Adam Blake - 141. Chapter 141

Our cabin family has grown, James, Annie, and little Annie are frequent visitors now, our chefs and their families, and now staff from the College and Academy are coming. I had Dad hire the local people to build lodges on the property I’m buying. It seems soon I’ll own the whole mountain.\

I always knew that the friendships among the boys would last a lifetime. I didn’t think I’d also have friends due to my time at Knights Academy and now Kings College. These friendships have been a blessing. They had supported me, given me a boost when I needed it, and have come forth with ideas that continue to impress our benefactors, our students, and our facilities and staff.

As we were sitting on the porch with our coffees, “I don’t think Little Adam is going to be a football player.”

“Why do you say that?”

“He’s too little, and I don’t think he has the build as Buster, for example.”

“He still can play. Not all of the football players are built like the Tank.”

“The Tank, who is that, and where did you get that name?”

“Look at them playing. Who is the Tank, Buster plows right through.”

At the time, I thought I had nailed it, but it was a nickname and would never come true. I was wrong, and when he was playing in high school, he was called Tank. He carried that name through his college days and when he was playing pro-ball.

Upon returning to school, I met with the architects and decided to build wings on the college. Plans were drawn and presented to the Board. My English colleague approved the idea, “When you are in England, Adam, you will notice a lot of the large estates and schools have these ‘wings’ on them.”

“Adam, you’ll have to expand the dorms.”

“We can duplicate what we have now, only we don’t need a rec room under them. May have to enlarge the Dungeon.”

'Here, here, here.' “Thanks, gentlemen. Does that mean we should check out the Dungeon?” We adjourned the meeting, and the Board went to the Dungeon, except Richard and I. We went to the Lion’s Head pub at the Academy. This gave Richard a chance to be with his son.

I see Richard a lot outside of the schools. When I attend one of the King’s graduates as they come into their own, they have a ceremony or some festivity, and I am invited. So far, I have been to several governmental appointments, a few royal appointments, and several family receptions. I think what surprised me the most, a lot of the same people attended these affairs. One could come away with the belief that these families, in cooperation, controlled the fate of several countries, financially and politically. I knew about the back door, and now I saw it. Given these revelations, the development of friendship among the boys became critical to the continuance of these people. It wouldn’t surprise me that the school wasn’t designed for educational purposes but for the development of close, cooperative friendships.

I had a new understanding, why they didn’t care what had happened before I got there. Money never was the object. The object was to develop friends to carry on what their parents were doing.

With this knowledge, I now understood why the parents approved whole heartily of the Knights. It was another way of uniting the boys.

I was wondering how Gerry was going to fit into all of this when he plopped down in my lap. “Father, are you here or there.”

“I’m here, always for you.” He just snuggled into my chest. “Are you happy?”

“Yes, I still think about my dad and how proud he would be of us. He always said that no matter what happened, he would see that I had everything I would need. I didn’t pay that much attention to what he said; I figured he meant monetary needs until he was in the hospital. I was so afraid of losing him, and then you stepped into the picture. Do you think that was on purpose like something caused you to step up, as they say?”

“I don’t know. All I knew at the time, one of my boys was having a problem that I needed to address. I was angry, a little.”

“Do you believe things happen for a reason?”

“Sometimes, but I think situations are presented to us and how we address those situations is critical. Suppose the old regime was still in charge. How do you think they would have responded? It was fortunate they were gone. Was that a divine plan? I don’t know; I react to what is presented before me. I react based on my beliefs and personal experiences. I think you’ll do the same. Gerry, it was unfortunate your father died. I would’ve liked to have met him. But for me, I got to know him through his son. He had to be a kind and benevolent person to have a son like you.”

When I looked at Gerry, he had tears in his eyes. I put my arm around him and pulled him closer. This young man is going to need big shoulders for what he’ll be carrying in three years. For now, he’s my adopted son and needs to have fun and grow.

“What is this?”

“Marie, everyone needs a little time to sit on my lap. I’ll let you know when it’s your time.”

I got bopped on the head for that. Little Marie came and climbed up on Gerry’s lap. She kissed him on his cheek. He smiled, wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her into a hug. Gerry was her older brother. He would protect her. How children know these things is a mystery to me. She does the same with Thomas, Morgan, Pierre, and Amir. Of course, Little Adam had to get on Gerry’s lap as well. Now I was getting overloaded. I think Gerry realized that “Let’s go and see if we can feed the rabbits.”

That was it. All three went and got carrots. I think Mom buys them for the kids explicitly to let them feed the rabbits. They were off, and so were a few of the other boys. Marie and Adam got a horsey back ride to the field. Feeding the rabbits was hard for young kids. They had to sit still, and how many kids can sit still?

They were back in 30 minutes, “We didn’t see any rabbits, Father, so we left the carrots and came home.”

“That’s okay, Marie. They will find them when they get hungry.” Later Gerry told me they couldn’t sit still, The rabbits were in the bushes, and as soon as they were ready to come out, one of the kids would say something or turn.