Our team turned up at the pub ready to challenge our old rivals, the reigning pub quiz champions of Little Nedding. They are notorious cheats of course, what with concealed smartphones and friends planted around to covertly signal answers. But we were in great form, brain cells bristling, which is more than can be said for the stand-in quiz-meister ( the usual one had covid.)
The stand-in chap seemed a bit furtive. He clutched the answer sheets like a symbol of power and made a great show of concealing the pages. Definitely something peculiar about him.
I should introduce the team. We’re a bit of a mixed bag. Amy tends to be rather timid even when she knows an answer; Dave is the opposite, and often puts himself forward rather than share kudos with others in the team. Pete is a happy go lucky type, and I suppose I’m the one left to try and organize us. The other fixture on the team is my scruffy old dog Rory, who generally sits quietly under a stool. He’s our mascot.
The less said about our opponents the better, I think.
We were off….
‘ First question. What sort of shoes was Dorothy given when she arrived in the land of Oz?’
Nobody knew this, except our own Amy.
‘Ruby slippers. They were magical.
There were lots of ‘oh yeahs’ and ‘I loved that film’ comments.
‘Right ho. Next question. Who did Dorothy meet on her way to meet the Wizard?’
Amy knew this too. But she was kind enough to let the others have a try. Pete roused himself.
‘Well, there was a scared lion, a tin bloke and a scarecrow.’
Quizmaster shuffled his papers importantly.
‘Correct. Two out of two, and for the third question, what were each hoping to find in Oz?’
The opposition were starting to get restless.
‘Is this a quiz or a tribute act for the Wizard of Oz? It’s not fair. We need some decent questions. Anyway, the Wizard was just an old bloke pretending to have magical powers. He was just a sad old loser.’
Ooh. Things were getting interesting. The champions were upset and the phone signal didn’t seem to be working for their cheats’ guide. Even more upset was the quizmaster, whose knuckles were white from clutching his papers. He took a sharp intake of breath and started to look a bit greenish.
Rory, uncharacteristically, chose that moment to bark and chase round the pub. It was getting a bit chaotic and when the dog snatched the question sheets out of the quiz guy’s hand and bit the loudmouth on the opposite team, it seemed like the contest was over.
‘It felt like we were in a magic realist drama’
Dave loved a post-match analysis.
Amy was the big surprise of the night. From her bag she took a pair of red, sparkly shoes.
‘Looks like they really work. We need never lose another quiz.’
