A Woman's Game Chapter 15

Francis barely slept that night. Mind was far too active on what was lying ahead of her for the next day and the ones following afterward. Finally, she managed to fit a couple of hours in before the sun rose over the land.

So after consuming a small breakfast to tide herself over for later, jittery nerves preventing her from actually eating that much in the first place, Francis makes her way to the Country Club to the meeting spot she arranged with her caddie.

Only one problem with this.

Her caddie is missing.

The longer Francis stands there searching for him the more anxious she gets. This isn't funny anymore. The first leg begins in a matter of minutes.

Then out of nowhere, Francis catches a familiar voice calling out her name.

"Miss Ouimet! Miss Ouimet!"

Francis then notices Jack's little brother Eddie rushing over in her direction utterly frantic and out of breath.

Meeting him in the middle, Francis said "Eddie! Where's Jack? I have to tee off in ten minutes."

"Truant officer caught him. He's back in school," reports Eddie.

"Why aren't you with him," asked Francis, assuming the truant officer would've been dragging him back too.

Scoffing at the very idea, Eddie said "Come on! This is the U.S. Open!"

Francis's got to admire his dedication. She understands exactly where he is coming from with that. But this now puts her in a real bind for certain.

Trying to think of a backup plan on short notice, contemplating maybe recruiting one of her own siblings to assist on this, Francis said "Thanks for coming to tell me, Eddie."

Grabbing her arm in order to stop her from getting too far, Eddie said "Miss Ouimet, I can caddie for you."

Chuckling good-naturedly in disbelief, Francis said "Eddie, my bag is as big as you are."

Persisting, blocking her from going any further, Eddie argued "But I can do it! I carry for lots of fellas at Franklin Park. Ask any of them. I can make good on what Jack promised. I hooked school, I took three streetcars, and I am big enough. I'm in 5th grade and I want to caddie for you!"

At this point, a decent crowd has caught wind of their conversation and is eavesdropping shamelessly with great intensity. Upon learning of Eddie's offer, the majority burst out laughing.

Aiming a heated glare at them as Eddie ignored them, gently shushing him, Francis said "Just a second. Calm down for a second. How about this? I'll carry my bad and you walk next to me."

Disregarding the compromise stubbornly, Eddie said "No, Miss Ouimet."

"Call me Francis," she said.

"But I can do it, Miss Ouimet!"

"Francis."

"I know your game! I've seen you play! I can carry that bag!"

"All right. All right," said Francis, relenting. "You can caddie for me. But you're going to have to call me Francis. And if this does become too much for you I need you to let me know right away. Got it?"

"Ok, Francis," said Eddie, nodding enthusiastically, beyond ecstatic that he's won.

"All right," said Francis, patting him on the shoulder, and passing him her equipment bag.

The bag really is as big as he is, but, surprisingly, Eddie has no such trouble. Just like he said it doesn't even hinder him as he walks.

The group of people observing him laugh at him again, but Eddie simply gives as good as he gets.

"What are you looking at? You got a problem," said Eddie, proudly, head held high.

Oh yeah, this is going to be an interesting day if this is anything to go by.

Authors Note:

I hope you all like this one! I certainly did while writing it for your vast enjoyment! ;D

For those of you just starting out with my stuff there are other works on my profile that may catch your interest. I highly recommend you take a look as soon as the opportunity presents itself to you. Who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.

Stay safe everyone. Especially with all of these crazy natural disasters occurring a lot lately due to global warming and climate change everywhere for sure. I swear it's like they're getting worse and worse all the time and it's like officials are simply just ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist entirely just to go on with their daily lives. Especially those in multi-million dollar companies that rely on certain elements of our planet that we rely on to naturally keep us safe instead of adapting and finding new safer ways to keep in business. There are so many options out there where they can adapt, but they just refuse to see it because all they care about is money. Climate change is altering so much faster than anyone can really keep track of.

So, in light of all this, it is important to live life to the fullest as much as anyone can.

I know I am. ;) See you guys next time.