I said, “As of this day I will never make sandwiches again.”
Down the beach storm clouds billowed into the sky. Magnus popped a triangle sandwich in his mouth and brushed his fingers off, chewing. “Looks like they hae returned.”
He and Fraoch left to go pick them up.
The storm clouds dissipated and the kids, done with lunch, began trudging back to the house, leaving me, Emma, and Hayley to carry the stuff. I said, “Great, that was a lot of work for a fifteen minute picnic.”
Hayley said, “The little monsters complained through most of it.”
I chuckled. “One little monster and your hubby.”
She said, “He’s the biggest little monster of them all.”
Emma carried the blankets, I carried the empty cooler, Hayley picked up the shoes, frisbee and the hat left behind by kids. We hustled because we wanted to get there first, so we wouldn’t miss any stories about their trip.
James, Quentin and Zach entered, still wearing their Colonial gear, smelling to high heaven.
Hayley plugged her nose. “Phew, y’all are ripe.”
Emma said, “How long were you there? Smells like a year.”
Zach grinned, “Ten days, hot, no bath, didn’t have time — hotdogthat was fun.”
James kissed Sophie and took Junior into his arms. “Hello, wee guy, I missed you, have you been crying?”
Junior looked up at him with big eyes. James turned to the rest of us. “And guess what? We met Ben in Francis Tavern!”
I said, “BenFranklin?”
“Yep, He’s so old he had to be carried in on a litter, but then he just partied.”
Quentin put his hands on his lapels, much like you would imagine a founding father doing, and said, “We bought multiple rounds for everyone in the tavern.”
James said, “But we don’t care, it was worth it; he was hilarious.”
Quentin said, “Damn, he told some wild stories.”
Zach said, “My favorite was a long story about how he would open all the windows and sit naked in front of them taking in the morning air.”
James said, “He called himself a portly fellow. He wasn’t wrong.”
Zach mimicked Ben Franklin’s voice, “The human frame, my dear friends, is a machine best tuned by nature’s own breath — clothing be damned!”
Quentin and James laughed.
I said, “Man, guys, that’s likeallyour dreams come true.”
James said, “We got there early, right at the beginning of the Continental Congress but there was no room for an audience. We stood outside the southwest window, leaning against the building, like this.”
All three of them crossed their arms and pretended to lean.
“Man, even covered in sand that is impressive, you guys look the part.”
Quentin said, “We eavesdropped for hours. And every now and then someone would come to the window and we could get them to tell us what was happening.”
Zach said, “I swear they thought we were important and needed to be informed. And if we stood there long enough someone famous was going to walk by.”
James said, “Zach loved to call out names to see if they would turn.”
