| General Fiction posted September 20, 2023 | Chapters: |
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Celebration
A chapter in the book Saving Mr. Calvin
Saving Mr. Calvin - Chapter 31
by Jim Wile
| Background A story about the origin and the future of the game of golf |
See Author Notes for the list of characters and unfamiliar terms.
Recap of the past few chapters: After a week of practice, the matches begin the following Saturday with the “Alternating Shot” matches first. Kirk and Aggie win their match, and Putt and Cat win theirs too, but the other two teams lose for a score of 2-2 at the end of the morning matches. The afternoon matches begin using the “Best-of-4” format. The Pack team easily win their match, but the other team of 4 lose a very close one. At the end of the first day, the totals are equal at 4 points each.
The second day of the matches begins with the eight singles matches. Kirk is in the first pair out and loses his match to the Snog’s best player. He begins following the other matches to give support to his players. Most of the matches are not going well, as expected, because the Snog’s very slow play rattles the Foo players. Aggie, however, is not bothered by her opponent Cameron’s slow play because she talks and jokes with the crowd instead of watching him. She wins her match. All the rest of the Foos lose and it comes down to the final match—Putt vs. Alex—to pick up one more point. Putt is 2-down with 3 to play and manages to win the 10th and 11th holes to pull the match even with one hole left to play. The wind plays havoc with Putt’s shots on the 12th hole, but he manages with the help of the wind to sink a long putt and beat Alex for the win. As the Snogs won 6 of the individual matches while the Foos won only 2, the score now stands at 10-6 in the Snogs favor going into the final set of matches.
The Fast Matches begin with the Snogs turning in their score first, which the Foos hope to beat by a lot to earn at least 5 points they will need to win the championship. The Foos have a much better plan for playing the Fast Matches and after a nailbiter of a round, they just manage to eke out a 5-point victory in the Fast Match, giving them an 11-10 overall total and a victory in the championship.
Chapter 31
The Bonnie Brae Tavern was normally closed on Sundays, but Aggie made an exception today and announced to a select few of our closest friends and both teams that it would be open at 6:00 pm. It was 4:45 now.
The two of us hurried home and went upstairs to freshen up. “You ken what this means, don’t you?” I said to Aggie.
“Of course I do. We will announce our wedding date to the crowd tonight. I really didn’t want to wait another year, Kirk. I love you and want to be your wife, not just your betrothed forever and ever as it has seemed.”
“I love you too, my dearest Aggie, and I can’t wait to be your husband. I always imagined that you would be my wife one day, even when we were kids together in Snogland. Remember when we were six and we practiced kissing like we had seen our parents do it?”
“Like this, you mean?” and we embraced each other and kissed then, only we didn’t break it off after a few seconds. We toppled into bed together and spent the next half hour enjoying another highlight of the day.
We didn’t have time for more, as the guests would be arriving soon, so we hurriedly got dressed and went downstairs to make preparations for them. Putt and Cat came in together, holding hands, at around 20 minutes to 6:00 and assisted us in the preparations for the crowd. Cat would be helping us serve the beer and ale and providing snacks. Aggie’s younger siblings would also help. No big meal tonight, as we had not had time to prepare anything—just drinks and snacks.
We unlocked the door to the tavern right at 6:00, and both teams and the friends we had invited, including Hamish MacLachlan, filed in and sat down. The mood was jubilant, even among the Snog team, who didn’t seem to hold a grudge about the partisanship that had been shown by the crowd today. That was normal and was always strongly in their favor when the matches were held on their links.
When everyone had been served a drink or two (or three in Hamish’s case), Aggie and I stood in front of the bar and captured everyone’s attention with a loud whistle.
“Good evening, friends!” I shouted as the crowd finally quieted down. Clasping Aggie’s hand, I said, “I think you ken what this victory means today. My dearest, sweetest, astonishingly beautiful and wonderful Aggie Lang, the love of my life and I will be getting married in two weeks’ time!” Thunderous applause and cheers greeted this announcement.
When they quieted again, Aggie stepped forward and said to the crowd, “We’ve been waiting to make this announcement for a long time now.” She became wistful then and took a few moments to continue. Her voice cracked as she continued, “I only wish my mother could be here to see us wed. She loved Kirk and would have been so pleased to welcome him into our family.” She shed a tear then and had trouble continuing, but finally said, “I’m sure she will be there in spirit as my wonderful Kirk and I begin our wedded life together. All of you here tonight are invited to celebrate with us, even you Snogs, who helped make us very happy today, thank you. And to show our appreciation, the next drink is on the house!”
This was accompanied by cheers and applause and many cries of “Hear, hear” and “Congratulations, Kirk and Aggie!”
“And the next one after that’s on me!” cried Hamish to many a slap on the back and toasts to his health. Hamish was indeed quite wealthy, and this would hardly dent his pocket.
Putt, Cat, and Aggie’s siblings took care of the drink orders while Aggie and I made the rounds, much as we did a few weeks ago. We spent a good bit of time talking with Alex and Cameron, who were sitting together.
“You know, Kirk,” confessed Alex. “Your team is to be congratulated on a fine victory over us today. You deserved to win. I don’t ken what is in the food or water here, but you all seemed to have picked up 20 or 30 yards on your drives. Aggie, you hit it past me on a number of occasions today. So, what is your secret?”
“Oh, so, it’s ‘Aggie’ now, is it? What happened to ‘Agrawinnia’ as you’ve always called me, Alex?”
He just waved his hand. “Tell me.”
“I must confess to making a new, firmer ball. It’s stuffed with a pail of goose feathers instead of cow’s hair, and when they are wetted, you can stuff them in much tighter before sewing up the leather. When they dry, the ball gets firmer still.”
Alex looked at me. “You have an incredibly smart soon-to-be wife there, Kirk. Don’t ever let her go.”
“I have no intention of ever doing that, although she has to let me go from time to time to fulfill my duty to my country.”
“Please don’t spoil the mood tonight with that thought, Kirk,” she said to me. “Hopefully you’ll be home for a good long while, maybe permanently now.”
I took her hand and kissed it. “We’ll see.”
Alex then said, “You know, Kirk, we never took that Fast Match very seriously. We figured with a four-point lead, there was no possible way you would catch us up or pass us. It’s clear now that we will have to rethink our approach if we do this again in the future. We saw the way you attacked the links with a man or woman in place for every shot you took, and what an amazing time-saver that was. I have to confess: that Fast Match format was rather fun. Wouldn’t you agree, Cam?”
Cameron looked at him strangely. “Cam?” After a few seconds, he said, “Well, I will grudgingly admit that it was kind of fun, but certainly not my preferred way of playing. I enjoy savoring a round, looking at each shot and carefully considering the best way to play it, and achieving the best possible score I can for each hole. It’s just the way I am. I’m not talking so much about the Fast Match, but playing the way you Fools do with hardly ever a practice swing and without carefully considering all the factors that go into a shot just isn’t for me. Especially with holing the ball on the greens; you’ve got to read those breaks carefully.”
“Well, you’re a good gowfer, Cam,” I said, “and for you it may mean something, but what I’ve often thought is that unless you are a very top player, all the extra time with ‘putts’—the name we call them now after our friend, Putt, over there at the bar—reading them from all directions, just isn’t worth the time it takes. In fact, it often confuses you, as I’ve found your first impression of the read is usually the most accurate.”
Alex said, “I’m not sure we’ll ever agree on all of this, but you’ve certainly given us a lot to think about. And you can bet we’ll give you a better go at the Fast Match if we do it again.”
“Fair enough, friend. And now, other guests await. It’s been a wonderful day and a wonderful discussion with you and Cam.”
“Thank you,” said Alex, “for a sobering but great competition, and we will see you in two weeks at your wedding, my dear old friends.”
(One more chapter until the end of Part 2. Part 3 begins Monday.)
CHARACTERS - 1458 Scotland
Kirk Pate: A 22-year-old house builder and part time soldier from Foon. He is the narrator of this part of the story.
Putney Pell (Putt): Kirk's best friend and business partner in Foon and a fellow soldier
Alex MacGillycuddy: Kirk and Putt's childhood friend who lives in the nearby town of Castasnogwary and is a fellow soldier
Aggie Lang: Kirk's 22-year-old fiance. She runs the Bonnie Brae Inn and Tavern owned by her father
Jack and Isla Lang: Aggie's younger siblings
Hamish MacLachlan: The Bonnie Brae's resident tippler
Cameron NicEachainn: One of the captains of the Snog team along with Alex
Catriona (Cat) Clark: One of the golfers on the Foo team
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Kirk Pate: A 22-year-old house builder and part time soldier from Foon. He is the narrator of this part of the story.
Putney Pell (Putt): Kirk's best friend and business partner in Foon and a fellow soldier
Alex MacGillycuddy: Kirk and Putt's childhood friend who lives in the nearby town of Castasnogwary and is a fellow soldier
Aggie Lang: Kirk's 22-year-old fiance. She runs the Bonnie Brae Inn and Tavern owned by her father
Jack and Isla Lang: Aggie's younger siblings
Hamish MacLachlan: The Bonnie Brae's resident tippler
Cameron NicEachainn: One of the captains of the Snog team along with Alex
Catriona (Cat) Clark: One of the golfers on the Foo team
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