Fair Game
Chapter Three: A Date with a Teddy Bear.
"Do we have a problem, Josh?" Fred's voice was as cold as his eyes.
"No! No problem, man. We were just leaving. It's a dumb game anyway! Your friend can release Mark."
"Please?" Daphne added just a little more pressure, resulting in a muffled scream from Mark.
"Please!" Josh pleaded. Daphne stepped back, releasing Mark's hand. He jerked it away, shaking it to get the pins and needles pain to subside as he and Josh walked away.
"Thanks guys but I could have handled those three," Daphne looked at Shaggy, "Where is Velma?"
"In the crowd, ready to alert security if things went South," Shaggy laughed, "I just came over to watch the fun."
"I know you could have handled it, I was just going to handle the skinny kid and let you have your fun with Josh and Mark," Fred smiled, placing his arm around her waist.
"Why can't we go any place without running into trouble? You guys ready to leave?" Shaggy asked.
"Not yet, Shaggy, I have a date with a teddy bear." Fred held up the softball.
"Let me guess which one!" Velma said as she joined her friends. Shaggy put his arm loosely around her shoulder and Velma snuggled into his embrace.
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Only a few minutes passed before Shaggy and Velma continued down the midway and Fred placed his quarter on the counter, "I think it's my turn."
"After that, the first throw is on the house," the barker stepped to the side.
A free throw? Fred was surprised because it just wasn't done! Never! The surprised look must have been on his face still when he looked over at Daphne. She stepped closer and pressed her lips solidly against his, holding the kiss for several seconds, "for luck" she whispered and stepped away.
Two surprises within thirty seconds! Fred had expected a chaste peck on the cheek, "for luck" at most. This had not been a quick peck on the cheek! Nor had it been chaste!
He had spotted the "trap" in the game in rolling the ball off his fingertips. It would go unnoticed by kids and adults alike, except for maybe a professional baseball player. The balls had been weighted to curve to the right!
Adjusting for the extra weight and encouraged by Daphne's kiss, Fred let the ball fly toward the triangle of bottles. All three bottles ended on the ground and Fred was on his way to his date with a certain teddy bear.
"You've played this game before," the barker observed as he went through the motions of resetting the bottles and picking up the ball.
"Not at all. This is my first time," Fred replied honestly. He had played baseball before of course, but he'd found his love in football; staying for hours after practice, working with his receivers. He had developed a system of throwing to a spot, trusting the receiver to be there when the ball arrived. He was using that experience now.
"You can keep this prize and walk away or put it up against another throw for a prize in the next row," the barker pushed a cheap stuffed toy at Fred. Fred's answer was to push the toy back along with enough money to cover five throws.
"Confident...I like that."
The next two throws ended with the same result as the first. Three rows down, two to go!
"You're going to keep knocking them down as fast as I can put them up aren't you?" the barker placed the ball in front of Fred.
"That's the plan."
"Well,you've gotten further than most and further than I expected," the barker told him, "anyone gets this close, I close the game down. It's just you and the bottles, no distractions," He winked and looked over at Daphne, "Good luck."
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They walked down the midway hand in hand.
"I'm sorry, Daph. I was so close! But it was nice of him to let you have your pick from the fourth row."
Daphne stopped walking, looking at him. Still holding his hand she led them past two vendors to an area that had been set up with picnic tables. Setting the foot high teddy bear on an empty table she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Freddy, do you think the teddy bear was all that important to me?"
Fred wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. "Maybe not...but it would have been nice. I guess we still have the scary roller coaster ride. You can hold onto me if you get scared." Shaggy had borrowed his line, now he returned the favor. He left a trail of kisses from ear to shoulder.
"That tickles! But don't stop! Freddy, if your leading up to asking something, you need to know something first," she whispered in his ear, leaving her own trail of kisses, "I hold on tight and for a very long time. Are you asking what I hope you're asking?"
"Daphne, I'm asking if you think there might be...room for two couples in Mystery Inc?"
Her kisses held no surprises this time.
"Come on, I want one ride on the roller coaster, then I want to go to the malt shoppe to celebrate," she finally broke the kiss, "at least we'll have one advantage over Shaggy and Velma."
"What's that?"
"We won't have to deal with Scooby's jealousy!"
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Prologue
Daphne
The air was warm and intoxicating. Perhaps it was the sounds and smells of the midway, or maybe from the passionate kisses she and Fred had just shared. Daphne Blake didn't question the reasons for the feeling of walking on air.
She waved at the sight of Shaggy and Velma waiting for them. She grabbed Fred's hand and together they rushed to meet their friends and show off the teddy bear tucked under her arm. Daphne laughed, she had a date with her favorite teddy bear! And she was going to hold on very tight. For a very long time.
Fred
The neon lights beaconed one and all to try their luck. 'Talk about luck! I'm the luckiest guy in the world!' he thought. 'Where is all this leading? Wherever it's going...it's sure going to be an interesting ride!'
The Barker
The barker watched until the couple disappeared into the crowd. His break over, he tossed the ball into the bin with the other balls weighted to curve left. Flipping the sign from 'closed' to 'open', he placed a ball weighted to curve right on the counter.
"Never give a sucker an even break!" he said to himself, then yelled out, "Knock down the bottles, win a prize! Only twenty-five cents! One fourth of a dollar! How about you, kid, try your luck!?"
The fair game continued.
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A month later, the Coolsville paper carried the engagement announcement of Fred Jones and Daphne Blake. No wedding date was announced.
Several days later a large box was delivered to Mystery Inc headquarters addressed to Fred and Daphne. Daphne eagerly tore the wrapping paper off the package. Opening the package she pulled out a three foot teddy bear dressed in a purple vest with big, silver buttons. There was no accompanying card.
Daphne cried anyway.