Best innings ever
"Why does the garden have to be so small," William grumbled, as he prepared to bowl to an unenthusiastic Eddie.
"Can't we play football now, William," Eddie groused, as he half heartedly blocked William's attempt at a googly.
"I said we'd play football later, Eddie," William reminded his four year old brother. "You promised you'd catch for me."
Eddie grumbled and William looked longingly at his bat. The bat they were forbidden to use in the back garden, ever since that unfortunate incident with the clay flower pot. William sighed, wishing they could go play on the green. But Mama wasn't best pleased with them for building a terrarium in her wash basin and so had forbidden them from leaving the garden.
A decision she would soon regret. Both boys looked at her warily as she tossed another bowlful of dirt and rocks under the shrubs next to the back door and scowled impatiently at her eight year old scientist and his accomplice.
"Don't even THINK of hitting that ball in the back garden, William," she snapped as she went inside, shutting the door with more force than necessary.
"PLEASE can we play football now" Eddie moaned, as he flung himself backwards into the grass and knocked over the rickety wicket.
"C'mon, Eddie," William pleaded, tossing the ball lightly in his hand. "I've almost got the hang of it."
Eddie rolled his eyes and with a long suffering sigh, took up his crouch again. William narrowed his eyes in concentration and was preparing to bowl when they both jumped in surprise at the shriek from inside the cottage.
"Do you think Mama found that little snake?" Eddie asked quietly. William bit his lip and nodded. Together, they stared at the back door, waiting anxiously for their Mama to burst through the door in a spitting fury. There was a crash and a bang, like the sound of something heavy being dropped on an innocent reptile. Then they heard another shriek, quick footsteps going up the stairs, and the clear slam of a door. They looked at each other.
"Maybe we ought to go help...?" William mused. Eddie looked at him like he had turnips springing from his forehead.
"Not me," he proclaimed. After a moment, William nodded in agreement with Eddie's wisdom and experience.
Bowling in the small garden had lost its appeal for William, and he was about to suggest to Eddie that he go find the football when they heard a whistling from down the path that wound past the back gate and led to the Abbey. Hoping it was Papa, they raced to the gate.
"It's just Mr. Molesley," William said in a low, disappointed voice.
"Wish it was Papa," Eddie said with a pout. "He always makes Mama happy."
Mr. Molesley caught sight of the boys as he came down the path. Oblivious to their disappointed expressions, he grinned at them, eyes lighting up as he saw the ball in William's hand.
"Hello lads! Practicing the cricket?" Mr. Molesley wiped his forehead and leaned on the gate. "How's your mother today?" he asked, somewhat wistfully.
"She doesn't like snakes," Eddie informed him firmly. Mr. Molesley gaped at Eddie for a moment, then looked at William, who just sighed and nodded.
"No... er, no... I don't suppose she does," Mr. Molesley stammered. He stared at the two boys in silence, then moved on to firmer ground. "How's the bowling coming on, William?"
William lit up. "Pretty well, Mr. Molesley! I can bowl a bouncer and a yorker, and I can almost bowl a slider and a goggly."
"A slider AND a googly? At your age?" Mr. Molesley exclaimed. "You're a dark horse."
"I can catch," Eddie piped up, thinking his contribution ought to be recognized, even if he didn't like cricket very much.
"Where would we be without a wicketkeeper?" Mr. Molesley asked rhetorically. Eddie wrinkled his brow in thought, as he tried to come up with an answer to Mr. Molesley's question.
William grabbed Eddie's arm and led him back to the collapsed wicket. "C'mon, Eddie! I want to show Mr. Molesley."
Eddie grumbled, but took his position in front of the wicket with a scowl. Mr. Molesley grinned and stepped through the gate. William bowled vigorously, missing Eddie altogether.
"Don't wanna chase it, William!" Eddie shouted.
"Oh, go on, Eddie. Let me try again!"
"Now hold on a moment," Mr. Molesley said with an indulgent smile. "Try grasping that seam a little more firmly with your third finger. You'll get more of a spin that way."
Eddie handed William the ball and stared at Mr. Molesley. William concentrated on his grip and held his hand and the ball up for Mr. Molesley to see.
"Like this, Mr. Molesley?"
"Careful of your thumb," Mr. Molesley said with a self important nod. He spotted the cricket bat laying in the grass and picked it up, bouncing it lightly in his hand.
"Do you know how to play cricket, Mr. Molesley?" Eddie asked bluntly.
"Mr. Molesley flushed red at the question. "There's not much I don't know about cricket," he informed Eddie with wounded dignity. Eddie just gazed at him skeptically and took a position behind the wicket.
"Try again, young William," he said, positioning himself in front of the wicket and taking a batsman's pose with the undersized bat. William gripped the ball eagerly.
William took his steps and bowled to Mr. Molesley. Mr. Molesley swung awkwardly and smacked the ball with the edge of the bat. They watched the ball sail towards the cottage.
"Well bowled!" Mr. Molesley shouted, just before the smashing of the kitchen window rang through the garden.
William and Eddie looked at each other in horror. Then they looked at Mr. Molesley. Mr. Molesley clutched the bat and muttered something about "too small a pitch," before sidling towards the gate.
"I TOLD you we should have played football," Eddie wailed.
The sound of furious footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.
"WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME...?!" Anna's voice roared from the cottage. Mr. Molesley swallowed hard and stepped behind a tree to straighten his jacket and tie. William and Eddie were frozen to the spot. Another shriek came from the kitchen and the door to the back garden flew open.
"WILLIAM JOHN BATES!"
Eddie stepped behind William, moaning: "All the names, William. All the names..."
"What were you told about cricket in the garden?!" Anna demanded as she stalked towards her sons. "Well?"
"Not to bat," William muttered, looking at the ground.
"I have just spent the last twenty minutes cleaning out my washtub and trying to cope with the... the...WILDLIFE you brought into my house," Anna raged at the top of William's bent head. William cringed and Eddie began to look frantically around the garden and headed purposefully towards Mr. Molesley's hiding spot.
"And you decide to disobey your Papa and me and SHATTERED the kitchen window!" she continued. Her head swiveled towards Eddie. "Don't you move, Edward Daniel Bates! I see you trying to hide behind that tree!"
As Anna worked herself into a full on fury, Mr. Molesley tried to inch towards the gate. His attempts to squeeze through the shrub caught Anna's attention and she gasped in surprise.
"Mr. Molesley! I... I didn't see you there." She stopped glaring fiercely at her sons and threw Mr. Molesley a perplexed look.
"Oh... ah... I was just... Well," Mr. Moseley stammered and gave a weak laugh. "I was passing and the boys were practicing..." he trailed off as Anna redirected her attention.
"The cricket," Anna finished his sentence with a snap, glaring at the boys again. Eddie opened his mouth to say something, but William stamped hard on his foot.
"Don't say anything," he hissed at Eddie, who hopped up and down. "It NEVER makes it better when you say anything."
"But..." Eddie began in righteous indignation.
"I don't want to hear any excuses from the two of you!" Anna growled furiously, angry tears coming to her eyes. "You can save them for your Papa when you explain to him how you broke the kitchen window and made more work for him."
Turning to Mr. Molesley, who was still standing in the garden clutching the cricket bat, Anna tried to smile in apology. Mr. Molesley met Eddie and William's outraged glares and cleared his throat.
"Actually, Anna...er, I mean, Mrs. Bates... it was my fault. The window, I mean. That it broke..." Anna just stared at him. "I...well, William bowled an excellent... and then I... uh..."
Anna shook her head and gave Mr. Molesley an indulgent look. "That's kind, Mr. Molesley, but you needn't try to take the blame for them. I know you didn't hit a cricket ball through my window."
Mr. Molesley's mouth fell open and he tried and failed to make words come out of it. Anna turned back to her sons, who were looking as stunned as Mr. Molesley.
"But it was me..." Mr. Molesley began weakly. Anna ignored him and started towards the house.
"Get inside, both of you," she hissed at her sons as she pulled open the door. "Go to your room." As an afterthought, she spun around with her hands on her hips. "And get RID of that snake!"
William and Eddie stared at Mr. Molesley and he stared back at them. Then he shrugged and dropped the cricket bat to the grass.
"Sorry, lads," he said, backing towards the gate under their accusing eyes. "I, uh... did my best."
"IN THE HOUSE, NOW!" Anna yelled. Mr. Molesley turned pale and hurried out of the gate. William and Eddie watched him go with desperate faces.
"I don't understand grown-ups!" Eddie wailed as his mother appeared in the doorway and grabbed them both by their shirt collars.
"It was Mr. Molesley!" William protested as they were pulled into the cottage.
"Not another word!" Anna said as she propelled them towards the stairs with sharp smacks to the seats of their trousers. They stumbled up the stairs as fast as their legs would take them.
Anna took a deep breath and sat heavily in a chair at the table. After surveying the shattered pane, the cricket ball on the floor and the skinny, black reptilian corpse nobody had yet removed, she put her head in her hands with a long groan.
Two hours later, Mr. Bates walked wearily through the front door and hung his coat and hat on the rack. Wondering briefly where his sons were and marveling at how silent the house was, he proceeded into the kitchen to find Mrs. Bates slumped at the kitchen table, a cold pot of tea and a plate of bread and butter in front of her.
"Sorry I'm so late for tea today," he apologized with a soft kiss to the back of her neck. "Mr. Molesley disappeared for most of the afternoon and there were extra tasks for us all. Apparently, he wound up at the pub getting..." he trailed off as his eyes took in the damage and the lack of response from his wife, who was usually so glad to see him.
Anna turned her eyes to his and he found himself grateful that he wasn't the object of the wrath that burned in them. At least, he didn't think he was...
"I could have killed your sons today," she informed him. John breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why are they only mine when they get into trouble?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and glared at him. He smiled nervously and backed away a step. "So... what happened?"
Anna explained, in detail, everything from the terrarium in her washtub to the snake in her kitchen to the cricket ball crashing through the window.
"...And to make matters worse, poor Mr. Molesley tried to take the blame for them and they were perfectly willing to lie their faces off and LET him."
In spite of being tempted to snicker about the snake, John managed to maintain a serious face through Anna's furious account. However, when he heard this last bit, his eyes rolled and he snorted.
"As if we'd believe Mr. Molesley could ever hit a cricket ball," he commented dryly.
Anna's mouth twitched and she stifled a giggle. "Stop making me laugh about this. I'm still angry!"
"I'll see to the boys," he said with a resigned sigh, walking towards the stairs.
"Before you do, could you please do something about THAT," she begged as she pointed at the unfortunate snake. With a small smile, he scooped it off the floor and tossed it out the back door. Then he paused, as something occurred to him.
"If William was doing the bowling, was it Eddie who was the batsman?" he mused. "I wouldn't have thought Eddie had it in him to swing like that."
"I don't CARE which one hit it. They both disobeyed and lied," Anna huffed.
"Still..." At Anna's renewed glare, John took himself up the stairs as quickly as he could and opened the door to his sons' bedroom. Two anguished faces greeted his stern eyes.
After a lecture on obedience, courtesy and honesty that nearly peeled the paper off the walls, John looked at his offspring for signs of repentance. Eddie sat with his arms folded and an injured scowl on his face. William just looked stubbornly at the floor.
"Neither of you appears to be very sorry for this bit of naughtiness," John growled, feeling his temper rise.
"I'm sorry we didn't play football," Eddie grumped.
"Shut up, Eddie," William snapped. "I'm sorry I ever asked Mr. Molesley about cricket."
John glared at them both. "Not a peep out of either of you for the rest of the night," he warned as he left the room.
Eddie kicked his feet against his bed. "Not fair!" he whispered.
William threw a dark look at the door. "Not fair," he agreed.
As the sun set, casting its weakening rays through their window, they lay on their beds, contemplating injustice and wishing painful retribution on the hapless Mr. Moseley. It might have comforted them slightly to know that the footman was nursing a sore head from an afternoon of miserable drinking and cringing under the blistering rebuke delivered by an enraged Mr. Carson as he remembered the best innings he had ever had in the Bates' back garden.
Anna felt her husband's arm slide around her waist as she broomed the shards of glass from the window into a neat pile by the door. She sighed and leaned against him.
"Did they learn their lesson?" she asked with a little smile, knowing full well John was far more bark than bite with their children.
"I doubt it," he grumbled, kissing her behind the ear. "They didn't seem very sorry at all."
Anna tipped her head back and relaxed into his arms. "I swear I don't know what I'll do if the next one is another boy."
"What next one?" he asked with a chuckle.
There was no answering chuckle.
"Anna...?"