Aim there. The barrel shook as Tala raised the rifle. Her breathing quickened. Cal moved behind her. One hand steadied her elbow while the other pressed the stock firmly against her shoulder.
Breathe slow. Don't fight with the rifle. Let the air out. Tala exhaled. Then she pulled the trigger.
The gunshot tore through the quiet morning. Her bullet struck the dirt well short of the stump. Tala jerked from the recoil, one shoulder thrown backward, but she refused to drop the rifle. Cal only nodded once. Again.
She raised the weapon. Three more shots followed. None struck the stump, but after every round, her feet planted more firmly. Her shoulders steadied. Sweat gathered along her forehead despite the cold.
After the fourth shot, she lowered the rifle and fought to catch her breath. Better? Cal glanced at the marks scattered across the dirt. Then he looked back at her. Much better.
A faint spark appeared in Tala's eyes. It was not happiness, not yet. It was pride. They practiced through the rest of the morning. Her arms shook beneath the weight of the rifle, and every recoil sent fresh pain through her shoulder.
Still, she never asked to quit. And somewhere between those shots, Cal saw something beneath the bruises and scars that had not been there when he found her beneath the pines. Strength, not the desperate strength of someone simply refusing to die. Something more. Tala was no longer only surviving.
She was taking her life back. At noon, they sat together on the porch with bread and beans between them. Tala ate slowly, her eyes never staying away from the tree line for long. They'll come back. It was not a question.
It was a certainty. Cal finished chewing before he answered. Yes. He looked toward the pines. They will.
Tala met his eyes. We fight together. The words carried more weight than any promise spoken over a Bible. Cal held her gaze. After several quiet seconds, he gave one slow nod.
Together. That afternoon, Tala worked the corn mill at the table while Cal repaired an old saddle strap. The fire crackled nearby, throwing restless shadows across the log walls. For the first time since she had arrived, the silence between them no longer felt awkward. It stretched between them like a good rope pulled tight.