Baseball and Barbed Wire

Joe was on the mound and Kelsey was at the plate. Joe wound up dramatically and then tossed her an easy under hand pitch. Kelsey swung the bat directly into the path of the incoming ball. The ash wood bat connected cleanly with the white baseball. The ball flew into left field and landed cleanly in Luke's glove. 

“Okay,” Caleb shouted from third base. “Guess that's the inning.”

Scott, Luke and Joe made their way towards the improvised home plate. It wasn't just home plate that was improvised. All the bases were. First base was a piece of fire wood, second was a large stone, third base was a small board, and home plate was an actual tin camping plate that the kids had found buried in the dirt. They had set up the field in a three sided section of the yard below the house. In an attempt to keep all the windows of the two and a half story farmhouse intact, the children had placed home plate closest to the house.

The five kids had pressured Joe, who was the oldest of the group at the age of eighteen, to join them in a game of baseball. It was a rare occasion when the Henning clan had an even number of people to play with. Usually, there was at least one 'ghost man' on base at all times to facilitate a continual game.

Scott was the first one up to bat. After two strikes, he finally managed to hit the ball. The ball flew past left field, across the driveway, and landed in the lower pasture.

“Well,” Caleb commented with some dejection. “We usually just call that a home run. Come on. We gotta find it. It's not our ball.”

The group trekked towards the pasture. The Hennings rolled under the single strand of barbed wire that designated the boundary of the pasture. Joe followed suit. They fanned out and started combing through the tall grass in search of the baseball. 

“How hard did you hit that thing, Scott?” Kelsey inquired of her brother after a few minutes with no success.

“As hard as I could,” Scott responded. “Maybe I don't know my own strength. Maybe it's further out.”

“Maybe you are overestimating your strength,” Caleb countered. “Maybe it's closer to the field...or diamond. You know what I mean.”

“It's not a big deal, guys,” Joe interjected. “It's just a baseball. I probably have a half a dozen more rolling around somewhere at home.”

The group looked for a few more minutes before they finally gave up.

“Well,” Kelsey observed. “I guess the game's over.”

“Who won?” Kerry inquired of the rest of the group.

Everyone exchanged glances of confusion, each hoping the others would come up with the right answer. In a situation such as the one they found themselves in, the temptation was often to declare one's own team the winner and their opponents the loosers. However, everyone new that no one would accept this so they just declared it a tie.

“I guess we all lost,” Scott observed. “We lost the ball, anyway.”

Everyone responded with laughter and eye rolls as they turned towards the house. They made their way back to the edge of the pasture and paused at the fence.

“Here,” Caleb began as he reached for the barbed wire. “It's not electric. I'll just hold it up so you guys can duck underneath.” 

He grabbed the wire between his thumb and forefinger and motioned for Joe to walk under. Joe bent forward and ducked under the fence. Just as he started under the wire, Caleb let out a slight cry and dropped the wire. The wire smacked Joe right on the noggin. Joe dropped to his knees immediately and clutched the back of his head with one and as he crawled under the wire. He stood up and turned towards Caleb who was still on the other side of the fence with a look of surprise and confusion on his face.

“What was that, Caleb?” Joe asked of the eldest Henning as he rubbed the back of his head. “That wire poked me in the head!”

“I'm really sorry, man,” Caleb hastily responded. “It shocked me!”

“I thought this fence wasn't electric.” Luke interjected.

“It's not supposed to be,” Scott confirmed. “We haven't had cows down here for a month. That's why the grass is so high.”

“Well,” Joe smiled. “I guess it happens. Hopefully not more than once though.”

“Right,” Caleb responded. “Okay, everyone can crawl under the wire on their own.”

Everyone agreed that this was the best method of crossing the fence line. They crawled through in turn and made their way to the house. They were empty handed, but Joe did end up with a souvenir of sorts.