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Chapter 15: The True Coward

Ruth stood by, supporting her weight on abigail as she watched Jean swing first. Their swords made contact, resounding with a cold scraping noise. Ruth gritted her teeth. What was only a few minutes, felt like hours to her. She buried her face in Abigail's shoulder when she couldn't bare it any longer but she heard Abigail gasp in shock. She looked up to see Jean with the tip of his scabbard on Mr. Wilkins' neck as he was laying on the ground. From what Ruth could make out with the light of the torches was that Mr. Wilkins' sleeve had been slashed and an open wound was beginning to bleed. Jean stood for a few minutes over him, pushing the sword into his neck before something stopped him. He flicked the sword away and pushed him with his boot, making Wilkins roll on the ground. He struggled to get up before Jean walked away, taking Ruth's hand and leading her back to the house. However, his moment of victory was short lived when Mr. Wilkins threw himself into Jean, knocking him to the ground. Ruth was caught in the cross fire. She violently kicked Wilkins away but Jean pushed her aside to make sure she was out of harm's way. Ben pulled her onto her feet and found himself holding her back like he had to so many times before.

Wilkins had Jean's neck in a choke hold before he felt something hit him in the side of the head. Jean finally released himself from the man's grip by throwing a hard punch with his bad arm, which had been injured in the French and indian wars. He hadn't been able to use it like he once could since that day. It always stiffened up on him but he learned to fight left handed with his sword. The scuffle continued. The two men rolled on the ground, pounding each other into the hardened grabbed Jean's hair and beat his head into the ground to try and knock him unconscious but Ruth freed herself from Ben's grip and flung herself onto him, pushing him onto the ground and laying her fists into his face. The men were all laughing and not a single one of them intervened. Ben stepped back and saw Jean standing up, wiping the blood from his nose and gaining his bearings about himself. He caught his breath and realized what was happening. Mr. Wilkins pulled Ruth's hair and threw her off of himself. She hissed in pain but threw a kick at his head before Jean pulled her away and handed her off to Abigail.

Jean put the heel of his boot on Wilkins' neck, "We made a deal."

The old man put his hands up in surrender and Jean released his foot from his neck. He stood up slowly with his hands in the air and after a few more tense moments, he took off running into the woods.

…...

Two days passed before anyone knew where the man had run off to. It was later discovered that he ended up in the town tavern, drinking himself into a stupor to help with the pain of his wounds. The swelling on Ruth's neck had gone down but the skin was still bright red and her bruises were dark purple. She had a dark bruise on her side and her hands were scabbing a bit. Jean had a black eye and a massive bump on the back of his head, which luckily began to stop swelling. He had a few cuts on his knuckles from when his fist had accidentally caught his opponent's teeth.

They both helped one another recover. Ruth didn't feel safe with Mr. Wilkins still being out there. She wondered if he would ever come back. Ruth allowed Jean to sleep closer to her than she ever had before. However, feelings did not amount to love at that time. there was a bond of friendship between them at that moment, which was a sign of hope for them that they wouldn't face unhappiness for the rest of their lives.

….

"Should you be drinking with a head wound like that, Father?" James asked when he saw his father sitting at the end of their dining table, drinking from a bottle of wine. He didn't answer him. James sighed and walked out of the room. He had been caring for the estate in the past couple days that his father had gone missing. Now that he had returned, it seemed that he was taking the deal he made very seriously. He stepped aside to let his son continue caring for the home and the land. However, having nothing to do, and not wishing to leave town, he kept drinking.

His wife had turned her back on him and kicked him from out of their bed once the news of what he had tried doing went public. His daughter was too afraid to talk to him and she cowered away when he entered the room. In fact, his wife and daughter had been visiting Ruth every day since then to help her and Laura with the chores about the house. Looking at the bruises on Ruth's neck made Mrs. Wilkins' stomach turn. She was filled with regret the second she first saw Ruth after the ordeal. She wondered how she could have ever allowed herself to marry that man. Of course, the answer was simple: her father had threatened to disown her if she didn't.

Mr. Wilkins was doomed to walk the earth as an outcast. He had been the real coward. Not James. Not Jean. Not Ruth. He was guilty of stooping to a level that was unthinkable.

…..

Short chapter I know, but don't worry, another installment is coming once I get my term paper in… maybe this weekend a couple more chapters will be up.