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you shout loud enough at someone who is doin’ somethin’ wrong, they will respond by doin’ it right.
    Nunzio and me hang back from the first bunch of shooters, as we have little fear of passin’ this particular test. We focus instead on how the rest of the crew is doin’ so’s we can help out the ones what is havin’ trouble.
    The Flie brothers are surprisingly good shots, each of them not only hittin’ the target with every shot, but holdin’ a shot group you can cover with a double hand span. Realizin’ that the targets are close enough to hit with a rock, however, this display of marksmanship fails to impress me a great deal. Sergeant Smiley, on the other hand, seems genuinely pleased with their performance.
    “Now that’s how the army likes to see you handle those weapons!” he sez loud so’s everyone can hear him. “Who taught you boys to shoot like that, anyway?”
    “Our dad did,” Shu Flie grins. “You may have heard of him. They call him Horse Flie.”
    “Mom can outshoot him, though,” Hy Flie adds. “They call her Dragon Flie.”
    At this point, I stopped followin’ the conversation, both because itwas makin’ my stomach hurt, and because Nunzio was beckonin’ me to huddle up with him.
    “We got problems,” he sez, which wasn’t surprisin’, as knowin’ him as well as I do I could see he was worried.
    “Like what?”
    “It’s Spellin’ Bee,” he sez, which is what we’ve taken to callin’ our junior magician. “I don’t think he could hit the broadside of a barn if he was inside it.”
    I snuck a look over his shoulder, just in time to see Bee loose a quarrel which misses the target by fifteen feet, give or take a mile. The corporal was right there beside him, offering helpful suggestions at the top of his lungs.
    “I see. Well, it’s not like he’s gonna do much shootin’, what with him bein’ a magician.”
    “Maybe not,” Nunzio shrugs, “but we’re all supposed to qualify today or the whole group gets held back... remember?”
    “That could be a problem,” I nods. “Doesn’t he have a spell or somethin’ that could help him out?”
    My cousin rolls his eyes and snorts, disgusted-like. “Are you kidding? He only knows two spells, and neither of them are gonna be of any help to him on the firing line.”
    “Two spells? What are they?”
    “Let’s see, he knows Dispell, which lets him see through disguise spells.”
    “That’s not much help,” I admits. “What’s his other spell?”
    “Datspell,” Nunzio grimaces, “which is nothing more than the disguise spell the Boss uses with a silly name.”
    “So all he can do is disguise himself and see through other disguises,” I sez, turnin’ it over in my mind.
    “That’s it. Nothin’ that’s gonna help him qualify today.”
    “Maybe... maybe not,” I sez thoughtfully. “Tell you what. Is there any chance you can get him alone for a few minutes?”
    “No problem. When he finishes blowin’ this round, he’ll have to wait to take another turn. I can get him then. Why? You got an idea?”
    “Uh-huh,” I grins. “Just convince him to use his disguise spell... what does he call it? Oh yeah, Datspell... so’s you can change places. Then you qualify for him, you switch back, and no one will be any the wiser.”
    “I dunno,” Nunzio sez, rubbin’ his chin. “We might be able to fool the corporal, but the sergeant there’s a pretty sharp cookie. He might spot there’s somethin’ different about the Bee.”
    “I’ll take care of distractin’ the sergeant when the time comes. Just be careful not to shoot too good... just good enough to qualify. Got it?”
    Then there isn’t much to do whilst waiting for the plan to unfold. Finally the corporal gets fed up with shoutin’ at our young magician and sends him off the line for a “break” until he has rested his voice a bit.
    Tryin’ not to pay too much attention, I watch out of the corner of my eye while Nunzio drapes an arm around Bee’s