Tosh flipped, landing on his back on the wooden walkway. Lijuan stood above him instantly. She stepped back, quickly knelt, and elbowed him in the chest. Tosh balled up, then went back straight. She went for her hammer, but he swept his leg surprisingly, hitting her in the back of her legs, and dropping her to the catwalk in a second. The daunting outlaw rose and threw a kick that landed in Lijuan’s mid-section. She grimaced as the wind was knocked from her body.
“That’s what happens, you mess with a real man, bitch!” she heard him groan.
That was the problem with men—pride—Lijuan thought. Tosh thought he had her and as he bent down trying to grab the prize that was her hammer, Lijuan seized his arms, and using them as leverage, she thrust herself up and jumped to her feet. Tosh stood ramrod straight and as he did, Lijuan threw a front kick, getting him to fly against the cracked wall of the tower. Dirty water gushed out immediately, and as he struggled to regain his feet on the slippery walkway, the water distracted him, since he had thought the tower was empty. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her come at him with her hammer in hand. She raised it over her head and swung down with gnashing teeth.
Tosh quickly leaped to the side, avoiding a hit, but she swung the hammer again with a back swing, as her back was towards him. The hammer came within an inch of his chest. He dodged it, and then pushed her away, creating space so he could make his escape to the ladder. He’d had enough of the Asian hellcat and it was time to get off the tower.
He made to run, but she just wouldn’t let that happen. He did nothing but watch as she swung the hammer sideways, hitting him on the chest and knocking him back so hard he crashed through the weakened and damaged rotting wall. As he fell inward with a splash, the remaining stale brown water came rushing out, shaking the entire tower. Lijuan almost fell off the walkway as a wave of water took out part of the rotten walkway that surrounded the tower. She, however, quickly got up and leaped through the hole into the center of the damp but now drained water tank where her attacker lay sprawled, recovering from the blow.
In the light from the fire casting its way through the hole they had made in the side of the tank, she watched as he staggered to his feet. The boards squeaked, as they both circled each other warily. Tosh looked at her, the ache in his chest underscoring the fact he knew he had bit off far more than he could chew. He was not the first to have dismissed the young Asian woman outright due to her size and gender.
Lijuan looked at him like a fighter would. She understood the situation and wasn’t going to underestimate him no matter how much her hammer strike may have wounded him. She inched closer, causing Tosh to step back, and as he did, one of the boards he was standing on cracked and fell below. Unfortunately, Tosh did not go with it. For a second, she looked down to gauge the board she was standing on and as she did, Tosh punched her in the mouth. Lijuan staggered back, tasting the coppery flavor of blood in her mouth. As she tried to find her balance, he launched at her with a flying tackle again, both of their bodies propelled backward. As they fell back, she positioned her legs under him and with her feet, she thrust him off her as they rolled over.
The Boxhall bandit landed about five feet from her. She stood up quickly, readying herself for Tosh who was now in beast mode. He charged toward her with every ounce of strength he had left. Lijuan’s well-honed reflexes, however, took over, and a second later she had jumped up and grabbed a wooden crossbeam that stretched above her. As Tosh charged at her, she let loose with a perfectly timed swing of her legs impacting with his already injured chest. He cried out in agony as his breath left his body and he hit the sodden floor.
What little air he could get into his lungs was mixed with the smoke that was coming from the inferno that was consuming one side of Beacon, leaving him unable to catch a breath. He had the look of defeat; he knew he had been outsmarted at every step by the Asian. Lijuan dropped from the beam, brushing her fingers through her hair as she crossed to him.
“You had enough? Is my chink hair still straight?” She grinned at him.
Lijuan hovered over him for a moment before bending down and punching him in the face. Punch after punch landed and she wouldn’t stop. He was stunned. He tried to move from between her knees, but she controlled his movements, almost mocking him by switching to slapping his face.
“Where you going?” she asked with drawn breath.
With glee, she returned to punching him a few more times. Her eyes left the sight of his rapidly swelling face to lock onto the shape of her hammer lying on the soggy planks, almost glowing behind Tosh. As she rose, she looked down at him and said, “Let’s see how you like the feel of my hammer against your forehead.”
She stepped over him, his eyes widening at her intent. She calmly walked to her hammer, the floor squeaking underneath her. When she retrieved the hammer, it felt so right in her hand as it always did. Her gaze returned to him, contentment on her face. He was now on all fours. She flipped her hammer in her hand, catching it by the handle. Time to deliver justice for the people in the bank who had been killed, wounded, and generally terrorized by this gang, she thought.
She started to hurry towards Tosh, but the old rotten flooring began to crumble, surrendering itself to the toll taken on it by time itself. Tosh looked up at her with a smirk. He thought she was as good as dead and would fall straight through, but Lijuan was light on her feet, however, and she was able to keep ahead of the falling planks. The woman jumped and while in the air, she stuffed her hammer back into her belt. She landed on Tosh’s back, and as she did, their combined weight caused that section of the floor to cave beneath them.
Snaking her arms out, she caught hold of the same overhead beam she used before, saving herself. A terrified and desperate Tosh flailed about and latched onto Lijuan’s feet as the floor finished giving way beneath them. On its way down, the falling debris destroyed the forlorn and severed pipe that once ran to the well house. The mass of wreckage landed with a thunderous crash atop the roof of the shed far below them.
The addition of Tosh’s bodyweight when the floor gave out made Lijuan almost lose her grip on of the beam. Her left hand slipped from the beam for a second, but she quickly seized a hold once more. Her right wrist was burning, her forearm started to cramp. She looked down as Tosh looked up determinedly from where he was swinging below her. Suddenly, her left hand slipped again and she cried out from the strain of supporting both their weight. If her arms hadn’t been so well developed from the last four years of wielding her hammer, they would already be a bloody mess atop the shed below.
“Don’t drop!” Tosh screamed beneath her.
She looked at him again and his pummeled bloodstained face lit a fire in her. She tried to grab the beam again, but missed, almost making both of them fall. She calmed herself, centering her chi. Lijuan raised her left hand, and with one quick movement that came from her core, she was able to get her hand back on the beam. With a downward glance, she suddenly jerked her right leg up, causing Tosh to lose his grip on it.
Panicked, he lurched to grab her free leg and succeeded, latching an iron grip on to it with both of his hands. Lijuan felt the burn in her arms as never before; any second, they would give out. She used her right leg and started kicking Tosh in his face. As the first blow connected to his forehead, she cried out.
“D!”
She let loose a second kick.
“O!”
The third kick sent several of his teeth flying into the abyss below them.
“N!”
He looked up and before his grasp left, his eyes connected with her own soft almond eyes. A look of hopelessness and fear shone within his, and all he got in return was the sight of Lijuan’s lips turning ever so slightly upward as she cocked her leg for a final blow.
“E!” She screamed with a high pitch tone.
With that, she pile-drove him in the forehead again, and he released his grip and fell towards the embrace of death. Casting her gaze far below in the dim light, she could make out
the unmoving body impaled through the chest by a jagged piece of the collapsed floor.
“Done.” Lijuan finally whispered.
With all of her remaining strength, she started moving sideways, hand over hand until she reached the edge and gently lowered herself to grasp one of the metal support rings that encircled the inside of the tower, holding its wooden sides together. Her feet came to rest on a small bit of the floor still protruding from the side. She took stock of her situation, finding the hole, which was on the opposite side of the tower. The only way she could get to it was once again go hand over hand around the metal ring until she could swing herself out. She wanted to start moving, but she knew she would have to rest her arms for a bit. They still burned from the strain.
Not trusting her small perch, she kept one hand grasping the ring while she rested the other. Lijuan resolved to do this for a few minutes until she could get some strength back into them. As exhaustion swept over her, she tapped her trusty hammer with her free hand, to make sure it was still there, and then turned her thoughts to her sisters. Her concern for them ignited an overwhelming desire for her to get moving and she summoned a reserve of strength from deep within her to resist the urge, knowing she would be no good to them if she slipped and wound up skewered like Tosh.
Her fire to find her family, however, put the one ravaging the ghost town to shame.
***
Cassandra and Honor watched the outlaws as they slowly walked their last steps as free men. Suddenly, the sound of gunshots echoed through the ghost town as if it was the town was re-living a gruesome past when arguments over claims were usually settled at the end of a six-shooter. The two women looked at each other with a quick glance before Cassandra turned her attention to the outlaws, pulling her guns higher in the air and waving them at the group.
"Don’t one of you move. Not one of you. We have you covered from up there!” Cassandra yelled.
All eyes turned once again to the tower, just in time to see a man lunging at Lijuan.
“I mean what I said,” Cassandra warned again. “Don’t move! Honor, let’s go!”
They began running towards the town center, Honor glancing briefly behind her shoulders to the cuffed outlaws.
“We are in agreement that they are not going to listen to a word you just said?” she asked her sister.
“That we are! But they can’t do much damage with their hands cuffed!” Cassandra replied.
“Yes, but who is that up there with Lijuan?” Honor worried.
They tried to cut down one of the alleys that led to the main street, but the fire had spread and there was a wall of flames in the alley, blocking their shortcut.
“Quick! Let’s try the next alley!” Cassandra chirped.
The women charged past the next building, and as they did, Honor Elizabeth looked back at the prisoners, noticing that they had started dispersing in every direction. Unseen, one man hid behind a wall, applying a skill he was well adapted to and within seconds, his cuffs swung open.
“Man, these bitches don’t know me!” He boasted. “Not a cuff in the world can hold Ol’ Avery Bolton and his magic hands!”
Avery took off in the opposite direction from which Cassie and Honor had run. A short dash through an alley way and he found himself on the main street near to the water tower. The sound of gunfire drew his attention and down the main street, he saw Honor and Cassie running along the decrepit storefronts.
Avery drew himself to a stop.
“Serves them women right,” he said to himself. “They shouldn’t even be doing a man’s job. They should know their ga’damn place.”
He looked for a direction to run; he wanted to escape, a trait he had been known for his whole life. Suddenly, an object crashed down in front of him from above. Avery stepped back and as he did, he saw a pistol had landed at his feet.
“HEEE HAWW!” Avery yelled excitedly. “I’ll tell ya! Even the All Mighty wants ol’ Avery to make it through this one.”
He bent over to snatch the gun, and as soon as he did, standing straight, a gunshot from under a nearby wagon clipped his ear. He fell backward afterward, slamming to the ground. His hands immediately probed his head and face to make sure both were still intact.
“Oh why, Lord? I thought you had a deal with Ol’ Avery!”
***
Down the street, open to multiple shots from Jeanne Marie and Darrow, Cassandra and Honor Elizabeth found themselves under fierce gunfire blasting from the second story of the decaying hotel. The women looked for any spot to take cover. Honor ran to the next door up, which used to be a barbershop and ducked inside. Cassie trailed after her, but the gunshots made her drop to the ground and roll up next to a trough just outside the barbershop.
Jeanne Marie fired her weapon again, groaning when she missed yet again. It was not something she was accustomed to. She looked at Darrow, shaking her head with a sigh.
“Ain’t no use wasting our bullets when they're planking down like that,” she observed.
“You’re damn right!” Darrow said, groaning too. “We ain’t no good to anybody up here! We gotta take this fight to the street!”
He bellowed as he let fly one more round, getting Jeanne Marie to smirk with enthusiasm. Her lover, sensing the fun she derived from everything, looked out the window and turned to her—one of the few people in the world he considered his equal—to seek her advice.
“What do you suppose we do?” He asked as the flames from the opposite side of the street lit up his face.
“Actually, hold up here for a minute. Keep firing,” Jeanne Marie told him. “Distract them wenches and I’m going to slip out of the back of the hotel and find a way to cross the street and sneak up over to that barber shop and go after the colored girl. You can finish off the blonde.”
Darrow’s faith in his woman drew a smile on his face as Jeanne Marie walked back to the bed, strapped her holster on and busied herself with reloading her gun. Looking up, she saw his gaze transfixed on her and she smiled back on impulse. Saying nothing, she crossed the short distance between them, her stride ending in a long, passionate kiss with him. As they spread apart, her warm tongue scraped his lips while her eyes beamed with love.
“Come back to me, darlin’, and we’ll finish everything we started over Nevada way,” Darrow declared with a wink.
“Don’t worry about me, there isn’t an American woman ‘round these parts can kill this Canadian girl! Especially no colored one!” She assured him.
She winked at him, hurrying off, while he snatched up his spare revolver shoving it in his belt before he turned around and kept firing in the plan to distract the two women below.
***
Honor was listening to the sizzling sounds of the inferno only a couple doors away from her. The crackling of the flames and collapsing structures were making a sound she found most frightening indeed. All the while, she continued to dodge gunfire aimed at her from across the way.
“I shall trust you are alright out there, yes?” She called out to Cassandra just to be sure her sister was fine.
Cassandra, upon hearing her, made an attempt to position herself so she could yell back, but as she moved her head to the end of the trough, a bullet whizzed by and struck the ground next to her head. Quickly, she crawled back to cover.
“Yeah!” She finally managed to yell without having Honor in sight. “But this fire is spreading right quick!” she cried out. “We have to make a move, Honor!”
Another round hit the trough before she finished complaining about it all, getting her to flinch and move her body closer to the trough to protect herself.
Honor Elizabeth, already boiling in fury with the uncontrollable situation, tried to look out, but she couldn’t get a good view of her sister. She darted across the open door a second later and got to the other side. She could see her now. Cassandra was holed up behind the trough, and now, the flash of gunfire alerted to her which room they were being fired on from in the derelict hotel.
“I regret to say that our opponents have a most advantageous fix upon us,” she managed to cry out, her voice awash in dejection. Cassandra almost didn’t hear her over the gunfire. She turned her head just in time to see Honor nodding her own towards the direction of the room on the upper right-hand corner of Beacon’s hotel.
“Wait until they reload. They have to, eventually, then fire back!” she told Honor. “I’ll run, and hopefully direct their attention to me. You can’t stay in there. The store next to you is ablaze, and you’re next!”
Honor’s blood ran cold as she heard Cassie’s dire warning. All she could do was lean against the wall, reload her weapon, and then peek back out at Cassie. At the same time, Darrow fired two more shots before pausing to reload his side arm once more. In the moment of quiet, Honor Elizabeth looked down at Cassie behind the trough.
“GO!” She mouthed.
Cassie leaped up immediately, turning in the direction of the street away from the firestorm that their side of the street was becoming. Her legs were in motion by the time her sister was blasting away at the hotel’s second floor.
Darrow had finished reloading, as the sound of the first of Honor’s shots filled the air. He looked out the window to see one of the women—the blonde one—on the run. He aimed his weapon at her, but the gunfire from the negro girl in a dress hit the window shutter to his left. He ducked quickly, then as he peeked his head back up, he saw that the blonde was gaining distance down street. He quickly fired off one shot at her, but it hit the ground, narrowly missing her back foot.
Honor Elizabeth, still aiming from her position, saw Darrow fire the shot and she tried to clip him, but plumes of smoke were not helping her get a good fix on him. Her bullet hit above the window instead.
Wilde-Fire: Wonder Women 0f The Old West (Half Breed Haven Book 1) Page 6
