Chapter Three - part one

   Well it is time to start the next chapter in this story. I hope you have enjoyed the book so far. I know that some of the details and stories may seem to be a waste, but they will fit into the complete story later. In fact some won't be important in this book, but will be critical later on in the rest of this series. Eight days of reading for chapter three.


                       Chapter Three

                      It Begins

    Andy actually managed to take a short nap on the fight to Denver. Once they started to descend his nerves did begin to kick in just a bit though. He would be meeting his sponsor family at the airport for the first time. Mr. Blake and his wife were in their early sixties and he was a civilian instructor at the academy. Their kids were grown, but still lived in that area. The Blake's actually lived in a house not far from the Academy. He would be staying with three other new cadets until time to report and he would get to take his breaks from the Academy at their home, once he earned any breaks. Andy wasn't exactly sure what to expect. He had been matched up with them, but he didn't know quite how it had been decided who went where. He was just hoping for the best. He didn't need or want any extra stress before he stepped into formation for the first time.

   Once he was off the plane and out of the restricted area, Andy easily spotted Mr. Blake. He was a tall, thin man with thick gray hair and bright blue eyes. He was holding up a large piece of cardboard with "James Andrew Cooper" written in big bold letters across it. Andy also noted the shorter, young, black man standing beside him holding a duffle bag, much like the one Andy carried at his side. Andy walked up and smiling extended his hand as he introduced himself. "Hello sir, I am James Cooper." Mr. Blake just smiled as he took his hand and laughed. Shaking hands he spoke in a clear voice. "No need yet for the sir with me. My name is Richard. You can just call me that when we aren't at the Academy. You will have to call me Mr. Blake or Sir there. James, I want you to meet Jeremy Adams. Jeremy this is James Cooper. Jeremy extended his hand and they exchanged hellos. Jeremy was not quite six feet tall and thin as a rail, but from the look of his arms and chest he was very strong for his size.  Richard asked if there was more luggage and just smiled while he commented on how well prepared they seemed to be by not having anything more than a single carry-on bag.

    Richard did most of the talking as they drove back to Colorado Springs. Mostly he just talked about the sights and told them about things in Colorado Springs. Neither of them had a lot to say. Jeremy had taken the back seat, with a comment about not needing as much leg room as you tall guys. That had made them all grin and laugh. Richard didn't bother trying to find out a lot about either of them, which was a surprise. He did warn them that they better like being mothered or learn to like it fast, because his wife would give them no choice in the matter. He also informed them that there would be two girls flying in on Thursday to join them. He quickly assured them that there was plenty of room at their house for all of them. In fact he said they sometimes had as many as ten or twelve cadets come out at a time, on weekends when the academy was in session. The cadets had to share rooms then, but each of them would have a private room this time. By the time they were actually out of Denver even Mr. Blake wasn't saying much. He did point out sights along the way, but for the most part, the trip was very quiet. Andy did notice that Richard, he would have to work on remembering to use that name, seemed to be amused by their silence.

    When they arrived at the house it was a bit of a surprise. The description, according to Richard, had been a large two story house. It was a small mansion as far as James could tell. Once inside they were greeted with a warm welcome and big hugs from a tiny little woman. She couldn't have been much over five feet tall and was skinny to boot. They soon knew that what she lacked in size she made up for in energy. He and Jeremy were both smiling broadly before they even made it all the way in the door with their bags. Richard was laughing at his wife too, who was scolding him for it. She had asked more questions in a minute than he had during the entire drive and neither of them had been able to answer any of them. She was talking way too fast. Suddenly she was laughing along with Richard, but only after marching over to give him a piece of her mind. With her arm around his waist she turned back to the boys and spoke again. This time her voice was slower and softer. "I hope you will forgive me. I just get so excited when we get new cadets. I start talking and just can't stop. I am not always like this. I promise that I will try to do better. Now why don't I let Richard show you to your rooms and I will go get stuff out for sandwiches. I have never seen a cadet who didn't arrive starved." Then she stood on tiptoes to kiss Richard on the cheek and was off to get the food ready.

   Richard watched her for just a moment and then turning back to the boys he motioned for them to follow as headed down a short hallway and soon turned down a longer one. There were two rooms at the end of that hallway. Each had a separate bathroom and a large closet. Richard told them to just toss their stuff on the beds and follow him.  He took them back the way they had come to the entry and then on to a tour of the house. There was a staircase leading upstairs in that entry. Richard told them that to the left of the front door, down another hallway, they would find the utility room and a garage. He took them the other way, directly into a very nice living room with a large double fireplace wall dividing it and another larger family room behind it.  The family room looked out into a lovely back yard, complete with a pool and hot tub. Beyond those rooms was the kitchen and formal dining room, which had a small enclosed patio room off of it. The wide hallway along the front of the living room and kitchen took you to the master bedroom and bath. They were hidden behind the kitchen and dining room. In fact only the hallway and the living room had windows that looked out the front of the house from ground level. Another garage at that end of the house allowed easy access to the kitchen from the car when the couple had groceries to unload. Richard told the boys that most of the time he and Susan never used the rest of the house. Living in the end that was closest to their bedroom was easier for them with the kids gone. The rest was closed off unless cadets or kids came to see them. The upstairs consisted of four more bedrooms with shared bathrooms between each pair and a small library/office directly at the top of the stairs. Richard told them they were welcome to use the library anytime they wanted.

   They ended up in the kitchen at a large counter making their own sandwiches. That was where they began to learn more about each other. Susan started asking all about both of them. "So now that you have seen the house and have some food I think we need to learn a little more about each other. Richard is a math professor at the academy, which you know. I used to be a math teacher, but I gave that up years ago. Now, according to Richard, I am a gossipy, busy body. I admit to being a busy body, but I do not gossip." She gave her husband a mock glare before continuing. "So now that you know all there is to know about me, I want to hear your life stories too. I always start with the first to arrive, so Jeremy, where were you born?" Jeremy choked a bit and coughed as he tried to recover. Richard and Susan both just laughed. Richard shook his head as he reminded them of his warnings. "I told you to be ready to be mothered, that includes a full scale interrogation... it will be good training in case you are ever captured by the enemy."

    After a bit of laughter and some more bantering between the Blake's, Jeremy did have to answer her questions, as did James when his turn arrived. That was another change he would have to get used to. He was no longer Andy. Now everyone called him James. Jeremy had been born in Georgia, but had grown up in Dallas, Texas. He had two older sisters and a younger brother. His dad had gone into the Army after high school and then on to college after that. He was a detective on the Dallas police force now. His mom was a nurse. Both his sisters were in school and hoped to become doctors. His little brother wanted to be a detective like his dad. Jeremy had no interest in being a doctor or a cop. He wanted to fly. He loved computers and thought that might be his major area of study, but he hadn't really decided yet. He was also going to be a sprinter on the track team. He had been good enough to go to state finals in Texas where he had placed in a tie for second place in the 100 yard dash. He had been a city boy all of his life.

    They had all seemed to be stunned that James had seven sisters. Susan was very interested in Virginia, she had always wanted to go there in the fall, but it had never been possible for them, because they were always teaching then. Jeremy was interested to find out that James had been on the track team too. He was much more interested when he found out James had competed in both sprint and long distance races. James tried his best not to appear to be trying to hide anything, but he didn't share more than he had to either. He had the feeling Jeremy had been much the same when he was the one answering questions. After they finished eating and talking, Richard suggested they might like to go unpack and have some down time. He told them to make themselves at home and if they weren't up before supper he would come and get them when it was time. Neither of the boys wasted the chance to make an escape. They both headed straight to their rooms and closed the doors once inside.

    It was about four hours until supper, so they had time to unpack and rest at least a little. James didn't bother unpacking much of his stuff. He had a couple of changes of clothes stuffed in the bag along with his running shoes, and a large picture of his parents with a small picture of each sister around the edges. He had also packed his favorite Bible. It was a large print King James. He had a smaller Bible he used at church, but since he could only bring one, he had decided on this one. This was the one he read from each day at home. His dad had given it to him when he turned sixteen. He laid it down in front of the picture. He took off his boots and socks, so he could lay down for a nap. He must have been more drained than he thought. He woke to the sound of a knock on the door.

    He sat up and called out. "Come in." It was Richard. He looked in first and then stepped inside smiling as he did. "It seems you both needed some rest. I am glad that you both felt enough at home to go to sleep so easily. You will need all the rest you can get. He noticed the picture and stepped closer smiling even more. "So, this is your family. You have beautiful sisters. You look like your father and so do two of the girls. The rest are almost a copy of your mother. Nice family." He noticed the large Bible then. The smile faded from his face. He looked over at James and after a brief hesitation he spoke. "I should tell you, they won't like that Bible. If you had a small one it would be better." James smiled and shook his head. "Thank you sir, but I was warned about that stuff. I will stay with this one. It was a gift from my dad." Richard nodded, but said nothing. He moved to the door and looking back told James supper would be ready in about ten minutes. Then closing the door he left. That had been interesting. Had Richard been giving him a warning or just feeling him out? Only time would tell.

    James started to put on fresh socks and his running shoes. This time the knock on his door was lighter. Jeremy stepped inside without hesitation at the invitation. He was in running shoes too. He grinned as he spoke. "I was thinking before I fell asleep, would you be interested in running with me later? I usually run in the mornings, but today I didn't have time. I thought I might go running around sunset, if you are interested." James grinned as he tied his last shoe and stood up. "That depends. Are we just running or are you wanting to race?" Now Jeremy laughed. "Just running man, just running, I am no good at distance running except for training." James laughed as they headed out the door and down the hall.  "I would love to run with you. Maybe we can figure out a way to satisfy Susan without reciting our entire life history." They were both still laughing as they walked into the dining room.

    There was enough food on the table to feed a dozen very hungry grown men, chicken, potatoes, vegetables of many kinds, fresh baked bread, and at least three pies in addition to a couple of fruit desserts. They looked at each other and grinned. Richard had warned them to bring their appetites, but they hadn't expected this. Once they were all seated, Richard looked at them both for a moment before he spoke. "I don't know any way to say this other than to just say it. In this house we always say grace before formal meals. Now if that is a problem for either of you I fully understand and you are not expected to join us. I do ask that you allow us to say grace though and if you wish to join hands with us that will be fine. If you don't then that will be fine too. The choice is yours." Then he smiled at each of them again and finally Susan as he extended his hand to take her hand.

   Jeremy glanced at James and extended his hand to him. James smiled and took it as he extended his other hand to Susan. The circle was complete now with Jeremy and Richard making the final link. Richard bowed his head and said a short prayer of thanks for the safe trip the boys had made as well as the opportunity they had to share time with these new friends. Then he asked for the food to be blessed and ended the prayer. They talked about the food and Jeremy questioned them about where they could go to run. Both the boys knew they would have to run extra miles or they would be fat by the end of the week. Susan was a wonderful cook. The meal was delicious and the desserts, well it was hard to say no after you tried even a bite. After the meal they had gone outside and sat talking until the sun was getting low in the sky. Then the boys managed to get away for their run. It was only a short jog across the neighborhood to a park. It had a jogging track as well as trails in and around the park itself. They stayed until it was starting to get dark. James didn't run as fast as he normally would have, but they still kept up a good pace. They did a little sprinting on the oval track when they first arrived and Jeremy was very fast. James didn't know how fast Jeremy really was, but he knew Jeremy was faster than he was.

    Back at the Blake's house they both headed straight to shower and change. Neither of them showed themselves again that night. It had been a long and stress filled day for them both. They planned to start the next day very early with a run again.  James spent some time just reading in his Bible. Then he tried to get some sleep, but he couldn't yet. He wondered what the Academy would be like. He thought about all of the warnings that he had been given about letting his Christianity be seen. Was it really that bad? Well, he was probably going to find out very quickly. He wasn't planning on standing up and shouting about his faith, but he certainly had no intentions of hiding it either. He finally managed to drift off to sleep, still thinking about how it all might work out.