“Buck up, old son!” Declan said loudly and clapped Murdock on his shoulder. “You won your fight and did what you had to do. I doubt anyone would hold it against you that the attackers were women.”
Murdock looked shocked: “That statement is wrong on so many levels!”
“In what way?” Declan asked, confused.
“Do you really think you can win a fight?” Murdock asked. He was waiting in the longhouse for Doctor Harris to finish her post-operative examination of Mei Lee.
“Sure,” Declan said with a shrug. “Someone does something to you and you beat his a*s. You win.”
“Is that what you really believe?” Murdock asked. “If someone, say Bass Heartly, calls you out and you subdue him, you think you won. Bass goes about his business, but the loss wears on him because he can’t let it go. You run across
