Chapter 21

Even though I was taking their word for things I realized one thing they'd said could end up embarrassing me. The line about He'll be wanting you to do a little shooting for a demonstration when we get there went by kinda quickly, but I could see it getting a little sticky.

If the Emir wanted me to give a little demonstration I needed to have at least something prepared, and I'd need to take more than one pistol to do it. In fact my usual cross-draw holster wouldn't do, not for a demonstration anyway. When people were expecting a shooting demonstration they wanted to see you draw from a normal Western Movie type gunbelt.

I explained things to the girls and they realized the problem right away. They tried to get started apologizing over the whole thing, but I wouldn't let them.

"Don't worry about it. I'm heading to Dallas in twenty minutes and if any of you want to go I'd suggest you get ready," I told them.

I'll say one thing for them, dragging their asses around getting ready to go somewhere wasn't one of their faults. I think they all kept an emergency makeup kit packed at all times and they even had a small grip each with some traveling clothes ready. I ended up causing the delay while they packed a few things for me.

Once we were in one of the one tons with Jackie driving Christine asked the sixty-four thousand dollar question.

"Why are we going to Dallas, Tommy?"

"Because there is a big costume shop there. They specialize in old west costumes and they can fit you or even make you a costume to your specifications, fast."

"And this will help us out how?" Selene asked.

"If I'm going to give a shooting demonstration I'm going to look the part," I said.

"Maybe we should get some costumes made to match yours. Surely you'll need a couple of assistants," Jerrilyn said.

"That is a wonderful idea. It won't interfere with your Arabic dress code will it?" I asked.

"Well, we can still be covered completely. We can even wear a big hat with a mesh veil, but it will show off our tits, the shape of them at least. It kinda depends on who will be watching. If it's a big show for even the man off the street we couldn't get away with it, but if it was for the Emir and a couple of higher ups it would probably fly," Christine said.

"Well we'll get the costumes made and if it comes up I'll ask the Emir about it. It is his home after all and like he told me before, what he says goes."

I knew we were going to have a little trouble with the costume shop in the first place, because a custom made suit for me would have to be a rush job. It was just going to be worse dressing the women too. I knew I had the cure in the buy in bag I'd pressed into service, and it was almost magic the way only one look inside it stifled all protest about not possibly being able to get things ready in time.

I let the girls choose their own poison, but I got it straight myself over mine. I told the guy I wanted 1850s rich bad-guy sheik with a double tied down holster gunbelt and plenty of silver trim. I also told him I wanted it to be suitable for more than costume wear, so he wouldn't just throw something together thinking I'd only use it once and throw it away.

Of course I probably would only wear it once and throw it away, or put it away far back in my closet, but I didn't want it to look like it. He assured me it would be perfect and after the girls had finished with their part we got back in the truck and drove to a gun shop that specialized in trick shooting gear.

I loaded up on throwable targets which would disintegrate from the slightest nick. I also bought some old time gunfighter looking silhouette paper targets for fast draw demonstrations. Mostly I perused the ammunition and bought a thousand rounds of 45 Long Colt shotshells.

These were made from normal Long Colt brass, but instead of having a regular bullet they had a plastic container filled with number ten shot. I wouldn't even have to get very close to the fragile targets to make them disappear.

The next stop was another gun shop I knew about - one where additional funds would get your modern paperwork back dated to take care of the pesky three day waiting period. I bought three Ruger Super Blackhawks in 45 Long Colt with six inch barrels and he was kind enough to remove the front sights from all three and he even had special little screw in fillers to replace the normal screws and make the barrels look almost like there'd never been a sight there to start with.

The girls took care of shipping with the targets and ammunition like they had with the costumes. They knew the address after all and they even had a special contact number for a FedEx representative who they had used to ship our other baggage. We were set in less than a day and so we headed home.

Of course I took the firearms home with me after another stop at the costume shop to leave one so the holsters could be fitted to it. I was halfway home before I realized I hadn't told the guy to just hold the pistol there and we'd pick it up later. Oh well.

We'd stopped for lunch in Dallas, but the girls were still excited over their 1850s outfits and they cooked like four demons when we were back in our home. They told me about finding an actual butcher shop near my home town and proceeded to cook me an even bigger New York Strip.

"Where's this butcher shop? I've never seen one in town."

"Oh, it's not in town. It's out in Smyrna and the man has it behind his house. He told us he used to be the butcher at Grogan's Red Barn Grocery Store in town. The place went out of business and they tore it down and put up a big drugstore since then.

"He still cuts meat for a few people who actually want the good stuff though. He does mostly freezer beef, but he has some individual cuts available. He also shuts down the beef and pork business and does only deer during hunting season," Jackie said.

"Hell, I probably know him. My mother used to shop at the Red Barn."

"Well we didn't ask his name, but we will next time.

Thankfully the next three days until the helicopter arrived were peaceful. I had plenty of time to practice with my new 45s and I even had the girls get their routine straight for throwing up the super-fragile targets. I let them practice putting up the target frames for the silhouettes too.

We even practiced with the mirror adapter I'd bought for one of my 336c Marlins. It attached to the butt and let me sight in on one of the targets through the mirror. Effectively letting me shoot at a target with my back to it. It was really pretty simple once you got used to it, and I had to coach the girls a little to get them to try and make it look more difficult.

After the first session Jerrilyn asked me about my shooting.

"Tommy, how can you shoot so well with your left hand? Did it take a lot of extra practice?" she asked.

"Not much. I've always been ambidextrous. I write with my right hand because it's the way the teachers always wanted me to, but I can write with my left hand nearly as well. It was always easier to just pretend I was right handed like everyone else though."

I could grow fond of the 45s. I saw at once they fit my hand and grip perfectly for hip shooting, even when firing at the flying targets. When shooting at the silhouettes though they were just right on.

Of course there was no aiming since I didn't even have a front sight on either pistol, but nonetheless just pointing and shooting had remarkable results. They weren't worth a shit for any distance, but when shooting, fifteen or twenty yards looks impressive and I was putting every shot in the ten ring or right in the face if I was trying for it.

The pistols were single action so if I wanted to rapid fire I had to fan the hammer, just like in the cowboy movies. I found I even did rather well that way too. Of course the groups were nowhere near as good, but then again no one watching would be measuring group size - they'd be looking for holes in the black part of the paper and I could do it no problem.

I actually practiced too much with the 45s. I shot up all the birdshot cartridges I'd brought home and of course there were no more like it anywhere near me. No matter though, I'd sent most of them off to Kuwait already. I did have to go and buy some more of the normal shells, but I was just waiting around to catch a helicopter and shooting was as good a way to pass the time as any. By now I was actually hoping the Emir would request a demonstration, but I still wasn't going to mention it.

The night before I packed all my show-off guns and things away in a suitcase and the next morning I wore normal cowboy clothes, but with a Glock in a cross draw holster. I intended to find out right away whether we'd have any trouble over it. I had my concealed carry permit in my wallet, right beside my CDL and my passport.

We'd finished a big breakfast and the girls were nearly finished dressing in their Arab get ups when I heard the whoop whoop whooping of a helicopter and it got really loud before it settled completely down.

I walked out the door with a couple of bags in my hand and walked up to the one manning the entrance steps. The helicopter looked just like the one the President always rode off in on TV, except it wasn't the same color. It was kind of a subdued gray. The Arab gentleman who'd come down the steps as they deployed took my bags and I went back for the others.