The rending of material sounded again and the tattered remains of the woman's dress fell to a crumpled heap around her feet and she shook her head free of the grip and screamed in pain as the man's teeth sank into her breast. Hedges fist traveled no more than twelve inches but behind it was every ounce of power he could summon and as the knuckles sank into the area of the man's kidneys his mouth came wide in a silent scream and every nerve in his body was numbed, releasing his grip on the woman. As she flattened herself against the wall, seeming to want to press herself through it, the man half turned, but never completed the movement as the same fist which had landed the first blow, smashed into his jaw at the end of a swinging uppercut. He was lifted two inches clear of the ground and came down unconscious so that his knees buckled, his pelvis swiveled and neck twisted, corkscrewing him into an untidy heap in front of the near-naked woman.
Hedges glanced down at him and saw him as merely another faceless soldier with no badges of rank. Then he looked at the woman and saw that, in fact, she was no more than a girl, trembling and afraid and for several moments too deeply shocked to attempt to conceal her slim, almost fragile figure from his gaze. Then, when she did try, she found her hands and arms only adequate to hide the firm half spheres of her young breasts. She pressed her slender legs tightly together and began to quake again as she dug fingers into the soft flesh of her shoulders.
"I've already had the offer and turned it down," Hedges said and tried to form his features into a gentle smile. Then he rolled the unconscious man over with his foot and stooped to pick up the tattered dress. "You'll catch cold," he said softly as he handed it to her.
She seemed reluctant to take it, and when she did it was almost a snatching movement and she held it tightly to her, like a child with a favorite toy.
"He made a mess of it, miss," Hedges said. "It won't cover you much better than you're hiding yourself." He looked down at the man. "Got an idea." He bent down and unbuttoned the tunic, then the belt on the pants. The man wasn't very tall, but he was fat and it was awkward trying to get the clothes off under his dead weight. But Hedges' well-honed muscles served him well and within a minute the unconscious man was down to his grubby underwear. Hedges grinned at the girl as he held out the uniform. "You won't exactly be the best dressed lady in Parkersburg, miss, but they'll keep out the cold and protect your modesty until you get home."
Again she hesitated before reaching out to him and once more she clasped the garments tightly against her body, making no move to put them on. Hedges sighed and turned his back towards her. There was silence for several moments, then there were some scuffling sounds and he smiled, knowing she was putting on the uniform.
"It's all right now," she said at length and when he turned to look at her he had to suppress a guffaw. Two girls with her build could have got inside the tunic and the pants cuffs had been folded up twice to clear the ground. She had to have a hand under the tunic to hold the pants up. "I'm very grateful to you, Mr..."
"Hedges," he answered, touching his cap. "Joe Hedges. Not mister anymore. Lieutenant."
"My name's Jeannie Fisher," she said softly. "I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."
"You didn't," he answered. "I ought to apologize for his behavior. He's in the same army I am."
"I'm glad you're not all like him. Thank you again. I must get to the doctor now."
"I'll take you," Hedges said quickly.
She shook her head. "You've done enough. It's not far." She smiled now, the expression lighting her dark eyes and showing rows of white teeth between full lips. "I'm hardly likely to attract any more of that kind of attention, dressed like this."
"Maybe not if you don't smile like that," Hedges said, then suddenly stooped and picked up the unconscious man's cap. He stepped forward and the girl did not draw back or protest as he gathered up her soft red hair and tucked it under the cap.
"You're very thoughtful, lieutenant," she said. "Thank you again."
She had to go on to her toes to gain enough height to brush her lips across Hedges' mouth. Then she turned suddenly and ran off down the alley to where the railroad tracks gleamed silver in the moonlight, the spare material of the uniform flapping about her. Hedges ran the tips of his fingers along his lips and felt a stirring in his loins as his mind conjured up the picture of her near-nakedness. Then the man at his feet groaned and he was reminded of the ugliness of the circumstances; experienced a strong desire to kill the girl's tormentor.
He grinned suddenly and crouched down to remove the man's shoes, finding the two dollars in the left one. Then he grabbed the man by the feet and started to haul him out of the alley and into the street. His undershirt was dragged up, baring his bulging belly and very white, hairless chest. Hedges hauled his burden back down the street to the doorway where the whore had been standing.
"You still open for business?" he called into the shadows.
"Sure am, mister," the familiar voice answered. "Oh, it's you?" Her tone was suddenly derisive. "Change your mind, soldier boy? I got a special rate for first timers."
"It's not for me," Hedges answered. "He's got two dollars."
The whore gasped as Hedges dragged the groaning man into view. "He was so anxious he couldn't wait to get undressed," Hedges told her. "Is two dollars enough?"
"This some kind of joke?" the whore demanded.
Hedges dropped the feet of the man and held up the two bills. "He does look kind of funny, doesn't he? And for two dollars the joke can be on you,"
A hand reached out of the darkness and long fingers with scarlet-painted nails closed around the money and snatched it away. The whore laughed harshly. "They aren't usually in that state until they leave me, but I guess in wartime a girl's got to take what she can get. Bring him inside."
Hedges turned away. "I've given you your oats, lady," he called to her. "I'm not about to feed them to you."
"Screw you!" she shrieked after him.
"No, him," Hedges said as he walked away, able to maintain a straight line without effort now.
He heard the door slam and as he again neared the edge of town he turned to look over his shoulder and saw the man still lying in the street. "Should have known," he muttered. "Pa always told me never to trust a woman with painted nails." He tried to remember whether Jeannie Fisher had colored her nails.
*****
EDGE was naked and lying face down on the big double bed in the master bedroom of the farmhouse, his body from shoulder blades to feet covered with a sheet and six blankets. He was clean of mud except for that which clung among his long hair. But replacing the mud was a fine sheen of sweat, forced from his pores by the bed covering, the fire which roared in the hearth and his own dangerously high body heat.
"I wish father and Allen were here," Grace said as she sat by the fire, watching steam rise from a large pan on the hob.
Her mother was sitting at the head of the bed, stropping Edge's own razor on leather. The storm had passed now and except for when the women spoke it was very quiet in the room, the stillness marred only by the consistent splash of rain on the roof and the regular, pained breathing of the man on the bed.
"Your father wouldn't he much help," Margaret Hope answered. "He's strong and he's brave, sure enough, but he's got no stomach for this kind of thing. Your brother's probably the same."
"But they could go and get Doctor Patterson," Grace argued. "You can't be sure you're doing the right thing."