Chapter 2

"All right, now, a big part of winning a fight is being able to dodge or block the punches thrown by your opponent. Now I'm gonna fight you this time, but we'll go real slow, so nobody gets hurt, okay?" She nodded. Joe threw a very slow left, and touched her cheek with his open hand. She grunted and stepped back.

"Okay, so how come I got you with that one?"

"I don't know!"

"Well, what did you think I was gonna do?"

"I thought you were gonna swing with the other hand."

"Right, and so you had your eyes glued to my right hand and had no idea that my left was headed for your jaw."

"Oh..."

"Look, Kate, when you fight somebody, you really don't know what they're gonna do. And any chance they get to trick you, they will. So you keep your eyes glued right here," he said, pointing to a point on his chest just below his adam's apple.

She wrinkled up her face in confusion.

"Don't believe me, do you?"

She grinned sheepishly.

"All right we'll try it. Look right here." He gestured to the spot again, and once he saw her eyes there, he began throwing slow motion punches. She dodged them all until she got excited about it and laughed.

"Pretty good, for a girl!" They went a few more rounds, Joe coaching her not to break her concentration. She was definitely getting better at it.

"Let's take a break," Joe suggested. "I stole some of Hop Sing's cookies from the kitchen before I left," he explained, pulling the small sack out of his saddlebags. They sat down together, leaning against a rock, and Joe handed her a cookie.

"How am I doing, Joe? Really, I mean?"

"You're doing great, just great!" His eyes twinkled when he said it, and she showed him her winning smile. His heart jumped a little in his chest, but he pushed that feeling aside and cleared his throat. "Look, Kate, can you try again to explain this to me? For the life of me, I can't figure out why you wanna fight."

"I told you, Joe, My aunt is bringing this man with her!"

"Yeah, but Kate, people get married like that all the time. I just don't understand. Are you gonna knock him out at the wedding or something?"

She sighed and set her cookie down on her pantleg. "Maybe it's something only girls talk about, Joe, but I've heard stories..."

A wisp of her hair had strayed out of the bun on her head and was curling deliciously over her delicate cheekbone. "What kind of stories?" he asked, surprised at how quietly he'd spoken.

"A lot of girls, they get married like that, and their husbands... well, they force them to do things they're not ready for. Haven't you ever noticed how when a couple gets married, very often, you don't see the wife again until a few months after the wedding?"

"Well sure, but I just figured it was because they were," his face turned red and he gulped, "honeymoonin'."

"I can't tell you how many times I've been told it's because of bruises."

As the realization took root, Joe felt the anger creeping through his body. He looked again at Kate's beautiful cheek, and his face flushed when he pictured it bruised. He shook the thought away. "But it can't happen all the time. I would never do something like that to a woman. I can't believe I'm the only man around who feels that way."

She half smiled and looked down. "Yes, Joe, you're right, and it's every girl's prayer that her husband will be someone like...you," She gulped, having said the words before she thought how they would sound, "but I don't know this man. I have no idea if he'll be sweet and kind... or if he'll be some kind of tyrant."

They sat in silence a moment, watching the clouds float lazily overhead. "Kate?"

"Yes Joe?"

"Suppose this fella is mean, and you fight back. Don't you think that might make things worse?"

"I dunno, Joe, I guess I never thought of that... but suppose that he shows up in town, and I can't stand him. Maybe if I fight him before we get married, he won't wanna marry me! I could get out of the whole mess!"