Chapitre 26: The Unbeatable Gertrude

It was now nighttime as the moment many had travelled for was at hand. On a grand stage, the blue ribbon participants gathered. Seen with a beaming smile was Gertrude contrasting against her previous demeanour. This was all because the judges had arrived. With the competition being so stiff all it took was one of the ten judges not fancying a participant for them to lose ground. She was also convinced that Jamie used his charisma as a key means of achieving successive victories.

"Sinclair, I see you're getting those lips moist and ready to kiss some serious hinny. But this time it won't save you", she stated from her old thin lips ensuring the judges didn't hear the exchange.

Jamie then responded, "If I didn't know better, Miss Gertrude, I would think you were scared. You have weathered so many storms, tell me, am I that intimidating?" He smiled cheekily while Gertrude seethed but she soon caught herself and laughed.

Gertrude: "Good try, you nearly had me for a second, Sinclair."

Jamie: "Now that I wouldn't want, I'll just have a ribbon, thank you very much", He stated with a smile once more causing Gertrude to frown knowing he did that just to have the last word.

The blue ribbon contest was unlike the others. Its rules were so stringent that each theme was set ten years in advance. By formatting the competition in this manner it prevented the previous year's winner from presenting the same thing, forcing innovation.

Still, all the careful planning ensured that each blue ribbon item had an appropriate time to reach full maturity. Which made Jamie's wins even more impressive. To put it into perspective, when he first won the blue ribbon the theme was set ten years prior, at that time he was only seven years old. Thus the suspicion around the soil on the Sinclair farm.

As it relates to this year's theme the contestants of the blue ribbon were to create an exotic hybrid miniature fruit tree not native to the continent. The key elements to be judged were maturity, taste, texture, colour, size, weight and uniqueness. A contestant's failure in any one ensured the blue ribbon eluded them.

With that in mind, the atmosphere began to build as the seconds went by and the contestants were introduced. Including Jamie and Gertrude, there were six. Each was highly regarded with known accolades besides their name, but everyone knew where the true battle lied.

With the introduction of the participants the huge crowds themselves buzzed in anticipation, this was what they came for. They clapped, screamed and whistled as expectations were fever pitch cheering on their favourites. Outsiders might find it odd their excitement for mere farmers, but around these parts, this was their main event and nothing could compare. Seen were not only farmers but genius chemists or better yet mad scientists.

Like he was announcing heavyweight boxers the announcer continued and dug into the fever pitch atmosphere, "Welcome the grandmama herself, the self-proclaimed standard-bearer, the undeniable record holder with 15 straight blue ribbons and 23 in total, Gertrude Smu!"

Gertrude waved to the crowd garnering a huge reception especially from the older folks, this was what she lived for. Nothing else was as worthwhile in her eyes. Once more the announcer continued turning his attention to Jamie, "The last but not least, the youngest ever blue ribbon winner, the breaker of streaks and reigning champ. Ladies, you know his trademark smile and his partner in crime Spek, Jamie Sinclair!"

There was even a louder reception for Jamie, but truthful Gertrude knew she couldn't compete with his reception as most were from young women. Jamie smiled and waved garnering even louder screams as Spek buzzed around fully enjoying the attention.

The judges too were introduced before making their way on stage while the silence became the order of the day. It was now the serious part of the competition where they would reveal for some their ten-year-long journey.

First up was Marjorie Ebanks, one-time winner of the event. Every blue ribbon winner was a proud individual, so seeing that she was received as merely an opening act did not sit well with her. Still, she wouldn't be daunting, swiftly revealing a miniature tree filled with yellow mangoes. They truly looked divine as they hung from the tiny stems. She then went on to disclose details about the tree. Though the audience were impressed the professional judges simply went for their grade sheets judging the outward appearance.

The audience went quiet while each took their time to study the specimen. They felt the soil, plucked the fruit and even checked the leaves while measuring the height of the tree.

One Judge questioned while writing jottings on his grade sheet, "Time from the first planting to the first crop?" To which Majorie replied, "It took three years from the planting of the seed and the yielding of the first crop. Since then it has been provided yearly?"

They all nodded to the relief of Marjorie, "What time of year was it harvested?" Another inquired. "The middle of September to the second week in October", She replied confidently. But knew she needed a great score to compete with Jamie and Gertrude. Each judge awarded a mark out of ten after all their checks were completed. Then all the grades were compiled and stated out of a hundred.

Anything lower than 97/100 meant her chances were slim competing for the coveted prize. After five minutes each judge then gave their final tally to the announcer. All this had poor Marjorie sweating, as she looked at a big screen monitor which was set up to keep the audience engaged.

BING! - It sounded and in red lights, 96.6/100 could be seen. She wasn't happy but at the same time wasn't too disappointed when seeing the result. Knowing three years prior Jamie won with a 96.9/100. Though many stated this was because Gertrude became complacent having dominated for over a decade. Since then the scores have been higher between the two, averaging 98% but she still could dream, right?

Usually, the judges gave reasoning for any markdowns and it was no different this time around. The main speaker, an older man, addressed the issues found, "Marjorie, let me just say, well done. You have set the tone", He smiled before continuing, "Now, the key issue that each of the judges found was the period used to harvest the mangoes. As you know, such trees flourish in tropical climates and the harvesting period is usually at the peak of summer. This is a three month period from June to early august".

As he spoke Marjorie knew what he was alluding to. With her current harvesting being mid-September and early-october, it meant she only had less than a month to harvest. But that wasn't the main issue, she had missed its peak time of year to flourish. However, it was unavoidable as the cold winter hindered its natural progression for months. This impacted its taste and texture which were understandably grounds for deduction of points.

She thanked the judges, opening the stage for her fellow contestants. Next was Dick Harris who presented an exotic apple tree renown in Italy. He garnered 95.3/100, marked down for his soil preparation. The other two participants then had 94 and 96 to their names which placed Marjorie in pole position. She wasn't a bad person, but boy did she hope some catastrophe would befall the two favourites who now had all eyes on them.

Up next was Gertrude who, to say the least, wasn't impressed with what was presented. In some ways, she was thankful that Jamie had arrived when he did. He brought back a fire within her that had been missing for quite a while. The best needed worthy adversaries to push them to their limit. Now she would show everyone why she was so confident and declared victory before the competition had even begun.

With a smirk, she arrived before her covered pallet. SWISH! - she dragged off its cover to the awe of the awaiting crowds. Seen beneath was a tree of only three feet covered in green leaves with red fruits that oddly gave the impression of oranges. The only difference being its obvious red colour.

She narrated for the intrigued audience: "Before you are the exotic red-orange passion fruits which only exist on the small island of Gunie. Popular for its two active volcanoes. Many plants would find this a hell hole to flourish but not these red-orange passion, the ash and lava have provided an oasis for the fruit".

Simultaneously a spark went off in each of the judges' eyes. They all knew it was outrageous to even think of growing the orange passion outside of Gunie. It was impossible and everyone who tried in the past had failed. Usually, the plant withered in its first month, but from what was seen this had hit full maturity which took precisely ten years. WHAT MADNESS!

They looked at Gertrude and were awed, this right here was an unbeatable and nearly flawless specimen that would be documented for ages. Were they even worthy of judging what they thought was inconceivable? Yet Gertrude didn't care for the judges and crowd's reaction; only one person mattered. She wanted to see the look in his eyes and it didn't disappoint. Jamie was truly impressed, so much so, that out of character he asked, "How did you accomplish this?"