Free Catching Moondrops by Jennifer Erin Valent Page A

and he spit it on the post office steps. “You even know how to use that thing?”
    I reckon he wouldn’t have egged me on if he’d known the hours I’d spent with Luke teaching me how to shoot proper, but it didn’t matter to me what he knew and didn’t know. Without a single thought to what I was about to do, I squinted one eye, tipped the barrel of the gun to the right, and pulled the trigger. The blast knocked the head off the stone eagle that sat at the entrance to the post office and sent those boys flying for cover. They all swore and looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
    â€œYou could have blown my knee off!” Bobby Ray was at the bottom of the steps now, crouched down so he looked half his already-small size.
    I tipped the gun back toward him. “Reckon I missed, but I can try again if you want.”
    He swore at me, but there wasn’t much he could do with that gun pointed at him. He spit into the dirt and then glared at Malachi. “We’ll be seein’ you again. You bet on that.”
    Like something out of a James Cagney picture, Malachi remarked, “Anytime.”
    Luke gave him a shove to shut him up, and I kept the pistol on Bobby Ray until they all scattered off down the street.
    Once they were out of sight, Luke looked at me and shook his head. “Jessilyn, I swear . . .”
    â€œDon’t go gettin’ sore at me.” I lowered the gun and handed it to Luke. “What’d you want me to do, stand there and watch you two die in front of me?”
    He stuck the gun in his waistband without taking his eyes off me. “What was your plan if you really had hit Bobby Ray?”
    I shrugged. “Didn’t have time to think about it.” A smile slowly spread its way across my face. “Got lucky hittin’ that eagle, though, didn’t I? It was a nice touch.”
    â€œYou got lucky? What were you aimin’ at?”
    â€œAnythin’ but flesh, I reckon.”
    Luke shook his head at me with a smile starting to turn up the corner of his mouth. “Do me a favor next time and don’t shoot till you know what you’re shootin’ at.”
    â€œDon’t get all worked up. It ain’t every day I have need for shootin’ a gun, anyhow.”
    Sheriff Clancy came walking up the street so slow, you would’ve thought he was taking his morning constitutional. “Jessilyn!” he called. “I got other things to do with my day besides keepin’ up after you.” He stopped at the foot of the steps and surveyed the situation. “You got any ideas about that gunshot I just heard?”
    Luke and I looked at each other and shrugged in unison.
    â€œI got me a call somethin’ was goin’ on down here.”
    â€œNothin’ that ain’t been handled,” Luke said.
    In my mind the man was useless, and I made no bones about it in the way I looked at him. “Reckon if you weren’t available to take care of what started the trouble in the first place, you ain’t got need to take care of what finished it.”
    â€œYou tellin’ me you don’t know nothin’ about that gunshot?”
    â€œMostly I’m sayin’ there weren’t no harm done.”
    Sheriff Clancy flicked cigarette ash into the breeze and squinted at me. “Well, mostly I’m sayin’ I don’t like people goin’ around shootin’ up my town.” The sheriff leveled his gaze at Luke. “You got anythin’ you want to tell me?”
    Dolly came out of the door just then with her hands crossed over her heart like it was about to fail on her. “Land’s sake, it took you long enough to get here, Sheriff. I thought we’d have a bloodbath on our hands.”
    â€œI came soon as you called.”
    â€œThen you’re the slowest man I ever seen. You know, my daddy ain’t goin’ to be happy to hear I was in any danger. I reckon