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The Delbosque family gathered drinks and snacks for the lengthy broadcast of the Olympic opening ceremony. Gus Delbosque, who didn’t care for that part of it, was on the back porch applying saddle soap to a saddle mounted on a sawhorse. The whole family loved a spectacle, and those who designed this one had outdone themselves. There were fireworks, bands, flag corps, video clips of memorable Olympic performances, and the lighting of the Olympic flame. Start to finish the celebration provided a good two hours of solid entertainment (punctuated by commercials).
When the parade of athletes began Maria, Clara, and Jerry ran to fetch their father, who was eager to see the actual athletes. The procession was led as always by Greece, but Barbados was not far behind. Their blue and yellow flag with its trident was held proudly by a radiant, muscular young man.
Maria and Clara began screaming,
"There's Barbados! There's Barbados!"
Then Cheryl Ford appeared, tall and smiling and waving, striding jauntily along. Jerry clapped and Luisa hugged him close.
"Where's...?" Clara wondered.
Maria interrupted, "There she is! There she is!"
And there was Darcy, in the middle of the small troupe of athletes, looking, Luisa thought, very hesitant indeed. Glancing from side to side and rarely smiling, she scanned the stands constantly, only occasionally giving a half wave to the crowd. She did look different, dusky, almost, still small but no longer pale. Her hair was shorter now, too.
And then they were gone, followed past the camera by Belarus, Belgium, and Belize.
Gus stood up. Rather than stay for Bolivia, Botswana, Chile, and a hundred others, he decided to go wipe off the saddle soap he had applied. It would be quite a while until the United States of America marched into view.
