A Seat of Learning by Jonah
More of the adventures of Simon and Garret and their boys. This is a loving story of good people. It features men looking after boys but do not expect to find any indecency here. Only genuine love. Not one of the characters in this story is a real person or is, in any way, based on a real person. At least one character, however, is the creation of another author. I wish to thank Jacob Lion, in the USA, for his permission to use his characters in my stories.
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Chapter 15.
Sunday was Sunday, with Luke joining us for Church and for dinner. After dinner the steam engine came out from the shed and the boys were having rides. Barry hadn't realised that there was a steam engine in there too.
On Monday we were all back at school. I reported first to Jean, who was not - as I expected - surprised to learn that I had home-schooled two boys. Denzil, it seemed, had got to her first and had apologised for his misbehaviour in the past.
It was another fortnight before we got a report from Superintendant Greenwood that the so-called reverend had been convicted of nineteen counts of abusing boys, four of them amounting to grievous bodily harm, and another eight counts of mental cruelty. As a result the rev. had been sentenced to twelve years at His Majesty's Pleasure and nobody expected him to survive it. He had already tried to harm himself whilst in police custody, and it could only be a matter of time. In the course of the investigation, separate investigations were begun on twelve sets of parents, including Barry's. It looked as if we would be fostering Barry for some time to come, which none of us minded. There was no question, for the moment, of a formal adoption. He wasn't up for adoption for a start, but we loved having him with us.
Lloyd, at ten years of age, was getting too clever by half and Simon came up with a startling proposal.
"How about I enrol him in the Junior Club at the railway?" he suggested. "They've been trying to get me to help lead it for some time and, if I do it, I could take Lloyd with me. He's old enough now."
The truth of course, as no parent likes to hear, was that he had indeed become "old enough". If I had my way, of course, Lloyd would stay at home but, it was not my way that mattered. Of course, if Simon could take him, he should go, or..... wait a minute.... aren't I missing a trick here? Simon already had a job on the railway. What if I got a job with the Junior Club. It is not written anywhere that primary school teachers can't be railwaymen too.
Well, the times they were a-changing, but it was change for the better after all.
Then there was Denzil. That Saturday afternoon visit to Carrow Road was not the last. Mick Thorpe had discovered that, not only did he like being a parent but, unexpectedly, he was good at it. Denzil discovered that he liked being Mick's son, and that he liked being a member of the human race. He also discovered that he liked football, or at least that he liked Norwich City, which isn't always the same thing. Since Denzil and Barry had become best friends, it was inevitable that there would be more barbecues and evening meals , and even the occasional sleepover.
And so, we approached Lloyd and Philip and Barry's last Christmas as primary school students, but that's another story.
The End