On the Run Together

Chapter 14: Friendly Competition

It wasn't long after Christmas before the boys found themselves in the Jeep with K on the way to the archery tournament. Both of them were excited, and Clint was especially thrilled that his purple arrows would be easy to pick out — but K could also tell that both of them were nervous.

They wanted to do well, and this was also, for Barney, the first real 'test' of how well he'd learned and kept up his skills without Jacques.

Still, there was a whole new change that came over both of the boys once they arrived to see the small crowd gathered up — of parents, trainers, instructors, and people in the community all coming to support the kids for the tournament.

With someone to show off to, and someone to compete against, K could actually see both of them getting more confident — especially Clint, who was still short and looked small enough that some of the older kids didn't seem to believe that he was in the skill level that he signed up for.

K had to smirk when she saw Clint draw himself up with his chin jutted out. "Money where your mouth is," he told the older boys, which got a sort of snerk out of Barney. "When I win, you'll just have to be wrong. So, so wrong."

Barney was grinning as he put an arm around Clint's shoulders. "C'mon, Clint. You don't wanna get off on the wrong foot. We'll fight 'em later if they're still gonna pick on someone half their side," he said in a voice that the other boys could still hear.

The other boys glanced at each other and seemed to take offense to that, but one of the instructors stepped in before things could get too out of hand and had all the kids get set up with their targets, reminding everyone of the scoring system.

"You will each shoot three arrows in each round," she told them. "A perfect thirty will get you an extra prize, but the goal here is just to do your best." She flashed the kids a smile. "And good luck."

Clint's group went first — though he and Barney were at the same skill level. This was where most of the kids were, so they shot in groups and then stepped aside for the next group... and the Barton boys had decided that there had to be one of them in each line.

After all, they wanted to show off.

The first group of five hit the line at the same time, though the kids took varying amounts of time to get set up. Clint took a moment to set his stance, remembering to set his gaze on the target, drawing his string back so that his hand was resting at about his jawline...

He let his arrow fly, and he couldn't stop the grin when he hit the line right on the red and yellow — which still counted as nine points. He adjusted his sights so he wouldn't shoot as high and then grinned over his shoulder at Barney, checking out the other kids' shots. Most of them were about where he was — there was one kid who looked like he'd been doing it for a while that got on the yellow, a nine-pointer too.

When Barney's group took their turns, Clint wasn't surprised to see that his brother got on the red the first shot — eight points — and from there, it was just a matter of honestly showing off.

Once the boys had their groove, they were shooting consistently, reds and yellows most of the way. It was the product of practicing as often as they did — practically every other day — but K was also sure that competition had a lot to do with it too. The boys were checking themselves and their posture, their positions, their hands, their grips — all of it was far more meticulous than when it was just the two of them in the repurposed barn.

The instructor looked impressed by the time the younger shooters were done, though Barney and Clint were more focused on needling each other as they headed over to K.

"Did you see that?" Clint asked, bouncing on his toes. "I got a twenty-six!"

"Not bad," she said with a little smirk. "I'm not surprised though. You've been practicing."