Chapter 40

SEVENTEEN TEAMS participated at the Cardinals’ Coed Invitational. The teams took two buses for the two-hour trip to southwestern Iowa. Even though the meet was for both boys and girls, only thirteen boys’ teams participated. Some schools had sent only girls’ teams.

For the most part, everyone was sacked out on the way to the meet. Girlfriends and non-girlfriends alike leaned against each other to find a comfy place to sleep. Dennis and Ardith went over the entry list once again. There was only one more meet before the Drake relays and Ardith was trying to get as many girls qualified as possible. The standard was high, though, and it didn’t look like many would make the meet.

Daniella and Roberta missed qualifying in the 100 with a third and eighth place finish. Jaydyn ran all out on the 400 and won the race with her third qualifying time so far. Even with second and third place finishes, Daniella and Roberta failed to qualify in the 800. Janice’s second place finish in the 1500 was not fast enough to qualify, nor was Natalie’s second in the 100 hurdles. Lana placed first in the high jump at 5’2.5”, her career best, but there were no field events in the Drake Relays. The teams did rack up first and second place finishes in the 4x800 and 4x400 relays. That would definitely qualify them for an appearance. Overall, the girls finished third of the seventeen teams. The boys, in typical fashion placed eleventh out of thirteen. So far, they had no one qualified for the Drake Relays. When they went through the score sheets, Dennis and Ardith discovered the boys had been in a three-way tie for last with 0 points for the meet. No one had scored in the top ten in any event.

“What is wrong with our school’s boys?” Ardith asked, shaking her head. They did okay in basketball this year and again not bad in football. But with the way they performed in cross country and track, you’d think we had no athletes in our school.”

“I don’t get it,” Dennis said. “They work out hard. Or else I’m lousy at spotting freeloaders. They’re keeping up with the girls in the workouts. I really don’t understand why they don’t ever place in a meet.”

“I think I’ll talk to Andy and see what he thinks is happening.”

Thirteen girls’ teams met Thursday at the Lady Chargers invitational. Ardith juggled runners around to focus on the relays and the girls won both the 4x400 and the Distance Medley. They knocked nearly ten seconds off their best time in the 4x400 and qualified. Jayden also took first in the 100 and Lana got second in the high jump. The team placed third overall.

Some of the girls were missing because Thursday was the beginning of spring break with Easter coming on Sunday. The rest felt like they lost a day of vacation for the poor performance. And it wasn’t that the team didn’t have good runners, but third seemed the best they could muster. As Ardith and Dennis looked at the qualifiers for the Relays, it quickly became obvious that there were really four very fast runners and a lot of girls who were pretty good but were seldom in the top three places. Predictably, the Armors were all in the top category in every race. Jaydyn seemed to win any event she participated in. It would be only those four runners who went to Drake.

Friday afternoon, Dennis ran an errand to the grocery store to pick up cloves for the ham his mother was preparing for Easter dinner. She’d invited all the girls over Sunday for dinner that she would prepare and serve them for a change. She’d been cooking much less since the girls took charge, but she wanted to show she hadn’t lost her touch in the kitchen. Specifically, she wanted to show Tom, who was also invited for Easter dinner.

Friday at 1:00, they’d all attended the Good Friday service and heard Peg sing another ancient hymn called “Calvary.” It was so gentle that the entire church was filled with a sense of peace and calm.

Rest, rest to the weary,
Peace, peace to the soul.
Though life may be dreary,
Earth is not thy goal.
Oh, lay down thy burden
Oh, come unto me.
I will not forsake thee.
I will not forsake thee.
Though all else should flee.

Dennis thought his mother had given him an errand just to get him out of the house for a while. Half his girlfriends were out of town for the duration of spring break and the other half all seemed to have things to do this afternoon. He wandered through the grocery store looking for the spice, still feeling calm after the service when he spotted Donnie Oswald selecting a pop.

“Hey, Donnie. How you doing, man?” Dennis asked.

“Oh, hey, Dennis. Things are great. Just, uh, grabbing a pop for my exciting spring break,” he laughed.

“Say, since you’re here, mind if I ask you something about track?” Dennis asked.

“Oh. Um ... sure. I guess.”

“How come you guys seem to be falling apart at meets? I’m sure I’ve seen you run the 1600 in five flat. You did that during cross country. Are you having trouble with something? Anything I can work with you on?” Dennis asked.

“No, we’re fine. I’m fine. I’m good. Really.”

“That doesn’t sound good. What’s up?”

“Look, man. You aren’t the only guy at Bartley who has a girlfriend or who would do anything to ... Look! You’ve got to let other guys do what they have to do and not put your nose in it. Understand? We work out. We work hard. Don’t bug us about the meets.” Donnie abruptly turned and left the store without paying for his pop. Dennis stepped up to the cash register and handed the cashier the bottle of cloves.

“Um ... My friend had to run. I told him I’d pay for his pop. Can you ring it up?” Dennis asked.

“Oh, sure. That’s good of you. I didn’t think he’d run out without paying like that. He’s a good kid,” the cashier said. She was an older woman—older than Dennis’s mom, at least. He smiled and gave her the money, unsure what Donnie’s abrupt message and departure meant. No boys from Bartley had qualified for the Drake Relays and Dennis was sure at least a couple could have. It just didn’t seem right that they all fell apart at meets. And after posting the first winning basketball season in memory, the team had suddenly dropped four games straight, including the first game of the regionals. It didn’t make sense.

Lana, Amy, Brenda, and Natalie joined Dennis in front of Trinity Lutheran at 6:30 Easter morning. It was cold, but the sky was clear and the sun was just rising. Easter sunrise service was a tradition at Trinity and always started outside if the weather cooperated. This Easter morning, Peg stepped up to the top step in front of the doors and turned to face the thirty or so gathered there.

Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world

It was not a usual Easter song, but as the tones washed over the people, it seemed every bit as appropriate. When she finished singing, she turned and led the congregation into the church where they all joined in singing “When Morning Gilds the Skies.” After a short message, Peg sang again.

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

They were all back for the eleven o’clock service. The music was considerably livelier, being the regular service and not the quiet sunrise service. Everyone sang old favorites like “He lives,” “Christ the Lord is risen today,” and “Up from the grave He arose!” Peg led the choir in a lively concluding arrangement of “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee.”

Dot rushed out of the service as soon as she could and went to put the finishing touches on the special dinner. With only four girlfriends available to join them, she’d managed to set the table for all eight guests rather than the usual Sunday buffet.

Dennis, Peg, and the girls got home a bit later, after walking through the park as Peg chattered excitedly about what fun it was to sing with the choir. When they arrived, Dot got them all organized with little tasks that ranged from vacuuming the living room carpet to making sure fresh towels were in the bathroom.

“Your mom is acting like I do when my boyfriend comes over,” Lana whispered as she and Dennis helped make Peg’s bed.

“Well, it’s kind of like that,” Dennis admitted as they moved on to his room to continue making beds. “I guess the experience is kind of new for her. She’s been out with Tom twice and he’s been over here with all of us on Sunday afternoon a few times. I don’t think it’s just making sure we are all safe and sound anymore.”

“That’s sweet. Are you okay with it?”

“Yeah. I like Tom and he isn’t trying to be more than a good friend to me. I think Peg is still a little confused. It’s surprising what she seems to remember. She didn’t seem to miss Dad that much when he was in the hospital or after he was killed. Then once during Christmas while we were making a big batch of Amish cookies, she just said, ‘I’ll put Daddy’s cookies in the jar.’ And she did. We weren’t sure we could eat them, but it was fine. They were just Daddy’s cookies.”