Chapter 34: Visiting the Schools

--[Recap]—

I had been instrumental in rescuing many troubled and abused girls in modern times. Many of those girls, I took into my home to guide them into returning to a life of being just normal kids and to become self-sufficient members of society. After a while my home was bulging at the seams and I decided that something needed to be done. It was then that Grace and I came up with the idea of constructing a boarding school for troubled and abused girls, which I lovingly call my TAG School (Troubled and Abused Girls' School).

But I still wasn't through at that point. The need was so great that I established four more schools around the country. My wife Grace and I have been kept quite busy making sure that all of the schools live up to the standards and philosophy I have insisted upon. That being that; all of the girls were to be treated with the utmost of respect to build upon their self-esteem. Nobody said it would be easy and we found out that it, indeed, was not easy in any way, shape or form but the rewards made it all worth while.

The school we opened in San Antonio, Texas was built in a style to resemble the Alamo. The school in Denver, Colorado was fashioned like a log cabin style mountain resort. The one in Sarasota, Florida took on a nautical, seaside flair and, lastly, the school in Las Vegas, Nevada was designed to resemble an Egyptian temple. The reason for those themes was for the schools to fit their location and for the girls to be able to live in an atmosphere of the good life, if only for the time they lived there. Everything in the schools was of top notch quality with comfort in mind while maintaining a nurturing environment. The girls were afforded private bedrooms where they did not have to answer to anyone and could be themselves. All of the schools were headed up by married couples promoting a family atmosphere. Some of the girls would even refer to them as mom and dad. It was my intent that when the girls left the school they would be able to strike out on their own and make their way through life without becoming a burden on society or a victim.

--[Resuming the story]--

After the schools had been in operation for a couple of months I decided to take a couple of weeks to drive around and visit each one of them. I had a Winnebago Journey luxury motor-home so we could travel in comfort. I decided to take Grace, Kim and the three little ones with me on the trip so we could mix business with pleasure and make it a kind of a family vacation. Sightseeing along the way makes the trip go smoother and allowed us to spend some quality time together as a family. Having three licensed drivers was a fringe benefit that helped keep fatigue at a minimum.

I had modified our Winnebago Journey motor-home by removing one of the couches and installed three cribs in its place anchored to the floor. The other couch was filled up with three car-seats for the little ones. In the back was a king-size bed where Grace, Kim and I slept. We three had been sleeping together for some time so there was nothing different in that respect. There was another bunk over the cab but we used that to store our luggage and, of course, a bunch of photography equipment. Kim had become quite an accomplished photographer so between the two of us, we took a lot of pictures. I used an old joke when I told Kim that there are only two categories of subjects we would photograph; those which moved and those which did not.

We got all packed up and, leaving Alice (our housekeeper) and Fitzroy (my butler) in charge, we headed out to visit the schools. If you remember earlier in my story you know that Alice and Fitzroy were a married couple and ideally suited to run my household in our absence. Fitzroy may even get to practice one of my favorite pastimes; tucking in and reading to the little ones in the house.

Our first couple of days on the road was kind of a shakedown operation while we all got back into the swing of traveling. Having traveled before in the Winnie, everybody knew just what to do when we pulled into a campground. Kim acted as ground guide as I backed the motor-home into the parking site. She then hooked up the ground power, sewage and water lines. Finally she would dump the holding tank. After that was all done she would get in to tend to the babies while Grace cooked up some supper and I leveled the motor home on jacks.

We sat down to a nice meal and enjoyed each other's company as we chatted about the day and what was to come up next. After supper we broke out the strollers and walked around the campground. We met a few interesting people there who had fascinating stories to tell. One camper we stopped at had a nice couple sitting out in lawn chairs and when I introduced us to them they mentioned that they had followed my exploits on the TV news about my rescues. As we chatted, he mentioned that, like me, he had been in the marines so we traded war stories. I left them with a big Semper-Fi followed by a snappy Hoorah.

After dark we made our way back to the Winnie and sat down to catch the news on TV. While I was puttering around in the cab, Kim hollered, "Dad, come here. You've got to see this."

When I got back to the TV I saw myself being interviewed in a story about the first TAG school I had built and opened. They also showed some footage of the farmhouse where Grace and I rescued those eight girls. They even interviewed Detective Springer who spoke very highly of my actions. I thought the coverage was nicely done and there were no politicians invading the limelight.

The next day we were back in the Winnie and on the road headed south. I had Kim do some online research for fun things to do along the way. She came up with a visit to Colonial Williamsburg which would only take us a teeny bit out of our way. She showed me a write-up on the net about Williamsburg:

Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The 301-acre (122 ha) Historic Area includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital, as well as Colonial Revival and more recent reconstructions.

We found a campground near the attraction where we could spend the night so we reserved a spot for two nights. That would give us a full day to tour without being rushed. So it was the same routine; back in, hookup, level and sit down for another of Grace's sumptuous suppers. The campground had a nice size pool so we decided to go for a swim. Grace looked fantastic in her bikini but insisted that since we were not at home, that Kim not wear her infamous postage stamp bikini. None the less, the girls got many admiring glances from the men and boys at the pool. I was as proud as the rooster in a hen yard since both girls were mine and only mine. We splashed and played until almost dark. A little TV time to catch the news and we crashed in bed for the night. Seeing Grace and Kim in their bikinis got me all worked up so when they got into bed they both were both jumped and we enjoyed a passionate love making session.

Since we were on vacation we had no obnoxious mechanical alarm clock to wake us so we were able to sleep until almost eight o'clock. We did, however, have three little alarm clocks that waited patiently until their tummies told them it was time to get up and be fed and changed. Kim came bounding out of bed and rushed to the bathroom. (Oh the energy of youth) Thirty seconds later she bounded over to tend to the babies while Grace and I took over the bathroom for a quick shower. When we got out and dressed Grace took over with the babies so Kim could take her shower. While my two ladies were busy I went to the kitchen to see if I could burn some breakfast. Our timing must have been just about perfect because when the ladies finished what they were doing, the smoke alarm announced that breakfast was just about ready.

We took the Winnie to the museum so we would have what we needed for the babies and so we could fix our own lunches. We entered the complex and just as I walked through the gate I noticed a man with what looked like a little boy coming fast up to the gate. Something about them just didn't look right and the hairs on the back of my neck were standing out straight. He bumped into me and started to curse at me to get the f****k out of the way. I noticed that the little boy had on a baseball cap and had dark colored hair except for a small wisp of blonde hair sticking out from under his hat on the back of his head.

I noticed that the boy looked like he had been crying and was dragging his feet like he did not want to go with the man. All the warning signs were there so, as my brain went into automatic mode, I lunged and tackled the man and held him down on the ground. He was spouting an endless line of profanities as he fought to get away from me.

Grace, in the meantime, came over to comfort the little boy who had started hysterically crying again. His hat fell off and Grace discovered that the dark haired little boy was really a preteen blonde haired little girl. With all the commotion a police officer rushed up to me. I flashed my badge and told the officer to cuff the guy. Another officer showed up and I told him that the van that I had seen parked out front with the motor running was probably waiting for the guy we had in custody.

The officer made a mad dash out to the van and as he got close, the van took off with screeching tires. The officer got on his radio and put out a call to have the van stopped but the call ended up being moot as the van crashed into a brick wall trying to avoid another vehicle. That officer and I rushed over to the van to keep the driver from getting away. We didn't have to detain the driver since he was stuck through the windshield and bleeding profusely.

I opened the side door of the van and found three little girls tied up and gagged inside. I removed their gags and untied them as they cried their heads off. A patrol car came to a screeching halt with lights and siren going. The first officer brought the guy in cuffs out and put him in the back seat of the patrol car. About five minutes later the officer's radios came alive with a bolo (be on the lookout) call describing a missing little eleven-year-old blonde girl that, it turned out, was with Grace and Kim. The officer keyed his radio and reported that the girl was at the gate and that her kidnapper was in custody.

It only took two minutes before two frantic parents came running up to the girl. As they arrived there was a tearful reunion as the parents hugged their little girl. The girl's mom took the jeans and sweatshirt off the little girl revealing a cute little girl in a pretty skirt and blouse. An ambulance arrived and the attendants promptly checked over all of the girls and told us that the girls were in good condition with no injuries beyond some bruises. They also advised us that the little girl I had saved showed signs of having been drugged.

Grace, Kim and I gave statements to the officers of what we saw and did. Kim, the ever diligent photographer, had captured all the action with her camera so I had one of the officers come with me to our mobile home where I downloaded the pictures to my computer and burned a CD for the police to use. As we were wrapping everything up one of the officers told me that he had seen me on TV the night before and thanked me profusely for what I had done. He said he wished so many people did not stand idly by as something suspicious happens.

By the time we finished with the incident, it was nearing noon so we went back to the Winnie to have some lunch. We ate our sandwiches, fed and changed the babies and talked about what we had been through. As we talked I felt like a great load had been lifted off my shoulders as the adrenalin left my system and I grew sleepy. I suggested a nap and heard no objections. Even the little ones were ready for a nap so we all bedded down to recharge our internal batteries. We must have been wound up tighter than I thought because we slept for almost two hours.

When we went back through the gate we were met by one of the executives of the site. He wanted to personally thank us for rescuing that little girl. He then told us that we were to get VIP treatment for the rest of the day. Instead of having to walk from one building to another, (which can be quite tiring), he drove us around in his electric golf cart as he gave us a running commentary about the park and its history. The executive even went so far as to have one of his assistants stay with our babies in the Winnie while we toured the park.

We had an amazingly wonderful time reliving part of our American history. Every stop was a learning experience discovering another facet of colonial times. The history we all had studied in school was coming alive before our very eyes. I was fascinated to see a woman at a loom weaving fabric to make clothes. We went to the village hardware store where I could hardly believe that they had everything you could imagine needing. Coming out of that store I smelled something wafting through the air. My saliva glands kicked into overdrive as we were magnetically drawn to a bake goods shop. There is nothing even close to the delight of fresh baked cookies. I had no choice but to buy a dozen of their oatmeal raisin cookies. Something else that made the day interesting was being stopped along the way by people who recognized me and just had to shake my hand. I must have signed a couple dozen autographs and we posed for a multitude of pictures.

Little did we know but while we were touring, the executive's staff was setting up a banquet in our honor to be held in the community center in the middle of town. They pampered us something fierce with food and entertainment galore. I kind of got the feeling that we were back in medieval Camelot again. One of the local TV stations sent a reporter to interview me about the day's events. I had to be careful not to say anything that would jeopardize the case. That was not too difficult since the police had caught the kidnappers, as the expression goes, red-handed.

We finally made it back to the campground and took the opportunity to unwind from a very active day. Since the babies were awake most of the day, except for their nap, they were getting a bit cranky so Kim and Grace tended to them to get them fed, changed and bedded down for the night. The rest of us had supper and walked around for a while until dark. Back in the Winnie the same thing that had happened the night before, happened again as Kim called out to me, "Hey dad, here we go again. You've got to see this."

Sure enough, there was my ugly mug big as life on the screen as they played the interview during their coverage of the story of the day's events. I noticed that they used my quote from Edmund Burke saying "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." I was expressing my disappointment that we were the only ones in the crowd who had taken action.

We were so tired by bed time that all we did was cuddle for the night. The next day we were going to be traveling to the Sarasota school location so a good night's sleep was in order. We were up bright and early the next morning. Babies changed and fed, big people changed and fed and we were ready to pull out. While Kim was outside unhooking us a monster sized thunderstorm rolled in. Poor Kim got drenched and came dripping into the Winnie. She dashed into the bathroom to finish her dripping and get dried off. Grace brought her a change of clothes so she could be more comfortable riding. Personally, I wouldn't mind Kim traveling nude but then, I had to concentrate on driving.