In exchange for her taking a gun safety course as soon as possible and serving a two-month clean-up sentence on the range and in the saloon as punishment for her crime, we ask that she and her father be given membership. If it’s okay with you, your honor.
The judge stood.
“Well said. You have upheld the western tradition of having the punishment fit the crime. Stand, young lady.”
She stood.
“The jury has spoken and I agree, with one addition. Every member here has a name taken from a real person of the old west. I’m a judge in real life so here I go by Roy Bean. Sometimes the member picks it, sometimes the board of governors. We have four board members here. With the approval of everyone here I suggest forthwith you be called Annie Oakley, in honor of the petite woman who was probably one of the best shots ever of any gender. What say ye, officers and members?”
The saloon walls echoed with approval, and that’s how the modern day Annie Oakley came to be.
For the next three weeks Annie had to stay off the range while her father practiced. She spent the time getting to know members and their children. Every week before she went home she swept the saloon and emptied the garbage. It drove her crazy listening to the booms of black powder weapons, but she never once complained. By the fourth week she had her gun safety certification in hand, and a set of Remington 31 caliber five shot revolvers with 3 1/2″ barrels.
Even at a third the weight of the Walker, they were still almost too much for her. But under the tutelage of Sam Colt she became adept. They experimented with loads and found that they were still effective with only two thirds the normal charge of powder. The lessened recoil helped tremendously.
At 13 she began to shoot competitively. She came in third at the district meet. Six month later she came in first and made it all the way to state. At 15 she won state and regional and came in third in nationals. At 17 she won it all. Junior national champion in pistol and rifle, black powder division.
She gave up competitive shooting to concentrate on college, graduating with a degree in finance. She started out as an agent in one of her fathers’ offices and progressed to manager. Free from school, she resumed competitive shooting.
She married, a man her father didn’t trust or approve of. This brings us back to where we started, almost.
…………………….
Will Jones arrived about three years prior to the start of our story. He had a distant cousin here who wanted to sell his dental practice at a good price. He knew the area and got a good deal so he bought it, arriving from Georgia with a wife of six months. Three months later in the grip of one of the worst winters in years she decided she liked the sunny South better than being married. He fortunately had a prenup, and being married less than a year got an annulment. He met Sherrys’ dad when his dentist retired and he came to him. They talked guns, and Will invited him to his house to show him his prized possession, a Confederate version of the 36 Navy Colt, made by Starr Arms. It had been carried in the war by his great-great grandfather. Her father invited to come out to meet the Rangers.
He bonded with the group instantly. Come to find it out, he was a deadly shot with a pistol. Being ambidextrous he could use two pistols at once accurately. Almost overnight, the trophy case began to expand.
Being tall, thin, and a dentist from Georgia, only one name would fit. Doc Holliday.
When he met Annie he was instantly attracted. When he saw her rings he felt an odd sense of loss, but being a Southern gentleman he treated her with respect and deference. She felt the same, but even if her marriage was a bit rocky at times, she still honored her vows.
Being the two best shots in the group they were thrown together constantly and developed a close friendship after the initial awkwardness.
When the Rangers went to a competition, they traveled in style. The richer members were inordinately proud of their trophy case, even to to point of sponsoring some of the better shots financially. One of the members was a trucker, and when possible he would haul the custom made stagecoach and the three buggies to the state level and above. Other members would haul the horses with dually trucks like the one Doc owned. They would make reservations at equestrian campgrounds and set up tents, while the more comfort loving would stay in hotels. The day of the shoot they would meet and ride in style, with outriders leading the stagecoach and buggies in a procession designed to intimidate. It almost always worked.
At the state level and above it was a two day event. Most of the Rangers loved it, it gave them a chance to socialize with other groups informally. Will played the mandolin, and there were several guitar players and violinists so there would often be a jam session or impromptu dance. Annie stayed close to Doc during these meets for safety. The tent that she and her father shared was almost always right beside his.
The particular meet they were returning from had been canceled due to rain. It was supposed to be just showers on Friday morning but was a full downpour by afternoon. It didn’t let up all night and by Saturday morning was still going strong. Black powder does not do well in the rain. The host club called it off and rescheduled for two weeks. Everyone packed up and left.
It was a blessing for Annie. In her junior year at college she developed an acute case of PMS. She tried to fight it but it got so bad she almost flunked out. Finally the doctor found the right medication to balance her hormones and mental state. Before the medicine the cramps would be agonizing, and to put it in her own words, she became “a screaming bitch who hated everyone including her”. She kept up with her pills religiously, and could not understand why they went missing from her suitcase. She couldn’t have competed also in her words “because she would be shaking so badly she couldn’t hit anything, which was good, because a loaded weapon in her hands right now was not a good idea.”
They decided to have an impromptu planning meeting since no one could compete because her father was on the national board of directors. On the one hand, he was relieved because he had finally found someone and wanted to return to her, and on the other, he was sad because a five-hour ride with Annie scared him because he had already experienced Annie without her pills. He chose the simple route and had Doc take her home. Now we are back where we were earlier.