Young Ole Devil Read Online Free Page B

knee with
some force into the burly man ’s ribs. Immediately after making that attack,
Hardin thrust his right hand upwards between Cyril’s arms. He did
not close it into a fist. Instead, he jabbed his first and second
fingers into Cyril’s nostrils. Pain roared through the recipient of
file attack. Leaving Hardin’s throat, his hands went up to try and
staunch the blood which gushed from his nose.
    Rushing up, Basil arrived just
after his brother had been compelled to release Hardin. Coming in
from the opposite side to Cyril, Basil launched his right foot in a
kick. Rolling to the left, Hardin swung his left arm so that the
base of his fist met the advancing shin just above the ankle.
Working in smooth coordination, his right hand grasped the leg of
the trousers over his left fist. Having halted the kick, Hardin
returned his shoulders to the ground and hauled the captured limb
above him. Then his own right leg snapped around and upwards,
aiming the toe of his boot at Basil ’s groin area. The kick caught Basil on
the inside of the upper thigh. While painful, it was not
sufficiently so to incapacitate him. It did, however, combine with
the pull being exerted upon his leg to throw him off
balance.
    Giving Basil ’s leg a twisting heave which
toppled him over, Hardin released him and bounded up. Snarling
incoherently in his rage, half-blinded by tears, Cyril lunged and
with bloody hands tried to grab the slim young man.
    ‘ This’s for the Chicano boy!’ Hardin told the burly man savagely, pivoting
into another savate kick.
    Propelled by the powerful
gluteus muscles of Hardin ’s buttocks, his right boot came into contact with
the bottom of Cyril’s jaw. The burly man’s head hinged back until
it seemed that his neck might be in danger of snapping. Lifted from
his knees he began to crumple like a punctured balloon and
collapsed flaccidly on to his face.
    Having disposed of the elder brother, Hardin
turned his attention to the younger. Moving clear of Cyril and
standing with his back to the spectators, the young dandy studied
Basil who was once more on his hands and knees and staring at his
sibling as if unable to believe his eyes.
    ‘ Come
on, you lousy son-of-a-bitch!’ Hardin ordered coldly and his face
seemed even more Satanic as he swept the second of the Winglow
family with a contempt-filled gaze. ‘Let’s see how you stack up
against a man instead of a Chicano boy.’
    Swinging his head so as to
glare at the speaker, Basil became aware of the significance of die
comment and did not care for what it suggested. Apparently, the dandy had
another reason besides arrogant self-importance for picking the
fight.
    Although the Winglows and their
companions had believed that they were the only human occupants of
the livery barn, they had been mistaken. Shortly after the rest of
the party had taken their departure, the brothers had heard a
scuffling noise. On going to investigate, they had discovered that
a pair of boys —a Texian and a Chicano— were hiding behind some bales of hay. Guessing
that the boys had heard Duke giving his instructions, Basil and
Cyril had decided to frighten them into keeping quiet and had tried
to catch them. Being older than his friend, the Chicano had tried to hold the brothers
off with a pitchfork while the youngster escaped. Although he had
been partly successful, the Texian boy having fled, the Chicano had been less
fortunate. Disarming him, the brothers had slapped him around and
finally left him bloody and unconscious on the floor.
    Partly because they had been
told to pretend that they did not know the rest of their party, but
mainly due to believing that Duke would disapprove of what they had
done, the brothers had not mentioned the incident on their arrival
at the cantina. From what he had said, it seemed that the dandy had found
the Chicano and, learning who was responsible, had for some reason
decided to inflict summary punishment upon the men who had carried
out the