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minutes. It was early yet, but Lilli started in that direction, wondering if
Webb would like the dress materials she'd purchased.
"I did not think you would have the nerve to show your face in this town." The
cold and contemptuous voice lashed at her.
She faltered a step, then paused to confront Franc Kreuger as he came toward
her. "Hello, Mr. Kreuger." She kept her head high. "I understand you have a
new son. Congratulations." Dr. Simon Bardolph had passed along the news when
he had come by the ranch to check on the progress of Abe Garvey. "Helga is
doing well I trust,"
"A brazen hussy like you is not fit to speak her name." His mouth curled in
disdain. "Stefan was not even cold in his grave before you were climbing into
another man's bed. You have no respect for the dead."
There was no reason to tolerate his abusive talk. Lilli made to walk past him,
but he stepped into her way. She was stiff with anger, and determined not to
givee him the satisfaction of thinking that anything he said made the
slightest impression on her.
"Stefan was a good and faithful man. He deserved more than an adulterous tramp
like you," he jeered. "You are what killed him."
"You have been misinformed, Mr. Kreuger," Lilli replied coolly. "It was
typhoid fever."
His glance swept her with disgust. "Because of you, he was ashamed to hold his
head up among his friends. Now you come to town in your fine clothes and your
ladylike airs, but no decent woman will speak to you."
Aware that his voice was growing louder to deliberately attract the attention
of his fellow homesteaders and publicly humiliate her, she made a determined
effort to end this meeting. "Your opinions have been most interesting, Mr.
Kreuger, but you'll have to excuse me. My husband is expecting me." She tried
to walk around him, but he wouldn't let her pass.
"You think because you marry a Calder, it makes you someone important," he
accused.
"I think nothing of the sort," she denied on a vibrating note of temper.
"Please get out of my way."
"Ah, yes, you are meeting your husband somewhere." His eyes took on an ugly
glint. "The sidewalks are for decent, God-fearing people. Walk in the street ,
in the gutter where your kind of women belong."
His voice rang out through the still air. A cold rage shook her, making every
nerve in her body scream with tension. She wanted to hit out at him and slap
his vile words down his throat, but she knew it would only please him.
"Perhaps I would find fewer braying jackasses on the street than I have on the
sidewalk." Her fury was so focused on him she was blind to everything else
around her.
Suddenly there was a large hand on Kreuger's shoulder, spinning him around.
Lilli had a short glimpse of the black rage on Webb's face before his cocked
arm drove a fist into Kreuger's face and Franz went flying backward, sprawling
onto the boardwalk next to her. 'T'hen Webb was grabbing her arm and roughly
pulling her along with him as he turned to walk away.
He hadn't taken two steps when a body came hurtling at him from behind. The
impetus carried both men onto the hard ground of the narrow alleyway between
the two buildings. They scuffled in the dirt, rolling and twisting, trying for
advantage over the other. Elbows and knees became weapons as Kreuger fought
with savage cunning.
A crowd of onlookers jammed around Lilli, forming a ring to watch the fight.
As she looked around the chain of faces, there wasn't a friendly one to be
found. They were cheering for Kreuger, one of their own, shouting advice and
encouragement. He was the underdog, smaller in size than Webb, but his
quickness and strength made him an equal.
Kreuger slipped out of Webb's hold and was on his feet while Webb was halfway
on his knees. He saw the booted toe coming and managed to block it with his
arm, the force of the kick slamming through his shoulder. Then he was
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catapulting himself upward, no longer underestimating his opponent. He swung a
fist at the lowered face and caught Kreuger on the temple with a slanting
blow.
It felt good-the fighting, the hitting, the sensation of blood pumping through
his veins, cleaning out his system. His punches were reaching Kreuger, hitting
his belly and his chest. The wind whistled through his lungs with the force he
was throwing into his fists. A jarring set of knuckles rammed into his mouth
as Kreuger knocked an arm aside and made an opening. His lip split against his
teeth, pouring blood into his mouth. Another quick punch widened the cut and
staggered Webb backward. He shook his head, clearing it of the roaring sound.
He waited for Kreuger to follow up the blow, and he came, springing like a cat
for the kill. Webb stepped aside and lifted a knee, driving it forward into
Kreuger's vitals. When his arms dropped in pain, Webb slammed a fist into his
nose and heard the crunch of bone. A second swing tore out a chunk of flesh on [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]