When the man was sinking down to his knees, Smoke came under his jaw with an uppercut. All present could hear the jaw pop when Smoke hit him. Frederick von Hausen hit the cool damp earth and did not move. Marlene screamed and ran to his side.
Smoke walked over to Gunter and before the startled man could move, Smoke knocked him slap off the rock. Gunter tumbled over the flat rock and lay unconscious on the ground.
Smoke pointed a finger at Maria and Andrea. “If you two even so much as twitch, I’ll shoot you.” He walked over to von Hausen, jerked off the man’s wide leather belt and grabbed Marlene by her long blonde hair. He dragged her over to the rock, sat down with her across his knees, and proceeded to give her fanny a long overdue beating with the belt.
When Smoke finally released the woman, her screaming had been reduced to low whimpering moans of pain. He knew he had blistered her butt; he also knew it would be a long, painful ride for Miss Marlene, sitting a saddle out of the mountains.
“You brute!” Maria hissed at him.
Smoke smiled and jerked her across his knee. He gave her fanny the same workout he had given Marlene’s derriere, reducing the woman’s squallings to tiny whimperings for mercy. When he finished, he dumped her on the ground and dangled the belt for Andrea to see.
“You have anything to say to me?”
She shook her head and kept her mouth shut.
Gunter was moaning and crawled around on his hands and knees, his mouth a bloody mess. He got to his feet, leaning against the rock for support. He didn’t need it.
“Oh, no,” Gunter said as Smoke approached him.
“Oh, yeah,” Smoke said, and popped him again. Gunter kissed the ground.
The Army patrol, which had arrived at the scene just seconds after Smoke and Frederick squared off, and whose members had thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the thrashing and spankings, rode into the clearing.
“Captain Williams, sir,” the officer said, saluting Smoke. “We’ve come to escort these people to the nearest train depot and to see that they leave this country.”
“You can sure have them,” Smoke said. “No way they can be held accountable?”
“I don’t think so, Mister Jensen. Their families have a lot of political influence in this country. Statesmen and diplomats and that sort of thing.”
Smoke told the Captain about Hans and where he was buried. “I’ll write Prince Hans Brodermann’s parents personally. He really wasn’t a bad sort of fellow.”
“Why did he get mixed up with this bunch?”
Smoke looked over at the now not quite so haughty Marlene. “Well, I reckon, Captain, that the man had a good eye for horses and mighty poor judgement when it came to picking friends.”
Epilogue
Smoke rode into Sheridan and sent a wire to Sally, assuring her that he was all right. He told her he was going to ride back to the Sugarloaf, sit on their front porch, play with his dogs, and wait for her to join him. He closed with: I’ll stay here in town and wait for your reply.
The next morning, over breakfast, a boy brought him the reply from Sally. It read: Taking next train. Will be there long before you. I’ll play with the dogs. You can play with me. Love Sally.
THE MOUNTAIN MAN SERIES BY WILLIAM W. JOHNSTONE
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Table of Contents
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Title Page
Dedication
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
THE MOUNTAIN MAN SERIES BY WILLIAM W. JOHNSTONE
Pursuit Of The Mountain Man Page 23