“I honestly don’t know, Smoke.”
“Judge Garrison has legal papers ordering him committed to the asylum.”
Max’s face hardened. “Robert will never be confined in one of those places. They’re treated worse than animals in there.”
“You better think of something to do with him after you’re gone.”
“Oh? Am I going somewhere?”
“Yes. You’re either going to leave this area voluntarily, go to prison, or I’m going to kill you.”
Max chuckled, then laughed out loud. “Damn, but you are a gutsy man, Smoke Jensen. If the circumstances were different, I could really like you.”
“There is nothing about you that I like, Max.”
Max chuckled again, and it was not in the least forced. “That’s a shame. I’m going to both enjoy and regret beating you to death.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I’ve whipped bigger and better men than you in my time.”
Max cut his eyes, looking at Smoke. The man was all muscle and bone. Max upgraded his original estimate of Smoke’s weight. His arms and shoulders and chest and hands were enormous. Max probably had a good sixty pounds on the man, but he guessed accurately that Smoke would be quicker and able to dance around with more grace than he.
“I’m not surprised that you came alone,” Smoke said.
“I do have some honor about me,” Max replied stiffly.
“Honorable men do not make war against women and children. Neither do they rape young girls.”
“Aggie was a mistake,” Max admitted. “But both Robert and I—we get it from our father—have hot blood when it comes to girls. It’s a failing, I will admit.”
Smoke wondered how many young girls had suffered and died at the hands of the man he faced. And once again the thought came to him: I ought to just shoot him.
Smoke sipped his coffee, holding the cup in a gloved hand, and stared at Max Huggins from the other side of the fire.
“I guess it’s about that time,” Smoke said.
Both rose as one and tossed the dregs of their coffee to the ground. They tossed the cups to the ground and walked away from the campsite. Max flexed his arms and wiggled his hands and did a little boxing shuffle with his feet.
“That’s cute,” Smoke told him. “Where’d you learn that? From a hurdy-gurdy girl?”
“You’re going to be easy, Jensen. That’s one of Jem Mace’s moves.”
“Somehow I think he did it better. You looked kind of stupid.”
Max stepped in quickly and tried a right at Smoke’s head. Smoke sidestepped, but not to the side that Max anticipated, and the left that followed the right almost jerked him off his boots when it exploded against thin air.
“Damn, you’re clumsy,” Smoke told him.
Max charged in and Smoke was forced to back up. Smoke knew that if Max connected solidly with that big right, it would hurt. Max drew first blood with a sneaky left that bloodied Smoke’s mouth; but Smoke moved away too quickly for the right he threw to connect. Smoke’s left did connect against Max’s belly and it was like hitting a tree.
He danced back and let Max follow him. Neither man had as yet worked up a sweat or was even breathing hard. Both of them knew that this fight could last a long time.
Max snaked a right in that almost connected. Smoke smashed a left uppercut that jerked Max’s head back and stopped him for a couple of seconds. Before he could fully recover, Smoke danced away.
Blood was leaking out of one side of Max’s mouth as he followed Smoke around the flats. Smoke suspected the big man had bitten his tongue due to that uppercut.
Suddenly Max dropped his fists and charged, trying to catch Smoke in a bear hug. What Max got was a combination left and right to his face, followed by a boot to his knee that staggered him. Before he could catch his balance, Smoke had hit him twice more, both times on the face. Max felt blood running down from his nose and the sensation infuriated him. He stepped in and busted Smoke on the jaw with a hard right, and then a left to the belly that hurt the smaller man.
Smoke backed up, shaking his head, for Max had a punch like the kick of a mule.
Max sensed victory too soon, but with good reason. Never had he had to hit a man Smoke’s size more than twice to put him down. He stepped closer to put the finishing touches to one Smoke Jensen, and Smoke knocked the crap out of Max Huggins.
The hard right fist connected flush on the side of Max’s jaw and put the big man down on the grass. He was astonished! He wasn’t hurt, just simply astounded that Jensen had actually knocked him down.
Max was further astonished when Smoke backed up, allowing the man to get to his feet. Smoke was fighting ring rules.
“Just as long as you do, Max,” Smoke said after correctly reading the man’s expression.
Max nodded and stepped in, raising his fists. So it was boxing that Jensen wanted, hey! Well, he would sure oblige the man.
Both men were wary now, each of them knowing the other could do plenty of damage. They circled each other, Max with his fists held high, Smoke with his left fist held wide from his body and his right fist just in front of and to one side of his head.