The Gadget: The Rondon Chronicles Book One by V. Timlin (speed reading book .TXT) 📕

the table. Nat checked every single one of them and nodded approvingly. “Good. Then we need bullets and a handgun for Anouk.”

“Of course, what kind of gun?” Amanda beamed with pleasure. She hadn’t looked as enthusiastic when selling hats and kettles to the ladies.

Nat took his revolver from the holster and showed it to Amanda. “This kind of Phines if you have any in stock.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t. Sorry, Nat. But I do have a few of the new model.”

“Ah, that’s even better.”

“Excellent,” Amanda said with a singing voice as she spun on her heels and vanished yet again behind the shelves. Her singing distanced and faded all together.

“You started to say something,” Nat said to Anouk.

“Never mind, it wasn’t anything important. May I?” Anouk lifted her hand towards the gun Nat was holding.

“Sure.” He placed it in Anouk’s hand.

Her hand gave in under the weight. She gasped. “It’s heavy.”

“It’s an older model. Newer Phines’ are lighter.”

Anouk examined the weapon. Long barrel, wooden grip and a cylinder for six bullets. Simple, with no decoration. It reminded her of the revolvers she had seen in Western movies… and her dad’s gun. A nervous twist ran through her body.

After a brief hesitation, she lifted her arm in front of her and closed her left eye. Her hand started to quiver.

“Weight-wise it’s about the same as my katana, but then I hold that with both hands. How much lighter is a new model?” She handed the revolver back.

Nat slipped it in the holster. “A few ounces.”

Amanda came back, singing a different tune this time. She gave the revolver to Anouk. “Here you go. A Phines of the new DF-100 series.”

“Thank you, Amanda.” Anouk tried to smile. Her hand shook when she took the gun. The revolver looked very much the same as Nat’s, only there were feather carvings on the frame and it was much lighter.

“It’s a new model,” Amanda said. “The only difference to Nat’s is that it has a swing-out cylinder.”

“A swing-out cylinder?”

“Yes. Let me show you.” Anouk gave the revolver back to her. “You open this cylinder latch here on the frame and push the cylinder aside. Like this.” Amanda pulled the latch with her thumb and tilted the gun so that the cylinder opened to the side. She continued, “You load the cartridges in, and then you push the cylinder back. You secure it in place by closing the latch, and then you are ready to shoot.” She smiled and returned the gun to Anouk.

With sweaty and shaking hands, Anouk repeated the steps Amanda had just shown. “Ha, that wasn’t too difficult.” Anouk was surprised when she got it with the first try and wasn’t even close to dropping the weapon.

“And with practice you’ll get quicker.”

Anouk blushed and felt a little deflated; she had been all thumbs.

Amanda opened her mouth to say something when the bell clanked. She turned her head towards the shop and called, “I’m coming.” Then she turned back, her face creased in a concerned frown. “You may use my basement for practising. Nat, make sure to clean up the casings. When you have finished, I have some information that might be relevant to your investigations.” She spun on her heels and hurried back to the shop before Nat or Anouk could ask what it was about.

“How may I help you?” Amanda’s cheerful voice came soon from behind the curtain.

Anouk wanted to go after Amanda, kick the customer out and make Amanda tell her the potentially relevant titbit. She glanced at Nat. Judging by the depth of the frown on his face, so did he.

He gave out a sigh. “The basement is this way.”

Amanda’s private shooting range was roughly four yards wide and twenty-two yards long. The walls and ceiling were covered with foam rubber and at the far end stood a board full of bullet holes.

Nat put a box of ammunition on a table propped against a wall. “Time to load your Phines.”

Anouk nodded and opened the cylinder. She wiped her clammy hands on her trousers and started to insert the cartridges. A question popped into her mind—a question she had meant to ask many times, ever since she had met Amanda. “Why is Amanda so eager to supply us and give such big discounts? It can’t just be because you two are friends.”

Nat didn’t reply right away, but kept his eyes on Anouk’s hand. When she had set the last bullet and secured the cylinder, he said, “Stalo robbed one of Amanda’s shipments and killed the driver.” Nat took out his gun. “The driver was her husband.”

Anouk’s heart sank with the knowledge. So she too was Stalo’s victim. That explained why she was so keen to arm them and give credit. “When did it happen?”

“About ten years ago.” Nat started to set cartridges into his Phines.

“He’s hurt a lot of people, hasn’t he?”

Nat paused, loading the gun. He nodded. “Yeah, a lot of people.” Before Anouk opened her mouth to ask another question he added, “I’ll tell you everything some other time. But now is about handling the gun and shooting.”

Back to business it was…

After an hour of loading the bullets, aiming and shooting the target, Anouk was a little more comfortable with the idea of owning a gun. Only a real situation would show if she was prepared to use it. Nevertheless, the weight of the revolver around her waist gave her a sense of greater control.

The rubber foam padding had muffled the echo, but shooting for an hour in a confined space hurt Anouk’s ears. She had asked for earmuffs, but Nat had raised his eyebrows and asked what they were. Otherwise, Nat had been a great and considerate teacher. He had put up with Anouk’s nervous giggles, shrieks and very many questions. He was patient and professional, and careful where to touch her when he corrected her stance and aiming, and mindful not to stand too close. Why then was she vaguely depressed? After the kiss it was best they kept their