Silver Claws: Blood Twins

Chapter 17

17.

The next day was Monday and we made it through a morning without arguing with Miss Tern. Rhea and I ate lunch in the shade of the tree. We were alone as we whispered in human voices.

“Wilf is getting tired of me not being able to hit anything. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” I said.

“Me neither,” Rhea said. “You just look down the barrel and shoot.” I sighed. “When they come for us, I’m going to die and they are going to take you away because I can’t shoot.”

“Who can’t shoot?”

Lars crouched behind the tree, leaning over us like a giant. We were getting sloppy living as humans.

“Rom can’t. Wilf is teaching us. . .” Rhea stopped. We weren’t supposed to tell that Rhea was learning to shoot. “I mean, he’s teaching Rom. I just watch.”

Lars laughed. “You don’t ‘just watch’ nothin’. But that’s okay, I’ll keep your secret.” He smiled like he’d gone goofy. Then he looked at me. “I been shooting crows since I was knee high. What you shootin?”

“Cans,” I said.

“And people say I’m the dumb one,” Lars said. “Six shooter or rifle or shotgun?”

“Oh,” I blushed. “Six shooter.”

Lars nodded. “Harder than a rifle or shotgun. Show me.”

“Show you?”

“Sure, make just like you’re gonna shoot. Hold out your arm and aim and lemme look.”

I glanced around to make sure no one was watching then held out my right arm, making a gun out of my hand and fingers. “There.”

“Nope, close one eye like you’re aiming.”

I closed my right eye.

“There you go. That’s what’s wrong. My older brother did it too. He couldn’t shoot for nothing. He joined up on a cattle drive and some guy saw him and fixed him up.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Yer shooting with yer right hand, but sighting with yer left eye. That means yer lookin’ acrost the sight instead of down it. Never hit nothin that way. Either change shootin’ hands or shut yer left eye.” Lars squinted at me. “Understand when yer close that left eye ya hafta open the right one or you still be missin the target.”

Rhea snorted. “Lars made a joke!”

At my expense, I thought. “You think that’s really what’s wrong?”

“Writing and reading might come slow for me, but shootin’s never been hard,” Lars said. “And I shoot and aim from the same side. Works real nice.”

“Let’s hook out from school for the rest of the day and see if Rom can hit some cans,” Rhea said.

“The only that would get hit would be us. Hannah’s got real good aim with that broom,” I said.

“Wilf ain’t got the only six shooter in Green Gulch. And I guess we can find us something to shoot at, even if it’s a fence post,” Lars said.

“Lars, I’m real glad I stopped punching on you. That brain of yours works real nice once you put it to work,” Rhea said.

Lars blushed from his neck to the part in his hair. I’d bet his darn toes were blushing. And Rhea looked like she was about to lean over and nuzzle him.

Cut that out! I mind spoke to Rhea.

She lowered her eyelashes and slid her gaze to me through slits. Don’t tell me what to do.

He’s human. It’s not proper.

Mom was human once too.

I just sent her the iciest mindthought I could.

Rhea shrugged. “Let’s hurry before Miss Tern rings that silly bell.”

Lars slid in his house and back out with a six shooter and we scrabbled down into a rocky draw. Nothing there but rocks and dirt and stumps of trees that died off. There was a old shack where somebody without a lick a sense must of thought he could pan for gold when the draw had a stream in it. There wasn’t much left of it--more a skeleton of shack. Lars got a rock that had a sharpish point and gouged a circle on one of the boards.

“This here’s your target. See how close you get.”

I took the pistol and held out my arm, my right eye shut like it had a mind all its own. I opened it and blinked both my eyes and shut my left eye real careful, when I looked with my right eye, it was like the circle on the board shifted over. I opened my left eye. Closed my right. Shift. Closed my left. Shift. I studied the circle and shot. The bullet drilled just to the left of the middle of the circle.

Lars whistled and whooped. Rhea whooped and clapped. Lars was my gul-durned hero. I turned to say that and I saw Rhea leap up and hug his neck.