The explosions made by the hammer point hitting the percussion caps of the shells in the Smith & Wesson revolving chamber took everyone by surprise except the older of the two men who’d taken the opportunity of his son’s babble to put two slugs into Joe Mascala’s chest, sending the Italian sprawling backward out onto the forecourt. The older man now re-trained his smoking gun onto Ernie.

” Now, boy, will you do as I bid an help my son git the liquor and grub into the damned car?”

Ernie couldn’t answer but somehow managed to help the younger man with the bottles of whisky, cigarettes, cans of food, and candy bars. He’d stopped shivering.

When the car was so loaded down with bottles and cans as to seem almost immovable the younger of the two men looked at his Pa and asked.

” What we gonna do with the boy, Pa? He’s seen us right good.”

” Kill him, I guess.”

Ernie was kneeling at the side of Joe Mascala’s body when the younger of the two men asked him to come over.

Ernie ignored the request and grabbed the shotgun out of Joe’s grip, pointed it at the two men and squeezed both triggers. Nothing happened. Ernie squeezed again and still nothing happened. The two men were laughing now at Ernie’s confusion, with the older one walking toward Ernie, the Smith & Wesson at the end of his outstretched arm.

” Come on, boy, gimme the goddam gun.”

Ernie suddenly realised the safety catch of the shotgun was still on (his uncle had taught him to shoot) and quickly clicked it off as he pointed the twin barrels at the approaching older man and squeezed the triggers. The force of the blast blew Ernie clean off his feet and the shotgun out of his hands.

The older of the two men began to laugh loudly and wetly, and reaching Ernie lying across the body of Joe pointed the Smith & Wesson at the boy’s head and cocked the hammer.

The first blast took the older man’s head clean off his shoulders, with the second blast removing most of the younger man’s lower intestines. Ernie waited for the blast that would kill him. It didn’t come. Instead a well educated voice asked if he was okay. Ernie opened his eyes to see
a tall, handsome, bearded man looking down at him holding a smoking double-barrelled shotgun.