Chapter 247 - Final Arrow Was Worth...

There was worry and suspense in the hearts of the spectators as they stared at the arrow shooting towards the target.

Yvonne's hands lowered after she had shot the arrow and her eyes were fixed ahead of her to make sure that she had not missed this last chance.

'Is time moving slower than usual?' She narrowed her eyes and sneered when the wait was annoying her.

The time taken for the arrow to reach the 50m target was the same as the earlier ones but for the little girl, the wait was excruciating.

The result of this final arrow would determine whether they would move onto the next trial or her assessment ended right here.

Therefore, she was eager and impatient to see what happens next.

'I did my best with the last one!' She reassured her uncertain heart that everything would turn out for the best.

Even when she was trying to appease and coax her anxious heart, she could not stop worrying about what might happen if the arrow did not land on the target.

She needed one point from the arrow she shot out, this was the only thing standing between her and the next step of the assessment.

While Yvonne was diving deeper into her worrying thoughts, a sound rose out.

*Pling*

The indicator that she had managed to hit the target rang in her ears, loud and clear for her to snap out of her thoughts.

Her eyes remained stunned as she stared at the target at a distance of 50m away from her.

The arrow she was desperate to see where it would land was there, stuck to the target sheet proving that she had accomplished her task.

"Yes!" The little girl's shout of celebration was the sound that awoke the others from their stupor.

Howard, today's assessment's judge alternated his eyes between the girl and the target where her arrow was stuck.

This last arrow on which all of her hopes were placed had not let her down.

The young boy stared at his sister who was grinning widely and then turned to look at the circle where the arrow had landed in order to announce the final result.

"Final arrow was worth… 5 Points!" He called out her result in a loud voice.

This announcement brought about a loud round of cheers from the spectators as the result was completely out of their expectations.

Even Captain Desmo Reel was astonished to see that her final arrow had landed on the blue circle indicating that she had earned 5 points in her last attempt.

Rutherford and Raylene were clapping their hands at their child who had worked hard and the results of her endeavors were right before their eyes to see and evaluate.

'Looks like mother wasn't speaking up for her in the letters she wrote.' The elder brother concluded after noticing their parents' proud expressions.

All along he was under the impression that his mother was trying to say good things in favor of this little girl but now it appeared as though there was some truth in what he had been reading from the past month in his letters from home.

Though he would not express it clearly, he was impressed with what he had seen until now.

Everyone was praying for the arrow to land and they would have been satisfied with just a single point but the little girl had gone beyond her expectations.

'She scored five points in the last arrow which was unexpected.' He surmised and shot a quick glimpse at her.

"Yvonne St. Claire has cleared this trial with 19 points." Howard declared once the loud cheers had gone down.

By now, his little sister had handed over her bow to the caretaker of the archery field and was standing before him.

The smile on her face accompanied by the bright and proud faces of their parents brought about a reluctant smile on his face.

'This grumpy guy can't even smile properly now!?' Taylor snorted when he saw the subtle smile on his friend's face.

Shaking his head, he decided that it was best for his sanity to ignore him and move his attention where it was needed.

"Congratulations, Vonny!" He chirped eagerly and stepped closer to her.

However, before he could move close enough towards the little girl he noticed that his path was blocked.

The one who had come between Taylor and the little girl was the elder brother who was not willing to smile for her success.

Taylor and Howard were staring at each other without any intentions of backing down.

'They are acting like children.' Yvonne rolled her eyes when she witnessed how the two young boys were glaring at each other.

One was her biological brother while the other reminded her of the little brother from her old life, the one who acted spoiled and loved to be pampered when he was younger.

Thinking of her baby brother, Vince, there was a softened smile on Yvonne's face which many of them hadn't noticed because their attention was currently on the two best friends who were facing off.

"What do you think that you are doing, blocking my path like that?" Taylor scoffed at his friend who was behaving weirdly today.

First, he did not let him know that there was such a big event in his house and now he was not letting his friend talk to his sister.

The boy with the midnight blue eyes stood his ground and raised his chin at his friend.

"We still have the last trial to complete." Howard stated righteously, looking his friend in the eye to prove that he had nothing to hide from him.

It was clear for everyone to see that he did not want this friend of his to get close to his little sister but he used the trial as an excuse to not gain their suspicions.

'What do you think that you were about to do!?' He growled in his mind as he continued to stare at his friend.

Being best friends for years now, Taylor had understood just what was going on in his mind.

'Oh, so you saw that?' He smirked in answer to the imaginary question he was asked.

When Taylor had stepped closer to Yvonne, his hand was elevated which indicated that he was in the process of patting her head in the next few seconds.

This plan was thwarted by the elder brother who used his quick thinking and blocked the greedy friend's path.

The younger son of Duke Tanner rolled his eyes when he saw the darkening face of the other boy.

'If you aren't planning on doing it then let someone else take your place.' He snorted in anger at Howard's absurd and contradictory behavior.

While Yvonne was close to letting out a chuckle as she watched the two boys conversing with their expressions, there was someone who was observing her.

'Looks like she is enjoying this show.' Damien shook his head when he came to this conclusion.

He was also watching the show but his eyes moved to the side where the girl who had cleared the second trial was standing and his eyes caught something amusing.

The indulging look she had on her face as she watched the silent interaction between the boys was something new that he had never seen before.

This caused him to forget about the boys as he moved his gaze towards her while everyone else was busy with the boys' face-off.