Adam Blake - 124. Chapter 124

As the boys came down, I told them what we were going to do. Caleb and Gaston froze what they could, left some food for Evelyn, Abe and Jer were coming with me. They packed the rest to return to the school. While the boys were gathering up their backpacks, rolling up the sleeping bags, and boarding the bus. Caleb had a glass of orange juice for them. I told Evelyn I was taking the boys to the school for testing. I assured her they would be ok.

Everything packed, we headed home via a detour. I don’t know what the diner was thinking as we pulled into the parking lot. I told the guys to gas up the buses and then come to join us. I was surprised they were able to handle us without a problem. I told the waitress, to take their orders and give me the check or checks. I was lucky, Gerry was on one side and Morgan was on the other side. “Father, may we order anything on this menu?”

“Son, some of these items are not good for us. Tell me what you would like and I’ll tell you if it’s healthy." They had buckwheat pancakes, the boys wanted to know what they were, Caleb told them they are good so they decided to order them with a side dish of fresh fruit. When the waitress came over, I told her I’ll have a cup of coffee, the boys will have hot chocolate, and a glass of orange juice all around.

I think all of the waitresses working that morning helped to bring our drinks. They split up to take our orders, it was simple, buckwheat cakes with a side of fresh fruit. “All of you want the same thing.”

They all nodded their heads, “How many are you?”

“There are 113 boys here” She looked, I watched as she placed the order, I saw the chef grab it and then hooked it up, he stopped and went back to look at the order. He called the waitress over, he said something, she headed over toward us. “I’ll bet they have only one cook.”

“Sir, it’s going to take a long time, we have only one cook.”

“I can help you, I have two of the school’s chefs with us. They can help and I bet they can get that order out in 30 minutes.”

She looked like I was crazy, I saw her talk to the chef. “Caleb, you and Gaston go and show him how it’s done.”

They walked up to the cook, showed their certifications as chefs, of course, it was in French. The cook, bowed them past. I started to count the time. I saw the fruit cups come up on the window. The waitresses quickly loaded them on a tray and headed over to our tables. “How much time Father?”

“My guess is in 10 minutes you’ll have a stack of buckwheat cakes.”

Gerry took my arm and watched the hands move, he mumbled, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and a plate of buckwheat cakes were sat before him and the other boys. The waitress came with a refill for my coffee, asked the boys if they wanted coffee, they politely said no. “Where are you from?”

Johnny fielded that question, “We are students at the Knights Academy.”

“Is that a military school?”

The boys laughed, “No, it’s a private school north of here.”

She just walked away. The boys hadn’t finished eating, I asked for the check. “Father, we aren’t finished eating.”

“By the time that check comes, you will be.”

One of the other patrons asked her about the boys. We heard her say, “Some private school up north.”

“Well behaved kids, don’t see much of that anymore. Only one teacher, I guess that’s their buses out there.”

The waitress looked, “I didn’t see them pull in.”

When she finally added up the bill, I went to pay. “I have a debit card, is that a problem?”

“No sir”

“I looked at the tab, added a very nice tip, at least I thought it was very nice. Evidently so did she when she took my card to swipe it in the reader. “Thank you.”

The boys lined up as they boarded the bus. We were watched, I saw the customer who pointed out the buses and the waitress that was talking to him. One last check, “Everyone has everything?”

I got my rah, rah, rah. We pulled out and headed north. I knew we’d need to make another food stop.

About halfway to the school, we made a pit stop at a rest area. Caleb and Gaston fixed sandwiches and had cartons of chocolate milk. As the boys boarded the buses, they were handed a sandwich and a carton of milk. It was enough to last until we got to the school and then they would have a bigger meal than normal for supper.

Arriving at school on a Sunday instead of Monday morning, caused a little concern among the staff. Hans helped Anton to the infirmary, along with a few of the boys. I gave a short tour of the first floor to Abe and Jer. I needed to assign them a dorm to stay in while they are here. At supper, I asked Johnny to find an empty dorm for Abe and Jer, In the morning I’ll talk to the staff and set them up in the testing room with Jane. I still needed to think about Anton.

Monday morning came and it was a little chilly, fall was here. Warm afternoons and cold evenings. The guys met at the track, warm-ups, and then we began our run. I didn’t want the boys to do cool-down exercises outside, so when it came time I told them to follow me. I took them to the gym and jumped into the pool. The water was warm, cool-down exercises were fun.

Walking into the Dining Hall for breakfast, James stopped me and handed me a pile of letters. I looked through them carefully, the ones I wanted to open right after breakfast, I told James to put them on my desk. He’ll keep the rest until I ask for them.

Johnny took Abe and Jer in hand, led them to the breakfast bar, explained the rules, and then helped them fill their tray. It was nice to see Annie joining us, James was all smiles.