Thursday. Late afternoon.
Indeed, on Thursday, the judge did get more information. It was then that he found out that the retreat was a camping trip, and that almost put a stop to the whole thing. Kelly at first flat out refused to go. She had no desire to go out and lay on the hard ground, but finally relented when he reminded her that it could cost him his job if she didn't go. One thing she sure didn't want was for him to not have the means for them to continue their lifestyle. So, she capitulated, and the family prepared to go out into the boondocks and wage war on the bugs. None of them seemed to be looking forward to it, Kelly least of all, but with Amanda having explained to her brother what had happened, there were no other dissenting votes.
Friday. Late afternoon
Friday around five twenty P.M. found the family looking for where they were supposed to be. While the judge was at work, the rest were acquiring the items on the list that was given them. Some of the instructions seemed a bit strange to them, but most of it was quite normal. Flashlights, lanterns, bug spray, sleeping bags, and tents, although they were asked to limit the number of tents to two. Nothing was on the list about swimming gear or cooking equipment, and it asked them to take only one set of clean clothes which was to be used for the drive back home, and to be sure that each person had a towel to sit on. That seemed a little strange, but they had several that Kelly thought they would take with them. Then there were the non-disclosure agreements that they all had to sign. That seemed really strange, but Kelly figured it had to do with Steve's job as a judge.
They found the sign that announced that the Wilson retreat was down a driveway and turned in. "This looks like a driveway to a house rather than a campground," Kelly said.
"Yeah. But let's see where it goes first," Her husband answered. As they reached the end of the drive, they came around a curve and found themselves looking at quite a few vehicles and people gathered together. "This is the place, alright. That's Judge Conner over there. See?"
"Yes. There's Allison. I don't recognize any of the others, though."
"I'm sure that we will learn about them." He pulled the car to a stop by the others and the family got out looking around tentatively. They were greeted by Frank who came up to them smiling and waving.
"Welcome, Judge Roberts. Good to see you. We have one more group that we're waiting on and then we'll get started. Do you have those papers I gave you to have signed?"
"I thought that this had to do with judges. Who are all these others?" Kelly asked as Frank collected the non-disclosure agreements.
"Oh, we're not here just for judges," the black man answered. "In fact, there will be only two other judges here this weekend. Judge Conner, who you probably know, and Judge Crenshaw from over in Bend. She and her group are the ones we're still waiting on."
"I see," Kelly replied. "Just what kind of retreat is this?" she asked her husband as the big man walked towards the back of a trailer with the words "Monroe Photography" on the sides attached to a large pick-up truck that another man was busy packing with equipment.
"I don't really know," he answered.
"Bring your stuff to the back of the trailer," Frank yelled to them over his shoulder as he reached the end of it. "That way we can get everything to the campsite and you can leave your car parked here." Brian and Steve started pulling their bags from the trunk of the car and carried it all to the trailer.
"What's with all the luggage?" asked the unknown man.
"That's our clothes," Steve said.
"Clothes?" he said. "You're not going to need those. You might as well leave them locked in your trunk till we get back out."
"We got to have something to wear."
"What for?"
"What do you mean 'what for?' It's not like we're going to run around naked."
"Um," the man said. "That's kind of a part of this thing. It's a nudist retreat. Or naturist retreat, if you prefer. There's a small building about half way to the site where we all shed the clothing. Except for shoes, of course." The man turned and started putting more gear into the trailer including their luggage that, for the most part, wouldn't be needed.
Steve's eyes went wide in shock. He looked over at his wife and daughter who were talking with the Conners. "Not a word to your mother," he quickly warned his son standing next to him. Brian nodded and just smiled. This was going to be better than he first thought. 'Who would have imagined that being blackmailed would be so much fun?' he thought.
As they walked back, a van came up the drive. It seemed the last party of attendees had arrived. There were four people that stepped out of the van, the last one reaching back in and pulling out what was obviously a newborn baby. A brunette in her late teens or early twenties strolled over to the mother holding the child and hugged the two of them before looking at the babe but not bothering to play with it. The judge surmised that the child must be asleep and thought how gracious the younger woman was for not trying to wake him or her. Hands were being shook with the new-comers and the judge realized that these people seemed to know each other pretty well, perhaps had friendships of some sort outside of this forced retreat. He wondered just exactly what was going on and what was going to happen.
Finally, the black man, who seemed to be in charge of the event, called for everyone's attention. "I want to welcome all of you to this month's retreat," he began. "We have a new group with us so, I thought it would be wise if we made some introductions. This is Judge Stephan Roberts and his family. When we get to them, he can introduce them to us. I'll began with myself. I'm Frank Wilson and this is my wife Sarah. We are both on the police force here in Albany. Wish to add anything, love?"
"Welcome, friends. Great to see you all here and have the Bennetts and Crenshaws back with us as well as the Monroes. Just to let you know, this is the last retreat for the year. The weather will start to get too cold further on. We have an idea about building a dome in which we can control things like temperature and bugs, but that's still a ways off. So, let's enjoy this weekend, and then we'll have to let you know when we'll start up again in the spring."
"Next?" Frank asked.
The man who had been loading the trailer stepped forward. "I'm James Moore," he announced. I'm part owner of Baxter and Moore Advertising. This my wife Emily. Most people call me Jim and her Em. We have a connection to most of the people here in some form or another, including being related to some."
The next person to step up was a pretty redhead. "Rachel Simmons. I'm Jim's secretary. I've been there about four years and we work well together when we're on the job. Off the job is even better."
The brunette that Steve had noticed talking with the last of the arrivals stepped forward next, or more properly was prodded to go next by a push from the young man standing with her. "I'm Tabitha Monroe," she began. "I'm the daughter of Jim and Emily Moore. My husband, D.C Monroe is a photographer. You can call him D.C. or just Charles, which is what the C stands for. He has done a lot of the shots that are used by my dad's company, and we have just returned from a trip around the northwest to take some pictures for travel brochures. Because of that, we have been absent from these outings and we look forward to getting back into the swing of things. So to speak."
A man with short blond hair moved forward next. "Bill Edgerton," he announced. My wife, Susan," he indicated the woman standing next to him, "is Emily's sister. I work construction for Danner and Danner."
"Simon Bennett," said the younger looking man that went next. I used to date Tabitha and we are still friends. This is my wife, Lisa and our son, Michael, who was just born two months ago. We live in Bend where I attend university and my wife works as a receptionist for her brother."
Kelly wondered about the couple. She seemed quite a bit older than him. 'How did they get together,' she wondered to herself.
"We're the Conners," said Judge Triston Conner. My family and I are probably the only ones here that know everyone else here. I'm Triston. My wife, Allison, and my oldest, Logan, and I have been coming here for a while. But this is the first time for Tom. He's our youngest and just turned eighteen two weeks ago.
"Rosalynn Crenshaw," said a woman from the last group to come in. I'm a judge over in the city of Bend. This is my husband Paul. We've known the Moores for a few years, but we didn't know that they had a connection to us other than that. As it turns out, Lisa, Paul's sister, lived not far from them. It was through them that Paul and her were able to reconnect after quite a few years of separation. As Simon said, Lisa now works at Paul's office. He's a doctor."
"I guess that brings us back to you, Judge," Frank said.
