The car came to a stopthen, and he immediately got out, needing fresh air.
Katya got out the otherside and looked around. “Where are we?” The sparsely travelled roadended in a densely forested area, but there was a visible pathahead.
“In the middle of nowhere.”He walked back to the trunk as Jose popped the latch. He removedhis case and indicated toward the path. Jose got out and removedthe basket, and followed them.
It was about a fifteenminute walk through the trees, and it was very peaceful. Then itopened up into what looked like a huge empty gravel pit. She couldsee actual targets set up at the far end. There was an old rustybrown ford truck parked near the middle and an older man with acane standing there. He had grey hair and about three days’ worthof stubble on his jaw. Beside him were two tables, set up with somechairs, and a large umbrella over for shade. She supposed he didthat for them. He waved when he saw them.
“Who’s that?”
“My friend. He’s a retiredcolonel. His name is Jimmy Jackson. He’s Jackson or Jack to us.Come I’ll introduce you.”
“Ryan, you are a sight forsore eyes!” Jimmy limped over and gave him a genuinehug.
“Jack!” Ryan grinned, “Ithought you died.”
“I may have and no one toldme.” His eyes went to Katya with curious surprise.
Ryan introducedthem.
Jimmy gave Ryan quirkysmile before addressing her. “Well, it’s nice to meet you Katya.Any gal that wants to learn how to shoot is always welcome. And anygal that Ryan brings along is even more welcome.” He shook herhand. “I could quite possibly fall in love with her too.” He shot alook to Ryan and grinned wide.
That expression made himseem a lot younger to Katya. By about ten to fifteen years. Shewondered if this whole cane-beard thing was a ruse. Regardless,liked him instantly. He had unspoken amusement in his eyes, andthere were crow’s-feet at the corners like he laughed alot.
“I’ll leave you to it then.Don’t blow anything up.” He winked directly at Katya. “Like lasttime.”
“I’ll try notto.”
Jackson got in the truckand left.
“Last time?” her eyes wentwide.
“Long story, and it wasn’tmy fault.”
“I’d like to hearit.”
“Someday.” He set the caseon the table and opened it.
Jose set the basket downand started to look interested in what Ryan was doing.
Translation;never. Oh well, Katyacouldn’t have expected anything different. Maybe someday he wouldshare a little more. She didn’t push him because she certainlywasn’t forthcoming about anything that happened to her.
She returned her attentionto the contents of the black case he’d opened up. He was arrangingthe firearms on the table. She was more eager to get started but hewouldn’t even let her touch the gun for the first hour as he wentover all the safety components, showed her how to dismantle it,clean it, and put it back together properly. Then he made her doit. Then he spent another half an hour showing her how to draw itout of a holster, and hold it correctly, sighting, and using theproper stance; knees bent, arms straight. Then she got the cardinalrules;
1. Always treat everyfirearm as if it were loaded. No excuses. Even if you know the gunis unloaded, still handle it as if it were loaded.
2. Always keep it pointedin a safe direction.
According to Ryan, even themost proficient break this rule all the time. They’ll take a gunand start pointing it all over the place whendistracted.
“They don’t even knowthey’re doing it,” said Ryan, “which makes it even more dangerous.It only takes one careless moment to end a life. Best area to pointit, is downrange.” He pointed to the targets. “What you see ontelevision, isn’t the way to handle a gun. Only fools imitatethat.”
3. Always keep yourtrigger finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard untilyou are ready to shoot.
“Do not shoot with only onehand either. You are no cowboy—or girl in this case. Both hands onthe gun at all times, to steady it. If not, you’ll end up with onehell of a black eye, broken nose or even a concussion from thekick,” he added.
“Kick?”
“The opposing force emittedon the gun from the expulsion of the bullet. All that energy has togo somewhere, and it will cause the gun to kick back.”
“Oh.”
4. Always be sure of yourfiring line, target, backstop, and beyond.
“You got thatKatya?”
She nodded. “I thinkso.”
“Repeat it,then.”
She did, bit by bit. Shewas really good at memorization. It served her welltoday.
Somehow Jose ended learningright along with her and Ryan went through the same motions withhim.
Then to her excitement,they finally got to shoot.
The first bullet she shotmissed the target completely. She saw it explode the rocks and dirtnext to it. The shot also had a strong kick like Ryan said. Now shecould see that the stance he taught her kept her from falling onher ass. She could also see how easily it would to get a black eyeor a broken nose if she didn’t absorb the effect with her arms andshoulders. She could also feel the impact on her wrist. It ached,but she didn’t care.
Jose’s hit the target, butbarely.
She narrowed her gaze athim. “Teacher’s pet.”
He laughed.
This was the first time shecould admit to actually enjoying herself since she came home. Jose,had always
