Free Buccaneer (Dane Maddock Adventures) by David Wood Page B

unarmed. If you fight me and win, Jacob will drive you home and give you one hundred pounds for your trouble. Should you lose, you may still walk out of here. ”
    “ What if I don ’ t want to? ” He looked all around the room, searching for a way out. “ There ’ s some kind of trick here. Let me go. ”
    “ If you do not fight me, Jacob will shoot you and bury you in the moor. ”
    “ You ’ re out of your mind. ” He took two steps toward her and froze, recognition dawning in his eyes. “ I ’ ve seen you before. You ’ve been on television and whatnot. Just wait until I tell my story. Somebody’ll pay me nicely for it. ”
    Jacob glanced at her and she smiled.
    “ Fight me, and you will be free to go and tell your story to anyone you like. ” In one swift movement she closed the gap between them and slapped him across the face. The loud crack and sharp sting felt good. “ Hit me. ” She struck him again, this time with a closed fist.
    Richard reeled backward, pressing a hand to his split lip. He raised his bloody hand, eyes filled with disbelief.
    “ You crazy bitch! ”
    He swung a wild right cross that Morgan easily ducked. She sidestepped and drove a fist into his side where his ribs ended. He grunted in pain but managed another swing, which she ducked. This time she drove a roundhouse kick to the inside of his knee and followed with a right cross to his nose. Her fist struck home with a satisfying crunch.
    Richard flailed blindly, trying to grab hold of her, but she was too fast for him . Another kick to the knee and he stumbled to the floor.
    “ You fight like a Frenchman, ” she hissed. In an actual life and death situation she would have finished him, but this was something else entirely.
    Richard found renewed strength and, with a roar, leapt at her. He almost managed to grab hold of her, but she sprang to the side and he crashed into the wall. Now, mad with rage, he went for the weapons. He grabbed a longsword and charged.
    Morgan easily eluded his clumsy strokes and feeble thrusts. It was not long before he began to tire — he struggled to keep the sword aloft, and his breath came in ragged gasps. Summoning the last of his strength, he raised the sword and rushed in for a vicious downstroke. Morgan dodged and drove a roundhouse kick into his unprotected middle. The breath left him in a rush, and he dropped to one knee. Knowing he would offer no further meaningful resistance, she delivered an axe kick to the back of his skull.
    It took Richard ten minutes to recover whatever wits he had at his disposal. Jacob wiped the blood off from hi s face, congratulated him on a “ bloody good fight ” and offered him a glass of water. He sipped it, staring daggers at Morgan.
    “ I ’ ll show you out if you ’ re ready, ” Jacob said.
    “ Where ’ s my hundred pounds? ” Richard snapped.
    “ You didn ’ t win. ” Morgan said. “ But you do get to leave here alive. ”
    Richard didn ’ t bother to argue. He lurched to his feet and followed Jacob out.
    Jacob returned a few minutes later. “ I assume you want to watch. ” His voice was as dull as the look in his eyes.
    “ Of course, ” Morgan said. Her eyes turned to the television on the wall. Jacob turned it on, revealing a wide-angle shot of the formal garden. Jacob zoomed in on Richard, who was limping toward the wood. “ Your disapproval saddens me, Jacob. ” Morgan kept her eyes on the screen as she spoke.
    “ I don ’ t mind the fighting, ” he said. “ These blokes all deserve an ass whipping, and you ’ re more than fair about it. But this... ” He gestured at the screen. “ I just don ’ t know. ”
    “ We are culling t he flock. Can you honestly say our nation would be better of f with him and the others alive? ”
    Jacob shook his head.
    “ Besides, the children need to hunt. It is their nature. ” She smiled as the feed switched over to a camera in the wood. Richard was already jumping at every sound. He sensed