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 2
"Pull!"
The clay pigeon sailed across the sky like a shooting star.
Ted Nance followed its trajectory with his 12-gauge and pulled the
trigger when the target reached its apogee. His shot
splattered the little black and orange disk into hundreds of pieces.
"Good shot!" his wife, Nancy, said.
Nancy loaded her gun and tested its balance before bringing it to her
shoulder.
"Pull!" she yelled.
Another clay pigeon flew across the sky. She tracked it with
the barrel of her gun then fired. Her substantial body
silently absorbed the shotgun's recoil. Her figure may not
have been perfect but her shot was. The clay pigeon returned to earth
in pieces.
"Good shot, Nance," Ted said.
She grinned, lowered her gun and turned to me. "Your turn,
Winston."
I hadn't done any shooting in quite a while and even though my Barbour
Pennine shooting jacket had padded shoulders I knew I would be sore in
the morning. But that was no cause for complaint.
It was good to be out in the country under a sparkling sky breathing
invigoratingly crisp air. Saving Bernie from his "mob girl"
and uncovering an art scam had proven to be a bit tiring and a day of
shooting was doing me good.
"Pull!" I said.
James launched the target from a small shack to our right.
The clay bird sailed across the sky in front of me. I
followed its path with my barrel, leading it slightly, then squeezed
the trigger. The shotgun kicked me in the shoulder like a
backfiring Ford, but my shot hit the target dead center.
"Good shooting, Winston," Ted said.
"Thanks."
"Have you been practicing?" Nancy asked.
"No."
"Come, now, Winston," Ted said as he readied his gun. "James
must be giving you lessons."
"Nothing of the sort," I said. "It was a lucky shot."
"Lucky my...," Nancy said as she gave me that skeptical look that
schoolteachers give schoolboys with poor excuses. James then
took six more clay birds from a straw-lined wooden box and gave them to
James. James reloaded the launcher.
© 2008 David Biagini