[legendsport]

December 25, 1933: Egypt, GA:

"He's just darling," Alice cooed. In her arms she held the newest addition to the large and far-flung Barrell clan. His name was Michael Daniel Barrell and his parents Dan and Gladys wore gigantic smiles on their faces.

For her part, Gladys was surprised at how deeply she had fallen into the role of mother - she had not originally wanted children. Danny did, and this nearly became a bone of contention between them. Then the basketball league folded and Gladys was suddenly rudderless, her role as a scout for Rollie Barrell's Brooklyn club gone. Michael had been born on November 22 and though she was perpetually tired she realized that she had also never been so happy.

Danny, of course, was over the moon. "I finally feel like things are going my way," he confided in his father. Rufus had put a hand on his son's shoulder and replied, "You deserve it, Dan. As far as baseball goes, you've worked as hard as anyone I've ever seen to get to the big leagues. As for Gladys and the baby... well, that was just plain old good sense in marrying a fine woman."

With his wife monopolizing their newest grandchild, Rufus wandered off into the kitchen. Joe had arrived late the night before, alone, and though Rufus had only seen him briefly, his oldest son had not looked happy.

Joe was leaning against the kitchen sink. In his hand he held a tumbler of whiskey. Prohibition was finally over and Rufus didn't need to hide his liquor in the root cellar any longer. Still, it was barely 10am and seeing his son with a drink was not a good sign. Rollie sat at the kitchen table, with a sad look on his face. He gave Rufus a wan smile when he entered the room.

"What's going on in here?" Rufus asked, the concern plain in both his voice and on his face.

Joe took a quick drink, coughed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Rufus noted that Joe's knuckles were bruised.

He cocked an eyebrow at Rollie, who shrugged and said, "Joe should be the one to tell you, Pop." He looked at his brother. "You probably should tell him, Joe."

Joe's head was bowed and he was glowering at his glass.

"Come on, spill it," Rufus prompted. "Before your mother comes in here and tears it out of you."

Joe's chuckle was mirthless. Finally he took a deep breath and said, "I found out that my wife...."

Rufus had a sinking feeling about this, but he prompted Joe again, asking, "What did she do?"

Joe's hand tightened and the glass and between clenched teeth he said, "She slept with Billy Whitney."

Rufus' eyebrows shot up. To say this was surprising would have been an understatement. Rollie had his head bowed as well and gave it a small shake.

"I suppose I deserve it after what I put Edna through," Joe said softly. "What makes it worse is Dot told me she did it for me." He barked another graveyard laugh. "Can you believe that?"

"I'm sorry, Joe," Rufus said.

Joe took another breath, then downed the rest of his whiskey. "She explained that she was the one who convinced Billy to give me that glove," Joe said. "The one I gave to Deuce on his birthday..."

Rufus didn't know what to say. He simply stood in horrified silence.

Joe held up his right hand. "Obviously I went to, um... see, Billy about this."

"What did you do?" Rufus asked, hoping his son hadn't gone too far.

"Oh... I went there fully intending on blowing out his candle," Joe said. Rufus wasn't 100% sure what that meant; he looked at Rollie, who grimly ran a finger across his throat. Rufus swallowed - that was what he was fearing.

Joe caught Rollie's motion. "Yeah," he said, "Like that." He turned to Rufus. "I didn't do it. What I did do was belt him right in the nose. And when he'd get up, I'd do it again. Finally, he just stayed down."

Rufus opened his mouth, a question on the tip of his tongue. Joe saw this and said, "Oh... he'll live, Pop. He won't be pretty for a while, but he'll live."

Rufus closed his eyes and sighed. "What about you and Dot?" he asked.

Joe shook his head. "I don't know. I chewed on that the whole time I was flying here, and I'll be chewing on it when I'm flying back tomorrow." Joe's stay was very brief - his Coastal California team had once again earned a berth in the East-West Bowl and he needed to be back to prep his team for the big game on New Year's Day.

"I love her, Pop. Maybe all this... is just comeuppance for... you know, Charlotte Cleaves and everything," Joe said. The pain in his eyes broke Rufus' heart.

It was Rollie who stepped in - Rufus was too choked up to say anything. Rollie said, "If you love her, and she loves you, then you'll get through this, Joe."

A stray thought wormed its way into Rufus' mind: in one room of his home there was great joy and happiness and here, in this other room, pain and heartbreak. It must mean something... but he had know idea what that was.

Joe asked Rollie and Rufus to keep everything under their hats. "I don't want to spoil anyone's Christmas," he said. "Especially Mom's. She's so happy with Danny's baby being here and all..."

Rufus and Rollie agreed, and the trio went into the other room.

The screen door banged and Alice cringed. She handed baby Michael to his mother and gave Rufus a scolding look. "I told you to fix that thing, Rufus."

Rufus nodded apologetically. "Yes, you did. I'll get it done this week," he promised.

The banging door heralded the entrance of Betsy and Augie Goulding.

"That boy's as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs," Possum had told Rufus the day before when Goulding had arrived from the train station. Possum was on his way to Savannah where he had bought a house several years earlier for his family. Rufus found Goulding's discomfort amusing, and also somewhat sensible, ke knew Alice could be quite intimidating.

"Pop, you promised you'd work with Gus," Betsy told her father. She peered around the room, and asked, "And where did Tommy get off to?"

Rollie chuckled, leaned over to Joe and whispered, "Gee, Joe, does Betsy remind you of anyone?"

To his credit, despite his generally morose state, Joe cracked a small grin and nodded, as both he and Rollie peered over at Alice.

"I think Tommy is already up at the field," Rufus said. "The whole kit and caboodle are up there, except those of us you see here," he added. All the Barrells, except Jack, were on hand at the farm. Rufus and Alice planned a trip to Toronto to visit Jack, Marie and their girls after New Year's.

Rufus, Betsy and Augie (or Gus as Betsy continued to call him) trooped up to the ballfield behind the barn. Joe and Rollie remained at the house, joining Dan and the various spouses and children who were there: Francie, Tillie, and Gladys, plus Rollie's daughters, Freddie Jr. and the newest addition, Michael. Joe's daughter Gloria was also there, though her brother had gone up to the ballfield with his uncles.

When the trio arrived, they found Fred, Tom, Bobby and Harry standing in a semi-circle around Rufus "Deuce" Barrell. Joe's son was holding a baseball in his left hand. Tommy reached out and moved his fingers. They were talking, but too low for Rufus to hear what was said.

"What's going on here?" Rufus asked.

"Tommy's showing Deuce a better grip for his curveball," Fred explained.

Rufus joined the group. Behind him, Betsy grabbed Augie/Gus by the arm and thrust him forward, beside her father. Then she poked Rufus in the ribs.

He jumped and looked over his shoulder at her. "Oh, yes, sorry," he said.

"This here's uh... Augie... Goulding," Rufus said. "He's a pitcher too. Up at St. Blane. He's Betsy's..." he glanced at his daughter and then continued, "uh, friend."

Fred stuck a hand out and introduced himself. As they shook he pointed, "my brothers, Tom... Harry and Bobby." Then he pointed at Deuce. "This here lanky piece of work is our nephew, Rufus. But we all call him Deuce. Less confusing that way, you see."

Goulding nodded. He had begun following FABL that season and he knew full well who these guys were, by name and reputation if not by face. He looked at Bobby. The kid looked, well, like a kid, not like a guy who had just hit .367 and driven in 137 runs for the World Champion Philadelphia Keystones. Fred, Tom and Harry, the trio of Kings, also looked pretty ordinary but all were regulars, and even stars, at the game's highest level.

Tommy thrust out his hand. "So, you throw right-handed or are you a freak of nature, like this here boy?" he asked with a nod towards Deuce. For his part, Deuce simply had a crooked grin on his face.

"Uh, I'm right-handed," Goulding said.

"Good, that means your brain is wired correctly," Tommy said and laughed.

Deuce was eyeing the guest. Goulding figured it was time for him to make the first move. He stuck out his hand and said, "I'm Augie. Nice to meet you, uh... Deuce." Deuce nodded and shook his hand. Goulding was impressed with the size of Deuce's hands. His long fingers would certainly come in handy as a pitcher too.

"I'd like to see him throw," Harry put in. "To hear Betsy tell it, you're some kind of superman," he added, then ducked as Betsy swung a slap at his shoulder.

Goulding took the mound, with Fred heading behind the plate. Rufus and Tom stood behind him, one on either side, each prepared to critique his pitching mechanics.

"OK, fella, fire it in here," Fred said, and pounded his mitt. Deuce stood behind Fred, where an umpire would typically be. He'd found it was a good place to watch other guys pitch. You got a feel for the velocity and movement on his pitches this way.

Goulding grabbed the baseball in the way Coach Hamelin had shown him for a two-seam fastball. He went into his motion and fired a pitch at Fred. He wasn't fully loose and didn't throw as hard as he could. But the pitch was good, and Fred nodded as he caught it. Behind him, Fred heard Deuce grunt appreciatively.

Goulding threw about twenty pitches. Every so often, Rufus or Tom would stop him and tweak something in his motion or ask him about his grip and they made some adjustments there too.

Bobby grabbed a bat and stepped in. "Throw me your best fastball, Augie," he said. Goulding did, and it sizzled over for a strike. Bobby rested the bat on his shoulder. "That was nice," he said with some admiration. "Now do it again. I'll swing this time... so long as it's a strike."

Goulding delivered again and Bobby uncoiled on it, sending it high and deep out towards the back forty.

Goulding's head whipped around and he visibly deflated as he watched the ball disappear into the distance.

Deuce strolled out from behind the plate. "Don't let it get you down, Augie," he said. "This guy," he pointed to Bobby who was smirking, "likes to do that kind of thing to us amateurs."

Bobby tipped an imaginary cap at his nephew.

Harry had grabbed a bat. "I want a crack at this guy too," he said.

Betsy laughed and said, "Gus! Just think, when you get back to campus you can tell the Pied Piper you got to pitch to not one, but two gen-u-ine all-stars!"

Goulding frowned as the others started laughing.

.