Billy and the Turkey
Shoot
A Thanksgiving Story
By Danny Tillman
Part
2
Bring the Guns
"Can't decide whether to shoot yourself or have someone do it for you, boys?" asked a man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He had long-salt and-pepper hair and beard-- about the longest beard Billy and Uncle Rufus had ever seen-- and sported a worn black fedora.
"No Sir…er…yes…Sir…I…we just can't decide, Sir." said Billy and Uncle Rufus, wondering where the guy came from.
"I thought so. I've been waiting for y'all." He tipped his hat.
"Howdy boys and ladies, if you would be so kind as to step back close to the fence, I'll take care of ever thing from here on out. Here. Put these in."
He handed Billy, Uncle Rufus, Betty and Aunt Mary, and the firing line marshal earplugs.
"Screw um in real tight. Now jus' stay right here by the doors to this here fence and I'll be right back, 'cause I have somethin' that I need one of you boys to do for me later on. Mr. Marshal, I'll take it from here." The mysterious man turned away and yelled,
"BRING THE GUNS AND THE TABLE!"
A helper brought a small table and set it in front of the mysterious man wearing the fedora. Another assistant brought three rifles: a 30-30 Winchester, a Lee-Enfield 303, a 45-70 Sharps, and carefully placed each one on the table left to right in that order. The helper guys walked away. The man checked the guns to be sure all was in order and walked back over to where Uncle Rufus and Billy, Aunt Mary and Betty, and the marshal were standing in a line along the fence. The man stopped and faced Uncle Rufus and Billy, who were standing next to each other, with Uncle Rufus still holding the .22, and asked,
"That yore gun, Son?"
"Yes Sir!" answered Uncle Rufus.
"Is it unloaded, safety on, Son?
"Yes Sir!"
"When I look at you and say 'NOW! SON,' I wont you to throw me your gun and then toss me that box of bullets, o.k?"
“ Yes Sir, Sir!"
"By the way, Son, those cartridges…are they shorts, longs or long-rifles?"
"Long-rifles, Sir!"
"That's good, Son, we mite be a-needin' long-rifles."
"Yes Sir…but beg your pardon, Sir, can I let my nephew Billy here do the throwing and tossing? He's really the one who wanted to come to this turkey shoot," requested Uncle Rufus.
"Well, sure. Now Billy, you know what to do, Son?"
"Yes Sir!" said Billy, and took the rifle and box of cartridges handed him by Uncle Rufus.
Billy, Uncle Rufus, Betty and Aunt Mary stood by the doors, not knowing what to expect next. The marshal seemed to know what was going on, but said nothing, and stood beside them. The mysterious man faced the group, "Now y'all stay put, and git ready fer some shootin'," then he did an about face and yelled,
"READY ON THE RIGHT! READY ON THE LEFT! READY ON THE FIRING LINE!...
Editor's note: Nobody that I know of knows what that means, but that's what they said on the shooting range when Little Brother grew up and joined the Air Force--and besides-- it sounds good.
*I asked Danny who the "Editor" was and he replied: "He is me." and then said,
Good of you to ask. And
it also can be confusing when someone has (or tries to have)
"multiple identities". I don't know if the reason I do that is to:
(1) make the stories more interesting--or--
(2) trying to be someone else just for fun-- prob'ly both reasons. It
seems to come natural for me, but I don't think I was like this
before we moved from Jax to Micanopy-- which move probably caused
a defense mechanism to kick in. I've heard it said that the 2
worst things that can happen to a young child are, in this order:
(1) The passing away of a family member &
(2) A change In residence (cats don't handle this one well either).
-Danny