Chapter 17

(In Which a Battered Amanda Rides the Wooden Pony)

"I suppose you know what you're getting yourself into, Amanda" said Jeremy. "And you'll have to tell me what to do. I'm a bit new to this."

"You are totally new to this! But it is in at the deep end for you! Just give me some water to swill my mouth with and the bucket to spit blood into at the end of each round. Clean up any cuts - and there will be lots! These gloves are lethal mon ami! You can't do much else. And wish me luck, because I fucking need it!"

Jeremy sighed. This little scheme was not working out the way he had planned. But Amanda amazed him by her coolness, only seconds away from a fight against impossible odds. The bell went and Round One began.

Amanda stepped into the centre and Alexandra climbed through the ropes. Ira and Svetlana gave their comrade a cheer of encouragement as Alexandra aimed the first shot of the match. Amanda easily avoided it and raised a lump on the other girl's face as she hit her very hard above the eye. Before Alexandra had recovered, Amanda had hit her again in the same spot, following this up with a high kick that sent her opponent sprawling on her back. Jeremy wondered if his concern for his fellow spy was entirely justified. Amanda was doing just fine so far! But there were two other women for her to reckon with. If Alexandra could survive this first round, she would have plenty of time to recover. He saw that the French fighter must eliminate at least one of her three opponents early on if she were not to be in for a terrible beating. As it was, all the blood drawn thus far was Alexandra's. He saw that Rashumba in her front row seat did not look happy!

The round ended with Amanda not even grazed and Alexandra's cut oozing blood. In the half minute interval both Ira and Svetlana did their best to clean her up and then the bell went and Ira took her turn to brave the fury of Amanda's fists and feet. The watching Jeremy gave Ira full marks for courage. After seeing Alexandra badly hurt, she could have no illusions about the French girl's awesome abilities.

"You're doing magnificently, Amanda!" he had whispered in the brief interval.

"Not as well as I'd 'oped. She should be out cold after what I did to her. She's got a very 'ard 'ead, worse luck. Just splash plenty of cold water over me, Jeremy. It's going to be a 'ot and very thirsty Amanda after a few rounds of this!"

Jeremy noticed that Amanda was still slightly breathless even as the second round started, and she was up against a fresh opponent. After five or six rounds the poor girl would be exhausted, and each session against fresh opposition would be harder for her. He saw what she meant about a hot Amanda!

He breathed with relief as Ira was sent back to her corner bleeding as badly as Alexandra. Jeremy thought of Estella and how she would be kept glued to her set when she finally got to see the film of this bout! A far as he was concerned, he hadn't changed his views at all, although he increasingly admired Amanda's skill and bravery.

"So far, so good!" he said encouragingly.

"Maybe, but I tried to put 'er out for the count - twice. They were good blows, my friend, and she is still on her feet! Another tough bitch! Just my fucking luck to 'ave two top class girls up against me! I don't talk too much any more, Jeremy. I need all my breath for these three. When you take me to dinner later on, you 'ave one very battered girl to escort. They will all look at you and think you are a wife-beater!"

She tried to regain her breath for the remaining too few seconds of rest and then it was up against Svetlana. The third girl was a much easier opponent than her two companions and she was lucky to survive Amanda's ferocious onslaught, going down twice, the second time being seconds before the bell. She was saved by the bell and had to be half-carried back to her corner. In seven minutes she would be right as rain but Amanda was already red-faced and sweating from every pore For the first time in the fight she had been marked. Rashumba looked a little happier!

"'Ow you like being this close to a sweating and naked female fighter, Jeremy?" she asked as she waited for Alexandra to get into the ring.

"I've mixed feelings! But whatever happens in the next rounds, Amanda, I'll always be proud to know you!"

She grinned and got to her feet. Time to face Alexandra again. This time she went straight for the other girl and waded into her, landing a dozen blows in the first minute. Alexandra backed away, but had managed to return a bit of Amanda's fire and it was no longer only she who was bleeding, although Amanda's cut was only a scratch, which would heal quickly enough if Alexandra couldn't keep at it. Alexandra tried to keep the cut open and aimed a straight left right at it. Amanda was ready for this, though, and Alexandra was soon on her back again, neatly floored by a deadly uppercut. This time she did not get up so quickly and looked dazed as she tried to keep out of trouble. Amanda knocked her down again and then the bell went. When Amanda returned to her corner, her chest was heaving and she was gasping for breath.

"Water, Jeremy! Lovely cold water. Mon Dieu, but that Alexandra is tough! What a country for hard women this is! But I get 'er in the end."

When Ira came into the arena she made straight for Amanda and her first shot was a spinning kick which missed its target but still hit a shoulder and made Amanda stagger slightly. This was enough for Ira to land a terrific punch on Amanda's nose which made Jeremy's eyes water just looking at it! If Amanda was flustered by this, Jeremy could see no sign of it as she calmly countered with a kick to Ira's stomach. Before the winded Ira could recover, Amanda put her down with a sideways swipe which made Jeremy wince once again. He wondered it had not taken Ira's head off! Ira obliged by going down and staying down until the count reached nine, when she staggered dazedly to her feet. Amanda was hitting at an open target by now and Ira hit the canvas again. This time the bell did not save her. Rashumba looked ferocious.

"One down - two to go! You really are something, aren't you?"

"Just keep on with the water, mon ami! It is not over, yet! It 'as 'ardly begun!"

Svetlana aped Ira in coming for Amanda with all guns blazing and Jeremy felt his heart miss about a hundred beats as Amanda went down under a blizzard of punches. Svetlana was obviously a fist person and Amanda had become too well acquainted with both this lady's gloved weapons.

With blood coming from her nose, her mouth and a cut over one eye, Amanda stayed down until the count of nine and she rose very shakily to her feet. Svetlana moved in for the kill, drawing back her right fist and exposing her jaw, which Amanda broke with a kick which cracked out around the auditorium like a telephone pole snapping in a gale.

"Did you have to hit her that hard?" asked a horrified Jeremy, as he tended to Amanda's multiplicity of facial injuries and saw the hapless Svetlana being carried away, presumably to hospital.

"I lost my temper!"

"And how! I still can't believe a human being can move that fast. And I though you were dazed! Just playing possum, I suppose! You're no fool, are you! I'll do a great article about this match! You'll be famous! And once the bleeding stops, you won't look that bad! Not what I'd call seriously battered!"

"I still 'ave to survive against Alexandra! I am very tired by this time and she is fresh. It is I who will be trying to stay alive for the next three or four rounds. You'll see me well and truly thumped, Jeremy, before I KO that bitch! But I will win - you can be sure of that!"

Jeremy could see the force of this. Alexandra had been given time to recover her breath and Amanda was still panting as they met for the next round. Amanda tried not to get to close quarters but Alexandra, sensing that she had the other woman on the run, crowded her and at one point forced her into a corner where she pounded her mercilessly causing her to slump to the ground, her arms raised to protect her face as Alexandra beat through her guard and used those fearsome studded gloves to batter her at will. Alexandra, clearly not one to hit an opponent when she was down, stepped back from the stricken Amanda, whose bloody and bruised face was now unrecognisable. Jeremy was sure that she would never get up in time, if at all. But she did. Alexandra was waiting for her to get up and put her straight down again. This time it was Amanda's turn to be saved by the bell. Jeremy saw that Rashumba was looking happy again!

Jeremy helped her back to her corner. She sat gasping for breath as he splashed cold water over her. Jeremy handed her the bucket and she rinsed out her mouth, spitting blood into the proffered receptacle.

"Give up, Amanda! You've done wonders, but three against one is just too much!"

She was too breathless to reply, but merely shook her head with weary firmness. Then the bell and another punishing round, in which Alexandra punched her all around the ring and sent her down again just before the bell. The partisan crowd were going wild by this time, sensing that at least one of the local girls was finally taking the foreigner apart. Again Jeremy had to half-carry her back to her corner, and again the exhausted but determined girl shook her head and got to her feet at the bell to join battle again. Jeremy looked at Rashumba and was frightened at the look of unholy joy on her face.

In the third round alone with her sole remaining opponent Amanda was once more subjected to a terrifying assault and seemed to Jeremy to be wilting and defenceless, but, to his astonishment, he saw that she was staying on her feet this time, even though the blows that were landing on her sounded as painfully loud and solid as ever. He guessed that Alexandra was tiring and that Amanda was calling on reserves of will-power and courage that most people could only dream about possessing. He had seen Alexandra's abdomen convulsing during the break and realised that the advantage of freshness had been lost. It was, from now onwards, to be a battle of stamina between the two, and Amanda was gradually establishing her superiority in this department. There was definite dejection in Alexandra as she went back to her corner, having vainly thrown every blow in her repertoire at a tough French girl who refused to go down again.

It took Amanda four more rounds before she felled Alexandra and in that time the ring had become slippery with mostly her blood. She was cheered by a crowd which, although disappointed at the final result, had certainly got their fill of action. If Jeremy had not been so taken up with the excitement of it all and the need to minister to Amanda in the rest breaks, he might have been sick. Rashumba left, happy enough to have seen Amanda get badly hurt even if she had won in the end. After Amanda's weary arms had been raised in victory, Jeremy picked her up and carried her out to the dressing room, from which she had emerged so long ago. He compared the memory of the unmarked and confident Amanda of an hour ago to the wreck he was helping back there. But she was a triumphant wreck!

Amanda gasped her thanks as he lowered her into a chair. She sat there for five minutes before moving. She held her head back and finally got her nose to stop bleeding. Gradually her breathing subsided and she got up and went over to the mirror. She looked at herself for a few seconds and then smiled.

"Not too bad, considering, Jeremy! I was dodging most of the worst of it, you know! I took a bit of stick when I was letting 'er tire 'erself out on me during those last seven rounds. But I never doubted I would win in the end. They were three very good fighters. But I! I am better than good! I am magnifique, Jeremy. Am I not the greatest?"

"You're pretty good, Amanda! But I still say I hate to see women fight. And shouldn't they have stopped that long before the end? I mean to say - one of you could have been killed! But you've convinced me of one thing! Courage is always inspiring and you have it in spades! Do you think Clementine could have done what you did?"

This reference to the still imprisoned girl, for whose sake they were both here, sobered up the still euphoric victor a little.

"She might 'ave taken two others, Jeremy - Ira and Alexandra she could have managed. But three? I doubt it! Even I, the magnificent Amanda, was pushed to deal with all three! As for them stopping it, this was not a fight under normal rules, Jeremy. It was a fight to a knockout finish, and remember where we are! if I 'ad tried to back out when it got too tough, I might be joining Clementine right now!"

"No false modesty about you, is there!"

"I am just a realist, Jeremy! I am so wonderful a fighter, and why should I pretend otherwise? BUT! We must not for a second forget why we are 'ere, Jeremy! I must see my opponents and congratulate them and then you take me to dinner!"

With these words the still naked Amanda ran out of the room, went into the other dressing room. Jeremy followed. Ira and Alexandra were there, but Svetlana had been taken to hospital soon after Amanda had so spectacularly broken her jaw. The word was that she would be in hospital for a week, but was in good spirits, considering. Ira could speak fairly good English, but Alexandra only had a few words. Neither girl spoke French.

Amanda embraced both her surviving opponents and thanked them for an excellent fight. She and Ira chatted in English and Jeremy tried out his very rusty Russian on Alexandra, who spoke that language reasonably, in common with most of her fellow countrymen and women.

"You both put up a good show. Your country seems to breed Amazons! I was 'ere not so long ago for a tournament and fought a girl out in the wilds somewhere. It was a team of fighters recruited from a prison. She was a tough opponent too. I remember that girl so well. Tall and blonde and with such courage! I should like to fight 'er again!"

Ira went a little pale. She seemed to hesitate. And then she answered Amanda and the Frenchwoman thought she could see anger in her face.

"That's Clementine. And she's not Abhlovian. I think she's English and she's bad news. Keep your mouth shut about her!"

"Why?" asked Amanda innocently.

"She is not a real criminal. You won't be in the country for much longer, so I'll tell you a bit about her. But keep it under your hat, for mercy's sake. We, Alexandra and I, were framed a year or two ago and sent to the same prison as Clementine. The only reason they have that girl there is to torture her, and torture her they do. She gets to suffer more pain in a week than I hope to feel in the rest of my life. She did no wrong - or at least, very little wrong, but she is there for a twelve year stretch of hard labour. And I mean hard! Alexandra and I were worked until we dropped in our year there, but that Clementine - she got twice as much work and, three, four, ten times the punishments that the rest of them got. I am surprised she is still alive! But she was a tough one - and she needed to be!! We were sent there to fight her and humiliate her, but she beat us. Like you, she took on one of us after the other and knocked us senseless! And that black bitch got us into that place. And last night she got us into the ring against you! We have a lot to hate her for! A year of hell, several beatings from Clementine, whippings from the guards and, tonight, a beating at your hands!"

"Poor Clementine!" said Amanda. But why is she 'bad news'?"

"Because they want her kept where she is, and will go to any lengths to eliminate anyone who tries to help her. But I did get to respect her. There was something noble about her, Amanda. Even the animals she's penned up with admire her. Not long before we were released they all discovered that Alexandra and I had betrayed her in an escape attempt and they half-killed us! But she will stay there and be tormented until she dies. I feel shame, though, having made things worse for her when a prisoner and at doing nothing to help her. Forget what I have told you. Nobody can help her. In the last resort, they would kill her sooner than see her go free."