They rode out to a nice clear area on Merida's huge horse, Angus.
Merida put her shooting sleeve on, while Rapunzel carefully set her tiara with Merida's cape, so she wouldn't lose it. When they were all set, Merida got her bow and arrow from where she had left them on the ground nearby. She demonstrated to Rapunzel how to hold and position the bow and arrow.
Rapunzel stood uncertainly beside Angus as she watched Merida prepare to loose her arrow.
Rapunzel cautiously peeked past Merida's red hair as Merida set the arrow loose.
It was a clean shot and she hit the target right in the middle!
"Bullseye!" Merida yelped, then raced to the target to retrieve her arrow.
When Merida came back with her arrow, she held the bow and arrow out to Rapunzel. Rapunzel stood with her hands clasped, and she swallowed hard as she wondered how she would ever manage to use the bow.
"Are you so sure I should try this?"
"Well, you're great with finding your target with a fryin' pan, aren't ye?" Merida asked.
"Ye-e-s..." Rapunzel said slowly. "But that's a bow...and..and an arrow! How can I ever hit a target with that?"
"It's easy, trust me!" Merida replied.
Merida shoved the bow at Rapunzel and handed her the arrow before she could get out of learning. "A gal's got to learn how to defend herself, and this is how we do it."
"I can defend myself perfectly fine with a frying pan, just ask Eugene," Rapunzel tried to joke.
"Aye, but an arrow'll hit the target quicker than a fryin' pan."
Merida showed Rapunzel, who was quite awkward with the bow at first, how to hold it the right way. When they were done with that, she handed her the arrow.
Rapunzel just couldn't get the arrow to go where she wanted it to go. First it pointed downward, then it was up too high, and then it just plain fell out of her hand. It took plenty of fiddling around, but finally she got a good hold on it. She held her breath and pulled back.
Still unsure, she randomly loosed the arrow after she pulled back as far as she had the strength to. The arrow flew! Spinning, it shot off, past the target set in front of her, and actually went even further to another target that had been set further out!
Rapunzel threw her arms into the air and squealed. "I did it! I did it! Did you see?"
"I told ye," Merida said as she shaded her eyes to see the arrow.
"Did I hit the bullseye? I probably didn't hit the bullseye. But you never know, maybe..." As Rapunzel chattered excitedly, Merida ran to get the arrow.
Merida came back with the arrow, and Raunzel handed her the bow back.
"Thank you soo much for teaching me! I can see why you like to shoot. It's so much fun!"
"It went clean through the bullseye. Right into the wood behind the target, right into the center of the target. Nice shot! Ye either have good beginner's luck or you're as good a shot as ME!" Merida said.
Angus turned to see what all the fuss was about, and Rapunzel turned to him.
"Did you hear that, Angus? I'm as good a shot as your mistress!"
Angus snorted and shook his head, and Merida and Rapunzel laughed.
Gathering their things, they took turns shooting the bow until it started getting dark, and then they rode off for home.
~~
(I am using the American Girl "Patriot" foal as a stand in for Angus.
Also, the shots are all from inside the house, so we just have to imagine in the outdoorsy background!)
Thanks for reading! (=
