Style, you
either have it or you
don't. And if you have it, you have it
all the time.The Rogue's Gambit
by Tux Toledo
Page 11
The second station was in front of a pond. The clay pigeons
were launched at the waterline level of the pond in order to accurately
simulate mallard ducks. It was very authentic and promised to
be one of the more difficult stations.
Again Rigger watched each bird as it was launched. I was sure
it would be only a matter of time before he figured it out, and when it
was his turn to shoot he did show improvement. He remembered
to shoot at the first clay pigeon. He didn't hit it, but he
did shoot at it. He did, in fact, shoot at all of
them. He didn't hit any of them, but at least he shot at them.
"You need to relax, Richard," Ted said to him.
"He needs to learn how to shoot," Nancy whispered to me.
"Yes," I said to Rigger. "You seem too obsessed with those
clay pigeons, too concerned about trajectories and all that."
"Just aim and shoot," Nancy growled.
The third station simulated springing teal. The clay pigeons
were launched across another pond. Unfortunately, by this
time Rigger was completely demoralized. He cringed every time
a clay pigeon splashed into the water.
"Take it easy, Richard," I said. "They're only clay pigeons,
they're not gold."
He stared at me and swallowed hard. Beads of sweat rolled
down his forehead.
"He's a bundle of nerves," Nancy whispered.
"He certainly seems distracted," I said.
"He's going to cost us the tournament," she added.
"Relax, Nance," Ted said to her. "It's early yet."
We pointed Rigger toward the next shooting station, gave him a helpful
little push, and watched him ready his gun.
"Pull," he said.
A clay pigeon flew across the sky, then another quickly behind
it. Rigger fired two shots into the air and watched the unhit
disks hit the water. One of them skipped several times before
submerging.
And so it went. Rigger kept watching the pigeons as other
contestants shot, but it did him no good. Out of one hundred
attempts he hit only five and it appeared to me that those had been hit
by accident. A bit of a burden on the team, he was.
"I told you you should have invited James," Nancy growled at Ted.
He ignored her and turned to Rigger.
"Are you feeling okay, Richard?" he asked. "You don't look
well."
"Yes, cheer up, old man," I said. "After all, we didn't lose
a fortune, only the shooting tournament."
He looked at me strangely. "Fortune?" he said.
"What do you know about fortunes?" He turned and left in a
huff.
"Well, I never," Nancy said. "His poor shooting costs us the
tournament then he acts like some prima donna."
"He's had a bad day," Ted said.
"You don't know how bad," I added.
Nancy looked at me funny.
© 2008 David Biagini