"Ladies should be seen and not heard"
Anæsthesia wasn't exactly convinced by all these homilies about falling out of trees, breaking arms, and sleeping in the mud: she smiled politely, if a little tightly. Truth to tell, she felt a little bit 'got at' - the snobby girl was getting a taste of her own medicine in the form of the inverted-snobbery of these rough frontier folk.
She suddenly blurted, rather defensively "I have learned to shoot a gun!"
"I have a 1858 model Lefaucheux double action revolver, and really am rather a good shot with it." she said proudly. Now maybe they'd stop telling her that she needed to fall out of a tree to be able to claim that her life had any meaning.
Of course, the hypocrisy was that she was quite willing to tell others what they should be doing with their lives: like learning to read.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Ah, well, good!" Addy declared, "every young lady oughta be able ta defend herself!" She grinned brightly. "We oughta go out shootin' sometime, Isiah's a crack shot, an' can hit anything he aims at. We can make a picnic of it, an' show ya how ta take care'a yerself if ya don't got th' gun with ya."
Addy was a staunch believer that there was no reason women should be expected to faint or give in if they were attacked, and there were steps they could take to at least have a chance at protecting themselves.
"And he's right 'bout th' stars. Unless ya get away from th' town, yer missin' out." Sure, you could see the brighter stars, and make out most of the constellations, but you had to get away from the city to really see the night sky.
Isiah was impressed that the girl knew how to shoot the gun. He loved shooting and had already started teaching Josh how to shoot and the boy was pretty darn good at him himself. Seemed to pick up his father's natural knack for it.
"Ah, well, good!" Addy declared, "every young lady oughta be able ta defend herself!" She grinned brightly. "We oughta go out shootin' sometime, Isiah's a crack shot, an' can hit anything he aims at. We can make a picnic of it, an' show ya how ta take care'a yerself if ya don't got th' gun with ya."
"That's great, Miss. Orr." He smiled at her and then over to his sister as she complimented him and pointed at her "You're a darn good shot yourself there, Addy." He winked at her and Josh piped up. "Pa's done taught me how ta shoot a gun. I wanna show 'em, Pa! Can we go and do it now?" He asked eagerly, ready to show off his skills to his Aunt Addy and Miss Orr! He sure knew they'd think he was a real man, even if he was just 5 years old, if he could shoot the broad side of the barn!
"Ladies should be seen and not heard"
"Ah, well, good!" Addy declared, "every young lady oughta be able ta defend herself!" She grinned brightly. "We oughta go out shootin' sometime, Isiah's a crack shot, an' can hit anything he aims at. We can make a picnic of it, an' show ya how ta take care'a yerself if ya don't got th' gun with ya."
"Yes, I bought it when my father died and there was all that Indian Trouble, poor General Custer and the massacre unpleasantness." she informed them "Mister Winter at the gun-shop thought the Lefaucheux too large for a girl, but I thought it rather smart looking, and when I hit one of his targets in the back of the store, he had to admit I could handle it." she boasted happily.
"That's great, Miss. Orr." He smiled at her and then over to his sister as she complimented him and pointed at her "You're a darn good shot yourself there, Addy." He winked at her and Josh piped up. "Pa's done taught me how ta shoot a gun. I wanna show 'em, Pa! Can we go and do it now?" He asked eagerly, ready to show off his skills to his Aunt Addy and Miss Orr! He sure knew they'd think he was a real man, even if he was just 5 years old, if he could shoot the broad side of the barn!
"Well, maybe we should wait until we've all got our guns and we can go on this picnic and have fun shooting things." Anæsthesia suggested, warming to Addy's suggestion now that she knew that she wouldn't be seen as the total boobie on the outing: she had great confidence in her abilities with the gun: she certainly practiced enough and even made her own cartridges up with the nice little set of tools that came in the exquisite little storage box. Her mother didn't approve of it, but then she didn't approve of much that her other did.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
Addy chuckled. "Now, so long's th' target's th' whole back wall, I'd do just fine!" She laughed, although she was impressed that Anæsthesia would even touch a weapon. "Ya never know when shootin' skills'd come in handy, an' Isiah here's got a good knack fer fixin' guns, if he's a mind. Yeah, a picnic, up by th' falls'd be nice, an'..." she added, ceding to Anæsthesia's qualms, "we can hitch up a buggy. Be right nice."
It wasn't often that she took leisure time that didn't involve cleaning tack and mending harness, so it would be a good day out, and a time to have some fun with her brother.
"I can ask Weedy if he want's ta invite Wyatt, so th' boys can play, too, an' swim or whatnot." It would be a lot of fun!
Isiah laughed along with his sister and was also impressed that Miss. Orr had her own gun that it sounded like she could handle very well.
"Well it sounds like we have ourselves some plans. I'd love to see more of the land around here and then see you two ladies show me up at some target practice." He could already hear Josh trying to pipe up and say that he would show him up too, why hadn't he said his name, so he quickly held up a finger as he looked at his son. "And you to there, Josh." He reached over and ruffled his hair.
While Isiah had nothing holding him down and keeping him from going on this trip to the lake he knew that Miss Orr and his sister had obligations they'd have to take care of before they went.
"When would be a good time for ya'll to go? I know Josh'll have fun with Weedy and Wyatt." He said with a smile.
*** All of Isiah's posts originally written by MD (retired player) ***