Howdy Doody

The Geppetto Project

Chapters 27-28

Chapter Twenty Seven

Lazy Day was in full swing at camp. The name had little to do with the kids being laid back and resting, it was actually a lazy day for staff. Keeping the children quiet would have required hypodermics full of Valium, especially once they found out the mornings academic classes were canceled. By late afternoon, most of the intermediate aged campers were either horseback riding, riding go carts or in and around the lake on the lower campus. The smaller Camp Kenny children were either at the pool, at the lake or on nature hikes. Sid had Sarah's Cabin of children with him, six muppets between four and 7 who were now searching for berries.

As Adam drove up the path towards his cabin, he met Johanna along the way with Beth in tow. Both girls had their babies sitting in their lap as they met.

"Where's Sid?" Johanna asked as the girl looked at Sid's cart that Adam was driving.

"He's on his way up to the upper camp with Sarah's kid's looking for berries. I'm just taking his cart back to his cabin," Adam told both girls.

"Sid say's you guys were having a meeting with Bert. Is that true?" Adam now asked. Johanna nodded her head.

"It wasn't really a meeting, more like just a small discussion," she told Adam.

"Well Sid smells a rat. He thinks he's about to get dumped on with work to keep his mind off the twin's. Is he right?" He asked.

Johanna now shook her head and smiled a little.

"It was discussed, but Dave shot it down," she replied.

"How's he doing?" Johanna asked.

"He's maintaining, but the depression isn't very far from the surface. You know how he feels about toys," Adam told the girl.

"Toys? What about toys?" Beth now asked.

"I'll explain it later" Johanna told her friend.

"So what was the discussion?" Adam asked.

"Bert wants Sid kept out of the loop as far as the twin's are concerned. He'll get basic information, but won't be involved in depth with the twins." Johanna reported. Adam shook his head.

"Who came up with that?" He asked.

"Bert," she replied.

"It won't work. You freeze Sid out with him knowing toys are being used and he'll go fucking ballistic suspecting the worst," Adam said.

"He's not being frozen out, he's just not going to be directly involved on a minute by minute basis." Johanna replied. Again, Adam shook his head.

"If you were told Sidney Bertram was going under the knife but you couldn't go to the infirmary, would you stay away?" Adam asked the girl.

"That's different" Johanna replied.

"No it ain't, Sid loves these kids just as much as you two love these babies. If Bert's planning on keeping Sid away from the issue, he better build a mighty strong fence around the twins!" Adam counseled. Johanna looked down at her baby who was playing with the steering wheel of the cart.

"Maybe I should just blackball the whole fucking thing!" She said as she buried her face in Sidney Bertram's hair.

"I've considered that option, but that would just give the twins zero chance. I think the biggest job isn't the twins, it's Sid. This isn't the time to isolate him, this is the time to do exactly the opposite," Adam replied. Johanna nodded her head.

"Call a meeting, we'll be there," she told Adam. Adam nodded his head as he looked over to Joshua who was sucking on a pacifier as he played with the buttons on Beth's blouse. At nine months of age, the baby was a butterball with thick thigh's hanging out of his diaper and a stomach that kept the tabs very tight around his waist. Adam tickled the baby's cheek which had him now smiling.

"If he keeps this up, we'll be able to start him training for sumo wrestling," Adam said.

"He's not fat!" Beth said defensively. Both Johanna and Adam now giggled.

"No, just very healthy," Adam replied as Beth cradled the boy protectively in her arms.

Agreeing to call a meeting the next morning, Adam continued to the cove where he was immediately inundated by half a dozen boys including Sammy before the cart came to a full stop.

"Hey Uncle Adam, ya wanna come swimmin with us?" Sammy chirped as he now straddled Adam with a soaking wet body fresh from the lake.

"Where's Eitienne, Greg and Anthony?" Adam asked of the Junior Counselor's.

"They're out on Turtle Rock with us. You comin too?" Matty replied. Adam looked out on the rock which now held about a dozen boys and all three Junior Counselor's. Two figure's that stood out because they were wearing swimming vest's were the twins who were swimming out to the rock with their senior buddies next to them.

"Doe's Uncle Dan know the twin's are in deep water?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, he was here a few minutes ago and gave the senior boys 'structions." Sammy replied.

"Are ya comin?" Sammy again asked. Adam's first inclination was to give a very quick English lesson but held his tongue knowing the boys would just give him shit for the effort. However, he did make a mental note to himself to have a talk with Uncle Leo, their English teacher.

Moving Sammy back off his lap, the boys watched as Adam took off his now wet shirt. Not waiting for the shorts, they all scrambled off the cart and darted back into the water to get out to the rock before Adam did.

"Going swimming?" Kevin asked as the man walked down the steps of his cabin and came towards Adam.

"Yes, and so are you! I'm not swimming out there alone to get mauled by the kids defending the rock," Adam replied.

"I've got a ton of work to do and I have to research material for the Christmas Play," Kevin said.

"Me too. Get naked!" Adam told Kevin as he threw his shorts in the cart and headed for the water. Kevin shook his head and sat down to take off his sneakers.

All three cabins that made up the group known in both camp and school as "The mafia"

because of the boys penchant for sticking together and playing within their group of three dozen or so, sat along the camp lake in a semi circle of a cove. The cove is a sandy beach with a slopping bottom and a maximum depth of about six feet [1.8 m]. Sitting in the center, is a rock known to the boys as "Turtle Rock".

Ten years earlier while digging the hole for the original pool on the upper campus, the rock was discovered and was then moved down to the lower campus and placed in the cove. Originally egg shaped, the rock in four feet [1.2 m] of water now stood about four feet [1.2 m] high, and except for a small ledge that could be used to climb onto the rock, the boys could dive directly off the rock safely.

After the rock was put into place, the senior boys constructed two rock ledges that partially enclosed the cove with a narrow opening, and planted two willow trees at the tips of the ledges that were now "Guarding" the entrance to the cove from the waterside with their branches hanging straight down to the water. This was now the private domain of the mafia unless you were an invited guest.

The very top of the rock was spoon shaped with a large hollow. For the first few years, the boys had to get the accumulated rain water and dead leaves out of the hollow by hand if they wanted to lie down for play or sun, but many years back Dave had drilled a hole in the rock to drain the water. Now, the boys had a picture perfect tanning location, or, a fairly effective playing surface if you had the good sense to bring a towel along with you.

For many, many reason's, Turtle Rock and the cove was THE place to be in camp.

Approaching the rock, Adam swam half way out to it and then waited for reinforcements to arrive. Eitienne, Greg and Anthony had already been unceremoniously displaced by the boys on the rock who were being joined by more as they abandoned their canoes and rowboats.

"I thought this was Lazy Day. Can't we just "Give up" and have a nice quiet afternoon?" Anthony asked Adam as he walked over to him with Eitienne and Greg.

"Sure! Why don't you go out there and suggest that to them?" Adam asked. Anthony turned around and looked at the rock that now had very close to everybody in the mafia on it and every one of them staring back at the counselor's. Like it or not, "King of the Rock" was on.

The rules of the game were plain and simple; one of the boys, usually the youngest and most vulnerable, was the "King" of the rock who sat in the middle of the rock being protected by all the other boys. To win the game, the counselor's had to get on the rock, throw the King into the water and either him or another counselor sit down to take the King's place.

"Where's Sid?" Eitienne asked once Kevin swam out to the group.

"Not coming, he's picking berries with Camp Kenny," Adam replied.

"Shit! You know we're going to get killed right?" Greg now said. Adam nodded his head.

"Huddle up in a circle" Adam said as he took a quick look at the rock.

"What for?" Anthony asked.

"Nothing, but they don't know that, they'll think we're planning some grand strategy," Adam replied.

With all five counselor's now huddled together, a silence enveloped the cove as the boys watched and tried to listen to the adults. Truth was, with a seven to 1 ratio, the rock was going to stay in the campers hands. Every now and then it did fall to the counselor's, but only when Sid, Dan and Dave joined the melee which could easily take an hour or more.

"The usual guys, that rock is pure granite. It can get a little slippery, so watch for falls. They don't need any chipped teeth or cracked heads," Adam counseled the men.

"What about the senior boys?" Greg asked.

"Good point" Adam replied.

Adam's declaration that the senior boys who were escorting the twins were "Neutral"

was met with boo's and cries of "No fair" as the men now encircled the rock with the boys watching them like naked vultures waiting for a meal.

There was now only one more question before the game began.

"Who's your King?" Kevin asked. "Carla and Jeannie!" came the response from half the boys. Both Adam and Kevin looked at each other.

"Interesting!" Kevin said.

"Indeed!" Adam replied.

After a good half hour and several wholehearted attempts, the men got within eyesight of the girls sitting on the rock a few times, but surrounded by an outer circle of the youngest boys including the twins, they were never really in danger of getting wet anytime soon. A truce was agreed to when the bugle blew Return to Quarters. Flush with victory, the mafia dove into the water off the rock and headed for their cabins and showers before Assembly blew and they'd have to go to the Flagpole.

"Lazy Day" was almost over and the men couldn't wait!

With Kevin carrying Gavin and Greg carrying Benji, the group walked out of the lake with the twins. The boys liked their old school very much, but it was primarily geared towards older boys aged 12 to 16. Now, they were participating in games and sports that were much closer to their age. They had only been at Green Tree now for a little over 24 hours, but both knew that they had found a new "Home".

Afternoon showers for the Green Tree boys was a little more than simple hygiene, it came at a time when the majority of the boys needed to play. This depressed the twin's not in the slightest. During much of the day, they usually satisfied themselves together.

During morning showers, rest period, afternoon showers and bedtime, that was no longer necessary. Walking into the shower at Coquina, they walked into a full blown party and needed no invitation to join in.

As he usually was, Adam was finished showering first and sat down on the front porch of Beachview as he sipped a beer and compiled his notes of the afternoon. As the Intermediate Boys Director, part of his duties were to keep a written record of significant events and even casual observations to share with Administrative staff. In his spare time he taught Math, and in his other spare time, he ran a cabin with 12 boys, two dogs, a turtle, two rabbit's and a black snake in an aquarium (Hopefully).

Handing him a brush, Carla sat down in his lap pushing aside the three ring binder. As she laid back on his chest and propped her feet on the tops of his thigh's, Jeannie came out with another brush and sat down alongside Adam.

"Uncle Anthony almost had you there," Adam said as he parted Carla's hair and began brushing it out.

"Nah, he never came close Uncle Adam." Carla replied as her hands went on her knee's and she opened and closed her legs absentmindedly. Adam smiled as the senior boys came out on the porch and Jeannie now got up. Without a word, she handed one of the boys the brush and sat down in his lap.

"Jeannie would appreciate it if you brushed out her hair. Wouldn't you Jeannie?" Adam said as he looked at the senior boy who didn't exactly know what to do. "I don't know how to brush a girls hair!" Jerry replied as he looked at his friend.

"It's easy, you just brush it without hurting me!" Jeannie replied as she laid back.

"Just watch Uncle Adam," she said.

At age 15 Jerry had no problem with the job description of taking care of the twins during the day, but his Uncle Bert had said nothing about girls getting involved. Both Carla and Jeannie were only 11 years old, but they were very healthy 11 year olds. While both were still "Children" as far as Jerry and Karl were concerned. Still, they were girls and they had a very healthy start on things associated with girls. To make matters a little more sticky, they lived with the boys, played with the boys, and dressed with the boys. Or not.

Adam had long since stopped viewing the girls in a sexual light, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that for both Jerry and Karl, the lamp was still lit.

Doing his damnedest to concentrate on watching Adam brush Carla's hair and duplicating the efforts on Jeannie, Jerry met with a good measure of success except maybe for the lump in his shorts that was mercifully covered by a yellow pair of panties while the senior boy prayed the girl felt numb in that general area from sitting on the rock.

"So how was the twins' afternoon?" Adam asked as he brushed.

"They were really happy, we went on a trail ride after rest period, and then they spent some time in the crib with Uncle Dan getting swimming lesson's. Then you came back." Jerry reported.

"How did they do at swimming?" Adam asked.

"Pretty good. Uncle Dan say's they will be swimming in maybe a week." Karl said. "Who did they ride with?" Adam asked.

"That boy Bruce from Coquina." Jerry replied.

"Both of them?" Adam asked. Jerry nodded his head.

"They rode Maria Uncle Adam, they had fun!" Carla now said.

"Why, were you with them?" Adam asked the girl.

"No, we took the red trail, but they were getting on Maria when we left," she answered.

"So how do you know they had fun?" Adam asked.

"Because they were with Bruce. He knows how to fuck real good!" Jeannie replied matter of factly. Adam shook his head while both Jerry and Karl turned a few shades of pink and squirmed in their rockers.

"I apologize gentlemen for our two young ladies, sometimes they forget their manners when they're in mixed company," Adam told both senior boys.

"Hey Uncle Adam, I didn't say fuck!" Carla now replied a little indignant.

"I apologize sweetheart, I thought you did," Adam said.

Once Adam had Carla in pig tails and was working on Jeannie, Thomas pulled up in front of Beachview and he and David exited the cart.

"I'm going to pick up the twins and go over to the Infirmary with Kevin, Adam. David will join you until dinner if that's all right?" The Doctor said as he mounted the stairs to the cabin.

"No problem. What's up?" Adam asked.

"Just an introductory for the twins. Bert want's them knowing what's transpiring tomorrow and Charlie and Stephanie will be there," Thomas said.

"What about Sid?" Adam asked.

"No, if the twins balk at the idea it's over, Bert doesn't think Sid should be involved anymore than he has to be," Thomas replied. "I disagree," Adam replied as he motioned for the girls to go inside the cabin with David and the senior boys.

After shutting the front door of the cabin, Adam was now prepared to argue his point.

"Sid can't be shut out of this situation any more than I could be shut out of if it involved Sammy or you could be shut out if it involved David." he began.

"I don't think those kid's will give two shits about the toys, they'll probably think they're better than ice cream, but that's not the point. The point is that Sid is projecting his fears into this shit and you don't confront them by shutting him out of the situation! If that's the plan, I'll blackball the whole fucking thing myself!" he declared.

"Adam, we're all in agreement that in all probability the twins won't be harmed in the slightest by this. In fact, it'll probably be the answer. Doesn't their best interest trump ours?" Thomas asked.

"Yours or mine yes, Sid's, no!" Adam replied.

"If we can't find a way to keep Sid fully in the loop, send the kid's to another school. I'd rather loose the kid's than loose Sid!" Adam told the Doctor.

"He told you what?" Bert asked the Doctor as Thomas sat in his golf cart.

"He want's Sid involved or he'll blackball the whole thing. Can he do that?" Thomas asked the Director.

"Yes. When it comes to a treatment plan, any staff member can blackball a recommendation. He'd need to explain his reasoning, but in this case, it wouldn't take much for the girls to join him. When it comes to Sid, they're very personally involved."

Bert said as he stared at the lake.

"We should have waited until he was with us."

"So what do we do now?" Thomas asked.

"Hold off until I get a chance to talk with him. It's probably better if we all sat down together after dinner," Bert said.

Once back in his office Bert pulled out Sid's file. The two men had been together for well over 15 year's and knew each other like a book. Still, in this situation he felt he needed a fuller understanding of where Sid was coming from. Sid's history, until he was rescued from Pilgrim State by his Uncle Kenny along with three other boys was a horror story of a childhood, but that was now 45 years behind him. Finding nothing he didn't already know, Bert elected to call Sid's sole surviving boyhood friend who now resided at The New Hampshire School where Sid originally came from before coming to Green Tree.

"There isn't much I can tell you that you don't already know, except maybe the depth of Sid's hatred of using toys." Barry told Bert after Bert explained the situation.

"Not one of the four of us ever considered using them again after we left Pilgrim State, it brought back too many very ugly memories. I don't even go into that place." Barry said.

"Sid seemed to take it a lot harder than the rest of us, he'd cry for hours at night."

"But he's been around kid's here who've used toys on themselves. Didn't any of the kids there use them when you guys were younger?" Bert asked.

"Of course! And they still do to this day. But it wasn't something we ever took part in and in fact, made damned sure we were no where near them." Barry replied.

"If I had to guess from what you told me, I'd say Sid is reacting more to the age of the boys and the clinical approach to the subject. That's exactly the approach Pilgrim State took with us. We weren't getting laid or having sex, we were being manipulated and degraded." Barry said.

"So don't you think it would be best to keep his involvement to a minimum to shield him?" Bert asked.

"Probably so, but you also have to ensure that Sid doesn't take it the wrong way. I'd sit down and explain what you're doing and why so that he doesn't see it as an attempt to hide things from him. He'd view that as an attack on the twins and move to stop it immediately." Barry said.

"If I were you I'd haul Doctor Lester's ass down there and have Sid sit down with him and the boys together. Watching the Doctor interact with the boys will go miles beyond having endless talks with Sid. You're never going to convince him that toys are a good idea, but I think he'll come around if he thinks it would benefit them without adverse effects." Barry said.

Bert knew in advance the call was being monitored by Washington as did Barry.

"Harry, what about that?" Bert asked the man sitting in Alexandria.

"I'm hearing a request for transportation and nothing else. I can have the Doctor on a plane as soon as he's ready to leave." The Colonel advised Bert.

"Let's do it!" Bert replied.

Assembly blew smack in the middle of a very impressive romp on the shower room floor for Coquina. Plunking down a tall stack of clean towels, Kevin could make out an arm or a leg owned by eight year olds, but little else.

"Come on guys, we're going to be late for Flagpole. I'll wait outside. Short's and shirts for dinner," he told the mass of entangled humanity as he made a quick exit. The boys reluctance to attend flagpole was quickly eradicated when they heard the very distinctive sound of the ice cream bell's on Sid's golf cart that was parked in front of Beachview.

"Hey good buddy, I thought you were going to drop off my cart at my place?" Sid asked Adam as Patty dropped Sid off.

"Sorry Sid, I got shanghaied into a game of King of the Rock". Adam replied.

"How badly did they kick your ass?" Sid asked his friend as Sid jumped into his cart. Adam smiled but didn't answer.

"How's it going Patty?" He asked Sid's girlfriend.

"Not bad except for the blueberry stains all over Sid's new white shirt!" Patty replied.

"I'll knit him a bib," Adam said as the girl swung her cart around.

Gathering at the flagpole, the entire camp assembled to hear announcements concerning the night's canteen schedule along with the schedule of activities for the following day.

After the lowering of the Camp Flag, Mess Call blew which now had a stampede of bare feet headed for the Dining Hall.

Being Monday, the kids expected to sit down to meat loaf and mashed potato's with gravy. It was one of their favorite meals, and one which was worn more than eaten, especially in the Camp Kenny section of the Mess Hall. The delivery from New Hampshire of the Lobster, Crabs, Clams and fish the day before changed all that, John the Chef had prepared a New England Dinner. Just to be on the safe side, especially with Camp Kenny kids, he had alternative dishes of meat loaf anyway knowing some would revolt. After giving away three crates of lobster to the ATF the evening before, John wasn't upset that many of the kids opted for the meat loaf, he was short on lobster anyway.

With a heck of a lot of prompting, Sammy and the boys tried some of the lobster and the clam bisque but wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the blue crabs which depressed most of the adults very little.

"Jeez Uncle Adam, they look like spiders!" Sammy remarked as he watched Adam crack a claw.

The mood in the Mess Hall was festive for the campers but something anything but for those staff who were involved with the meeting concerning the twins. Still, however the staff felt personally, it was never allowed to interfere in the children's lives whenever possible, and to the mafia, everything was just fine. Notes always circulated during meals to staff and this Dinner was no different as Bert notified everybody who was at the twins I.S.P. Meeting to meet him immediately following Dinner. Adam noticed Sid's name on the list.

"What's this all about?" He asked Kevin.

"Search me, I thought I was bringing the twins to the Infirmary after 3rd period, but those plans were canceled," he replied.

Immediately following Dinner, the mafia headed back to their cabins for baseball equipment and trotted up the hill to the baseball fields. As Adam mounted the stairs to the office with Sid, he kind of felt like he was about to be doing battle. Foregoing a beer offered by Sid he made himself a screwdriver instead; a double.

"Just to keep everybody in the loop, there's been a small change of plans," Bert began the meeting.

"Doctor Lester is flying down from Brookline to explain and oversee the twin's Plan," he told the group.

"When?" Sid now asked.

"As soon as possible, Alexander is going to arrange it and let me know," Bert replied.

"What's to explain?" Sid asked.

"We all know he has a strong rapport with the boys, if they have questions, they'd be very comfortable with him giving them the answers," Bert told Sid. Sid nodded his head.

"Makes sense. How long's he staying?" Sid asked.

"I guess long enough to make sure they're OK with the Plan. Maybe a day or two. I want you working with him and Thomas to the degree you feel comfortable," Bert replied as he looked at Adam.

"Didn't we agree that was Charlie's area of expertise?" Sid asked.

"Charlie's our best source for implementation and support but Doctor Lester's here to ensure that the boys are psychologically ready. That's more in your line of work," Bert replied.

"Fine" Sid replied.

"OK, until Doctor Lester gets here the twins are on hold. Tutor them in the pool, they can't attend classes without being too disruptive to the other boys until we figure this thing out," Bert told the group.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought, I figured the meeting was called to tell me I had to build a new school in Guatemala," Sid said as he turned the cart to go up the path to the baseball fields. Adam smiled a bit, but didn't really reply, he was deep in thought.

"You've been a regular barrel of laugh's for the last few hours, you coming into your period or something?" Sid asked him.

"Fuck you. I've been working while you've been out picking berries for a living," Adam told his friend. Sid smiled.

"You're just jealous because I know where the best patches still are." He kidded his friend.

"Know what today is?" Adam asked his friend as the cart crested the hill onto the upper campus.

"Monday!" Sid replied.

"Yes, but it's also two years to the day that I first came to Green Tree," Adam said.

"No shit!" Sid replied as he thought back.

"Never gave you a snowball's chance in hell of making it here. You know that don't you?" Sid said. Adam's smile was difficult to contain, but so was the feeling in his eye's of them watering up.

"Neither did I, I couldn't figure out for the life of me how I was going to be able to tolerate the old fool who smelled like horseshit and dished it out to boot!" Adam replied.

"Easy pardner!" Sid said as they pulled in back of the dugout.

With 15 cabins of intermediate boys and 15 teams, Sammy and the gang from Beachview were in 4th place for the season. Baseball at camp is some pretty serious stuff chiefly due to their staff that considered it second only to "Happy Hour". At the conclusion of the baseball season in September, the counselors played against the best senior boys in camp, and the counselors never lost. The counselors love of the game was passed on to the boys, and Sammy and the boys knew that they not only taught baseball, they played it extremely well. Having batting practice or a game of catch with Adam or Sid or Dan was like practicing with Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth to the boys.

"What's the score?' Sid asked a bench full of boys in the dugout.

"4 to two Milwaukee Uncle Sid, they're killing us!" Matty replied.

"Sounds like maybe they practiced a little more than you do," Sid told the Yankee's.

"No, that ain't it, they just got bigger guys than we got!" Chris replied.

"Good thing Pee Wee Reese and Yogi Berra didn't worry about size. If they did, they probably would have stayed home," Sid replied.

"If practice is so important Uncle Sid, how come you and the other counselors never practice and beat the senior boys every year?" Sammy asked.

"Yeah!" the other boys chimed in.

"Luck!" Sid replied as Adam shook his head.

Picture perfect summer weather brought out the kid's of Camp Kenny whose cabin's ringed the three baseball fields on the upper campus. Now winterized and refitted to the needs of a much younger set of children than they previously housed, the upper camp grounds bristled with swing sets, slides and jungle gyms where bicycle's and basketball hoops use to be. Strollers, trike's and wagons littered the ground around the cabins that were now renamed.

The lower campus cabins were all renamed after the intermediate boys cabins in Florida, when the moved, and the upper cabins now traded Coquina for Bugs Bunny, Beachview for Daffy Duck, and Bay Watch for Yosemite Sam. The new cabin flags that now flew over each cabin was instantly recognizable by the Camp Kenny children as their new home, and as with Johanna's cabin on the lower campus, Adam looked at his old cabin with Daffy flying proudly over it.

"Whose in Daffy?" Adam asked Sid. Sid looked away from the field towards the cabin's.

"Sarah. Martha's in Bugs and Alicia is in Sam's," Sid told his friend.

"They hold the bulk of the four to five year olds."

"Are they all asleep? It's mighty quiet over there for three cabins full of four and five year olds," Adam asked.

"They're at Canteen, this is their night," Sid replied.

Most evenings after dinner the younger set played around their cabin's. Baseball for them was now fairly routine, they usually had all three baseball fields in use by the intermediate and senior boys, so they were use to the activity. Rarely did they pay any attention, but then again, rarely did Uncle Sid and Uncle Bert come to the games at the same time. As Bert's cart crested the hill and Christopher honked the horn, a small exodus occurred from in and around the cabin's. The cooler's were already sitting on the lawn's from the counselor's who were involved with the game, and now, blankets and more cooler's arrived from Camp Kenny as Bert's cart was fairly swamped with little one's begging for a ride.

"Hey guys, Christopher's coming! Hide the balls." Matty yelled out as Christopher hopped off the cart and headed straight across the infield for the pitcher.

"Time!" Adam yelled. Knowing this was going to take a while, most of the boys in the field sat or laid down as Christopher's senior girls tried to steer him back off the field. Christopher did not play ball, but he did play WITH the ball. Problem was, once he got it, he didn't let it go. Now wisely throwing the ball to the Catcher, the pitcher held up his empty hand's to Christopher.

"Look Christopher, no ball! Go over to Uncle Terry and he'll give you one OK?" The boy said to Christopher. Looking towards the Umpire, Christopher spotted a ball in the counselor's hand that he was holding up "Hey!" Christopher chirped as he half dragged the girls along with him to home plate.

With a spare baseball firmly enough in his two hands that you'd need a can opener to retrieve, Christopher was then steered by the girls to the dugout where Bert had gone.

"Play ball!" Adam declared once Christopher entered.

"Hey little buddy, Ya wanna play catch?" Sid asked Christopher as he held out his hands.

"I-ee!" Christopher replied as he stood by Bert but made no move to toss any ball.

"I do believe you were just told to fuck off," Adam said as the boys on the bench giggled.

"Hey Uncle Adam, you said "Fuck" in mixed company!" Carla scolded her counselor.

"You tell 'em shortstop!" Sid said as he reached for a beer from the cooler.

Bert's arrival in the Yankees dugout created a small traffic jam around it, not only was Bert sitting there, but so was Sid. These two always drew a crowd from the Camp Kenny set. After an inning, Bert decided to go "Visiting" the rest of the team's but there was a more serious reason for him now standing up "Let's review the other teams Mr. Baseball Commissioner" Bert said to Adam.

"Grabbing a beer, Adam followed the Director out of the dugout with a promise to return before the end of the game to his kids.

Wearing chocolate ice cream smiles, Scotty and Adrian now clung to each of Bert's hips as the five year olds beamed with pride.

"I'm sorry about threatening to blackball the plan, but I know it would have hurt him," Adam began the conversation.

"Well, I think it could have been pulled off if we worked at it, but the new plan is probably a lot better," Bert replied keeping the conversation above the children's level of understanding.

"Why wasn't it proposed originally when we were all at the I.S.P.?" Adam asked.

"It wasn't presented as an option until after I spoke to Thomas," Bert replied.

"Presented by whom?" Adam asked.

"Barry in New Hampshire," Bert said.

"Does Sid know that?" Adam asked.

"No, and he won't be told either!" Bert replied.

"How did he become involved?" Adam asked.

"I called him. Nobody knows Sid better than Barry, not even you or me!" Bert replied.

"I hope you don't think I was just throwing my weight around," Adam said after a long pause when two more chocolate faced four year olds arrived with Sarah.

"Not at all Adam. Green Tree isn't a Democracy, around here, the majority doesn't rule. We're dealing with people, and some people know other people better. It's why we're allowed to blackball and it's automatically assumed that it was done in that person's best interest," Bert replied.

"The only mistake made was not having you at the meeting, but I intended to bring you up to speed concerning it after the fact," Bert said.

"This stuff is not far from the surface with him. He is projecting, and he's projecting much more than most realize," Adam told his boss. Bert nodded his head. Nearing the Mariner's dugout, Bert needed to end the conversation, at least for the time being.

"You sure you weren't a Psyc. Major?" he asked Adam.

For the next half hour or so, Bert and Adam made the rounds of all the teams followed by a small army of tots in Carter's, Underoo's and pajama bottoms. Returning to the Yankee's game, it was about to end. With two men out and a double and a single on base, Adam watched as the Milwaukee players all backed up to the very edge of the ballfield.

Now playing his last year as an intermediate boy, Spencer was coming to bat. While Adam would have never admitted it to his boys, he kind of wished that the the other team would win this game, they had put on an impressive show, and had worked and practiced hard all summer. They weren't a spectacular team, but they were very well rounded. In both hitting and fielding. The Yankee's on the other had spent the last three years relying on their power hitters to win games. With the score five to three in favor of Milwaukee, Spencer blasted the ball into the woods on the third swing. Matty was up next and fouled out as the Yankee's won six to 5.

"Ya gotta feel sorry for them, they put on a hell of a game," Sid said as the boys lined up for congratulation's.

"Yeah, but I'll bet they take top honors next year, maybe even this year," Adam replied.

"Just don't tell Sammy I said that," he told Sid.

The balance of the evening was spent with probably 80% of the entire school having an impromptu social on the baseball fields with blankets and coolers spread out like a patchwork quilt. With Frisbee's and beachball's replacing baseball's, the smaller kid's ran around playing "Tag" or doing tumblesaults on the grass while the babies demonstrated their new abilities at walking or being cute while gaggles of senior girls sat around playing "Mommy" to them. It was a very quiet peaceful scene that hadn't been seen for several days. More than a few staff including Adam welcomed the respite for as long as it could last.

Nobody knew exactly what Christopher ever did with the baseball, it was never seen again, at least not in his hands. Now galloping over to the blanket with a larger than life beachball in his arms and three or four boys trying to convince him to give it up, he ran across Adam's chest and flopped into Helen's lap with a death grip on the ball. Knowing the boy would never give up a ball, Helen deftly opened the air valve on the beachball as she then poured Christopher some lemonade. It took a few seconds, but Christopher eventually let go of the quickly collapsing ball for the lemonade. With the boys retreating back to the field and blowing the ball back up, Christopher snuggled into Helen's lap which signaled the very near end of his day.

"We're making progress, I don't think I remember him sitting still for longer than three seconds," Sid said as he watched Helen stoked the boys forehead and face.

"He's just about done. He's been going 90 miles [145 km] an hour since 6:00 this morning, so he's just about out of gas." Helen replied as she bent over and kissed Christopher on the wet forehead.

Without comment or request, Jill and Claire approached and as Jill unstrapped Christopher's bib overalls and pulled them off, Claire moved in and put a pair of pull-ups on him. Motionless, Christopher's eye's watched some leaves on a maple tree until his eye's began retreating up into his head. Adam watched as it took all of 30 seconds for Christopher to be sound asleep despite the swirling picnic atmosphere that surrounded him.

"He's down for the count" Adam remarked as he shook his head.

Now stretched out with his head on Helen's lap, The 12 year old boy had the body of seven or eight year old. His torso showed the effects of 12 to 15 glasses of fluids he drank a day, but his arms and legs were those of a much younger child. His black hair hung down in large curls to his neck, and other than a slightly chipped front tooth, he was the picture of a cherub with a dirty face and dirtier hands and feet.

Helen had four senior girls working in tandem baby-sitting the boy during the day, and they earned their reward as much as senior boys who dug ditches or worked in the woods chopping down trees. Christopher was unlike any other boy at Green Tree, but he had long since dug his way into everyone's heart. He was defenseless, he was mute and he would never achieve any academic progress to speak of but he is the most protected child the school had ever known.

Return to Quarters for the upper camp blew every evening at 8:00 and this evening was no different. In another 20 minutes Tattoo would be blown followed 10 minutes later by Taps. Blanket by blanket, and cooler by cooler, the baseball field's cleared of Camp Kenny children and their staff and the intermediate campers were already either walking down to the lower camp to get in a quick swim in the lake before they too would have to return to their cabins an hour away. As Adam looked around, there was no doubt where Sid and Bert were, they had a line of Camp Kenny kid's waiting for good night hugs and kisses.

"Sid seems to be holding up pretty well." Helen said to Adam as the two watched Sid raise up one child after another.

"Is it mostly acting?" she asked. Adam turned to look at the woman. He knew she lived with Bert and would have been privy to all conversations during the day.

"Earlier this afternoon, probably yes. But I think once Bert re-arranged the plans, he's a lot more comfortable with it. I won't really know until I get him alone again," Adam replied candidly.

"What Acting?" Gloria now asked as the Senior Girls Director cradled three ½ year old Kenny in her lap who was sound asleep like Christopher.

"Sid left the meeting this afternoon extremely depressed but I think we're over that hurdle now that Dr. Lester is coming to see the boys," Adam replied.

"Why didn't he say anything at the meeting?" Gloria asked as she now turned to look at Sid.

"He did, but it kept eating at him once we left. I think he thought himself into a real downer there for awhile," Adam replied.

"No doubt while the two of you drank the bar dry right?" Gloria replied a bit sarcastically.

"I wasn't exactly feeding him whiskey with a spoon, but we both know the quickest way to get into a fight with him is to tell him he can't have a beer. Maybe you, Jeanette and Johanna can get away with that kind of shit, but nobody else I know can including me!" Adam replied.

"Then why didn't you call one of us?" Gloria asked.

"Because you were all at Bert's and part of Sid's problem was that he was trying to figure out what kind of conspiracy you were all hatching," he said.

"Is that what you thought too?" Gloria asked.

"It's exactly what happened wasn't it?" Adam asked.

"The word "Conspiracy" doesn't always have to be a pejorative!" Adam told the girl.

"Maybe I should have a talk with him." Gloria said as she studied her friend.

"You know him a lot better than I do, but I think he's settled back down for now," Adam said.

"I agree. And Doctor Lester is coming to speak to more than the twin's when he arrives." Helen now said. Gloria now turned to look at Helen.

"Does Sid know that?" She asked.

"No, and he won't if we're all real smart!" Helen replied. Adam and Gloria now both looked at each other. Shaking her head, Gloria began preparing to leave.

"He better be a fucking cracker jack. Sid can smell a rat a mile away!" she said as she stood up.

"If Uncle Sid thinks he's being psycho-analyzed, he'll blow that Doctor's door's off."

Once Sid and Bert returned to the blanket, preparations for returning to the lower campus began in earnest all over the ball field's as the kids who still remained began staking out which cart they were going to hitch a ride on. As Tattoo blew across the field's the last of the cart's disappeared down the path.

In all, the camp has 10 dozen canoe's, rowboat's and sailboat's, and if they're all on the lake at the same time, you can practically walked across the lake without getting your feet wet walking from boat to boat. With no wind, the sailboats were not out, but just about every canoe and rowboat was. The mood on the lake was a lot more subdued than a General Boating session during the day which looked more like a mini war on the water.

Adam wound his cart around the lake headed for the cove as he followed Sid's cart which had probably 10 kid's hanging off every running board and two boys sitting on the top (Against all rules!).

Once at the cove, the boys headed for the Rock as the counselor's now gathered on the porch of Beachview cabin to both watch their charges and empty the coolers. Handing Adam a beer, Sid sat down with his own.

"I got yelled at tonight for drinking with you," Adam told his friend. Sid shook his head.

"Fuck that!, They've been trying to get me to stop drinking since they were 14 years old. They can take the beer out of my hand when I'm cold and dead," he said as he took a sip. With the rest of the men chuckling, Adam sat back.

"Why do you think it was the girls?" He asked.

"Who else? No self respecting man would tell anybody they shouldn't drink!" Sid exclaimed "That's not true Uncle Sid, I've heard Uncle Bert tell you to stop drinking." Eitienne replied.

"You did hear me say "Self respecting" right son?" Sid asked the 23 year old counselor.

The roar of laughter coming from the porch had the kids in the water wondering what their Uncle Sid had said or done to cause it when their attention was drawn to the sound of Bert's antique Duessenberg horn that was mounted on his cart. The boys had long since named Bert's cart "Mr. Magoo", and it's sound was the most distinctive on campus, in sight or not. Knowing Bert was about to appear in the cove, the exodus from the water began. Adam once more shook his head as roughly 36 kids now began to congregate in and around Beachview. As a never ending line of boys walked past wet, sandy and usually naked headed directly for the kitchen and a refrigerator full of bug juice, lemonade or ice tea.

"Maybe I'll ask Dave for a refrigerator to put out here on the porch," Adam said as he looked at a trail of wet sand leading into the cabin.

"We tried that before, you put a refrigerator outside, and you'll spend your entire day filling it back up," Sid said "It'll become the "Community" fridge faster than you can whistle Dixie!" he concluded as Bert now pulled in front of the cabin and honked his horn. "Gentlemen, I see we're not earning our salaries as usual," Bert said as he mounted the stairs.

"Speak for yourself Boss. I'm testing out this rocker to make sure it works!" Sid replied to a bunch of giggles from the boys that now began re-appearing on the porch.

The evening before, the twin's were sound asleep by this time. Now, both boys watched their very first evening gathering of their counselor's along with the Director and Assistant Director. Neither boy said anything, they were busy watching and very quickly realizing that this school was about as laid back and informal as you could get. Of particular interest to both boys was the presence of Carla and Jeannie in their midst. Both 11 year old girls were obviously every bit a part of the mafia, and looked, acted and behaved just like one of the boys, except for a few noticeable differences. As Carla came out of the Cabin with a tall iced tea, she climbed onto Adam's lap without comment. Sammy was still inside getting a drink, and it was "First come, First served." as she snuggled deeply against Adam.

"Jesus pookey, you're all wet and soggy!" Adam said.

"Somebody throw me a towel," he said as Carla's wet head now lay on his shirt.

"I bin swimmin Uncle Adam!" Carla exclaimed as she took a sip of her drink.

"Well that's a relief, at first I thought you wet the bed," Adam replied as Greg threw the counselor a towel. With the boys giggling, the twins looked at each other in silence. The girl sat on the counselor's lap seemingly ignorant of the fact she was naked. With a tan from one end of her body to the other, both boys knew she didn't often wear clothes, at least not usually when they saw her. At eight, the twin's were still pretty much interested in their own sex when it came to romping, but both boys knew very well what the real purpose of girls were in the Grand Scheme of things, and had learned by age three that their "Dickie's" fit real well into a girl as well as another boy. Once Jeannie appeared and melted into Sid's lap, both twins were ready for a bathroom break as they played pocket pool in "Secret".

"How has their day been?" Bert asked the twins' senior boy monitors as the twin's headed upstairs hand in hand.

"Very full Uncle Bert." Jerry replied.

"They're happy?" Bert asked. Karl smiled.

"If they ain't, you sure couldn't guess it!" the 15 year old told the Director with a broad smile. Bert nodded as he listened to the boy.

"Tomorrow morning you don't have to join the boys until after lunch. They have a visitor coming in the morning and he'll probably be here for the day," Bert told the two boys.

"Dr. Lester?" Sid now asked.

"Yes. I just got word that he's on a plane at 6:00 in the morning. He'll be here by 9:00 or so, they're going to bring him in by helicopter from Winston-Salem," Bert replied.

"Why not pick him up in the van?" Adam asked.

"This Doctor apparently doesn't do long car rides. He's not interested in sitting in a van for two or three hours going back and forth to the airport," Bert replied.

"From what Alexander told me, this guy get's exactly what he wants," Bert told the group.

"Harry has to know we've just had a chopper here yesterday. Isn't he a little concerned about the neighbors if we keep landing in their fucking back yards?" Sid asked.

"Extremely!" Bert replied.

"That's why we're going to be picking the good Doctor up from the Fema Depot next door. Harry's going to sneak it in as a Fema matter," Bert said.

"I want you to pick him up Sid. You can fill him in on what we've observed to date concerning the twins," Bert told Sid. As Sid nodded agreement, both Adam and Gloria looked at each other with very quick glances.

"As much as I'd like to kick back and turn up the tunes and have a few quick nightcaps, let's get together at my place after taps. I need a briefing on your observations of the boys day," Sid now told Adam, Kevin, the senior boys, Greg and Anthony.

"What's a nightcap?" Jeannie now asked Sid as she sat laying in the man's lap as he rocked.

"A nightcap is the name of the rule that say's little ears, eye's and mouth's are closed when they listen in on an adult meeting," Sid replied as he cupped both of her ears in his hand's. "I didn't know you were having a meeting. I just thought you were talking." Jeannie replied.

"I was, but I was talking to big ears, not dinky little ears," Sid told the girl as he wrapped her up in his arms and kissed her ear. The twins now reappeared on the porch as Jeannie wiggled herself down from Sid's lap and crumpled to the floor giggling.

Return to Quarters now echoed across the lake as the sound of the bugle bounced off the trees on the opposite shore.

"Shower's gentlemen, and you can all take them in your own cabins thank you!" Adam called out as the low sound of groans came from the boys.

"We're visitor's Uncle Adam!" Michael now replied.

"Tomorrow night you're visitors, tonight you're trespassers!" Adam declared.

"And I don't want to be picking up a dozen glasses from the front of the cabin either," he said. As the boys trudged into the cabin to return the glasses, the stomping of feet heading up to the bedrooms and showers reverberated through the cabin.

"Me first!" Carla declared as she shot off Adam's lap leaving a wet stain from Adam's knee's to his neck.

"What'd you do, piss your pants?" Sid asked his friend. To the sound of giggles from the boys from Coquina, the twins followed along with their senior boy monitors closely behind them.

"Back to work Greg," Sid told the Junior counselor. Out of habit since he was five years old, the 16 year old Greg gave Sid and Bert a goodnight kiss as he said goodnight to the rest of the staff on the porch and now headed for Coquina and what he knew was going to be a full blown romp in the showers for the next half hour or so.

"He's a good boy, it's too bad we're going to be loosing him to College in another two years," Bert said as he watched the boy.

"He's certainly been a huge help to me," Kevin replied as he got up when Michael returned from the kitchen.

"Come on pal, let's get you guys settled in," Kevin told the boy.

"Who's going on overnight sleepover's this weekend Uncle Sid?" Michael asked as he gave the man a goodnight kiss.

"I'm not sure sport. I'll check the list and let you know at breakfast. We should be able to get everybody out at least once," Sid replied.

Once Kevin left with Michael and Eitienne left with his boys from Bay Watch, Adam's porch was down to Adam, Sid and Bert. Bert listened quite attentively as the din coming from the upstairs living area drifted down to the porch.

"They having a war?" Bert asked Adam.

"Just an everyday normal bedtime routine," Adam told his boss.

"Once they run out of hot water, it'll calm way down," Adam said.

"That usually happens after about 15 minutes, so we're not all that far away," he said.

"You run out of hot water after only fifteen minutes? I'll get Dave to look at that!" Bert responded.

"Don't you dare. It took me almost a week to set the water heater just right," Adam replied.

"You give them unlimited hot water and they'll never leave the damned shower!" he told Bert.

"Devious ain't he?" Sid said as he leaned over towards Bert. Bert shook his head as Dave came to a stop in his cart at the base of the steps.

"I just came to pick up my kids." Dave said as he mounted the steps.

"Well then you missed them. They're all in the cabin you just passed.," Sid said as Dave reached into the cooler and took out a beer. As Dave sat down he looked over to Bert.

"You told him about the new stable schedule already?" Dave asked.

"What new stable schedule?" Sid asked as he glared at Bert.

"The one where you have to go on all overnight's with the boys every night." Dave replied before Bert got any chance to respond.

"Ain't that why you're in a pissy mood?" Sid sat up in his rocker just as both senior boys appeared back out on the front porch.

"Tell me this is a joke!" Sid said to Bert.

"Well, it was Dave's idea that we were kicking around, but no firm decisions have been made yet," Bert replied with a straight face.

"Tell Dave to kick this around!" Sid said as he gave his friend the finger. Once the laughter stopped and Sid relaxed, the kid's again began assembling on the porch following their showers. Now stuffed into underpants and noticeably relaxed, this for them was a quiet time as dusk settled across the lake and the sound of bull frogs echoed off the trees. With a dead calm wind, the water was like glass and the occasional smell of a campfire hung in the air.

"Right after taps, I have a meeting at Uncle Bert's to go to and Anthony will be in charge. I should only be gone for a half hour or so, so I fully expect to be looking at a cabin full of sound asleep children when I get back," Adam told the assembled.

"When can we have visitor's from Coquina again Uncle Adam?" Matty now asked. Adam deferred the question to Bert.

"There's a special guest coming tomorrow and we'll know by tomorrow afternoon when the restrictions will be lifted," Bert told the group as Carla sat in the Director's lap drinking some lemonade.

"What kind of a special guest?" The girl asked.

"A Doctor who's visiting with Uncle Thomas," Bert replied evasively.

"Why? Is somebody sick?" Jeannie asked.

"No, he's a Doctor from Boston and is here to help us with the twins," Bert replied.

"What do you guys think about the twins so far?" Sid asked the group. Now smiling to each other, the campers giggled a bit wondering who was going to speak first.

"They sure do like to play an awful lot!" Chris finally said in between giggles.

"Yes, it's no secret that they are Scale One, and it's something that we need to deal with so that they can begin to learn and grow up leading as normal a life as possible. That's why the Doctor is coming," Bert told the group in a serious tone.

"But he can't stop them from playing."

Sammy said "Can he Uncle Adam?" The boy said as he turned to looked into Adam's face. Adam, as well as the rest of the staff on the porch knew just how deeply the question really went for Sammy as he looked into the face of a very concerned 12 year old.

"No, he's not here to try to stop the playing Sammy, everybody knows that's impossible. He's just going to make some suggestions on how to make the twin's more comfortable with their bodies," Adam replied as he kissed Sammy's forehead.

"But no operations right?" Spencer asked Bert.

"Absolutely no operations," Bert replied as the boys now relaxed a bit. Surgical solutions to Geppetto boys had ceased more than 40 years earlier, but all the boys knew of past practices, and were not about to forget them.

As Tattoo blew, the boys and girls made the rounds of the staff on the porch and with kisses and goodnights, it was a relatively smooth transition to bedtime. As usual, the kids elected to sleep as a group out on the screened in porch off their bedrooms, and with blanket and sheet tents, the usual game of trying to spot raccoons, rabbits and turtles in the woods with their flashlights began as soon as the lights went out to the playing of Taps. Leaving the mafia with Eitienne, Anthony and Greg watching each of the three cabins, Adam, Sid, Bert, Dan, Dave and the two senior boys now made their way back to Bert's cabin as the full team assigned to the Twin's now gathered once more.

Once everyone attending had the opportunity to relate their observations of the twins during the previous three days, Sid felt he was fairly well prepared to answer Doctor Lester's questions the next day.

"He's leaving Logan at 6:00 A.M. And will be flown into the FEMA Depot right around 9:00. I want him to be met by you and Charlie Sid, he's aware of Charlie's roll in this and will be relying on him to evaluate any suggestions from the prospective of the boys" Bert told Sid.

"How long is he going to be here?" Gloria now asked. Bert shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm lead to believe this guy is pretty fussy about his time being wasted, so probably the day, maybe two," Bert told the girl. Gloria now looked down on her toddler, Timmy. The three year old was sleeping on the swing next to her.

"I want to talk to him about Timmy too," she said quietly.

"Timmy won't be assigned a Scale rating until next year. Maybe you want to wait. He could slow down by then," Bert counseled the girl. Gloria shook her head.

"He hasn't shown any signs of slowing down since last year. Beth is right; He's a One." Gloria said as she stroked the childs hair.

Bert nodded his head as Sid made another note for the Doctor.

What are we going to be dealing with tomorrow?" Sid now asked the Director.

"Who is this guy and what's he all about? As Bert took a sip iof his Gin and Tonic, he picked up a file and opened it to his notes.

"Doctor Lester is in his mid sixties, he's married and has three grown children. He lives in Kittery, Maine and goes home on week ends from Brookline," Bert began.

"He became involved in Geppetto in the mid seventies when his daughter adopted a baby boy who was a Geppetto boy before anybody really knew what it was. The Doctor took the boys case on, and once he learned of Geppetto, he joined the Harvard Institute's team as it's Chief of Psychiatry. His Grandson is now at The New Hampshire School, where he teaches reading," Bert concluded.

"So you already know him?" Sid asked his boss.

"Vaguely. He was at Harvard at the same time I was, but it's a big fucking school and I didn't know everybody. I knew who he was, but never really met him," Bert replied.

"I guess he and I aren't all that different in our stories, he has a personal reason to be involved in Geppetto which makes him a safe individual to deal with. Alexandria basically gives him whatever he asks for," Bert said.

"It sounds like he's pretty well involved with New Hampshire," Adam now said.

"and they don't use Outside Uncle's right?" Adam asked.

"That's correct, but it really doesn't matter, he's aware of you and the other Outside Uncles so there's no problems with that," Bert said anticipating Adam's concern. Adam smiled a bit, but he was less than happy.

"I never was comfortable talking to a shrink, I've always had the feeling they Psycho-Analyze every single word and gesture you make!" Adam told the group. Both Sid and Bert now smiled themselves and they were amused.

"Horseshit! If that were the case, I,d be able to shut you up now and then.!" Sid told his friend as the chuckles had Timmy stirring on the swing. With Adam shaking his head Bert had the final say of the meeting.

"Two years ago, we gave the green light to let you stay at Green Tree, but Doctor Lester and the boys up in Brookline had the last word. He approved your presence here two years ago, and he's seen nothing since to change his mind," Bert told Adam.

Due in no small part to Adam's last question, Bert was particularly happy with the meeting as he turned out the lights in the cabin and walked upstairs to the bedroom. Christopher was snuggled securely between Jill and Claire and rarely did he wake up during the night unless he was ill. After his normal bedtime routine, it was going to be one of the earliest night's he had seen in a very long time. Unless the Doctor himself blew it with Sid, Bert's Assistant Director would never know he was the primary reason the Doctor was paying the House Call.

Bert's morning began as it usually does right around 5:00 if he gets to bed before midnight. With a full nights sleep, he was sitting at his desk for a good hour until the telltale sound of pounding feet coming down the stairs told him Christopher was up and ready to tear the day apart. With a squishy thud, the boys pull ups hit the floor as the boy walked out of them and climbed his way into Bert's lap. As Bert finished up his notes and shut off the computer, he patted the boy on a soggy slightly chilly bottom.

"Juice?" Bert asked.

"Hey!" Christopher chirped as he did every single time to the question.

It was a warm morning and still pitch black out, but there was a hint of light coming from the east as the man and boy walked down the cabin steps. As they usually did, they walked over to the Mess Hall which was a few hundred yards from Bert's cabin as the two listened to the sound of dishes and silverware being placed out along with the banging and clanging of pots and pans being washed. The usual morning smells of Ham, Bacon, Sausage and coffee could be detected along with music as the two got closer to the huge building which could feed 600 people in a single sitting. Much to the relief of the mess boys who were setting the tables for breakfast, Bert kept the still naked Christopher in his arms as he moved towards the rear of the Dining Hall and into the kitchen. The Maple Syrup and fruit was already sitting on some tables, and Christopher was hell bent on getting his hands on a banana or 3.

Once inside the kitchen area, Bert put the boy down on the floor as several kitchen boys called out the alert "Christopher on Deck!" Bert smiled as he usually did as cooks and bakers reached for knives, glasses, plates and anything within reach of the little tornado that now lurked within their midst. Without direction, two mess boys now became Christopher's shadow until he left with the Director and they could relax again.

Handing Bert a cup of coffee, John the Chef first looked to Christopher who was already standing before a cook who was peeling the boy a banana while Christopher waited excitedly.

"Hang koo" Christopher told the cook as the banana was passed to him.

"You're welcome." replied the cook as he returned to his work washing the fruit.

"That's some little pot there he's got going. Not a bad caboose either. You figuring to slap a diet on him anytime soon?" John asked his boss. Bert looked towards Christopher who was now headed for a cooler full of orange juice.

"He weighs 80 pounds [36 kg] and he's 12 years old.

That's not over weight!" Bert told the Chef. John shook his head.

"Most 12 year old boys are five feet [1.50 m] tall. This one's just three feet [90 cm] tall!" John replied.

"He's 40 inches [1 m]. Stop busting his balls," Bert replied.

"I ain't busting his ball's, I'm busting yours. Besides, he doesn't have any remember?" John replied. Bert shook his head and stayed silent.

"When all this hoopla over the twins is over with, have a sit down discussion with Martha. That kid will eat anything including the kitchen sink so it won't be hard making him happy and still keeping him healthy." John told Bert. Bert nodded his head.

"When did you become a health nut?" he asked the Chef.

"Hey, if these kids become fat, everybody's going to think I feed them nothing but junk food!" John replied. Bert debated on keeping the insults flying, but let the great opportunity pass him by. John spoke the truth, as crude as it was.

Christopher ate and drank everything available and his torso was telling the tale. Still, an inner protectiveness that was strongly felt by Bert made it difficult for him to deny the boy something he quite obviously enjoyed immensely, eating.

Does this Doctor have any special request about food? John now asked Bert.

"I haven't heard of any, but I'll have Sid check it out," Bert replied. With a tumbler full of orange juice, Christopher drank it in one movement as he then handed the now empty glass to a mess boy and headed for Bert and the Chef.

"That's an improvement; last week he would have just let it fall to the floor." John observed.

"Fuck you," Bert told the Chef as he reached down and picked Christopher up.

"Say good morning to nasty old Uncle John Christopher," Bert said to the boy as he adjusted him on his hip. Reaching out with both hands and a banana in one of them, Christopher leaned towards the chef to give the man a hug and a kiss. John shook his head as he braced for what he knew was coming.

"Hi!" Christopher said with a broad smile as he wrapped his arms around the Chef's neck and hugged him. Then backing away again, John received an orange juice tasting kiss from the boy. With his free hand, Christopher signed "Good morning" and then "Happy" to John. With a smile, John signed back "Happy."

"One of these days, your mean old Uncle Bert is going to break down and buy you some clothes. Do you know how cold your little buns are?" John asked the boy.

"I-ee?" Christopher replied.

"You're darned tootin." John said as he handed the boy back to Bert. With both mess boys now giggling at the exchange, Bert rubbed the boys cheeks.

"Are you ready to puts these back in a pair of pants, or do you want to stay nakey?" Bert asked the boy.

"Nakey?" Christopher replied.

"That's what I figured," Bert said as he gave the mess boy his now empty coffee cup.

"Say "Goodbye" Christopher and tell Uncle John to get the banana out of his hair," Bert said as he swung around.

"Bye" Christopher chirped as he signed with his free hand.

As the mess boys went back to their work, John toweled the banana off of the back of his neck and hair and looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. In one hour, he'd have 600 people to feed. It would take 12 gallons [45 l] of fresh eggs alone to make the scrambled eggs, pancakes and french toast needed, and 150 pounds [68 kg] of potato's for the home fries.

With the bakery in full operation now since 3:30 in the morning, a mess boy pushed the button as a loud buzzer went off.

"One hour warning!" the 16 year old called out as John finished his coffee and the pace in the kitchen quickened considerably.

As the buzzer went off in North Carolina, Doctor Lester was looking down from 20,000 feet [6 km] as the Institute's Gulfstream 550 passed to the east of Block Island. Still climbing, the jet would level out at 30,000 feet [9 km] as the dawn broke quickly on the horizon. With coffee and a cream cheese bagel for breakfast, the Doctor turned back to his files that sat next to him as he picked up Sid's file and began reading. Finished in a little over ½ an hour, he shook his head and laid down the file.

"It wasn't pretty, but we survived," the man sitting next to Doctor Lester now said.

"It's kind of amazing the both of you are still sane, let alone alive," he said. Barry smiled and nodded his head slightly.

"Some say I'm a little more sane than Sid, but that's debatable. The thing about Sid is that if he has something on his mind, you're going to find out about it. You're going to find out if you want to or not." Sid's boyhood friend said. Doctor Lester now nodded his head.

"Thank you for coming Barry. I'm going to be depending a great deal on you to tell me when things aren't going right with Sid, you know him better than anybody and know his moods," he told the man. Barry smiled a little as he again nodded.

"Sid's fairly easy to "Read". He uses humor to get his way, and if it becomes biting or sarcastic, somebody's generally in trouble. You know you're in deep trouble when he stops talking altogether." Barry said.

"There are two ways to get on Sid's bad side real fast. The first is if he perceives potential harm to one of the boys. Just keep in mind that to Sid, that means anybody from the youngest baby to the oldest man." Barry told the Doctor.

"And the other?" Dr. Lester asked.

"Sid takes it real personal if he's lied to or betrayed. If you lose his trust, you may just as well not exist in his book. Sid will never "Turn the other cheek", he'll attack." Barry said.

"You believe he'd get physically abusive?" The Doctor asked.

"I've seen him beat the hell out of more than a few people who physically abused someone he cared for or tried to harm him." Barry replied.

"But none but the most ignorant of people don't know it's coming well in advance. He'll tell you he's going to pound you into the ground before he actually does it."

"And how do you believe he'll react to me?" The Dr. asked.

"That really depends upon how the twins react. If I were you, I'd be looking at Sid as the boys chief advocate. If he thinks they don't like the proposal or would be harmed by it, he'll put a stop to it faster than you can blink. If he balks, Bert will not overrule him." Dr. Lester nodded his head as he listened to Sid's friend.

The Dr. knew that sitting beside him was one of the last of two original boys who were a part of the original boys who were injected with the serum that made them Geppetto boys.

The other was Sid. Of 300 original boys, only Barry and Sid at 55 years of age had by 2006 survived the Program which was stated in 1947. It is possible that one day, their dna will unlock the mystery of Geppetto and put the genie back into the bottle. For obvious reason's, both men's continued good health was vital to the Institute's mission of unlocking the secret's of Geppetto and finding a cure.

"I personally don't see any problems whatsoever concerning the twins. We have a great rapport and I think they'll accept this with no difficulty whatsoever." The Dr. said.

"We're all in agreement. If I didn't think that Sid is the one who has to be convinced, I wouldn't be sitting on this plane." Barry replied.

"If the twins were at New Hampshire, I would have to recuse myself from this proposal. Sid and I are just too personally involved with the negative aspects concerning these toys. The whole concept to us is like a big scab that's been ripped off a wound." Berry advised the Doctor.

"Yes, it's all here in the file." Dr. Lester said.

"What's not in the file is the connection between Sid and I. If he does go off, probably the only people in the world who are going to get through to him are his friend's there at the school and myself. To the best of my knowledge, he hasn't attempted to commit suicide since his early teens. It's not exactly a foreign concept to us, you know that." Barry told the Doctor.

"You believe he would attempt to harm himself?" Dr. Lester asked.

"Geppetto boys generally kill themselves because they have a profound feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. That feeling doesn't have to be centered on themselves, it can just as easily be based upon their inability to protect and defend those they love." Barry told the Psychiatrist.

"Suicide is a rational act to an irrational person. It's rage turned inwards when there's nobody to strike back at." Barry concluded.

"You would recognize the behavior if he were in danger of harming himself?" The Dr. asked. Barry smiled but not out of being amused. "Dr. Lester, Sid and I have been watching boys kill themselves since we were five years old. we'd know what to look for," the man told him.

For the past 30 some years Dr. Lester had been involved in Geppetto and he knew the words of Barry to be true. He had rescued his own Grandson from an overdose when the boy was only 10. In the 1950s and 1960s, suicide was the leading cause of death for these boys. Unless incarcerated on sex crime charges, that option was rare. At the Institute's schools, almost unknown. Of the six Geppetto schools around the country, only one had a perfect record of no successful suicides since the mid '60s and that was Green Tree.

Going back to his stack of files, Dr. Lester took the next one in hand. Barry could not help him with this one, it was Kevin's.

The morning before, the twins arose at 6:00 when it was still dark. Now at 7:00 the bugle blew Reveille still finding them asleep. Few boys in Coquina leaped out of bed, but the twins were now the exception. Opting to use the toilet rather than the screen on the upstairs porch to pee as they had done the previous morning, both boys now stood at the bowl getting the majority of their urine in the bowl, the rest on the toilet seat. Their next destination was downstairs to the kitchen where they knew a refrigerator full of milk and juice awaited. Pounding down the circular stairway, they effectively convinced Greg to climb out of bed.

"Milk or chocolate milk?" Greg asked both boys as he pulled out a gallon. Knowing it was a stupid question, Bruce took the chocolate syrup out along with a coffee flavored syrup called "Coffeetime" that the boys had never tasted before. As with every other cabin in camp, their morning had now begun.

Sid's morning usually began closer to 6:00, but this morning, he too awoke to the sound of the bugle. Now living with Patty and her two senior girls in a cabin on the upper camp,

Sid kind of missed his mornings which pretty much all started with a dozen boys ready to tear the day apart. Somehow, the quiet he now endured seemed foreign to him. The cabin was dead silent except for the sounds coming from the cabins across campus that held the youngest children at Green Tree.

"Now laying there staring at the ceiling, Patty moved over closer to him and put her arm around her boyfriend.

"It's going to be a pretty busy day today. What time are you leaving for the Depot?" She asked.

"Bert's going to get a call when they land at Winston-Salem and it'll take about a half hour to fly them up. Probably sometime after 9:00," Sid replied.

"Are you taking the twins with you," she now asked. Sid shook his head.

"No, me and Charlie are going to use the time we have to get briefed by him. It'll also give me some time to figure this guy out," Sid replied.

"You've never met him before?" Patty asked.

"No, all I know about him is what's in the boys files. On the other hand, as the Chief of Psychiatry for the entire Institute, he knows all there is to know about us, right down to the last detail," Sid said. Patty now giggled a little.

"Sid, there's thousands of people in Geppetto. He can't possibly know each and every one of us," she told the man. Patting the woman on her bare bottom Sid shook his head.

"Maybe yesterday sweetheart he didn't know we existed, but you can bet your sweet little ass he knows now," Sid told her as he pinched her gently. Patty giggled a little as she moved her head on top of Sid's chest.

"You sound like a freshman going to his Professor for the first time. You have a Psychology background, you can't possibly be wary of him," she told Sid.

"Sweetheart, even Sigmund Freud refused to be psycho analyzed!"

"He's not coming here for you, he's coming here for the twins." Patty replied.

"We're always on duty," Sid replied.

"Oh really! And you're on duty with me right now?" She asked.

"Sure! I'm here to make you happy," Sid replied as he pulled the woman on top of him.

"Who's making who happy?" Patty asked.

"I,m not sure, let me analyze the situation," Sid replied as he rolled her over. Sid's day would begin after showers, but for now, he was busy.

Unlike Sid, Adam's morning was anything but quiet. He had a cabin of 10 boys, two girls, various animals and two of them were now licking his face in anticipation of being fed.

Now two years old, the cocker spaniel's were fully grown and really close to being house trained. Adam wasn't really a dog man, but once the novelty wore off the children, he really didn't have all that much choice. He usually fed and cleaned up after them, and for whatever reason, if his lap was empty, the dogs would take up residence in a flash.

As the Director of the Intermediate Camp, Adam had a great deal to do, but nothing started before Sammy was ready to share his counselor with the rest of the school. Unlike bedtime's when Sammy might be off with his friend's somewhere, Morning wake-ups remained constant between the two. It was the time every day neither was ready to give up. For two years, the now 10 year old boy was everything to the man now laying alongside him as Adam looked into Sammy's sleeping face. Kissing the boy on the very tip of his nose, Sammy stirred and began stretching. Now yawning deeply, Sammy looked over towards Adam and smiled a little as he again closed his eyes. It would take a few seconds for his speech to be regained, but for now, he rolled over on his side in silence and snuggled against Adam's chest. If there was a perfect time in Adam's day, this was it.

"Hey Uncle Adam! You guys ain't up yet?" Carla said as she and Jeannie came climbing onto the bed. After good morning kisses to both girls, they sat on the bed Indian style looking down on the two bodies laying there. Adam smiled slightly and shook his head. Almost every morning began with the girls sitting there looking like they were waiting for the movie to begin, all they lacked was the popcorn.

"No, but if you two would take the dogs downstairs and let them out, we could be!" Adam replied. You done playing yet?" Jeannie asked innocently with her little girl impish smile.

"No!" Sammy replied as he pulled off his covers to display a willing but not yet pink erection. Both girls giggled as they scooted themselves off the bed calling the dogs.

"Don't forget to shut the door behind you!" Adam said as two round little fannies now departed the room. "Hurry up Sammy and we can take the canoe's to flagpole!" Carla said as the door closed behind them. Adam shook his head and smiled to himself wondering if Sammy was going to heed the girls suggestion. Sammy very much liked paddling across the lake to flagpole in the mornings but that was not his priority at this particular time. Sammy enjoyed playing at least six times a day, but the first was always something very special to him and he was in no hurry as he slipped on top of Adam and waited for the feelings he knew were about to commence.

Assembly blew at 7:45 as a small armada of rowboats, canoe's and sailboats beached themselves on the shore in front of the Mess Hall. This was going to be a normal school day with classes until lunch time. The day before, the children had gotten the day off from academics, but the vacation was over as the cabins assembled and the Camps flag was raised. After announcements, Mess Call was blown as the Camp Kenny toddlers entered the Dining Hall first.

For the kitchen, breakfast was always the most difficult meal to make. The entire school ate at one time, and almost everything had to be hot and fresh. Unlike lunch or dinner, almost everything needed to be cooked just before serving it. A neat trick when you're feeding 600 people within a half hour. John the Chef had a crew of almost 50 senior boys and men, who now all lined up at griddles cooking fried eggs, pancakes, and waffles as the mafia sat down at their tables amid a moderate buzz in the dining hall. Adam sat down to his second cup of coffee in the morning as the boys began their meal with a fresh citrus fruit cup.

"Uncle Adam, we wanna go on a overnight hike this weekend. Uncle Bert says we can go if we gots coverage. Uncle Dave says he don't got the senior boys. Can you and Uncle Kevin go?" Billy from Bay Watch Cabin asked. Adam closed his eyes for a second remembering to have a talk with the boys English teacher. He knew the boys wouldn't tolerate him correcting their language, but they seemed to be slipping backwards instead of going forwards. Looking towards Kevin who seemed to be shaking his head "No", Adam now looked at the boys sitting around him.

"Did Uncle Sid already set the riding schedule for the week-end?" He asked.

"We ain't talking about a Trail ride Overnight Uncle Adam, we're talking about a hike." another boy replied.

"You know, like as in walking!" Dan told Adam more than a bit amused. With the boys all nodding their heads Adam looked at Dan who had a small smile on his face. As the Waterfront Director, he took no hikes, he was on campus every single day.

"Maybe Uncle Dan will volunteer," Adam said knowing the impossibility.

"Ain't gonna happen pal!" Dan said not missing a beat.

"You know I'm indispensable to the operation of the campus, somebody needs to go that's not necessary."

"Yeah!" a chorus of boys now said in unison.

"Thanks Pal!" Adam said to Dan.

"If it's at all possible, we'll get you out for an overnight, but until we find coverage, I can't make any promises. Let me work on it, and we'll know closer to the weekend," Adam told the boys. The boys went back to their breakfast without problem which gave Adam cause to pause. Had the boys developed long faces and groans, he would have been a little more comfortable. However, that not being the case, the boys figured they had the trip "In the bag." so to speak. Adam was feeling more than a bit pressured by the happy, smiling, loving faces now greeting him over spoonfuls of grapefruit and cherries.

Bert and Sid's arrival in the mess hall rarely came without commotion especially if Christopher were with the two. This morning was no different as the boy rode on Sid's shoulders. Barefooted but dressed in bib overalls, Christopher had both his hands on Sid's forehead half covering the man's eye's as they approached the mafia's tables. With all the boys now protecting their food and drinks, Sid lifted Christopher off his shoulders and plunked him down in between the twins who were basically ignorant concerning the boy.

They learned quickly as Christopher reached into Gavin's bowl for a fistful of fruit.

"Sorry Gavin, we'll get you another bowl. Christopher isn't quite up to snuff in his table manners yet," Kevin told the boy. Gavin said nothing as he closely scrutinized the boy sitting next to him that was about as big as he was and was now holding a fistful of fruit that was dripping into his lap. The twin's were only 8, but they instinctively knew something was not quite right.

"Quick meeting after breakfast Adam, you're teaching this morning?" Bert asked .

"Hopefully," Adam replied. Bert nodded his head.

"Uncle Bert, Uncle Adam said we can go on a overnight this week-end. Can you find us coverage?" Matty now asked the Director.

"Whoa boy! Uncle Adam said he would work on the matter. You're not Uncle Adam are you?" Adam asked the boy. With more than a few giggles going on around him, Matty shook his head.

"Thank you!" Adam replied.

"Overnight?" Sid asked.

"Later!" Adam told his friend.

Morning staff meetings on Academic mornings were usually small and quick affairs mostly with Administrative staff in attendance. With the coming of Dr. Lester, this one was a little larger. Every Department head gave a report, and Thomas's was met with more than a few groans. Less than a week earlier, the camp was turned upside down in a pin worm infestation. Now, Thomas stood to tell the group that four Camp Kenny children and three Intermediate boys had been found with wood ticks.

"From now on, every counselor needs to do a "Skinny" inspection of each child every single morning. That includes senior boys and girls as well." Thomas began. I know a few of our senior girls are a little touchy about being seen naked, but they're just going to have to grin and bear it. Ticks carry lyme disease and that trumps modesty. A skinny inspection means naked and anything less is unacceptable. Nobody's immune from ticks, you'd be smart to check yourselves even if you haven't been in the woods. If they're found, don't try to take them out by yourselves, only the Infirmary people are authorized to do that!" Thomas said.

"Why are they coming all of a sudden? The Camp Kenny children were rarely involved before!" Jeanette asked.

"True. The only thing we can figure out is that now that they've been moved to the upper campus, the little ones are closer to the woods and have greater access to them," Thomas replied.

"Check their hair and under their arms and in their groins. If a tick attaches, it won't take long to spot them," Thomas said. Can't we spray for them?" Gloria now asked.

"Dave has his crew spraying the perimeter of all campuses, but it's going to take some time and we can't spray 12,000 acre's by hand. I'm making a request to Alexandra today to have the place sprayed by air by the Forrest Service, but the waiting list is a mile long from what I understand," Bert told the Senior girls Director.

"Are we having fun yet?" Sid quipped.

"The Doctor right now is landing at Winston-Salem, Sid and Charlie will be bringing him on campus. He's not an outsider, but it would be nice if we minimized outdoor nudity for the duration," Bert advised the group.

"Cancel the sun-tan lotion Charlie!" Sid now quipped. Bert shook his head and smiled slightly. If Sid was joking, things weren't all that bad, at least not yet.

Just before 8:30, the Gulfstream landed at Winston-Salem and taxied to the private section where a helicopter was waiting. The flight to the Fema Depot was a short hop for the aircraft, and by 9:00 Sid and Charlie sat in Sid's golf cart watching it land. Up to that point in time, Sid's entire mindset was on making a full personal evaluation of the Institute's Chief Psychiatrist and he was fully involved in doing that until his boyhood friend Barry appeared at the door.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Sid exclaimed as he now leaped off the cart and headed for the aircraft.

The evaluation was no longer in Sid's hands. As both men embraced at the bottom of the steps to the helicopter, neither man had said a word but both were awash in tears.

"Hello, my name is Lester." The Dr. said to Charlie who now stood next to the man watching Sid and Barry.

"Hi, I'm Charlie. Glad to meet you." Charlie said as he continued to watch his Uncle Sid.

"Who's that with Uncle Sid?" Charlie asked the Doctor.

"His name is Barry."

Doctor Lester said.

"From New Hampshire?" Charlie asked.

"Yes, you've heard of him?" The Doctor asked.

"Sure, everybody at School knows Uncle Barry!" Charlie replied. The Doctor now smiled a bit.

"Which probably explains why every boy at New Hampshire knows about your Uncle Sid," he replied.

"Nobody said anything about Uncle Barry coming. Not even Uncle Sid knew it." Charlie told the Doctor as the two now walked to the cart with some luggage.

"No, your Uncle Barry wanted to surprise his friend." Dr. Lester replied.

"Uncle Sid's going to be pretty pissed, he don't much like surprises." Charlie said.

"Sorry, I meant angry." He quickly added.

"Pissed works just as well, you've got nothing to be sorry for." Dr. Lester said with a small smile as Charlie breathed a sigh of relief.

Once Sid was over the initial shock and remembered he was standing on the tarmac with more than a few soldiers who were attending the aircraft staring at him, Sid found his voice again.

"Don't they have fucking phones up there in the sticks. Don't you know how to dial?" He asked his friend "I didn't hear about the flight until after your bedtime, and I knew how much you needed your beauty sleep." Barry replied.

"Besides' you invited me down here last Fall, and now your bitching about my showing up? I can go back home if you want me to!"

"Jesus you always were a stupid fucking asshole!" Sid said as the two now parted and looked at each other through very blurry eye's Sid's plan to immediately begin dissecting and inspecting the Doctor on the journey back to camp was now up in smoke. With Charlie driving and the Doctor alongside him, Sid and Barry sat in the back seat and ripped each other to verbal shred's as they had done since they were both eight years old. Dr. Lester had known Barry through his visit's to the New Hampshire School for better than 15 years and had found the man to be very skilled and professional. He was not formally trained in Psychiatry, but needed no guidance when it came to child care or in understanding a child's Psychological needs. Now, he listened to two men who sounded more like two boys trying to "Out rank" each other on a ball field. Only two people extremely close could get away with that. The good Doctor had never known Barry to be emotionally involved before. This was a new revelation.

The trip to the campus from the Depot took about 15 minutes through the trails that the Corps of Engineers had made and the ride was an informative one for the Doctor. Being from New England, the Doctor was use to the woods, but saw several trees and bushes he didn't recognize. With Sid and Barry busy in the back seat talking amongst themselves, Charlie was only too happy to tell the Doctor what he was looking at.

"Are you going to be a botanist? You have a very extensive knowledge about the woods." Dr. Lester asked Charlie after the boy described his 15th or 20th tree or bush.

"Oh no, I just learned this stuff from my Uncles. Uncle Sid and Dave and Adam taught us all what the names of the stuff out here is." Charlie replied.

"So what do you intend on Majoring in at School." Dr. Lester asked the boy. Charlie shook his head.

"I don't think I'm going to school. I'm staying here at Green Tree and working for Uncle Dave. I'm a Scale One." Charlie replied.

"Yes, I know that. But that doesn't prevent you from going to College if you want to." Dr. Lester replied. Charlie smiled a little.

"That's nice." Charlie replied not believing a word the Dr. said.

Pulling out into the clearing, the appearance of cabins and buildings now took center attention as the boy described the function of each one. Dr. Lester was impressed with the camp, the large log cabin style cabins were each tucked into their own little niches either along the lakes shore or on the opposite side of the cart path that surrounded the lake, and with bikes, basketball hoops, drying towels hung on the porch railings and rowboats and canoe's dotting the shoreline, was the picture of a child's summer camp with no visible signs of any children.

"We have a new school schedule, and they go to school every morning and do camp stuff in the afternoon." Charlie told the Doctor.

"Right now, everybody's in class except the Camp Kenny kid's. You might see some of them over by the boat house or down at the beach." Charlie explained.

The Doctor's arrival at Bert's Cabin/Office came just around 9:30. Jeanette was the first one to spot Barry.

"I didn't know Barry was coming! Did you?" The girl asked Bert. Bert said nothing, he just shook his head. "Look what I dug up!" Sid exclaimed as he and Barry mounted the steps. Once again, the greeting was an emotional one, especially from all three girls, Jeanette, Gloria and Johanna. With the exceptions of Dan, Dave and Helen, everybody else on the porch knew Barry from previous trips to New Hampshire, but all had heard of the man, some for most of their lives. The intent of the gathering was to greet Doctor Lester who now stood on the porch basically ignored, but fully content to observe the scene unfolding before him.

"Doctor Lester I presume?" Thomas finally said as he came over to the Dr. After greeting Barry. Dr. Lester smiled and shook Thomas's hand who introduced himself. Walking the Doctor into Bert's cabin, Thomas showed him around the cabin, and then the two went out onto the back porch.

"The kitchen sent over some food. Are you hungry? They'll be more than happy to fix up anything you like." Thomas began as he poured a cup of coffee.

"I,m stuffed thank you, the food on the plane was much more extensive than I'm use to." Dr. Lester replied as he took the coffee and sat down.

"Barry's appearance is a stroke of genius. Who's idea was it?" Thomas now asked the Doctor.

"Mostly Matthew's. Barry didn't need too much encouragement, but he is swamped in activity back at school." Dr. Lester replied.

"I must admit, I am a little surprised. I knew the two were close, but I didn't know they were joined at the hip," he said.

"As I've come to learn, Sid takes his friendships quite personally. The boys here don't just like him, they worship him," Thomas replied. Dr. Lester nodded as the rest of the group now joined them as very polite and professional greetings were exchanged.

As the good Doctor sat down, he had a fairly interesting and informative amount of information concerning Green Tree and it's Administrative staff to add to his files. The reports had always reflected Green Trees cohesiveness and effectiveness to do it's work and now he was sitting down with the people who made it all seem so simple.

Chapter Twenty Eight

With the arrival from Boston of Dr. Lester and the surprise arrival of Sid's boyhood friend Barry, the Team now sat down for the business at hand which was the proposal to control the Twin's sexual activities by means of "Toys" which was what any and all mechanical devices which caused or assisted orgasm are called by the boys of Green Tree. As the Institute's Chief of Psychiatry, Dr. Lester wouldn't have given the devices that label himself, but if he was going to communicate with the boys, he'd have to "Adjust" his vocabulary.

With the meeting now beginning, each staff member was evaluating the good Doctor, and Adam was no different. As the group talked, he watched and listened to the Doctor and eventually, liked what he saw and heard. At the same time, he was more than a bit paranoid about what the Psychiatrist was thinking about him, so he was on his very best behavior and putting forth his most professional persona. He also fully intended to keep the lowest profile possible.

In Adam's evaluation of the man, he was very well groomed, well dressed, and had a soft manner about him. As many people do, Adam tried to think of who the man most likely reminded him of. He decided by the end of the meeting that Henry Fonda was the closest fit, maybe even Bert a little bit.

Adam knew little about the man's professional abilities, but as the Chief of Psychiatry for the Institute which was a Harvard based Program for The Geppetto Project, the man was obviously no quack. He had to be a Harvard Graduate, and he had to be one of the best they had as a tenured Professor. Adam was a simple Math teacher, and before that, an accountant freshly Graduated from Yale.

While it was Adam's intention to become a wall flower, Sid on the other hand had no such fantasy's. He had been prompted by Bert to keep a professional tone, but everybody in the room knew that Sid was Sid. He wasn't about to become a Diplomat anytime soon.

"The twin's are at the pool right now receiving swimming lesson's," Bert began the meeting.

"Our Water Safety Instructor is a cracker jack, and he thinks the boys will be water certified by the end of the week. It's kind of essential around here with the lake being so attractive," Bert told the Doctor.

"I agree. If I were a boy, you wouldn't be able to keep me away from one of those rowboats." The Dr. replied smiling.

"We've heard a great deal about this proposal Doc. What's so different about it than any other toy they all have available to them," Sid asked. With Bert closing his eyes and Adam wishing he was in class, Dr. Lester smiled slightly and put down his coffee.

"The main difference is that this is internally placed and needs no manual inter-action. The boys can sit in place and other than a momentary lapse in concentration, they can continue their studies or whatever they're doing at the time. It gives them the opportunity to go on with their routine uninterrupted." The Doctor concluded.

"The most troubling thing I had to deal with while developing this system was it's seemingly impersonal nature." The Dr. continued speaking now chiefly to Sid.

"But I watched my Grandson deal with Geppetto and we talked about it extensively. Many times he told me that if a pill were developed tomorrow to rid him of all of his sexual feelings, he'd take it. As we all know Sid, there are ways to take away a human beings sexuality. But would we still be human?" He asked.

"We've all long ago learned that eighty percent of the time, a Geppetto boy has sex because he has to, but there's still that twenty percent of the time when it's exactly what he wants to do just like everybody else. If I invented such a pill, I wouldn't give it to my Grandson, and I don't think you'd take it for yourself either."

Reaching down to his briefcase the Dr. took out a pair of designer underpants identical to most in camp except for two lines of nickel sized batteries sewn into the seams along both sides. Putting them on the table, he now took out a package with a cylinder the size and shape of a large bullet. Placing it on the underpants, the Doctor continued.

"There are several boys at the New Hampshire school and more at the Institute in Brookline who've opted to wear the device during the day. The boys got tired of calling it "The Thing" or "It", so they named it "Max." He told the group with a small smile.

"Max works either manually or automatically and the boys need no assistance other than normal hygiene instructions." Dr. Lester said.

"It's something personal, it's something private, and if the boys so chose, it's completely invisible to other's."

"It's not a perfect solution Sid, but until we find one, it's the best chance those boys have of leading any resemblance to a normal life," Bert told his friend.

"It's a good time for a break. I've never been here before. Sid, show some manners and show me around this place." Barry now said as he stood up.

"Let's finish this stuff," Sid replied.

"No, I need some time out." Barry persisted.

"I know how to drive that cart. If you're not going to be gracious enough to accompany me, I'll take it for a spin myself." Barry replied.

"Come on Sid, let's give them both a tour," Adam now said as he too arose from his chair.

Sid knew his blood pressure was up, he felt that he was in a loosing battle. He also knew he could veto the proposal, but would that veto be for his benefit rather than in the best interest of the Twin's? His first inkling was to get the process over with one way or the other.

"Uncle Sid, we all need a break, take some time off," Jeanette said to the man as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him on the side of the head. Sid reluctantly nodded agreement.

With classes still in session, the kid's were mostly invisible except for a few who were studying outside or doing experiments of one kind or another. With Sid's cart leading the way with Barry and Adam on board, Bert followed with Thomas and Dr. Lester.

"Barry spoke of suicide on the trip down. Is your staff concerned that it might be in play?" Dr. Lester asked.

"Sid doesn't take to toys very kindly and it's certainly got him upset, but if he had any suicidal ideologies, the girls radar would pick it up in a heartbeat. I'd like to think mine would too, but they're generally the first to sound the alarm. Sid has very deep roots in Green Tree, it would take a mighty powerful storm to blow him over," Bert advised the Doctor.

"That's pretty much what Matthew said too." Dr. Lester replied.

"We'll know just how solid Sid's foundation is right about "Tea Time" Bert now said.

"Tea Time?" Dr. Lester asked.

"Happy Hour!" Bert replied as the good Dr. nodded.

"You'd allow him to drink in his frame of mind?" Dr. Lester now asked. Bert smiled as he shook his head.

"I'm not sure about Barry, but there are only three people in the world that I'm aware of who would dare to take a drink out of Sid's hands and they're all girls."

"You drive!" Sid said as he entered the cart with Barry and Adam. With Bert following, Barry drove the cart around the lake "Remember when the baby's were born?" Sid asked his friend.

"Sidney Bertram lives right there with Johanna and her girls, and Joshua lives right over there with Beth and her girls," Sid said as he pointed to the girls cabins.

"Are they home?" Barry asked.

"No, they swim every morning up in the pool, we'll see them for lunch unless we go up there," Sid replied. After passing a few more cabins, Barry decided it was Talk Time.

"In my opinion, the Doctor seems to have come up with the best temporary solution for the boys. What do you think Sid?" He asked. Sid was silent and deep in thought.

"Pilgrim State is gone forever Sid. It isn't even there anymore except in your mind. Flush the place down the toilet where it belongs." Barry advised his friend.

"When I think about the place, I don't think about the orderlies or the matron's, I think about Uncle Kenny sneaking us in some candy and reading us stories about Hoppalong Cassidy and Daniel Boone. Uncle Kenny took us away from that place a long time ago, leave it dead and buried or they will still control you," Sid was still quiet for a long time, but eventually he spoke.

"And what's Adam's advice?" He asked without turning around.

"A very smart man once told me to get a new Mother. If I can do that, the smart man can listen to the people around him who love him," Adam replied. Sid shook his head.

"Makes you wonder who the fuck spent all those years in Georgetown," Sid replied. Adam closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Sid was not only joking, he was cursing. All was right with the world once again.

An inspection of the Infirmary followed, and then the rest of the lower campus was shown to both visitors. By the time they returned to Bert's office it was 11:30 and Bert sent Charlie and Stephanie to get the twins from the pool. It had been an emotional morning for most of the staff, but nothing compared to what was about to occur which none of them had expected, including Doctor Lester. Arriving on the back porch holding Stephanie's hands, both boys froze in place once they saw the Doctor and then completely lost it as they climbed into his lap crying on his neck. If anyone had doubted the connection between the boys and the Doctor before this, that doubt was wiped away as the three were left on the porch in privacy.

"They sure do have a funny way of describing relationships up North," Sid said on the walk to the Mess Hall.

"The files said they have a "Close relationship". Shit, that ain't close, it's imbilical!" Sid said.

It was more than a few minutes before Dr. Lester could get the twin's calmed down enough to converse with them. As much as everyone else, he was stunned by the boys reaction and now questioning the reason for the behavior. He had no way to gauge the care they were given at Green Tree except by what he read and had heard, and now he had two little boys wrapped around his neck that were very clearly distressed. Wisely, the man rocked in his chair as he comforted both boys by stroking their heads as best he could.

"My goodness, am I hearing happy cries or should I be taking the both of you away from this terrible place?" The Doctor finally asked the boys.

"We missed you Poppy." Benji said in a muffled voice as the boy continued to retain a strangle hold. Wrapping his arms again around the boys he continued to rock feeling much better about Green Tree.

"And that's the reason for all these tears from Gavin?" The Doctor asked the boy as he kissed his ear. A few nods from Gavin told the Doctor that the boys were not crying out of abuse or mistreatment.

"So many times I see little boys with sad tears. Now I hold two little boys with happy tears and I can't see them!" The Doctor said.

"Do they look any different?" He asked the Twin's. Gavin was the first to respond as he lifted his face off the Doctor's shoulder and looked at the man. Kissing Gavin on the forehead, he coaxed Benji away from him.

"They do look different on Gavin, how about Benji?" he asked the boy as he kissed the top of his head. With the bulk of his emotions spent, Benji lifted off the mans shoulder as the Doctor took his face in his hands. Kissing the boys both eyes, he sat back and smiled at them.

"You both look pretty spiffy, how do you like your new school?" he now asked them.

"They got horses and go carts Poppy, we bin on them!" Benji declared though drying tears.

"So you're both happy here?" The Doctor asked as he took out a clean handkerchief and had each boy blow his nose.

"It's way more fun than New Hampshire, but we do miss Uncle Harry!" Gavin said.

"And you too!" Benji quickly added. Doctor Lester smiled.

"Uncle Harry misses you also, and he asked me to say "Hello" to the both of you. He'll be very happy to hear that you're both doing very well here." The Doctor said as a bugle blew. The man knew the bugle call from his boy scout days, but opted to play dumb.

"What's that?" He asked the boys.

"That means it's time to eat. They don't use bells like we do at school, they use a horn to tell people what to do." Gavin replied.

"It's a bugle stupid, not a horn." Benji told his brother.

"Whoa, I don't know any stupid boys, you must be talking about somebody else." The Doctor said to Benji. Both boys giggled as Dr. Lester stood up and put both boys down on the their feet.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving," he told the boys.

"Show me how good the food is here," he told both boys as they walked out holding onto his hands.

Waiting out on the picnic tables in front of the mess hall, it didn't take very long for the counselor's there to attract an audience. Gloria, Jeanette and Johanna sat with Charlie and Stephanie as the Camp Kenny children began to gather ahead of the call to Mess.

Gloria's charge, four year old Timmy arrived from the pool along with three ½ year old Kenny who immediately climbed up into Jeanette's lap. The arrival of 10 month old Sidney Bertram, along with Beth and 9 month old Joshua now saw the youngest of the children at Green Tree together. Once Sarah appeared with her brood of six toddler's, the scene was more like Sesame Street than a children's summer camp as the babies were stuffed into dry diapers and sun suits.

Sarah's appearance at the tables with Caleb brought the boy together with his Mother, Stephanie. As the only boy at Green Tree with a natural parent, the relationship was a tricky one for the staff to deal with. For obvious reason's, having Caleb running around calling out "Mommy" wasn't going to be the ideal. To avoid the situation Stephanie was now universally known to all Camp Kenny children as "Aunt Mommy." Even Caleb himself who had been separated from his Mother at four years of age and reunited two years later, called the woman Aunt Mommy. Seeing the Camp Kenny children climb into other Staff's laps or being picked up and cuddled by them was fairly routine at Green Tree and occurred constantly. With six toddler's and two senior girls helping her, Sarah saw this practice all the time without reaction with the singular exception of Caleb and Stephanie.

For almost two years, Sarah and Caleb were attached, and then the boys Mother appeared in Camp. There was no open hostility, but quite understandably, Sarah was not a happy camper. Bert spent a great deal of time with both women, as did Sid. As the schools Chief of Psychiatry, Dr. Lester was also aware of the situation, but had not met either Caleb nor Sarah as yet.

The presence of Bert and Sid only added to the carnival atmosphere of the gathering as the bugle blew Mess Call. Barry watched as child after child crawled up Sid and Bert's side in an effort to get picked up. Like passing sacks of flour, the Administrators gave each one a hug and kiss before sending them on to the next counselor including Barry.

The children had never seen Barry before, but they had heard endless stories from Sid about the man's boyhood friend. The children weren't the warmest fuzzies Barry had ever held, but none showed any signs of stranger anxiety. Now scooting the little one's into the Dining Hall before the stampede of Intermediate boys and girls overwhelmed them, Adam watched as the Doctor walked down the steps of Bert's cabin hand in hand with the twins.

The crush into the Mess Hall by the Intermediate's coincided with the Doctor's arrival. Entering with the twins in tow, the Dining Room fell almost silent as the stranger holding onto the twins was escorted to Bert's table.

"As you were told this morning, we have two visitors with us. You've all heard of Uncle Barry who grew up with Uncle Sid in New Hampshire. He's here with Dr. Lester who lives in Massachusetts's. Dr. Lester makes sure you are all well and happy and that mean old Uncle Sid isn't beating you up too much," Bert told the assembled. To the sounds of laughter, the camp now sat down to lunch with Sid feigning insult.

"How come the twins are with Uncle Bert?" Sammy now asked Adam.

"Well, you know the twins came from up north. They knew Dr. Lester when they were there, and they are friends with him," Adam said.

"Oh" Sammy replied as he looked over at Bert's table.

"How come Uncle Kevin and Aunt Mommy is with them too?" Sammy now asked.

"The twins live in Uncle Kevin's cabin. Aunt Mommy is their Primary Aunt," Adam replied.

"Like Aunt Martha is my Primary Aunt?" Sammy asked.

"Exactly!" Adam replied.

"let's eat before your soup gets cold," Sid now advised the boy. Sammy's attention now drifted to Barry who was sitting beside his friend.

"Did you really burn down a shed when you was a little boy like Uncle Sid told us Uncle Barry?" The boy asked. With a quick glance at Sid, Barry smiled a little as he shook his head.

"Even when your Uncle Sid was a very little boy he had a terrible memory and was even known to tell a fib or two. As I recall it, he was the one smoking and dropped the cigarette onto a pile of rags." Barry told the table.

"Poppycock! Would I lie to you boys?" Sid asked indignantly. The chuckles and giggles from the boys had Barry smiling deeper.

"You smoked cigarette's when you was a little boy Uncle Sid?" Carla now asked.

"Only when Uncle Barry made me!" Sid replied. With all little eyes now on Barry, the ball was in his court.

"I'm sure each and everyone of you is well aware of how easy it is to make Uncle Sid do anything he doesn't want to do. Don't you?" He asked the children.

"You need to ask your Uncle Sid who it was that got his little fannie tanned red when his Uncle Kenny found him smoking one night on the toilet." With all eyes on Sid, the man shook his head.

"Eat your soup!" He instructed the children.

The commotion coming from the mafia concerning Sid and Barry now drew the attention of Christopher who was sandwiched between his two baby-sitters, Jill and Claire. Since it wasn't unusual for Christopher to slip off the bench and crawl under the table to Bert's lap, neither girl thought much about it as the boys head disappeared under the table. However, instead of appearing on the other side, Christopher crawled on all fours until he came to an opening and slipped away unnoticed.

"I-ee?" Christopher said as his head now appeared from between Sid's legs "What are you doing? I didn't know you were about to give birth!" Barry chided his friend as Sid pulled Christopher up by his arm pits.

"Look Christopher, do you remember this old goat?" Sid said to the boy as he ignored the pregnancy jab.

"I-ee?" Christopher said as he looked at Barry but made no move towards the man.

"I doubt it, I knew him at school, but we weren't in direct contact." Barry told Sid.

"Hello Christopher, How are you?" Barry asked.

"Hey!" Christopher replied. Barry smiled at the boy as he remembered him back in New Hampshire 9 months earlier.

"He looks like he's really enjoying the food!" Barry said to Sid as Sid chuckled.

"If you don't want to get the bums rush, you better not mention that to Bert. He's a little touchy concerning that subject!" Sid advised his friend.

"How's that?" Barry now asked.

"This is the Holy Grail for Bert. Christopher is Top Dog in Bert's cabin, he rules the roost," Sid replied as he turned the boy around and sat him down in his lap.

"Is that right?" Barry now asked .

"Hey!" Christopher said as he reached for Barry's sandwich. Barry now chuckled.

"How are you coming along with the signing?" He now asked.

"He's got about 100 or so down pat, but it's hard to tell. He really doesn't initiate signing, but he'll give the proper one if asked," Sid replied.

With a butter knife being struck on a water glass, the Dining Room fell somewhat quiet.

"Uncle Bert's looking for a Rug Rat. If he's near you, raise a hand," Bert now announced.

To many giggles, hands went up in the mafia.

"Whoops, did somebody sneak away from his table?" Sid now asked Christopher. With a mouthful of tuna fish, Christopher shook his head "No".

"We'll take him Uncle Sid. Uncle Bert wants him back at his table." Jill now said as the two girls stood in back of the man.

"OK little buddy, it's travel time," Sid said as he turned sideways.

"Hey!" Christopher replied as he stood up on the bench and gave Sid a hug and tuna fish kiss goodbye.

"He looks pretty happy here. In New Hampshire he always looked a little lost." Barry recalled.

"You'd be happy too if you ran the place. He does exactly what he wants, when he wants to do it," Sid told his friend.

"What about contact with peers?" Barry asked.

"He's pretty much totally shielded from chronological peers. He spends the bulk of his day with the older Camp Kenny children who are more his physical match-up," Sid reported.

Arriving back at Bert's table, Christopher now climbed up on the bench and stood next to Bert.

"Is Christopher supposed to tell someone when he's going on a visit?" Bert asked the boy.

"Hey!" Christopher replied as he signed "Yes".

"Well then why didn't anybody know you where going visiting?" Bert asked.

"I-ee?" Christopher replied as the boy now clutched at his groin area.

"Christopher needs to go to the bathroom?" Bert now asked.

Almost simultaneously, Christopher said "Hey!" as a wet spot began at his groin area and spread down both legs of his bib overalls.

"Not anymore!" Helen said as she watched.

Reaching into a travel bag, she took out two towels and threw them to Bert.

"Sorry Doctor, but Christopher doesn't stand on ceremony," he told the Doctor as he guided the boy to lie down on the bench and held one of the towels against his groin area.

"No problem." The Doctor replied as he cushioned Christopher's head on his leg. With the flood still coming, Christopher signed for food as he lay there on the bench quite unconcerned about the attention now focused on the size of his bladder. Reaching for an egg salad sandwich, Bert handed it to the boy who quickly crushed it in his fist and began eating again. Once the flood had subsided, Bert took off the boys overalls and underpants as Jill handed the Director a wet towel and began cleaning the boy back up. Once Christopher was back in dry underpants and the bench and floor was cleaned up, lunch resumed normally.

"He does that frequently?" The Doctor asked.

"No, usually we get 30 to 60 seconds warning,

it all depends how involved he is at the time," Bert replied.

"What about regular scheduled bathroom breaks?' Dr. Lester asked. Bert shook his head.

"We tried that. Sometimes he'd sit on the toilet for three or four minutes and come up completely dry. A minute later, he's got a waterfall going in the bushes."

"Do you think it's being done intentionally for attention?" Dr. Lester asked.

"No, he's got wall to wall attention, I just think either there's no desire to control his bladder, or possibly, the signal is somehow short-circuited telling him he needs to void," Bert said.

"If he were going to be mainstreamed in society, I'd institute a program of rewards to get him to give us more advanced warning, but right now, I want all his available attention span to be focused on speech and signing. That's our priority right now."

"How well are you able to communicate with him?" The Doctor asked.

"Most of it is situational interpretation on our part. He is picking up sign and even surprises us now and then with a sign we didn't even know he knew. Unfortunately, he doesn't spontaneously sign most of the time, but that's improving."

"So you feel he's fitting in pretty well?" Dr. Lester now asked knowing the original opposition to placing Christopher at Green Tree.

"This is Christopher's home now Doctor. You'd have a difficult time removing him from Green Tree," Bert replied looking into the man's eyes.

Following lunch, the mafia including the twins headed for their cabins along with all the other kids in camp for "Rest period" which generally had very little to do with rest. It was set aside as a quiet time for roughly half an hour before afternoon activities would begin.

By request, Dr. Lester followed the twins back to Coquina with Kevin, Greg and the rest of the boys.

"Most of the boys are Scale three and four in Coquina with the exception of the twins," Kevin told the Doctor as the Staff sat down on the porch while the boys headed upstairs and behind closed doors. Dr. Lester needed no further explanations, he had frequently visited The New Hampshire School that was within traveling distance from his home in Kittery and even Brookline, so he was pretty much use to the boys routines.

"How are the other boys adjusting to the Twin's?" Dr. Lester asked.

"Individually, they'd never be able to keep up with them, but in large enough numbers, everybody's happy. If anything, the boys seem to be going to sleep a lot faster than they use to," Kevin replied. Dr. Lester smiled a little "I'm sure," he replied.

Coming out of the cabin with three ice tea's, Greg distributed the drinks and sat down. The 16 year old intrigued Dr. Lester, he was obviously a senior boy, yet a staff member. The boys called him "Uncle" yet he seemed too young for such a status in Dr. Lester's experience at The New Hampshire School.

"What's your opinion of the twin's so far Greg?" The Dr. asked. Greg smiled.

"They started off with a big bang, but they seem to fit right in with the rest of the kids," Greg said.

"Big bang?" Dr. Lester asked.

"When they disappeared and we had to bring in a helicopter to find them," Greg replied. Having been aware of the situation, Dr. Lester nodded.

"You must be an exceptional young man. I haven't seen very many staff as young as you are." The Dr. now said. Kevin smiled as Greg blushed slightly.

"Greg really didn't have a choice in the matter. One of my original boys from The Albermarle School needed a very special friend when we first arrived and Greg became his "Uncle" whether he liked it or not," Kevin replied "Which boy was that?" Dr. Lester asked.

"Bruce. He sat next to Greg at lunch," Kevin said. The Doctor again nodded. He had received reports two years earlier and was told of the boys from Albemarle on suicide watch. Now, he had two faces to go with the names he remembered reading about.

"I remember now. You carried a very heavy responsibility for being just 14 years old!" Dr. Lester told Greg. Again, Greg turned a little pink.

"He just needed somebody to talk to and I was there," Bruce replied sheepishly. Again Dr. Lester smiled.

"Bruce needed someone to save his life, and you gave him that gift. I'm sure all the staff here are very proud of you," Greg didn't respond, but there was really no need to.

A good 15 minutes elapsed before activity was heard from inside the cabin, and once it began, it grew by the second. It didn't take much to figure out that the boys were now raiding the kitchen. With two large glasses of chocolate milk, the twins reappeared on the porch and took up seats on the porch swing alongside the Doctor.

"We got our names on the list for go-carts this afternoon Poppy. Are you going to watch us?" Benji asked the Dr.

"I have some meetings to attend this afternoon, as soon as I know what the schedule is, I'll be able to let you know," he told the boys.

"But we gotta be there First Period in case our names come up!" Gavin said somewhat disappointedly.

"Yeah, if we ain't there, we could miss our turn!" Benji now said.

"Uncle Bert or Uncle Sid will be here shortly, as soon as they come, we'll know what the schedule is," Kevin now told both boys.

"But suppose they don't come until after the bugle blows?" Benji asked his counselor.

"arrangements will be made, you won't miss out on go-carts," Kevin replied.

"Promise?" Gavin asked.

"Promise!" Kevin replied. With two grins now appearing, Bruce arrived on the porch with several other boys.

Now that Bruce was identified to the Psychiatrist, he took a keener interest in the boy. Now a 12 year old, Bruce was a far cry from the picture of a suicidal 10 year old the Doctor had read reports about just two years earlier. What now stood before the man with a handful of green grapes in his hand was the picture of health any 12 year olds body could produce. The boy had a sparkle in his eyes and was obviously very comfortable in his surroundings as he stood in a pair of shorts and a polo shirt not all that far away from Greg. He still retained his dimples when he smiled or chewed, and his hair hung to his neck. Soft spoken and usually smiling, there was no way anyone could have guessed that this boy was in any distress even years earlier. Either the reports the Doctor had received were completely fabricated, or this child,s life was completely turned around the Doctor thought to himself.

As the level of activity on the campus grew, Doctor Lester watched as the porches of the boys cabins filled up with boys and staff. Once the bugle blew, the afternoon's camp activities would begin.

"Uncle Sid's coming!" 10 year old Shaun said as he hung onto the porch bannister looking up the path towards the Infirmary. Within a few seconds, the Doctor heard the very distinctive sounds of ice cream bells which were quickly followed by the honking of a familiar sounding horn.

"Uncle Bert's with him!" 12 year old Michael said.

The end of rest period was always signaled by the bugle. Until then the boys would usually stay on the porches. Now however, the mafia knew the two arriving carts would stop where they always did; in front of Adam's cabin which was in the middle. Without asking, the boys of both Coquina and Bay Watch now bolted for Beachview Cabin. Practically dragging Doctor Lester along, the twin's followed Kevin down the stairs as bare feet flew.

Adam sat on his porch well aware that his cabin was once again being descended upon.

"Find out about the overnight Uncle Adam!" Matty reminded Adam as the boy scrambled to pull up a pair of shorts as he came out of the cabin just ahead or the dogs. As the group waited, two Jet Ski's zoomed by the cove on their way to their stations. This activity on the lake instantly signaled to the boys that the bugle was about to blow. The senior boys on the Jet Ski's were always put into position just before the boats were allowed back on the lake. Sid and Bert's arrival at Adam's came moments before the bugle blew, Adam was much too smart to try to get anywhere near either Sid or Bert as he stayed on the porch watching the fastest "Hello and Goodbye" in history greet the two Administrator's as the boys rushed for the lake, the go-carts or the stable.

"Uncle Bert, we got our names on the list for go-carts First Period. If we don't get there, we'll miss our turn. You don't gotta have a stupid meeting do you?" Gavin asked the Administrator.

"We want Poppy to see us drive!" Benji exclaimed excitedly. Once the chuckling subsided, Bert addressed Dr. Lester.

"It's your call Doctor, we don't have a jet sitting on the tarmac," Bert told the man.

"Please Poppy!" both boys pleaded. Dr. Lester nodded and smiled at the boys.

"We can take a few minutes to watch you," he told both boys.

"Adam, take the boys up on the hill and bump them up on the list," Bert told the counselor.

"We'll all meet with the team at my cabin at 2:00." he instructed.

"With the twins?" Kevin asked.

"No, we're not ready for that yet," he replied. Sending Jerry and Karl to monitor the boys once they were through with the go-carts, Bert and Sid returned to the office as the cove emptied out.

"What's with this "Poppy?" Sid asked once the remaining team arrived back on Bert's back porch.

"Many of the boys who've had therapy sessions with Dr. Lester at School have come to call him Poppy. It's the name Doctor Lester's Grandchild knew him by as a child, and it stuck with some of the boys, especially the younger one's." Barry reported.

"So the relationship is benign?" Gloria asked.

"Completely. He cares very deeply for the boys, but it's nothing sexual."

"What's his view concerning Outside Uncle's?" Sid asked.

"Neutral. If an Outside Uncle is necessary and that's what the boy wants, he isn't opposed to it." Barry replied.

"Why do you ask?" Bert asked his friend.

"Just curious. The boys initial reaction to seeing him was a step above a patient client relationship, they obviously have very deep rooted feelings towards him. Not to mention Adam, who might be a lot more comfortable around him if he were an Outside Uncle," Sid replied.

"Doctor Lester is fully aware of Adam's situation. It doesn't matter to him in the slightest." Barry replied.

"Why do you believe that?" Thomas now asked.

"I've known Doctor Lester for better than 15 years now. We're not sit down buddies, but we have discussed Outside Uncle's mainly because of his knowledge that both Sid and I were raised by one. He was also knew our Uncle Kenny both personally and professionally at school while Uncle Kenny was still alive.

He knew Uncle Kenny better than he knew me, and when he died, he was as upset about it as the rest of us." Barry reported.

"Adam needs to relax. Dr. Lester's known for years we use Outside Uncle's here at Green Tree. If it was a problem for him, he could have dropped the hammer a long time ago. It's a non-issue," Bert told the group.

"OK, so where do we go from here?" Jeanette asked.

"We wait until Doctor Lester returns and come up with a schedule. I don't know what he has in mind yet or how long he's prepared to stick around," Bert replied looking at Barry.

"As far as I know, there are no set plans to return, he didn't know what the process would involve." Barry told the group. Sid now looked at his friend.

"What the fuck does that mean? He doesn't know how to use toys?" Sid asked. Barry shook his head and smiled a little.

"I'm not talking about that process Sid. He didn't know how long it would take to make the staff here comfortable with it's use." Barry said.

"Oh," Sid replied.

"So he's going to stay for a few years?" he asked. Wisely ignoring Sid's sarcasm, Bert looked over at Gloria who was finishing feeding Timmy and putting the boy into a pair of shorts.

"Are you planning on speaking to the Doctor concerning Timmy?" Bert asked the girl.

"I think it's inevitable. Don't you Uncle Sid?" Gloria asked as she looked up from the boy.

"He's spending more and more of his time pre-occupied with his body. If it's introduced to him now in a clinical setting, it would avoid possible problems later on." The girl said speaking chiefly to Sid more than anyone else at the meeting. There was a very pregnant pause as Sid studied the four year old that now played with a bunch of Tonka trucks and his friend Kenny in a corner of the porch. 'How did you come to that conclusion?" Sid asked the girl.

"Talking with Charlie. I wanted to know if Charlie would have wanted it for himself when he was a child." Gloria responded. Sid now looked towards Charlie.

"I know what he's going to go through Uncle Sid. We have to give him something more to look forward to than romping every time he turns around," the boy told Sid.

"If he's ever going to be anything more than a cook or a groundskeeper, he's going to have to sit in school long enough to learn. This might give him that chance." Gloria concluded.

With the bugle now signaling change of activities, Sid stood up and looked out towards the lake that was bristling with boats.

"Has anybody else noticed that it's 2:00 in the afternoon and Bert hasn't had a drink in his hands yet?" he asked.

"In New Hampshire we don't have that problem, we have a 5:00 Rule." Barry now said.

"That's precisely why I packed my bags and left you prohibitionist sitting up there in that refrigerator!" Sid instantly replied as he turned back around and headed for the mini fridge.

Now walking into the cabin, Caroline and Judy came to pick up Timmy and Kenny to take the boys up to the pool. As was their normal custom, both boys gave their caretakers a hug and kiss goodbye . With Bert and Sid there, it was their practice to give both men one as well. Sid was the last one to give Timmy a hug, and it was noticeably longer than usual for the two as Gloria looked at Bert apprehensively. Everyone on the porch knew they were walking on egg shells when it came to Sid.

Originally, Bert had expected the Doctor to be gone for a half hour to 45 minute's. Now going into the second hour, Bert was getting a little antsy.

"How long does it take to take a go-cart ride?" He asked impatiently. Picking up a phone, Jeanette called the go-cart track.

"They left there at least a half hour ago. They don't know where they went," Jeanette reported as she sat back down.

"Beep Adam!" Bert instructed Sid.

With Sammy and the rest of his boys heading for the stables, Adam mounted his cart with the twins in full control as Doctor Lester sat on one side of them and Kevin on the other.

The cart had a top speed of about 15 miles [25 km] an hour in two wheel drive, and about 10 [15 km] in four wheel drive. Being novices, Kevin put the cart in four wheel drive and monitored the brake pedal as both boys now took turns at mashing the gas pedal to the floor at every opportunity. With a look of pride and confidence in their faces that only a boy could produce, Doctor Lester studied the boys as they cruised around the lake and up towards the path leading to the upper campus. He hadn't seen the boys since May during his last visit to their school, and physically the boys had changed little. They were always polite and well mannered, but now, they had a sparkle about them and a twinkle in their eyes that was missing before. Clearly, they liked where they now lived and would thrive in their new environment. Earlier, the Doctor saw few children around the campus, now, the place was awash in them and most were occupied lakeside which presented one more aspect of Green Tree that differed from New Hampshire in a very big way.

"Your laundry people most have a lot of spare time on their hands." Doctor Lester noted as he passed by probably the 50th naked camper. Adam laughed a bit along with Kevin.

"You would think so Doctor, but in reality, they work 10 hours a day, five days a week keeping eight commercial machines running full time. They're usually naked at the lake or the pools, but other than that, they produce two to three changes a day not including bed and bath linens," Adam replied.

"And the girls? How do they respond to all this freedom?" The Doctor asked.

"It all depends upon their ages. If you look over there, those are our Intermediate girls who've adapted pretty well to the situation," Adam said as he pointed to Carla and Jeannie who were on the trapeze diving into the water. Doctor Lester watched the girls as they both tumblesaulted into the water with a splash.

"They're your girls aren't they?" He asked. Adam smiled to himself as he too watched the girls.

"Very much so!" He replied.

"They look pretty happy." The Doctor now said.

"A year ago, I probably would have told you it would never work out. Today, I don't think the boys would permit you to move them out. They're every bit a part of the cabin," Adam replied.

"And the older girls?" the Doctor asked.

"It really depends upon whether or not they're involved on a daily basis with the boys or not. The Senior Girls who have regular contact with the boys, especially the younger one's, have a much greater degree of tolerance for the boys. On the other hand, the girls who never have regular contact, tend to fend off the boys, all of them," Adam told the Doctor.

"Interesting observation!" Dr. Lester said. Adam nodded his head.

"We've whittled the opposition down to about a dozen girls, probable by Christmas, we'll have them flying the trapeze with Carla and Jeannie," Adam replied with a smile.

"And us too!" Gavin now said.

"Uncle Dan said we can go on the swing as soon as we learn how to swim!" Benji told the Doctor.

"Well let's hope that will happen way before Christmas!" Doctor Lester told the twins.

Arriving on the upper campus, the twin's headed directly for the go-cart shed as Adam pointed out the various cabins and buildings they passed along the way.

Dr. Lester looked out at a campus that differed from the lower campus in many ways. While the lake sat at the middle of the lower campus with cabins and buildings surrounding it and hemmed in on all sides with trees and forests, the upper campus sat on a plateau of land that overlooked the mountains to the south heading towards Charlotte and to the west, heading towards the Virginia border. It is a sweeping panoramic view of nearly 180 degrees of deep forested mountains which are usually reserved for scenic overlooks on the Interstate Highway System. On the north and east sides of the campus, the mountains climbed higher. Along the woods line, sat the cabins that now contained the Camp Kenny children. Passing by the stable's and the pools, the place was now back in full swing with Intermediate boys and girls while the cabins had the little one's on trikes and swings playing the afternoon away.

Watching a few dozen horses leaving the corral headed for the trails, Doctor Lester took note of the riders as they went by two by two. Visitor or no visitor, the campers rode bare back and bare assed as a normal routine and Docotor Lester's presence didn't create a ripple as far as the riders were concerned. Perched on the sheepskin and lambs wool blankets, the riders smiled and waved as they passed Adam's cart."Unique riding habits" The Doctor said as he went by.

"Isn't Bert concerned they might get a little chafed?" he asked Adam. Adam smiled a bit sheepishly as he looked at Kevin.

"We're never really had any complaints about that. The boys seem to have figured out the correct speed they want the horses to travel," he told the Doctor. They're pretty well protected by the blankets and they're quite skilled at horsemanship by the time they're 10," Adam said.

"We went on a horsey ride Poppy, it was a lot of fun!" Gavin now told the Doctor.

"I imagine it was!" The Doctor replied with a smile.

Arriving at the go-cart track, the boys bolted off the cart before it came to a full stop as Kevin approached the shed which held the carts and served as a repair garage. The boys awaiting their turn to ride weren't overjoyed with the idea, but they reluctantly, agreed to allow the twins to be bumped to the head of the list.

"That was easy, I expected one hell of a fight," Adam said as Kevin told him the twins wold ride on the next available carts.

"The promise of an extra canteen token from their Uncle Adam kind of smoothed the way," Kevin explained to his boss. Adam's eyebrows now lowered a bit.

"From Uncle Adam? How come not from good old Uncle Kevin?" Adam asked. Kevin shook his head.

"I ain't putting my name on those tokens. When Bert wants to know who's loading the kids up with candy, you won't be seeing me raising my hand!" Kevin replied.

With the arrival of two carts out of the shed, both Gavin and Benji were fitted with helmets and strapped into the carts.

"You are cleared to drive on Main St, that's the trail with the blue lines." A senior boy told the twin's.

"If you have any problems, pull over to the side of the trail and raise your hand when another cart goes by. Stay with the cart, and don't get out of it unless there's an emergency," he told both boys.

"Any questions"" he asked. With two little helmets shaking side to side, the senior boy tapped the both of them as they rolled away. Watching the boys until they disappeared into the woods, Doctor Lester now turned to Adam."They'll come out of the woods over there in back of Cabin 10, but it's going to be a good 20 minutes or so," Adam told the Doctor as he pointed.

"Want to stop by the pool and see Camp Kenny in action?" He asked.

"What happens if they have a problem?" Doctor Lester asked.

"Main St. is the novice trail and it's got extensive coverage by Senior Patrol. If they break down or have a problem, it'll be known about within minutes and the Patrol will take care of them," Adam replied.

"They're only eight years old." The Doctor now said. Adam smiled as he looked at Kevin.

"That's what I said when I first came and saw Sammy take control of a 1,500 pound [680 kg] horse. Try and stop them," Adam told the Doctor.

Walking over to the Kiddie Pond which was what the Camp Kenny kids now called the new pool, Doctor Lester walked into a scene usually seen around large fountains and parks in Europe. Skin was much more prevelent than fabric and the children seemed to be completely oblivious to fact that someone could actually see their genitalia. The oldest boy was close to eight years old except for the life guards, and the girls ranged in age from three to about 16. Most of the older girls wore the bottoms to their suits, but very few wore tops. The arrival of Adam, Kevin and the Doctor in their midst, didn't seem to faze the senior girls as far as the Doctor could ascertain, which caught him a bit by surprise.

"What the senior girls object to is the boys "Gawking" at them," Adam advised the Doctor.

"Personally, I think it's more in their imagination, the Intermediate boys couldn't care less if they stood naked in Times Square," he said.

"The boys regard the girls breasts more as milk bottles, not something sexual. At least not yet." he concluded.

"This is where the twins now spend most of their day until they learn to swim," Kevin told the Doctor.

"They began with 12 pads in their vests, and as of this morning, they're down to four pads. Dan is their W.S.I. And feels pretty confident that they'll be out of the vests and swimming in deep water before the weekend. Once that occurs, they'll have license to take out the boats by themselves," he told the Doctor. The Doctor again shook his head.

"I guess I come from a generation that kept your kids tucked into a safe cocoon as long as we could. My wife would have a stoke if she saw some of this," he told both men.

"Bert's philosophy is to get them up and mobile as soon as possible. A good deal of their childhood has already been stripped from them, they deserve to have as much autonomy as we can safely present them with," Adam said.

"Obviously, the strategy works, 75% of the camp is run by the senior boys and girls.

Both Johanna and Beth sat in their chairs in their usual spot at the pool and Adam now approached the two girls. Doctor Lester had been integral in the decision to allow both girls to adopt Sidney Bertram and Joshua, but neither girl knew that fact.

"Where are the boys?" Adam said as he approached the girls and sat down.

"Somewhere in the middle of that pack." Johanna replied as she pointed to a group of probably half a dozen senior girls in the pool. Dr. Lester watched as two little blobs swam around and periodically dove under the water with a senior girl.

"I had read that they were already swimming at two and three months, but to actual see babies so young swimming around isn't something you see every day." Dr. Lester replied as he watched the babies.

"They still need to be supervised because they have absolutely no fear of the water whatsoever, but as long as they have someone to cling to now and then to rest and catch their breath, they're fairly safe." Beth told the Doctor.

"You've never seen them in person before have you?" Johanna now asked.

"No, I've been sent plenty of pictures by Bert in his reports, but I've never seen them in person." Dr. Lester replied. Calling for Meagan and Darlene to bring both boys over to her, the senior girls scooped up the boys in their arms who were less than ready to leave the pool party going on around them. Doing their best to squirm out of the girls arms, they were each delivered to their Mother's. Introducing the Doctor to the girls, the Doctor recognized the girls names from the files. Both Adam and Kevin had to look at each other and spent a great deal of time trying not to smile as the Doctor conversed with both girls as they stood there. Meagan at 13 and Darlene at 14 were by anyone's standards two very cute girls, and were destined to be what any red blooded american boy would come to be known as "Lookers". They also thought about as much of being naked as the Camp Kenny children did, which was not at all. To his credit, Doctor Lester conducted a fairly coherent conversation with both girls.

Once the girls retreated to get some lemonade, Doctor Lester's attention returned to the babies who were now both taking a snack break of their own as Beth and Johanna nursed them. As was the norm, Sidney Bertram was the calmer of the two, as the 10 month old played with Johanna's hair that hung down half covering the boy. Joshua was suckling with his eyes closed, but had his genitals firmly in his grip as one foot stretched upwards and the boys foot stroked the underside of Beth's chin and neck. Doctor Lester sat back and smiled "This scene reminds me of my wife raising our own children, except of course for the audience they have. My wife use to have to nurse our children almost in secret. If any of her friends found out she was nursing them, she would have been thrown out of the garden club." Doctor Lester recalled.

"Not seriously?" Johanna asked.

"Oh quite. Only poor white trash or negro's would stoop to nurse their children, we had enough money to buy formula, and that's what everybody expected us to do!" Doctor Lester recalled.

"Growing up, we instructed our two oldest children to never tell their friends they saw their Mother breast feed their siblings, it was the "Family secret" and the worst piece of parenting my wife and I ever did." The Doctor said somewhat reflectively. Looking down into Sidney Bertram's face, Johanna just shook her head.

"Why do we let assholes have so much power over us?" She asked nobody in particular.

"From the files, both boys are in the higher percentiles of the growth charts in weight to height. Has the dietitian prepared a plan for them?" The Doctor now asked. Little red flags now went off in Adam's brain as Johanna looked up at the Doctor.

"You think he's getting fat?" She asked. Adam abruptly stood up.

"Doc, The boys will be coming back real soon, we need to leave that discussion for later." He advised the Doctor now nudging Kevin out of his chair.

"Doctor, you may want to speak to Bert before you approach the subject of the boys weight with either Johanna or Beth, they're a little touchy on that subject" Adam advised the Doctor as they walked back to the go-cart track.

"You think so?" Doctor Lester asked.

"No, we know so!" Kevin replied. Doctor Lester nodded as they walked.

"I thought you said the senior girls didn't run around naked." The Doctor now asked.

"We said "Most" of the girls didn't run around naked. Some of the younger ones do at the pool and that includes Meagan and Darlene who don't live on the girls campus, they live with Johanna on the Lake," Adam explained.

"I hope they didn't make you uncomfortable."

"No, most certainly not uncomfortable, I just didn't know where to look when talking with them. You don't find that to be a problem?" He asked. Adam smiled as he looked at Kevin.

"It takes a little while, but you learn to ignore it. The biggest trick is not to totally ignore it or they feel that you don't find them attractive. Then you're in as much trouble if you sat there and gawked at them," Adam replied.

"It's a fine line only they can recognize," Adam said.

"Where are they now?" Adam asked the senior boy at the go-cart shed.

"They passed the last Patrol station about five minutes ago, so they probably stopped along the path for a break," the boy replied.

"Is that normal" The Doctor asked. The senior boy nodded his head.

"The cart's vibrate a lot and it can easily trip the need for a short walk in the woods.

It's nothing new and all the boys know where the best rest stops are," he said with a knowing smile.

"It explains why the go-carts are number three on the boys list of favorite activities. The first is horse back riding, followed by the steam room," Kevin explained.

Within about five minutes the twins emerged from the trail behind cabin 10. Masked behind their tinted face shields, you couldn't see the look on their faces, but their posture told the Doctor that they were totally engaged. Both looked like Grand Prix racers coming off a curve at a bristling 10 miles [15 km] an hour! The Doctor smiled broadly as he snapped a picture of the two boys approaching him.

"10 minutes for a three minute run. It's fair to assume they stopped for a break" The senior boy advised the men. Exiting the cart, both boys now stood as Kevin and the Doctor removed the chin strap as the boys lifted off the helmets. With faces beaming, the boys watched as two new boys climbed into the carts and took off down the track. Once the boys wiped their faces and sweat matted hair from their foreheads, they headed for a cooler full of bug juice to quench their thirst.

"Did ya see us Poppy? We went real fast!" Benji excitedly exclaimed half way through his drink.

"Well I certainly did. You boys did very well driving those great big machines." The Doctor told the boys as they smiled to each other.

"When we came out of the woods, I saw Maria in the corral. Can we go and show her to Poppy Uncle Adam?" Gavin now asked.

"Yeah Uncle Adam, Please!" Benji pleaded.

Adam looked over towards the stables that were across the ball fields. Missing a full grown Belgian among dozens of other horses is impossible to do, the chestnut mare stood two feet [60 cm] higher than the rest of the horses.

"Maria?" The Doctor now asked.

"Maria is that Belgian over there. She belongs to Doctor Thomas's ward, David," Adam explained as he pointed.

"I remember reading about that. She's pregnant isn't she?" The Doctor asked.

"No, no Poppy. She already had her baby. He's in there with her!"Benji told the Doctor.

"It's on the way back off the hill, we stop for a quick look" Adam now said.

Approaching the stable's, The boys in the loft pitching hay and straw saw Adam's cart first.

"Uncle Adam's here with Uncle Kevin!" 10 year old Matty exclaimed as he threw a pitchfork full of hay down to the ground below. Along with much of the rest of the mafia in the massive loft who were "Working" at sending down the hay and straw to the boys below, Sammy slid off a rope swing as a dozen or so boys now stood at the loft opening overlooking the corral area. A chorus of greetings met the cart as it came to a stop alongside patty who was cleaning out horses hooves'. Looking up, Doctor Lester took the picture as the boys stood in the doorway with bodies covered in straw and little else.

Without a word spoken both boys slipped out of the cart and were now headed for the loft which they had not yet been in.

"I thought we were here to see the Belgian?" Kevin asked Adam as the boys disappeared into the stable.

"I guess they got a little side tracked," Adam replied as he looked up at Sammy "I guess if I were eight, I'd want to be up there too," he said "What's up guys?" Patty now asked as she handed over her pick to a senior boy and came over to the fence.

"Just came over to see Maria," Adam replied. Patty looked over at the mare who was being brushed down by four boys as she nibbled at a pile of hay.

"She's been out this morning for a ride, but Baron's been a little too frisky this afternoon, so we're going to send her down to the lake for a swim. That might cool his jets off," she told the men.

"That's one big horse!" Doctor Lester now exclaimed as he watched the Champion Belgian chew while seemingly ignoring the boys that surrounded her. Turning his attention to her foal who traveled from boy to boy in the corral looking for a treat or handout. The colt, who was born almost four months earlier, had learned to sniff out a hidden treat of a piece of carrot or slice of apple. He now knew that a naked child could only come up with a treat from their hands, but one in shorts or underpants was far more likely to produce the holy grail as the colt sniffed any pair of pants that drifted by. Now following a boy with his nose inches away from a pocket in his shorts, Baron would shadow the boy until he got what he wanted.

For the twins, just arriving in the loft was an adventure in itself. As newcomers to Green Tree, they had never been up there before, but they had certainly been made aware of the place by their cabin mates. The loft had rules, and the very first rule was that it was a "Free" area, which meant permission to romp was automatically assumed and clothing was optional, if not all but expected to be abandoned. The loft was considered to be a "Staff free." area and unless there was a good reason, staff were required to get permission from the boys to invade this sanctuary.

The loft could be accessed by way of four stairways that were situated on each corner of the stable and by way of a 2X6 ladder that was available between every five stalls in the building that contained 48 double stalls with a riding ring located in the center. Now winterized, the stables were busy 52 weeks a year. The stairways were the safest way to get up into the loft area, but the preferred method was the 2X6 ladders nailed to the stable walls.

Now standing up in the loft for the very first time, it was time for the twins to be "Initiated" formally into the circle of friends of the mafia, a ritual the boys had been briefed about the night before. Like most "Clubs" there was a process to go through, and Geppetto boys saw things no differently than any other Cub Scout Pak or Boy Scout Troop, if you wanted to be "One of the gang"you had to prove it by following the "Secret" rules and show your friends you were "One of them". With their hand raised to their hearts, the twins were now stood on bales of hay and recited the secret Pledge as their shorts were lowered to the hay and their penises rose in salute and anticipation.

By the time the last of their new friends demonstrated their allegiance to the fledgling twins and kissed their willing penises, the twins were more than happy to demonstrate their reciprocal allegiance as all but the boys from Coquina took their very first passage into the Holy Grail of boyhood pleasure. As each member had his fullest commitment to the twins verified by all the rest of the boys, a kiss sealed the pact that now existed between the two. The twins had one more hurdle to overcome before they would be declared "Full blood brother's" but that could only be accomplished in the showers.

Fifteen minutes after the boys disappeared into the stable, Adam was ready to leave and called out to one of the other boys to retrieve the twins.

"They're up in the loft for the first time Uncle Adam, you can't do that!" The boy replied. Looking around, Adam tried to find any boy from the mafia. None were there any longer.

"I hope Bert has a good sense of humor," Adam said to Kevin.

"What's happening?" The Doctor asked.

"Initiation rights Doc, I think Maria's taking a back seat for now as far as the twins are concerned," Adam replied as Kevin chuckled to himself.

A good 20 minutes later, the twins appeared back in the corral with wall to wall smiles and two very pink penises.

"I thought we came here to see Maria?" Adam asked the boys.

"We did Uncle Adam, but we got nitated first!" Gavin replied with a grin.

"You mean "Initiated?" Adam asked.

"That's what we said Uncle Adam!" Benji replied.

"And your clothing?" Kevin asked.

"Don't need them no more Uncle Kevin, we're nitated!" Gavin replied with another smile. Adam shook his head as the boys now bolted towards Maria.

"C'mon Poppy, we'll show you Maria." Gavin said.

With both boys now standing alongside the huge animal stoking her belly while the other boys continued to brush out her blond mane and tail, the Doctor watched the horses hooves' nervously as the bare footed boys all around the horse seemed to be oblivious to the damage the animal could do if she accidentally stepped on one of them. Seeing the dismay in the Doctor's face, Patty smiled a bit "The horse is trained to stand still, and will only put her weight on a foot after she sweeps the area she intends to drop her foot down on by making a small circle. She's really trying to protect the colt from being injured when he nurses off her, but the system benefits the children too," she assured the Doctor.

"This is the horse you boys rode on the trail?" The Doctor now asked. With two nodding heads, the Doctor again shook his head.

"How do they manage to stay on the horse with no saddle? What happens if they fall off? They can't possibly get back on the horse out on the trail!" The Doctor know said.

"There are stirrups sewn onto every blanket and hand holds sewn on too. The older boys are usually around to help the younger one's mount up, but the boys can usually scoot up all by themselves within a few weeks of riding." Patty replied.

"nobody's fallen off Maria, she's more like riding an elephant than a horse and when she has riders on her back, she only has one speed, a slow walk." Patty said.

As the conversation continued, the colt saw the possibility of a fresh supply of goodies surrounding his Mother and now trotted over to investigate. A quick sniff of the twins told him he was running into a dead end and drifted over to the Doctor.

"His name is Baron, but the kid's have nick-named him "Moochie." Patty explained as the colt smelled every pocket the Doctor had on him. Reaching into a fanny pac, Patty took out a piece of a carrot and handed it to the Doctor.

"Keep your palm flat, or he just might mistake a finger for some food." Patty advised. Once the colt took the carrot had it down in one bite. Patty picked up both hands to the horse.

"All gone!" She said as the horse now inspected her hands. Looking at both of the Doctor's hands, the colt now turned around and wedged itself between the twins to get a quick drink from Mom as the twins now stoked the colt's back which stood over their eye level even at his young age.

"Watch your feet boys, when Baron's done, he's going to be backing up and turning around and he's not that careful about who's toes he steps on!" Patty advised the boys.

"We're ready to take Maria to the lake Aunt Patty." One of the senior stable boys now said to the woman. The twins quickly looked at each other.

"The lake? Maria's going to the lake?" Gavin now asked.

"Yes, she's been pretty busy for the last week or so, and she needs a little time off for herself." Patty replied.

"Can we ride her down to the lake? Please!" Benji now asked.

"No boys. Time off means she doesn't carry anybody. You can follow her if you want to, but nobody's riding her until tomorrow morning." Patty replied.

The denial wasn't met with a great deal of glee, but the twins now moved for their second best choice. Adam also began to realize that these two boys were extremely adept at manipulating a given situation to their best advantage.

"Uncle Adam, Poppy's never seen Maria swim before. Can he come with us and watch?" Benji asked.

"Poppy's never seen Maria swim before? Have you two seen her swim before?" Adam asked. Both boys again looked to each other. Without skipping a beat, Gavin took up the cause.

"No, but we can all see it together now!" He replied with a small boys angelic dimpled smile. Adam now looked at Kevin.

"Pretty good con artist's huh?" Kevin said to Adam.

"What's a con artist Uncle Kevin?" Gavin now asked.

"Someone who knows how to draw well," Adam replied as both Kevin and Doctor Lester chuckled.

"Well, look on the bright side. We're still getting closer to Bert's," Kevin said as the 3 men in the cart followed behind about eight horses and a dozen boys surrounding them walking down the path to the lower camp. Once on the lower campus, the lead horse had his halter removed and he trotted directly for the lake followed by the other horses. Maria, still with a halter on continued around the lake followed by her colt who bounced from the water to the beach like a toddler set free in the surf kicking up as much water as he could. Once in the cove, the stable boy released the mare who immediately walked into the water belly high as the boys were ordered to stay out of the water.

"Once she comes out of the water, you can go in, but if she decided to lay down and roll around, you guys could get hurt." A senior boy told the Intermediate's. With the colt now sprinting in six to eight inches [15-20 cm] of water up and down the shoreline, the boys either sat on the shore or went for a cold drink waiting for the mare to come out of the water and graze on the grass.

Adam's beeper going off didn't require a look see to know that it was Bert calling.

"Bert wants to know if you guys are still alive," Jeanette told Adam.

"We got a little side tracked. We should be there in about 15 minutes. Does Bert want the twins there?" Adam asked. After checking with Bert Jeanette returned to the phone.

"No, we still need to work out the details," she told Adam.

"How's Sid's frame of mind" Adam now asked.

"He was doing pretty well until Gloria told everyone she was going to discuss Timmy with the Doctor. He's been a little quiet since then, but nothing deafening," Jeanette replied.

"Timmy?" Adam asked.

"He's a Scale One Adam," Jeanette said.

Adam debated for a long time about giving the Doctor a head's up concerning Timmy, but opted instead to let Gloria discuss the situation when she saw fit. Recalling Jerry and Karl to watch the twins, the three men headed back to Bert's office. Finding the entire team on the front porch sipping drinks, Adam wasted no time in securing an extremely strong screwdriver from the bar as the team now drifted but onto Bert's back porch.

"I sent my top man on a 15 minute errand and he comes back two hours later?" Bert chided Adam as he sat down.

"Those two have mastered the "Puppy dog look" and the fine art of saying the word "Please" so that it's impossible to say "No" to them. I've seen even you cave-in under much less pressure!" Adam told his Director.

"Pay no attention to that hysterical outburst Doctor. My staff just likes to make excuses and sit around and drink all day. Which reminds me, I need a refill!" Bert said as he handed his glass to Johanna.

After things settled down, the meeting continued as the third activity announcement blew.

"I'd be lying to you if I told you that we're all tickled pink that you're here Doctor.

We're also aware that you're not brimming over with delight concerning the matter either. But we do all realize that it's in the boys best interest, so how do we proceed?" Bert asked Doctor Lester.

Sitting back, the Doctor took a sip of his Coke.

"Coming down this morning, I took the liberty of picking my friend Barry's head concerning those he knew here. That, coupled with what the files said gave me what I thought was a pretty good insight into what I faced once I arrived." The Doctor began.

"It was a good beginning, but the last few hours have given me much more of a truer picture. If I drove through the woods and you were all standing there eager to start the machines rolling, I'd be a lot more depressed about having to be here. The boys are very lucky to have each and everyone of you," he said.

"As for the actual procedure, we've found that up in the Institute and at The New Hampshire School, it's best introduced in a clinical setting with someone there who's going to be very close with the boys. In this case, The boys should be introduced to the procedure in the Infirmary with Myself, Doctor Thomas, Kevin and Charlie." The Doctor said.

"What about Stephanie?" Gloria now asked.

"I'd give the boys the option to include Stephanie in after the initial introduction, but what we're talking about is a procedure to induce orgasm. The boys might associate Stephanie with the act, we want to consider that." Doctor Lester advised.

"All the boys are very well aware of the fact that the girls know their romping" Sid now told the Doctor.

"Yes, I'm aware of that fact, but we still don't condone them sexually interacting in the presence of the aunts, do we?" He asked.

After a very long silence, Bert spoke up.

"You are correct Doctor, but there's a deeper issue here we're considering and you are not, at least not until now," Bert said.

"Timmy is a Scale One. Gloria's considering the procedure for him." Doctor Lester now looked at Gloria.

"You would want to be with him?" The Doctor asked.

"No, but I will be!" Gloria replied leaving no mis-understanding.

The teams decision was to introduce the procedure the following morning for the twins.

Gloria and the Doctor would meet concerning Timmy later that morning. All that now needed deciding was where the Doctor would sleep, and where Barry would sleep. In the end, Barry would sleep as Sid's guest while Doctor Lester would stay at Bert's. The meeting broke up just before General Swim, as Bert and Sid remained behind with Gloria and the rest of the team headed for their respective broods. The days business was at an end, and the rest of the afternoons camp routine was just getting into full swing.

Once Adam left for the meeting at Bert's, the mafia waited patiently either sitting along the shore or sitting on the front porch of Beachview raiding Adam's ice-box dry of bug juice, lemonade and ice tea. The cabins were all supplied with snack's for the boys, cut fruit, vegetables and cookies arrived every morning from the kitchen and by General Swim, Adam's cupboards were usually bare and supplies were being transferred from Bay Watch and Coquina. The Oreo's and chocolate chip cookies disappeared first, and by late afternoon, the boys were reduced to eating celery, carrots, apples and pears. This fact disappointed Baron not in the slightest as the colt now stood at the base of the cabins steps knowing every boy coming down them had a handout for him.

Once Maria cooled down enough to drift back up to the lawn and start grazing on the tender grass, the boys began swimming out to the rock with Baron dutifully following them. By the time the bugle blew for General Swim, the Cove was full of not only the mafia, but with David, Jesse and a few dozen "Guests" from the other cabins as well.

"What we've got here is something between mayhem and bedlam." Anthony said to Eitienne and Greg as the three Junior Counselor's now watched the scene from the safety of Beachview's front porch.

As Jesse now pulled up in his cart, the 13 year old sidestepped some of Baron's gift's that the colt left behind and climbed the steps.

"Uncle Adam's going to have a bird when he sees that horseshit! Ain't anybody going to clean it up?" He asked as he sat down.

"Ain't my cabin" Eitienne replied.

"Mine neither," Greg said. Anthony now looked at both boys.

"So if those piles of shit were in front of your cabins, you'd clean it up?" he asked.

"No!" both boys responded simultaneously. Once the giggling stopped, Jesse looked around "Where is everybody?" He asked.

"Uncle Adam and Uncle Kevin are in a meeting. Uncle Dan's at the Boat House I think." Eitienne replied.

"How come you ain't working?" Greg now asked Jesse.

"I was. We've been spraying all day for ticks, Virginia creeper and poison ivy in Camp Kenny. Aunt Sarah's been on the warpath about her kids comin down with rashes," Jesse replied.

"How do you like being a senior boy now?" Eitienne asked "It's OK. Uncle Charlie's a really nice guy, but I miss not being here a lot," he said somewhat sadly.

"Yes, but in the Fall there's about eight boys who'll be moving up to the senior boys campus from here, so they'll be a lot of kids you know a lot better." Eitienne replied.

"That's true, but it's not the same. The Intermediate boys campus is nothing but playing and having fun all day. Besides, we hardly ever get to see Uncle Sid or Uncle Adam except in the Mess Hall. It's different," Jesse said.

Eitienne nodded his head. Now 24, the Junior Counselor would be moving into his own cabin soon as it's Senior Counselor. Raised at Green Tree since he was 8, the French Canadian had seen most of the boys who were in the mafia come from Camp Kenny as eight year old including Jesse.

"I remember the first day when you moved from Aunt Jeanette's cabin in Camp Kenny to the Intermediate boy's campus. You said almost the same exact thing then too!" Eitienne told the boy.

"I was just a dumb little kid then!" Jesse replied.

"I'll say, every time we turned around Uncle Sid was turning the camp upside down looking for you and you were hiding under Aunt Jeanette's bed!" Anthony now said.

"Really?" Greg now asked a pink faced Jesse.

"Never mind. Wanna go swimming?" Jesse asked Greg as he stood up.

With Eitienne and Anthony giggling and smiling, Jesse and Greg walked down to the beach and stripped.

"Has Uncle Adam or Uncle Sid said anything to you about moving Spencer to the senior boys campus?" Anthony now asked Eitienne.

"No, but he's getting to that age. Hasn't the subject been brought up yet?" Eitienne asked. Anthony shook his head.

"What's Spencer got to say about it?" Eitienne now asked.

"We never talk about it.

He knows he's not going to be playing ball with the team next year, but the subject of moving isn't spoken about." Anthony replied.

"What about your school?" Eitienne now asked. Again, Anthony shook his head.

"Spencer gets pissed if I bring it up. We never talk about me leaving him, he just gets very angry and walks away." Anthony said.

"So that means you're quitting school?" Eitienne asked.

"No, I'm going to school on-line, it'll just take a little longer." Anthony said.

"We've been friends for a long time. Can I tell you something without you getting mad at me?" Eitienne now asked.

"About me and Spencer right?" Anthony asked.

"Yes." Eitienne replied.

"I heard it all before!" Anthony told his friend.

"How do you know? I haven't said anything yet!" Eitienne responded.

"Go ahead." Anthony said somewhat ticked.

"He's 12 and you're 20. You might not change your feelings towards him, but the odds are that he will. He doesn't really know what he wants yet, and you could end up getting very hurt." Eitienne advised his friend.

The advise was nothing new to Anthony, he had heard it many times from Bert, Sid, Dave, Dan, and even Adam before. He pretended to listen and accept the advice, but it was a pretense. Spencer was his life, and Spencer was his love. Everybody else was wrong, or really didn't understand. There was no argument with the others, but Eitienne was more of a peer to Anthony.

"How come nobody climbs up Uncle Adam's ass for Sammy, or up Uncle Thomas's ass for David? How come me and Spencer are the only one's with the fucked up relationship?" he asked his friend.

"Uncle Adam and Uncle Thomas don't expect the boys to be wanting to spend the rest of their lives with them. Do you see the same thing for Spencer?" He asked.

"Spencer's not a toy I'm willing to throw away!" Anthony replied sharply.

"Allowing someone you love to fly away free isn't throwing them away like an old toy Anthony. Uncle Sid and Jesse were tighter than Sammy or David ever were to Uncle Adam or Uncle Thomas. Do you think Uncle Sid tossed Jesse away too?" "Change the fucking subject!" Anthony told his friend.

While the mafia continued the party in the cove, the conversation at Bert's with Sid and Gloria was no less serious than the one between Anthony and Eitienne, but much less intense. Gloria had been raised by Bert and Sid since she was a teenager, and she revered both men. On the men's part, the protectiveness and love they felt for Gloria as well as all the Green Tree girls who had grown up there knew no bounds. Now at 24, Gloria had been taking care of four year old Timmy for the past three years and nobody in their right mind stepped between the woman and this child who was now a confirmed Scale One Geppetto boy.

"The Doctor had a good point, there's always been a separation between the boys and their female caretakers regarding sex. You wouldn't want it any other way would you?" Bert asked the girl.

"Don't be stupid Uncle Bert, I'm not suggesting I take Timmy to bed with me and screw his balls off!" Gloria replied. With Sid now looking at Bert with raised eyebrows, the man stood up.

"Whoa Gloria, we're not the enemy. Nobody in this room is suggesting Timmy's going to be plugged-in without your being there," Sid said as he made the girl a screwdriver.

"Let's calm down and figure out how we do it without Timmy's associating his Mommy and a romp in the park." Taking the drink, Gloria shook her head.

"Uncle Sid, you're such a dirty old man.!" She said.

"Yeah, I've been hanging around with your Uncle Bert too long," Sid replied.

With her blood pressure a lot lower Bert began again as Helen sat down on the back porch with them.

"We're dealing with two different circumstances here, the twins need the freedom to concentrate during academic classes. Timmy's not in school yet, and won't be for another year or so. Should we wait until he's ready for school?" Bert asked. Gloria shook her head.

"So many times he's been completely involved in something that he really wants to do and he has to break off and take care of business. So many times he look's so absolutely frustrated and dejected," she recalled.

"So we put him on an automatic cycle?" Bert asked.

"No. If you do that, he's eventually going to feel like he's just some kind of a machine "Getting milked" like a fucking cow. He has to know he's in full control all the time. If he wants the machine to do the work, fine. If not, he can go and either do the job himself or go find a buddy," Sid replied.

"Is that how you feel?" Helen now asked Gloria.

"Uncle Sid knows what he's talking about better than the rest of us. It all makes sense." Gloria said.

"What about the initial introduction?" Bert now asked.

"Treat it just like you would if Timmy were going for a shot at the infirmary. Gloria would be there with him giving him morale support, and Dr. Thomas will show him how it works." Helen said.

"No Doctor Lester?" Bert asked.

"Timmy doesn't know Doctor Lester, why would he have to be there?" Helen asked.

"Good Point!" Sid replied.

"Keep it short, sweet and clinical and Timmy doesn't end up with fantasy's!"

After leaving the meeting, the girls went immediately up to the pool with Barry while Adam, Kevin and Doctor Lester made their way back to the cove. Passing by the horses now grazing along the shore, the Doctor looked out to the lake as the boats were paddled or sailed by. "Wait Uncle Adam! Wait for us!" Carla shrieked as the girl scurried out of the water with Jeannie quickly following. Now jumping into the front, Carla squeezed herself onto Ada's lap as she took control of the wheel. Jeannie took up residence in Kevin's lap who was sitting in the back with the Doctor. Once snuggled in, the 11 year old reached around and took Kevin's hands and wrapped his arms around her like snapping a seat belt on.

"Hi!" The little girl said as she watched the Doctor sitting next to her intently.

"Hello. What's your name?" Doctor Lester asked.

"I'm Jeannie. That's Carla." Jeannie replied as she sat back.

"You just vistin or you staying?" She asked. Doctor Lester smiled deeply as Both Kevin and Adam chuckled.

"No, I'm just here visiting your beautiful home. Didn't I see you earlier swinging on the trapeze and diving into the water?" Doctor Lester asked.

"Sure! We fly on the trapeze everyday. Did you see us do tumblesaults?" Jeannie asked the man.

"I did, you must be very very brave little girls." Doctor Lester said.

"We ain't girls! We're in the mafia, ain't we Uncle Kevin?" Carla now said.

"Deeply entrenched!" Kevin replied. What's that mean?" Carla asked.

"It means Uncle Kevin wouldn't have it any other way," Adam replied.

"How come the twins call you Poppy? Are you their Father?" Jeannie now asked. Again, the Doctor smiled.

"No, I'm just a very good friend of theirs from their old school. They call me Poppy because that's what a lot of the boys I know there call me," he told the girl.

"Why?" Jeannie asked.

"Because my Grandson goes to the same school, and they heard him call me Poppy and they just picked up the name I guess." The Doctor told the girl.

"Your Grandson is a Geppetto boy?" Carla asked.

"Yes." The Doctor replied.

"So you are too?" Jeannie asked.

"No, my Grandson was adopted by my daughter." Doctor Lester said.

Leaning forward, Jeannie tapped Adam on the shoulder.

"Is he a Uncle Uncle Adam?" She asked.

"No, sweetheart. He's like Uncle Bert, but he's not an Uncle," Adam replied.

"Oh," the girl said as she sat back and continued to study this new phenomena.

Entering the cove, Adam pulled up in front of the cabin as the girls leaped off the cart and darted directly for the water which was teeming with campers, boats and a colt prancing in the shallow water like a gazelle on springs.

"Sid says the colt will stop doing that in a few months. He'll be too big and heavy even if he wanted to!" Adam told the Doctor as the three men watched.

"He's going to be as big as his Mother?" Doctor Lester asked.

"Bigger according to Sid. He was bred by a Champion Belgian, and they expect him to top out at close to two tons."

A huge commotion out at the rock in the middle of the cove now drew the Doctor's attention. The girls had reached it, and were climbing up onto it.

"From the lack of a tan line, I imagine that's not an unusual mode of dress." The Doctor now said as the three men headed for the porch.

"I'd say on a given day, they work on their tan about eight hours a day," Adam replied.

"They're delightful. Where do they live?" The Doctor asked.

"They decided they were going to move in with me about a year ago. They live here," Adam replied.

"They decided?" The Doctor Asked.

"Precisely!" Kevin replied.

"They might not consider themselves girls, but they know how to to turn on the charm and/or the waterworks when they have a goal in mind. One day they decided they were going to move into Beachview and that was the end of that!" He said. Doctor Lester again smiled as he sat down.

"Gentlemen, I bring a guest to share a drink with us and he's greeted with having to walk through a mine field. Don't we have any hoses or shovels for the boys to put into service?" Adam asked Eitienne and Anthony.

"Sorry Adam, but we were waiting for one of the boys to come out of the lake but I think they're avoiding us." Eitienne said.

"And god forbid we pick up a hose ourselves," Kevin added.

"Not our job, besides, the wind is blowing in the right direction." Anthony replied.

"No problem, you tend bar, and I'll take up lawn fertilization," Adam said as he walked over to the hose and turned it on.

It didn't take long for the twins to realize that Doctor Lester was back in the cove once the girls arrived. Now paddling their way back to shore, they came running up to the cabin at full gallop.

"Poppy, we're learning to swim, want to come and watch us!" Gavin said out of breath.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea boys, but I didn't bring a bathing suit with me. But I can watch you practice from the Beach." Doctor Lester told the boys.

"Ya don't need a bathing suit Poppy, Nobody gots one on. We all swim nakey see?" Benji said as he reached down and pulled on his penis.

"Even Uncle Kevin and Uncle Adam swims nakey. Don't you Uncle Kevin?" Gavin said as he looked at Kevin.

"Yes but some people aren't comfortable swimming without a bathing suit on," Kevin replied.

"But not you, right Poppy?" Benji now asked.

"To tell you the truth boys, I haven't gone skinny dipping in many years." The Doctor replied.

"That's Ok Poppy, it's easy, all ya gotta do is take all your clothes off." Gavin said innocently. Doctor Lester now chuckled to himself as he shook his head.

"Yes, I think I remember that part," he said.

"If you'd like, I'm sure we can scare up a bathing suit for you." Eitienne now offered.

"Ya ain't afraid to be nakey are ya Poppy?" Benji asked.

"No boys, certainly not. I'd be happy to watch you swim."

The Doctor now said.

"There's enough time?" Doctor Lester now asked Adam as he un buttoned his shirt.

"Plenty, we have about two hours before dinner," Adam replied.

"Whatcha doin?" Chris now asked as the boy came up the stairs followed by four or five more boys.

"Poppy's comin to watch us swim." Gavin said proudly.

"You too Uncle Adam?" Matty now asked.

"I wasn't really planning on it, I was going to wash down the lawn and the beach where our two large friends left us some gifts," Adam replied as he pointed to some piles.

"We'll do that for you later Uncle Adam, come swimmin with us!" Joey now pleaded.

"Yeah" a chorus of voices said.

"No King of the Rock," Adam now said.

"How come?" Trevor asked.

"Mainly because you beat our tails off yesterday and we're undermanned," Adam replied.

"Wow Poppy. You sure do gots lots of hair!" Gavin now exclaimed as the Doctor took off his shirt.

"How did you get it all?" Benji now asked as he reached for the Doctor and ran his fingers over the mans chest.

"Just lucky I guess," the Doctor replied as half a dozen boys now studied his chest.

"He gots more hair than Uncle Bert." Joey said to his friends as they all nodded.

"OK gentlemen, barber school is closed, we'll meet you out on the rock." Ada now said as he stood up. With the boys now whooping it up running back out to the lake, Adam shook his head.

"Sorry Doctor, but they're fairly blunt about what they observe. You rarely have to guess what's on their minds." Doctor Lester smiled as he sat down and pulled off his shoe's and socks.

"That's all right, as I recall, my Grandson had the exact same reaction the first time we went swimming together," he replied.

A little older than 65, Doctor Lester had the build of a much younger man. At roughly 175 pounds [80 kg] and just short of six feet [1.80 m] tall, he was a handsome man with graying hair. He wasn't a muscular man, but he obviously kept himself fit and trim. Some older men just have no business running around naked, they're an embarrassment to themselves and unpleasant looking for others. Doctor Lester was neither, if he was ashamed of his body, he had no reason to be.

"I think the last time I swam naked was when we went on a family camping trip when my children couldn't have been older than eight & 10. I'd forgotten the feeling of freedom one seems to have swimming nude." The Doctor said as he walked into the water with all of the mafia's counselor's except for Dan.

"It certainly adds some zest to the experience."

Adam replied.

"Especially if one of the girls show up." Eitienne now added.

"Speaking of girls, how do Carla and Jeannie react to naked older men?" The Doctor asked.

"Consider yourself oatmeal or borsht. They're both well aware that they are completely off-limits to anybody but Intermediate children and they've given up trying awhile ago," Adam told the Doctor.

About 10 minutes or so after the men reached the rock, Bert's cart appeared on the path followed by Sid. At a little over 65, Doctor Lester would now know for the first time in his life what it just might feel like if he were to join a nudist colony as Helen, her four senior girls, Patty and her two girls now joined the mafia in the lake, either in the boats or on the rock. Once Barry showed up with Gloria and Timmy, the record for most people on the rock at one time was shattered.

The purpose of Doctor Lester's visit was the twin's and now Timmy's introduction to the "Toy" the Doctor had brought with him, but as a trained Psychiatrist, he could not help but make observations of those people now around him. He had known the names and read these people's files for years, but now, they were sitting next to him in person or playing around him as the Doctor made mental notes. He very much liked what he saw, and he was liking it more and more by the hour. The plane taking him back to Boston could wait, the Doctor was in no particular hurry to leave Green Tree anytime soon.

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