Samantha's Talent (35 page)

By the time Elaine arrived to pick her up, Ray was just beginning to talk with her in a more natural manner instead of the stiffness he'd displayed earlier. Maybe there was some hope for him, she thought, then realized it was in romantic terms she was considering him. He made no mention of them getting together again, though.

***

"
Say what they will about our methods but if we hadn't been collecting email and phone calls we'd have never known Al Qaeda and some of those other Jihadists are interested in that girl. For that matter, it's a damn good thing someone had sense enough to bring her to my attention." James Quinlon said to the two men and one woman in his office, located in an obscure two-story building in Maryland. He was the director of a special and extremely secret field operation for the NSA in the United States, exclusive of Hawaii and Alaska. His office operated solely on funds from the "black" budget and reported directly to the head of Homeland Security--when he felt it was necessary to report. He didn't always feel the need. In his opinion, operations like his ran better if the men and women at the top of the heap knew as little as possible. Just enough to keep the funds coming.

"So, you want us to grab her to keep her away from those crazy bastards, I take it," Kailey Ledbetter said. She uncrossed her legs and crossed them the other way, giving the man on either side of her an enticing view while providing Quinlon an even better one.

It affected him not at all. He was strictly business within the confines of his domain. "Yes, but not right away. We have to be careful. It won't do for the press to get on to us and you can bet the media will be sniffing up the assholes of every clandestine agency in the country once she goes missing. Besides, I want to be certain she can actually command animals to do what she says before I commit us to bringing her in."

"Are you talking about just her or the whole family?"

Quinlon made little circles on his desk with his forefinger. "Best to grab all three of them. That way there won't be any close relatives to raise a fuss about her being missing. However, for the time being, I just want their home wired. The Jihadists aren't close to making a move, yet. We have time to gather some more information before deciding whether to move on them or not."

"You said take the family when it's time, but how about friends and acquaintances? Will any of them cause a stink?" Boris Kristof asked.

"You're all professionals. You can come up with a believable scenario for whatever contingencies arise. I just got the latest report on the family's activities. I suspect they'll be moving again before too long. That would be the best time to grab them. Anyone can disappear during a trip."

The three operatives nodded but Kailey asked, "What about that boy? He seems to have a little of the talent himself."

"Alright, include him but the girl has priority."

"Got it."

"So draw up plans and be ready to go when I give the word."

"What about the ragheads? What's their schedule?" Kailey asked.

He glared at her. "I told you, they haven't begun to move yet. Weren't you listening? Right now they're just talking about her. I wouldn't worry too much about them yet. Anyway, her name is in the key word scanning program now. If they begin planning an operation I'll give you the go-ahead regardless of what might happen. That's all for now."

Those final four words were the way he ended any meeting. A minute later he was alone again. He pulled up the file on Samantha Douglas and began reading it for the third--or was it the fourth time? It was fascinating. He could hardly wait to meet the girl and see what she could actually do. He had no faith in the media or internet reporting. He wanted to see for himself. And if she could do what some groups claimed, put her to work, of course. He could think of a number of uses for her talent.

***

A week after spending the day with Ray, Samantha received an email from him.
Sammie, if you'd like to learn to shoot, maybe I could come to your house on Sunday if you're not in church. Dad doesn't want anyone shooting near the horses. Ray.

She replied that she would have to ask her parents, which she did the next day during the evening meal.

"Ray Zimmerman said he would teach me to shoot if we could do it here instead of at his house. His dad thinks a lot of shooting would upset the horses."

Elaine was startled at the request since Samantha had never shown an interest in guns before. "When did you develop an interest in shooting, Sammie?"

"When Ray said he carries his rifle everywhere except to school because of cougars or wolves or even a bear, maybe. A bear got one of their horses a few years ago, he said."

"But what does that have to do with you? The way you can control animals, you don't need a gun."

She was embarrassed now. It wasn't the shooting so much that she was interested in; it was the prospective teacher. Getting him to train her in the basics was simply a means of bringing him into her presence. She fumbled her answer under her mother's scrutiny and her father's sudden grin.

"Never mind, Sammie, I get it," Ronald said, for once ahead of his wife in that department.

"Then it's okay if Ray comes? It would have to be Sunday. That's the only time his dad lets him off during the day."

"I don't know... " Elaine hesitated.

Ronald intervened on Samantha's side. "Actually, I think it's a good idea, honey. As many crazies as there are in the world and as much notoriety as she's been subjected to, it wouldn't hurt for her to know how to use a gun when she's old enough to carry one."

"You don't carry yours."

"I know but I've been thinking about it. In fact, I've applied for a spot in the first class that Gene decided he's going to teach. After that I can get a permit to carry it." He grinned. "He was already full up but made a spot for me anyway."

"Well, why not see if he'll take Sammie? I'd rather a professional teach her than a sixteen year old boy."

"He's seventeen now, Mom. Remember?"

"He's still a boy."

"Elaine, honey, Gene's class is for handguns. I think it's a rifle the boy carries."

"That's what he's going to teach me if you say it's okay." Seeing that her father was more amenable to the idea than her mother, she looked at him when she spoke.

"I'll give you a few lessons myself between now and Sunday."

"How are you going to do that, Ron? Your rifle is still in storage."

"For what I'm going to teach her, we won't need one."

"You've already given me that lecture, Dad. Way back when we were living in Alaska."

"And it won't hurt a bit to refresh your memory. When Ray starts teaching you, I'm going to depend on
you
to make sure the safety rules I review for you are followed. If I find out they aren't, we won't allow him to come around you again when he's carrying a gun, no matter what type. I'll come home a little early tomorrow. You're not going to a school class are you?"

"No, sir."

"Okay, tomorrow evening then." He glanced at his wife, who still had a worried look on her face. "It will be fine, honey. In fact, maybe you'd like to join Gene's class?"

A momentary vision of the horrible placards and the shouted epithets they had been subjected to in Lufkin flashed through her mind, as well as the memory of both Jennie's and Steve's mention of terrorists who might have an interest in Samantha. "Alright, we may as well make it a family affair, if Gene can fit us all in."

"I imagine he'll be able to, even if he has to drop someone else until the following class. He knows what went on in Lufkin," Ronald assured her.

To her surprise, Samantha found that she enjoyed the challenge of learning to handle and fire both a pistol and a rifle. The family decided that all of them would use Ronald's .38 revolver for Gene's class and allow Ray to teach Samantha how to use a rifle. Then once their goods arrived from storage, she in turn could teach them. Elaine and Ronald had decided to store many of their household goods until they were sure they would like the Sanctuary. However, Ray's lessons were agreed upon only after Ronald asked Gene to find out how well qualified he was. The day before Ray was to give Samantha her first lesson, Gene reported back.

"He'll do fine, Ron. I talked to both him and his father. The old man is rather taciturn but he told me his son is better with a rifle than he is and that he's also well versed in how to safely handle firearms."

"Okay, thanks Gene. I was a bit worried but I believe it will work out. I'm glad, too, because I think Sammie may be a little sweet on the Zimmerman boy."

"Aha. Now we know where her interest came from. Not that it matters, though. I'm glad to see all of you learning to handle firearms. I still worry about some of those nuts that appeared in Lufkin and caused so much trouble."

"So do we, Gene, so do we." He didn't mention the other dangers Jennie had warned them about but he hadn't forgotten them, either. Besides, he was sure Gene was as aware of that potential threat as Jennie was.

***

Ray Zimmerman turned out to be a good teacher, in Samantha's opinion. He was slow and methodical and made sure that she had mastered each step before proceeding to the next one. Samantha grew impatient during his second visit when he began going over points she had already covered on her own or with her parents.

"I already know that, Ray," she protested.

"Maybe, but I want to see. I'd feel real bad if you got hurt because I thought you knew something and you didn't."

She conceded, knowing he was right.

Gene's one-day, ten hour class was conducted on a Saturday six weeks later, the day before Ray's third and last visit for rifle instruction. Samantha approached his class confidently after working beside her parents with the .38 pistol. She certainly had no problem memorizing and passing the final written exam, but both she and Ronald were surprised and somewhat embarrassed when it turned out that Elaine, who had never fired a gun in her life, proved to be a crack shot, a natural with firearms. On the other hand, Samantha and Ronald managed to pass the final shooting test but neither of them came anywhere close to Elaine's near-perfect score.

"Well, now we know who's going to be called on to protect the household when a bad guy comes calling," Gene teased.

"How did you manage to do so well in such a short time, Mom?" Samantha asked.

She smiled and shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe the same way you're so good with animals. I have a talent, too."

"How are the rifle classes going, Sammie?" Gene asked.

"We finish up tomorrow, then I get to teach Mom and Dad if they decide to buy another rifle or get ours out of storage," she said with a grin.

He laughed. "That ought to be fun."

***

The area that Samantha and Ray used as a firing range was well away from the house, where a small hillock provided a backstop for their targets and where no stock animals were ever around. This last day Elaine made them a picnic lunch and told Samantha that she and her father were going to church then staying for a planning session. This was for a possible expansion of the church building that would include a game room and meeting place for teenagers, and a day care center where small children could be left during services.

"We should be back before four, but if you and Ray finish early enough you might invite him to stay for supper and begin getting it ready."

Samantha smiled, knowing what her mother was about but she had no objections. She liked Ray and couldn't understand why most of her classmates didn't. He really wasn't a snob like some, Marylynn in particular, claimed. He was simply lacking in the kind of social skills most of the others took for granted. Besides, he had to work so much helping his father that he couldn't get away from the ranch very often. He was absent for almost half his classes. Despite that, he kept up with his lessons and made reasonably good grades, although nowhere near as good as hers. She found herself thinking of his major fault, in her opinion. He was not at all forward with the opposite sex. She had been waiting on him to kiss her but so far it had been in vain.
Maybe today
, she thought.

Shufus came along. Fussy wanted to but she was scared the shooting would disturb him. Caw-Caw did come even though she had not been invited. She simply flew along above Ray's pickup until they stopped, then made a circle and lit on Samantha's shoulder."

"Caw-Caw! What are you doing here?"

The crow answered with a squawk that she interpreted as not wanting to be left behind this time.

"Okay, but you'll have to stay with me when we're shooting."

"Sqwawkay," Caw-Caw replied, making her laugh. It was the closest she could come to saying "okay". Crows and ravens could learn to pronounce some human words but it required a lot of patience and repetition.
Whoops!
Again she had forgotten to conceal the fact that she could converse with animals besides horses.

"Does the crow understand you, Sammie?"

"Sometimes," she said, purposely vague. "It's a she, by the way, and her name is Caw-Caw."

He looked at her for a moment then said, "Well, if Caw-Caw can understand, tell her to stay behind us until we're finished the shooting."

She repeated his words several times to be sure the bird knew what she wanted, then they began. She was pleased that she was proving to be a much better shot with Ray's thirty-thirty lever action rifle than she had been with her dad's pistol. They set up the targets, then made certain Caw-Caw and Shufus were safely behind them before beginning. They donned ear protectors then she fired one round of all the cartridges the rifle could hold and he followed with the same pattern.

After checking their targets, Ray made a couple of suggestions about the way she was holding the rifle and complimented her on no longer flinching when she pulled the trigger.

"That was a hard habit to break but I think I have it whipped now," she said.

"I do, too. How about moving back another twenty yards and firing another round?"

"Okay."