[legendsport]

Egypt, GA: May 13, 1920:

Alice Barrell was feeling a bit of concern. She seemed to have misplaced her daughter. Having ten children, "misplacing" one occasionally wasn't typically something she fretted about much. They were on a farm, and there weren't too many ways to get into too much trouble. And the kids had typically done things together in a group. But Betsy was the youngest, and the only girl and it wasn't like her to just disappear in the way her brothers had occasionally done.

She had gone through the house and found it empty, aside from the dog. Blue, who the kids had always called "Old Blue" because that's what Possum had called the hound dog since he'd brought him to the farm as a puppy, actually was now, in fact, old. And he liked to lay around in the sitting room. He had barely raised his head when Alice had swept through the room calling for her daughter.

"I don't suppose you know where Betsy is?" she had asked the dog. Blue twitched an ear in response. "That's what I thought," Alice muttered.

Maybe the boys would know where their sister was - Tommy, Bobby and Harry had all gone down to the ballfield behind the barn. Alice stepped out on to the porch and could hear - faintly - the sound of wooden bat on ball. She shook her head and started walking.

A few minutes later she rounded the barn and stopped short, too stunned to move.

Tommy was standing on the pitching mound, while Harry was behind him in the approximate position a shortstop would play and Bobby was on the other side of the infield. No one was in the outfield. Behind the plate, as usual, was Fred. He was 14 and had generally begun to seek competition closer to his own age group, but he was almost always willing to catch.

Standing in the right-handed batter's box and doing so competently to Alice's somewhat experienced eye (she had been around baseball her whole life), was Betsy.

"Alright, Tommy, give me something to hit," Betsy said, in her piping, high six-year-old voice.

Tommy grinned. He went into the full wind-up that Rufus had painstakingly taught him (his form, according to Rufus and Possum both, was flawless), rocked back and threw a pitch that wasn't anywhere near full speed - at 12, Tommy already had a fearsome-for-his-age fastball - but it was right over the plate.

Betsy swung, and swung well. Alice wasn't Rufus, but she recognized a technically sound swing when she saw it. And coming from a six-year-old girl, no less.

The bat connected with the ball and shot out towards shortstop. Harry, only a year older than Betsy, smoothly slid to his right and grabbed it. Bobby had gone to cover second base and took the throw against a pretend baserunner.

"6-4-3 double play!" he shouted.

Betsy had dropped the bat and had both hands on her hips. "Was not!" she shouted back.

Fred, on his knees, was laughing. "That probably would have been a double-play Bets," he said kindly. He'd be heading off to high school in the fall though no one was yet sure where he'd go. Danny (and Rufus) had suggested he, like Danny, go to Capital Academy in DC. Fred wasn't sure he wanted to leave his friends. Hence, no decision thus far.

Alice decided to have a bit of fun. "Elizabeth Vera Barrell!" she exclaimed in her stern mother's voice.

Betsy froze and her face went white. Alice heard faintly, from Tommy, a whispered, "Oh, crud."

"What on earth are you doing?" Alice asked, mock-sternly.

"Uh... I wanted to play baseball, like the boys," Betsy said in a small voice.

"You're a girl. Baseball is not for girls," Alice said, barely maintaining a straight face.

"Aw, c'mon Ma, she's actually pretty good for being just a squirt," Fred put in. Bobby shouted "And a skirt!" and doubled over in laughter. Harry said, "I don't get it."

"Watch it, Robert!" Alice shouted back.

Alice walked over to her daughter. "Let me show you something," she said, picking up the bat.

"Hmm, this is a bit small. Where's your bat, Freddy?" she asked.

Fred had pushed his mask up on his head. He looked confused as he turned to the backstop and grabbed his bat. He handed it to his mother.

"OK, this is better," Alice said. "Put your mask back on, Freddy."

Freddy's face split in a wide grin. He pulled his mask down and pounded his glove. "Haha, this is going to be fun!" he said.

Betsy stepped back as Alice stepped into the box. "Go stand over there, Betsy," Alice said and pointed to the bench Rufus had installed for "the fans" to use.

Tommy, standing on the mound, had a non-plussed look on his face. "Uhm, Mom? What are you doing?"

Alice tapped the plate with the bat, and said, "Show me something, Thomas."

Tommy shrugged and stood on the rubber.

Bobby was laughing and Harry still looked confused. "Mom, you don't play baseball," he said.

She winked at him in reply.

"Whenever you're ready," she said to Tommy.

Tommy shrugged and went into his wind-up. This time he threw the ball a little harder than he had before but it was still right over the plate. Alice, hoping she could still do this, lifted her front foot and stepped towards the pitcher, rotating her hips and bringing the bat around in a smooth swing that was just a tad early. She felt the bat connect and saw the ball shoot out towards Bobby who was playing halfway between first and second. It was a soft liner that looped over his head and into the outfield.

Alice whooped and said, "See there, Betsy? That's how you do it. A nice, level swing and you won't be beating the ball into the dirt."

Behind her, Alice heard Fred mutter, "Holy smokes..."

"Girls can do anything boys can. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Alice said with a smile for her daughter.

Then she handed the bat to Freddy and started walking back towards the house. She left silence in her wake as her five youngest children stood watching her with their mouths agape. Finally, she heard Harry ask, "Tommy, should I go get the ball?"