Rud's horse was almost exhausted when he neared Bessie's house. It would be light soon, so Rud dropped off the horse about a quarter-mile away and quietly made his way to the house.

Three men were on the porch, and from their tone and manner, Rud suspected they had been drinking. In the main room, Rud could see a man pacing back and forth with Bessie and Martha tied up on the floor.

Martha was moving and shouting at the man, he would slap her down, but it was not stopping her. Bessie lay motionless, she looked as if she had been severely beaten. Rud knew these were violent men and he would have to kill them to save Martha and Bessie.

Rud heard snoring from one of the bedrooms. As he got closer, he could see a man in bed asleep, snoring loudly. Rud moved silently through the window of the snoring man's room. He put his knee on the snoring man's chest and his hand over his mouth. Rud slit the man's throat while looking into his now wide open, terror-filled eyes. As the snoring man bled out, held in position by Rud's weight, Rud heard one of the drinking men on the porch say, "That slob finally stopped snoring."

Rud moved to the door and opened it just enough to see in the main room. The man standing over Martha and Bessie Rud guessed was the girl's father. He was telling Martha when it was light, his men were going to find Alice, and once he had them back in the city, she and Alice were going to make him money. He said, "A lot of men will pay for a turn with you, Alice too."

If Rud could use his sling, the father would be dead right now as he was no more than twenty feet away. But there was no way Rud could get a full swing in the tight confines of the doorway. When the father reached down and tore Martha's dress, another man stood up, and two more could be heard laughing. Alice had said there were five, but with one dead, the three drinking men on the porch, and four, including the father in the main room, there were at least eight.

The standing man hid Rud from the view of those in the main room, so Rud snuck up behind him. As soon as the standing man said, "Rip it some more," Rud shoved his big knife clean through the standing man's chest piercing his heart. The tip of Rud's knife blade stuck out the front of the standing man's shirt. It took a second for the sound the blade made through tissue and cartilage to register on the father and the other men in the room.

Those in the main room turned and saw the knife sticking out of the standing man's chest just before Rud withdrew the blade. The standing man fell at Rud's feet, blood gushing from the wound. As the man fell, Rud threw his hatchet directly at the father.

Rud knew he had to take advantage of having surprised these men and kept moving forward. The top of his hatchet impacted the father's chest, but the blade did not go in. Rud was no good at throwing a hatchet and thought, in general, it was a bad idea to give up your weapon by throwing it at someone. But the heavy woodsman hatchet thrown hard would still stun a person at least for a few seconds, and that might be just enough time.

Another man stood up, and Rud shot him with his pistol. Rud was looking for the fourth man when he felt a slash across his arm. A young man, armed with a short sword, who Rud guessed was the half-brother, had come from behind a wall catching Rud from the side. Rud was hurt but not badly. The short sword must have been dull as it barely made it through Rud's deer-hide outer shirt.

Rud countered with a slash from his knife knowing he would miss but knew dodging his blade would throw the brother off-balance and force him back a step or two. In the corner of his eye, Rud saw the father, recovered from the hatchet blow rise from the floor. The father was clutching something in his arms as he ran out the front door. Rud was not surprised the father chose to run.

The three men on the porch had been mildly interested in the commotion inside, but with the father running out, what was going on inside now had their full attention. The men on the porch looked through the window and saw two men dead, and a big, rough-looking man lunge his knife at the younger man.

They had a choice, go inside and join the fight or follow the father away from danger. One chose to go inside, while the other two decided to follow the father. Rud knew at least some of the men on the porch would chose to run. Their bravery came from being part of a group, and as their numbers decreased, their "courage" would be overridden by fear and self-preservation.

Now Rud stood face-to-face with the brother. The brother had learned to fight in prison and was going to give Rud a hard time. The men Rud had fought and killed before were rough men, but surprise and shock had always been Rud's allies.

Rud knew most men, when surprised, would take seconds, sometimes longer to understand the situation and react. When facing someone like Rud, those few seconds could cost you your life. Give Rud more than a few seconds, and you were a dead man.

But the brother was not surprised, and he was not going to run. As Rud and the brother struggled, the man from the porch charged in and knocked Rud to the floor. He stabbed Rud in the leg and shoulder as they fell. Rud rolled away, picked up his hatchet, and in an upward slice of that very sharp blade, cut the man from groin to neck.

As Rud scrambled to his feet, he felt the blade of the brother's short sword enter his side, slide off a rib cutting a long gash in his skin. Rud staggered back a couple of steps recoiling from the injury.

The ragged edges where Rud's skin was cut stung like bee stings along the entire length. The brother swung the short sword over his head and down on Rud, who deflected the sword blade with his knife. The short sword's edge close to the hilt still cut Rud's arm but not deeply.

Rud could see the beginnings of a smile forming on the brother's face as the brother swung the short sword sideways, attempting to slash Rud's unhurt side.

Again Rud used his big knife to block the sword's blade from cutting but still felt the impact on his side. Rud stumbled back another step. His shoulders slumped as he leaned forward, face dropping toward the floor. Rud looked defeated.