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Charlie shrugged. "It'd be nice to be a family…Ain't never been a real family before, just Ma and me. And…I think I'd like having your name."
"I think so too, son." Cord smiled and ran his hand over Charlie's head. "Now, let's get some serious fishing done here."
"Over yonder is pretty good. Caught me a good size catfish there once." Charlie motioned to the bend of the creek. There were shade trees to sit under and they made themselves comfortable.
After a while Charlie glanced over at him. "I don't look much like
you. Do I?"
Cord cast him a quick glance, "No, maybe not, but you favor your Mama a lot…"
"Will you teach me about ranching?" He asked.
"All you want to know." Cord promised.
"And how to shoot a gun?" Charlie added.
Cord thought about that. "I think we should talk to your mother about that. Although, I have nothing against you shooting a rifle or shotgun, a handgun, well, maybe later. But it's not just teaching you to shoot, Charlie."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you gotta know what you are shooting at, if it's an animal, or a person. And you gotta know the rules of it."
"Rules? What rules?"
"Well, there are laws about shooting and safety things, and how to clean a gun and take care of it, how to put it up safely so it doesn't go off on it's own. There's a lot more to guns than you might think. You see wearing a gun carries a heavy responsibility, and there are those that will challenge you at times too, just because you wear it."
"Never thought about that…"
"There's an old saying, 'If you wear a gun, you better expect to use it'."
"Then maybe I'll just use a rifle or shotgun."
"That's wise. I'll teach you…as you get a little older." Cord promised.
"Ma can use a gun too!" Charlie told him.
"I know; we use to hunt together."
"You did?"
"Yeah, she was a cracker-jack shot." Cord smiled.
"You know ma pretty well, don't you?"
"About as good as any man around." Cord smiled.
"What do I call you?" Charlie asked.
"Well now, hadn't thought about that, but I think it should be up to you. You can call me Cord, or dad, or Pa, or whatever." Cord informed him.
"I think I like Pa best."
"Then Pa it is!" Cord said and tossed his line out again.
Directly Charlie got a nibble and Cord motioned to him. "Easy…let him take it under good before you jerk."
Charlie turned to look at him, "I know how to fish…"
