes, we had a chat, some of the boys want to call me dad, I told Gerry that that would be ok but they need to remember I’m not their father. He asked about kids without a father, I said that would be ok and there would be a special place in my heart for them.”

“What is your enrollment?”\

“Including the college students, 110”

“How are the dorms coming?”

“Take a walk with me, James tell Lawrence to meet us at his college dorm.”

“How are the school’s dorms coming along?”

“They will be ready for the coming term. With those dorms, we can enroll a maximum of 300 boys. But I don’t expect it to get that high.”

“What is this building?”

“Staff accommodations, there’s Lawrence. Lawrence the Ambassador would like to see a college dorm, may we see yours and Michaels.”

“Yes, just give me a minute to let Michael know.”

“How many students can you house there?”

“I think a maximum of 300”

“That isn’t a large number, how will you support it?”

“The same way we support the school, tuition, and investments.”

“Investments, I didn’t know you had investments?”

“I took the money that we were able to recover, and had my investment advisor invested in bonds at a fixed percentage and some high-tech companies.”

“How much is the investment portfolio?”

“I can’t tell you that unless you agree to be on the Board of Directors.”

“This is blackmail” “Yes, it is”

“There’s Lawrence, let’s go and check it out.”

Lawrence opened the door, I saw a pair of boxers under one of the chairs. I stood in front of the chair as Lawrence showed him the bedroom, the bathroom, and the door to the closet. “Are all of the rooms like this?”

“Yes, thank you, Lawrence. Ambassador we can look at the staff rooms, There are a few finished on the upper floor.”

“These are very comfortable. I suppose you expect some married instructors?”

“Yes, since I’ll be hiring mostly instructors with doctorate degrees they tend to be older and married. The new staff dorms at the academy will permit married couples also.”

“How much of the college is completed?”

“The outside but the inside will take time. It’ll be ready for next fall. It’s a little early for supper but we can go and have a coffee.”

“Walking into the Dining Hall, all of the students were sitting at the table. “Hungry are we?”

“Sir, Caleb asked us to come early. He wants us to do a taste test.”

“I wonder what is up his sleeve?”

We all sat down when Caleb came out with a cart followed by one of the cooks. “Hello sir, I didn’t expect you. I’ve asked the boys to help select some of Joe’s herbs. This a simple broth made with three different herbs. I need your reaction.” He ladles a little of the broth into small cups.

“I watched the boys as they took a spoonful. “This is quite good.”

“It has the taste of basil and cilantro. Caleb, what does Joe call this herb?”

“He calls it basantro, it is a hybrid of basil and cilantro. Did you like it?”

“Yes, and now I look forward to tasting his other blended herbs.”

“This Joe, he grows these herbs?”

“Yes, Joe likes to create new herbs, here comes Caleb, let’s see what this one is.”

Again Caleb added a little to each cup. I watched the boys, they tasted, they smiled. “What do you think? This is a little spicy but there is a smoothness to it, it isn’t biting or sharp. I’ll bet there is a pepper plant involved.”

“Joe calls this Colpep, it is a hybrid of a chili pepper and mint.”

Caleb went back and came out with another pot of broth. “This one contains a hybrid that has no name.”

As the cups were set before us, you could smell the herb before tasting. One sip and I was hooked, it appeared to leave a trace of several different herbs on your palate. I couldn’t identify any of the herbs.

“Caleb, does Joe have a name for this herb?”

“No, I suggested he call it Joe’s herb. But he didn’t want to do it.”

“Caleb, can you get me a sample of this herb?”

“Sir, Joe only gave me a little for the test taste. You might ask him.”

“That’s a good idea, Ambassador it is about time for you to meet our Joe.” Leaving the school we walked in the opposite direction we normally took.

“I don’t think I have ever seen this side of the property.”

“Probably not, our property line ends where that old barn sits. The barn is empty and needs to be removed. But this ground is very rich in nutrients. Probably from it being a pasture before the school bought the current property. There’s Joe.”

“Hello Joe, I brought an admirer”

Joe looked up and then stood up rather quickly. “Hello Sir, I’m sorry but I have been tending my herbs and I’m quite dirty.”

“Son, with the herbs I tasted today, you don’t have to apologize for being dirty. I don’t know a gardener alive that didn’t have dirty hands and those that did have clean hands, weren’t gardeners.”

“Joe, why don’t you explain your garden.”

Joe’s face lit up, “Yes sir, these herbs are very succulent, their leaves are full of flavor. I’m treating the soil.”

“Joe explain how you keep the herbs from freezing in the cold months.”

“Well sir, I place this area under plastic.”

“Joe builds a frame and then covers it in plastic, right?”

“Yes sir”

“How do you keep it warm inside, plastic doesn’t keep out the cold?”

“No sir but I tie bottles of water around the top. The sun warms the water which provides enough heat at night to offset the cold.”

“Thank you, Joe, the Ambassador wants to see the Joe Plant.”

He looked confused. “Show us your greenhouse.”

Joe smiled as we followed him to the greenhouse, which was quite far from the herb garden. “Joe, what do you do here?”

“Some of the herbs are too delicate to be grown outside. I grow them here.”

“That isn’t all you do here.”

“No sir, Charlie calls this my laboratory. I try to grow new breeds of herbs.”

“Can you show us the herbs we taste-tested today?”

“Yes, sir, this plant is the cross between basil and cilantro. This plant is a cross between the red pepper plant and mint, and this plant is a mixture of three herbs.”

“The Ambassador would like to have the leaves from that plant to take home.”

“The leaves are not good now, I gave Caleb the last of the good leaves. I noticed the leaves developed a bitter taste and as you can see, the plant is ready to flower. When the seeds develop I can send you some with instructions on how to grow this plant.”

“Thank you, Joe, I’ll be back at least once a month, so I’ll be able to check and maybe take some with me.”

I smiled at Joe, “Thanks for the tour, Joe.” I pulled him into a hug, “I’m proud of you.”

“Where did Joe come from?”

“He’s the son of one of the cooks. We hired three boys to help clean the kitchen and keeping it clean. Caleb wanted to be a chef, and he is now the Chef of the Academy. Able is now the artist, he sold a picture at an art exhibit for 25 thousand dollars. And Joe grew up on a farm as the youngest son of three. He liked farming and you see the results.”

“Are these boys the recipients of the scholarship fund?”

“Yes, Caleb spends his summer in France along with Marcel working in French kitchens. Able as you know is in the art program and Joe is in a special program. We do not teach horticulture here but I’ve put together some basic course for him including a course on Botany.”

“Computers?”

“Yes, marvelous invention when controlled.”

“Yes also good for broadcasting news”

“Dad, I saw you at the tasting, and then you were gone.”

“I watched as Richard hugged his dad. “I wasn’t going to leave without seeing you. I’m staying here tonight. So we can spend more time together.”

Richard was all smiles, “Richard, your dad hasn’t seen the buses.”

“Come on Dad, they are so cool.”

I watched them walk off, the Ambassador had his arm around his son’s shoulder. They were talking a mile a minute.