As Annie watched the men approach, she saw four break ranks from the rest and rush headlong toward Murdock, who had moved out twenty yards or so from the cart. As the four ran up to Murdock, they were yelling. Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity. Murdock seemed to be a blur, as he countered all of their attacks and was back at the cart in short order. All four had their advance stop abruptly and were lying on their backs.
Seeing the four guards drop suddenly caused Freeman to call a halt for the remaining guards. “What is this, Murdock?” he asked mockingly. “Are you so afraid of us that you have to hide behind some strange barrier?”
“What barrier?” Murdock asked offhandedly. “You try to attack me, twelve to one, and you decide I must have done something because your plan failed. Do
