gravitating closer. What if Red did stay? Would he even want to?
“Let’s shoot. Get on your knee like this.” Red gave him a crooked grin that looked as mischievous as Red’s alter ego. Taking the sling off his shoulder, Red knelt.
“Did ye father teach ye this?”
“No, my sire did. The only sport my father likes is fishing.”
Ciaran knelt down next to Red, taking the same pose as him. “Let me guess, Timothy doesnae like tae fish?”
Red shrugged, stood, and handed him the rifle. “Timothy can’t be still and quiet for that long. He scares off the fish, so we got banned from that too.” He stepped up behind Ciaran and positioned the rifle at Ciaran’s shoulder.
Ciaran could actually feel the heat from Red and wondered what it would be like to have Red pressed up against him. “Should it worry me that Timothy is making more and more sense tae me?” When Ciaran put his finger near the trigger, Red slapped his hand.
Red chuckled. “Not yet. Never put your finger there until you are ready to shoot.” He placed Ciaran’s finger straight beside the trigger. “And never ever point it at another person unless you intend to kill them.”
Ciaran looked up at him, giving his best are you kidding me look. “Isna that the whole point?”
Red stuck his tongue out at him. “Not always, no. I’ve never….” His words trailed off.
Turning, Ciaran looked at him. He hated that shocked look. It was better than fear or anguish, sure, but…. He reached out, but Red shook his head.
“I’m fine. I don’t regret it. It’s just….” He shrugged. “I don’t know, but we don’t have time to dissect it now. Patrick says we are going to the building site tonight. We need to get you up to speed with the fragger. Look down the sights. Line the one on the end up between the two closest to you, and fire.”
Letting him have his way for now, Ciaran did as Red instructed and put the thing at the end between the two things near him. Lining them up with the center of the target. But later, they were going to talk about this. Ciaran remembered the first time he killed a man. It was not something one ever forgot. And good grief, what was wrong with him? He’d never been one to talk about feelings…. It was definitely time to get to work.
“When you are ready, fire.”
Ciaran fired and… missed the target completely. He frowned and looked at the small scorch mark on the outer bailey wall. This was not promising. He was an excellent shot with a bow and arrow.
“Try closing one eye for right now.”
“Ye dinna.”
“Because I don’t need to, but we’ll let you get a feel for it first, then learn to shoot with both eyes open.”
Ciaran tried closing his right eye. “I dinna see the sights.”
Red took the rifle away from him and settled it against his left shoulder. “Now try it.”
This time Ciaran could see the sights. He took a shot and… dead center. “Yeah!” He did it again and hit just to the left and lower but still in the center. The next shot was nearly the same. No wonder Red enjoyed this. It was challenging yet rewarding when you hit where you wanted.
“Now try it again with both eyes open.”
He did, and his shot strayed to the left and farther down, into the second circle, so he tried again and closed his eye. Again he hit to the left of center. He tried again and got nearly in the same spot.
“You need to do it with both eyes open now.”
“I cannae. I’m nae as guid that way.”
“That is why you practice.”
“I dinna see why I cannae do this with one eye sh—oof!”
Red shoved him.
Ciaran never saw it coming. He went down on his left side, and a shot went off, hitting the wall again.
Red stood over him with his hands on his hips and a smug smile on his face. “That is why you need to learn to shoot with both eyes open. So you don’t lose peripheral vision on one side. And you had your finger on the trigger. What did I tell you about trigger control?”
Och, but he was a wee tyrant. He’d make a great fosterer. Kicking out a leg, Ciaran tried to trip him, but Red surprised him by jumping. He chuckled, pointed, and yelled, “Ha! You missed me.”
Ciaran kicked out again to no avail. When that didn’t work, he sat up