Published: 27 Jun 2024

From The Previous Chapter:

Mr. Ken came upstairs to say goodnight to the boys and to remind them not to stay up until all hours talking. He didn’t go to their individual rooms, but he did hug each of them there in Robert’s room. He also gave and got a big hug from Kevin and Kyle before he went down to his room to retire for the evening.

Collin and Chief stayed with the boys for quite some time, but before long he recommended that they all go to bed and be downstairs by eight-fifteen, so their ‘dad’ can have a nice breakfast with everyone.

Before long The Cove was quiet, and everyone was happy that the twins had come back to visit.

Monday morning, Mr. Ken got up earlier than normal. He wanted to read some of his morning newspaper before the events of the day overwhelmed him, and he never got the chance to. As soon as he awoke, he took his shower, got dressed for the day, and then he went out to get his morning newspaper.

Newspaper in hand, the owner of The Cove headed to the Kitchen Nook to get a cup of fresh, hot coffee, and sat to read about the happenings in his area. As he read the newspaper, Momma arrived and soon Kate came into the Nook and kissed him good morning. Momma just chuckled. It was only 7:30 a.m.

Ken and Kate talked some, as Ken tried to read his newspaper. Kate wanted to know what she and her boys could do while the carnival was there. Ken told her that the older boys would probably show Rusty and Jessy how to ride their skateboards better after breakfast. He then suggested that they could either let them ride the rides, or he could drive them over to his new Four Corners Amusement Park, and show them what he was building there.

Sophia and Isabela had arrived and the smells of what they were preparing for breakfast were beginning to permeate the Kitchen Nook, and both adult’s mouths were beginning to water. Reynolds and Sylvia walked into the Nook and Momma quickly got them a cup of coffee and the conversation began to distract Ken from his newspaper.

The Parchsons were also interested in what there was to do there besides the carnival. Ken offered to take them on a tour of the area and show them what he was building down at Four Corners, or what he had built out along the back side of the lake. He then added that he could take everyone to the Lakeside Water Park for a few hours using the Commander, and that way they could see what was out on the lake.

Jaxson and Alani heard Mr. Ken mention the water park, when they walked into the Kitchen Nook, and they asked if he was going to take them there. Their mom and dad told them that it was just an idea they were discussing, but no decision had been made.

“What hadn’t been decided?” asked Charles, when he entered the Kitchen Nook.

“If we’re going to the water park, or not,” answered Alani.

Billy, Robert, Matthew and Phillip heard that, too, along with Rusty and Jessy, who went to their mom and asked if they were going to go to the water park. Kate told her boys that it hadn’t been decided yet.

The two boys then quickly went over to Mr. Ken and said, “Can we go, pleeeassseee!”

“We’ll, see, boys; we’ll see,” offered Mr. Ken.

Mr. Wayne then came into the Kitchen Nook, followed by Mr. Chris, the Estate Manager.

“I thought you were off today, Chris?” asked Mr. Ken.

“Well, with the Parchsons here, I wanted to come in and brief them on what to expect at the ahh … the holding facility on Wednesday, and to make sure they had the required $25.00 in quarters, if they wanted to have a drink, or snack, while they waited for Vivian.

“I also have their driving directions and the other information they’ll need for when they arrive at the facility. I figured tomorrow that they would be too busy with it being the fourth and all,” finished Chris Dominions, the Estate Manager.

Momma then came over to everyone, and asked them to go into the Dining Room, as breakfast was being served. So, now for breakfast, there would be eighteen, versus the sixteen that was there for dinner the previous night.

For breakfast, Momma Maria, Sophia and Isabela prepared breakfast enchiladas with bacon and eggs, a cheesy Mexican breakfast casserole, huevos rancheros, breakfast tostadas and four different types of breakfast tacos.

They also fixed a Mexican fruit salad made with seedless watermelon, cantaloupe, mangos, fresh pineapple, cucumbers, Jamaica, or allspice, limes, and a Mexican spice called tajin, for the group to have as a simple dessert afterwards.

While everyone was eating, the subject of them going to the Lakeside Water Park came up. Mr. Ken said that it might be a nice day to take the Parchsons over there, along with Kate and her boys and that they could use the Commander to avoid the traffic.

Of course, the Cover boys asked if they could go along. But ‘dad’ Ken reminded Billy and Robert that they had to oversee the Cove Skate Park Open Skating until six o’clock, and that only Charles, Matthew and Phillip would be allowed to go.

Mr. Ken then asked Sylvia and Kate if that sounded OK with them. He explained that they could leave around twelve, noon, and return about five o’clock, which would give them a good four hours to enjoy the park after the slow ride over, and back, in the Commander.

Charles said that he could help watch over the younger children, with Mr. Reynolds and his dad, if the ladies weren’t going in the water. He added that the only real deep water was the wave pool and that when they came off some of the slides there were lifeguards there, and that the youngsters would be with him, his dad, or Mr. Reynolds.

Mr. Ken told the ladies that they had time to think about it. He then suggested that it would give them something different to do today besides him showing them around the area before coming back to the carnival.

The younger children then spoke up, asking their parents to let them go to the water park in Mr. Ken’s big boat. Billy and Robert were a bit dismayed that they wouldn’t get to go to the water park. Robert was the most disappointed, as he would not only not get to go, he wouldn’t get to go with his dad.

After everyone finished eating, they all went their separate ways to get ready for their day.

When Billy and Robert were finished getting dressed for the day with their referee shirts on, and whistles around their necks, they went looking for the metal sign Mr. Chris had made up last year with the Cove Skate Park Rules, for when the outsiders used the skate park during the carnival. When they located it, they took it up to the Cove Skate Park and pushed it into the ground.

Mr. Chris was also busy getting the carnival and the skate park wristbands ready for the Police Explorers to pass out to those who would pay the $10.00 for the carnival, and to those who fill out an insurance wavier in order to use the Cove Skate Park. He also had a strong box for the explorers to keep the money in, that they collected for the carnival wristbands.

Lonnie, Brad, Gordon, Logan, Josh and Isaiah joined Robert and Billy as the Cove Skate Park referees for the day’s open skating that started at twelve noon. They all reviewed the rules that required every skater to have on a helmet. as well as wrist and knee pads and have a colored wrist band given by the Police Explorers indicating they have a signed insurance wavier on file.

When The Cove Main Gate opened at twelve noon there was a throng of people waiting to enter the estate to either attend the carnival, or skate. Those entering to attend the carnival and who didn’t have a wrist band had to give the Police Explorers exact change in order to get one. Those who didn’t have a ten-dollar bill, or the equivalent times the number of people in their party, had to go and get it, or wait until the explorers had enough. But they did not accept credit cards or checks.

And in order to keep the people away from the bullet ridden lockers and most of the walls, Mr. Wayne and Mr. Dennis had bought six 6-foot-high by 6-foot-wide foldable safety barricades to cover the area, which they erected prior to the first guests being let into the estate. The barricades were to hopefully keep the crowd from congregating where the shoot-out took place and making the site a focus at the carnival instead of the carnival itself.

Those who wanted to skate, and had signed a waiver last year asked why they had to sign another one. The Police Explorers looked up their name on the computer register Mr. Chris gave them and then gave them a skater wrist band. The skaters were disappointed that skating was for only a half-hour this year, as compared to an hour last year. The referees explained it was to allow more people to experience the Cove Skate Park, but that they could get back in in line to skate again, if they wanted to.

The women did decide to allow their children to go to the Lakeside Water Park that Monday for a day of fun. Mr. Ken had everyone wear their swimsuits and load onto the Commander at around twelve, noon. Going were Mr. Ken, Collin, Charles, Matthew, Phillip, Kate, Rusty, Jessy, Reynolds, Sylvia, Jaxson, Alani, Kevin and Kyle.

Chief wanted to go along, but Collin got down to her level and told her that they would be gone for a very long time, and that she would be bored waiting on the boat for them. The young man asked her to stay inside and not to go out to the carnival, or the Pavilion, because she had to protect her puppies. He told her that he would take her out to the carnival when he came back. Chief barked once, gave Collin a few doggie kisses and then went back inside to rest.

Charles and Matthew helped with casting off the commander from the dock and the group were off to the Lakeside Water Park. Mr. Ken had Jaxson and Alani up on the top bridge and allowed them to steer the boat, as they motored over to the water park. Rusty and Jessy were a bit upset that they didn’t get to do that. But Kate told them that they might get to do that on the way back. Hearing that made them smile.

Once the large group arrived at the water park, Mr. Ken used his entrance privilege and got everyone in without having to pay. He then rented a number of lockers, so they could lock away their valuables. With that done, their first water adventure was going to be the wave pool.

Kate had decided to wear her swimsuit and enjoy the water park with her boys. But Sylvia had decided not to, as she didn’t want to ruin her hairstyle that she spent a considerable amount of money on before they came on their trip.

All of the younger children were excited to be going in the wave pool. Kate and Ken took her two boys by the hand as they walked into the wave pool’s water. Charles, Matthew and Mr. Reynolds kept close watch on Jaxson and Alani, while Phillip, Kevin and Kyle stayed close by.

A horn blared and the wave machine began to create waves. Kevin and Kyle had been there before, so they knew what to expect and they told Phillip to just jump the waves as they came. And that was what the other group did, as well.

Ken and Kate, though, they each took a boy and helped them jump up above the wave that came at them. The boys laughed as they did that. Ken had Jessy and he let the boy try to swim some, while the wave came at him. But the boy showed that he still needed to build up his arm strength and Mr. Ken had to grab him and lift him up.

The group stayed in the wave pool for two rounds of waves before heading over to some of the water slides. Ken and Kate made sure that they went down any of the water slides that held at least two people and they would take Rusty and Jessy with them, as Kate wanted to make sure they were safe.

Jaxson and Alani were fairly good swimmers and Reynolds allowed them to go by themselves down all of the water slides. They stood in line with their dad and Charles, Matthew, Phillip, Kevin and Kyle and they all talked about the twin’s new home and what The Cove had.

Phillip enjoyed that afternoon at the Lakeside Water Park. Not only did he get to go there, but he got to get to know the twins, his Cover ‘brothers’, who no longer live at The Cove. Phillip heard many of the stories of the things they got to do when they lived with their ‘dad’. And many of the stories were added to by Charles and Matthew, who added bits and pieces that the twins might have left out.

So, besides enjoying all of the different water slides, Phillip learned that his ‘dad’ tried to treat all of the boys equally. He took all of them on a special 3-day, one-on-one trip with just him. Then he gave the boys what they needed in the form of great computers, clothes and spring break trips. After hearing what the twins had to say, Phillip knew that Mr. Ken’s giving him the guitar at Easter, to replace the one Rafael destroyed, and then the electric guitar for his birthday wasn’t a fluke, but his way of making his life at The Cove a better one than he had.

The Cove Skate Park got a good work out that Monday. Billy and Robert decided to restrict the skaters to seventy during that first half-hour skating period versus the one hundred they allowed last year. They wanted to see if that made a difference out on the park and after that first trial, they felt it had, so that was what they continued to allow when the time was up.

Even though people from outside the neighborhood had to pay ten dollars to enter and enjoy the carnival that year, there was no shortage of people wanting to shell out that meager amount knowing it was going to charity.

The water park group returned to The Cove around 5:30 with Rusty and Jessy at the helm of the Commander. The two young boys had big smiles on their faces, as they steered the large boat back to The Cove.

Momma and her amigas had dinner ready for Mr. Ken and his guests at six o’clock. Tonight’s dinner was a simple one of salad with different dressings, hot rolls and butter, with Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn on the cob.

Tonight’s special guests at dinner were Mr. Dennis and Mr. Dan, making twenty people at the dinner table, which was the most the Dining Room table could handle, with all the extender leaves put in place.

Kyle was really happy that Mr. Dan came over that evening for dinner. The younger twin always looked up to that man from the very beginning, and he still wished that he could have adopted him instead of his having to go and live with his aunt and uncle.

The conversation at the table was plentiful. The younger children talked about their trip to the Lakeside Water Park, including their chance to steer the big Commander. Jessy was the most vocal as he told everyone about his jumping the big waves in the wave pool, and going down those awfully big slides with his mom and Mr. Ken. He let everyone know how much fun he had. There were lots of chuckles at the boy’s story telling.

Billy and Robert told how the skating at the Cove Skate Park went today with the half-hour sessions. The Cover teens explained that initially the kids weren’t too happy that it was for only a half hour, but when they got back in line and learned they didn’t have to wait as long as last year, they came around. The teens indicated that other than that, there weren’t any problems.

Mr. Dennis offered that the soda machines were almost empty, and he was going to ask the boys to help him refill them later. He admitted that the cost he set for the different drinks he felt was a bit high. But then he told everyone that it obviously wasn’t high enough if the people were buying everything in there, and so The Cove was making money, that would be used to replenish the drinks. Everyone laughed when they heard that The Cove was making money.

When dinner was over, the teens wanted to go out to ride the rides and play the games, and, of course, so did the younger children. The adults decided that they better go out with them or there would be no peace and quiet in the house until they did.

The older teenagers headed to the bigger rides. Mr. Dan and Kyle also went to the bigger rides and rode together. Sylvia and Reynolds asked Ken about the man doing that with Kyle. All Ken told them was that Kyle looked up to the man the whole time he lived there and there was a connection between them. The owner of The Cove then added that the boy had also wished Dan would have adopted him and left it at that.

Kate and Ken took Rusty and Jessy on the Tilt-A-Whirl. The two boys laughed the whole time the ride car spun on its axis, as it rode around the hilly circle. They loved that they got to do things like that with their mom and they also loved that Mr. Ken was with them.

Kate and Ken decided to take the two boys on the Sizzler, which was similar to the Scrambler. The four sat in the car seat with Ken against the outer wall, then Kate and next came Rusty and lastly was Jessy. Sylvia and Reynolds decided to take Jaxson and Alani on the same ride with them seated in the car, Reynolds, Sylvia, Jaxson and lastly Alani.

Of course, when the ride spun up, and the two men who were against the outer wall of the car got pushed against by the other three in the car with them. Ken was making fun of it by telling Rusty and Jessy not to push so hard, because the boys knew they were being shoved into their mom and she into him. And the more he said it the more they laughed.

Jaxson and Alani were also enjoying the ride with their parents. They didn’t often get the chance to do something like this with them and this was something special, even if their dad was being squashed.

The older boys had some of their friends at the carnival that night and they had to wait in line to ride everything, as they didn’t have any Fastest Passes this time around.

The ride they wanted to ride the most was called Ocean Trip. This was considered a family-rated flat ride that was shaped as a boat, but this boat went in a full 360-degree circle with its riders sitting in what looked like a big boat. The Cover boys’‘dad’ didn’t have anything like that at his parks, so they wanted to try it out, but he did have The Tomahawk, the Hatchet and the Axe which did go head-over-heels.

When the younger children came off the Sizzler, they walked around and the youngsters asked if they could ride the Ghoul City. The adults could see that it was a haunted house type ride where two people would sit in the ride car and journey through the two-story building viewing different spooky ghouls and spirits.

It was decided that Reynolds would take Alani and Sylvia would go with Jaxson, while Kate contemplated whether or not she should allow her two sons to go through. She figured Rusty could handle what was inside, but she was concerned that Jessy would have nightmares. Ken told her to take Rusty and that he would stay outside with Jessy, and they might find something different to do.

Mr. Ken then spotted the Scooters. So, he told Kate that he would take Jessy over to them and let him ride those, while she and Rusty rode Ghoul City. Kate agreed that those would be good for him, as he liked bumping into the other kids. They then agreed that whomever got off first would meet at the others’ ride.

After riding the boat that went head over heels, the older boys decided to ride Gravitron. They all knew what the ride was about, so when it was their turn, they stood against the wall and as the ride began to rotate, they become plastered to the wall. They all made it a game to see who could move their arm away from the wall and hold it out in front of them. They all had a fun time laughing at one another when they tried it.

Rusty was a bit apprehensive going into Ghoul City. He knew there would be scary things in there, but he just didn’t know what. He held onto his mom and he screamed almost every time a scary thing jumped up, or was lit up when they turned the corner. Even Kate jumped a few times because it was very dark inside the ride and she didn’t know what came next. When the ride was over, she was glad Ken took Jessy to a different ride,

Jessy was having a good time driving the Scooters, even though they were really designed for the older riders. And because of that, Mr. Ken was in the car with the boy and he pushed the pedal and Jessy drove. And these scooters went much faster than the ones Jessy was used to, so when he bumped into another scooter, he felt the jolt. Mr. Ken found he had to hold onto Jessy after that first hit. The boy was really loving that faster ride.

When Kate and Ken met up, Jessy immediately told his brother how fast the Scooters were and how he got to crash into all of those other big people. Jessy was very animated with his hands showing how he crashed into the sides, or back, of the other scooters. Ken had to explain that he pushed the pedal and held onto the boy as Jessy drove and they had a good time together.

The four adults took the four younger children on the Trapeze next. This was just a standard 32 seat free swinging swing that swung outward, while the tower tilted at 15 degrees. They all got in line and when it was their turn, Kate made sure Jessy was buckled in his seat and Ken checked on Rusty.

When the ride started up, Kate looked over at Jessy to make sure he was securely in his swing seat. She knew Rusty would be OK, but she was just concerned that the ride might be too big for her youngest son. But every time she looked over, she saw that Jessy was smiling and just enjoying the breeze going through his hair. But she was a mom who was concerned about her son.

The next ride, or attraction, that the adults took the children to was Crystal Lils. This was a two-story attraction featuring a glass and mirror maze on the first level and fun trick mirrors on the top level. The children loved trying to find their way through the mirror maze with the adults trailing behind.

Rusty and Jessy were having a blast in the mirror maze and when they got to the second story, and the trick mirrors, they loved seeing themselves, their mom and Mr. Ken in different shapes and sizes. They laughed right along with Jaxson and Alani at the adults in the different trick mirrors.

The teenagers all wanted to ride the Zipper. It was a unique ride that had a long oblong frame that rotates like a Ferris wheel, with bench like seats that snugly fits two riders, with free-flipping cars suspended on off-center axes that move around the sides of the boom via a pulley system.

They all watched it go through its paces and they all wanted to try it, so they got in line. And when it came time to ride, they got in the cage-like seats and took their turn. When they came off the ride some of them said they now knew what it had to be like inside a high efficiency washing machine. Some said it had to be like being inside a blender, as they were twisting and turning while they were up, down and sideways. They all agreed it wasn’t something they would want to ride over and over.

As it was getting late, the teens wanted to play some of the game against one another. The first one they played was the Balloon Burst. They agreed they would play for bragging rights.

Then they played the Water Gun Race. Again, they played for bragging rights. Of course, the winner got a plush prize.

It was while the teens were playing the Water Gun Race that Rusty, Jessy, Jaxson and Alani came up to the game. Jessy begged his mom to let him play. That meant she had to let Rusty play, as well. Kate told her boys that she didn’t want them competing against the older boys, as they would obviously beat them.

The Carny heard what Kate said, and told her, “Everyone has the same chance and she should let the young boy play.” The man then put on a big smile.

Jessy heard the man then pleaded with his mom to let him play. Rusty just stood there waiting to see what his mom would say.

Ken put him on a stool and gave the man a ticket, so that Jessy could play. Kate asked Ken if he didn’t think he was wasting his money. Ken told her that it was so the boy could have fun and he had lots of tickets. He just wanted to let Jessy see if he was as good as the big boys.

The Carny told everyone to get ready and to aim their gun, as when the bell rang the race would begin. The bell rang and Jessy focused his gun straight and true on the circle and never once looked to see where his character was on the scale, as the water kept going into the target. Ten seconds later the bell rang again, and the winner was announced. It was Jessy.

“Mom, mom, I won, I won!” exclaimed the six-year-old, as he held up the small prize.

Now it was Rusty’s turn to try to win a prize at the Water Gun Race. So, he, Jaxson and Alani joined a number of other players on the stools, and when the bell rang the water began to shootout of the guns. Rusty couldn’t keep his gun steady, so he didn’t have the same luck as his little brother and he didn’t win a prize, but neither did Jaxson or Alani.

Ken thought that the Bottle Ring Toss would be something easy for Rusty and Jessy to do, so they walked over there and the man got each boy a large bucket of red plastic rings for them to throw and try to place over the neck of a glass bottle. But no matter what they tried to do, to throw the plastic ring, they never had a ring catch over and stay on the neck of the glass bottle.

As a matter of fact, as they stood there throwing their plastic rings, they never saw anyone get a ring on any glass bottle neck. But the boys had fun throwing the rings and that was what it was all about for Ken.

As the four adults and the four children were walking around, they came upon the older teenagers trying their luck at the Milk Bottle Knock Down. The children wanted to watch to see if they could knock all the bottles off the table. Logan got five knocked down and only four off the table. Charles did the same. Robert only got three bottles down and three off the table. Billy went next and got all of the bottles down and five off the table and one was teetering on the end but wouldn’t fall. None of the other four boys who tried did any better, so Billy was declared the winner.

The older boys then headed to the Shooting Star Machine Gun. They remembered it from last year where they had this air powered machine BB gun and you tried to shoot the star completely out of the paper target. The challenge was on.

Lonnie went first and couldn’t obliterate the star. Brad went next and didn’t do any better. Then Gordon tried, then Chuck, Charles, Hunter, and Cooper and none of them could shoot out the red paper star. Phillip asked if he could try. The older teens chuckled some, but they told the youngest Cover to give it a try.

Phillip gave the man his ticket and the man set the red paper star in the barrel that they shot the BBs into. Phillip had seen all of the other shooters red paper targets and recognized that they were trying to shoot the star from the inside out. So, Phillip decided to try to shoot around the star, like making a circle, and see if that would do it. He was the only one in the group who shot the red star out of the paper target. He won a large plush animal.

Ken and Kate walked by the Pirates Ladder Climb and Rusty asked if he could try that. Kate wasn’t so sure that her son could make it to the top of the ladder and ring the bell. But Ken told her to let the boy watch the other people try, and then let him see if he could do any better. He reminded his girlfriend that they were there to have fun and this was a good challenge for the boy.

Ken and Rusty watched the people try to climb the ladder and Ken pointed out how they lifted their big butts and that unbalanced them, which made them fall off. Ken told Rusty as he watched the people to imagine himself sliding himself up the ladder and keeping his legs spread out to the side and slowly pulling himself using the ends of the rungs.

When Rusty said he thought he was ready, he asked his mom to let him try to climb the ladder. Rusty gave the man his ticket, but he took his shoes off before he got on the ladder. He did what Mr. Ken asked him to imagine him to do and he was doing well and had made it just about to the top when he fell.

The eight-year-old came back to his mom dejected, and asked if he could try it again. He told his mom he almost had it, but he made a mistake by looking up and that made him get unbalanced. Kate wasn’t going to let him, but Mr. Ken gave him another ticket. Rusty smiled and hurried over to the man and presented him his ticket.

This time Rusty focused on keeping himself tight to the ladder and told himself not to look up until he knew he was at the end. Kate, Ken and Jessy watched as the young boy slowly made his way up the ladder. The unstable ladder did wiggle some, but with the boy spreading his legs out and away from the edge of the ladder it gave him some balance, as he deliberately pulled himself up one rung at a time.

Other people stopped by and began to watch Rusty work his way up the ladder. Jessy also began to cheer his brother on. Then a few of his ‘big brothers’ stopped by wanting to know why all these people were stopped and watching the ladder climb. They too began cheering Rusty on.

Rusty didn’t hear any of the cheering. His mind was focused on keeping his legs spread out and his hands only using the ends of the rungs to pull himself up to the next one. He could feel he was getting close to the end, because as he looked down, he could see he was higher than before, so he continued on.

Rusty climbed so high that when he reached for the next rung there wasn’t one. What he felt was the “Y” that indicated he was at the top. He knew what he needed to do now. So, he slowly brought his feet in to the rungs and then he pushed up and he grabbed for the bell and rang it. Then he let himself fall onto the padding below. The crowd erupted in applause.

“Mom, mom, did you see? I rang the bell! Mr. Ken, I did what you told me to do and I rang the bell. Thank you, for telling me how I could do it!” Rusty then gave Mr. Ken a big hug.

Rusty also walked away, with his shoes on, with a huge stuffed plush animal, because so few people ever made it to the top, that the prize was big enough that people knew that the winner did something special.

The older teens also tried their prowess at the Bell Ringer where they swung a mallet to see if they could ring its bell. Some could, most couldn’t. They also tried the Basketball Toss, but with it being further away than the standard foul line, and the basket rim being narrower than the standard 18 inches, not many made baskets to win a basketball to take home that night.

The carnival closed down at eleven p.m. that Monday evening, but would stay open until midnight the next day, the 4^th of July. The people began to depart The Cove and the Covers went up to the Pavilion to restock the soda machines for Mr. Dennis. They were totally surprised that both drink machines were practically empty.

The boys quickly filled both machines, so the drinks would be cold for the people the next day, and they also emptied the bill collection holders, as they were both full, and they also took out the coins from the collection box at the bottom. They did add coins to the change dispensers, so there would be enough change for people when they used their dollar bills to buy a drink the next day. They dropped the money on their ‘dad’s’ desk in the Study.

The Covers and their guests met in the Great Room and they talked about their day. The younger children, Rusty Jessy, Jaxson and Alani had the most to say about their day, as it was the fullest for them with the water park and then the carnival rides and games.

Billy and Robert mentioned the Cove Skate Park and how well it went for the skaters, and then they talked about how much fun it was to ride the carnival rides and then challenge their friends to the games.

Charles and Matthew said it was fun to again go on the carnival rides and play the games, but it was real fun watching Rusty climb that ladder and ring that bell and win that monstrous plush animal he was holding.

Kyle then thanked Mr. Dan for riding the ride with him and playing the games, too. He said it was the most fun he’s had since he left there, and he wished that he could stay there longer than a week, or so. Kevin agreed with his twin and then said he hoped they would have time to meet up with their old friends, while they were there.

Since it was getting late, Mr. Ken recommended that the boys head up to their rooms and get ready for bed. He told them that he’d be up there in a few minutes. Kyle hugged Mr. Dan before he went up the stairs.

“Kyle … he really likes you, doesn’t he?” Reynolds asked Dan

“Yes … he and I … we kind of bonded when he first came here. And when he broke his arm, we … well, I probably paid too much attention to him and it, well … it … he’s a good kid who had things happen to him that were not of his making. He had no one to look up to. His dad … his dad did the unthinkable with his twin and … and he was a lost soul,” responded Dan.

Sylvia came up to Dan and asked him outright, “Dan … if you could have … would you have adopted Kyle …but … but not Kevin?”

“Sylvia … that is a tough one to answer,” started Dan, “but yes, I would have adopted Kyle, if I was given the opportunity. But as for Kevin … I would not have wanted to break the twins up, so … I was glad I was never given that question to answer.” Dan then excused himself. The man told Ken that he had duty tomorrow night, so he wouldn’t be by for the fireworks. Ken walked his friend out to his car.

The Parchsons took their two kids out to the guest house to get them to bed. Kate was already upstairs getting her two readied for bed.

After talking with Dan, Mr. Ken came right inside and went up to talk to his ‘boys’. He told them to get a good night’s rest, as tomorrow will be a long day. He told the twins that if they are going to visit their mom on Wednesday, they will be getting up early that day, so they needed to get their rest tonight.

Matthew went to his room to make sure Rusty had a roommate, and Phillip did the same for Jessy. Collin told his ‘brothers’ that he was heading to bed and that he’d see them at breakfast. Then, before long, all of the Cover teens were back in their own rooms, getting into bed after visiting the porcelain gods.

Mr. Ken thought back on the day as he was getting ready for bed himself. It had been a very busy one and he hoped that tomorrow wouldn’t be as full. Then, before long, The Cove was quiet and everyone, including its guests, were fast asleep and enjoying a good night’s rest.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

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