Challenge August 2023

Higgledy Piggledy

Years of Farmboy Youth

"Now Han, watch your cousin Jed. Stand straight. Relax your arms. Learning to shoot a gun is serious business and you must concentrate," said Horatio Heyes to his only son. With his brother-in-law, Thomas Curry, they were attempting to teach their young sons how to shoot guns. Both boys had used rifles for hunting, but handguns and gun belts were a different matter. The men had argued with their wives for days about this. But the last group of ragtag soldiers that stopped at the Heyes farm demanding food and more were desperate. Good thing that Peggy Curry Heyes knew how to use both guns and rifles. She had given them a sack of food then run them off the property while her husband and brother were working off in their combined farm fields.

That decided it. The boys would learn how to shoot a gun properly. This was their first lesson. Nine-year-old Jed Curry had dreamed about this day. His older brothers, Hugh and Sean, had already shown him the basics when their parents weren't around. Letting him wear their holsters and handle their guns. And he had loved the feel of the gun in his hand and the power he imagined the weapon gave him.

On the other hand, his cousin, eleven almost twelve-year-old Hannibal Heyes, was only mildly interested in learning how to shoot. His head was full of adventures and his younger cousin willingly accompanied him, helping Han to recreate scenes from his favorite books. Han dreamed big, of traveling the United States and the world, especially visiting his father's homeland, England. He pictured himself a gentleman with no need of a gun but hearing about what had happened to his ma with the soldiers, he was coming around to using a gun. Feeling it on his hip did make him feel grownup.

"Okay, Jeddie, shoot at those six cans on the fence," his uncle instructed him. "Take your time. Draw slowly. It's more important that you hit the cans than go too quickly and miss them."

"Yes, Uncle Horatio."

His pa and uncle observed as Jed stood up straight, put his shoulders back, and took a deep breath and held it for a calming moment. Drawing too quickly, according to his uncle, Jed fired six evenly spaced bullets and hit each can somewhere.

His pa smiled. "Jeddie, your brothers already show you how to do this?"

"Yes, sir. A little."

"Well, you seem to have picked it up quickly. I'll see that you get time to practice. Would you like that?"

"Oh, yes, sir."

Thomas Curry turned to his nephew. "You been practicing too, Han?"

"No, sir. But I made myself a wooden sword and been teaching myself to fight with it like a pirate."

His uncle tried to hide a smile. This boy always had his head in a book and his dreams in the sky. "Well, let's see what you can do, Han. Remember what your pa showed Jeddie?"

Han hadn't really been listening, but still answered, "Yes, sir."

"Okay, the cans have been replaced. Let's see how you do."

Han pretended he was a famous gunfighter. This learning to shoot was going to be fun. "Yes, sir."

The boy suddenly drew the gun from its holster and pulled the trigger six times as fast as he could. It felt good. It felt like he was a grownup. But his uncle and pa were angry.

"Shooting helter skelter like that you missed every can and sent bullets everywhere," his Uncle Thomas scolded him.

Han looked at the six cans still standing, unharmed on the fence.

"Thomas, you say helter skelter? In England I would say those shots of his were higgledy piggledy…scattered every which way," said Han's pa looking ashamed of his son's performance.

"Jeddie, try again. This time look at the center of the can where the words are. That's where I want your next bullets to hit," his pa told him.

The boy did as he asked, remembering all the instructions he'd been given. Again, six evenly spaced bullets flew. All the cans danced on the fence before they fell, three with a hole right through the letters.

'Good. Very good. Now set up cans so Han can try again."

Watching his younger cousin hit the cans, Han's competitive streak came out. This time he took his time before pulling the gun. Still shooting quickly, four cans moved on the fence, two falling off.

"You two come here after school tomorrow and practice with our guns. We'll try and join you," Han's pa said. "Guns are serious business, and you may need to use them to protect our families one day soon."

ASJ*****ASJ

The boys practiced as told for the next few days. But soon it was only Jed that practiced while Han took the time to lay in the grass and read Moby Dick. But one day taught Han the value of knowing how to shoot. Jed was reloading his gun for the fourth time after resetting all the cans when screaming broke Han's concentration on Captain Ahab.

Jed was already running toward the Heyes home knowing the person in distress was Han's sister Beatrice. Han stumbled behind his cousin, fastening the thigh strap on his holster. It was easy to follow the screams. Two soldiers, their uniforms so worn and torn that you couldn't tell which side they fought for, had the young girl backed against the hay bales in the barn. Her dress was torn, and they were pushing it up to get at her.

"Leave her alone!" Jed's voice sounded older to Han, meaner, determined.

The two soldiers turned at the sudden interruption and laughed. The smaller soldier said, "He's just a kid."

"A kid with a gun pointed at us," said the other.

"He won't use it. Will you, kid?"

"Leave her alone!" This time it was Han standing tall ordering the soldiers. "Bea, come over here behind me," he said forcefully.

Attempting to slip out of the soldiers' grasp, Bea felt her arm sharply grabbed and yanked back.

When Han looked at his younger cousin, he saw a look of determination that he could picture on Captain Ahab's face as he chased the white whale. But Jed's enemy was in front of him. And Han knew that Jed would fire if pushed.

The soldier pulled Beatrice and held her to his side, feeling her breasts with his other hand. "Now easy, mister, don't doubt that my partner there looks like a kid, but he doesn't miss what he's aiming at. And right now, he's aiming just below your belt buckle."

The soldier glanced down at his pants before pulling the girl in front of him.

Han took a conciliatory tone. "Of course, if you let the girl go, I could talk the kid into holstering that Colt and you could leave before that girl's pa comes barging in here with his shotgun."

The man took a step back, taking Beatrice with him.

Han heard Jed take the calming breath he was taught. "Last chance friend," Han said, trying to use his voice as his weapon to get the soldier to leave.

Looking from Han to Jed and back again, the man did not move. Instead, Jed saw defiance in his eyes, and he fixed his gaze on them. With Beatrice in his left arm, the man's gun hand was free. From his eyes, Jed saw when the man decided to draw. The boy shot his gun at the man's elbow, hitting his target. Dropping his hold on Beatrice, the soldier stared at the blood spreading down his arm.

Han yanked his sister out of the way just as his pa and uncle rushed into the barn with shotguns. And it was over. The soldiers put up their hands trembling at the shotguns the senior Heyes and Curry men were holding on them and intimidated by the steely looks on their faces.

"Who shot this man?" Han's pa asked.

"I did, Uncle Horatio," Jed spoke up. There was little emotion in his voice. "I needed to protect Beatrice.

Understanding the situation, Thomas Curry took the gun from his son's hand. He was surprised that his hand was so steady after firing at a man for the first time. "Jed…Jed?"

Slowly, Jed let his eyes move from the soldier to his cousin, Beatrice, to his father. His pa saw the look in his eyes soften.

"Pa, he was hurting Beatrice. I needed to stop him."

"Yes, boy, you did good."

ASJ*****ASJ

Thomas Curry and Horatio Heyes talked late into the night about their boys.

"Han tried to do what he does with his teachers, talk them out of doing things."

"In England, we called that a silver tongue."

"Well, your boy is certainly developing that and the confidence to try it. Jed was the surprise to me."

Thomas Curry leaned back in his chair. "Yes, he's growing up fast. I need to talk to him. He has a gift for using a gun…and that comes with a lot of responsibility.

"But he handled it well today. He could have killed the soldier but instead wounded him. That's pretty mature for a nine-year-old kid."

The two men nodded to each other at the glimpses they saw today of what their fearless sons would be when they got older. And they smiled.