Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 165476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 827(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 827(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
The force behind it shook his brain, making it tumble in his head as if it were a rock trapped in a boot. The ground slid from under his feet, leaving him to drop on his buttocks, already tasting blood in his mouth. Zeb was a shadow over him, a mean giant with hands like bread loaves and the shoulders of a grizzly. And as he leaned down, fear bit into Ned’s skin.
The thick fingers were inches away from Ned’s throat when the air hummed with gasps, and an arm slung itself around Zeb’s neck, forcing him back. Zeb snarled, spitting through the gap in his teeth as he blindly hit back with his elbow at Cole’s unprotected ribs.
“Get off him, Cole!” Tom yelled, his firm voice tearing through the ringing in Ned’s ears. The earlier silence erupted into a cacophony of yelling.
“Not Ned’s fault Scotch couldn’t take care of a dime in his own pocket!” Cole roared, his weight forcing Zeb to bend backwards.
Ned jumped to his feet, still dizzy from the punch. “Fight me if you need to, fucker!”
Zeb let out a guttural noise, staring at Ned with bloodshot eyes. “I’ll get back to you, don’t you worry! As soon as I give this one a much-needed lacing,” he said, finally shaking Cole off with a jab to his stomach.
Tom pulled on Ned’s arm when he stepped toward Zeb. “Let’s think about this, Zebediah!”
But Zeb ignored him and sent his fist at Cole, who dodged the punch by leaning back with the flexibility of a snake. With eyes reflecting the flames, he was like David confronting a hellish version of Goliath, and seeing Zeb turn toward him with purpose had Ned’s heart trapped in his throat.
Cole was by no means a small man, but what chance did he have in a fistfight against a giant who’d made his fame back in the day as a professional boxer? Cole’s handsome nose might end up broken, teeth knocked out, and his insides bleeding for days if Zeb fancied leaving him with a reminder of what he should never attempt again.
“There’s nothin’ to think about, Tom. Cole needs to be reminded where his loyalties lie,” Zeb hollered, cracking his knuckles.
Cole watched him like a wolf facing a bear without its pack, his gaze darting across Zeb’s form in search of weaknesses, but he remained steady on his feet, ready to flee if Zeb chose to rush at him.
“He did nothing wrong! You know how many times you’ve saved Scotch’s hide yourself! I am sorry, partner, but Scotch counted on luck one time too many.”
Zeb snarled and stomped Cole’s way, as if wanting to spook him. “Let me be the judge of that. O’Leary should have stayed with him! That’s what we fucking do for each other! And how is this any of your business how I choose to deal with the Irish maggot?”
“Then come for me!” Ned’s head was pulsing with so much heat that, consequences be damned, he shoved Tom away and moved toward Zeb with his fists up.
“I’m gonna chew on your liver,” Zeb growled and took a step Ned’s way.
Behind him, Cole reached to his hip, but it was the familiar click of a cocking gun that became the frosty wind to turn the whole campsite to ice once more. The edges of Ned’s vision trembled as Zeb’s face relaxed into a mean smile.
“You turning against me now, boy? In our own fucking camp? Thought you had more smarts than that.”
Ned flinched when Tom’s fingers clasped his shoulder like the claws of a mountain lion, digging into flesh until it became numb. Everyone took a step back.
Everyone but Saul, who shot into the firelight and grabbed the gun in Cole’s hand. Fear flashed in Cole’s eyes, but he must have let go of the pistol before the twisting motion broke his index finger. The weapon dropped into the dirt in front of Cole, who fell to his knees when Saul elbowed him hard in the face.
“No weapons in the camp!”
Zeb shook his head and kicked dirt into Cole’s face. “You know this, goddamn it! If you have such a stiff one for this ginger coyote, why don’t you just suck his dick already?”
Like an animal fighting for his life, Cole grabbed Zeb’s leg and pulled it from under him so fast the giant collapsed with a thump. Cole rose, all teeth on show, eyes burning with a fire that couldn’t be snuffed. “I already did. Yesterday! And I’ll do it tomorrow if I feel like it. You touch him, and I’ll make sure your prong never gets attention again!”
Ned’s head pulsed, as if his skull had suddenly become too tight around his brain. He lowered his fists and stared at Cole with his heart in his throat.
No, no, no, no…