Target Practice
By Yankee 01754
Thud.
"Hey! Watch it!"
Thud.
"Cut it out!"
No response.
"I ain't gonna take it any longer!"
Silence. Then a whizzing sound as another round of ammunition flew past his ear.
The intended victim fired off a shot of his own in the direction of that last one that had threatened him.
"You've never seen the day you could out shoot me," his tormentor called.
"You wanta bet?"
Slim Sherman came out of the barn just as the two opponents fired another round off at each other.
Splat!
"Hey!"
Jess Harper yelped as one of the missiles fired in his direction hit him in the shoulder.
"What's going on out here?" the tall rancher asked just as he, too was hit.
"Does that answer your question?" the ex-gunfighter responded.
"Yeah. Where are they?"
"I ain't figured that out yet. They seem to be coming from all directions."
Seconds later both men were hit in the side and the shoulder, eliciting grunts from them. Wet spots formed on their jackets.
"That does it!" Jess growled. "I'm getting tired of you usin' me for target practice. You're askin' for it!" he yelled at his unseen assailant.
"You've never seen the day, Harper, when you could beat me," a mocking voice taunted him. "Or you either Sherman."
The two men fired back at their tormentors but it was useless. They couldn't see where their assailants were hiding though they could guess. A pair of well-aimed shots, from two different directions, knocked the hats off the men.
Just then Daisy came out on the porch to ring the triangle for lunch.
"Lunch is ready," she called. "Cam? Tommy. Dan. Linda. Mike."
Four teenagers, and one small boy, emerged from their hiding places around the yard.
Dan Fulton climbed down from the roof of the chicken coop as Tommy Everett descended from his perch on the roof of the barn. Cam Ramsay, honorary sister to the two victims, came out from behind a haystack while her best girlfriend in Laramie, Linda Taylor, emerged from her position around the corner of the house followed by young Mike Williams who wore a big grin on his face.
The teens formed a protective ring around Mike, who was the youngest, smallest and most vulnerable member of the group, as they trooped past the two men into the house.
They stopped in the doorway long enough to clean the snow off of their clothing, and boots, and to hang their damp jackets from pegs by the door.
Two sour faced young men came in behind them removing wet jackets and hats, then digging snow out of the necks of their shirts.
The five youngsters, grinned widely, and the girls giggled, as they sat down at the table in the main room. Daisy brought out a large tray of ham sandwiches along with pickles, potato salad and other assorted side dishes. There was milk for Mike and the teenagers and coffee for the men. A large triple layered chocolate cake was waiting for them when they finished.
It was two rather bedraggled older men who joined them at the table.
"My goodness, boys," Daisy said, "You look like you've been playing in the snow."
This elicited giggles from Cam, Linda and Mike. The boys just grinned.
"Not exactly," Slim groused.
"Does somebody want to explain what's been going on?" the older woman asked with raised eyebrows.
"We were attacked," Jess told her.
"Not attacked," Linda giggled.
"Nope. Not attacked," Cam agreed.
"Just a little target practice," Tommy asserted before all five young people burst into laughter.