{"id":231,"date":"2026-01-01T00:53:42","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T00:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historical-fiction.org\/?p=231"},"modified":"2026-01-01T00:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T00:53:42","slug":"croquet-with-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historical-fiction.org\/?p=231","title":{"rendered":"Croquet with friends"},"content":{"rendered":"1873, France Spring time in France is like a country coming to life awakening from the winter chill, the days are milder and longer. You can feel the sun rays of the afternoon send a warm golden glow to embrace the dawning season. over the lawn we see nature bursting into colour and a time when the croquet players polish their mallets and balls and head out to embrace the day with friends for a game of croquet. Richard and Betty, Frank and Pam have been close friends since their school days and loved the time together regularly playing their favourite game of croquetas. The mallets clicked and the balls traced their smooth and polite arcs through the hoops in a bid to knock the opponents ball out of the way to reach the peg first. Richard and Frank, while very competitive at the sport, both men congratulated each other politely like true gentleman when they achieved a one up stroke on each other Richard said \u201cGood show ol chap I see you have a sharp eye as well as some type of power over the ball I must say\u201d Frank just nodded and smiled but inside busting with pride over his stroke of luck against his best friend. Betty and Pam laughed too loudly, their parasols tilted like flustering peacocks, while their husbands\u2014Richard and Frank\u2014argued in friendly banter about the final score. Summer had made them all indulgent. It was Bettys shot that sent the blue ball astray, through the dandelions and vanished into the bushes at the edge of the lawn, where lavender met boxwood. Richard stepped forward to retrieve it, bending down low and pushing his way into the thick bushes, he had to push aside leaves with the tip of his mallet then stretch in to reach the ball. Suddenly he stopped at the sight of a dull and dirty metal object among some leaves. He reached in a little further dragging it with the mallet so he could pick it up. When he saw it he immediately recognised it and dropped it back on the leaves where he had picked it up. \u201cFrank\u201d he said, quietly gesturing with his hand not wanting to draw attention of the others \u201cCome here.\u201d then he pointed toward the ground where his find was now laying. There on the ground among a few rustled drying leaves shadowed by the shade of the bushes he noticed, a gold wedding ring, glinting but dull he looked inside and there bore an inscription\u2014F. \u00e0 P., 1868\u2014still clear despite the dirt. Frank felt the air thin Pam had sworn, years ago, that the ring was lost down a drain at the back of the house and she had made many attempts to retrieve it even stating she got her arm caught in the pipe. She had told the story so often it had become a family legend. Frank spoke first handing it with an outreached arm in Pams direction \u201cThat\u2019s yours, isn\u2019t it, Pam?\u201d Pam\u2019s face reddened, her heart seemed to miss a beat then race like a race horse. \u201cNo, it\u2019s nothing just an old ring. But if it is I must have dropped it long time ago.\u201d \u201cWhat _Here?\u201d Richard asked. \u201cIn my garden?\u201d Franks voice shook his anger rising in his chest. \u201cYou said it fell off in the river.\u201d \u201cI said I couldn\u2019t find it,\u201d Pam snapped. \u201cMust every word be weighed like a crime?\u201d The laughter from moments before curdled into accusation. Frank folded his arms. \u201cIf she lied about this, what else did she lie about?\u201d Pam turned on Richard. \u201cYou planted it.\u201d Richard laughed, sharp and humourless. \u201cTo what end, tell me please?\u201d The argument spilled across the lawn\u2014old grievances dragged into daylight, debts recalled, glances reinterpreted. The ring lay between them, small and merciless, until Pam snatched the ring from ranks outreached hand. \u201cEnough,\u201d she said. \u201cThis ring doesn\u2019t prove everything\u2014but it proves something, and I won\u2019t spend another summer pretending.\u201d The croquet game was abandoned. And in the quiet that followed, the countryside seemed to listen, as if it, too, had been waiting for the truth to surface. The majestic spring morning with all its beauty glowing, now sits in sorrow, forlorn and wonder.