Free Blood Bond 5 by William W. Johnstone Page B

shouted.
    The judge pointed his gavel at John. “John,” he said, an ominous tone to his voice, “far be it from me to tell another man how to raise his children, but this young lady is sadly lacking in social graces.”
    Petunia started to let the judge have it again, and her mother stuck a handkerchief in her daughter’s mouth, grabbed her by the hair of the head, jerked her around, and spoke in low tones to her for a moment.
    Petunia never said another word the rest of the proceedings. She sat very still and very pale-faced.
    Not even John had a clue as to what his wife might have said to her daughter, but he knew best of all that Ginny Carlin could be an iron lady when the situation demanded it.
    Bull Sutton, his sons, and his crew rode in and stood outside the empty building where court was being held and snickered and giggled. John Carlin’s face grew redder as his temper rose with each snicker behind his back.
    The upshot of it was that Petunia was fined a hundred dollars and so was her brother—Petunia being released into her mother’s custody—and they were ordered to pay the damages for any property that might have been damaged or destroyed. He fined Lars, Dave, and Batty ten dollars. In a separate matter, the judge ordered the BS hand to be taken back to the county seat for later trial on murder charges.
    He banged his gavel and court was over.
    As soon as the gavel sounded, Bull Sutton bellered, “Well, John, those snooty kids of yours finally got some comeuppance, hey? It’s about damn time.”
    John Carlin walked out onto the boardwalk and knocked Big Bull Sutton flat on his butt in the dirt.
    Bull got to his feet and shook his head. “No gunplay,” he told his crew. “No matter who wins, no gunplay. This is between John and me.”
    Then he turned around, stepped up on the boardwalk, and knocked John clear through the window of the packed make-shift courtroom.
    â€œDon’t try to stop them,” Tom Riley told Matt, Sam, and his other deputies. “That would be like trying to stop two grizzlies with a stick.”
    â€œMaybe they’ll get it out of their system this way?” Sam said.
    â€œOr do the town a favor and just kill each other,” Tom suggested.
    Bull stepped through the shattered space where the big show window used to be and came back out the same space a hell of a lot faster than he entered. John had been waiting for him and gave him a right fist to the mouth that smashed his lips and bloodied the entire lower half of his face.
    John jumped out of the ruined window and tried to kick Bull. Bull rolled away and caught John’s ankle and jerked, spilling the man to the ground. On their knees in the dirt, the two men fought each other like crazed beasts. Ginny had taken Petunia home in the buggy. Once there, she had plans for a buggy whip and Petunia’s backside. Ginny did think she was better than most other people, but she did not approve of her girls using vulgar language . . . at least in public.
    John and Bull slugged it out in the dirt. They were wringing wet with sweat and splattered with blood. Their noses were broken and pouring blood. Blood dripped from smashed lips and cut faces. Still neither man would go down for the count. They fought until they were arm weary and exhausted. Bull shoved John away from him and staggered to a hitchrail, leaning against it and catching his breath. John leaned against a wagon, his chest heaving from exertion.
    Then the two men looked at each other and each one spat on the ground. Bull cussed John and John cussed Bull. That went on for a couple of minutes.
    Laredo got a bucket of water and poured it over Bull’s head, and Luke got a bucket of water and dumped it on John. Then the two men went at it again.
    Bull would knock John down, and then John would knock Bull down. Each man hit the ground so many times people lost count. Some in the crowd even got bored and went