Howdy Doody

The Geppetto Project

Chapters 22-24

Chapter Twenty Three

Jeannie Becomes A Lady

It was probably close to 2:00 or so and Adam, Sammy, Joey and Trevor were sound asleep. There was a barn owl somewhere hooting to its mate and other than that a faint whistling of the wind through the tall pine trees that surrounded the Cabin as the rest of the children slept peacefully on. "I GOT BLOOD!" a voice called out to Adam's brain as he tried to figure out who the fuck he was. Opening his eyes, Adam was staring into two small nostril's that were about an inch [2½ cm] away from his face. Backing the nose away, Adam sat up and recognized the face and shape of 11 year old Jeannie, one of his campers.

"Blood?" Adam asked the girl in a fog.

"Look Uncle Adam!" The girl said as she brought her outstretched palm towards Adam's face. Adam saw something that looked wet and dark, but with no light, nothing red. Turning on the lamp next to the bed, he turned back to the girl as Sammy, Joey and Trevor were now fully awake and sitting up.

"Yup, that's blood allright." Trevor remarked as he looked at Jeannie's hand. Adam confirmed the diagnosis as his own blood pressure now started to rise.

"How did you cut yourself?" Adam now asked as he tossed the covers off and lifted the telephone receiver.

"I didn't cut myself Uncle Adam, it's comin from my pussy. Look!" she told the man as she opened her legs. Adam replaced the receiver and now wished it was cocktail time.

"You're having a period? Jeannie, you're only 11 years old," Adam said as he stood up and picked the girl up "So what, I'm almost 12 and Carla's already got her periods and she's my age too!" Jeannie chirped. Adam looked at the girl who looked like she just ate a canary.

"OK fine, but first we make sure that's exactly what this is," Adam told the girl.

"Sammy, call Aunt Helen and tell her to come over here," Adam told the boy as Adam stood the girl on the lid of the toilet.

"Why we callin Aunt Helen?" Jeannie asked.

"Chiefly sweetheart because she's a woman and she will know what she's looking at. I know what a little girl looks like, but I'm not too up on the inner workings of little girls," Adam replied. As Adam got a washcloth and soaked it in warm water, he cleaned off Jeannie who appeared to be menstruating, but what the fuck did he know.

"I'm not trying to embarrass you or stick my nose in your business, but this didn't happen because you were fooling around did it?" Adam asked the girl.

"You mean fucking?" the girl asked. Adam shook his head at his ignorance.

"Or anything!" he asked.

"No Uncle Adam, I was asleep and thought I pee'd.

" she replied innocently.

The slamming of the front screen door told Adam that Helen was now there. Since she lived with the Director of the school, Bert was also there.

"Jeannie gots her period!" Matty now explained to Helen as a growing number of boys now began assembling. Ruffling the boys hair Helen smiled.

"We'll see," she told the boy. Picking up the girl, Helen now retreated back to the bedroom and laid the girl down.

"Are we going to sell tickets, or do you want this to be a private showing?" Helen asked Jeannie. The little girl giggled as she opened her legs.

"They all seen my pussy before Aunt Helen," she told the woman.

"I'm sure." Helen replied.

"You still have your hymen and it appears to be menstrual fluid. If that's what it is, we don't have to call Doctor Thomas. But if somethings been put into your vagina, we need to know about it right now and check it out," she told the girl.

"Do we need to call Uncle Thomas?" Helen asked the girl.

"We don't stick stuff up our pussy's anymore Aunt Helen, we was little girls when we did that." Jeannie told the counselor.

"Fine" Helen said as she kissed the little girl on the check and hugged her.

"Congratulations, you're a woman!" she told the girl.

It took close to an hour before Adam could get the girl settled down again, and with a panty liner from Carla's stash stuck on her underpants and a fistful in her hand, Jeannie finally fell back to sleep next to Adam. The man knew he himself had to get back to sleep quickly, the new lady in town was going to be up at the crack of dawn announcing the news to the world. But for now, she slept like an angelic baby with a small smile on her lips.

As Adam had expected, at about 6:15 Jeannie put two hands out in front of her as she connected with the front screen door and sent it flying open as it slammed against the side of the Cabin. Her best friend Carla had wrangled a sleepover at Bert's Cabin, and Jeannie was on her way in a dead run to tell her the good news.

There were now a hundred girls at Green Tree that came from their old school in Montana that had shut down. Like their new campus, the school was called Pine Ridge.

As Pine Ridge girls, the coming of age process was most probably exactly as it is in most american homes; something that happened, and only mommy and daughter even discussed it openly, and even then, not so much. It was something never mentioned, and certainly something never actually seen by a male of any age. Most husbands have never seen it, and maybe that's a good thing!

At Green Tree, that period of time is known as B.C. No, not Before Christ; Before Carla. Since arriving at Green Tree14 months earlier, several girls achieved menstruation and it was business as usual. Then, it was Carla's turn during the past winter, and the secret closet door was blown open forevermore. While the older girls were at first horrified and humiliated by the 11 year olds blatant flaunting of her "Condition" Carla was a whirling dervish who reminded most staff of a mental picture of Snoopy in celebration. While most of the girls wanted to quietly take care of business, Carla wanted to lead the Parade down Main St.

More than anything else, it was not counseling or reasoning that saw an attitude change in the other girls, it was the presents that Carla had received from just about every staff member. Seeing her open acceptance of what all little girls go through sooner or later, Bert decided to acknowledge her coming of age with gifts. The older girls had already kissed their parties goodbye, but the eight to 13 year olds took notice. The presents were small and not overly expensive; cosmetics, hair ribbons, clothing, jewelry, personal hygiene stuff and just basically stuff a little girl would like, or would soon begin to like. With close to 200 staff, the mountain was fairly high.

Two girls, a 12 year old and a 13 year old began puberty since Carla, and as was now the policy at Green Tree, the "Coming Out" event could either be public or private at the girls request. Both girls opted to leave B.C. behind them. Some Senior girls now had another gripe; they were "Gypped." they concluded.

Jeannie entered Bert's Cabin as quietly as she exited Beachview. With the screen door slamming behind her she spotted Bert in his office doing some paperwork. The man had returned to the Cabin sometime close to 3:00 with Helen and unable to get back to sleep, he was now on his 4th cup of coffee.

"Hi Uncle Bert, where's Carla?" the girl asked.

"Upstairs in the bedroom on the left, but don't wake up Christopher," the man replied as the girl disappeared through the door.

"Hey Carla!" Jeannie called out from the bottom of the stairs as she climbed up them two by two. Bert shook his head as he heard the faint voice of Christopher "I-ee?" he said as he started climbing out of bed from in between two Senior girls.

Jeannie and Carla had both reached the Pine Ridge school in Montana almost simultaneously when the were both six years old. From the very beginning, they had clung to each other for security and friendship, and earlier in the year, when Carla reached puberty, Jeannie was feeling a strong sense of being "Left behind" by her friend. Maybe not in their friendship, but most certainly in the physical sense. Jeannie said nothing to anyone, but she felt there was a divide occurring between her and Carla and even thinking about it could produce some fairly serious waterworks for no outward reason. Now, as she pulled down her shorts and showed her friend her panty liner, two very large pools of water sat on the brim of her eyelids as they spilled out.

"Why are ya crying? Periods don't hurt that much!" Carla asked her friend.

"I ain't crying because it hurt's, I'm crying because now I'm just like you again." Jeannie told her friend. Carla furled her eyebrows a little not really understanding her friend.

"You wus always like me silly," she told the girl. Jeannie shook her head.

"Good morning girls, or is it still night time?" Helen asked as she came into the bedroom. Sitting on the bed she looked to Jeannie.

"What's the matter sweetheart?" she asked as she pulled the girl to her.

"She say's she's crying because now she's like me. But she's always been like me right Aunt Helen?" Carla asked. Helen had been with both girls for very close to five years before they moved into Adam's cabin and she knew each one like the back of her hand. Carla was always the leader, Jeannie was the follower and she followed Carla around like a puppy. The woman pulled Jeannie into her and hugged her tightly.

"The two of you are like two pea's in a pod. I wouldn't be surprised if you were sister's," she said to Jeannie.

Bert heard the thumping coming down the stairs from the upstairs bedroom and knew instantly his paperwork was at an end. Closing the files, he moved them into a pile as Christopher walked into the office with a strangle hold on his penis. Bert figured he might have three to five seconds to find a receptacle or be sponging up the rug really soon. Scooping the boy up, he whisked him onto the porch because it was not only closer to the bathroom, but it wasn't rugged. Flipping him around and holding Christopher by the chest with one hand, Bert took the boys penis and aimed it out into safe territory.

"OK Christopher go pee pee," he told the boy. The greater majority of the flow made it through the screen and out onto the ground, but Bert was quite aware that some splashback was occurring as he tried to figure out the proper distance from screen to penis to avoid the bath his legs and feet were now enduring. Christopher had a pretty good sized well and just before finishing, Uncle Dave went by the cabin in his cart waving and ringing the chimes on his cart. With Christopher waving back with both hands and Bert trying to avoid the last drop of dribble's from splashing on his feet, Bert figured he was going to be hearing about this little scene from his Maintenance Chief.

It was now barely 6:30, but Christopher's day had now begun anew as Bert turned him back around and carried the boy back inside with Christopher now ready to re-fill the well.

"Rink" Christopher said to Bert as the boy held the man's face in his hands probably trying to make sure he had the man's full attention.

"Do you want milk, juice, or water?" Bert asked the boy.

"Ju" Christopher replied readily.

"Juice it is my little friend," he said as Christopher kissed the man for the first of probably fifty times that day.

Going into the kitchen, Bert took out a container of orange and pineapple juice. Putting both on the counter, he put Christopher down and reached up for some glasses as the container of pineapple juice reached the floor.

"I-ee, I-ee." Christopher said as he put both hands to his mouth and covered his lower face with his fingers.

"Yeah, I guess you did good buddy. Go get Uncle Bert the mop," Bert said very calmly and non-threatening. Bert shook his head; he didn't give a flying fuck about the spill, but the look on the boys face said very clearly that Christopher had been beaten for a lot less at some point in his past.

"We've been Christopher'd?" Helen said as she walked into the kitchen as Bert mopped up the last of the juice. Bert smiled a bit at the term.

"Being Christopher'd" at Green Tree now meant you were somehow involved in an accident that involved the boy. Usually, you got the short end of the stick.

"Just an accident, right little buddy?" Bert said as he looked to Christopher who was now downing his third cup of orange juice.

"Hey" Christopher agreed once he burped.

"Christopher, the girls are upstairs doing tubby time." Helen now advised the boy.

"I-ee?" he asked.

"Yes." Helen replied. With an orange juice laden kiss to Helen and then Bert, Christopher sprinted out the door and was climbing the stairs on all fours. Helen smiled as she watched the boy climb.

"He's gaining weight. He's got a bigger ass than Carla," she told the Director.

"He's always had a bigger ass than Carla," Bert replied as he poured two cups of coffee. Helen smiled, but she had come downstairs for some more serious talk.

"Did anybody report Jeannie feeling a little insecure lately?" she asked.

"Not to me, Insecure about what?" Bert asked as he walked into his office.

"She was just upstairs crying. Apparently, Carla's reaching puberty ahead of her effected her pretty negatively." Helen replied. Bert thought about it for a few seconds and took out Jeannie's file notes. Going back five months, the man reviewed the notes concerning the girl from his staff.

"There's nothing in here about any problems or changes," Bert told the woman as he made some new notes.

"What should anybody have been looking for?" Bert asked.

"Apparently not much if Adam didn't pick up on a mood change or changes in her routine. Little girls can get pretty secretive about their inner feelings when they want to be ," she told Bert.

"Tell me about it; big girls too!" Bert replied.

"Just for that smart ass, scrub your own back!" Helen said. Bert smiled, but also knew he wouldn't have to do that.

"So do we need to follow up with her?" Bert now asked. Helen shook her head.

"Now that she's on the same playing field with Carla, it's most probably resolved itself, but staff need to know the problem was there, and might easily come back with other girls who are as tightly knit as those two are." Helen suggested.

"I'll bring it up today at the staff meetings," Bert replied.

"So here I am working my fingers to the bone putting in toilets for people to use, and we water the flowers instead?" Dave asked Bert during breakfast. As the girls giggled and Christopher was on his 4th piece of French toast, Bert shrugged his shoulders.

"When duty calls, we respond. Especially when it comes to Christopher," Bert replied as he continued eating. Hearing his name Christopher looked up.

"Me?" he asked.

Dave now smiled, but also made a big mistake.

"That was you making sure the garden didn't get too dry this morning wasn't it?" he asked the boy. Christopher smiled and immediately stood up on the bench reaching out to Dave. Like it or not, Dave was about to receive a maple syrup kiss from Christopher who usually kissed everybody who spoke to him. Bert smiled as Helen passed the man a napkin.

"Serve's you right for humiliating the child in front of all his friends."

Breakfast was routine that morning in Green Tree except for one staff announcement from Bert. As is the custom, Bert stood up by the table and folded his arms which signaled the need for quiet. Once the noise level had gone down considerably, Bert picked up Jeannie and stood her on the table next to him.

"As some of you already know, we have a new young lady at Green Tree who came into being last night. The mafia is now 24 boys, and two young ladies. Jeannie is a size 10 girls, and likes Barbie Dolls and Skittles," Bert announced as Jeannie beamed and turned just slightly pink. Jeannie's first day as a woman was largely spent at Pine Ridge explaining to the younger girls what they would be experiencing at some point down the road. Carla was at her side and all was well in the world of Jeannie once again.

It doesn't take much to break the routine at Green Tree, and Jeannie's coming of age was hardly trivial, especially to the girl herself. With the schools open acknowledgment of the event, it is celebrated as would a person's Birthday if that's what the girl wanted. In Jeannie's case, the bigger, the better! As is always the case, the choice of Dinner was hers and she opted for Southern Fried Chicken and Wets. For those not familiar, wets are French fries covered in gravy. It is one of Green Trees favorite dishes. As Dave did earlier in the morning, Chef John now made a mistake that would come back to haunt him, he decided that the meal would be served to the entire school. Future little girls would request the same treatment, and he was now trapped.

With summer now in full swing, the pace of Camp quickened. While the mornings were officially geared towards academics, most of the learning was accomplished outside using the facilities whenever possible. Science was geared towards the environment and agriculture with the children being taught outside much more than sitting in a classroom where the attention span wasn't all that long. Adam spent a good deal of time laying out baseball fields to teach trigonometry, or at the supply house to teach basic math and purchasing. English was probably the least favored by the students, they loved to slaughter the language and they used the Kings English quite freely as did the staff around them. As their English teacher commented on more than a few occasions, if they decided to move to Brooklyn, they would have fit right in. From a teaching standpoint, Adam considered Sid to be the best teacher in Green Tree. Sid taught history. Maybe it was the subject, and maybe it was the man, but the student's soaked up history from Sid like a sponge.

If there was a chink in Sid's halo, it was probably his deeply liberal attitude. Sid hated all things conservative, all things republican and all things born again. If you asked the children, they'd tell you Custer was a nutjob, MacArthur was an egomaniac, McCarthy was a drunk, tricky dickie was a crook, and Ronny was a moron who needed his wife to talk for him. Unless you were foolish, you never asked the boys what they thought about George.

On the other hand, ask them the name of Robert E. Lee's horse and you found out it was named "Traveler". Ask them who Lord Nelson was and they could write you a book. Ask them who Magellen was and they'd draw you a map of his route. Most children in america will tell you Robert E Lee rode a Ford, Lord Nelson was in Star Wars, and Magellen was a desert. (Sid's opinion). Sid's opinions weren't all that different from most staff at Green Tree, he's just a little more passionate about them.

Afternoons were spent in recreation and the camp was in full swing. Swimming, Horses, Boats, Go-Carts and water skiing took the brunt of the campers attention, but there were also other activities depending upon age, that were rarely shut down for lack of attendance. The school had already put on two Productions, Peter Pan and Oliver along with Christmas plays, and now after about five months of preparation, the children were about to put on a Production of "Oklahoma!". Kids won't normally forego riding a horse or going out on water ski's to practice singing and learning lines, but Green Tree had a secret weapon, and his name was Spencer. Spencer's voice could stop a baby from crying and maybe even melt Dick Cheney's heart. (Sorry, Sid wanted that in).

Spencer had been singing now for almost two years since his voice was discovered by the Music Director, Kevin, and everybody knew that in all probability, this would be his last appearance as 1st Soprano. He still held the high notes, but it was just a matter of time. For that very reason, Kevin chose to put on Oklahoma rather than a musical that would require Spencer's singing lead.

Spencer was quite aware of what was looming, and the cracking of his voice as far as he was concerned was going to be something of a relief. Once he lost it, he could go back to concentrate on important stuff like baseball, horseback riding, and all the sports he excelled in. He knew he had a nice voice, he knew those around him regarded it as beautiful, but Spencer would rather play baseball thank you.

Kevin on the other hand was practically depressed. Spencer had a voice range that came along in one in 5,000 boys. He could hold a High C for 30 seconds without the color in his face changing. As his music coach, Kevin was dreading each practice session for months knowing it just might be the last.

Spencer's part in the Production of Oklahoma would not be the lead, he would be playing the part of one of the cowboys. That made Spencer happy, because he'd get to ride in on a horse most of the time, and his singing would consist of singing with the other cowboys, not as a soloist.

Like most of his sessions during the past few months Spencer would practice the songs he'd sing in Oklahoma, then practice songs written for Soprano's while Kevin recorded the sessions for posterity. As he always did, Spencer warmed up his voice by going through the scales as Kevin set up the tape recorder.

On the same day Jeannie became a Lady, Spencer's voice cracked on High C. Spencer had a game that night and was happy to get out of practice early. Kevin cried as he gathered all the tapes that had been made of Spencer's voice and keeps them in a special box to keep them safe.

Except possibly for the stables, the lake was the most likely place to find the Intermediates during the summer and now that they lived on the lower campus, that was where the greater majority of them were, either swimming, boating, water skiing, fishing or playing on the high trapeze that was a leftover from Peter Pan. Dan oversaw the lake as well as both pools as the schools Water Front Director and Water Safety Instructor, and with a staff of two dozen Life Guards and Senior boys, he took his job quite seriously.

Out of close to 600 people, five did not swim. four of the five were adults who would probably never allow themselves to be taught, the 6th was Christopher who didn't understand you can't breath water and expect to stay alive. This was a concept Christopher really didn't understand, especially since both Sidney and Joshua played under the water, and they were just babies of 9 and 10 months old. They first began swimming at three months, and Christopher watched intently as both babies swam underwater like little fishes. He figured if they could breath underwater, so could he. After trying every teaching method in the book, Dan told Bert the best solution was to fabricate a special collar for the boy that would not allow him to dunk his head under the water without extreme effort.

The concept to Bert was sound, his only problem with it was Christopher's morbid fear of restraint's. Would he consider the collar to be some kind of ligature? Bert knew he had to be very careful; if the collar was rejected, the boys water time would have to be severely scrutinized. Tossing the problem out to his staff earlier in the year, Sid came up with the solution. That afternoon, a dozen staff went into the pool with a child's life ring around their necks and swam around as Christopher came into the pool. Dan caught the boy in mid air as Christopher jumped into the pool and put him back down on the ground.

"Want to go swimming Christopher?" Dan asked the boy. With a very large dimpled smile, Christopher clasped his hands together as he always did when he was excited and said "Hey" to Dan.

"OK. But first, we have to put this on you. See how everybody out there has one of these on? If you want to swim, let's put this on first. OK?" Dan asked. The smile left Christopher's face as he looked at the collar. Pointing to the water, he said "I-ee?"

"Yes, you can go swimming in the pool but look at Uncle Bert, and uncle Sid, and Aunt Helen. What do they have on?" Dan asked the boy. Christopher looked at the adults and then pointed to the collar.

"That's right, they have one of these on. If you want to swim, you need to put one on too," Dan coaxed the boy who still wasn't smiling.

It took probably another 15 minutes of coaxing, but eventually Christopher allowed the vest to be placed on him. The top of the vest had a collar that prevented him from lowering his face in the water, but gave him full mobility otherwise. Christopher still does not swim, but Dan thinks he will one day. In the meantime, wearing the vest is now routine for him. He most probably doesn't have a bathing suit on, but he has a collar.

Now standing out on the boat dock next to the swimming crib, Dan surveyed the scene as he kept watch on the entire lake. Sailboats, row boats and canoes were scattered across the lake, some with campers fishing in them and some half sunk with kids using them as diving platforms. Dan had a safety crew on the lake of Senior boys who ran jet ski's, and this was one of the most coveted jobs a Senior boy could have. As Bert pulled up in his cart, Dan took a quick peek towards the ski jump hoping nobody was using it for the time being.

"Afternoon boss. You out slumming it?" Dan asked the Director as Bert walked down the dock.

"Yeah, I figure a little fresh air won't hurt me too much," Bert replied as he drew next to Dan.

"Things quiet?" Bert asked. Dan looked out.

"No surprises. The cove has a small army in it and Ritchie caught a three pound [1.3 kg] Bass. Other than that, fairly normal," Bert nodded his head as he dug into his pocket. Handing Dan a picture, Bert looked through a pair of binoculars he had around his neck.

"How many boards you see in the front of that ramp?" Bert asked as looked at the ski jump. Dan smiled and was glad Bert seemed to be in a good mood.

"4 I think," he said without looking.

"These optical allusions are really something. I could swear I see five boards on the front of that jump!"

Bert said.

"What do you suppose does that? Water refraction maybe?" Dan smiled only slightly.

"It's a minor re-calibration of the jump Bert," Dan lied. Bert nodded his head.

"If one of my boys breaks his neck on that minor calibration, that puppies going to make a nice bon-fire and I'm going to be doing a minor calibration dance on your head," Bert said calmly. Dan now held his forehead in his hand and smiled a little deeper.

"I'll slow them down," Dan told his Director.

"Good fucking choice!" Bert replied as he lowered his glasses.

"So, the cove is jumping you say?" Bert asked as he now look towards the far end of the lake that held the three Cabins containing the mafia.

"It always was a pretty favored spot on the lake, but since the mafia was moved into it, they've pretty much taken it over," Dan told the Director.

"Did you get the chance to see Jeannie's face this morning?" Dan now asked.

"She was beaming from ear to ear as if she hit the lottery," he said. Now it was Bert's time to smile.

"The girls have come a long way since they first arrived. A year ago, I would have had 100 girls throwing their plate's at me and hiding under their beds for a week if I made that announcement in public. None of them would have ever spoken to me again," he told Dan. Now both men chuckled.

"This Saturday we have the play in the evening. What's your activity schedule like?" Bert asked.

"From what I understand, the girls are putting on a dressage exhibition in the morning. The boys wanted to spend the afternoon on the lake, so I planned a water carnival," Dan replied. Bert nodded his head.

"For the entire camp?" he asked.

"Sid's got two trail rides scheduled and Kevin's got final practice for the play, but basically yes. We might have some of the Camp Kenny little one's opting for the pool, but I suspect the lake will be the primary attraction," Dan replied.

"And you're fine with staffing?" Bert asked.

Dan nodded.

"I've got four lifeguard's on the pool and all the rest of my staff on the lake. Any staff joining their kids at the lake will be On Watch, so I'm well covered," he told his boss.

"Good, let's keep it safe!" Bert replied as he took his leave.

Bert's mind was always on safety, however, Christopher's mind was never geared towards that goal. He does not know fear, and he does not know danger. Helen has four girls who live with Bert and the counselor and Christopher is double-teamed, even when he sleeps. In the beginning when Christopher first arrived at Green Tree almost eight months earlier, he always slept with Bert. Now, he was sleeping where he fell and it might be in Bert and Helen's room, in Jill and Claire's or in Robin and Little Stephanie's. Bert saw the change as a good sign; Christopher was secure in his situation.

It took the girls a little while to get use to the idea of having the boy sleeping with them mainly because Christopher slept naked and wasn't fond of diaper's. Once asleep, the girls would put one on him, but rarely did it last through the night before the boy was naked once again. They solved the problem by bringing folded blankets to bed and placing them between themselves and Christopher, but still, now and then a cold wet awakening greeted them in the morning.

Christopher had spent the morning with Robin and Jill and the afternoon with Stephanie and Claire. Now, Christopher was climbing up the stairs to the Cabin as Call to Quarters was blown for the campers to return to their cabins to prepare for dinner. The bulk of Christopher's afternoon was spent at the pool with the little one's, and both girls were ready for a long hot shower.

As the story was told for months thereafter, Christopher was alone for maybe three minutes as both girls thought the other was with him. In reality, Christopher was alone in a bedroom when he found Carla's stash of panty liners, close to three full boxes. When Helen walked into the bedroom, there were empty boxes and liner wrappers scattered all over the room, and Christopher stood with liners pasted over his entire body like Band-Aids. From his head to his feet, there was very little pink skin sticking out except for places he couldn't reach on his back and shoulders and he appeared quite proud as he stood there in the middle of the bedroom grinning from ear to ear with his arms and legs outstretched as Helen reached for the camera.

Jeannie's coming out dinner was a huge success not only for the girl, but for the entire student body. Both Sid and Bert knew full well that Chef John had opened a Pandora's Box by cooking a celebration meal for the whole school, but neither man said a word as John presented Jeannie with the first tray of Southern Fried Chicken and Wets. For desert, Jeannie wanted Banana Cream Pie. As desert was served, Jeannie opened her gifts from both staff and student's, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there were about 25 girls in back of Jeannie who were now planning on a public coming out party of their own!

Jeannie's dinner was a celebration, but it was somewhat tempered by the news that Spencer's voice had cracked that afternoon. None of the children knew that fact yet, but key staff did. They also knew that the loss of his voice would not immediately effect Spencer all that much, but would be a tragic loss to his music teacher and most ardent supporter, Kevin. The teacher hadn't reported the news to Bert, and was now absent from dinner. Something he very rarely did.

If there's one Golden Rule about Green Tree, it's that they take care of their own and they watch each other's back. As Adam knew well, the crises was not with a student, or even an adolescent, it was with an adult staff member, and the caring and empathy was none the less intense. Kevin was a Geppetto boy, regardless of age.

"Who's with him?" Bert asked Sid as the two ate desert and watched Jeannie unwrap gifts.

"He's packing up tapes. I have two senior boys there with him, but as far as he knows, they're there to organize for the play this Saturday," Sid replied.

"And tonight?" Bert asked.

"Both Dan and Adam are keeping close tabs on things, they plan to organize a poker game and not take "No" for an answer from him. First thing in the morning, we'll have an emergency because my piano is out of tune, so that will keep him busy tomorrow," Sid replied.

Bert listened to his second in command and was deep in thought as Jeannie opened presents.

"We both know he's as serious about his music as you are, should we be declaring a "Must Special"? Bert asked quite seriously. Sid smiled, but also knew the discussion was serious. "When Eric Clapton dies, you most definitely need to call in a Code Red on me, but no, Kevin is pretty fucking depressed about Spencer, but he ain't about to jump the shark. He'll work it out, it's just going to take a little time before he accepts it," Sid told his Director.

Once Spencer's voice cracked and Kevin ended his practice session, the man sat in the music room for probably a half hour alone before he began functioning again. To a lay person, the boy loosing his voice would most probably have been a nothing occurrence; it was known it was coming, it was expected, and there was nothing anyone could do about it, it was nature. Still, to Kevin, it was as if he tutored Mozart as a child and the boy lost his hands. Or was mentor to Pavarrati and he came down with throat cancer. Spencer's voice was lost and he'd never hear him sing again as a 1st. Soprano.

For months Kevin was taping Spencer as he sang. That day, he wanted to put to tape two songs, "Santa Lucia" and Mozarts, "Ave Verum". Despite the fact that Spencer did not know either German or Italian, he sang in both in addition to latin. He breezed through Ave Verum, but almost at the finish of Santa Lucia, it happened.

"Do you want me to start over?" Spencer asked as he coughed and cleared his throat.

"No. I want you to stop singing for today and rest your voice," Kevin told the boy without further explanation. A huge smile came over Spencer's face as he picked up his baseball glove "See ya later!" he called out to Kevin as he flew out the door. Kevin turned the recorder off and sat down. Even with eyes closed the tears flowed like rain for what was now lost forever.

As a boy himself growing up, he had listened to some music by a boy soprano named Robertino Loreti (Roberto Loretti, b. 1947). Even as a child he was struck by the clarity of the boys voice, and if it was at all possible, Spencer's voice was clearer. The recordings from Robertino were of a then 13 year old boy and to a laymen's ear extremely good.

To a trained musicians ear, the recordings were in mono, were commercially packaged, and were "Rushed". Robertino sang the "Ave Maria" in just under four minutes. Kevin's arrangements, either of the J.S.Bach or Shubert versions were closer to seven minutes long as it was originally intended to be sung. Maybe it was memory, maybe it was the fact that Spencer was singing in person rather than on a record, but Kevin now knew that he'd never hear it again in person.

News of the event did not come from Kevin directly. Two Senior boys stopped by the music room to pick up some instruments and music for the play, and found Kevin packing up the tape recordings. They didn't need to be hit over the head to know that Kevin was in a very depressed state, and reported that fact back to Dave. Within a half hour, two Senior boys were "Working" in the music room with Kevin as directed by Sid.

Picking up Sid, both men know stopped in as Kevin was leaving for the cove to prepare for dinner. Knowing the answer to his next question in advance, Sid asked Kevin what was in the boxes he was packing into his cart.

"Tapes of Spencer singing. His voice is gone and it would just be too depressing to listen to them again knowing he could never again sing the same music," Kevin told the men. Sid nodded his head.

"Yes, he won't be able to hit those notes again, but he certainly still has a voice, and who knows where it will level off. Maybe as a tenor, maybe even a bass," Sid suggested.

"We knew he wasn't going to stay a soprano forever but it certainly doesn't mean that we just chuck his talent down the tube because he can't sing for the Pope anymore," Sid told Kevin.

"You don't understand," Kevin told Sid.

"Yes I do, you've got Spencer's voice locked up in boxes because he'll never be able to duplicate the music again. Shit Kevin, if that's the criteria, you better start packing ninety eight percent of your classical music collection into boxes, because all those folks are dead and gone! I fully expect you not to be able to listen to Spencer's old voice for awhile, but if all you're going to do is store them away, just burn them and be done with it. You made the recordings so they could be heard once again. Put them into a closet, and when the sun shines again, get them back out and get them back on a machine." Whether he liked it or not, Kevin would not find himself totally alone again for another four days.

As might be expected, Kevin's work load for the next few days was increased to the point whereby the man had little chance to dwell on the loss he felt. That was strictly by design. A mind left to wander can lead to some pretty dumb conclusions, and nobody at Green Tree wasn't smart enough to know that. The only glitch in the plan was Kevin's reluctance to be babysat.

"Not tonight guys. Maybe in a day or two," Kevin replied after dinner as both Adam and Dan set up a card table on the front porch of Kevin's cabin.

"No,

not in a day or two, tonight Kevin," Adam told the man bluntly.

"Let's suppose you were to be told that Michael or any one of your boys received some bad news and was sad and depressed about it. Would you recommend we send him on a solo five mile [8 km] hike?" Adam asked the man.

"You think I'm going to hang it up over Spencer's voice?" Kevin asked.

"I think I'm responsible for seeing to everyone's welfare around here and that includes staff.

If I thought you were in imminent danger of harming yourself, I'd slap a "Must Special" on your ass faster than you would on me if the roles were reversed. I don't think you need that kind or scrutiny, I just think you need a little company," Adam told his friend.

"Honestly Adam, I'm OK," Kevin replied.

"I know you are, that's why we're playing cards tonight," Adam said.

Playing poker without beer is like being invited to a dry wedding. Adam once went to a dry wedding and vowed he'd never go to another one. People sitting around staring at each other not knowing what to say and trying to make small talk is not only boring, it's fucking disgusting. A dry poker game is a little higher up the ladder, there is money on the table. The game broke up sometime around midnight and the big winner was Eitienne with $38.50 in pennies, nickels and dimes bulging in his pockets. The ice tea wasn't bad, but neither Sid nor Adam could figure out how people drank more than three or four of them without floating away. On the other hand, either man could down a dozen beers in the same amount of time.

"Well of course you can, ya take a piss after every can," Dan told the two.

For Kevin, the game was an inconvenience, but it beat being put on a must special which would have meant a mandatory bracelet and 24 hour surveillance. There was no appeal to being coded, if a person balked, the scrutiny intensified. Kevin was no stranger to suicide, his old school lost an average of three person's per year to it and he was well aware that Green Tree had never had a single attempt let alone a success. Going to bed that night, both Michael and Andy were sleeping in his bed. He didn't have on a bracelet, but he sure as hell had wall to wall company. Slipping under the covers, Michael rolled over and climbed partially up the man's side as the boys arm reached across Kevin's chest. With his ear now close to Kevin's heart, the 12 year old yawned deeply. With a faint "Goodnight', Michael was back asleep as Kevin lay there feeling the warmth of the boys body as he brought his arm down around the boys side and covered Michael's beating heart in his hand. Kevin fell asleep to music playing in his head, the music of an angel's voice.

The next morning, both Carla and Jeannie awoke in Bert's Cabin. So long as there was room, the children of Green Tree pretty much decided where they were sleeping. The choice they had was limited to within their campus, But Bert's, Sid's, and Thomas's Cabin's were not considered a part of any particular campus. That little loophole left all three Cabin's open for Camp Kenny, Intermediate's and Seniors to spend overnight visitation.

Now, as the sun was barely on the horizon and not yet over the tree tops, Christopher was sliding his way across both girls to get in between the two. When it came to sleeping arrangements, Christopher was ambidextrous. He didn't particularly care if you were male or female, since he had no interest in either concerning sex. While he was Geppetto boy, he was asexual. Born with undecended testicle's, nobody had ever bothered to fix the problem and now at the age of 12, it was a little too late to do anything about it.

Even though Christopher was chronologically 12, his developmental and physical stage was closer to a person of six to 8, depending upon what he was doing at the time. Basically mute, he made his wishes known by an increasing amount of manual communication skills that by now the entire school was both teaching him and learning at the same time. The program was being developed by Bert and now some friends in Brookline and Martha's Vineyard, and even without advanced speech, Christopher was communicating fairly easily with those around him. Much of what transpired was interpretational on the part of the people he was interacting with, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that if you got it wrong, you found out about it real fast!

Now a little cold and somewhat clammy, Christopher snuggled in between the two girls.

"Morning Christopher, you already gone to the bathroom?" Carla asked the boy. Two very large dimples now appeared on a smiling face as he turned to the girl.

"Hey" he replied as he picked up his head and planted a wet kiss on the girl. Now wiping off the drool that was usually a part of a Christopher kiss, Carla spoke to Jeannie.

"He might have taken a piss, but he sure ain't brushed his teeth," she told her friend. Jeannie now giggled which was her first mistake of the morning as Christopher turned his head. The 11 year old stayed as quiet as a mouse hoping he'd change his mind, but he didn't as he now climbed towards Jeannie. Knowing what was coming, Jeannie closed her eyes. Turning your head when Christopher planned on kissing you never worked. Sometime a long time ago, probably by his Father, Christopher was taught to kiss people, and the only place you kissed someone was on the lips. If you were standing and he couldn't reach your face, a leg, arm or hand would do, but if he had access to your face, you were getting kissed even if he had to put his hands on your face to do it. One hoped he had closed his mouth and swallowed first, but that wasn't always the case either. Usually, it was very wet and very sloppy. Once slobbering was out of the way, Christopher snuggled up alongside Jeannie. "I don't know if he's gone to the bathroom yet or not but he's got a boner and it's sticking me in the side." Jeannie told Carla. Carla giggled a little, but also knew it wasn't anything sexual coming from the boy. Christopher got erections occasionally, but never engaged.

"Christopher, need to go pee pee?" she asked the boy.

"Hey" he replied.

Now getting up, all three went to the bathroom and Christopher sat down. Both girls had seen this scene before and knew damned well that if left on his own,Christopher would release his bladder notwithstanding the fact that his penis was headed directly for the bathroom wall. Kneeling down , Carla pushed Christopher penis down towards the water.

"Go Christopher" she told the boy. Maybe 15 dribble's later, Christopher was ready to get off the toilet.

"That's it?" she asked the boy.

"Hey" Christopher replied with a smile.

"He didn't need to take a piss, he just had a boner." Carla told her friend as she replaced Christopher on the toilet.

Jeannie waited for her friend to get off the toilet and turned on the shower. Taking off her underpants, the girl was more than a little disappointed as the liner came out as clean as it went on.

"Don't worry about it, you'll get more each time." Carla told her friend. Jeannie shrugged.

With Christopher being held back from the water until it warmed, Jill and Claire now entered the bathroom. Both 15 year olds had lived with Carla and Jeannie for years, and were sort of like sisters to the girls. Sometimes, pain in the ass sisters who liked to "Boss" the two younger one's around as far as Carla and Jeannie were concerned. Now, the younger girls lived with Adam and the mafia boys, and around school had a reputation for being as boisterous and pesky as any 10 to 12 year old boy could be. Big "Sisters" don't usually approve of that kind of nonsense.

"What's he got a boner for? You guys playing with his dick?" Claire asked.

"Fuck you, he just woke up stupid." Carla instantly replied.

"Well, Good Morning you love bird's!" Helen said as she now entered the bathroom with a bundle of towels.

"They think we been fuckin Christopher." Jeannie responded defensively.

"Nobody said anything about fucking." Jill told the girl. Helen shook her head. She knew the girls were extremely protective of each other, and that in their own way they loved each other, but somehow, it rarely sounded that way to an outsider. Carla now whispered into Christopher's ear and the boy immediately headed for Jill and Claire as Carla and Jeannie snickered and got into the shower.

"They did that on purpose." Jill said as she wiped her mouth while Christopher planted a kiss on Claire. Helen shook her head and smiled.

"Uncle Bert will be in meetings most of the morning girls. He expects you two to be going to classes," she said.

"Me?" Christopher asked as he stood in front of Helen getting his hair shampooed.

"Yes, you'll be going to school this morning too," she told the boy as Christopher smiled broadly and gave Helen a big hug and a face full of shampoo.

Christopher's first passion was food and drink. Given the amount of food he ingested, it was a miracle to staff that he wasn't 300 pounds [140 kg] instead of the 70 or so pounds [32 kg] he actually was. He stood roughly 3½ feet [1 m] tall, and was all stomach and ass. He had no muscle tone whatsoever, but if he got his arms around your neck, you knew somebody was there and if he didn't want to let go, you had yourself a problem. Thomas has attributed the lack of weight gain relative to his eating habits to the boys metabolism, but that excluding the boys fluid intake which was probably three times normal. Christopher usually had a bowel movement twice a day, and he would urinate six times a day and three at night. Food and drink was going in one end and out the other.

Half a bowl of cold cereal, half a bowl of hot cereal, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, and a banana, two pieces of raison bread toast with cream cheese, two glasses of milk, a glass off orange juice, and a cheese Danish later, Christopher was ready until lunch time. Fortunately for Christopher, when he wore clothing (Which was rarely) he wore bib overalls.

Academically, Christopher is incapable of rote learning. The likelihood of him ever reading, writing or performing math is none to impossible. He'll never drive a car, he'll never live independently. School for him is little more than attempting to control his impulsivity and to direct his energy safely, both for him and for those around him. In keeping with his emotional and developmental age, Bert put him in class with the eight year olds who had just transferred to the Intermediate campus from Camp Kenny. He was about their size, but much physically stronger although he did not act out aggressively.

Mentally and educationally, they were more advanced than he was, but in play activities, there were about equal. These boys and girls were about as close to "Peers" as Christopher was ever going to get.

Every morning began the exact same way; Christopher would first off-load breakfast once he got to school and then it was on to the important stuff like drawing, coloring, building block towers, scribbling on the blackboards and painting (usually himself). With a one to one Senior boy or girl acting as his aide, he behaved well, especially during reading time or practicing writing, but they was little actual learning going on with him, it was all a game.

For Bert and the staff, it was anything but a game, sooner or later they were going to have a 200 pound [90 kg] gorilla on their hands, not a cute cuddly little boy. Bert's main goal was to concentrate on communications skills. Christopher would never carry on a conversation, he had to be taught manual sign language. He had a vocabulary of about 25 to 50 words, but most were basic yes and no type words. In addition, he would mimic a word sometimes, but wouldn't independently repeat it without prompting. Even if he did mimic, you couldn't always be sure if he understood the meaning of the word.

Even with all these problems, Christopher's ability to make his needs and wants known fairly astounded those around him. When he was first placed in class with this group, some staff questioned if his presence wouldn't "Hold back" the rest of the children. As it turned out, his being present accelerated their learning as well as their ability to empathize. In communications, Christopher did not have one or two people teaching him manual sign, he had closer to a dozen. Every school day, Christopher learned one more sign, and this morning it was "Sit" as his teacher showed him and the rest of the class that manual sign.

Some staff asked Bert what the purpose of teaching Christopher sign language was when he could hear, and to a degree, even speak. His response was relatively simple, it gave the boy one more way to communicate his needs and wants to other people, maybe even people who weren't familiar with him and could translate words like "I-ee" which the boy usually invoke as a question or even a response to something going on with him.

"We take the time to give a fuck about what he needs or wants. Out there, one "I-ee" and he'll be shuffled out the door faster than they can whistle Dixie," Bert replied.

Just before lunch, Christopher waited for the bugle to blow signaling the end of the mornings academics when Robin and Jill came into class to pick him up. With a quick trip to the bathroom first, Christopher was on his way out the door with a girl in both hands. Academics for him were over, it was now on to lunch and then the playing would start in earnest.

Kevin's day had started much the same as Christopher's but maybe a good hour later. Reveille blew on weekday mornings at 7:00 and by mid summer, few campers on the Intermediate campus stirred before reveille. All three in the bed heard the bugle from the very first note, but nobody moved a muscle for several minutes. Unlike Adam, Kevin was a Geppetto boy himself. In a very broad sense, Adam could pick and chose when he elected to engage with the boys, and usually, he was never the initiator. That didn't make Adam a Saint in his mind, but it certainly didn't make him a gluten. There was also the fact that he couldn't keep up with the boys even if he wanted to!

Kevin did not have that problem. He had been raised in a Geppetto school in North Carolina that was now closed due to real estate expansion that had made the school's anonymity untenable. In the beginning, his old school's closing and his forced move to Green Tree did not sit well with the teacher, he had been a pupil and staff member at his old school for most of his life. Knowing nothing else, he liked the place. Now, he was at Green Tree and a whole new way of life opened up for him and the boys who had joined him like Michael and Andy who now began stretching alongside the man.

In years past, neither boy would awaken in their teachers bed, neither boy would be in bed with him together, and most certainly never openly engage with either their teacher or another boy. That was now ancient history.

"What time did you come to bed Uncle Kevin?" Michael asked as he turned around on his stomach and laid his leg in between his teachers.

"I guess around 12:30 or so, we played cards until I ran out of money," Kevin said as he wrapped his arm around the boy and ran his hand up and down the boys spine.

"Who won?" Andy asked as he now turned himself around and became a bookend on Kevin's right side. Kevin now smiled a little as his hand caressed Andy's bottom.

"Eitienne always wins. I think maybe he cheats," Kevin replied. Both boys now giggled.

Of the three people now laying in bed together, Andy was the fastest converter to the Green Tree way of doing things as opposed to their old school. It took Michael and Kevin weeks before they would simply come right out and do what they wanted to, with Andy, he had the new rules down pat in four days flat. It was a new day and time to begin it right as Andy reached for Kevin's groin and took the man's penis in his hand. With Michael turning himself around, both boys brought each other to climax as Andy took care of Kevin's needs, at least for a few hours.

Once Christopher went swinging down the Cabin stairs held by the hands of two girls, Bert's morning began. His first crises of the day was learning that Sid's piano was very badly out of tune (Helped more than a bit by a pair of pliers and screwdriver to the tuning board) and Kevin was know in charge of getting it back on-line for the play the next night. Bert smiled and shook his head as Sid and Kevin left his office.

"So. If at some point in the future, I find myself getting buried in work, I should automatically assume I'm in need of an alternative to a "Must Special"? Helen asked Bert. Bert again smiled as he sat back.

"Keep in mind sweetheart that you're very much like David when he's assisting Thomas. What you see and hear in the Office, stays in the office," he told his roommate.

Most of Bert's morning consisted of meetings with his key staff and concerned both other staff and the children of Green Tree. With close to 600 people to care for, it takes a little time if each person needs a few minutes of note taking and discussions (And that's if everything is running smoothly) by the Director. Logistical, maintenance and normal housekeeping took up even more time. By about 10:30 or 11:00 Bert was usually ready for "New business". On that Friday morning, the new business came in the form of twins and Green Tree hasn't been the same since.

About a half hour before lunch Bert picked up the phone. The first five minutes were spent between Bert and his old College roommate from Harvard chit chatting. Matthew, who was now the Director of the Geppetto School in New Hampshire was an old friend . Both men saw eye to eye on the Program, and both were good friends. Bert was a tad more blunt than Matthew, but his friend forgave him for that. Matthew was also responsible for shipping Christopher to Green Tree after the New Hampshire School was at a complete loss as to the boys care, and their Director was a little gun shy regarding Bert's reaction to a new request. As Bert knew very well, Christopher was dumped by New Hampshire into his lap, and it was a fluke that Bert not only accepted the child, but he took him to his heart. Matthew knew none of the details, but he did know that Bert was now totally committed to the boy they could neither contain nor control. Now, Matthew had another small problem on his hands.

"You know that the Institute is receiving more and more children who are testing out positive." Matthew began the serious conversation.

"They placed 200 kids last month, and right now, we're bulging at the seams along with New Mexico, Colorado, North Dakota and Alabama." Matthew told Bert.

"Alexandria is opening three new schools in closed down military bases because they're already secure and under their control, but they're not suitable for some of our kids, they're just too young." Matthew told his friend.

Bert sat back and wheeled around in his chair and looked out over the camp.

"Any help I can offer is just a drop in the bucket Matthew. I've got maybe 100 senior boys and another 50 staff I can send to Florida, but I can't run a school with nothing but little kids being taken care of by bigger kids. For every four kids I take in under 10, I need at least one adult over 16 taking care of them and they have to be pretty fucking savvy 16 year olds even then!" Bert said.

"The Institute is looking at all options, and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they end up taking you up on that option, but I've got an immediate problem here, and I need you to consider an in-house transfer." Matthew replied.

"Transfer?" Bert asked as he now turned back around and sat forward.

"Transfer of what?" he asked "I have two brothers. Twins.

They're eight years old and they're the closest thing to a Scale zero I've ever seen." Matthew replied quietly. Bert closed his eyes.

"And what's the rest of the story?" he asked.

"The rest?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, you know, they're blind, deaf, dumb, all three, retarded, paraplegic, have aids," Bert said sarcastically.

"They're twins, they're eight years old, and they're on the extremely low side of Scale One. That's it." Matthew replied.

"And they're not conjoined!" Bert replied. Bert detected a very subtle bit of chuckling in the background on Matthew's end of the line as Matthew again spoke.

"Physically, no," he replied.

"Matthew, you and I, we run a Geppetto school. These kids all fuck their balls off. What's the problem?" he asked.

"We're not geared up here for 0 to 8s, we just started taking them in because of the crunch. But these two are going through their peers and working their way up the ladder very fast. You've got 10 times the age group they need to play safely." Matthew replied. There was a good five or 10 seconds of silence before Bert spoke again.

"I'll take them Matthew, But I'm telling you straight forward, if they get off the plane and have so much as a bad haircut, you'll be putting locks on the senior boys dorms up there," Bert replied.

By lunch time, the grapevine had swept through the camp that Spencer's voice had cracked. Spencer was very close to the last boy to find it out. He shrugged his shoulders. Bert's two most immediate problems were keeping Kevin on an even keel and informing his staff about the new arrivals. Regarding Kevin, the music teacher informed Bert that Sid had only this morning told him his piano was out of tune and Bert quite naturally dumped the problem back in Kevin's lap.

"I doubt that we're going to find a piano tuner around this neck of the woods, I think your best bet is going to be Charlotte," Bert informed him.

"Get on the phone and find somebody and drag their ass up here." he instructed the man.

"Can't Dave do that? He's the Maintenance Supervisor!" Kevin declared. Bert shook his head, "Dave's swamped with other stuff. Besides, you'll know if the guys done the job right," Bert told him. With deep grumbling, Kevin left for the Office to make some phone call's.

"That'll keep him a little busy," Sid said as he watched Kevin leave the table.

"How bad did you fuck it up?" Bert asked the Assistant Director.

"Naw, just a couple of loose wires," Sid said. In all probability, either Sid, Adam or Dave himself could have brought the piano back into tune. A professional from Charlotte came up to camp on Saturday morning and only charged $895.00 plus travel fee's for the job. Bert shook his head once again, but the diversion worked, Kevin didn't have too many minutes to think about anything let alone Spencer's cracked voice box

As for the new arrivals, Bert called a meeting of Campus Directors and the Crisis Team for immediately after lunch. Item number one on the list of decisions to be made was where the boys were going to be staying. Ultimately, the process of elimination would decide the issue, first discussed was where they could not live. Camp Kenny was immediately ruled out, they were too old and too sexually advanced. Forget Pine Ridge, Bert wanted the girls to remain virgins for as long as possible, not get there cherry's busted in a week flat. Bert's Cabin was discussed, and even the possibility of moving Christopher out to protect him. Sid and Thomas's place was discussed, and both ruled out because neither Sid, Patty or Thomas would be available to them during the day. As the discussion progressed, Adam was drawing a bulls eye of the cove in his mind, mainly because it seemed to him that it was being saved for last.

There are 15 Cabins of Intermediate boys on the lower campus, one by one, either for staffing or detriment to another camper, a reason for eliminating them progressed until they were down to the last of the Cabins, 8, 9 and 10. The mafia. Adam saw the handwriting on the wall and closed his eyes.

"We've got four boys now fresh out of Camp Kenny. I have to imagine you're not thinking of throwing them in with these foxes," Adam said.

"Where are they now?" Bert asked.

"Dan's got two and Kevin's got 2," Adam replied before thinking it out.

"And how old is your youngest?" Bert asked.

"Ten but keep in mind I also have Carla and Jeannie. If I've got any prayer whatsoever of keeping those two whole for another two years, it doesn't sound like bunking these two in with them is going to be the plan that works," Adam replied.

"Probably the best solution is to move the two 8s out of Kevin's and into Dan's Cabin. Then we put the twins in Kevin's cabin where the rest of the boys can fend for themselves." he suggested.

"The fact is, Beachview is the focal point for all three cabins. It doesn't really matter where they keep their clothing, the mafia ends up in Beachview five out of seven days a week," Sid now said. Adam very quickly nodded his head.

"Well we can always ban the overnights," Bert replied.

"You're joking right?" Adam asked.

"You're the Boss and what you say's goes, but when you tell the mafia that you intend to ban overnight's, give me some advance notice so I can have Doc on hand to sew your penis back on," Adam replied. Once the laughter died down, Bert returned to semi serious discussion "The mafia contains 34 kids. We all agree that six of that 34 are off the table for these two. That leaves a pool of 28 candidates for them to chose from and we make it perfectly clear to them that there's no climbing fences and taste's of forbidden fruit."

"And if the devil makes them do it?" Jeanette asked.

"Then he make it clear that we're prepared to set them up in an individual Cabin with two staff and they can romp away with each other until they get bored out of their gourds," Bert said.

With two new boys now about to join the mafia, the discussion moved on to the logistics of receiving the boys.

"The plane's in Alabama right now and it's going to New Mexico next week. If we leave Sunday and get back in the afternoon, the plane can return to Alabama and everything works out for them," Bert now advised the group.

"Why do we need to go? Why not just have the plane fly directly to New Hampshire and drop the kids off on the return flight?" Thomas now asked.

"7 months ago, the plane's crew probably would have agreed to that. Since Christopher's little slip-up, they won't accept an un-escorted child on the plane," Bert advised the group.

"That's probably a good thing anyway. After three hours on a plane, these kids would probably have tried to screw the entire flight crew anyway," Sid now said. Adam had very rarely attended a meeting where a little levity didn't enter the conversation. Today was no different as Bert waited for calm to return to the group.

"We're got two little eight year olds. I want two women and two men. Since Kevin's going to be their counselor, he goes to New Hampshire. Who else?" Bert asked.

"I'd send Thomas," Jeanette said. Bert nodded.

"Send Stephanie." Gloria now added.

"Why?" Bert asked.

"Because sooner or later, these two are going to want a warm, soft shoulder to lay on, and she can certainly empathize with their plight. It isn't going to take those boys long to realize that just about every intermediate boy here has a Primary Aunt, and right now, she's got the time to devote to them if they needed it," she told Bert.

Bert now looked to Sid.

"Hey, that's why we pay her the big bucks!" Sid told his boss.

Gloria shook her head, but smiled.

"I would also not send another woman, I'd send Charlie." Gloria said.

"Charlie? Why Charlie?" Bert asked.

"Because he's the closest thing we've got to those two boys right now. He's been raised here, and he's a Scale One. If anybody can talk to these kids on their own level, it's going to be him. If I've got a problem with Timmy, Charlie's got the answers for me," she told the group.

"So Charlie would be like their Primary Uncle?" Sid asked.

"Is there a better choice?" Gloria asked.

The teams decision was made to send Charlie. At 18, Charlie had been at Green Tree now for 15 years. As a Scale One, he was the most sexually active boy the school ever had up to this point, and he had long since been known by staff as "The Energizer Bunny"

partly because of a picture that was taken of him dressed in a pink bunny suit on Halloween when he was five years old. The suit was anatomically correct, and like the boy inside the suit, was ready for action. The picture today hangs on Charlie's living room wall in his Cabin, he's quite proud of it.

In reflection, Bert considered the suggestion by Gloria to send Charlie instead of another woman just one more reason why the women of Green Tree were becoming increasingly invaluable to the care of the boys.

"I'll make the arrangements. Adam, you'll let Kevin know he's going. Jeanette, you've got Stephanie, and Dave will tell Charlie. Anything else?" Bert asked the team "I've got two things," Adam replied. First, we need names. Then, what about Michael, David and Charlie's boys?" he asked.

"Good Questions," Sid replied.

"As far as the twins are concerned, we've got Benjamin and Gavin. Benji is the dominant one, Gavin is more reserved, but not a whole hell of a lot. There's a thick file coming with each boy, but I'd prefer that we evaluate them for our selves before we get tainted by reading someone else's opinions and conclusions concerning them. I asked Matthew to comb the files for any health or behavioral problems we need to be made aware of for safety's sake, but I don't want them labeled before they earn it," Bert told the team.

"Let Kevin and Thomas decide with Michael and David if they go. As far as Charlie's boys are concerned, they stay home, there's no real reason for them to go," Bert concluded.

Kevin looked more than a little frazzled when Adam came into the Music room, the preparations for Oklahoma were time consuming enough for the man, and with the added burden of Kevin being responsible to fix the piano, he didn't have the time if he wanted to think about Spencer's lost voice. Adam felt a little guilty, but it was now his responsibility to dump one more task on the man's shoulder.

"We've just been notified that there's a set of twins we're taking in Kevin, They're going to be flown down from New Hampshire on Sunday," Adam started the conversation.

"We went through every possible placement possibility, and it looks like the Mafia gets the nod," he said evasively.

"Well, with David and Jesse now gone, we've got the room. They moving into Beachview?" Kevin asked.

"No, they wouldn't be compatible with the girls," Adam replied. Kevin now stopped putting costumes in boxes.

"So where?" he asked.

"The team feel's the best placement is with you," Adam said.

"I have 12 boys now, they want to put in 14?" he asked.

"How old are these boys?" "The boys are eight year olds, but they don't intend on increasing your census to 14, Karl and Jimmy are being moved to Dan's," Adam replied. Kevin now thought for a few seconds.

"That doesn't make sense, wouldn't it be better to move two older boys and leave Karl and Jimmy with me. It would give the twins playmates closer to their age," Kevin rationalized.

"The twins are Scale One. They'd dominate and overwhelm Karl and Jimmy," Adam replied.

"Scale One? That's been confirmed?" Kevin asked. Adam nodded his head.

"That's on one of their good days," he told his friend. Kevin sat back in his chair in deepest thought.

"Have you ever dealt with a Scale One?" Kevin finally asked Adam. Adam shook his head.

"Let me put it this way; if I'm receiving these boys to keep me busy and keep my mind off Spencer, let's just go back to Bert and have him put bracelet's on my wrist's," Kevin replied. Adam smiled a little.

"These kids have absolutely nothing to do with keeping you busy or dumping on you. They just happen to be coming in now, and being placed with you is in their best interest. There wasn't even a suggestion of a hint concerning dumping," Adam told his friend. Kevin shook his head.

"This is going to be a very interesting Summer. A Scale One can suck the dick off a brass monkey," Kevin now said. Adam once again smiled. Kevin had come a very long way from what he was when he first arrived at Green Tree. A comment like that would have been expected from Sid, never from Kevin.

"There's a plane coming in Sunday morning. Thomas, Stephanie and Charlie are going to go and pick him up and bring them back here. As their counselor, Bert wants you going too," Adam said.

"What about Michael?" Kevin immediately asked.

"It's a one day trip there and back, but if you want Michael to go, that's your choice," Adam told the man.

"Is David going with Thomas?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know, but it's very likely," he replied.

Kevin now nodded his head.

"When is the mafia going to be told about this?" Kevin asked.

"Nothing was discussed about that," Adam replied.

"Then discussions need to start real soon," Kevin advised his boss.

"He ain't bull shitten about that!" Sid said as he washed down the Belgian Mare.

"We're going to have to make sure the twins understand the rules of engagement, but even then, our boys are going to have to understand the exact nature of what their new cabin mates are all about. Scale One's live and breath to play. They would have been useless to Adolf and the boys. As soldiers, they'd be too busy to kill, they'd spend their whole day getting laid," Sid told Adam.

"we'll set up a meeting at the cove for Sunday after lunch."

"I'll be happy to do it, but I don't understand. What's a Primary Aunt?" Stephanie said to Jeanette when the girl told Stephanie she was flying to New Hampshire and would be the twins's Primary Aunt.

"I guess for want of a better term, you will become the boy's advocate. If they have a concern or a problem about anything, they will be able to come to you and they'll know you'll be in their corner," Jeanette explained.

"Suppose they come to me with a problem I disagree with.?" she asked.

"That's not your job. If one of my kids comes to me and complains because he can't stay up until midnight, my job is to argue his point, not mine," Jeanette told the woman.

"So if they come to me and want to go and play in traffic I agree?" she asked.

"No, they could get killed. That's a safety issue. If somebody could get hurt, or if they could get hurt, you've found yourself a loophole and can lay it solely on Bert's lap," Jeanette told the woman.

"Basically, a Primary Aunt or Uncle is a sounding board for the kids. They can bitch to you, they can get sympathy from you, they can yell and scream and holler at you, and still know that you're there for them.

One thing you never do is get involved with disciplining them. You're Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and Bugs Bunny to them, never the grinch!" Jeanette told her. Stephanie thought about Jeanette's word's for several seconds.

"So Sarah is Caleb's Primary Aunt?" she asked. Jeanette shook her head.

"A Primary Aunt or Uncle has to be someone not in direct daily contact with a child. If there's some kind of a problem, it usually involves their counselor or teacher or even another child in the same Cabin. Caleb's Primary Uncle is Sid. Caleb chose him," she replied. Stephanie half smiled and shook her head.

"I absolutely hated that man when I first came here," she told Jeanette.

"We know, Sid wanted it that way, and he usually gets what he wants," Jeanette said.

"Which reminds me, you've been here now for almost four months. More than a few very good looking guys have asked us if you'd be willing to go for a canoe ride. Up to this point, we've told them to give you some space and let you settle in. Are you up for going boating yet?" she asked.

"Whose we?" Stephanie asked. Jeanette now smiled.

"Green Tree men do things a certain way to avoid getting rejected. They'll never come straight at a girl without making sure the road has been plowed first. Even Bert and Sid made sure that Helen and Patty were available before they took out the paddles from the boat house.

"They're just like little kids!" Stephanie said.

"Especially once they get you out in a canoe!" Jeanette replied. Stephanie now had to laugh.

"You make it sound like accepting a ride in a boat is tantamount to being taken to bed," she told Jeanette.

"Let's put it this way; if you find yourself going out in a boat after dark, don't bother to put on a pair of underpants, they're just going to get in the way," Jeanette replied.

"Need more time?" she asked. Stephanie shook her head.

"No". she said. Bert made a note in Stephanie's file that evening and gave permission for the grapevine to let it be known that the "Green Light" was on.

There were no green, yellow or red lights for the mafia, and that Friday afternoon they had second period Trail Ride. The preferred method of play for the Senior boys and men were the boats. For the Intermediate's, it was on horseback or along the riding trails either in open fields with four feet [1.2 m] of wheat to lay on, or on piles of leaves in the Fall. It was great fun romping in the Cabins, but somehow, outdoors in broad daylight always seemed just a bit more exciting.

With Sid and his senior boys putting on halters and lambskin blankets on the horses, most boys discarded all but their shorts and threw their clothing into the laundry bins. Like the women, clothing was very quickly going to get in their way. The group had roughly two hours to ride before they had to be back for showers, flagpole and dinner,

and with Maria leading the way out of the corral with her colt alongside her, Sid watched as the dust rose and Carla's underpants arched their way to the ground; they were getting in Trevor's way.

The camp has roughly 85 miles [140 km] of trails throughout the 12,000 acres [5,000 ha] Federal Reserve.

All built and color coded by Dave and his maintenance crews, the boys all knew by heart which trails they could take that would get them back to camp in about two hours if they maintained the right "Posting" speed that created just the right rhythm required with minimal effort on their part. The boys considered galloping to the gate very foolish, when one could spend an hour if they wanted to just enjoying each other for the longest possible time.

"Let's take the Blue Trail and we can play hide and seek in the meadow" Sammy suggested to David who was leading the group on the huge Belgian.

"OK" David replied as Matty now stood up on the horses back and David took his shorts off as Matty held onto his shoulders. Sitting back down, Chris now stood up and took his own shorts off. Sticking both under the Blanket it was David's turn as he leaned back on Chris and flipped his legs up into the air. Once his shorts were safely tucked, year's of experience had all three boys linked as Matty held the reigns while David took charge of Matty's penis.

It was about 30 minutes to the meadow, and each one was in no great hurry to reach Nirvana.

The first half hour of the trip was always the quietest part of any ride, the boys were deeply concentrating on other matters, An occasional squirrel or chipmunk could break the silence, but for the most part, just about the only thing heard was the steady plodding of the horses or of boys switching places on their horses with the horses never breaking stride. Most boys at Green Tree mastered the art of leap frogging on a moving horse by age 8.

The boys had learned almost a year earlier that the return trip to the stable's was always more interesting to the girls of Pine Ridge. The trail passed close to the girls campus, and when they left, the girls were usually at activities, either at the upper Camp, or at the lower camp. However on the return of the second trail ride, most girls were back on their campus and preparing for dinner. For the riders, this part of the trip was becoming known as "Show Time". In the beginning, the boys objected to girls who were sneaking away from their camp and hiding in the bushes to "oogle" the boys on horseback. There was a great deal to oogle, most boys saw no sense in redressing after a ride, and most were as naked as the day they were born. After awhile, the boys attitude changed. If the girls wanted to see some dicks, they could accommodate them! It now became a game and an opportunity to show the girls exactly how skilled they were on a bareback horse.

It began the summer before calmly enough with simply standing up. Maybe with a boner, maybe without. Mooning became a favorite pastime, and it took a very short time before the pissing contest's began. All this to "Shock" some of the youngest little girls hiding in bushes and trees to get a closer look. The older girls were "horrified" by the audacity of the little twerps on horseback and did not venture into the woods, they stayed in their cabins with field glasses. Bert eventually had to put a lid on show time, live demonstrations of boys masturbating coupled with a 10 year old attempting a handstand and falling off necessitated the order for a bit more decorum. Bopping the bologna and grandstanding was out, but mooning and show and tell could continue.

"Hell, if they don't want to be shocked, tell them to stay the fuck out of the woods," Bert told the girls counselors.

Now nearing Pine Ridge, the game resumed.

"See that Maple tree on the left?" Trevor asked the group very quietly.

"There's a bunch of girls about half way up hiding behind the trunk!" he advised his friends.

"Shit, I just took a piss five minutes ago," Sammy lamented.

"Well I ain't!" Jeannie replied. Sammy was very impressed as the group passed the tree with about 15 boys standing up pissing or mooning the maple tree. One little girl also took a piss, Jeanie went sideways to the horse on all fours with her bottom sticking out towards the tree. She didn't have the distance the boys did, but she did a pretty job anyway Sammy thought to himself. The giggling from the woods told the boys there were a lot more girls out there than they thought as some of the girls now stood up and mooned the boys back just before they went scampering back to their campus giggling like a pack of boys.

Sid's criteria for evaluating a successful ride was how many bare asses sat on the blankets. Not seeing any fabric on the mafia (Which wasn't all that unusual) he didn't bother to ask how the ride went. Reaching up for Carla, the girl slid into his arms.

"We had fun Uncle Sid!" Carla chirped. Sid smiled and gave the girl a peck on the cheek as he put her down on the ground. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out her underpants.

"Missing something?" he asked the girl.

"Thanks Uncle Sid." Carla said as she took the underpants and threw them into the laundry bin.

The afternoon for Sidney Bertram and Joshua was largely spent at the new pool once their naps were complete after lunch. Sidney was making his first real attempts at standing up, and was showing an increasing preference for Meagan, a 12 year old living with Johanna. The boy had four girls to chose from, but was usually headed for Meagan's arms. At 10 months old, he was now picking up speech and one of his first words was "Mama". Even that situation at Green Tree necessitated a staff meeting which was initiated by Johanna herself. She had no problems whatsoever with being called Mommy, but she had concerns over how it was going to effect the other boys, specifically the Camp Kenny younger boys.

"The fact is, you are his Mother, the boy has been legally adopted by you just like Joshua was adopted by Beth here," Bert told the girl.

"You don't think that's going to raise some questions for boys like Timmy and Kenny?" Johanna asked.

"If it does and they want to call Gloria or Jeanette Mommy, that won't hurt anything. But in reality. There's little to no difference in their minds between "Aunty" and "Mama". Both terms are synonymous as far as the boys are concerned. You may even find yourself being called Aunty once they get a little older, especially with everybody else around them calling you Aunty Johanna. Once they reach four or 5, they'll figure out exactly what the relationship is and revert to Mom or whatever, but it's not something that's going to cause shock waves with the other boys," Bert counseled.

At 9 and 10 months, the closest peers to Sidney and Joshua were Kenny, Caroline and Timmy who at 4, was the senior citizen of the group. In the beginning, Joshua was always the "Butterball" of the two but by about five months Sidney had caught up with his half brother despite the fact that he was a premie baby. Both infants drank, slept and produced diapers and little else for their first five months, and both had thrived on their Mother's milk and care. On the growth charts, they were both now on the high percentile of the curve, if not ahead in some area's of development including getting around and interacting with those around them.

Once Meagan put the boy down on the pool deck and removed his diaper, Sidney made a bee-line for the fountain area of the pool on all fours not bothering to wait for a hand to help him "Walk". The new pool was built specifically for the little ones in mind. It had a deep end, but most of the pool was a wading area that the smaller Camp Kenny children could sit in. Alongside the pool there is a fountain area, which is more like a dry jacuzzi with water fountains and spray coming out from every direction. The little one's could get soaking wet, but were never in danger of drowning. It also made a damned good urinal that kept the senior girls fairly happy not to be watching the boys take a piss in the pool just before they jumped in.

With the new pool officially designated as a "Public" area and the old pool designated as a "Free" area, an immediate split of Senior girls took place. three out of four preferred to wear bathing suits around the senior boys and gravitated to the new pool. That didn't mean that no skin was shown, Camp Kenny children rarely wore anything swimming, and they would not be made to regardless of where they swam. Most senior girls at the new pool wore bottoms, but rarely tops. The girls main objection to the older boys was being "Oogled" but both Bert and Sid considered that fear to be wishful thinking on the girls part. The new pool was now open for about four weeks, and by the week, more and more skin was appearing. By Bert's calculations, both pool's would be declared free zones by September if the trend continued and that was perfectly fine with him.

As to the old pool, the Intermediate boys were delighted the senior girls no longer gave them dirty looks, but weren't all that happy about loosing the opportunity to swim and play with the Camp Kenny boys. They were forbidden to engage them, but then again, that was not their goal. Additionally, with a good deal of the senior girls now moved to the new pool, it meant much more room for them. The girls who did remain behind were largely Intermediate girls like Carla and Jeannie and they were never a problem.

As Johanna and Beth carefully watched, the babies and toddlers played happily in the fountain well with dozens of senior girls now attentively playing with them. Johanna watched with a small smile on her face as Meagan steered Sidney around protectively allowing the other girls to interact with the baby, but unwilling to loose control over him.

"They're getting pretty attached aren't they?" Beth asked as she watched also. Johanna nodded her head.

"If it keeps up, she'll probably be named Sidney's Primary Aunt," she replied. As a Pine Ridge girl who had been at Green Tree now for a little more than a year, Beth knew of the significance of the term, but not the specifics about how it came into being.

"Who decides that? How is the person chosen?" Beth asked.

"In the past, we only had about a dozen girls to chose from, but now with Pine Ridge girls here the rules have changed." Johanna said.

"In the past, we usually assigned a girl to the youngest boys, or the boys like Spencer who came to us older but more emotionally detached and fragile," she told the girl.

"Now that we have dozens and dozens of girls, the boys generally pick for themselves. But a whole lot of time, they opt for an Uncle instead of an Aunt once they reach the Intermediate's." Johanna said.

"You're Spencer's Primary Aunt. Suppose he didn't like you?" Beth asked. Johanna smiled.

"Let's put it this way; if the team decides this child is going to be paired up with that staff, there's very little the boy could do to prevent it. When Spencer first came, Jeanette was his counselor and took care of him and even nursed him, but if a problem came up, the team always found a way for me to be his "Knight in shining Armor" so to speak. There are negative ways and positive ways to manipulate a person, and this team knows every single trick in the book. Just look at Stephanie and her relationship with Sid in the beginning. Sid could have been any member of the team, he just got chosen and he became "The bad guy" she was forced to focus on until she could stand on her own two feet." Beth was silent for awhile deep in thought.

"It doesn't make you feel funny knowing you can be manipulated?" she finally asked.

"If it's for the positive, no. If I was manipulated into accepting Sidney, so be it. If you were told you were manipulated into accepting Joshua, would you give him back?" Johanna asked.

"No" Beth said immediately.

"Was I?" she asked.

"No. You were one of five girls who wanted to adopt him, you just happened to be Joshua's best choice for a Mother."

"Was Bert and the team disappointed when I wanted Joshua to have Bris Milah?" Beth now asked her friend. Johanna looked at her friend more than a little surprised.

"Beth, that was almost a year ago! You still think about that?" she asked.

"Well it's not like they were delighted to hear the news." Beth responded. Johanna smiled and shook her head.

"Beth, show me a man who doesn't cringe a little when somebody brings a knife close to his winky and I'll show you a very scary man. Men are a little more than protective when it comes to their apparatus." Johanna replied giggling.

"None of them were disappointed in you, they just had mental pictures they needed to deal with. Let's not forget, most of the men here are circumcised. They just weren't in a position to think anything about it at the time," she said.

"I hope you didn't loose any sleep over this stuff." Beth smiled a little and shook her head.

"No. But the boys do still make comments," she said. "Only because the trend changed. 30 years ago an uncircumcised white male was almost unheard of. Today, they're the rule rather than the exception. The boys are commenting on the appearance, nothing more. Remember when the boys were first born? All they saw was their red and swollen balls. Today, no comment." Johanna told her friend. Now Beth was the one giggling.

As the afternoon progressed, so did the population of the new pool. By mid afternoon, most of Camp Kenny was there along with probably 35 senior girls. The mood was relaxed and calm right up until Christopher entered with Jill and Claire. Christopher had been boating earlier and as usual, had his life preserver on as he headed straight for the fountain well where the babies and smaller children now played.

"Time to go back to work." Johanna said as she got out of her chair very quickly followed by Beth. Both woman now sat down in the well next to their charges, as Christopher went from fountain to fountain alternately sitting on them, drinking the water, and laying under the spray getting wet oblivious to the heightened sense of alert all around him. Christopher didn't have a malicious bone in his body, but around babies, he was a bull in a china shop.

Summer was now well underway as news of the twins upcoming arrival began circulating around the pool. Nobody knew what to expect, but they did know what a Scale One was.

Chapter Twenty Four

The Longest Weekend

July 14-16, 2006. In retrospect, the staff of Camp Green Tree regard those dates as Sacred. That was the weekend in mid July last year now known as the dividing point between the relative calm, quiet and peaceful life that both staff and camper had enjoyed up to that point, and the way it is today. This is not to say that the staff or anybody else would pack the bags of certain campers and ship them north, but is just a reminder to them of the "Good old day's" when they knew what to expect, how to deal with the issue and went back to life as they knew it as quickly as possible.

At the conclusion of dinner on Friday, Bert stood on the bench by his table to address the campers and staff. Normally, no advanced announcements of this kind were made, new campers just arrived, and were introduced into camp life on a very casual basis. However, these were not casual circumstances. Once the Mess Hall calmed down enough for Bert to speak without screaming, he began by making routine announcements.

"Uncle Sid has the Cabin's going out on horseback overnight's this weekend posted at the stable. If you don't plan on riding, let the stable know about it so they can free up your spot for someone on stand-by. Uncle Kenny has final rehearsal's tonight for the play tomorrow, show time is right after dinner. Aunt Gloria tells me that bathing suits have been disappearing from the new pool area. If any of you boys needs a new bathing suit, let the laundry know about it and they'll supply you with some. In the meantime, let's have the girl's suits show up in a laundry bin, you'd look pretty silly in it anyway," Bert told the group. Once the laughter died down, Bert continued.

"Tomorrow's a busy day. Uncle Dan has a full schedule of Water Carnival planned at the lake. As you know Water Carnival has always been a public event, so unless you're in Camp Kenny, we expect to see lot's of pretty colored suits on you all." Amid boo's that were completely expected, Bert resumed.

"On Sunday, Uncle Thomas and Aunt Stephanie will be gone for the day to pick up two new campers. They will be back before dinner. When they get here, I want each and every one of you to think back on how you felt on your very first day here. We can be a mighty scary bunch to someone that doesn't know us, especially folks like Uncle Sid," Bert said as he waited again for the laughter to stop.

"The new campers are eight year old twins, and they'll be housed in the mafia with Uncle Kevin. He'll also be going, so I expect no riots to be breaking out in the cove." As Bert stood down, a bunch of hands went up, including most of the mafia's "Are they boys or girls?" Billy from Dan's Cabin asked.

"They are boys and they are new to Geppetto schools, so its going to take a little time for them to get use to our rules. Keep that in mind if you come into contact with them," Bert told the group. The boys in the mafia grinned right along with Carla and Jeannie. As the only two girls in the mafia, they had a status both within the three cabin group and among the rest of the Intermediate boys that they weren't ready to be sharing with anyone if they could help it. Already there were 11 girls who had opted to move onto the boys campus, and as far as Carla and Jeannie were concerned, that was 9 girls too many.

At the mafia's tables in the Mess Hall, all eyes now turned to Kevin. The very first question came from Michael who had first come to Green Tree with his teacher barely two years earlier at the age of 10. Now 12, Michael, like all of the former boys and staff from their old school were completely different individuals. When he first arrived, he was extremely quiet, completely withdrawn and totally compliant to every directive from staff. Now, they were Green Tree boys through and through.

"You're going to go get them?" He asked his counselor and teacher.

"Yes, we leave Sunday Morning and we'll be back before dinner," Kevin replied.

"Where are you going?" the boy asked which he would never have done two years earlier.

"The boys are in New Hampshire at a Geppetto school there," Kevin replied.

"New Hampshire? How can you get to New Hampshire and back in one day?" Michael asked.

"We're flying," Kevin replied as desert spoons now started dropping to the table.

"Flying on Uncle Bert's jet?" Sammy asked. Adam laughed as did Kevin and Dan, the three senior counselor's at the tables at the time.

"Actually Sammy, the school only borrows the jet, it belongs to your Uncle Sam," Adam told his ward.

"That don't matter Uncle Adam, we use it all the time don't we?" Sammy now asked. Before Adam had the chance to answer, Michael had another question.

"Uncle Thomas is going. Does that mean David is going too?" the boy now pressed. Kevin looked at Adam and then back to the boy.

"I don't have any conformation of that, but if David want's to go, I'm sure he'll let Uncle Thomas know about it," Kevin replied. Not only Michael, but all the boys in the mafia had heard the stories from David and Jesse about the plane, and not one wouldn't have jumped on the opportunity to get on it for themselves. Two year's earlier, Michael probably wouldn't have the courage to ask if he could go. Now, he knew that tradition gave him that right. If a staff member's ward wanted to travel with him, there had to be a very compelling reason to deny the request.

Michael now picked his spoon up and dipped it into his custard.

"I'm going too," the boy stated. Sammy looked to Adam.

"You going too Uncle Adam?" the little boy asked. Adam smiled and brought the boy into him in a hug.

"Not this time killer, but when I do, you get to go," Adam told Sammy.

"Shit! I never have any fun," Sammy said to Trevor and Joey.

Most warm muggy evenings after meals at Green Tree ended with the campers boating on the lake. Boating is a broad term at Green Tree that ranges from actual boating to using a boat for a diving platform to swim off. As Adam and the rest of the mafia staff watched the action in the cove, both Sid and Kevin drove up in their carts after rehearsals for the play concluded. As Sid made promises to join the boys out on the lake and on Turtle Rock, Kevin mounted the stairs and flopped into a deck chair.

"I guess if they aren't ready now, they never will be," he said as he reached over and grabbed a beer out of the cooler.

"The kids have their parts down pretty pat, I just hope Sid's horses don't trample on Aunt Eller or Laurie before the first Act is over," he told the staff of the mafia that now ringed the front porch. Adam smiled. Kevin had been rehearsing with the campers now for almost four months concerning the camps presentation of "Oklahoma" ,

and each time, the man acted like it was opening on Broadway instead of on high risers alongside a lake in the North Carolina mountains.

"The one good thing is that Maria will be pulling the Surrey, so at least we won't run anybody over," Kevin said.

"What are you going to do with her colt?" Eitienne asked.

"Nothing. He's going to be following her around like he always does. Sid say's we can't keep him away from his Mother, he'd freak out," Kevin replied as Sid now mounted the stairs carrying two very wet boys who left the lake when he arrived.

As Sid settled down in his chair, both boys raced for the cooler and took out a beer for him.

"How'd you guys know I was so thirsty?" Sid asked as he bent forward and grabbed both bottles from the boys who then ran off for the kitchen and some lemonade.

"Place looks a little empty," Sid said as he took a sip of his beer.

"Half the mafia's up on the hill playing baseball. The other half are playing "King of the Hill" on Turtle Rock," Adam replied. Sid nodded his head as he watched the boys out in the cove.

"That Michael?" Sid asked as he watched a boy push another boy off the rock.

"Afraid so," Kevin replied.

"Why? If I told you a year ago Michael would be doing exactly what he's doing now, would you have believed me?" Sid asked Michael's counselor. Kevin and the other men watched the boys on the rock, and Michael in particular.

"No. What's standing out there right now and what arrived with me isn't the same boy. Then again, I sure as hell hope I'm not the same man," Kevin replied reflectively.

"Well shit, we know you're not the same man! A year ago you would have been paddling out there with a boatload full of bathing suits trying to hide those boys jewel's from exposure!" Sid replied with a grin.

After the chuckling died down, Sid became a little more serious.

"I understand you've been told Michael's going with you," he said. Kevin nodded his head.

"He's come a very long way Kevin, all your boys have and their independence is no small measure of your encouragement and willingness to let them find their own way," Sid told him.

"I can't imagine that it wasn't a pretty scary transition for you to watch and allow that to happen," Kevin smiled a little thinking back on his arrival at Green Tree when he both feared and hated Sid.

"Well Sid, it wasn't exactly like we had a choice!" Kevin replied jokingly.

"Bullshit! We most certainly would have gotten the job done with or without your help, but you know as well as we do that those kids could have been used as pawns for months and months between your staff and ours. If Michael didn't have his feet very firmly planted, he would have asked and begged you to allow him to go with you. He didn't ask you, he told you, and he told you because he knows where he stands and where you stand. Independence is not something we could instill in him, it came from his rock solid relationship with you," Sid said.

"Uncle Sid, you guys gonna talk all day or come swimming?" One of the boys asked as he put down his glass of lemonade.

"Tell you what, you guys go out there and put all your defenses up. Me and my men here will be out there as soon as you tell us you're ready, and we'll kick your little butts right off Turtle Rock for good!" Sid told the boys.

Adam now looked at Kevin as he shook his head.

"Did you hear me accept any challenge?" he asked Kevin as he stood up taking off his shirt.

The odds were not good. There were five adults to about 15 boys originally, but that number swelled once the baseball games ended and the boys drifted down off the hill.

About an hour after it started, the group swam for the shore. Adam had reached the middle of Turtle Rock once but was quickly pushed back into water.

As darkness fell over the lake, First Tattoo and then Taps blew as showers gave way to tooth brushing and then relative calm as the men returned to the porch. The nightly ritual of brushing out Carla and Jeannie's hair was well underway as goodnight kisses proceeded to prolong bedtime for the campers as long as possible. Sid had not been available for Jeannie for more than few days, and the girl was now extremely reluctant to allow the brushing to stop as she laid back on Sid's stomach moving her head from one side to the other every five minutes or so. Hair brushing had ceased, and had given way to individual attention some time earlier. As usual, Carla was getting her attention from Adam and just as reluctant to see it end prematurely. In earlier days, it would have most certainly have been Sammy sitting in Adam's lap as the man brushed his hair and talked with his friends. Now however, both Carla and Jeannie had somehow displaced the boys of the mafia with themselves at this very quiet, very laid back time of the day.

Other than first light in the morning, it was Prime Time as far as the campers were concerned. All games and play was at an end, it was settle down time, peaceful time, and quiet talk time. If you got lucky, you fell asleep listening to your counselor's kidding and ribbing each other while the moon came over the lake and the bat's ate dinner skimming over the water. With light after light going out in the cabins around the lake, Carla snuggled deeper into Adam's lap as he put down the brush and wrapped his arms around her chest. At almost 12, Carla was one happy camper.

Adam's priority clearly lay with Sammy. So long as Sammy and the other boys were content with Carla's place in Adam's life, Adam saw no problems with the girl's desire to stay very physically close and emotionally attached to him. However, Adam knew very well that deep down inside of himself, and for whatever reason, Sammy and the other boys were his foremost concern and where his love was primarily directed. The how's, the why's and the when's all these feelings came from Adam had no clue of despite asking himself the same questions over and over in his mind.

Raised in Connecticut in a fairly conservative household, he had been indoctrinated for decades on the evils of sin, especially those that involved dirty old men. For a good twenty years, he was taught that the lowest form of life was now him. Towards both Carla and Jeannie and many of the other children at Green Tree, Adam felt extremely protective of, and even a loving concern for. But for particular boys, especially Sammy, he knew it went miles deeper within himself and didn't know where it came from.

Sitting now on the cabin porch with Carla in his lap falling asleep and Sammy along with several boys identifying craters on the moon through telescopes, Adam looked over to Sid who was practically a bookend to Adam with Jeannie who was already down for the count.

"Have you ever thought about the day that this might all end?" Adam asked.

"Ya mean have I ever thought about cutting their hair?" Sid asked. Adam smiled.

"No Sid. I'm being serious. Have you ever thought about Green Tree being closed down?" he asked.

Sid kind of smiled which always told Adam that the man was kicking off his camp clown act and reverting to the Psychologist from Georgetown University that he was. It was a change that Adam had been looking for.

"I use to stay up night's wondering if the tanks were going to be rolling against us and we'd become the next Jim Jone's or Branch Dividian's on the 6:00 news, but Uncle Kenny explained to me a long time ago that there are just too many of us now. Knocking off 500 or even a 1,000 people would have been a cakewalk 30 or 40 years ago. Today, they'd have to explain numbers that the media and internet would never buy without asking questions they have no intentions of ever being asked," Sid replied.

"Even if Geppetto did become public knowledge, they'd still have to keep us segregated. One way or the other, Green Tree and the rest of the schools will still exist," Sid said.

"You're probably right, they'll have to deal with Geppetto boys, but what about those of us who aren't? Adam asked.

"Remember when you first came? Remember the papers you signed?" Sid asked his friend. Adam nodded.

"Well, as a duly registered member of the Witness Protection Program, you're beyond anybody's grasp. You couldn't get arrested and have it stick if you wanted it to. You've got a better insurance policy than a Diplomatic Courier caught with atomic secrets in his pouch. You walk away scot free," Sid told him.

"Total immunity was the only way Harvard would ever have agreed to become involved."

Adam thought about Sid's word's, but he still had questions.

"Why would the government honor any agreement's that were made by the people who perpetuated The Geppetto Project? he asked.

"Because Geppetto is the very tip of the iceberg concerning the governments bag of tricks and Harvard knows where each and every skeleton is buried. If they started talking, the French Revolution would look like a Sunday school picnic compared to Washington. Don't lose any sleep over it Adam, they'll walk through hell to protect you from scrutiny."

Adam looked out over the peace and serenity of the campus that now fell into total darkness with an advancing cloud formation that was covering the sky. Sammy gave up on the telescope and crawled up onto Adam's lap alongside Carla. With a deep yawn, Sammy's head fell back on Adam's chest "You going to bed soon Uncle Adam?" the boy asked.

"That sounds like a good idea to me. Are you sleeping with me tonight or on the porch?" Adam asked Sammy as he kissed the top of the boys head.

" I ain't gone to sleep with you in a long time now have I?" Sammy replied.

"No, but you always seem to find me in the morning," Adam now said. Sammy giggled.

The end of Christopher's day was rarely sedate and when it happened, Bert looked for a cause. Christopher loved the horses and after dinner Bert had six horses tacked and he took his newly formed cabin of Helen, the four girls and Christopher for a ride around campus. Christopher rode double with Bert, and as he sat in front, he was almost electrified with excitement as the group walked from cabin to cabin on horseback. Grinning from ear to ear with his dimple's rarely disappearing on his face, Christopher was in Heaven as he bent down by the waist at each cabin to kiss, or try to kiss, everyone that approached with Bert holding onto Christopher's overall straps to keep the boy from tumbling to the ground.

At more than a few stops, a glass of bug juice or lemonade or ice tea found it's way into Christopher's hands, and by dusk, Christopher, his overall's, the saddle, the blanket and Bert were fairly well soaked much to the amusement of Helen and the girls who knew the feeling well.

"Gee Uncle Bert, the saddles are leather, ya gotta take off the saddle if you're going to take the horse into the lake!" a stable boy chastised Bert upon returning to the sable's. Helen giggled as Bert handed Christopher down to her.

With Overall's now rolled into a ball on the floor of the golf cart, Christopher stood in front of the seat as he steered the cart down the hill. Most of the time he stayed on the path except when someone passed walking up the hill and Christopher let go of the wheel to wave. The trip kept Bert on his toes.

Christopher's shower time with the girls went much quieter than normal. With all four girls to play with while they soaped him up, he was usually pretty bubbly and could be heard from one end of the cabin to the other. Neither Bert nor Helen thought all that much about it until after Christopher came down the stairs dripping wet dragging a towel behind him. As he usually did, he crawled up onto Bert's lap as the man lay in the porch lounger. With darkness fast approaching, Bert figured Christopher had another hour before he'd drift off to sleep. After drying him, Bert fully expected the boy to go flying off his lap and over to his toys, but Christopher made no attempt to move. Bert took advantage of the situation and had Helen bring him a hair brush, something Christopher rarely stood still for. As Helen handed Bert the brush she put her hand on Christopher forehead.

"You think he's not feeling well?" Bert asked. Helen shook her head.

"He doesn't have a fever, but when is the last time you saw him sitting still if he was awake?" Helen asked. Bert nodded as he brushed the boys hair as Christopher laid his head back on Bert's chest.

"Are you feeling all right buddy?" Bert asked the boy.

"Hey." Christopher replied.

"Your tummy doesn't hurt?" Bert asked. Christopher signed "No" with his index finger.

"You sleepy?" Bert asked.

"Hey" Christopher replied "Want to go beddy?" Bert asked. Again, Christopher signed "No," Bert put down the brush and felt the boy's forehead for himself.

"How about a back rub?" Bert asked the boy.

"Hey" Christopher said.

With Helen now getting a small pillow and a bottle of baby oil. Bert repositioned the boy laying him flat on his stomach with his legs laying alongside Bert on both sides. Pulling on Christopher waist, he slid the boy up to his chest. Now he could reach up to Christopher's neck and shoulders and back down to his knee's with Christopher laying an Bert's stomach and legs. Bert spent the next 15 minutes or so massaging Christopher while deep in thought.

"Is there any medication he might have found laying around?" Bert asked Helen. Helen shook her head.

"Maybe some Tylenol, but it's kept on top of the medicine chest, not in it," she replied.

"Check it out, and ask the girls if they've brought anything in," Bert said. Helen came back out on the porch after a few minute's and shook her head.

"The girls say no, and I've checked every medicine closet in the house," she said as she shook a thermometer and stuck it into a jar of Vaseline. Inserting the thermometer, Christopher didn't budge as Helen looked at the boys face.

"He's sound asleep," she told Bert.

"I don't like it. Call Thomas," Bert told her.

Thomas's examination on the soundly sleeping boy took all of a half hour as the Doctor poked, prodded and palpated every part of Christopher's body he could. Like a turkey being prepared for a Thanksgiving meal, no orifice remained unchecked including checking his colon as Thomas took a stool sample. Christopher never stirred.

"He sleeps like the dead." Thomas commented as Helen held the boys leg up.

"That's not unusual, you could have a party in the bed with him asleep and he'll never stir," Bert told the Doctor.

"Well, with a normal temperature and nothing wrong that I can find, I'll take a a urine and blood sample tomorrow morning from him. Maybe between either his stool, blood or urine we'll find something, but as far as I can tell, he's just tired." Thomas told Bert.

"Keep him warm and dry and bring him the Infirmary before breakfast." Thomas told the Director.

"Doc, he sleeps naked and he pisses," Bert told the man.

"Not tonight. He wears pull-ups and a full pair of pajama's and he sleeps between two warm bodies," Thomas replied as he packed up his instruments.

Once Helen stuffed Christopher into a pair of Doctor Denton's, Bert picked him up from the kitchen table and looked down into Christopher's sleeping face. Bert shook his head.

"How the hell does a little boy who can't even talk dig himself so firmly into another person's soul?" he asked.

"Babies do it all the time!" Thomas replied as he took his leave.

Bert's morning began after a long fitful night's sleep. After waking up probably 10 times during the night, he finally called it quits right around 5:00. Going downstairs to his office to do paperwork, he left a still sleeping Helen and Christopher. This was the time of day when Bert was his most productive.

By 6:00 or so, the camp was beginning to show signs of the new day as food smells came from the kitchen and the banging and clatter of dishwasher's were only slightly louder than the voices of the men and senior boys preparing the days food. Bert rarely got a chance to visit the kitchen crew during the day, and morning coffee was always a welcome excuse to touch base with Chef John. As usual, John was sitting on a stool in the corner of the Kitchen doing paperwork on the counter.

"Any problems?" Bert asked his Chef. John shook his head "Bivouac tonight," he said.

"What's on the menu?" Bert asked.

"The usual hamburgers and hot dogs, but we're preparing marinated chicken breasts and beef filet's" John replied.

"Sounds good," Bert replied. John now reached into a pile of papers and searched around.

"I understand we have a plane coming in on Sunday from New Hampshire." John now said. Bert nodded. Handing Bert a piece of paper John now smiled, something that was fairly rare.

"My wish list," he told his Director. Bert looked at the list. 10 bushels of little neck clams, 200 pounds [90 kg] of bluefish. 200 pounds [90 kg] of salmon, 600 [270 kg] live lobster and 1,000 pounds of [450 kg] frozen shrimp.

"You do realize that the jet isn't a 747 right?" Bert asked his Chef.

"The biggest item is the lobster, but they come in crates." John replied.

"I'll try but don't start the water boiling until they get here," Bert told him.

"Where are we with setting up Florida as a training kitchen for my kids?" John now asked Bert.

"Alexandria likes the concept. Their only problem is in repopulating the Key with so many people. The evacuation situation during hurricane threats bothers them," Bert replied. John shook his head.

"I'm backlogged with kid's waiting to be trained. These guy's gotta shit or get off the pot. There's a finite amount of time before these kids get too old and stupid to make good cooks and chef's out of." John told his boss. Bert nodded his head.

"One idea they're tossing around is to build you a kitchen here on the grounds and make it a separate campus," Bert told his Chef.

"If that's the only option, then I guess it has to be done, but make sure they realize that it's going to make our job almost impossible. I'll be competing with the kids to keep them in a hot kitchen instead of going to the pool, the lake, the horses, the camp outs. I kind of doubt we're going to be receiving their undivided attention while they're watching everybody else in the middle of Disneyworld." John said.

"It's a good point, I'll bring it up," Bert told John.

Bert's return to his cabin was a short three minute walk. The first hint of dawn breaking was showing itself off to the East and the only sound besides the kitchen fan's came from Johanna's cabin who had a teething Sidney Bertram echoing his profound displeasure across the lake. Bert had it in mind to stop in and touch base with the girl, but a small schrill voice changed his mind.

"I-ee Burd?" Christopher called out from the front screen door of the Cabin.

"Good morning Christopher." Burt said as he mounted the steps.

"Hey." Christopher replied as he clasped both hands together and stuck them between his legs as he usually did when he got excited.

"Everybody still asleep?" Bert asked as he opened the screen door handle that had been raised out of the boys reach for just such a circumstance.

"Hey." Christopher replied as he now leaped into Bert's arms and began climbing up the man's torso.

"I guess we sprung a leak huh?" Bert said as he folded an arm under Christopher's ass to hold him up. Christopher smiled broadly as he now kissed Bert good morning and wrapped his arms around the man's neck in a strangle hold.

Just about the time reveille blew, Bert had Christopher back in dry pull ups and another pair of pajama's after taking a quick shower with him. With Christopher now bouncing on his rocking horse, Bert heard a knocking on the door as David stood waiting.

"Uncle Thomas told me to deliver this to you," David said as he walked into Bert's office. Bert read the note, which asked him to bring Christopher to him without the senior girls.

"How come?" Bert asked David.

"He said it was something medical." David replied as he poured himself some chocolate milk in the kitchen.

"Uncle Thomas also said he doesn't want Christopher showered yet," David said as Christopher now reached for David's milk.

"Too late. Why didn't he call earlier?" Bert replied. Shrugging his shoulders, David went for another refill.

Bert's arrival in the Infirmary with Christopher and David came a few minutes later.

Upon hearing that Christopher had already showered, Thomas seemed unconcerned.

"Hey little pal, Uncle Thomas needs to see your bum. You don't mind getting nakey for me do you?" Thomas asked the boy as he picked Christopher up and put him down on his back on the examining table. As the Doctor took off Christopher pajama's he spoke to Bert.

"We can cancel the blood and urine tests, I don't need them anymore," he told Bert as he now pulled off Christopher's pull ups.

"Come on pal, we need your legs upsy daisy," Thomas said as he raised both of Christopher's legs over the boy and had Sarah hold them.

"Hey" Christopher replied as he grabbed his toes. Taking a piece of scotch tape, Thomas applied the tape to Christopher's anal crease then held it up to the light.

"The microscope confirmed it, but this is the problem," Thomas said as he motioned Bert over.

"See the little white specks?" he asked Bert.

"Those are eggs," he said. Bert looked at the tape being held up by the Doctor.

"Eggs?" he asked.

"Pin worm eggs. Christopher has worms, and probably half the kids under four do too." Bert looked at Thomas.

"Doc, they're kids, not puppies and kittens!" Bert exclaimed. Thomas smiled.

"Your son never had worms?" Thomas asked him. Bert shook his head.

"Then you were lucky, or your son rarely came into contact with other babies. Children get worms just like puppies do. It's no big deal, but we have to take corrective action both in the laundry and in the pool's," Thomas replied as he told Sarah she could lower Christopher's legs.

"Where did they come from?" Bert now asked.

"Hard to say. Maybe from an infected child, maybe he himself brought them from New Hampshire. Most probably from Sidney or Joshua," Thomas replied.

"So now what?" Bert asked.

"Now we medicate every child six and under, we have the laundry rewash all bed linen, towels and clothing in camp and we instruct Dan to double the chlorine in the pools and sanitize all children's toys," Thomas said as he handed Christopher two pills and a glass of water.

"I'd notify housekeeping who's going to have to wash everything down with Lysol, but I'd suggest we keep this between the staff on an as needed to know basis," he told Bert.

"Is that why I was told not to bring the girls?" Bert asked. Thomas nodded.

"Pin worms are no threat to us, they don't seem to like older children as much as younger children. In fact, it's a little surprising that Christopher at 12 came down with them. That's rare," Thomas said.

"Still, I can imagine it would gross out the girls and would put a pretty good damper on any quality lap time for the foreseeable future."

"It is a little creepy," Bert responded. Thomas smiled as he picked Christopher up and tapped him on the ass.

"Clip his fingernails, have him wash his hands every hour or so and try to keep him in underpants or pull ups for the next few days. They'll be gone before next weekend." "And how do I explain that to the girls?" Bert asked.

"Tell them he has a rash." Thomas suggested. David now giggled a bit.

"Naturally, nothing said inside this Infirmary leaves, does it David?" Bert asked the boy.

"David already has Doctor patient confidentiality down pat," Thomas replied for the boy as Assembly now blew and Christopher reacted to it. Thomas now handed Christopher over to the Director as Bert looked a little leery of the move.

"Just don't start sucking your thumb after you handle him and you'll be fine." Thomas instructed Bert as it was Sarah's turn to giggle.

As a Medical problem, Thomas handled most of the details concerning corrective actions that needed to be taken, but notifying staff was Bert's responsibility. A meeting was called of Senior Staff immediately after breakfast and the response was split according to gender. The older women accepted the news with a grain of salt. Bert's older Staff, who had not come into contact with very many babies prior to Sidney and Joshua,s arrival were as leery as Bert himself. The mere thought of worms running around inside someone did not conjure up a tranquil picture in their minds. More than a few felt a very strong urge for an immediate shower.

"Head Lice, Pin worms! What the hell else do these kids get that we don't know about?" Dave asked. Thomas smiled a bit.

"Nothing that in all probability each and everyone of you in this room didn't get when you where younger," he replied.

"Oh well then, now I feel a whole lot better about it!" Dave said amidst more than a few chuckle's.

"It's going to be a whole lot easier if we keep the specifics away from the kids, especially the Intermediates. We need to strip the entire campus of all laundry, sanitize the living area's and toys and replace the laundry as soon as possible," Bert told the group.

"What's that mean?" Dave asked.

"By tonight's bed time," Bert replied. Dave shook his head.

"2,000 sheets, 900 blankets, 800 pillows, 5,000 towels. And we haven't washed the first sock yet!" he told Bert.

"Well, we do the best we can. Pull everything out of the FEMA storage depot we have in reserve and that will buy us some time," Bert told his Chief Engineer.

"That's already been done." Dave replied.

"How did you know to do that?" Bert asked curiously.

"Doc called me around midnight. We've been up since 3:00" Dave replied. Bert now looked at Thomas.

"Medical Emergency" Thomas said without being asked.

"Keep the normal routine this morning, and Thomas will be dispensing medication to every Camp Kenny and Intermediate child in camp. The medicine will eliminate the problem, but it'll take a few days. In the meantime, it would be nice if we can keep them from sharing underwear with each other," Bert told the assembled.

"I don't want to be a party pooper here, but how are we going to address the romping situation?" Sid asked.

"It may have worked splendidly for Nancy, but "Just say No" ain't gonna cut it with our crowd." Once the laughter died down Thomas addressed the group.

"That's exactly why we're medicating the entire group as a unit. Even if they spread the problem, it's on it's way out. There are also some dietary alterations that are going to be made, so in effect, the entire campus will be involved including the seniors as well as staff," Thomas said.

"You're going to start lacing the coffee with salt peter?" Sid asked. Thomas smiled as he shook his head.

"No Sid, but I sure do hope you like garlic!" he replied.

It took three full days of around the clock washing, and for the most part, the process went undetected by most campers. A few of the older Intermediates wanted to know what was going on, but were told that there was a sand flea infestation and bought the story. (Sid came up with it.)

Bert's morning was just beginning and right around 10:00 a conference call between all Geppetto school Administrator's that was monitored by Alexandria was next on his agenda. Bert saw no need to say anything about the pin worm situation, but he did need to address the upcoming flight to New Hampshire to pick up the twins.

"We should be landing between 10:00 and 11:00 Matthew. How fast of a turn around can we expect?" Bert asked the Director of The New Hampshire School.

"Within minutes Bert. The boys will be at the airport all ready to go." Matthew replied. Bert now smelled a bit of a rat.

"At the airport? You don't want our people picking them up from school?" Bert asked his friend.

"The boys don't travel well, and our people think it'll be a lot easier on them if they get right on the plane. It'll be a new experience for them and probably a lot easier handling than a car ride for your people." Matthew told Bert. Bert thought about his friends explanation for a few quick seconds.

"What's that mean, "They don't travel well"?" Bert asked. There was a short silence on the other end.

"These are eight year old boys Bert. We all know they can get a little spunky sometimes. They're quite active." Matthew replied in a very measured tone. Bert now looked over at Sid who was now studying the ceiling in Bert's office.

"Tell me about "Active" Matthew and leave out the bullshit," Bert replied. With five Administrator's on the line, it took a little while for the chuckling to subside, and when it did Matthew continued.

"They're not hyper-active or anything, they're not on medication, but they do manage to keep themselves pretty busy." Matthew replied.

"How many staff are assigned to each boy Matthew?" Sid now asked.

Again, there was a short silence.

"No special staff are assigned to the boys, they have the same staffing as the rest of their group." Matthew said.

"but each one does have a Senior boy monitor." he quickly added. "Technicality!" Sid said to Bert.

"How many boys do you have there with babysitters attached?" Sid asked the Director.

"Eight Sid." came the slow response.

"How many boys you got up there now?" Sid asked.

"A little over twelve hundred." Matthew responded. Sid sat back.

"We've been had again," he said to Bert.

"Bert, I promise you, other than being a Scale One, these are perfectly normal, healthy boys." Matthew said.

"So basically, you're telling me I'm receiving your everyday normal set of hyper-active rabbits," Bert replied. Once the chuckles died down once again Matthew was back on defense.

"They're not diagnosed as hyper-active. They're just….into things." he responded.

"I believe you Matthew. If we find out differently, you'll be looking at the Gulfstream on it's return flight with two boys waiting for a ride back to you," Bert told him.

"OK, we'll pick them up at the airport. This morning I faxed a wish list to you from our kitchen. Can it be done?" Bert asked.

"This is getting to be a regular habit. When we fly into Philadelphia, you guys all want pretzels and Philly cheese subs. When we fly into Chicago, you all want pizza. When we fly into New York, you all want cheesecake. Just how much cargo do you think that plane will hold?" Alexandria now asked.

"Hello Harry, how's it going?" Bert asked the government monitor.

"A whole hell of a lot better if that plane wasn't coming in with 3,000 pounds [1,400 kg] of shrimp from the Gulf and leaving with 5,000 pounds [2,300 kg] of seafood from the Outer Banks!" The Colonel said.

"That's a 12 passenger jet, not a Fedex Freightliner!" he said.

"Harry, you ain't telling us the boys up there in Washington haven't enjoyed any fresh Maine lobster or Wisconsin Cheddar cheese lately are you?" Sid asked.

"Just keep the lists to a dull roar. Remember, that yours isn't the only requests." Harry said after the laughter died down.

The final discussion brought Bert back into both reality and seriousness.

"On the tests at the Institute concerning Christopher." Matthew said.

"The conclusions are that they're looking for something in the Father's dna that created both boys, but that's a dead end for two reason's right now. First, the dna and gene people don't know what they're looking for and don't know if they even have the technical capabilities yet to find it. Second, they're pretty much out of dna sample's for the Father and he's a no show as well as Christopher's Brother." Matthew reported.

"What do you mean they're running out? I thought once you had someone's dna, you had it for good," Bert asked.

"That's true Bert, but they they need fresh aleal lines to do experimenting, and that eats up sample's with each one." Matthew replied. Bert looked at Sid who shrugged his shoulders. Neither man knew anything about and this line of science.

"They still haven't found his Brother yet?" Sid asked.

"No, along with almost a hundred other Foster Children. The speculation in Brookline is that they've been sold and are sitting in brothel's either in the Balkins or Saudi Arabia." Matthew replied. Both Bert and Sid shook their heads.

"Why are they thinking that?" Bert asked.

"Because better than 80 percent of the missing kids are moderately retarded, blind or deaf/mute. Even if they're discovered over there, there would be no way to identify them." Matthew replied. Up to that point the call was fairly upbeat.

"What about their Father?" Bert asked after a long silence.

"Off the radar screen. Unless he gets popped doing a little girl or two he has disappeared. We've got a flag on him if he gets stopped for a traffic violation, but that's only good here in Massachusetts's. If he's left the State, we need an arrest to find him and even that's not a certainty," he replied.

"Harry can't we list him with a Federal flag?" Bert asked.

"The boys in Langley won't do that Bert. They're afraid that if he returns to the scene and find's out about Lance, it could open a can of worms for them. They feel the Institute needs to wisely use the sample's they've already got and hope that daddy's dead somewhere or at least has AIDS," he told the group. "From fucking six to 14 year old girls? Not likely!" Sid replied.

"Well that's their thinking. Sorry." Harry said.

Several other matters came up for discussion, but basically Bert was more a listener than a participant until the very end.

"Bert, Martha's Vineyard wants to know about Thomas's plans. Are they still on? Matthew asked.

"David has his bags packed already. We've targeted the 2nd and 3rd weeks of August," Bert replied.

"The trip is a go Bert, but I want a back up staff member for David in case Thomas has to fly back to you for an emergency." Harry now said.

"OK. How's the security situation?" he asked.

"I've got no problems once he's sitting on the Island, but to avoid any wrinkle's, we're having them being met by Stuart on his boat in Boston and ferried to the Island. The jet or the helicopter attracts too much attention." Harry replied.

"I'm sure that won't depress David," Bert replied.

Once the call was finished Bert and Sid sat for many minutes in deep thought before either spoke. The prospect of Christopher's Brother Lance now sitting in some brothel getting used until he died of some sexually transmitted disease or S&M act deeply disturbed both men. It could have easily been Christopher but for fate. Finally, Sid stood up.

"There ain't a fucking thing in the world we can do for Lance, let's get back to the living," he said.

"Let's keep the bar closed until 3:00 it wouldn't be very wise for either one of us right now," he told his friend. Bert nodded.

"Who's going to go with David as a back-up?" Sid now asked Bert hoping to get the Director's mind off the subject of Lance.

"My first three choices are out the window. David's closest to Dan, you and Adam, but I can't afford to lose two key staff for two weeks in the middle of summertime.

Johanna is David's Primary Aunt, do you think she'd agree to go?" Bert asked.

"I'm sure if she was told to go she would, but the question is how's Beth going to like that plan? If Johanna leaves, she leaves with Sidney. That leaves Joshua pretty much stranded." Sid reminded Bert.

"Jesus Sid, Joshua's still only 9 months old. It wouldn't be like he wouldn't get any attention of anything!" Bert reminded Sid.

"Actually, it wasn't the baby I was thinking about, it's Beth," Sid said.

Bert sat back in his chair and looked out the porch screening towards the lake where a group of Camp Kenny children were gathering for a lake swim and the lake was beginning to fill up with boats. The noise, laughter and screams of play coming from the lake was music to Bert's ears, it told anyone within earshot that this was one hell of a fun place to be if you were a child. Bert envied the campers, their most pressing problem for the time being was dodging the water being kicked up by their cabin mates as they ran along the shoreline.

"Not so long ago, we could just move folks around like dominoes not thinking much about it. Now, it's more like a chess game where we can't do "That" or it might effect "This." When did it all get so fucking complicated Sid?" Bert asked his Second in Command. "When you succeeded in making this place a family community and not just an institution that happened to have children in it," Sid replied.

"It's all your fault."

"Johanna's our best option," Bert said as he turned back around in his chair.

"Then maybe we should be calling Martha's Vineyard and finding out if they have room for four more," Sid replied. Bert nodded his head.

"Get ahold of Thomas and tell him what's happening. If Beth balks, we need to send the both of them with the babies. If we can't, we go with another staff member who's un-attached," Bert instructed Sid.

Sammy's summer Saturday morning had broken much the same as every other morning did, only this morning, he didn't awaken and find his way into bed with Adam, he was already latched onto Adam's rib cage with Carla on the opposite side of the man. As reveille blew, Sammy rolled over on his back and stretched out as straight as an arrow.

Adam's first recollection of the day was Carla's hand coming across his chest as the girl snuggled about as close to Adam as she could get. Adam kissed the girl on top of the head as the 11 year old (Almost 12) nestled her face against his side and softly murmured to herself. With Sammy now stretched and back against Adam, he kissed the boys hair and wrapped both arms around the children.

"Big day today. We have the water Carnival and tonight, the play tonight after Bivouac," Adam said softly as Jeannie climbed over Carla and landed in the middle of Adam's chest as she pulled up the sheet.

In the very beginning when the girls first came to live with the mafia they awoke before reveille, and were either in the midst of a damned good party with as many boys as they could roust, or were two of the first in the showers ready to start that party. Now, almost a year later, they awoke with the bugle and almost as slow as Adam and Sammy were accustomed to. There was no longer any need to rush out and find some attention, it was laying alongside them.

"What about me?" Jeannie asked as Adam stroked Carla and Sammy's backs from their shoulders to their buttocks and back again.

"Wait a minute, I'll grow another arm and be right with you," Adam replied. Carla now giggled a bit, but made no offer of moving out of her slot to allow Jeannie to move into it. Jeannie picked her head up and looked a little annoyed.

"Tell you what, they get the first massages, but you can have the first kiss if you want it," Adam told the girl. Jeannie's frown went to a smile as she skidded herself up and gave Adam a good morning kiss and then slid back down.

"What are you going to be doing in the Carnival Uncle Adam?" Sammy now asked as he yawned deeply.

"Uncle Dan has me on Safety Patrol on the lake," Adam replied. Carla's head now shot up like a bullet.

"Doe's that mean you get a Jet Ski?" she asked.

Adam smiled.

"No sweatheart, the Senior boys aren't about to give up one of their Jet Ski's for a staff member to use, I've been given two oars and a rowboat to Patrol around in. But you can join me in the boat if you want?" he asked.

"No thanks, I'll ask Uncle Dan if I can ride around with him." Carla replied.

"Traitor!" Adam said as he kissed the girls head once again. With another giggle, Carla was up and off the bed as Jeannie instantly took her place and put Adam's hand on her back. Adam again smiled as he stroked the new girl in town.

"What about you Sammy?" Adam asked the boy who was already on his way to Adam's chest.

"I'm going ski jumping and flying on the trapeze. Later on we're having a sailboat race, but David's gonna win," Sammy replied as he found his spot on Adam's chest and slid his legs down in between Adam's legs.

"Your hair is tickling my tummy!" Sammy said.

"Probably because you're laying on top of it," Adam replied as he patted Sammy's ass with his free hand. With Sammy and Jeannie now facing each other,

Jeannie was the first to talk.

"Time to play?" she asked Sammy. Sammy said nothing as he nodded his head "Yes". With a second good morning kiss to Adam, the girl slid down to the end of the bed and closed the bedroom door on the way out as she called out for Carla.

"OK, so what's first?" Adam asked Sammy as he kissed Sammy's head one more time. Sammy once again giggled softly. His favorite time was the morning, and it always began with him deciding how it began.

"I gotta pee," Sammy said. In Adam's mind, it was a toss up between warm lemonade, or fairly hot beer. He wasn't a fan of either, but he was a fan of Sammy's, and making him happy was all that really mattered. Besides, you can't really get it on if you have a full bladder, and that was why the door was closed. Adam knew full well that to the boys, the true test of whether or not someone loved you "Really Special" was if you agreed to indulge in a little recycled water now and then.

Lip service was nice, but if your friend didn't like you well enough to drink, he wasn't all that great of a pal. To them, it was like sharing a toy or a huge bowl of ice cream. They knew well the part about drinking wine because this was my blood according to jesus, and they also knew about the Indians and blood brother rituals. However, they didn't have all that great of an access to supplies of wine, and allowing themselves to be cut was against school rules. But they did have plenty of water to share. If Sammy didn't know how much Adam loved him it wasn't Adam's fault as he turned the boy around and took him in to Sammy's groin as the boy opened the spigot and Adam emptied the well to the last drop. Once Sammy's bladder was empty, his penis shifted into second gear effortlessly with a little assistance from Adam. The morning had now begun.

Special Activity Day at Green Tree looks like bedlam. It is, but it's organized bedlam that involves the entire school and camp. This particular day was a little more hectic brought about by the pin worm problem. After a midnight call from Thomas, Dave had gotten himself and his crew up at 3:00 in the morning and had emptied the storage area at the FEMA Depot of every single piece of clothing and bedding contained in the massive warehouse that the camp owned. Now, immediately following breakfast every single Cabin in camp was first stripped of every piece of laundry or clothing that would come into contact with either the Camp Kenny children or the Intermediate campers. The camp laundry had not stopped since the order was given by Bert to sanitize both camps, and housekeeping moved into the Cabins to wash and wipe down every toy and surface that even might harbor the retched little bastards. All of this transpired while the pool's and lakes where filling up with campers participating in Water Carnival Day.

"Our one saving grace is that these kids prefer to swim naked. We'll have fresh clean bathing suits for them for lunch, but for the most part, by the time they're ready for clothing again, we'll have have them ready for them." Dave told Bert as the Director walked down to the boathouse carrying Christopher. Bert nodded.

"They asking any questions?" he asked his Chief Engineer.

"Some, but they're buying the sand flea story." Dave replied.

"Good, from now on, that's all we got around here," Bert replied with a grin. Dave looked at Christopher who was very intently watching the campers on the high trapeze who were diving into the lake. Dave tickled the boy on his rib cage.

"This is all your fault you know" he kidded the boy. Christopher squealed as he reached to remove Dave's hand.

"Mee?" he asked "Hey" Dave replied to Bert's amusement.

With a huge splash, a boy dove into the water from the high trapeze which now caught Bert's attention once again.

"How deep is it there? Is there enough depth for that kind of stuff?" Bert asked the man who installed the apparatus.

"Plenty." Dave replied "There's 10 foot [3 m] of water and they need five to six feet [1.5-1.8 m] for safety," he replied. Bert watched as another boy swung out on the trapeze and somersaulted himself into the lake on the high stroke. Bert cringed a little.

"I thought when I reviewed the plans for that thing that the wire was going to be 30 feet [9 m] off the ground giving them a 15 foot [4½ m] drop at best." Best said.

"Yeah but they needed a little more height to do triples." Dave replied. Bert looked at Dave.

"How little more?" he asked.

"Five feet [1½ m]." Dave told his boss.

"When did you tell me you were going to increase the drop by 33 percent?" Bert asked.

"I'll have to check my notes, but I'm sure I did." Dave replied.

"Yeah, you check your notes and I'll borrow one of Sid's shovel's" Bert told Dave. It was now Dave who was a bit amused.

Dan was notified by Thomas at Breakfast about the pin worm situation. There was nothing that could be done about the lake, but the pool, particularly the steam room and Romper Room, where the Camp Kenny children practically lived their entire day was going to have to be continually washed down and sanitized, especially the riding toys that all the childen shared, and like their counterpart's on the Intermediate Campus, were almost universally naked while in the pool area's.

"Why not just shut them down?" Dan suggested.

"I suggested that, but Bert and Jeanette vetoed the idea." Thomas told him.

"They both said that if the kids didn't have access to playthings and toys, they'd

end up in each others pants even faster, so it would be counterproductive." Thomas told the Waterfront Director.

"No argument there," Dan replied.

"Bring the chlorine levels up as high as you can without causing them any discomfort. As far as the riding toys and trikes are concerned, spray them down with water hoses and a bleach solution of 50 to 1. Wash everything down they sit on, that's where the problem is spread. By the way, we're spraying for sand flea's, not worms," Thomas said.

"Sand flea's?" Dan asked.

"Yes, unless you want to tell the Senior girls they're about to sit on a chair that might have worms on it," Thomas replied. Dan shook his head.

"No, I don't think so!" he said.

As Bert now approached the Boathouse, Dan was out on the dock looking through his field glasses as the activity on the lake went into high gear. The cove and Turtle Rock was all but deserted as Rowboat, Canoe and Sailboat races were being organized in the upper reaches of the lake while the middle area was primarily a slalom water ski course.

Directly across the lake from the Boathouse, a ski jump area had been partitioned off leaving the bottom of the lake in front of the Mess Hall open for the High Trapeze area and the beach. Dan had organized 25 water activities in all for the Carnival and a time and point system would determine the winning Cabin. This was an event the campers took more seriously than a baseball game. What no staff member in camp wanted to be was the points keeper. After too many year's experience with hurt feelings and charges of "No fair!" Bert had ordered a running tally board of facts and figures. No individual staff member could be blamed for a loss, it was all a case of simple mathematics which were posted as soon as the figures arrived in front of the mess hall. It all sounded very simple. It took Bert, Sid, Dan, Dave, Gloria, Jeanette, Johanna and Chef John a month to develop the system five year's earlier to make sure everybody got a small piece of the pie without suspecting "Tampering."

"So, I hear you didn't have enough for me to concentrate on and you decided I needed some bigger challenges huh?" Dan asked his boss as Bert tossed Christopher into the enclosed crib area. Sitting down on the dock, Bert put his feet into the water as Christopher splashed around.

"Ya learn something new everyday. You ever hear of this stuff before?" Bert asked his Water Front Director.

"Yeah, It came up in Red Cross WSI class when they told us not to let kids share bathing suits and towels. I never had to deal with it, shit our kids don't wear any suits!" Dan replied. Bert smiled a bit as Christopher paddled under the dock and started howling to hear the echo.

"You have the staff you need down here?" Bert now asked.

"I'm pretty well covered, I've got a three to 1 ratio on the lake, but most of the staff are on the shore, and most of the kids are on the lake. It's a fucking good thing they all know how to swim!" Dan replied.

Bert nodded his head. Out on the lake, whistle's, bull horns and even air horns could be heard, but Dan as well as other key staff around the lake were all monitoring the Camps Lake Patrol which consisted of Senior Boys on Jet Ski's. Bert listened to the radio chatter and glanced at Dan's Jet Ski which could get the man across the good sized lake in less than a minute if it had too.

"Well if you need anything, let me know. I'm going to drift over to the Infirmary," Bert said.

"I could use 50 more canoe's, 50 more Sail Fish and a Director taking his camper with him," Dan replied as he lifted his field glasses. Bert again smiled but said nothing as he called for Christopher to get out from under the dock.

Christopher entered the Infirmary a good ten steps ahead of Bert as the screen door slammed shut behind the boy who was now making a bee-line for a jar with lollipop's in it. Now standing with his nose less than an inch [2½ cm] from the jar, Sarah asked Christopher a very stupid question.

"Christopher want a lollipop?" With both hands now clasped together and digging for his his groin, Christopher practical leaped vertically "Hey" he replied. Sarah smiled as she opened the jar and brought it down to the boy. Christopher's hand reached in and came back out with a fistful of lollipops.

"One Christopher, the other boys and girls have to get one too." Sarah told the boy as Bert now entered the clinic.

"I-ee?" Christopher asked.

"Yes, one." Sarah repeated. Christopher opened his hand and all the lollipops fell on the table.

"Which one would you like, the red one or the yellow one?" the nurse asked.

"Hey" Christopher replied.

"OK, take it." Sarah told him. Christopher picked up a purple lollipop and showed it to Sarah.

"I-ee?" he asked once again.

"Yes, you can have the purple one," she said as she picked up the rest of the lollipops and put them back into the jar.

Handing his lollipop to Bert, the Director opened it and handed in back to the boy.

"Did you say "Thank you" to Aunt Sarah?" he asked. Turning around and reaching arms up, Sarah looked at Bert.

"Thanks" she said as she picked up Christopher who now planted a very wet kiss on the girl.

"Hang que" Christopher said in his garbled way.

"You're welcome Christopher, I'm happy you came to visit us," she told the boy.

"Hey" Christopher replied as he now squirmed to be put back down.

With Christopher now headed for a corner in the clinic where some toys were, Bert looked around at the proceedings which included preparing bottles of medicine which were being distributed throughout the campus. Thomas had a staff of four nurses and another 12 Senior girl candy strippers, who were all busy filling bottles and labeling them for the various cabins.

"Should I assume the senior girls know the reason for the medicine?" Bert asked Sarah very quietly.

"The Infirmary girls do because they need to know, but the rest of the seniors are clueless. They bought the sand flea story." Sarah reported.

"There was no way we were going to keep them out of the loop, they're helping doing the examinations on the Camp Kenny kids," the nurse said. Bert nodded as he watched a group of senior girls examining and applying scotch tape to the Camp Kenny kids' bottoms.

"Find any?" Bert asked.

"About 30 percent. We're attributing it to the riding toys up in the Romper Room."

"Why?" Bert asked.

"Because neither Sidney nor Joshua have them, and they should have been the first to get them. They don't sit on the toys yet, and they really don't come into too much physical contact with the other kids yet," Bert nodded his head.

"I guess that made Johanna and Beth happy," he said. Sarah now smiled.

"Beth was ready to throw all the clothing and bed linen's in a pile and burn them this morning," she told Bert.

"She took three showers before she got here." Now it was Bert's turn to smile. He kind of knew exactly how the girl felt.

"Where's Thomas?" Bert asked.

"He's up with John in the Kitchen. Apparently, the sand flea's don't like garlic very much and he wants John to increase it's use whenever possible." Sarah told him. Bert nodded his head as he now walked over to the examining tables where three or four campers lay on their backs with their legs being held up as the senior girls tested and then washed the campers. five year old Scotty was now ready to forego all this wasted time and climb into Bert's lap.

"Uncle Bert!" Scotty exclaimed as he raised his hands when the boy saw the Director approaching. Reaching over the boy, Bert gave him a good morning kiss and waited until a pair of underpants was slipped on by one of the senior girls.

"Gee Scotty, I haven't seen you since breakfast!" Bert told the boy who now giggled as he hugged Bert's neck.

"We got flea's!" Scotty told the Director. Bert smiled but didn't make an effort to correct the boy.

"Well, they're all gone now," Bert replied as he patted Scotty's ass. Slowly being surrounded by a sea of small children, Bert sat down as four year old Caroline now climbed up into his lap and gave the man his second good morning kiss.

"Are you going to the Lake Uncle Bert? We have a watermelon rolling game to do." The girl asked.

"You bet, but first I have to make sure Chef John is cooking you a really good lunch. Tonight, we have a very big picnic on the beach, and he has a lot of work to do," Bert told the girl who was nodding her head.

After a game of "Hand washing", the next Cabin was ready to enter the Infirmary as Bert recovered Christopher from the toy box.

"Christopher, want to have your hiney checked for flea's and have a nice dry pair of pants?" Sarah asked the boy. Christopher shook his head and signed "No" to the nurse.

"Not even if I give you another lollipop?" she pressed. Christopher now hesitated deep in thought. Bert looked at the boy.

"Sounds like a nice offer to me," he said to the boy.

"Hey!" Christopher replied as he leaned towards the nurse with his hands out as Bert passed the boy over to her.

"Amazing what they'll do for a lollipop!" Bert said as Christopher's legs rose above his head.

Bert's arrival in the Mess Hall with Christopher was watched very closely by the mess boy's. They had already set the table's for the days lunch, and piles of cups, plates, and bowls where not the wisest thing you wanted left standing around when Christopher was within reach. He had already "Visited" the Mess Hall just before a meal on several occasions, and usually left the tables in a shambles having to be reset. As he now made his way through the Dining Area, he was flanked on both sides by the mess boys who were acting as a fence between the boy and their tables as he walked. Bert smiled as the boys looked very seriously at the potential for disaster.

Knowing the rules, Christopher stopped at the kitchen's swinging doors as he waited to be held by the hand.

"Good boy" Bert said to him as he reached down and took Christopher by the hand. The new Camp kitchen was fairly massive in size, with rows of ovens, stoves and deep fryer's lining the walls. Walking through the middle of the kitchen through the food prep area, Christopher was safe from the stoves, but still, if alone he could still get into tons of trouble between massive mixing machines, slicers and the knives which seemed to be everywhere. The kitchen was Christopher's second best place to go, his first being the pool. Here, there was always a cupcake, a cup of pudding, piece of pastry, or maybe even an ice cream sandwich to be had, and all the kitchen staff wanted to make sure this particular camper was pre-occupied at all times. He got about 15 feet [4½ m] into the kitchen before a cook handed the boy a banana.

"Hang que." Christopher said as he grabbed the banana.

"Your welcome," the cook replied as he smiled.

"There's my new head cook, how you doing pal?" Chef John said as Christopher walked into John's office.

"Hey." Christopher replied as he sat down and started peeling his banana.

"So what's up?" Bert now asked the Chef and the Doctor.

"Thomas say's we need to push the garlic. Apparently, our little friends don't like garlic and it'll convince them to move on." John replied. Bert nodded his head.

"Does that present you with any problems?" Bert asked.

"Not really, but you're going to be seeing a lot more Italian food and Pizza around here than normal." John replied.

"I can spice beef and pork with garlic fairly easily, but dishes like spaghetti sauce and pizza can really be loaded down with garlic powder. Then there's garlic bread that these kids practically inhale anyway," he told the Director.

"That does it for you?" Bert asked the Doctor. Thomas nodded his head. "The medication is going to do the job, this will just help to speed up the process." he told his boss.

"You know we're dealing with sand flea's right?" Bert asked John. John now nodded.

"That's the official version, but my crew already knows what's going on. The senior boys keep no secret's from each other," he told Bert.

"No problem, just let them know that it doesn't get distributed for public consumption, it'll create problems we don't need," Bert replied.

"OK Christopher, ready to go to the lake?" Bert now asked the boy.

"Hey." Christopher replied as he leaped off the chair.

"Say goodbye," Bert said as he moved to the door. With a banana smelling kiss to the Chef, Christopher was headed for Thomas.

"That's OK Christopher, I'm going with you," Thomas said as Christopher approached him intending on kissing the Doctor goodbye.

"Chicken shit!" John called out wiping his mouth of banana as the three left his office.

Walking back through the kitchen, the kitchen crew was busy preparing soups and sandwiches for lunch. By the time Christopher reached the other end of the kitchen, two pieces of bologna, a piece of salami and two pieces of american cheese sat in his stomach. Bert look at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was 10:00 and mid morning milk and cookies for the Camp Kenny children was still a half hour away. Still, Bert knew damned well that there was no such thing as "Spoiling" a meal where Christopher was concerned as the boys stomach led him out through the swinging doors.

Sammy's morning began at reveille with Adam and the girls and by 9:00 he and the three Cabins that made up the mafia were all reviewing the days schedule of events for the Water Carnival. No group in Camp was tighter than the three dozen boys who made up the mafia, but Water Carnival was the equivalent of Color War, or even a baseball team coming against another team. The carnival was organized into teams of Cabins that would now compete with one another, and that included the mafia's cabins of Cochina, Beachview and Bay Watch. Normally, these three cabins were in competition as a unified group against the 12 other cabins that made up the Intermediate boy's camp. Now, they would go head to head against each other as well. The boys now reviewed the list of events that Dan had organized, and were quietly trying to figure out amongst themselves who was going to win each event on the list. Sammy didn't like what he saw.

"No fair! If we had Jesse still with us, we could win. But all we got is David and Spencer!" Sammy said as he looked at the list.

Beachview was now made up of Carla, Jeannie, Spencer, Sammy, Chris, Trevor, Joey Matty and David. At 12, David was the oldest, all the rest were 10 and 11. David excelled at certain sports as did Spencer and the rest of the group considered themselves mediocre compared to some of the other boys they were going to come up against. One cabin had two 12 year olds, and two 13 year olds in it.

"We can beat Coquina, they got four eight year olds now!" Joey suggested.

"Big deal, if we still had Jesse, we could beat them all!" Sammy replied.

"Well we ain't got Jesse!" Trevor said to his friend.

"Fuck!" Sammy said as he crossed Cochina off the list. Activity by activity, the boys all accessed their positions. Beachview came to the conclusion that they could take Bay Watch in some activities like ski jumping, slalom and sailing because of David and Spencer was close to unbeatable in swimming, but rowboats, canoe's, trapeze and diving were lost before they started.

The boys knew that David and Spencer couldn't carry the whole team, and they were at an age disadvantage to make up the difference. Game strategy went on for a full 15 minutes before it was time to separate and for each cabin to send their best teams to the different events. To an outsider, this was child's play. To the player's, it was World Series serious stuff!

For Adam, Water Carnival was a bit of an eye opener. Not only as at related to what the campers could and could not do, but in the Administrative end of the activity. As the Camps Commissioner of Baseball, Adam knew that the winner at the end of the season was the Cabin with the best team and a single Cabin took home all the marble's. The previous year, Beachview won the Championship mainly due to the teams three power hitters, Jesse, Spencer and David. This year, they had already lost Jesse to the Senior Boys, and David was going to be leaving for two weeks smack in the middle of August. They still tried, but Beachview knew it was a lost cause.

The winner's of Water Carnival however, was designed by Bert and the Senior staff to have individual winner's in each of 25 activities, with an overall winner based upon combined scoring. As Adam now learned as a Senior Staff member, what he had suspected as a child himself at camp was true, the deck could be stacked to ensure each Cabin won in at least one activity to hang it's hat on and not come out total losers.

"We all work our balls off 364 days a year to see to it that these kids pull together as a cohesive unit. One day a year, they compete against each other and somebody comes out the winner. Our job is to make sure that none of them comes out last," Bert told his staff .

Every Cabin wins in at least one category, even if it's marbles!" he declared.

"Just don't let them catch you rigging the figures."

By lunch time, the tote board was ¾ full of times, and points earned. By design, Albert Einstein would have had a difficult time figuring out exactly who was in first and last place, as Sammy and the boys stood in front of the board with Adam. As the boys reluctantly put on a bathing suit or pair of underpants to go into the Mess Hall, all 9 tried to figure out where they stood.

"It looks like you guys have put up a mighty impressive fight," Adam said somewhat evasively.

"How come they don't tell us who's in first place Uncle Adam?" Trevor asked his Counselor.

"Well, we won't know that until all the figures are in, but it looks pretty good for you guys so far!" Adam replied.

Lunch of soup, make your own sandwiches and wets (French fries with gravy) was a big favorite of the boys and few noticed the extra spicy gravy that was hastily added to the menu at the last minute along with au jous to allow the boys to dip their sandwiches into.

For the next three days not even breakfast escaped a touch of garlic, the sausage patties and home fried potato's took care of that.

The Carnival resumed at 1:00 which gave the boys ample time after lunch to romp back at the cabin and to finalize strategy. Adam wasn't exactly sure which was more important to the boys; deciding who was going to fly on trapeze, or finish a five boy circle jerk. Both were accomplished successfully, but Adam wondered if the boys remembered the circle jerk two minutes later as they all sprinted out the screen door headed for the beach.

"Where's Carla and Jeannie?" Adam asked Spencer who was the last to leave the cabin.

"They went down to the dock to see if they could beg a ride with Uncle Dan or one of the senior boys." Spencer replied as he and Anthony dressed.

From the front porch of Beachview, Adam could see pretty much the entire lake except for a few spots like Lover's Cove which was always shrouded in weeping willow tree branches. Looking through his field glasses, he spotted a jet ski with a distinctive looking pair of yellow and blue bikini bottoms go whizzing by the ski jump. Focusing in, Carla was attached to a senior boy with her arms wrapped around him with her hair flowing in the breeze. Adam shook his head, but never doubted the girls would weasel their way onto jet ski's, no matter how busy at Water Safety Patrol the senior boys were.

Dan was back at the Boathouse dock monitoring the Lake, which had not yet gone into the afternoon session when Adam came walking onto it.

"Are both girls out there?" Adam asked Dan.

"I saw Jeannie a few minutes ago with Sean. I'm not sure about Carla," Dan told his friend.

"She's out there, look for the yellow and blue pants," Adam replied as he picked up his field glasses.

"Yeah, I got her," Dan replied.

"She's riding with Jeramy."

"What happens if there's an emergency?" Adam asked.

"If something breaks, both girls will be dumped and have to fend for themselves. They know that," Dan replied. Adam shook his head as he watched Carla as she whizzed around the lake and had to smile. Both 11 year old's were in seventh heaven and looked like it. Dan now looked at his watch.

"They'll be dropped off soon, afternoon session starts in a few minute's," he said.

"Where are the boys?" he asked.

"They went back to the cabins after lunch for some quick playtime. I guess Carla and Jeannie decided to skip the afternoon session." Adam told Dan.

"Well if they were hoping for some action elsewhere, it isn't about to happen, my crew knows that the Intermediates are off limits."Dan replied.

"No problem, the girls have never made a move to go beyond the mafia," Adam replied.

"Gee it must be tough having only 34 boys to pay any attention to you," Dan said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, it's going to be interesting when our new arrivals hit the scene," Adam replied somewhat less amused.

"I think I'll have a little talk with the girls tonight. From what I gather, Scale One's don't particularly care who they play with," Adam said. Dan nodded.

"It's going to get interesting around the mafia, that's for damned sure. I hoping we get a little insight into their background. Dropping two sharks in the middle of a pool of minnows ain't the best plan," Dan said. Adam now had to smile even if the talk was a serious one. Considering the mafia "Minnows" was beyond his comprehension, each member could wear Adam down to a frazzle in less than a day if the man tried to keep up with them. Now they were taking in 2, eight year old boys.

"That might be a little over reaching," Adam replied.

"Over reaching my ass. You weren't around when Charlie was a little boy. Single handedly he kept a very big smile on eight boys faces and they didn't even have to pull their pants down, Charlie did it for them!" Dan told Adam.

"That's why Bert's sending Charlie with Kevin. Only another Scale One knows how they tick," Adam listened as both Carla and Jeannie were being dropped off on the beach with the Beachview boys now surrounding them.

"Why not just bring Charlie into the picture and set him up with a Cabin on the Intermediate's campus?" Adam asked.

"The goal is to try to slow them down if at all possible and to direct their activities to age appropriate companions," Dan said. We want them turning out like Charlie, not like toy boys in Manila."

"Do you think they'll ever enter into society?" Adam asked.

"Scale Four's can make it with a lot of Self restraint." Scale Three's need some support, along with self restraint. Scale Two's usually end up in prison within a year unless they plunk themselves down in the middle of the Yukon or in the out back of Australia where they never come into contact with people. Scale One's don't have a prayer," Dan told his friend.

"But don't let that info get you down, Most of the staff here, and most of the boys are Scale three and 4, and we don't even bother to try to assimilate. Why the fuck should we? I've been out there and they're the one's who are locked up. We're free here and we damned well know it!" Dan told Adam.

"Camper down on the canoe run at Hidden Cove, First Aid requested Uncle Dan!" A voice over the radio now said.

"Lake Ops to Infirmary One, Send a unit to Hidden Cove, Camper down," Dan called into a microphone as he leaped onto his Jet Ski.

"Let's go!" he told Adam as he let go of the line attached to the Jet Ski. Within less than a minute, Dan and Adam reached the Cove where a small group of campers stood in the water as a boy sat on a Jet Ski with a Senior boy holding his hand to the boys forehead. As Adam pulled up, he also saw a golf Cart from the Infirmary appear off the trail and move down towards the lake.

"What happened?" Dan asked the senior boy.

"Two went in after tipping a canoe and when the canoe went over it hit him on the head." The senior boy responded. Dan looked at the boy on the Jet Ski.

"Where's the other boy?" he asked.

"Right there," the senior said pointing to a boy standing next to the Jet Ski. As Dan took the senior boys hand away, Thomas and Martha wading into the water as Dan now backed up. A golf ball sized lump sat on the boys forehead, but other than that, the skin wasn't broken and he was alert and awake.

"Lake Ops to Lake Watch, Hidden Cove is Code Green," Dan reported to the rest of his crew as he watched Thomas and Martha escort the boy to the Golf Cart and a cold compress. Telling his Senior boy to return to his station, Dan now addressed the other boy in the canoe.

"You know how he was hit on the head right?" Dan asked the boy.

"Yes Sir," the boy said sheepishly.

"Good, then when Barry get's over his headache, you'll remind him to dive away from a flipping canoe and not ride over with it!" he told the boy.

Heading back to the dock, Dan stopped by the senior boy to debrief him.

"That was a good, clean save. Good job," Dan told the boy.

"What happened?" Dan asked the boy.

"There were four or five Canoe's having a water fight waiting for the races to begin when one of them flipped over. One of the kids came up immediately, but I didn't see the other one so I came to see what was going on. By the time I got there, Tony had Barry out from under the canoe and was waiting for me," the boy reported.

"They stayed with the canoe?" Dan asked.

"Yes Sir," the boy replied.

"Fine. Let the other boys know that if they had left the canoe and tried to swim to shore, they'd be grounded right now for not following the rules," Dan told the boy. The boy nodded as Dan started the Jet Ski.

"Stay alert Robby," Dan told the boy as he left.

After returning to the dock, Dan was quiet for awhile. Monitoring his radio's he listened as Thomas informed the Infirmary that he was coming in with a non emergency, and the senior boys on Jet Ski's reporting that they were all back on regular station.

"That went pretty smoothly," Adam finally remarked.

"Yes, the boys have been trained relentlessly on how to deal with emergencies, they're pretty much prepared for anything that goes on out there and they're very serious about their responsibilities," Dan replied.

"I just wish Bert was as well prepared," he said with a small smile.

"Bert?" Adam asked.

"He's monitoring the radio too. He was either up on the Girls campus or at one of the pool's. If he was down here on the lake, we would have seen him by now," Dan replied. Less than five seconds later, Bert whizzed by in his Cart. Dan chuckled to himself.

"I'd warn Thomas, but Bert would be crawling down my neck," he told Adam.

"Man's gonna have an ulcer before he turns 50!" Adam smiled to himself.

"$20.00 say's Bert orders a boating safety refresher course," Dan now told his friend. Adam shook his head.

"You got lucky Barry, if the canoe hit you a little harder, it could have knocked you unconscious then you have really been in trouble," Bert told the boy as he sat in a chair with an ice pack being held to his forehead.

"But Tony was right there with me!" The boy said.

"You're saying you've never taken a canoe out alone?" Bert asked the boy. The boy shook his head.

"Flipping a canoe is fun, but if you don't follow the rules, you can get hurt. You've got a grapefruit sitting on your skull because you ignored the rules. You will not allow it to happen again right?" Bert pressed the boy.

"Yes Sir," the boy replied.

"Does this mean I can't go back to the Carnival?" the boy very quickly asked the Director. Bert shrugged his shoulders.

"That's up to Uncle Thomas or Aunt Martha, you'll have to get their permission Barry," Bert replied.

"I've got to get back up on the hill. I left Christopher with Gloria," Bert now advised Thomas. Now taking the boy's face in his hands, Bert kissed him on the forehead.

"Please follow the rules," he told the boy.

Dan didn't need to turn around on the dock to know that the footsteps he was now hearing were those of Bert's as the Water Front Director monitored the lake though his field glasses.

"That was a quick response," Bert said as he approached the end of the dock.

"Yeah, he was in and out in less than two minutes by the time Adam and I got there," Dan replied.

"Adam was with you?" Bert asked.

"Yeah, he was monitoring the girls," Dan said.

"Where is he now?" Bert asked. Dan pointed towards a rowboat in the middle of the Water Ski Jump course. Bert nodded his head.

"Are you planning any follow-up to the accident?" Bert now asked.

"I think the best follow-up would be for the rest of the kids to get a good look at the egg on Barry's forehead before it disappears. He fucked up by not following the rules and he's got the trophy to prove it," Dan replied.

"maybe we need a refresher course after we get through the week-end?" Bert asked.

"If you order it, that's what I'll do, but I think that bump is going to go miles beyond the longest lectures we can produce," Dan told his Director.

"We'll do it your way," Bert replied.

For Sammy and the rest of Beachview, the Carnival now went into high gear with the bulk of the "Fun" events now scheduled for them including the trapeze, ski jump and slalom events where the boys knew they could pick up up some valuable points. With trapeze being the first event after lunch, Sammy's spirits began lifting. All six boys in Beachview had been in the school's production of Peter Pan, and they in turn had taught both Carla and Jeannie to "Fly" on the trapeze since then. All eight were now as comfortable doing doubles off the high trapeze into the water as they were riding bikes down the path. Both Carla and Jeannie had been taught to fly in tandem with a catcher. This was not an event that Bert was comfortable in watching. Bert watched for a good 10 minutes while the kids somersaulted from one swing to another like the flying Wallenda's before they dove into the water doing two ½ Gainers. He was beginning to regret he had agreed to close the bar until 3:00 as he climbed the hill to retrieve Christopher and the girls from the pool.

For trapeze, the greatest amount of points went to those who demonstrated the highest degree of difficulty in their routine. The boys really didn't know how well they had done yet, but they were happy in their performance. Once they arrived at the staging area for the ski jump, their spirits picked up even greater. Jumping was based on distance, not so much on experience and size, in fact, smaller boys traveled further than older and bigger boys did once airborne. All eight participated in that event. Now down to their last event, Slalom Skiing, they elected to put up just four boys, David, Spencer, Trevor and Joey. They were the best they had, and if a boy went down on the course, it could hurt them in the points standings. By 4:00 the group was back in Beachview analyzing and re-analyzing the days performance while showering and meeting basic needs.

Adam had spent pretty much the entire day on the lake, and by 4:00 he kind of felt exactly like he did on his first day in Florida; Burnt to a crisp! He had taken all precautions including a stone white zinc coated nose, tubes of sun blocker, hats and long sleeved shirts, but still, the mirror effect of the sun on the water had done a pretty good job on him as he very carefully removed his clothing and accidentally walked into a fairly robust party in the shower. Normally the Counselor would have excused himself and closed the door behind him leaving the boys to their endless pursuits of happiness. That afternoon, he moved Joey and Matty over as the water felt like pitchforks stabbing his back legs and neck.

"Boy Uncle Adam, you should'da put some suntan lotion on!" Sammy said. Adam just shook his head as Matty's leg landed in his lap.

Adam had about an hour to recover sitting in the shade of the front porch of Beachview before it was time for Beach Dinner and then the camp production of Oklahoma!. He was scheduled to play piano and it was a little late to back out now. With a supply of cold beer next to him and both Carla and Jeannie applying aloe on his neck and the back of his legs, he first had to endure the compassion of his fellow teachers and staff members as they gathered to his side once they learned of his misery.

"Boy, you're one dumb fuck!" Sid said as he pulled up in his cart with a dozen kids hanging off every possible piece of the machine. With the campers now all either heading straight for the lake and Turtle Rock or the kitchen and the refrigerator, Sid came up on the porch and sat down with Carla handing him a cold beer and a kiss hello.

"Nice to see you Sid, thanks for the well wishes," Adam replied as several campers gathered to watch and listen to the humiliation.

"If this is your way of trying to get out of your responsibilities, you can forget it. You're playing tonight even if you turn yourself into a french fry!" Sid told his friend. Adam. shook his head as several boys giggled.

As the screen door on the cabin now flew off and almost imbedded itself into the cabin wall, Sammy and about eight or 10 children now came out of the cabin in varying degrees of dress, mostly not.

"Who won Uncle Sid? You got the score's yet?" Sammy asked.

"They're still totaling them up sport. Uncle Bert say's we'll all know the results at Dinner.

How did you guy's make out?" Sid asked the boys.

"OK I guess, but we don't think we got first place." David replied. Sid shrugged his shoulders.

"We'll see at Dinner," he told the boys.

"Have all you boys seen Barry this afternoon?" Sid now asked the boys in a much more serious tone than seconds before.

"Yeah, he got konked on the head!" Trevor now said.

"Yes he did, and do you know why?" Sid asked. A somber chorus of "Yes Uncle Sid." from all the boys told both Adam and Sid that the lesson was already being taught.

"OK, that's good. Now, can anybody tell me why you guys packed your Counselor's brains away for the summer?" Sid asked. Adam shook his head once again. Nobody could turn on a dime like Sid could.

As soon as the end of Carnival cleared the beach in front of the Mess Hall, the Kitchen began setting up and preparing for Beach Dinner as the senior boys installed high risers for the stage on the lawn. It had been a long day for both the senior boys and girls campus, these two groups were the "Worker bee's" of the Green Tree hive. Now, in addition to their regular duties, they were the backbone of the cast and crew of Oklahoma! Both Peter Pan and Oliver were productions produced mainly for the Intermediate boys and girls. The success of those two productions now had the senior camps interested in showing off their talents. Not a small part of the decision to put on Oklahoma was the fact the Kevin also knew Spencer's voice would most probably be lost before the production and the music teacher needed to put on a production that needed no First Soprano lead. Oklahoma fit that need perfectly. The cast was made up exclusively by senior's, and even the Intermediate camp was looking forward to the show as long as they didn't have to sit through another Dressage Exhibition by the senior girls. Horses they liked, dancing horses they could do without.

By the time Assembly blew for flag lowering, most of the Intermediate's had already gathered by the flag pole hoping to get some indication of the winners of Carnival. Bert tried to make every Assembly, morning and evening, and on this day he pulled up in his cart as the last refrains of To The Colors echoed across the lake and the camp flag came within Christopher's reach once again sending giggles throughout the ranks.

Bert's original plan was to announce the Carnival winner's after Dinner, but wiser heads prevailed when Bert was reminded that the likelihood of the boys quickly settling down after the announcements to watch the play was minimal at best. Pennants had been made for each of the 25 activities conducted at Carnival, and then there were "Director's award's" for things like Best Improvement, Best Sportsmanship and Best Effort.

15 Cabins participated and Bert & Company made sure each one had a First Award in something, even if it had to be cleanest underpants. Knowing in advance the Intermediate's would be counting down to Number One, the award's were announced by Cabin number with the announcement of the top five awards held off until last. After a half hour of announcements, each cabin had three or more pennants to hang in the Mess Hall over their table's.

Pains had been very carefully taken by Bert and the staff to ensure that there were no "Losers." concerning the Carnival, and only the top five place finisher's had their overall totals published on the tote board. Cabin 9 was 5th, Cabin 11 was 4th. Cabin 10 was 3rd,

Cabin 3 was 2nd and Cabin seven was 1st.

The mafia wasn't the happiest group in camp, but they did capture 5th (Beachview) and 3rd (Bay Watch) Place. Adam looked at some glum faces as the boys from Cabin seven standing next to them danced around the flag pole.

"The main thing is you guy's had a fun filled day. Coming in 5th and 3rd is a mighty impressive job," Adam told his boys and the boys from Dan's Cabin.

"Between the three cabins, you guys earned seven pennants, that's going to look pretty good hanging in the Mess Hall," Kevin told the mafia. To the boys, First Place was First Place, but seven pennants was a pretty good showing and they could live with that as they now charged for the Mess Hall and hung their pennants over their tables. Adam and his staff were happy competition between the boys was over for now.

Beach Dinner commenced a little late because of the award ceremony, but since it was basically an outside barbecue served buffet style, nobody caught the Chef's rage that would have been forthcoming if it was a sit-down Dinner. As the School's Chef, John was an agreeable guy much of the time, but if you fucked with his serving schedule, you usually found out about it fairly bluntly, be you a dishwasher or a Director.

During regular meals in the Mess Hall, assigned table's pretty much kept staff rooted at their table's. The campers could move about and visit other table's, but usually the head's of the table's stayed put. During Bivouac or Beach Dinners, those rules changed. While many of the Kids from Camp Kenny remained with their staff where ever that staff member went, the staff of older campers usually sat in groups of friends, and now, Gloria sat along with Jeanette, Johanna, Patty, Beth and Helen opposite the men who made up their primary group, Bert, Sid, Dave, Dan, Adam, and Kevin. The Senior Boys had long since named this group, "The Dirty Dozen." The recent addition of Thomas into this group retained the name, it was now simply a baker's dozen they reasoned.

"I think we just about covered all the bases, anybody seen any corrections we need to make?" Bert asked the assembled staff. Looking around the table that was half staff and half campers, Bert saw a lot of shaking head's as most campers wondered shat the question was.

"All in all, the tally was successful in achieving it's goal," Adam replied keeping the conversation above the campers heads.

"What tally?" Sammy asked as he wiggled himself between Adam and Kevin.

"The one in that cooler over there. Bring me one of them would you tiger?" Sid asked Sammy who now bolted for the cooler before Matty beat him to it. Adam smiled as both boys came back with armful's of beer passing them out anticipating the first sip from a grateful recipient.

"The girls are really excited about tonight." Gloria said.

"They have been living and breathing Rodgers and Hammerstein for the past five months. Pay attention when the picnic basket raffle scene gets played out, the girls have arranged who wins their baskets!" Gloria told the assembled.

"Interesting, and what about Laurie and Curly?" Sid asked. Gloria shook her head.

"No sparks there, Dalton still thinks boys need to be kept in cages," she told the group.

"Well hell, ya can't fault her for that," Sid said as he looked at his half empty beer he was just handed.

Both Dinner and the production went off without a hitch. Both the senior boys and girls camps were mesmerized by the play knowing that there were social connectations going on which extended beyond the performance. Kevin had somewhat adapted the play, especially regarding Judd's role, rewriting it to become a little less sinister as he had done previously with Bill Sikes's part in Oliver. The attraction all along was with the horses involved in it, and especially concerning use of the huge Belgian, Maria who pulled the Surrey with her colt Baron refusing to leave her side, even during the play.

Saturday night's during summer usually found a lake full of seniors in boats, and a baseball field on the hill covered in blankets until well after midnight. After this particular Saturday night, the camp was in full sleep mode by 11:00 and Sunday morning was a quick dream away. The week-end was half over.

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