“All right, kids,” said Jack. He tried to put on a grin. “This is just practice. We can

take it easy.”

“Ice cream for anyone who can knock Jack out,” called Josie from the sidelines.

“Four scoops of chocolate.”

“Really?,” said Jack. He glared at her.

Melanie charged, swinging her sword wildly. He blocked, turned the strike, and

booted her in passing so she ran out of the sparring box.

“What was that, Mel?,” asked Jack. “Don’t tell me you can be bribed with ice cream.”

“All right,” said Beatrice. “We form a line and try to push him out the back end.”

The next few minutes had Jack blocking swings and dodging where he could. He

backed up under their onslaught. Their combined skill might not be that great but

there were a lot more of them swinging at him at close range.

He knocked the sword out of Melanie’s hands when she tried to reengage with him.

He kicked it across the training hall so she had to run to get it and come back to fight.

Beatrice and Alicia pressed on him, leading the charge. The younger girl struck

rapidly at his legs while the older Duckling swung at his head. Matilda danced around

at the edge of his vision, looking for an opening to attack.

Laura and Angelica were trying to force their way in from the left. He took a couple

of hits to the legs and danced around to shake it off.

Josie gave a cheer for her girls as they kept working on him. Jack glared at her before

deciding he should be a little more serious. The Army had taught him some things

when it came to close quarters fighting.

He caught Beatrice’s arm in the crook of his and spun her around. He grabbed her

waist and hoisted her off the floor. He used her as a shield, and charged the other

girls. They split apart as the oldest girl tried to reverse her grip on her wooden

training weapon to whack him. He slapped her hand and the sword flew out of it. He

kicked it away as he turned to face his enemies.

The rest of the Ducklings paused as he held his hostage in front of him. Beatrice tried

to kick free. He needed to do something else to buy time. He pushed his hostage on

Laura so they both fell down. He moved to strike them both while they were down,

but Alicia got in the way as a guard.

Jack and the middle girl exchanged swings as rapidly as they could swing their

swords. The rest of the girls watched as the two of them moved up and down the

square. The hiss of their weapons filled the air. Finally, the combatants locked up

their swords as Alicia tried to force him off the pad.

Jack grabbed Alicia’s wrist with one hand. He fell down and put a foot in her gut. She

flew over him. He let go so she could fall on her back. He jumped to his feet and ran

at Angelica with his sword high in both hands. She ran away from him, so he poked

her in the back to keep her running.

“Time,” said Sir Darry. He raised his conductor’s baton. “It looks like you need more

work on your techniques.”

“It looks like I get the ice cream,” said Jack. He grinned. “Maybe one day you will

taste some of that excellent desert, but it won’t be today.”

“All right, girls,” said Harp. “I think you should take a break. Then we will talk about

what happened.”

“He held us off,” said Beatrice. “I thought you never held a sword before.”

“Where I am from, they don’t really use swords much,” said Jack. “The army teaches

us to use a version of the crossbow, and a knife.”

“You did well for someone who doesn’t have any technique,” said Harp. “Go ahead

and get some water. Then we’ll talk.”

Jack waved the girls out of the hall before putting his sword in the box. He took a

deep breath. He had worked up a sweat. He shook his arms and legs to work out any

kinks.

“How much did you hold back?,” asked Josie.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“None,” said Jack. “Four sisters, remember. They got what I could give them.”

“Baloney,” said Josie. “Your sisters are all boxers. I know you took it easy.”

“Prove it, Perry Mason,” said Jack. He grinned at her.

Josie squinted at him. Her lips firmed up to match her pugnacious nature. She could

see the hundred arguments she was about to win in the next few seconds.

A bird flew into the hall. It landed on Josie’s head. Its mouth opened. A letter

fluttered to the ground in front of her.

“What’s this?,” said Harp. He held his baton ready to strike if he needed it. The bird

sat on Josie’s head, and looked around the room.

Josie carefully bent down and picked up the letter. She opened it and read it silently.

She nodded when she reached the end.

“Lorelei found a teacher for Alicia,” said Josie. She nodded to herself. “That’s one

more thing out of the way. I need to write a reply. I’ll be right back.”

She walked out of the training hall with the bird perched on her head.

“It looks like I am about to be able to wander around on my own,” said Jack. “And

eat all the ice cream I want.”

“You did hold back,” said Harp. “I could tell.”

“I would appreciate it if you kept that to yourself,” said Jack. “Only the three of us

need to know.”

“All right,” said Harp.

Elaine nodded.

“I still have some things I have to do,” said Jack. “So I think I am going to eat my ice

cream and then I have to head up north. Try to keep Josie out of trouble, Elaine. I’ll

be back as soon as I find what I am looking for up there.”

“All right,” said Elaine. “I will let her know. This has been different from what I

thought it would be when you hired me.”

“What did you think it would be like?,” asked Jack.

“I admit I thought you were lying about what you wanted,” said Elaine. “I was ready

for you to just walk away and vanish.”

“There may be a point when Josie and I do that,” said Jack. “When we leave,

hopefully we’ll be able to give you and the girls enough to do what you want.”

“Can you really get me another arm?,” asked Harp. He had seen enough strange

things about his clients to convince him maybe they could replace his limb.

“I can look at it,” said Jack. He heard the familiar sound of a quest being enacted.

“It’s going to be heavy and need some getting used to at first. That’s going to require

some work on your part.”

“I would like to try,” said Harp. “I don’t know how I could repay you except by doing

what I am already doing.”

“I have to check on a lot of things first,” said Jack. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you that arm

one way, or the other. Don’t worry about that.”

“All right,” said Harp. “Let me talk to the girls about how well they did.”

“Good luck with that,” said Jack. “I’ll be home later, Elaine.”

“We’ll be waiting for you, Milord,” said Elaine. “Stay away from potions until you

do come home.”

“I know,” said Jack. He waved at them and made his way to the door.

Jack walked through the hall. He paused when he saw the giant egg and

announcement of the treasure hunt around Kearnly. No one seemed interested in that

job. He headed for the exit.

He waved at the girls as he reached the main hall. They were heading the other way

back to the training hall.

“I have to get back to work,” Jack said as the Ducklings flocked around him. “I

should be home tonight. Watch out for trouble while I’m gone.”

“We’ll keep an eye out,” said Beatrice. “Alicia doesn’t think you are so tough.”

Jack at the stolid middle girl. She frowned up at him. He almost smiled at her serious

face. He decided that she wouldn’t want that.

“Rematch?,” said Jack.

“Yes,” said Alicia.

“I can’t do it right now,” said Jack. “But I will let you have your shot soon enough.”

“Will wait for you,” said Alicia. She held up a hand. He shook the hand, hearing the

ding of another quest.

“Get ready for another beating,” said Jack.

“You will get the beating,” said Alicia.

“Okay,” said Jack. “I’ll be home as soon as I can. Go have your evaluation.”

“We will get that ice cream,” said Angelica.

“Doubt it,” said Jack. He grinned at them and headed for the exit. He reached for his

watch and thought about what he needed to get him started on his tasks for the day.

He stepped outside the hall. He hoped that the girls wouldn’t get into any trouble, and

that Josie didn’t cause them problems. He walked down the street dialing for the

Falcon. He needed to fly to get a view of the city and see if some of his obligations

were being taken care of while he carried out other things.

He flew over to the Coin. He nodded at the familiar wagons sitting in front of the

casino. It looked like the women were in talks with whomever was at the casino. That

didn’t mean Guin.

He landed in the street and switched back. He went to the door.

“Jack!,” called a familiar voice from the wagons. The head of the freed slaves waved

at him from her wagon.

“I have a place for you to stay,” said Jack. “Follow me and I will take you over there.

Then you can work out the rest for a job, or building a business, or just lounging

around.”

“All right,” said head woman. “Then we’ll have to rest the horses and get food for all

of us.”

“I’ll take you over there and you guys can get settled in,” said Jack. “Then I have to

go back north.”

“We’ll follow you to this place,” said the head woman. She nodded at her crew.

“Thanks for the help.”

“Once you get back on your feet, you’ll be able to do wonders,” said Jack. “Stay

away from the people with the marked faces. They’re part of the gang that took you,

and they are slated for bad ends.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said the former slave. “We’ll deal with them in kind.”

“Let’s go,” said Jack. He changed to Gravity and pulled the wagon train after him as

he flew along the streets.