When I was six, I saw an ad for a Daisy Air Rifle on the back of one of my brother Martin’s comic books. At Christmas Martin had got a Roy Rogers cap gun and holster, and he hardly ever let me borrow them. I was tired of getting things like dolls and frilly dresses. I could just see myself holding that rifle. I also knew it would never happen because I was a girl, but that didn’t stop me dreaming about having that rifle.
In the summer of 1955, I was eight and my brother Martin was ten. We had just moved back to Vancouver from living in Portland, Oregon, for a year. My dad announced we were going on a road trip to visit relatives we hadn’t seen for a while. Our first stop would be a visit to my mom’s oldest sister Nan and her husband Alec who ran a hunting and fishing lodge on Horsefly Lake in the Cariboo.
This would be our first visit to Nan and Alec’s, who didn’t want to be called Aunt or Uncle, just Nan and Alec. Martin and I had met them a few times before at family reunions, but we didn’t really know them well. What I remembered about Nan was that she was the tallest woman I’d ever seen, and my mom said she’d won many awards for track and field. What I remembered about Alec was that he was very tall and bald, completely bald, no hair at all on his head. One time Dad had mentioned that Alec had been in the RCMP, but had been accused of being a Communist and was drummed out. Mom shushed Dad and told Martin and me not to repeat what Dad had said. That wouldn’t be hard. I didn’t even understand what he had said.
Mom and Dad had shown Martin and me some old photos of family reunions that had happened before Martin and I were born. Most of the photos were of people eating or standing around in groups. But there were three or four photos that Martin and I thought were just fascinating, and we asked to see them again and again. In those photos my mom’s three brothers and my dad all had lampshades on their heads. Alec was there too, and he had a plunger on his head. When Dad was looking at the pictures with us, he told us that it took forever to get the plunger off Alec’s head. When the plunger finally did come off, Alec’s head was one big purple bruise.
“Why did Alec have a plunger on his head?” I asked.
“Yeah, and what about those lampshades?” Martin chimed in.
“Oh, we were just fooling around,” Dad said.
“More like drunken idiots,” said Mom.
On the morning that we left for our road trip, we were up at 7, Martin and Dad loaded the car with Mom supervising, and we were on our way by 7:30. After one stop for an ice cream cone, two more stops for us to go to the bathroom, and several queries about “How many more miles,” we were finally rolling down Nan and Alec’s driveway. Out the car window was the biggest log cabin I had ever seen. Well, I had never really seen an actual log cabin, but I was quite familiar with the log cabins in episodes of Davy Crockett on TV. This log cabin was much, much bigger. Nan was waving to us from a long front porch.
Dad stopped the car, and Martin and I leaped out. The first thing I noticed was a blue lake behind the cabin. The next thing I noticed was a swarm of big black flies buzzing around my head. “Hurry up and come in before the horse flies eat you alive!” Nan shouted. We didn’t need any urging. With Mom and Dad right behind us, Martin and I dashed through the front door, and Nan slammed it behind us.
We found ourselves in a huge room. On every wall were deer heads and fish on wooden plaques. I looked at Martin.
“Won’t they start smelling?” I whispered.
“They’re stuffed, stupid.” Martin hissed.
That was enough to put an end to my questions. I did, however, wonder what the deer and fish were stuffed with and why they were on the walls. And I didn’t like the way the eyes of the deer seemed to follow me wherever I went in the room.
Then Alec came in. “Welcome!” he said. “Hey! While Nan finishes making lunch, why don’t you kids come and see my den?” Mom and Dad went down the hall to talk with Nan in the kitchen. Martin and I followed Alec. When he took us into his den, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Rifles of all sizes hung on racks on every wall. As we were ogling the rifles, Alec asked us if we wanted to learn how to handle a rifle safely. Martin and I shouted “Yes!”
Alec took one of the smaller rifles off the wall. Martin and I watched Alec’s every move.
“You must always point the rifle towards the ground,” he said, “unless you intend to shoot. Then you must be sure that the safety is on. If the safety is on, the rifle can’t fire.”
As he talked, Alec glanced down at a little metal lever on the side of the rifle, where the safety was, I guessed, and then he pulled the trigger.
BANG!!
I couldn’t believe how big a noise a little rifle could make. A bullet ripped through the wooden floor. Splinters flew. The room smelled like someone had set off a bundle of firecrackers. There was a moment of silence. My ears were ringing. Then Nan burst into the den.
“Jesus Christ, Alec, are you trying to kill someone? Mr. Make-Sure-The-Safety-Is-On. Have you lost your mind?”
Nan sounded a lot like Mom when she was mad at Dad. Alec’s face was white. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled, looking at Martin and me. “I don’t know how that could have happened.”
The rest of the visit felt very quiet. Martin and I followed Alec and Nan into the kitchen, where we sat down to the huge lunch that Nan had laid out. Mom and Nan were the only people talking, and no mention was made of rifles. After lunch we thanked Nan and Alec for the visit. We left shortly after because Mom said we had to get to the motel in Williams Lake before dark.
In the car on the way to Williams Lake, Dad turned to Mom.
“You know, I think Alec was just teaching the kids the importance of having the safety on. You’ve got to admit it’s a lesson they’ll never forget.”
Mom didn’t say anything, but she rolled her eyes. I was sitting behind her, but I knew she rolled her eyes. She tipped her head back and a little off to the right. Always a sure sign of eye-rolling.
After that visit, I changed my mind about wanting a Daisy Air Rifle. Instead, I set my sights on an Annie Oakley outfit with a cap gun and holster. I didn’t get that either.
