She showed us a small gun and a big one. She verified they were empty and let us each hold them. I picked up the little one and wasn't at all sure I liked it. I didn't like the big one at all.

She noticed my expression. "You sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," I said. I paused. "I may decide I like my swords better though."

Then she grabbed her purse and pulled out a gun. She opened it and dropped a bunch of bullets on the table before setting it down.

"This is a small revolver," she said. "It's too small for police work but excellent for the purse."

She talked about the gun range. Then she said, "I brought three small guns, two medium ones, and two very large ones. We'll buy ammunition there. The small guns aren't that expensive to fire. The large ones run about a buck a round. No one fires a big gun without first demonstrating some competence with a smaller one."

She answered questions then said, "Is everyone still going?" We were.

"I didn't ask this. Who has fired a hand gun before?"

At first no one said anything, then Petra said, "I have." She went into the bedroom and came out with a silver case similar to Sally's cases.

"I already know what you have in there," Sally said. "It's a piece of crap."

I looked at her. "You have a gun?"

She nodded then opened the case. "Holy shit!" I said. "That's a cannon."

Sally reached over then waited for Petra to nod. She picked it up. "Desert Eagle 50. I bet you hate it."

Petra nodded.

"Way too big," Sally said. "Too heavy to carry, too hard to lift, horrible recoil. It's a well-built gun, but completely ridiculous. Sell that thing and buy something you can hold. I would rather you not bring that today."

We packed everything up. Petra brought her gun.

"Petra," said Sally. "I really don't want that gun along today. Please put it away."

"The gun range we're going to is at a dealer? One that might buy it?"

We arrived at the gun shop and range, traveling in two cars. We got out. Everyone grabbed a gun case or two. "The owner is an old friend," Sally said.

"Former lover?" I asked.

Sally laughed. "No. Friend of my dad's."

We stepped into the gun store. There were a few customers milling about, all men. Six women walking in carrying gun cases earned us some attention.

"Hey, Bud," Sally said to the man behind the counter.

"Sally," he said. "You brought some friends to flirt with an old man?"

"They're more likely to flirt with your wife," she said. "How is Mary?"

"Mary is good," he said, laughing.

Sally did a round of introductions. "Bud," said Sally. "We need three lanes, if you have them, and some ammo. Plus my friend Petra here has something she wants to get rid of."

Petra set her case on the counter and rotated it to Bud. He sighed even before opening it. "I received some bad advice," Petra said.

Bud opened the case and pulled out the gun. He looked it over. He turned to her. "You'll get more if you sell it yourself."

"I don't want the responsibility," she said. "I'll take whatever you feel is fair."

He put the gun back in the case and closed it. He offered a sum. "Or if you have an active buyer's permit, we can talk trade for something more appropriate for you."

"Why don't you hang onto it for now, Bud," Petra said. "And I'll see how I feel after we shoot some of Sally's guns."

He nodded and put the gun case behind the counter.

We spent a couple of hours at the range. Except for Petra, all of us did poorly at first, but then we each got the hang of it.

In the end, I was glad we had come, but I decided I had other options. Guns weren't my cup of tea. Petra decided the same thing, as she sold her gun to Bud without discussing a trade. We talked with him for a little while before leaving. He was a nice guy.

We got to the cars and helped Sally load her guns. "You guys didn't like it," she said.

"I'm glad we came," I told her. "Thank you. Ever since the break in, I've thought about it. Now I know. I have other options that I feel a lot better with." I paused. "I may ask to go shooting again, but I don't want to buy one."

Netted"Maybe they left," Karen said.

"I don't believe Vincent has ceded the area to me," Renea said. "His grudge is too deep." She looked around the room. "But perhaps he has become intimidated by the forces. I don't believe he will have had the same success recruiting as we have had." She looked at Sally. "Thank you for joining us."

Sally nodded. She'd learned to travel to Siriena in record time. All of us were gathered in Andrea's tower.

We'd been sending scouting expeditions out, staying within an hour's walk of the castle. We hadn't seen anyone. We'd gathered to discuss our options.

The conversation went around and around.

I sighed. "Perhaps we need to draw him out."

"We've tried," Petra said.

"Maybe we've been using the wrong bait." I looked at Renea. Petra followed my gaze.

"No," she said. "We couldn't get her away from danger."

"If Vincent's grudge is with Renea, then it's time he thinks Renea has grown complacent. I believe Renea needs to be seen heading to town." I looked at Petra. "You're about the same size. A wig and the right makeup might do the trick." I looked at Kelly. "And I could pass for Kelly. I'm a little too short, but I bet they wouldn't realize that, especially if I wear boots with a heel."

Three days later, Petra disguised to look as much like Renea as we could make her, and me looking at least passably like Kelly, we left the castle. And stepped onto the trail south to the town. We had discussed taking the horses, but neither of us was a good horsewoman, and we didn't want to abandon the horses if we flushed our quarry and had to evacuate. We expected the twenty-mile walk to take until early afternoon, but at least we wouldn't have to walk back.

Three hours later I said quietly to Petra. "Bingo."

"Yes," she said. "I believe you're right.

There was a tree down across the trail. It looked like the perfect spot for an ambush. The woods on either side were thick, and working our way around the tree was going to be a pain.

We stopped about twenty yards from the tree. I scanned the brush on either side of the trail but didn't see signs of anyone. "It looks easier on that side," I said pointing right. "I think the tree goes a long way towards the left."

"Game path," Petra said. I nodded, and we exited the trail to the right, following the game path. We had gone twenty yards off the path when there was noise to our right. We both were startled but turned to face it. Twenty yards away were four men descending from a tree by hanging onto a rope. We didn't realize why until it was too late.

The ground around us reached up to swallow us. By the time the men reached the ground, Petra and I were dangling in a net ten feet above the ground. The rope the men had come down went up into a tree, through a pair of pulleys, and then down to our net.

"You have got to be kidding," I said, struggling with the net.

"Get out of here," she said quietly.

"If you order, I'll go," I said. "But I think we should wait and see what happens."

The men tied off their end of the rope. I guess they intended to keep us here for a while. They were chortling and speaking a language I didn't know.

"Henchmen," Petra said. "I can throw you at them, they would never know what hit them."

"I think we should save that trick," I said. "There is no one here worth killing, and we can leave whenever we want." I pulled my knife and tried sawing at the net, but soon realized it was made of steel, not rope.

We glared down at the men. They laughed. Then one of them walked the rest of the way around the tree and began loping down the trail. "Gone to brag and fetch the boss-man, I'm thinking," I said.

"If Vincent or Jeremy arrive, I'm popping home. Give me three seconds then throw me behind him." I paused. "Unless you want to negotiate."

From our vantage point ten feet above the forest floor, I had hoped to get a better view, but the woods were so thick I still couldn't see very far. I got bored quickly. Unfortunately, so did our captors. Two of them went to the rope holding us in the area and began lowering us, then retied it when we were six feet off the ground. They tied it back off.

"Oh oh," I said. "They got bored."

"We can take them," Petra said. "No one will see our trick."

"You're the boss," I said. "I think we should wait, but your call."

"I love you," she said quietly. "Let's wait."

Waiting, it turned out, wasn't fun. One of the men reached over and grabbed my foot and pulled on it.

"Hey!" I yelled, trying to kick at him. "Knock it off!"

He pulled us a short distance then let go, which meant Petra and I started swinging back and forth. The three men started laughing. Every time we got close, the first man grabbed my foot and pulled us into a higher arc, and then he put some spin into it.

"Bastard," I said. "I'm getting dizzy."

"Done waiting?"

"Yeah, but these guys aren't going to get away. Give me either a good ten seconds or right away if you see a sword come out."

"Whenever you're ready," she said, gritting her teeth. "My aim is going to be bad."

I popped home, straight to the dojo, and grabbed my two-hander. I steadied myself for a minute, getting over the dizzies, when I felt myself pulled back. As soon as I felt her, I began swinging the sword.

I was back in the forest, and a man's head fell to the ground, the body spitting blood as it toppled over. I glanced around quickly. His buddies were slow to react, and I got a solid slice across the next one's shoulder, then spun, crouching, and slashed the third one from shoulder to groin. I rolled away, stood up, then spun in a circle, taking the second man's head. The third man was on his knees, screaming, and I walked up behind him and beheaded him.

I looked up at Petra. She was swinging back and forth while spinning. I walked over, reached up, and brought her to a halt.

"I'll port home," she said.

"Let me lower you first," I said. "They might think the idiots let us down and we got away."

I walked over to the rope, braced myself, and untied it. I slowed Petra's decent as much as I could, but she still banged into the ground. I helped untangle her from the net.

Looked over at the three men. "I've never hurt anyone before," I said. "We didn't need to kill them. We could have both left."

"Renea and Kelly couldn't have," Petra said.

"I know." I thought about it. Then I kicked one of the bodies. "Assholes."

I turned to face Petra. "So, do we wait to see who comes, or do we leave?"

There must have been something in my face she didn't like.

"Honey, do you think you can summon Sally?"

"We don't know where she is," I said. "She might be in the middle of writing a ticket or something."

"I want you to pop home and call her. You have five minutes and I'll pull you back."

I nodded and popped home. I dug my phone out and called Sally. I woke her up.

"What?" she said.

"Are you alone?"

"Felicia?"

"Sally, I just killed three men. Are you alone?"

"What? Yes. Are you all right?"

"I need you," I said. "Get some clothes on. You have about three minutes." Then I hung up and walked to the bathroom.

I was splattered in blood.

I started washing the sword. I was still scrubbing at it when Petra pulled me back.