Page 30 of Autumn at the Oak Leaf Café
To Madeline’s surprise, there were actually two other girls on the team, one massive ginger-haired girl Ruby introduced as Ivy, “the best spin bowler in Brentwell”, and a far lither woman called Margaret, who kept wicket. As Madeline tried to pause for conversation, Ruby, however, was keen to move on.
‘Wait here,’ she said, as they came to a white-walled clubhouse with a large scoreboard outside. Ruby disappeared into a changing room, leaving Madeline standing outside, feeling a little out of place among all the white-clad people. In her haste to be on time, she had thrown on a floral patterned blouse with a pair of jeans, and looked a little like a flower seller at a nunnery.
‘Madeline, this is Darren, my opening partner.’
Madeline almost missed “opening”, remembering it was a cricket term. The white-clad man standing in front of her smiled. He was in his mid-thirties, tall, fair-haired, with bright blue eyes. His smile was easy and kind.
‘Hi,’ he said. ‘You’re Hazel’s cat-mother.’
‘Huh?’Oh. ‘Yes. That’s right.’Stop being so weird.‘You’re the vet, aren’t you? Doctor Smith? Thank you for saving my kitten.’Please, stop being so weird.‘I’m afraid I didn’t recognise you. I’ve only ever seen your eyes.’
Darren’s smile dropped. ‘You don’t remember me, then?’
‘Remember you? Of course—’
‘From the hospital waiting room. You threw a cake at me.’
Madeline stared, openmouthed. As the wind gusted, she snapped her mouth shut, worried the wind might change and leave her stuck looking like a gormless idiot until the end of time. ‘I … oh my god. That wasyou?’
Darren smiled. ‘I managed to salvage some of it. Honestly, it was one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted. I really wanted to say something when you came in to the vets, but the timing wasn’t great. If it’s okay by you, I’d love to come by for another slice sometime.’
‘Ah, sure, that would be—’
‘All right, everyone, listen up!’ came a man’s voice. ‘We have a game to win. Darren, Rubik, get out there and get us a good start.’
‘Got to go,’ Darren said. ‘Wish me luck!’
‘Good luck!’
The opposition were already out on the field. Darren grabbed his bat and hurried out on to the field. As Ruby passed her, Madeline mouthed, ‘Rubik?’
‘It’s a long story,’ Ruby mouthed back.
Madeline didn’t know the first thing about cricket other than that you had to hit the ball as far as possible without getting caught, something like that. Ruby, despite her diminutive size, batted like a banshee, particularly after one man fielding close called her Pumpkinhead. After that, she smashed everything coming her way, and was out, caught on the boundary, for thirty-five, after facing only fifteen balls. She walked off with a scowl as the fielders clapped.
‘Well batted, Rubik,’ said the captain, patting her on the shoulder as she crossed the boundary edge. ‘Five degrees to the left and that was six.’
‘Got it, Dad,’ Ruby said, scowling at Madeline, who gave her a polite clap. She disappeared into the changing room, reemerging a few minutes later having taken off her pads, and came to stand next to Madeline, who was clapping politely as Darren and the new batsman ran up and down.
‘You did great,’ Madeline said. ‘That one you hit that bounced off the clubhouse roof … wow.’
‘Yeah, nailed that one,’ Ruby said. ‘Guy standing in close there was doing my head in. I tried to take his off. Unfortunately he ducked.’
The man Madeline had established as both the team captain and Ruby’s dad, turned towards them. ‘Rubik, can you take over from Josh in the scorebox? He needs to pad up.’
‘Sure, Dad.’
‘So … Rubik?’
Ruby sighed. ‘Tell no one.’
‘Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me … and both teams, by the look of things.’
‘Dad’s a math teacher,’ Ruby said with a grim smile. ‘When he was a teenager, he came third in an Olympiad. Solved that accursed cube in sixteen seconds. It was a regional record for twenty years.’
‘That’s pretty impressive.’
‘Yeah, for him, maybe. School was a minefield. The only way I could survive it was by being so clever I created a circle of nerds around me like a wall to keep the rest of the kids out. She flicked a strand of purple hair. ‘The rebellion came late, but when it came, it was mighty and fierce.’
