A Death Valley Christmas by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2021-08-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

Even though Bellamy didn’t weigh a lot and the blow didn’t have much power behind it, it took Chance by surprise. The impact was enough to knock his hat off and make him take a step backward, away from Myra.

She cried, “Tom, no!” as Bellamy rushed forward, swinging again at Chance, who caught his balance and set himself to meet the man’s attack.

Chance blocked the first couple of punches Bellamy launched at him. He could have landed a solid blow of his own, but Bellamy looked so frail, Chance was afraid he would do some real damage if he hit him too hard. He might even kill Bellamy, and he didn’t want that.

Chance feinted to his right, and Bellamy bit on it completely. That allowed Chance to dart back to his left and lunge forward. He clapped a hand on Bellamy’s right shoulder and shoved. That twisted Bellamy even farther around.

“Don’t hurt him!” Myra cried. Chance assumed she was talking to him, pleading with him not to hurt Bellamy.

That wasn’t his intention. He grabbed the man from behind, wrapping his arms around Bellamy’s torso and pinning his arms to his sides. Bellamy raged and writhed. Curses flew out of his mouth, along with spittle.

But he couldn’t free himself from Chance’s firm grip.

“Blast it, settle down!” Chance said. He was tall enough that when he lifted, Bellamy’s feet came off the floor a couple of inches. The man tried to kick back at him.

The children who had been singing “Silent Night” a few minutes earlier rushed along the aisle between the benches, eager to get a closer look at the fight. Some of the boys yelled encouragement, even though they didn’t really know what was going on. Priscilla Lansing raised her voice and told them to return to the front of the room, but they were caught up in the excitement of the struggle and ignored her.

Chance stumbled back and forth as he tried to avoid the kicks that Bellamy aimed at his shins. He cast a desperate glance at Myra, pleading with his eyes for her to do something.

Otherwise, he was going to have to hurt Bellamy just to get him to quit fighting.

“Tom, stop it,” she pleaded as she came closer, with both gloved hands outstretched. “Please, Tom, don’t carry on like this.” She reached in and gripped his shoulders, so that he had to stop flailing his legs around. If he hadn’t, he probably would have kicked her.

Bellamy’s shoulders slumped, and his head sagged forward. Chance lowered him until his feet were on the floor again, and said, “If I let go of you, are you going to stop fighting?”

“Yeah,” Bellamy replied in a dull voice. “There’s nothing left for me to fight for, is there? You’ve already taken everything that matters away from me.”

“That’s not true, and you know it.”

Chance released Bellamy and took a step back from him.

Bellamy’s dejected, defeated attitude vanished as soon as he was free. He whirled toward Chance. A hate-filled snarl twisted his face.

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