Singles competition (bowls) stated yesterday. I won first two game and was happy to see M' s cousin respond to the extra coaching and win his first game. He will be against another winner today. M's first game is the same time today as my third game. She has drawn a tough opponent to start.

 “Pumpkins!” She exclaimed, “Now you are silly, there are no pumpkins, if you’re going to tease me you can just, just go by yourself!”

 He looked contrite, “I’m not teasing, but never mind.” He grinned suddenly, jumped up and said, “C’mon I got a new casting rod we can fish off the point, we can take turns!”

Forgiveness was instant and they raced on through the bush and down over the mossy bank on the other side of the hill.

 Later as he watched her casting he said quietly, “It was like it was real, I wasn’t teasing.”

 She wound the line in without saying anything, then turned and replied, “I believe you, I’m not mad anymore.” Then with a flash of intuition, “What else was there, there was something else wasn’t there?”

 He looked back, “You won’t laugh or get mad?”

 “No, tell me I want to know”

 He hesitated for a few seconds then again very quietly said, “When I saw the pumpkins they had arrows sticking out of them, and I thought for a second I was holding a bow.”

 She stared at him and even in her youth realized that he wasn’t joking wasn’t making up the story.  She reached out and touched him on the arm and whispered,  “I believe you.” Then in her fashion she threw off the sober moment and said, “Let’s go, I want to show you everything that’s happened since last year.”

 The summer sped by and all too soon, Brian and his parents were packing up their car in preparation for leaving.  The evening before they left, Cindy’s parents had all the Bay area neighbors in for a barbeque and an ‘until next year’ party.  After the dinner and everyone was sitting around a campfire at the edge of the beach, stories about the other years and past times started to be told.  Many of the stories had been told before, but that was traditional and when someone embellished a story a bit no one really minded.  During a lull, Brian said to his Dad, “ Dad tell us a story about Grandpa and Cindy’s Uncles.”

 “Brian, you’ve heard them all before.”

 “I don’t care, no one has heard them since last year.” This last to a chuckle from the group.

 “Well let’s see, maybe I can think of a new one.”  His Dad leaned back, his back to the water and stared out over the garden and up on to the low bluff that overlooked it.

 A smile came across his face and he said, “Here’s one you may not have heard before.”

 As he started, silence fell across the group and the younger ones were wide eyed in anticipation.  “It seems.” He began, “That like most kids your Grandpa and his friend Billy who was, I think, Cindy’s great great Uncle went through a period when they thought they were the Robin Hoods of Ruby Bay. They made bows from cedar branches, they made arrows from almost anything, they even got pretty good at using feathers from Billy’s mother’s chickens to feather their arrows.  They wandered all over the hills practicing and pretending to help and save their neighbors from bad guys that didn’t exist.  They were about your age, probably a year or so older and they needed more challenge.