“Suppose we go into the woods… you can pop this if you want to,” Dillon said thickly.
Chrissie’s eyes opened. “Don’t it make an awful bang?” she asked.
“Sure, but it won’t scare a big girl like you…. Come on an’ try it.”
He turned and began to move away. Chrissie hesitated. She didn’t like Dillon, but the lure of the gun was too much for her. She followed him. “Can I carry it?” she asked, pleadingly.
Dillon took the clip out of the gun and jerked the bullet from the chamber. He wasn’t having her fool around and shoot him. He said, “Sure you can… You be careful with it.”
She took the gun, holding it gingerly, her big hands nursing it like a doll. “Ain’t it heavy?” she said. “I bet Roxy’s got a bigger gun than this.”
Dillon kept walking. He said, “Roxy ain’t got a gun. When you can pop this good, we’ll surprise Roxy… that’ll be an idea.”
Her face brightened. “I’d like that,” she said, moving forward at a faster pace. “I’d like to surprise Roxy.”
Dillon looked at her. He walked closer to her, the sleeve of his coat touching her arm. He put out his hand and touched her shoulder. The contact sent a little white-hot flame shooting through him. She shied away, her eyes suddenly nervous.
Dillon smiled. His breath whistled through his nose. “We got to get away from the house. They’ll hear us shootin’ an’ spoil the surprise,” he said.