Page 90 of Diana Adores the Puzzled Duke

Back the champion went with his boot to the throw line. He wound up and let go. But the boot slipped from his hand and went careening into the assembled crowd—missing his mark and making Geoffrey the newchampion.

“Miriam screamed and shouted, “Geoffrey, Geoffrey. Champion of theworld.”

Diana clapped more discreetly but was happy for herfriend.

Geoffrey shook the loser’s hand and came running over carrying his trophy of a gold Wellington boot. He hugged hissister.

“I told you,” he saidbeaming.

“Now if only you could use that skill as a profession,” sheteased.

“How is the baking apprenticeship going?” Dianaasked.

“Pardon the pun, but I gotsacked.”

“Then what now? Have you not almost exhausted all possible professions known to the modern world?” Diana asked with asmile.

“I was thinking of being a traveling minstrel. I cannot play any instrument but I have a great sense of time and could beat out a rhythm on the back of a pietin.”

Just then the crowd began to shift as they noticed the Queen and her entourage emerging from the tea tent. Robert and Amelia were accompanying her and they headed for the tent where the flowers had been judged and wentinside.

The crowd shifted again when the Queen disappeared and attention returned to the races. There was to be a sack race, an egg and spoon race, and, lastly, the three-legged race which the twins announced they hadentered.

The first race got underway. The sack race attracted mostly youngsters, as anyone over the age of twenty found repeated hopping to be more of a chore than a delight. The race was a tie—a twelve-year-old boy and a fourteen-year-old girl. Both were from thevillage.

Absolutely no one won the egg and spoon race. Every egg dropped from the spoon of each participant. That had never happened before so they ran the race again. And to everyone’s surprise, no one won that time either. The organizers felt another try would begin to strain the audience’s interest and it was dropped with no winnerdeclared.

Geoffrey and Miriam were preparing for their race when it was temporarily suspended as the Queen had emerged from the flower tent and the Morris dancers formed to present theirentertainment.

The eight dancers were all men. They were dressed in the traditional Morris costume of white shirt and knee length pants with white stockings. They wore black vests and had bells tied just below the knee. They wore straw hats festooned with ribbons and they carried sticks about four feet long that they would use in thedance.

The crowd made way for the Queen’s party as they prepared to watch thedance.

The dancers began, accompanied by two accordions, a drum, and a pennywhistle. It was a simple dance with the men turning and stomping, creating patterns as they twirled and struck their sticks in a ritual fight. The bells at their knees shook as they created syncopated rhythms before theQueen.

The Queen and the crowd were delighted when the dance had finished, and there was so much applause the dancers returned for a shortencore.

Her Majesty seemed to be enjoying herself, and when the dancing had finally finished, she and her party walked over to where the three-legged race was about tobegin.

The twins’ legs were tied together and they were ready togo.

Geoffrey said to Diana, “We are going to win. Just you wait andsee.”

“What makes you so confident?” sheasked.

“Because we are twins. We think alike and behave as one,” Miriamanswered.

The Starter banged a cymbal and the race began. And right from the start, the twins took the lead. They seemed to have no trouble at all moving together. It was like they had practiced this all theirlives.

However, another couple was catching up with them. It looked like they were two brothers—both towheaded with freckles and toothygrins.

At one point Geoffrey caught his foot on a rock and the two almost tumbled over. However, they righted themselves and found that they were just a hair behind the twoboys.

Geoffrey grabbed hold of Miriam’s waist and lifted her up so that her outside leg was off the ground and he was the one moving them forward. The crowd went wild as they began to catch up and then overtook the two boys. They won the race by a length and even the Queen shouted andwaved.

However, the boys protested saying that it was unfair as Miriam was not running but was beingcarried.

The judges conferred and came to the conclusion that there was no rule prohibiting what they had done, and they were declared the final victors—the judges raising the twins’hands.