Give Me Tonight(95)

Her lips trembled as she held back the threats that flew through her mind. All of them sounded ridicu­lous, futile. If only she could remember the name of the man the Johnsons had hired. Whose name had she given them? Remember, she cried inside, and all she found was a thick wall, impossible to break through. Remember!

"I . . . I'll tell everything," she said, trying to hide her desperation. "I can ruin you and your family, and I will if you force me to."

"You won't," Jeff said with growing conviction, and the urge to swing out and strike him was nearly irre­sistible.

"I hate you," she whispered.

"Yeah. An' a few other things." He took her arm firmly, staring down at her with a half-formed smile.

"I told you not to touch me."

"Let's not talk about it in the middle of the street. I know a comer somewhere around here."

Addie wrenched her arm away and turned toward the buggy just in time to catch a glimpse of approach­ing disaster. Before she could make a sound, she felt the rush of air as Ben lunged past her and plowed into Jeff so hard they both tumbled into the street. They were like two young animals, fighting and snarling, rolling across the dusty ground. Stupefied, Addie watched as people came running from every direction, cussing and exclaiming, forming a loosely packed crowd around the two men. All of a sudden the noise was deafening. Taking a step backward, she spun around as someone bumped against her shoulder. Cade was right behind her, reaching out to steady her.

"Adeline, I couldn't stop him. He took one look at the two of you and went crazy."

"Leah," she gasped, looking wildly toward the buggy. It was empty.

"I'll find her. Stay here." Cade dashed off through the thickening crowd on the wooden sidewalk. Stum­bling to the edge of the circle around Ben and Jeff, she fought to see them.

"Ben," she cried, but her voice was drowned in the cheers and shouts. "Ben!"

It didn't take long for the crowd to become violent. Since it was perceived as a fight between the Double Bar and Sunrise, sides were quickly chosen. You were either for or against Russell Warner, and there were very few undecideds. Retreating to the sidewalk, Ad­die was dumbstruck as the street erupted in a burst of flying fists and piercing yells.

"Bunch of idiots," Cade muttered in her ear, and she turned with a start to see him sidling up close to her with Leah tucked against his side. "They've all been itchin' for a chance to fight about the fence."

"It's not about that, it's about . . ."

"You?" Cade smiled a little. "Between Ben and Jeff, it's you. Between the rest of 'em, that damn fence."

"You feel like I do about it?"

"We need it," he said gravely. "We're too big and clumsy an outfit to get along without it. But that doesn't keep me from hatin' it just as much as you do."

Addie glanced down at Leah, who had twisted around to watch the fighting with wide eyes. "Did Leah go and get you?" she asked, and Cade shook his head.

"Ben and I just walked out of the sheriff's office, and there you were with Jeff." He grinned. "Ben said a coupla new swear words I'm still tryin' to figger out, and went after Jeff lickety-split."

"Where is the sheriff?" Addie demanded furiously, terrified that Ben would be hurt, might already be hurt, and then the sound of gunshots seemed to puncture her eardrums. Leah flinched and pressed close to her. The sound was repeated, and some of the men broke apart like scalded cats. Sam Dary, the sheriff, was a heavyset man with a definite swagger. He lowered his gun and walked through the crowd, hollering loudly. A small clearing formed in the middle of the street, where Ben and Jeff had been pried apart. It took sev­eral men to keep them separated, and they eyed each other with murderous intent, panting for breath.

"Easy, easy . . . simmer down. You two boys know better than to start somethin' like this when tempers are already runnin' high." Dary said weightily, his face red and perspiring. "An' it don't matter who started it, 'cause I happen to know you both been itch­in' for this a mighty long time. Now it's over, an' you got it through with. Let's just go on, now, an' start thinkin' on better things to do than git everyone stirred up in sech a way. It's too damn hot to fight. Shake on it and make it a bygone, boys."

"Shake hands with him? " Jeff demanded in amaze­ment, and Ben sneered.

"If you think I'm about to—"

"That's enough," the sheriff said. Slowly the re­straining hands relaxed as everyone realized the fight was good and over. Dary braced his hands on his hips, seeming to feel the need to establish his authority. "I'm still waitin' fer you t' shake."

"We've stopped fighting," Ben said, breaking the frosty silence. "Isn't that good enough?"

Addie was weak with relief as the sheriff nodded reluctantly and the men walked away from each other. Leaving Leah with Cade, she made her way to the street, needing to see for herself that Ben was all right. Anxiously she pushed past the people standing in her path, her eyes fastened on the tall figure several feet away. Moving through the crowd, ignoring the multi­tude of hands patting him on the back, Ben seemed not to notice her until she reached him.

She summoned a smile with difficulty. "There was no need to start the whole town brawling, was there?"