Page 42 of Keeping Secrets

"Is this right?" Travis showed him the card, wondering if the hospital pain meds could have caused him to scramble some of the questions and answers.

Scot glanced at it and grinned. "Yep."

Travis blinked at him for a second. "If you say so." He straightened up and turned back to the crowd. "What was the name of Shakespeare’s wife?"

Mrs. Bucheski hit her buzzer again.

"Fireflies," he said with a nod.

"Anne Hathaway," she said with confidence.

Some of the other tables twittered with laughter, which transformed into mutters of indignation when Travis said, "That’s right! Point to the Fireflies."

"I knew that," Ali muttered, sounding frustrated. Travis allowed himself a glance at Keely. She was sparkling with fun and laughter. Again, it felt like it took acute physical effort to tear his gaze away.

"Another Shakespeare question," he announced. Several tables groaned. "For two points, name William Shakespeare’s shortest and longest plays."

This time, a college student was the first to the buzzer.

"The Banana Slugs," Travis said.

"Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors," the girl answered.

"Correct! Two points to The Banana Slugs." He read the next question aloud, frowning slightly in confusion. "Give or take a few years, when did Shakespeare write his first play?"

The same girl hit the buzzer.

"Banana slugs," he said.

"The exact date is unknown, but The Taming of the Shrew was written around the year 1590."

"Correct. Point to The Banana Slugs."

Scot tapped his arm, and Travis bent down to hear him over the crowd. He nodded, straightened, and announced, "And an extra point for naming the play!"

The Banana Slugs cheered as the tables around them groaned. Several teams hadn’t even touched their buzzer yet, and who could blame them? Travis wouldn’t have been able to answer a single question that he had read so far; luckily he had Scot’s answers right there in a carefully legible yet shaky scrawl.

Why had Scot’s handwriting changed recently? Why did he seem to be getting old before his time?

Travis pushed his worry away and moved to the next card.

"Okay, next up is a speed round! Ten questions of this or that, which came first. One point each."

"Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" shouted a college student who was on his fourth beer.

"The egg, stupid!" someone said from the next table. "Dinosaurs laid eggs!"

"One point for us!" his teammate said.

"First one!" Travis shouted over the din, and the bar quieted. "Which game was created first, Clue or Monopoly?"

Several hands slammed onto buzzers, and he had to choose which one had been first. But he had been looking at the card, and he had no idea. He looked to Scot for guidance, and Scot pointed to the table on the far left.

"The Echidnas," Travis said.

"Clue!" one of them shouted.

"Incorrect," he replied, and the whole table groaned. He read from the card: "Clue was released in England in the year 1949. Monopoly was released under that name in 1935, and similar games by other names had existed for three decades prior."

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