Page 58 of Autumn at the Oak Leaf Café
Madeline remembered something Darren had said about firing Ruby up. ‘My ex-boyfriend showed up yesterday, after you’d gone,’ she said. ‘He found out about the petition and had a bit of a wobbly.’
‘No!’
‘Yeah.’
‘Are you alright?’
‘I’m fine. But he wasn’t very nice about it.’ She smiled. ‘Can you do me a favour as it’s probably a little beyond my ability? Imagine his face on the ball for a bit.’
Ruby’s gaze darkened. ‘My pleasure.’
With Ruby chomping at the bit, Madeline had to go back and face the next ball. The bowling didn’t look that fast from the safety of the pavilion, but the first ball zipped past so fast she barely even saw it before it thumped into the wicketkeeper’s gloves and the opposition gave a cheer.
‘Rubbish, this one,’ said a fielder standing nearby. ‘Our name’s already on the trophy, lads.’
Madeline stared at him. The voice sounded familiar from somewhere … her cheeks flushed. It was him, Adam Wright, the man who she had knocked off the bike. Perhaps he hadn’t recognised her before—
The next ball zipped past her before she’d even realised it was being bowled. The opposition let out a series of ‘oohs’, then the fielders began to change over ready for the last over to begin. Just before he moved to his new fielding position, Adam Wright fixed her with a stare.
‘You,’ he said. ‘Cake shop girl.’
For a moment the air seemed to go still, and Madeline felt like a gunslinger facing off against a dueling opponent. The twang of Wild Western music seemed to fill the air.
‘Best cakes in Brentwell,’ she said, holding his stare. Then, caught up in the heat of battle, she narrowed her eyes. ‘Winners’ cakes,’ she added. ‘Cupwinners’ cakes.’
‘Adam, get a move on!’ the opposition captain said, and the spell was broken, Adam giving her one last glare before moving to his new fielding position.
‘What are you doing?’ Ruby asked, coming down to talk to her.
Madeline gave her a defiant smile. ‘Oh, just getting into things,’ she said.
‘We need eighteen to win,’ Ruby said. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll deal with this.’
‘Good,’ Madeline said. ‘I’m happy to watch from the non-striker’s end.’
Everyone got into position for the last over. Madeline, standing at the non-striker’s end beside the umpire, waited as the bowler ran in. Ruby, on strike, scowled as the ball came down, then stepped out and took a massive swing. The ball cracked against the bat and went sailing over the infield, out towards the boundary. A fielder ran after it, but it was no good. It flew over the rope for six runs. Milton Road’s players cheered.
Just twelve to win.
Ruby smashed the next ball back past the bowler, and screamed at Madeline to run. The outfield was still damp, so the grass slowed the ball down enough to be fielded before it reached the boundary, but they managed to run two.
Ten to win, with four balls remaining.
The next ball was a filthy long hop, bouncing up around Ruby’s shoulder. Like a seasoned pro, Ruby swivelled, catching the ball on the rise, and sent it sailing over the boundary towards the pavilion. It narrowly missed the pavilion’s windows, bouncing off the wall for six more runs.
Three balls left, four to win, and suddenly, for perhaps the first time in the game, it looked like Milton Road were favourites. Between balls, Ruby came down the wicket to give Madeline some advice.
‘Whatever happens, just run,’ she said.
‘Got it.’
The next ball was a little wide, and Ruby should have left it, getting the extra run for a wide ball, but caught up in the heat of battle, she reached out and took a swipe at it, catching it with the toe of the bat. The ball ran away behind the wickets. Madeline screamed, ‘Run!’ and came charging down the pitch. Ruby, caught unawares, was slow to start. The fielder, seeing she was a long way short of her ground, attempted to throw the ball to the bowler’s end, but missed, and the ball ran away into the outfield.
‘Run!’ Ruby screamed, making a quick turn as the fielders ran off in pursuit of the misbehaving throw.
Madeline ran the second run hard, then turned and started for a third before even looking up at Ruby. As she made her ground to complete the run, she realised what she had done, putting herself on strike with two balls left and one run needed. As the fielders got back into position, Ruby watched her helplessly from the non-striker’s end.
‘This one couldn’t hit a deadline,’ Adam Wright said to the other fielders, as they all moved closer. ‘Catching practice here, boys. Can’t bat, can’t …cook.’
