Elda

Aurelio's half sister, Elda Ainsworth, holstered her weapon. A sharp, pungent smell filled the air. Despite her ear plugs, the ring of the revolver retort still echoed in her head. She pushed the button to bring the target to her and admired the grouping around the bulls-eye as she changed the sheet of paper, and then sent the target back. She opened her box of ammunition and reloaded her revolver.
Smith & Wesson made a fine weapon.

Elda had worked in intelligence in the navy and still kept up her skills. She was coy about telling her age but was physically fit. Her face was showing the lines of age, and her short brown hair was graying around the temples. She blessed inheriting her mother’s high cheekbones, since they helped keep her face from sagging. She grinned as she remembered winning first place in her age group in her last race. That wouldn’t happen again this year, since two of her younger and faster running buddies had just entered her age group.

"Honey, I'm home," Elda shouted as she entered the front door. Simultaneously she was hugged by her partner, Dawn, her leg was rubbed by her cat, and her dog, Vee, jumped up her other side. Elda stepped back and admired Dawn, a stunning woman with a mane of brown hair framing her square face. Her blue eyes were a contrast to her coloring, and they drew Elda into another world when she gazed into them. It was nice, too, that they were about the same height and could stare into each other’s eyes so easily. "How is it that you take my breath away every time I look at you?"

"Are you getting COPD?"

Elda laughed and kissed her partner. She strode across the wide wooden planks of the living room floor into the kitchen to clean her gun.

"Honey, I wish you wouldn’t do that here," Dawn yelled after her.

"But it’s so therapeutic. You should try it," Elda retorted.

She didn’t hear Dawn’s soft whisper, "I hate that you have that gun. You would think that after twenty-five years together you would know that by now."