“There’s another point, Your Grace,” Charlotte said.
Nathaniel simply gritted his teeth. That one was charity for Clara. The victory would still be theirs.
Now that Clara had scored, she seemed to lose interest in the game. She ran off to the side and joined Agatha and Beatrice. Beatrice seemed delighted with the change in company.
“I think we should start winding the game up now,” Alfred said.
“You would say that when you’re winning. You have to give us a chance!” Edmund exclaimed.
But Mary and Lydia were both looking puffed out. Their cheeks were crimson, and their foreheads glistened with sweat. They both dabbed their heads with cloths.
“I’m not sure we have much energy left,” Mary said.
“If you want to retire, you may,” Nathaniel said, looking directly at Charlotte as he said this, almost goading her to leave the field. She gave him a defiant look and remained where she was standing. Lydia and Mary did take advantage of the invitation, though.
“It’s two versus two now. Sister, you might be able to beat me at cards, but this is a far different game,” Edmund said.
Nathaniel fetched the ball from the bucket and threw it to Edmund, but demanded it back almost immediately. Alfred was closing in on Edmund, which made the throw erratic. The ball looped in the air but fell short of Nathaniel, who had to lunge forward to try to catch it.
Charlotte attempted to intercept it as well, but she hadn’t anticipated the throw well at all. While Nathaniel lunged, she thrust her leg out in an effort to kick the ball away. However, when the two of them went for the ball at the same time, their shoulders bumped together, and they fell in a heap.
One of them connected with the ball, but nobody was quite sure which of them was responsible. It went spinning off, bounced on a divot, and disappeared into a shrub.
Edmund and Alfred groaned.
“Oh well, I suppose that’s the end of the game,” Beatrice said with more than a hint of relief. She was already rising from the chair, putting distance between herself and Agatha. She ushered Edmund and Alfred off the field.
“That was your fault,” Nathaniel and Charlotte said in unison, and then they glared at each other even more intensely.
They disentangled themselves from each other and returned to their feet, brushing off the grass and dirt.
“Kicking wasn’t part of the rules,” Nathaniel said.
“You never said that.”
“It was implied.”
“I didn’t realize we were dealing with implied rules now.”
“Well, you should have just let me take the catch.”
“I didn’t realize you wanted to win through pity.”
“I don’t.”
“Good, because you didn’t win at all.”
“It was a draw.” Nathaniel flexed his wrist and arm, making sure that nothing was broken. Charlotte put her hands on her hips and stared at him.
“No, it wasn’t. We won.”
“You must have miscounted.”
“You are impossible. Let’s ask the others.” Charlotte turned, ready to call out to them, but they had all left. Charlotte’s lips clamped shut, and she looked annoyed.
Nathaniel shrugged.
“In the event of a tie, the host’s judgment is the deciding factor.”
