Page 59 of Winter’s End

She had no idea why she had not revealed to Mila that Jacob was teaching her to shoot. But she did not in the least feel guilt-ridden. She was doing what she needed to do to for her own protection... and anyway…she felt her mouth curve into a smile - being with Jacob made her forget she was hungry, forget she was frightened, forget everything but his face and his voice and what she was there to accomplish.

Otto ran beside her on the way to the door, then sat still, tail wagging and panting for her attention. “Good boy, Otto,” she murmured, scratching behind his ear. “Yes, you know who I am, don’t you?”

Mevrouw Beekhof greeted her, led her out back and struck the triangle with a pipe. Within moments, Jacob emerged, jogging through the brush from the back acreage.

“Hi there,” he said, making a funny face at her, and something in Evi’s heart began to dance. But he was all business, leading her to the makeshift practice range, bringing the Colt from under his jacket.

“Today,” he said, “we review the components, and you take the pistol apart. Then, if you put it back together correctly, we can start shooting at targets.”

She had the pieces memorized, had reviewed them in her head in the last few evenings, sometimes barely hearing when Mam spoke to her. She was glad the young scientist had been successfully handed off,grateful for the mostly edible potatoes Mam had found at the marketplace in Middleburg. But pleasing Jacob, proving her courage, seemed infinitely more essential.

He watched her take the pistol apart. She read his face as he watched her. Deftly, she put the pieces together, and looked up at Jacob, beaming.

He started to reach out, as though to hug her, then stopped and put his hands on her shoulders. “Good job,” he said, grinning. He was close enough for her to see the green flecks in his amber eyes, the tiny nick above his left cheek where he might have cut himself shaving.

They stood like that for a moment, Evi’s heart beating fast. Then Jacob blinked and backed away.

“So, Evi Strobel,” he said. “Are you ready to fire this thing?

She swallowed hard, stepped back, and nodded.

Jacob stood behind her, lifted her arm, adjusted her hand in the grip. The Colt felt heavy, awkward.

“Look through the sight,” he instructed, leaning down, his chin nearly resting on her shoulder. “Look straight ahead. Do you see that empty feed bucket sitting there?”

She nodded.”

“Look for the letter A in the middle of the label.”

Evi peered through the sight.

“Do you see it? The letter A?”

“Ja.”

“Okay, good. Now squeeze the trigger. But slowly…slowly, Evi, never taking your eye from that letter A.”

Evi squeezed. She heard the loud report – and felt herself jolted backward, landing flat against Jacob’s broad chest.

“Whoa,” he said, reaching to steady her. “I should have warned you about the blowback.”

An acrid smell hung in the air. The sound echoed in her ear drums. Worse, when she wriggled around to look at the target, the feed bucket sat there, untouched, the big letter A mocking her.

Eyes wide, she turned to face Jacob.

“It’s okay.” He smiled ruefully, as though to a child, adding anger to her fierce humiliation.

She wrenched herself away. “Again,” she said, raising the Colt.

“Sure. Only this time, plant your feet a little further apart. You’re such an itty-bitty thing, you need to steady yourself against the recoil.”

She did not know the meaning of ‘itty-bitty.’ She thought she liked the sound of it on his tongue, but she was not certain it was complimentary.

Gripping the weapon, she planted her feet apart, pressed her lips together, and stared through the sight at her target.

ZOE

Air raid sirens had kept her awake for much of the night again, and Zoe faced the wintry day filled with a restless energy. There had been no further word of Daan – nor did she expect it, really, in her heart of hearts.