Quite appropriately, in the blink of an eye, it was all over. The sharp shrill of the umpire's whistle reverberated across the playing fields as the enormous crowd let out a collective sigh of relief, nearly all not having realised they'd been holding their breath. Then the applause broke out, ringing all around them. It seemed almost inappropriate.
There was still the matter of the standoff between Richie, who hadn't moved a muscle since catching the ball, and Attitude who stood close by, dumbfounded at being confounded. The umpire strode over purposefully. Players from both sides crowded around the two of them. Thrusting out a red card in front of him, towards Attitude, the umpire muttered, "You're done," before turning around and striding back. The spectators started flooding towards their cars, and for those on foot, the exit. Players from all the other games trudged back to their designated changing rooms, leaving two ladies lacrosse teams (minus Sue) on the field of play, angry and very much determined to find some answers. But before they could, Tina, the Salisbridge defender stepped forward, ripped Attitude's stick from her hand, threw it off to one side and pronounced,
"That... was ASSAULT! I'm a police officer, and you're coming with me."
The gathered players had been stunned before, but this was something else entirely. Before any of them could gather their thoughts, the Avengers' captain, the woman who Richie thought of as Pony Tail, stepped forward.
"I don't know what your game is, but you can be damn sure it's not lacrosse. I've never been so disgusted in my entire life. YOU will NEVER play for us again. EVER!"
Echoing their captain's sentiments, the rest of the team pitched in, the Salisbridge players all nodding their agreement.
Tina grabbed Attitude by the arm, with a view to doing who knows what. But Richie stepped forward, at the same time dropping her stick carefully to the ground, afraid of her rising temper.
"Hang on a minute," cried the ex-dragon. "I want to know what's going on!"
Tina released her grip, momentarily at least. Richie stormed forward, invading her tormentor's personal space, right up close.
"What's this all about?" she spat, jabbing a finger right in the middle of Attitude's chest.
"Like you don't know," snarled her opponent.
"I don't," replied Richie, genuinely surprised.
Both teams gathered round, with Richie and Attitude smack bang in the middle of the circle, all the players waiting for an explanation, along with the ex-dragon.
"You did it! YOU! You ruined our lives. And all for what? Just so that you could have some petty sort of vengeance," cried Attitude.
By now Richie had taken a couple of breaths, most of the anger inside her having drifted away. She was calm, focused and determined to get to the bottom of what was going on.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about," answered the Salisbridge captain. "Why don't you enlighten us all?"
Attitude swallowed visibly, seeming to take in her situation for the first time. Surrounded by two teams of really... 'disappointed off' (see what I did there?), angry lacrosse players, with no place to run, and no place to hide.
"It all started two weeks after we played you last year," she uttered.
"When you say 'WE', you mean Bristol Fire Foxes (Attitude's former club)?"
"Yes."
"And...?"
"We beat you in the last minute of a very niggly game, something you were most upset about," announced Attitude smugly.
Richie could vaguely remember the game and her feelings associated with it, but it did all seem a bit of a blur, that and a lot of other things from her past.
"Anyhow, a little under two weeks after the match, my brother, who at the time was living with my parents, had a job interview at Cropptech, here in Salisbridge."
'Wow,' thought Richie. 'I didn't see that coming. I wonder where this is all going?'
"After spending the whole day here, he returned home to inform us that he hadn't been successful. When we asked him why, he told us it was the fault of the woman in the training department, who plays lacrosse. That is you, isn't it?"
Richie mumbled a "Yes," as her mind recounted what she'd just been told. She'd never been involved in any interviews... why would she? And as for being asked about her opinion on new staff, that had never happened either. This was all most odd.
"So you see," continued Attitude, "you ruined our lives. My brother had been back living with my parents for over three years, putting great pressure and strain on them, both physically and financially, eventually leading to my father having to go into hospital not long after the job interview. So there, there it is... the reason I despise you, and your petty... hatefulness."
Richie moved across to Emma and whispered something in her ear, causing the young forward to sprint off in the direction of the temporary changing rooms. Turning back to face Attitude, Richie rubbed her chin in front of what was, by now, a very expectant audience.
"I've never had anything to do with interviewing people... NEVER! As you so rightly pointed out, I work in the TRAINING department. And as for the match... yes I was frustrated, but only for a few hours. After that, just like every other match... the frustrations are forgotten. And just so you know... I would never do what you've just accused me of. Not in a million years!" exclaimed Richie, a little undercurrent of anger running through her voice.
Emma pushed through the throng of players, holding out Richie's mobile phone. Richie took it and thrust it in Attitude's direction.
"PHONE HIM!" she ordered. "I want to hear all about this interview."
"Uhhhh... I'm not sure I'll be able to get hold of him," she replied nervously.
"YOU WILL get hold of him. Because if you don't, things are going to go very badly for you, very quickly," threatened Richie.
Attitude took the phone and dialled the number. Richie leant over and hit the speaker button. The ring tone echoed around the circle of players. Three rings later, a voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Hi Jeff, it's me... Lynn."
"Hi sis," replied Jeff.
"Ummm... I'm going to ask something a little bit strange now, but can you just do it without arguing please? It's really important."
"Okay," replied Jeff.
"You remember that interview you had last year with Cropptech? Could you just tell me about it again?"
"Uhhh... okay. Sure."
"You told me it was the fault of the lacrosse playing woman in the training department. What exactly did she say to you?"
There was a very long pause. It was clear the line hadn't gone dead and that someone was still there, but it was all a little too quiet. Something wasn't quite right, a fact that everybody there had noticed.
"Well?" demanded Attitude.
"I... uh... uh... uh... didn't actually see that woman," stuttered Jeff.
"What do you mean you didn't see her? You came home and told us it was her fault you didn't get the job. How can you not have seen her?"
"Uhhh... well, it was this Manson fella. I spent most of the day with him, and right at the very end he told me he would have loved to have offered me the job, but that some lacrosse playing woman in the training department had put a stop to the whole thing. He sounded really genuine, and devastated that he couldn't take me on."