The Gun Fight by Richard Matheson Read Free Book Online Page A

shrinking from the truth in my house. I hope I shall never see the day when men no longer defend the honor of their women. How would you like it, ma’m, if I refused to defend your honor against insults?”
    Mrs. Coles said nothing. She knew that Matthew wanted no reply but preferred the advantage of asking challenging questions which were not answered. She knew it gave him the pleasure of unopposed refuting.
    “No, you have no answer,” said Matthew Coles with a tense nodding of his head. “You know as well as I do that when men cease to defend their women and their homes, our society will cease to exist.”
    Robby drank a little water and felt it trickle coldly into his near-empty stomach. He hoped his father wouldgo on ranting at his mother, beleaguering Jimmy—anything except stay on the subject of Louisa and John Benton. He’d been on it all afternoon at the shop where he’d insisted that Robby perform his usual tasks, ill or not.
    “That a son of mine,” said Matthew Coles grimly, “should be afraid to stand up for the honor of his intended bride.” He shook his head. “Especially since the poor girl has no family man to speak for her.” He shook his head again. “In
my
day . . .,” he mused solemnly, probing at his beef with fork stabs.
    “May I be excused?” Robby asked.
    “You may not, sir,” said his father. “The meal is not over.”
    “Does your stomach still hurt, dear?” Mrs. Coles asked Robby gently.
    An attempted smile twitched at the corners of Robby’s lips. “I feel better, mother,” he said.
    “Is there anything I can get for—”
    “Don’t coddle the boy!” her husband broke in furiously. “Are we raising daughters or sons? It’s no wonder he’s too cowardly to face John Benton, the way you’ve coddled and protected him!”
    “Matthew, he
did
tell John Benton to leave Louisa alone,” she said, the faint spark of re sis tance born of her defending love for Robby.
    “Is that what you call defending honor!” shouted Matthew Coles, his face suddenly livid with fury at being contradicted. “Getting hit in the stomach and whining like a dog all day!”
    Jane Coles looked disturbedly toward Jimmy who was staring at his father, his slender body unconsciously cringed away from Matthew Coles’ imperious presence.
    “Matthew, the—”
    “What is this—a house of
women
!” her husband raged on. “Why don’t you teach them how to cook and sew!”
    “Matthew, the boy,” his wife pleaded, a break in her tired voice.
    “Don’t tell me about the boy! It’s time he learned the place of a man in his society!” His head snapped over and he looked accusingly at Jimmy. “Don’t think you’re going to live your life without fighting,” he said to the white-faced boy. “Don’t think you’re going to get away without defending the honor of your women.”
    He leaned forward suddenly, neck cords bulging, dark eyes digging into the young boy.
    “Tell me, sir,” he said with thinly disguised calm, “what would you do if a man insulted your mother?”
    “Matthew,” his wife begged in anguish, “please . . .”
    “Would you just sit by and let the insult pass? Is that what you’d do?” He finished in a sudden burst that made Jimmy’s cheek twitch.
    “N-no, sir,” the boy mumbled.
    “Speak up, sir, speak up! You’re a man, not a woman, and a man is supposed to be heard!”
    “
Yes
, sir.”
    “Is that what you’d do; let the insult pass?”
    “No, no,” Jimmy said hurriedly.
    “No, what?”
    “No, I wouldn’t let the—”
    “
No, sir.
”
    Jimmy bit at his lower lip, a rasping sob shaking in his throat.
    “Woman!” cried Matthew Coles. “A house of women!”
    “Matthew . . .” His wife’s voice was weak and shaking.
    Matthew Coles drew in a deep, wavering breath and sawed savagely at his meat. He crammed it into his mouth and started chewing while his family sat tensely in their places, unable to eat.
    “
Stop that sniveling,
” Matthew