Ruby

Chapter 9

I find myself fighting back tears as well.

"Oh, no, David, no..... Cinda...." I gasp out.

"Ever since I left, I couldn't stop thinking about what I had done. How I had just left her there. All alone," he says, and buries his head in his hands. I hear him weeping softly, and I walk to him and wrap my arm around him.

"We'll get her back, David. I promise you that."

David straightens himself up. "Then we should start soon. There's no way I'm leaving her down there any longer."

"All right. We'll leave sometime soon."

"No. We leave now."

"David-" I start.

"We are going now!" He says, more firmly now.

"David," I say gently. "We need to think about this. I'm not strong enough yet to take on an army. Neither are you. We need to prepare."

David sighs. "You're right. So what do we do?"

I take a shuddering breath. "We learn how to fight back."

David smiles. "I can help with that."

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That afternoon, David takes me out behind the haystacks. He paints a red circle on a bale, then a white one inside of the red one, then blue, then finally, a yellow one. Then he takes a strange weapon out of a bag.

"This is a bow. You put the arrow on it," he holds up a pointy stick, "And you shoot it, like this." He puts the stick on the bow, pulls back the string, and hits the blue circle.

"That's it?" I ask.

"Yeah. I wish we could have guns, but citizens can't have them. Only community managers can."

"Can I try?" I ask, staring at the bow.

"Sure," David hands me the bow and arrow. I try to put the arrow on, but it won't stay on the bow. David chuckles. "Let me help you this time," he guides my hands across the bow. He helps me pull the string back, and I let it fly.

It doesn't even hit the hay bale.

David chuckles. "Well, you can practice. You'll get the hang of it eventually."

I sigh. "You make it look so easy."

"Well, I've been doing it a lot longer than you. Do you want to try again?"

"Yes. But I want to try to do it myself this time."

He crosses his arms. "Give it a shot."

I take a slow, deep breath. Then I put the arrow on, and it stays, thankfully. Another breath. I pull the arrow back. Breathe. Aim. Breathe. Release.

The arrow doesn't hit the circles, but this time, it does hit the bale. I smile. "How was that?" I ask David.

"Better," he says. "But you should keep practicing. Maybe you'll hit the target sometime."

A target. That's what those circles are called.

"Ok. Yeah. I'll practice," I say, grabbing another arrow.

"Good. I'll check on you later," he replies, and walks back to the house. My eyes follow him there. I make sure he's all the way inside, then I try again. And this time, I do not intend to miss.