Jennifer

Alex released the cylinder of the Undercover and tilted the gun to let the cylinder fall free, spun it with his finger. All five chambers were empty. He dug the snap-caps out of the pocket of his jacket and dropped them into the cylinder, then closed it.

"OK, there ya go." he said. "Those are practice cartridges, for dry-firing, we call it."

He handed it to her, and she took it, tentatively but mostly correctly.

"OK, just hold it out if front of you, don't bother aiming. Just squeeze the trigger, this ones fairly light."

She's just a little smaller than Jessica, but looks almost fragile. Or delicate anyway.

Jennifer squeezed, hesitating at the first resistance but pulling through it. The hammer dropped on the spring-loaded cap with a loud click.

"Good, go ahead and do a few more."

She squeezed four more times, each with a little more confidence than before.

"Good girl. That's easy enough, isn't it?"

"Not bad." She smiled. "I've never held a gun before. It's a little strange."

"I suppose it is, the first time. I grew up with them, so I don't remember the first time. I was just a kid. Guns have been developed and refined for centuries now, so there's nothing to it, once you learn. And practice. Go ahead and do a few more."

She raised the gun to eye level, squeezed another five times.

"OK, good. Let me show you how to shoot it. Hold it like that, straight out, and use your left hand to steady it. Bend your left arm just a little, and line up the sights on that target."

She followed his instructions, aligned the sights.

"OK, now squeeze of a few. As quickly as you feel comfortable"

Methodically Jennifer squeezed the trigger, once every two or three seconds.

"Now when you fire a live round, it'll kick a little. Push back on your hands and the muzzle will go up. For now, we'll just do it slow, take your time. Ready for the real thing?"

She nodded.

Alex opened a box of .38 wadcutters and laid it on the bench.

"OK, press the cylinder release, just put your thumb on it and push forward. Tilt it to the left and the cylinder will fall out. Push the rod back and the caps will fall out."

He watched as she did so.

"How just dump them out in your hand."

He held out a hand for the dummy cartridges, and took five live ones from the box.

"OK, just slow and easy for now. Drop one in each chamber, and close it. Push it in until it locks."

She closed the loaded cylinder and held the gun muzzle down.

"All right, that's good. Never point it at anything you don't want shot. And always assume it's loaded. Ready?"

Jennifer nodded.

"OK, go ahead and give it a shot."

She raised the gun, holding it as he had instructed.

"Good. Now in a real-life situation, you'll want to lean forward just a little. Let's do it."

She squeezed and flinched slightly at the noise and the little revolver twisting like something alive, but quickly recovered.

"Good, go ahead, take your time."

She fired the remaining four rounds.

"OK, release the cylinder and dump the cases."

He took the cases and dropped them on the bench.

"Let's see how you did."

She had fired from only ten feet, and three of the shots hit the life-sized silhouette. None in the kill zone, but one was close.

"You scared him good," Alex said, "not bad for the first time. How's your hand feel?"

"Not bad. It may be sore later."

"May be. Those were light loads. A combat load will kick a little more, but you get used to it."

Jennifer reloaded and fired another twenty rounds, most of them hitting the center of the target, all but one on the paper.

"Not bad at all," Alex said. "You probably called the flier."

"Flier?"

"You knew you missed as soon as you fired, without looking."

"Yeah, I knew one missed."

"We call that a 'called flier'. They happen to everyone once in a while. How's you hand?"

"Not bad, a little stiff."

"It probably will be a little sore, but you get used to it pretty quick. We'll try some next time."

"Is this what I should carry?"

"It's about the smallest thing I'd recommend, if you can handle it, and I believe you can. Your hands are just a little smaller than Jessica's, and she can handle this - you probably can eventually, but not to start with."

Alex picked up another revolver, similar to the one she had used. It was noticeably larger, and the grips were much larger, molded black plastic or rubber with finger grooves.

"This is the big brother, the Bulldog. It's a .44 Special. It has a longer barrel, and a regular hammer so you can shoot single action. There's a shorter version, like the Undercover."

He pulled his ear protectors back in place and Jennifer did the same. Alex turned to face the targets and fired all five shots into the one next to the one Jennifer had used, in about as many seconds. All five hits were in the ten ring. He reloaded and repeated the process, this time as rapidly as he could with the same degree of accuracy.

"It's definitely louder," Jennifer said. After Alex emptied the cases and laid the Bulldog on the table they walked over to look at the target.

"First five are all in the center," he said, "the others are a little off. Still in the kill zone."

Kill zone? I'm learning how to kill someone. Could I do it if I had to?