Adam Blake - 142. Chapter 142

I took a walk to check on the lodges that were being built. Four had already been finished and furnished with a living room, a small kitchenette, and two bedrooms, each with a bathroom. Mom and Jen were in their glory furnishing these lodges and stocking them with linens. James was the first to occupy one, and he said they were very comfortable. Six more were under construction.

I had one concern, hunters. The land was posted, and I had a barb wire fence around all of my property, but that wouldn’t stop a hunter. It was more or less an acknowledgment of private land.

I did find out when Abe’s school was putting on their play. I loaded up the busses and, with the copter, made sure Evelyn, Mom, Dad, Jen, and Bill went. The children rode the bus with my boys.

As I suspected, it was a musical, and Abe did have an excellent voice. I wish I had 1 percent of his talent. I laughed whenever I sang, and Mom handed me a bucket for the tune I couldn’t carry.

After the play, we all congratulated Abe. “Abe, I had no idea that you could sing. I have a deal for you. I’ll sponsor a recording for you, and we shall see how it goes. I’ll send it to the radio stations and see what their people think. If it is positive, as soon as you graduate from college, I’ll see that you have a singing contract.”

He smiled and hugged me. Then he introduced us to his female counterpart. By the looks in their eyes, I knew a love bug had bitten both of them. I smiled and congratulated her on the performance as well.

Abe said they’d have to do another performance since they sold out for this performance, and more people wanted to see the play. I knew why it sold out as I watched the busses being loaded with the boys and the copter landing to take mom, dad, Jen, Bill, and Evelyn, who was all smiles, back to the cabin. Jer kept saying, that’s my brother.

I learned one thing from Abe and Jer, brothers that grow up under stressful conditions tend to have stronger bonds than brothers who did not need to stick together to survive. Their dad wasn’t the best of fathers, and because of that, the boys had to stick together to protect their mother.

Back at school, the boys wanted to form a choral group. I thought that was a good idea, so I spoke to the music department about getting a voice coach. They found a woman whose career changed due to an illness that prevented her from singing. She sang opera, and her voice no longer had the range, but she knew her singers. Over the next several weeks, she tested all of the boys and selected a choir of 43 boys from Kings College and Knights Academy.

Routine is the boredom of the active, and I found that to be true. The first five years, I spent a lot of time instituting changes, and now I see everything running smoothly. I’m bored.

“Adam, the architect is here with the final drawings. They look good.”

“Hi Henry, what do you have?”

“I copied the wing patterns from the University where we copied the extensions for the staff and students. Now with this enlargement, I’m suspecting we’ll need to enlarge these areas as well. So I’m suggesting an extension of the staff quarters and a new extension for students. Look, this is the extension for staff. We’ll use the existing staff building as the back wall. We will have to close off these windows, but we can place more windows in the front.”

“I’d like to run that through my staff. I don’t like to keep them in the dark, and they may have more comments based on their living in the extensions. I know from my experience, it’d be nice to have a sitting room for guests, at least for me. I like the idea you have presented. I’ll need the Board’s approval. We meet in two weeks, can you make it?”

“Yes, by then, I’ll try and get some feedback from your College staff.”

“Let’s get a cup of coffee.”

I found the easiest way to terminate a discussion or presentation is to get a cup of coffee.

“James, what did you think of his proposal?”

“I like it. Maybe we should think of putting a wing on this building.”

“Maybe we just need to enlarge the staff wing.” He laughed as he left my office. For families staying here who have children, one bedroom isn’t enough. They will need at least two bedrooms.

I was walking toward the Knights Academy when I spotted that old barn on the east side of the lot. I had a weird idea, but first, I needed to know who owned the property behind the barn.

“James, ask Annie to come and see me, please.”

Now I know I piqued his interest. “Hi Annie, in your old job at the county, who owns the property to the east of us. The one with that old barn on?”

“I don’t remember, but I can look it up. I know that the county-owned a lot of land when farmers either died or couldn’t pay their taxes. The property was to have been put out for bid, but I’m not sure.”

“I would appreciate you doing that, and let me know as soon as you can.”

Now I knew James would be in to see me before the day ended.