Horseshoes

One of my favorite activities from our family reunions growing up was the horseshoe tournament. It still is - probably because I usually do well. We usually have several different tournaments over the course of the reunion including: singles (men), singles (women), singles (youth), singles (kids), doubles (men), doubles (youth), and doubles (mixed). In any case, my early drafts of the Narrows Escape included both a singles and a doubles tournament for the youth. The feedback I got from family and friends who read the early drafts was that there was too much horseshoes. I didn't necessarily agree, but since several people mentioned it, I decided to cut out the singles tournament and just focus on the doubles - mixing in the best elements of both. Several people will tell you that the final draft still contained too much horseshoes, but I wasn't willing to cut out any more.
Here is the original clip:

“Where’s Liz?” asked Devin.

“She’s taking care of the camp for my mom this morning. She’ll come over in a bit,” Amber informed him. She turned to Brady and said, “I guess I get to play you.” Devin handed her the shoes he’d been using, then moved aside to watch their match.

“Well don’t beat me too bad,” Amber begged as she hefted the shoes and adjusted her grip.

“I’m sure you’ll give me a run for my money,” Brady said, humbly accepting the praise.

“Mind if I take a couple of practice throws?” she asked.

“Go ahead,” Brady offered graciously.

Her first throw took a bad bounce on the uneven ground and caromed out of the pit right at Devin. He had to leap up to avoid getting hit. “Hey watch it!” he yelled. “Are you trying to send me to the hospital too?”

“Sorry!” Amber said sheepishly. Unfortunately, she quickly found her range and began schooling her younger cousin once the match began. On successive rounds, she successfully encircled the post with one of her shoes. The pair of ringers gave her a quick 6-0 lead.

On the next round, one of Brady‘s throws finally landed within a shoe’s width of the stake – good enough for a point. Unfortunately, one of Amber’s was closer.

“It looks like we both get a point,” she said, after measuring.

“Actually only the closer shoe gets a point,” Brady reminded her, gloomily. “You’re up 7-0.”

“Hey, all right! Hey Dad, get a load of this! I’m actually beating Brady!” she called out.

“Good for you!” Uncle Marvin called back encouragingly. He was playing his own game on the next pit against Uncle Rob.

“How embarrassing,” said Devin mockingly, slowly shaking his head.

Amber turned and gave him the eye. “And just what is so embarrassing?”

“Losing to a girl,” Devin said with a grin.

“You just wait,” she said. “After I put Brady away, I’ll beat you too.”

“If you say so,” he replied doubtfully. He had faith that Brady would come back. But his admiration of Amber’s skills slowly grew as her lead mounted to 14-2.

“How many points do I need to win?” she asked.

“Twenty-one,” Brady sighed. He looked humiliated, but wasn’t about to give up. Finally he got hot, and tossed a ringer. He started picking up points on almost every round, but it was too late. By the time he battled back to within three, Amber needed only one more point to win. On the next set of throws, Brady would have picked up two more points, but Amber’s second throw aced out his points, giving her a 21-17 victory.

“You better find your stroke before the doubles tournament,” Devin instructed while Amber began announcing to everyone that she’d won.

“She’s good!” insisted Brady.

“Yeah, she’s all right,” Devin admitted. “But, still … losing to a girl…you embarrassed the club.”

“Get lost!” said Brady, shrugging Devin’s hand off his shoulder.

“I’m just kidding!” said Devin.

“Well, just remember that when you lose to Liz,” Brady declared.

“Yeah, right,” scoffed Devin. “That’ll be the day. I could win that game blindfolded.”

“Well, here she comes. So go get your blindfold and prove it,” suggested Brady.

“Well, okay, maybe not blindfolded,” Devin amended. He was sure he would win, but he wasn’t going to get carried away either.

##

Devin wiped his brow again, replaced his hat and congratulated Liz on a game well played. His narrow escape, though, didn’t do him much good. Shane was waiting for him in the next round, after a 21-2 pasting of Brady’s sister Lindsey.

It wasn’t much of a match. Shane dispatched Devin quickly, but not painlessly. Devin was devastated after the loss. After all his hard work, he had only scored six measly points against his brother. That was even worse than last year.

“You played well,” said Brady, trying to console him.

Devin looked at Brady incredulously. “How do you figure? I lost 21-6.”

“22-6,” corrected Brady. “He already had 19 when he tossed that last ringer.”

“Thanks for clarifying that,” growled Devin. He turned and strode away. He wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

“Well don’t get too depressed,” Brady counseled, hurrying to keep up. “We’ve got to regain our form before the doubles tournament starts.”

“What’s the use!” sighed Devin. “Amber beat you and Shane whipped me. We’re toast.”