Emerita Boxing Day, page 19
Only a dozen weren’t, and those twelve women were either with their husbands or in smaller groups of two or three. Those not included were sending venomous looks at the collection.
“Ah, Holyday,” Dodd said upon seeing him. “It’s good to see you. I was wondering where you had gone off to. I’ve already given my greetings to your wives.”
“I was making sure the entertainment tonight was ready,” Doc chuckled.
“You had something to do with the quiet music earlier?”
“I was helping the musician warm up.”
“How interesting.” Dodd turned to look at the large group of women. “Your wives seem to have become a driving force of conversation tonight. I noted that those who seem closest to them are also wearing less powder.”
“That stuff’s toxic,” Doc said. “Most of it is laced with heavy metals that’ll sicken and kill someone.”
“I’ve heard of a few ladies who’ve seen you. They are also wearing very little tonight, but none of them seem to need the powder. I’ve never seen them with such healthy skin before.”
“Maybe it’s a trend that will continue in this fair city.”
“Dodd, I— Oh! Hello, Mr. Holyday,” a feminine voice said from behind Doc.
Doc glanced back to find Dodd’s secretary there. The wolf bestial woman was smiling brightly. “Ms. Packner, it’s a pleasure to see you again. A guest of the governor this evening?”
“I am, sir,” Packner said as she went to Dodd’s side. “I was happily surprised when he asked if I’d like to attend.”
Doc dropped his voice as he pulled his handkerchief from his pocket. “You missed some of the powder, miss.” He held out his cloth to her, using his other hand to tap his face where she needed to wipe hers.
Packner took the handkerchief and quickly rubbed at her skin. Glancing his way, she held it back to him. “Thank you. I hated the way it made my face feel. After speaking to your wives and seeing them, I felt I could get rid of it.”
“You look lovely without it,” Dodd said softly.
Packner’s smile became bright as she moved a little closer to Dodd’s side.
Doc grinned as he refolded his handkerchief, then stuck it back in his pocket. “I believe a natural woman is vastly preferable to one coated in powder.”
“No doubt you do, Holyday.” The voice was unpleasant.
All three of them turned to see Strongarm approaching.
“Strongarm, I wasn’t sure you’d attend,” Doc said with a fake smile. “Did you bring a guest this evening to share the event with?”
“No. Then again, I don’t sully myself with lessers. I will only accept a pure woman.”
“In which context?” Doc asked, eyes narrowing slightly. “‘Pure’ can mean many things to many people.”
“It would mean one who is saved by Apoc,” Strongarm sneered slightly. “Governor, I’m surprised you brought your secretary along,” he added to Dodd. “Do you think business will be conducted here?”
Dodd went stiff, then presented his arm to Packner. “Ms. Packner is here as my guest, not as my secretary, Mr. Strongarm.”
Strongarm shook his head slightly. “Pity. With everyone here seeing that, your chances of reelection will drop lower than ever.”
“Because he has an intelligent woman on his arm?” Doc asked with a laugh. “Goodness, how small people would have to be for that to scare them.”
“I wouldn’t expect a man who frequents the Iniquitous Den— much less while married multiple times— to understand how upstanding people would see things.”
“How have your efforts to stop the competition gone?” Doc asked with false cheer. “Must grind you to know that you’ll eventually lose. I believe the Ironbeard clan started laying track and line out toward Deep Gulch. The courts here in the city even approved us tying into the existing lines.”
“Oh, I’m sure those who stand against me will be gone soon. There is only so much money anyone can lose before it becomes untenable.”
“Goodman and Suez both thought that, too,” Doc smiled, an edge of coldness to it. “Everyone who’s tried to stop my efforts to elevate those around me has found nothing but ruin.”
“Considering your proclivities, I won’t have to worry for long,” Strongarm grunted. “You’ll die of the pox or on the gallows.”
“That would only happen if I embraced your mistresses or ideals,” Doc replied without pause. “Then again, no one has seen you with a woman… so maybe I’m wrong on one count, at least.”
Strongarm’s lip pulled back— there was no warning when he raised his cane and struck Doc. The metal handle crashed into Doc’s raised arm as he blocked the attack, the pain intense. Doc staggered back as he pulled his own cane up, swatting aside the man’s second attempt to strike him.
The room went quiet as people quickly backed away from the confrontation. Ushers rushed toward the two men, and someone had yelled out that someone needed to get the sheriff.
Before the ushers could intercede or Strongarm could strike for a third time, a flash of navy blue interjected itself between the two men. Lia’s arm streaked forward and the sound of wood on flesh echoed. That time, Strongarm staggered back, his face coloring where her closed fan had struck him.
“Attack my husband again and I will not use a fan to defend him!” Lia hissed, her eyes emotionless. “I’m giving you a chance to walk away alive.”
Strongarm lowered his cane, the mark on his face darkening. “Hiding behind your wife, Holyday? If you give insult, you should expect reprisal! You aren’t even man enough to handle that.”
“You gave insult first,” Doc said as he went to stand beside Lia. “I can ask the governor to attest to that.”
“The man you already led from Apoc’s sight?” Strongarm scoffed. He motioned with his free hand to where Dodd was standing with Packner. “No ‘governor’ should sully himself so in public. It is bad enough if one visits establishments for that kind of need.”
Dodd’s jaw set; he was seconds away from saying something.
“If you felt that insult was given, duels can be arranged,” Lia said flatly. “Yet you would rather brandish your cane, insult other men, and try to distract from what is a clear assault.”
Strongarm’s lips twitched. “Your coward of a husband would accept a duel? Or would he have you use your feared reputation in his stead? Hiding behind one’s wife is the height of cowardice.”
“I will accept a legitimate duel,” Doc said, “but if I have to be there, you must, too. You can’t call someone a coward unless you also face the same pain or death.”
“Then it shall be a fight using the Marquess of Kingsbury rules,” Strongarm said. “As gentlemen should fight, not brigands hiding behind weapons.”
Doc had an idea of what was being challenged to him, but knew he should verify. “I haven’t fought that way before. I would ask for time to acquaint myself with that style of duel.”
“Of course you don’t know,” Strongarm scoffed. “I’d hate for it to be said that you lost from not knowing. Our duel will be on the solstice to give you ample time to prepare yourself. Until then, we should avoid each other to not sully each other’s honor.”
“I’ll agree to the duel. If you lose, you will publicly apologize to my wives, Ms. Packner, Governor Dodd, and myself, for you gave insult to all of us.”
“If you lose, you will publicly acknowledge your fault for having your murderous wife attack me and for giving insult to me,” Strongarm said. “We and our subordinates are banned from each other’s property until the duel is settled.”
Doc felt like something was off about the wording, but he had no idea what it was. “Agreed.”
A chime sounded, which was the normal announcement for the event to start.
Strongarm laughed as he headed for the door. “This night shall be one to remember.”
The ushers began to lead people off, everyone already talking about the duel to come later in the year.
“Didn’t expect that to happen,” Dodd said, coming up beside Doc and Lia. “I appreciate you standing up for Ms. Packner.”
“He insulted her and should suffer for it,” Doc said.
“Rumor says he is quite skilled with the Rule of Kingsbury.”
“It’s a fistfight, isn’t it?” Doc asked.
“With rules about how the fight is conducted. It’s not bare-knuckle fighting.”
Doc nodded slowly, remembering Queensbury being the start of boxing. “I should be okay. I know he can take a blow to the head.” He gave Lia a smile. “Thank you, dear. He caught me unprepared.”
“I was tempted to shoot him, but a crowded room is not the place for that,” Lia said as she slowly unthawed.
“It would’ve been bad,” Sophia agreed. “Lethal force when he’s only using a cane would still be illegal.”
“Doc, are you sure you can fight him?” Ayla asked.
“I know my way around a fight. I’ll need the rules so I can look them over. I’ll also have to look into training— not training or being prepared is what would get most people to fail. I’ll be doing that from afternoon to dinner from now on,” Doc said.
“Harrid can help,” Sonya said.
“Harrid will be a good man to spar with,” Doc grinned. “He’ll have the strength I have to worry about.”
“That was unexpected,” David said, coming over to join them as the room emptied. “I overheard you need the rules of Kingsbury. I’ll have them sent over tomorrow.”
“Thanks, David.”
“Are you going to be okay, Doc?” Posy asked with wide eyes.
Doc had reached out to touch her when his arm flared with pain. Grunting, he let his hands glow and touched his own arm. “He fractured it…? Damn, he’s strong.” Seeing Posy’s growing concern, he touched her cheek. “I’ll be fine. He’ll want to stand toe-to-toe and trade blows, but I won’t be doing that. In the words of a famous man, ‘I’m going to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.’”
“Wouldn’t it be better to punch like a mule?” Fiala asked.
Doc laughed as he nodded. “Yeah, but I have to play to my strengths. Come on. It’s time to hear our friend take her first steps toward becoming famous.”
With his family and friends beside him, Doc didn’t worry about what was to come. He’d weather whatever troubles happened, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Chapter Twenty-seven
The rest of the evening felt a little awkward. The music was well received, but the intermission had the entire VIP room on eggshells. The divide was obvious, but it was also very clear that, between the two groups, Doc had more people on his side. All conversation stayed on the topic of the concert. Strongarm and a couple of his supporters spoke against it and against Heather being a half-elf, but others were more open.
When the concert ended, Heather came into the VIP lounge to greet people. Doc had suggested it, as he knew meeting musicians had always been exciting for him. Strongarm and his contingent left almost immediately, scoffing at her. Everyone else was happy to trade greetings and ask about different songs, lasting almost two more hours after the concert had ended. Just before everyone broke apart, Dodd asked to speak with Doc the next day.
Posy had fallen asleep in the carriage on the way home. Ambrose cuddled the young girl to her, softly stroking her hair. Doc watched the pair while he held Rosa, thinking about children and how far off it would be with everything he had to do.
~*~*~
“Sir? Sir? Are you in?” Jason Hyde asked. His tone was worried and urgent as he knocked on the master bedroom door.
Jerking awake, Doc was out of bed with Lia before the others began to stir. Opening the door, Doc met Jason’s wide eyes. “What’s wrong?”
The elephant bestial took a step back. “Dwarves, sir. They need healing.”
Lia tossed Doc a robe and underwear. “At least put something on. We’ll be down shortly.”
Doc grabbed the clothing. “I’ll be right down. Where are they?” He started to tug on his underwear as he asked.
“Front yard, in a wagon,” Jason said. “I’ll go tell them.” His big feet slapped into the floor, sounding like an earthquake as he hustled away.
Doc pulled the robe on, belting it in place before he hurried after the bigger man. His mind kept spinning the worst possible scenarios as he went. Only a few feet behind Jason when they left the house, Doc heard stifled sounds of pain coming from the wagon that’d been pulled up in the front.
“Sir,” one of the dwarves by the wagon said, “twelve men came riding in hard for the property. We killed them all… every bottle had burnable alcohol with a rag in it. None got the chance to start a fire, but we have wounded from the exchange.”
Doc’s hands glowed when he got to the side of the wagon. Six dwarves with various wounds were lying in the back. “Who’s worst off?”
“Brundle, sir,” the guard who’d spoken said, pointing. “Three to the chest.”
Doc touched the dwarf, but there was no life in him. Cursing, he shifted to the next closest, pushing healing into him. Again and again, he did what he could. He felt faint when he’d finished, but everyone except Brundle had survived.
When he stepped back, Lia grabbed him, passing him back to Rosa to push energy into him. “Brundle’s the only one who didn’t make it. Everyone else is fine now.”
“What exactly happened?” Lia asked.
“It was an hour ago,” the guard said. “Our outside lookouts spotted the men riding hard and called the warning. That gave us enough time to get ready for them. We didn’t want to fire first, just in case.”
“You did the right thing there,” Sophia said. “Our enemies might’ve sent unarmed men just to try to tempt you.”
“Brundle was one of the ones outside. He jogged forward with his hands up, yelling for them to stop… they shot him. That was when we returned fire. They were really close when the last one fell off their horses. We loaded up the wounded, coming here, but the others checked the bodies as we did. That’s why we know they were coming with a purpose. They probably only expected a couple of us, not all of us.”
“Which is why we hired all of you,” Sonya said. “Brundle’s family will get the death benefits. Let me get my real clothing on and I will go with you to take his body home.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the dwarf said solemnly.
“We can get the rest of you something to drink,” Fiala said.
Doc let Rosa refill his energy reserves, pressing that energy into his battery, as he’d sucked it dry, too. “Did anyone go for the sheriff, yet?” Doc asked.
“No, sir. We wanted you to know first,” the dwarf replied.
“Okay. Let me get dressed. I’ll get things ready to head to the property, then go get the sheriff.”
“Why the property?” Ayla asked.
“To thank the rest of them,” he nodded to the dwarves, “and examine the bodies to see if there’s anything to tie them to anyone specifically. I doubt we’ll find anything— Strongarm is savvier than that— but it never hurts to check.”
The dwarves waited by the wagon while the family went inside to get dressed. Doc used his healing to remove the fatigue from his wives and himself. This way, they were sharp enough to handle anything they needed to.
Doc did the same for Melvin when he came downstairs. Doc explained what’d happened while the Driver brothers were woken up. He then cleared the sleep from the pair of half-dwarves so they could drive the carriage and go with Sonya to the clan. Doc spared a brief thought to wonder if Harrid would ever dare take another day off once he heard about the attack.
~*~*~
The property showed signs of the brief skirmish. A few houses had bullet holes that would need to be patched and the ground had been disturbed where the men had ridden, blood soaking in. The dozen human men were laid out in a row, three of their horses with them. Nine other horses were tied up near one of the homes.
Doc gave Sonya a quick kiss as she and one of the dwarves went on into the city to return the dead man to the clan. With that done, he checked in with the other guards, fixing up any minor injuries and thanking them for doing what they had.
Going over the bodies and the horses, he found nothing tying any of the attackers to Strongarm. From what the horses had on them, it was obvious they’d planned to start more fires. Doc had them leave the dead alone and asked them to keep the horses together— he intended to bring Donadin out to see what had happened. He was sure the sheriff would want to get involved.
