"So what's with the stick you bring around with you all the time?" Tamaya asks. Her eyes are full of interest, her relentless pacing ceased as she waited for my answer.

"This," I hold up the rifle, "is a weapon called a gun. It fires these bullets, and is really dangerous..."

"Show me. Show me pretty please." I was interrupted by relentless pleading.

"Ok, but you will have to be good and listen to me." I form a wry smile as her excitement is practically bubbling over. Sternly I tell her "You CAN NOT go in front of me while I am firing. Also because of the loud noise you should cover your ears."

"Ok, can you show me now?" Tamaya makes a big show of putting her hands on top her head, and backing off.

"I am going to shoot across the creak, so stand over there." I point to the horses, I hover my hands over my ears "Remember hands over your ears, not the top of your head."

Tamaya looks confused for a moment but complies. "sigh" I square my shoulders and lift the rifle, taking aim at tree four feet in diameter some distance away. An ideal target big, thick, and soft enough to not bounce any shots. "BANG!" my first shot, unsurprisingly, hits the tree. Behind me Tamaya is already begging for a second. Returning focus to the tree I shoot again. "BANG!" I peak over at Tamaya who at this point is bouncing in place. Seeing her excitement I get an idea.

"Tamaya, if you are good listen to me and answer my questions, I will teach you how to shoot." as those words leave my mouth, for a moment she stands there frozen. Then suddenly, like a machine gun, starts speaking.

"Really? You're not pulling my tail? Thank you thankyouthankyouthankyou! I promise ok! when do we start?"

Even though I was the one who suggested it I already feel in way over my head. Not in a bad way though...

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"Ok, calm down. The first step is to have a clear mind, focus and be patient." While quiet and listening, Tamaya is by no means calm. Although I am beginning to suspect that this is normal for her. "The first and most important lesson is safety."

"Aww, really?"

"Yes really. First treat every gun as if it were loaded. Second always point your gun in a safe direction. Next never point your gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot. Keep your finger off the trigger until your ready to shoot. And last be sure of your target and what’s beyond." I could tell that I was starting to lose Tamaya's attention. "To fire this gun first you push the tab on the bottom of the barrel up to the top, then you twist the top to reveal the bottom tube. This is where you put the bullets. Be careful that you don't slam fire the entire magazine." I hand the gun to Tamaya and help her with her shooting posture.

"To fire you have to crank the lever where your right hand is, and that will allow the trigger to be pulled." After walking her through a dry run, I have her use live ammunition.

To start Tamaya was shockingly bad at shooting, her muzzle discipline was particularly horrendous. She was very jumpy, each time she fired she would recoil at the rifle's report. But after being scolded Tamaya improved an impressive amount. Her accuracy also improved but was nowhere close to adequate.

After the shooting practice I was finally able to get a strait answer out of Tamaya. Sparing the detail, she had gotten into an argument with her mom about Tamaya's fiancée, a boy of similar age named Sam. They usually get along but had had an argument over who had won a race, and it ended with them calling each other mean names. What had really set her off though was that said something about her father that really set her off.

Tamaya had then run into the forest, which she told me was not a big deal as she does it all the time, but was not able to find her way back because a rainstorm had washed away her... sent? That was when she found me and because I seemed to know what I was doing she decided to follow me, but did not reveal herself because her mom had told her many times not to trust... humans. It turns out that the thief was due to her curiosity as well. She had fallen out of the tree because "You were such a dingus, and I thought you knew what you were doing. It was really funny when you turned away from me to thank you."

Toward the end of her story I could tell that she was getting sleepy. So I let her use my tent and blanket to sleep. I made myself as comfortable as I could underneath the caisson and went to sleep myself.