Dunc was accosted by several kids in his ghost town when he left his house. They pretended to shoot him with their finger pistols. Dunc died a dramatic death in his little graveyard.
***
Amanda answered the door with a perplexed look on her face. Dunc didn’t say anything and walked inside. “Dunc?” Amanda closed the door, locked it, and gave him an odd look.
“So I thought if you’re not busy, I’d show you something fun I like to do to loosen up.” Dunc looked around for somewhere to lay the items he had brought down. “If you aren’t busy.”
Amanda eyed the items. “I have a few minutes.” Was he going to have her play with toy swords?
“Okay. Let’s go out into your backyard. Don’t want to break anything.” Dunc grinned at Amanda, and she smiled back. Oh, he had assumptions! Assumptions that Amanda was about to destroy. This was going to be fun. Likely more fun than Dunc had planned.
***
Amanda’s backyard wasn’t as big as Dunc’s. A six-foot-high privacy fence surrounded her home. The fence was mostly complete, missing a few boards here and there. There wasn’t a lot in her backyard. A small patio set was on the back deck, which didn’t have a cover. There were a few trees near the back, large oaks that were able to support a hammock.
The hammock appeared to be occupied. Dunc made a face. Apparently, Dew and Sallie were taking a nap together in the crisp autumn afternoon. He decided to ignore them and placed the weapons and the box on the small patio table. Amanda was grinning at Dunc in a way that was mildly unsettling as she poked at one of the practice swords. Then she went for the box.
“No. Don’t touch that. That’s for later.” Dunc moved in to stop her.
“Oh, come on! What’s in the box?” Amanda danced around him and grabbed for the box.
“Later.” Dunc grumbled, lifting it over her head. “This is for later.” He put it back down and picked up one of the training swords. He handed it to Amanda. She grabbed it in both hands, then swung it around to hold it by the bladed end.
“This end?” Amanda swung the sword around awkwardly. Dunc made a perplexed face at her. She tripped on a loose stone on her patio and fell on her butt. “Ouch.” That hadn’t been planned.
“You hold it like this.” Dunc offered her a hand up while showing the proper way to hold the training sword in his other hand. “This is the grip.”
Amanda got to her feet and held her sword correctly but gave Dunc a questioning look purely for his benefit. “Grip. Got it. The pointy end goes that way.”
“Yeah.” Dunc pointed out the base. “This is the guard.” He pointed to it, taking his eyes off of Amanda. “It protects your hands.” Amanda wanted to smack the sword out of Dunc’s hands so bad, but she restrained herself. “We’re just messing around, so don’t try to hit me because it hurts, and I will hit you back. You don’t get a free pass because you’re a girl.”
“I don’t?” Amanda stuck her lower lip out in a pout, and Dunc could feel his brain turn to mush. The look in her eyes told him there was a possibility he had made an error. He wasn’t sure what the error was.
“No, you don’t, Tough Girl,” Dunc grunted, pointing at her with his sword. “So, let’s go into the grass.” At that point, Dunc heard giggling come from the hammock and talking. He turned his back to them. Amanda saw both Sallie and Dew peek over the edge of the hammock. She shook her head at them and mouthed the word ‘no.’ Dunc made a face at Amanda and glanced over his shoulder. Sallie and Dew were now sitting up in the hammock, watching them with eager looks on their faces.
“So let’s begin. Do I hit at you?” Amanda swung her sword wildly at Dunc. She had her left hand on top under the hilt and her right immediately below it. She followed up with a stabbing motion. Dunc jogged back and scowled.
“You’re holding it wrong. See, like this.” He held his sword up to show his hand placement. “Right hand under the hilt. Left hand at the base of the grip above the pommel.”
“Oh.” Amanda moved her hands and flexed her fingers around the grip.
“And don’t stab at me.” Dunc took up the ready position, turned toward Amanda with his sword out to defend or attack. “Come at me slowly. You’ll get the idea.” There was giggling coming from the hammock again.
“Stand like that? Come at you?” Amanda grinned at the sword, then looked up at Dunc with an expression that made his blood run cold. “I’m coming straight on for you!”
Dunc didn’t know what hit him. First, his sword was knocked from his hands so fast that it spun freely and hit him in the face. Then Amanda rammed into his gut with her shoulder. Dunc crashed into the ground. Amanda stood over Dunc with her foot on his shoulder, holding the point of her sword to his face. “Is that all you’ve got?” She smirked down at him. Dunc blinked at her in amazement. Then he became aware that the left side of his face was hot, and something wet and warm was dripping down it.
“Oh, no.” Amanda dropped her sword and fell to her knees next to Dunc. She grabbed his head and turned it so she could see. Blood was streaming from a gash on Dunc’s face, and the area around it was bright red.
“Is it bad?” Dunc winced. Amanda pulled the hem of her shirt
