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“Yes!” Seer yelled.
“Five…four…three…”
“DONE!” Beth cried.
“Two…one…”
“I’M DONE I’M DONE!” Tully screamed as Lesion collapsed onto the chair in exasperation.
“A SECOND!” Patches yelled. “One fucking second!”
“Very good, ladies,” Bullets announced. “Please remove your tags from the board and return them to the box and return the boxandkey back to the cubbyhole. The next task being added to the first two will require the pencil and paper to the far right of your station.”
Lesion watched as he stopped at Tully’s station and removed her pencil. “You’ll use the item you picked from the table to complete your third task,” he said quietly before strolling back to his table. “You will draw the gun you’ve learned to clean and label all its parts. You can do this a little at a time in between the first two tasks of cleaning the gun and placing the map tags on the board, or you can do it first and get it out of the way, or do it last. It’s up to you. A minute will be added to the time, giving you a total of six minutes to complete all three tasks. Testing starts in sixty seconds. Get ready.”
“What the hellisthat?” Lesion wondered again when Tully pulled the item from her pocket and set it on the table.
“Looks like mechanical pencil lead,” Bishop realized.
“Which is why he took her pencil,” Seer mused.
“I’m a little concerned about this task,” Spook muttered, shaking his head.
“Why?” Lesion wondered.
“Maggie’s too good at drawing. I can’t imagine her doing a quick sketch.”
Lesion cast a glance at him before returning his gaze to the screen. Were they all pretending to not care if their wives won or lost? It truly didn’t matter if Tully won or lost other than satisfying the safety measures The Eveque felt pressed to secure. But he’d not considered what losing might mean to Tully.
All feelings and thoughts on the matter were suspended the second Bullets gave the “GO.” They were all once again on the edge of their seat with the other men carrying on like deaf adults at a carnival.
Tully hadn’t touched her paper yet and he guessed she was intending to do it last. He felt like that was wise. Get the stuff you’ve gotten good at out of the way.
Bullets called out every minute mark this time and Lesion couldn’t tell if it was a deterrence or a useful fire under the ladies. When he got down to the two-minute mark, Tully was on her fourth tag. She was doing good. All of them were. Their speed had increased. The drawing started before the final minute mark and all eyes seemed to be on Maggie judging by the commotion from the next room. Tully kept fighting to hold on to her lead pieces and soon twenty seconds were on the clock.
“Done!” Belle Eveque called out, setting her pencil down.
At ten seconds, another “Done!” was shouted by Cherie, and at five, Tully crossed the finish line, allowing Lesion to breathe.
This time Bullets counted down from, “FIVE…FOUR….THREE…TWO…”
“DONE!” Maggie shrieked, slamming down her pencil before bursting out in laughter and hugging Belle Eveque. Then she hugged Cherie next to her. Lesion’s heart seized when Cherie turned to Tully and hugged her. The happy smile that split her worried face was like watching the dawn of the fucking universe. His universe. She wassobeautiful it boggled his mind.
“VERY impressive ladies!” Bullets said, clapping slowly and loudly. “For your final task, ten extra seconds will be put on the clock, giving you a total of six minutes and ten seconds to complete all four tasks. Clean the gun, put your map tags, draw and label your gun, and…play darts.” He opened a drawer next to his gun table and brought out a handful of darts. “Your dart score will countasyour score for that task.” He handed each of them five darts. “You already have your darts, so you won’t need these,” he said to Cherie. “The board is there.” He pointed to the far wall. When you’re done with your first three tasks, you’ll make your way to the board and stand at the red line to throw. More than one may throw at a time. This is your final round ladies. Get your stations ready. Return all items back to start. You will begin in thirty seconds.”
Bonus bets were being placed in the other room and Bishop stood. Lesion eyed him as he paced while Spook leaned in his chair with a sigh. He wasn’t sure where Seer had gone and looked over his shoulder. Also pacing. What were they all thinking? He was ready for this to be over, he realized. All of it. He hadn’t had much of a chance to even prepare Tully for any of this. But even if he had, he’d likely have addressed everything but the worry in her sweet face. How could he be so challenged when it came to her?
“And…GO!” Bullets announced, bringing Bishop and Seer running back to their seats where they all sat glued to the screens.
“The are fuckingfast,” Bishop muttered.
“They are,” Spook agreed while Seer gave his seeing nod.
Lesion agreed to himself, sure it was pride he heard in their tones. Had Bishop changed his mind about wanting them to lose? From the sounds in the other room, they were all betting against the house. And the house had bet against the women. Lesion had not given their success much thought. They would not pass was The Gauntlet was the general consensus. They knew they might pass some of the tests but the ones coming, the physical ones, he couldn’t imagine them passing them. But then he’d never imagined a woman like Tully either. They were each very odd variables in the formula. Wild cards. With every stage they passed, he was convinced his original instincts about the Gauntlet’s outcome needed recalculating.
They all made better time than before on each task, and it was impressive that they all made it to the dart board with more than thirty seconds on the clock still.
Belle Eveque was the first there and she threw her five darts. Her accuracy had them all astonished. Then Maggie was right behind her and she threw her five darts. Her first one missed the board entirely. And then something magical happened in her mind and the next four were nearly all bullseyes which had the men breaking his eardrums. Cherie was next at seventeen seconds, putting Lesion on his feet. That wouldn’t give Tully much time. He stood glued to the floor when Tully made it to the dart throwing line with seven seconds on the clock. Lesion realized that darts might be her very worst talent as her first three missed the entire board. He wanted to say take your time but she had two darts left and four seconds on the clock. The women were rooting for her and she took aim on her last one and Lesion yelled in triumph.
