“No way! Leave me out of it,” Leah replied with a quiet laugh.
“Okay, you can be goal umpire, then. Go with Dad, he’ll set you up. Juniper, you can be umpire at the other end. Unless you wanna play?”
John had gone into the Keeper’s cottage and emerged with four traffic cones, moving about the large clearing between the buildings to lay them out at either end. “Not on your life,” Juniper replied, walking over to where he was placing the traffic cones in position.
“So that leaves me and William on one team, Rafe and Callum on the other. You guys can sort out who’s captain amongst yourselves. Billy’s with me.”
“Huh? Why do you get Billy?”
“Coz I called dibs on him.” Mikayla rolled her eyes at her brother.
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.”
“You didn’t. You just said, Billy’s with me. That’s not calling dibs.”
William turned to Rafe. “Are they always like this?”
Rafe laughed. “Always. The Sinclairs take their sport very seriously.”
Billy, listening to the exchange avidly, grinned from ear to ear, when they both turned to him and Mikayla said, “It’s up to you, my man. Whose team you wanna be on?”
Without hesitating, he moved over to William, slipping his hand in his. Mikayla clapped delightedly. “Okay, coz we scored Billy, you can choose which end you wanna kick to first.”
“Big of you,” Callum observed. “We’ll take the lodge end. Unless Rafe objects?”
“Nah, all good.”
“Great, let’s go. Dad!” Mikayla handballed the ball to John, who caught it adeptly and moved to the center of the clearing.
William looked around. God, this was hilarious. Nora, Violet and Jasper had set up chairs and a little table on the verandah of the Keeper’s cottage, with a bottle of wine and some nibbles laid out. Juniper and Leah stood between the traffic cones at either end of the clearing. Rafe, Callum and Mikayla moved into position around John. William had just enough time to observe that this was definitely something that would never happen at one of his parent’s functions before John bounced the ball into the ground, hurrying backwards out of the way as Mikayla and Callum moved in. Mikayla got first tap, knocking the ball in William’s direction. He tapped it gently towards Billy. “Quick! Pick it up and kick it to Mikky!”
Everyone stood back as Billy grabbed the ball up and dropped it onto his foot, pushing at it with his toe. It rolled no more than a foot in front of him, but that was enough for Mikayla, who swooped in with a “Great kick!” before grabbing it up and handballing it to William. He watched as she flashed by Rafe and Callum towards their end of the ground and dropped it on his foot, sending it soaring through the air. Jesus, she was fast! She caught the ball on her chest and toed it carefully, letting it dribble across the goal line without rolling off into the scrub. William grinned from ear to ear as Juniper, face a picture of solemnity, signaled the goal. The crowd on the verandah cheered enthusiastically.
Rafe retrieved the ball and John took up the role of center umpire again. William scooped Billy up and moved into position. The bounce went Callum’s way, and he quickly handballed the ball to Rafe, who only just barely dodged the tackle Mikayla intended to lay on him before running up the clearing and again, carefully dribbling the ball over the line. Leah indicated the goal, and the ball came back to the middle yet again. Billy squirmed to get down and they all paused to allow him to go over to Leah. Once he was safely by her side, John bounced the ball. Unhampered by Billy,William took it from Mikayla and running towards the goal, bounced it once before catching it up and toeing it over the line.
Juniper picked up the ball, grinning from ear to ear as she handed it to him. “Nice one!”
“Thanks.” He felt the sweat dripping down his back, the thick air catching in his lungs.
Mikayla high fived him on the way back to the center. The next bounce went awry, causing a scrabble of feet in the dusty grass. Rafe managed to get a foot on it and send it towards the lodge and they ran as a pack after it. William, acutely aware of Leah and Billy on the goal line, scooped to pick it up and swing his foot at it, but Rafe smothered the kick, and the ball went flying towards Leah, who was now holding Billy in her arms. She saw the ball coming fast in their direction and moved her hand protectively over Billy’s head, scrunching her eyes shut and turning her back, bracing herself for the impact. But then Callum was there, knocking into her slightly as he moved to intercept the ball, grabbing her around the waist as she stumbled. William’s shoulders sagged with relief, but he noticed with a frown how Leah shrunk away from Callum, nodding wordlessly when he apologized and asked if she was okay.
“I just didn’t want the ball to hit you.”
“I know. Thank you.”
It was awkward for a moment before Mikayla jogged over, taking the ball from Callum, flicking her head to send him back to the center. “You good, or you wanna go off?”
“I’m good,” Leah replied, adjusting Billy on her hip.
“Great.” She walked off, clapping her hands, looking at the sky. “I reckon we’ve got about ten more minutes. We’re up twelve to six. Come on you guys, show us what you’ve got.”
Again, John bounced the ball and it floated in William’s direction. He grabbed it and headed for his goal, kicking it high, but this time, Callum was quicker, taking it in the air before it could sail over the goal line. Quick as a flash, he kicked it towards the center of the ground where Rafe was waiting. If Rafe took this mark, all he had to do was slide by Mikayla, boot it over the line and the scores would be leveled. William, too winded to run back up the ground, stood next to Juniper as the ball sailed through the air. They both gasped as Rafe, braced to catch the ball, stumbled forward slightly. Mikayla had run up behind him and taking a flying leap, braced her knees high on his back, pushed herself higher still and caught the ball on her chest, turning mid-air and gracefully landing on her feet.
“Jesus, that was amazing!” William called out. She gave him a thumbs up before booting the ball towards him. He stepped back over the line and caught it, meaning it was Mikayla’s goal. As he walked back towards the center, he felt big splats of rain falling. In five seconds flat, everyone was running for the verandah and cover, but the fat drops of rain felt deliciously cool against his heated, sweaty skin so he stayed where he was, turning his face up as the clouds burst open in earnest, sending a torrent of rain cascading down on him. As if on instinct, he opened his eyes. Juniper was walking towards him, her hair hanging like ropes, her bright smile filling up all the dark, restless places inside him. Moving forward to meet her, he lost all thought of their surroundings. Cupping her beautiful face in his hands, he felt her arms come around his waist. He gazed at her for the longest moment, just drinking her in as the rain soaked them through. He then laid his lips over hers, kissing her with all the wanting, all the longing, all the need he had for her. He reveled in the feeling that she gave it all back to him tenfold. She sighed as he pulled back, then laughed as they heard Mikayla shouting at them.
“Come inside, you maniacs! You’re soaked through.”
