clothes. No longer wearing the three-piece suit he had worn on the train, he was now wearing blue jeans, a denim shirt, and a belt with two holsters and two pistols. Stepping next door, he knocked lightly on the door.
âWho is it?â a muffled voice called from the other side of the door.
âItâs your pa, Billy. Open the door.â
The door opened. âI waited here for you just like youââ Billy started, then seeing the way his father was dressed, he stopped in midsentence. âPa, why are you dressed like that?â
âIâve come to take you to school,â Jesse said.
âSchool? Pa, what are you talkinâ about? I donât have enough education to go to college. I never got beyond the eighth grade, and at my age, I sure donât plan on ever goinâ back. Iâm damn near twenty-two years old.â
âThatâs not the kind of school Iâm talking about. Get your gun and come with me.â
âMy gun?â
âYou havenât hocked it, have you?â
âNo, Iâve still got it.â
âThen strap it on and come with me.â
âCome with you where?â
âOut to McKamy Creek. Iâm going to teach you to shoot.â
Billy laughed. âPa, come on, really? You are going to teach me to shoot?â
âI was in the war, remember.â
âYeah, I know youâve said that. But I wasnât always too sure you were telling the truth. I mean, sure, you were probably in the war, but I always figured that maybe you took care of the horses, or something.â
âOr something,â Jesse said. âSpeaking of horses, I know you said you sold Dancer. Have you got another one?â
âHeâs in the hotel stable. Same as yours, I reckon.â
âI donât have a horse; I left everything with Frank. Let me take a look at your mount.â
Billy led Jesse to the stable, where he examined the horseâs feet and legs. He also looked into the animalâs mouth.
âNo,â he said. âHe wonât do.â
âWhatâs wrong with Patch? Heâs a good horse.â
âYou think he could do fifty miles in a single day?â
âI donât know.â
âI do know. He canât.â
âWell, why would he have to?â
âYou never can tell. The time might come when weâll have to cover fifty, maybe even sixty, miles in one day. You need another horse.â
âPa, even with the money you gave me, I donât have enough to buy another horse.â
âI do,â Jesse said.
Â
Â
An hour later the two men, having ridden out on the just purchased horses, were standing alongside McKamy Creek, a quickly flowing stream just north of Dallas. It was an ideal place to practice shooting, as it was over five miles from downtown.
âLet me see you shoot,â Jesse said. âI want to know what Iâll be working with.â
âWhat do you want me to shoot at?â
âIâll let you pick your own target,â Jesse said.
âAll right. Look over there. Do you see that can?â Billy asked, pointing to a rusty can on the other side of the stream. âIâll shoot it.â
Billy pulled his pistol, raised it to eye level, aimed, and shot. He hit the can and turned toward Jesse with a broad smile on his face. âWhat do you think about that?â
âYou took too long,â Jesse said.
âWhat do you mean, I took too long? I aimed at it; I hit it. What more do you want?â
âYou donât always have time to aim,â Jesse said. âMost of the time you just have to pull your gun and fire.â
âWhat good does it do to pull your gun and fire if you canât hit anything?â
âOh, Iâll hit something,â Jesse said.
âAll right, pick the target. Let me see you pull your gun, fire without aiming, and hit something,â Billy said with a challenging smile.
There
James Kakalios
Tara Fox Hall
K. Sterling
Jonathan Maberry
Mary Balogh
Elizabeth Moynihan
Jane Hunt
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Jacquie Rogers
Shiloh Walker