My demonstration started by showing Tamaya around the caisson. She already knew most of the carriage parts of the caisson already. After being told this I skipped to explaining the ammunition, starting with the type of rounds I had on hand.
“Right now I only have two canister rounds with me right now.” I say as I open the chest on the caisson to let Tamaya have a look in, “The canister shot is a tight pack of bullets that are fired out of the cannon and spread out covering a large area in bullets. This is the most powerful round that historical field artillery had access to.”
I pick up one of the canister rounds and hand it to Tamaya, her eyes open wide as she grabs hold of the round. Her fox ears were standing strait on her head, and the back of her dress was lifted up by her tail. Lifting a charge of powder I have Tamaya return the cannister shot to the caisson.
“This is how the cannon shoots the round, and it is put down the barrel first.”
Tamaya interrupts my explanation “I know this already! It’s the same stuff that is in the bullet. Let’s start now.”
“No, there is one more part that is needed to shoot the cannon.” Placing the charge back into its original position, I retrieve a short rope with a nub at one end. “This is the fuse for the cannon. It is called a ripcord.” I walk over to the cannon with Tamaya close behind, “Do you see this hole in the back of the cannon?”
“This one?” Tamaya points to the hole that I was describing. Seeing me nod she stands a little straighter. “Is this where the fuse goes?”
“Yes, you are correct.” I place the nub into the hole and press down, “The rope is called a rip cord because to fire you have to yank the cord out of the fuse. This ignites a spark which detonates the charge. Before we load the cannon I am going to have you practice pulling the ripcord.”
I hold out the cord to Tamaya, who pauses for a moment.
“Why?” Tamaya asks me.
“Safety, if you were learning how to use the ripcord and the cannon was loaded that could cause a misfire.”
Satisfied Tamaya takes hold of the ripcord and pulls it taunt. Seeing her struggle with pulling hard enough I give some advice, “Tamaya it is difficult for even me to pull the cord hard enough with just my arms. You need to use your whole body to pull the ripcord out.”
“Fine! I’ve got it.” Trying what I had described she put the cord over her shoulder and leaned into the cord. However I underestimated her weight and she just did not have enough force to pull the cord out. Tamaya sees me suppressing my giggling and shoots me an indignant glare. Tamaya gets a running start and jumps forward succeeding in activating the ripcord, although she does land on her face. “See? I can do it just fine without your help!”
“Sure… Last thing we have to do before we can actually start loading is to clean the barrel.” I grab a six foot long staff that is mounted on the back of the caisson. One end looks like a pipe cleaner with all of its bristle, the other end looks like a large cork screw. “This is the cannon’s ram rod. It is used for cleaning the inside of the barrel and should be used before each shot.” I put the screw end into the barrel and scrape the insides of the barrel with it. When this is finished I flip the rod around and put the pipe cleaner into the barrel and scrub the debris out of the barrel. This time all I had to worry about was a little bit of mud and some leaves that had entered the barrel during the storm.
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Finished with the cleaning I have Tamaya place the powder into the barrel and then I hand her the ramrod.
“Use the bristly end to push the packet of powder down to the base of the barrel.” Because of her height Tamaya has to reach above her head to use the ramrod. When she has finished Tamaya places the cannister shot into the barrel and rams it down with the barrel. I insert the rip cord and hand it to Tamaya. Tamaya is shaking with anticipation and takes the same running start and jump. This time instead of the quiet snap of the fuse igniting.
The cannon roars to life.
The barrel spews fire and smoke well beyond its length.
And the recoil lifts the wheels off the ground.
The cannon’s report startles countless birds who take flight fleeing some imaginary foe.
Silence sweeps the clearing only to be disturbed as the tree that was targeted crackles and crashes to the forest floor.
Lying on the ground Tamaya looks up to me, every hair was raised. “I did that? That was awesome! It was like BOOM! Do you see the size of the tree that fell. It would take the village a day to chop that tree down!”
Seeing Tamaya happy I smile. She starts begging me to let her do another shot. Knowing there is only one shot left I tell her no. However, this does not seem to upset Tamaya all that much as she spends the rest of the night talking about nothing besides how great the cannon is.
The next morning, I wake up and start to reheat last nights soup for breakfast when Tamaya wakes up. Still riding the emotional high from last night, she is practically brimming with energy. Checking the number of bullets that are in my cartridge box I find that there are now 31. Not knowing what else to do I ask Tamaya what she thinks.
“So it’s a magic box? I did not know you had one. Can I see it?”
“Yes, one second.” I unfasten the box form my belt and pass the strap over my head. Tamaya delicately takes it and is transfixed by the seemingly plain leather box. Seeing her fascination with the cartridge box I start to ready the caisson and cannon for travel. Only when I am finished hitching the horses does Tamaya return my cartridge box to me.
Our progress through the day was steady. Tamaya continued to ask questions that I had difficulty answering. After a while she gave up, seeing my chance to ask a few of my own about magic, her home town and the world in general. She gave me a few non answers before becoming pensive and looking around.
Leaving her alone for the moment, I submerge into my own thoughts. With all that has happened to me over the past week, between the refilling ammunition boxes, the transportation to an unfamiliar place, and even the sudden sex swap: the existence of magic was no a very real possibility that I would have to confront. But there was so much that I did not know. How does one use magic? Are there risks to using magic? What things can be done with magic? Are all questions that I do not have answers to. Thinking back to just before I was sent here, the little girl was probably a sorcerer of some kind. The erratic weather was probably another aspect of her magic. All of this was just a distraction from the most pressing question.
What should I be doing?
Certainly there must be a reason I of all people was chosen, and there should be a reason that choosing me was even necessary in the first place. Yet I was told nothing. The likelihood of being summoned for the purpose of 'living freely' or 'doing whatever I want' is miniscule. And yet it is seemingly what has been done.
"Hey mister! I think I know where we are now!"