Chapter 8: Some Serious Photography

When we had pulled in the night before, I noticed there was a car rental company right across the road from the campground. Not wanting to drive the motor home into the capital with the heavy traffic and lack of parking, I went over and rented a small SUV for our trip into the thick of things. I drove it back to our campsite where we loaded up my photo gear and we were off to the big city.

Grace had not been to the capital in many years and Kim had never been there so that was going to be an educational experience for us all. The massive scale of the government building was enough to take your breath away. There was no expense spared in the design and construction of those structures, some of which were over two hundred years old. The ornate facades of the buildings were a study in themselves, encompassing Gothic, Doric, Roman, Art Deco and a host of other styles. During one of my slower times I had read a couple of books about architectural styles which fired up my fascination with buildings.

Our first stop was the state capital building. The expansive limestone staircase leading to the main entrance was impressive in and of itself. Climbing those steps took its toll on two of us and we, huffing and puffing, managed to catch up with Kim who was patiently waiting for the "older" folks to catch up. I almost slugged her as she kidded us about being so slow. With cameras in hand we were taking pictures of everything we could see.

I got some especially good shots of Kim leaning sexily against one of the pillars. I even got some of Grace and Kim together in a similar pose. They were dressed in matching shorts with blouses tied just below their midriff showing a generous expanse of bare tummies. While the pictures were not lewd they were definitely inspiring with prominent breasts, narrow waists and vast expanses of bare athletic legs that spanned from the ground to heaven.

We entered the massive solid oaken doors and were directed into a security area. We showed our ID and signed in on the register. When the guard there looked at my name he had a puzzled look on his face as if I was his long lost brother come home from an extended absence. We were issued ID badges, which the guard explained, would allow us free access to all of the government buildings.

I was severely impressed with the marble floors in the rotunda with the state seal embedded, mahogany carved woodwork and hanging tapestries. There were bigger than life size paintings of all the past governors of the state except I noticed that there was a gap of time with the pictures and remembered that it was the time frame during which one of the governors resigned in disgrace having been involved in some interstate sex scandal. I guessed that some lawyers think they are above the law.

My attention was drawn to a magnificent curved staircase beautifully carved of solid mahogany. In my readings I had discovered that that particular staircase had been hand carved by none other than Reginald Sherwood, my great-great grandfather. The girls were impressed with this tidbit of history and insisted on taking my picture descending the staircase. Grace enlisted the assistance of one of the guards to take the picture of me coming down with a smiling beauty attached to each arm. I spent nearly an hour taking close-ups of the detail of that staircase.

I decided to take the opportunity to show Kim how to accent the detail of the carvings by detaching the flash from my camera and using highlights and shadows to enhance what would otherwise be a mere vacation snapshot picture. I showed her how, using the flash bouncing off a white card, you could soften some of the harshness of the shot. During my explanations, a small crowd gathered around us and was intently listening to every word.

As I was winding down my dissertation, I noticed two security guards approaching with very serious expressions on their faces. One of the guards said "Would you three please come with us." No explanation or discussion, just come with us.

I was sure that somehow we had broken some rule and posed a security risk and we're being sequestered. They led us up the stairs and around the balcony to two massive doors. One of the guards punched in a code on the lock and one of the doors opened wide. We were led into an exquisitely appointed room and ordered to have a seat.

Grace asked, "Art, what's going on? Did we break some rule or law?"

"Grace, I have no idea."

Kim piped up. "Mommy, I'm scared."

Just then a door across the room opened and the governor of the state walked in with an entourage of followers including a press photographer. The governor walked right up to me extending his hand in greeting. I stood and shook his hand still befuddled as to what was going on.

"Mister Sherwood," he said "I am honored to finally meet you. I heard about your exploits in rescuing those eight girls and want to thank you personally. You may not know it but what you did resulted in the breakup of a major sex slave trafficking operation involving dozens of criminals. There were over two hundred children rescued as a result of your efforts."

"Well, thank you, Your Excellency. Once I discovered what was going on I was compelled by my nature to take as swift an action as I could. Those girls affected me to my very core and made me insanely angry with the perpetrators of that despicable operation."

The governor then took my hand again and said, "Mister Sherwood, in recognition of your heroic efforts in rescuing those girls I would like to present you with, this key to the state showing that you are welcome and honored in all of our glorious state." He held up a humongous brass key.

As he finished his presentation there was a brilliant flash as the press photographer took a picture. I noticed that a simultaneous flash emanated as Kim held my camera taking a picture. I noticed that she moved from side to side snapping off several more shots. Some of the stuff I had taught her was taking hold.

The governor then led us into his office and we chatted about the incident at the farmhouse and the fallout that followed. My heartbeat slowly returned to normal and I started to relax to the point where I could talk intelligently. He mentioned that there was a state dinner planned for that evening and he wanted us to attend. I told him I would be honored. Little did I know what he had planned or I might have declined.

We had packed no clothes suitable for a state dinner so we had some hurried shopping to take care of. We drove down to one of the malls where there were some high end clothing stores. First we went into a dress shop. We were met by a saleslady who introduced herself as Elizabeth Anderson. I told her that both ladies needed dresses for a state dinner. I had told Grace that I would be picking up the tab so get the best she could find.

While they were looking at dresses Kim kept wandering over to the bridal section to look at gowns and dream. They did finally pick out a couple of identical royal blue and white dresses that looked very regal as if they were meant for royalty. In those dresses Grace and Kim looked like the embodiment of a queen and a princess. I was falling in love with both of them all over again.

Hey, wait a minute. What do I mean again? I had to quickly search my soul and what I found was that I actually was in love with them but just hadn't told either of them yet. I knew that Kim had a severe crush on me but, could it be more? And Grace seemed to fit together with me so well that we talked and acted as one.

I was wondering if it was just a matter of saying it. That was a topic I was going to have to think hard about before I make a big mistake. I don't want to scare them off but, on the other hand, I don't want them to get away before I tell them how I feel. God I prayed they felt the same.

With the dresses boxed up we made our way to a men's store to select just the right suit and tie for me. I picked out a nice navy blue suit, white shirt and conservative tie. Then it dawned on me that we all needed shoes to go with the outfits so we made tracks for a shoe store. Selection of my shoes only took about fifteen minutes. Grace and Kim, however, succeeded in consuming the better part of an hour making their choices. Of course they also had to have new purses to match their ensembles.

Then to complete the package I dragged the girls to a hair salon to get them coiffed like the royalty they were in my mind at least. The three of us were really going to make a splash at the dinner.

We made it back to the campsite and did the shower and shave routine. We got dressed in our new clothes and were about to leave when there was a knock at the door. I answered the door and there stood a gentleman in a chauffeur's uniform. Outside was parked a limo ready to take us to dinner. Before we left I got the driver to use my camera and snap a few shots of us all duded up in our fancy clothes. We piled into the car and he drove us to the governor's mansion.

The Governor himself met us at the door and escorted us to the head table where we were seated at his left. Dinner was magnificent and I noticed a couple of TV news crews covering the festivities. As I looked around the room I recognized many of the senators and assemblymen I had seen previously on TV. I chuckled to myself since I had only voted for a couple of them.

After dinner the Governor made a little speech about politics and so on. Then he motioned for me to join him at the podium.

"Ladies and gentleman, it is my distinct pleasure to introduce Mister Arthur Sherwood who you all know was the man who rescued those eight girls from that farm house last week."