Silver Creek - G.L. Snodgrass Page 0,53

“but Hanna would skin me alive and boil my liver if I let you get hurt.”

“Luke,” the young man sighed, “that ain’t the way it works and you know it. You can’t keep me out of trouble, you never could.”

Rebecca bit the inside of her lip as she watched the two men argue. The tension in the air was thicker than the North Platte.

“This ain’t a man telling his kid brother what to do,” Luke said with a heavy sigh. “This is a sheriff telling his deputy. And you will stay here to guard the prisoner. Some of those Circle B men rode into town this morning. We march down the street and one of them will waltz in here and set him free.”

Jake grumbled under his breath, then nodded that he would comply.

Once he was sure of his brother, Luke turned to Rebecca and smiled. “I’ll walk you back.”

Her heart broke. Had she made a grievous error in coming and telling him? Was she going to cause his death? But there was no stopping him. Oh, how she wished he, they, could just ride away and put all of this behind them. But that wasn’t her Luke.

When they stepped out into the sunshine, he gently took her elbow

They’d only taken a few steps when the doors of the Red House slammed open and three men tumbled into the street. She could feel him stiffen next to her as he turned to face a possible threat.

“Stay here,” he cursed as he started for the commotion. Three men were fighting, cowboys, fists flying and feet kicking. Her heart raced at the pure violence, and Luke was wading into the melee.

One of the cowboys grabbed the arms of the smaller man and held him still as his friend pulled back and landed a gut-busting punch to the man’s stomach.

Luke arrived to hold the man back from throwing another punch, pulling him away. The man turned on him with an angry scowl. But Luke didn’t seem to realize the danger as he ignored the man and told the restraining cowboy to let the man go.

She gasped when the man smiled and let go of the man’s arms and stepped forward.

The man who had been hit straightened up, obviously unhurt. Rebecca held her breath. Suddenly, all three men turned to face Luke. Her heart fell as she realized it was a trap. They had set it up so that they could come at Luke together.

“Luke!” she yelled uselessly.

Then, without warning, all three men charged him. She froze, unable to look away, too terrified to watch. It was like a pack of wild dogs trying to take down a bear.

Luke shifted then threw a quick punch, catching the first man in, then spinning on his heel he threw an elbow into the nose of the one coming in behind him. Her heart stopped as he erupted into action. Fists darting, connecting, then spinning to kick another in the knee.

One of them charged and tried to wrap him up so they could get him to the ground. She knew in her heart if they got him down, he’d never get up. They’d take their boots to him until he was nothing but a bloody pulp.

But Luke caught the man under the arm, twisted and threw him over his hip and into his partner then pulled away in time to land a punch in the third one’s middle that lifted him up on his toes. The man fell, gasping for breath.

Rebecca could only watch as Luke turned on the remaining two with a ferocious scowl that made her soul hesitate. He looked so mean, so angry. As if he wanted to destroy the world itself. Then without warning, he charged into the two men, swinging and kicking until they too were down.

Two men were moaning on the ground. The third was out cold. Only after he was sure they were going to stay down did he step back, his chest rising as he sucked in air. Then he turned around to look for any additional threats.

“Luke,” she yelled as she raced to him.

He spun around and her heart squeezed tight with fear as he stared at her without seeing her. His eyes searching for the next thing to destroy.

She pulled back, freezing in place until slowly recognition returned to his eyes. Only then did she approach him. He had a nasty cut over his left eye and both fists looked like they’d been drug over the rocks