[Big Six]

Canton Base Ball Grounds
August 8, 1899

"Charlie, you better go. Your manager will be angry at you for being over here talking to me, won't he?" Kate Black's eyes looked worried as she looked at her beau from underneath her wide-brimmed summer hat.

"Don't worry," Charlie Callahan replied. "I pitched yesterday, so I don't even have to warm up, really." With the Watchmakers in first place, manager Ryan Brock could let the reins off his boys just a bit. As long as they weren't drinking or carousing--both of which he had no tolerance for, whatsoever--Brock believed in rewarding his players when they earned it. The use of a lighter managerial touch was one simple way he could do this.

Kate's face fell a little bit. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to be here yesterday," she said softly. "It sounds like you pitched a magnificent game."

"Please don't worry," Charlie said reassuringly. "I suppose I'll pitch another good game or two before I'm all through." He laughed softly. Pitchers usually feel good the day after they throw a four-hit shutout that widens their team's lead in the standings to three games.

"I plan on doing just that, more than once, before I go back to school," Kate said, her smile brightening again. "I do have five weeks, after all. The season should be just about over by then."

"That should be just about the right amount of time. I hope you'll get to see us in the championship series."

"You wouldn't make me late for the start of classes, would you?" Kate teased.

"You're a big girl," Charlie replied with an equally teasing grin. "You'll do exactly what you want."

"Not always," she corrected him. "I wanted to be in two places at once this summer, and I couldn't do that."

Kate had been offered the opportunity to spend the summer as a governess for the family of one of Mount Holyoke College's trustees, a former Congressman from Stockbridge, a pretty town in the Berkshires. The trustee's son, a local attorney, and his wife had two lively children whom Kate had met and fallen in love with. Kate thought the offer was wonderful, but she'd politely turned it down because she wanted so much to come back home.

"The children you wrote me about do sound like a lot of fun," Charlie agreed. He idly tossed a baseball in his right hand, catching it and setting the grip for each of his pitches in turn.

"They are wonderful," Kate said. "The boy, Patrick, is completely mad about base ball. And Emily, his sister, is no shrinking violet, that's for sure."

"How old did you say they were?"

"Patrick is almost twelve, and Emily is nine."

"Bring Patrick back home with you next summer. We might need an extra man." Charlie winked playfully as the gong that signalled the end of infield practice sounded. He waved his hand as he jogged away.

Kate, who knew the drill perfectly, waved a gloved hand back. "I'll hopefully be able to see you before our trains leave this afternoon." Kate would be returning home to Canal Dover with her brother, while Charlie would be off to play a series in Lima.

"I hope so, too," Charlie called back.

A few of Charlie's teammates were pointing and snickering by now. "Come on, Romeo," Joshua Spesinger called out, laughing good-naturedly.

Charlie hoped the Watchmakers didn't see him blush, but he turned around and waved to Kate again, too, knowing they'd now give him the business all the harder.