“All little girls should learn guns. Then no one can bother them.”

tacosnachosburritos' photostream  “I’ll show you.” He sat beside
her and opened the latch. This Maria already knew but she was gracious and
allowed him to show her as he loaded cartridges into each of the cylinder’s
chambers. He got to the fifth one and stopped there. He held up one of the
bullets. “Only five, Maria.”
“But it’s a six
shooter.”
“Ah, and how many toes does my little Maria
have?”
“Ten.”
“If you load six bullets in the
gun, you might end up with only nine toes.” He laughed and closed the latch on
the revolver. He handed it to her as he wagged his finger from side to side.
“And don’t cock it until you are ready to fire.”
She nodded. 
“Now, go put it back.”
The old woman
harrumphed. “Under the pillow is no place for a gun.”
The old
man sat down and waited for Maria to return from her room. He continued. “All
little girls should learn guns. Then no one can bother them.”   Maria's Trail