Chapter 3

Well, that was the end of poker playing in Wilkerson for Sandy. She had taken a total of $143 in that game, and that wiped out the free cash for Wilkerson for the foreseeable future. All she could look forward to now was penny-ante games, and she could not afford to settle for that at her current economic position. She now had just under $400, and that was too much to haul around in her money belt. What to do?

The blacksmith in Wilkerson was well recommended, so she had him build her an iron strong box that she could hide under the seat of her carriage. The iron strong box with a sturdy lock and well hidden in her carriage was about the best solution she could think of to protect her money. She kept $50 out for working cash and wrapped the rest of her money in a cloth bag tightly enough so that it wouldn't rattle in the box. She left Wilkerson, headed south to Texas, before daylight one morning.

The first part of her trip was very pleasant, since the weather was cool enough that she didn't break a sweat as the sun grew higher. She did stop and put up the protective top of her carriage to keep the sun off her. She drove at a steady pace for an hour and stopped to give her horse a breather. After 15 minutes, she started up again and kept up this routine until it was time to stop for lunch. This road was in good condition, as advertised, but the towns were sure far apart.

Just as she was about to halt for a picnic snack, she saw a building about half a mile ahead. Sandy kept going and saw that this was a saloon/hotel/restaurant in one large building. What the hell, why not? She stopped in front of the restaurant part of the building and went in. The food offered was the staple beef and beans, with coffee, for 25 cents. How bad could it be? She found out! The food was barely edible, but it was filling, so she ate enough to hold her until supper. The waiter was kind of surly, so she went into the saloon to talk to the bartender. She wanted to know if there were any problems on the road she should know about.

She casually glanced into the room as she walked toward the bar. She saw a handsome man sitting at a table smoking a cigar, but she didn't pay much attention to him, though he seemed somewhat familiar. She asked the bartender about the road and found that he didn't have any bad news for her. She turned to leave and heard a voice shout, "SANDY OLSON! IS THAT YOU?"

She turned back toward the source of the shout and saw a man rushing toward her. Damn! It was Jim Wallace, her old poker mentor! They greeted each other with giant smiles and hearty hand shakes and back slaps; it was all she could do not to hug him. "Jim, I thought that you were back East somewhere. What happened?"

"I couldn't take livin' with them sissies. Besides, I missed playin' poker with you. How've you been doin'?"

"You were a good teacher. I've been doin' well enough, but I sure would do better if we were playin' together. Where're you headed?"

"I'm headed wherever you're goin', Sandy. Where are WE headed?"

"Out of pure curiosity, I'm headed for Texas. I heard so much about Texas when I was a kid in Philadelphia, I figured that I ought to go see it since I'm so close. That OK with you?"

"Sure, they play poker in Texas. That means that we can make a livin' there. Where's your horse? Let's leave now."

"Come on out front, and I'll show you how I'm travelin'. You can't ask for anything better!" Jim looked puzzled as they walked out the front door of the saloon, since he didn't see a likely horse. He nearly fainted from surprise when he saw that Sandy was headed for the carriage hitched in front of the restaurant. She couldn't help laughing as she told Jim about how she happened to obtain the carriage.

"Sure, I'll ride with you. I could get used to a little luxury. I'll hitch my horse on behind, and I'll be ready to go." They rode off, headed south, talking a mile a minute, trying to catch up on each other's exploits. Jim was particularly impressed with her tale of the poker game in Wilkerson. He wasn't sure he could have withstood the suspense.

A couple of hours later, the conversation had wound down, and they were riding along in companionable silence. As can happen in that part of the country, they were suddenly under a very dark cloud, and, before long, it began to rain. At first, the rain was moderate, but steady. After about 20 minutes, the rain got much harder and the wind began to whip around the cover of the carriage. If they didn't find shelter pretty soon, they were in danger of losing the cover, because a heavy wind could rip it to shreds.

Fortunately, they spotted a farm house not too far away, and there was a barn beside it, so they headed as fast as they could in that direction. Somebody in the barn saw them coming, so he opened the door just before they got there, and they drove inside. It was a teen aged boy who had done them the courtesy, and Sandy and Jim thanked him profusely. They took care of the horses and tried to run between the raindrops to get into the house.

The boy introduced them to his parents, grandparents (all 4) and his siblings (6). They sat around and talked for a while; their hosts were fascinated to meet 2 professional gamblers. The rain kept up all afternoon, and it got dark very early, so the travelers were invited to stay for supper. After supper, the rain seemed to pick up, so there was no possibility of them trying to continue their journey—it was 7 miles to the next town with a hotel. However, there was a problem. There simply were already so many people sleeping in the house that there was no room for the travelers; they were going to have to sleep in the barn.

Sandy and Jim assured their hosts that they didn't mind using the barn for sleeping accommodations. Sandy had plenty of blankets in the boot of her carriage, so they could easily bed down on some of the hay for a bed and spend a comfortable night. They gossiped for a while longer, and the travelers ran back to the barn through the rain.

The weather had cooled off, and they sure as hell could not build a fire in the barn, so Sandy got out all of the blankets and they made one bed for the two of them to share. They lay down, fully dressed, back to back, but they didn't stay that way all night. Sometime during the night, Jim had rolled over and slept spooned up against Sandy's back with his arm across her body.

The next morning when they woke up, Jim had cupped Sandy's breast in his hand. He had no doubt what it was that he was holding, and she had no doubt that he had identified what he had, because her nipple was poking into the palm of his hand! Jim turned bright red in embarrassment and sputtered an apology. Sandy told him to relax, it was no problem. She had planned to tell him that she was a woman, she was just waiting for the proper time. It looked like he had found out for himself.

Sandy explained how she had originally started to dress as a man and stayed with it when she found that she really liked the extra freedom that it gave her. She especially liked the way it let her go into saloons and play poker without being bothered constantly by men who would want her for sex. She had always liked to play poker, but she was really hooked now that Jim had taught her the way he had. She had no intention of giving up her poker playing, so she was going to continue to dress as a man.

Jim was really taken aback by all of this, and took a few minutes to come to terms with the new Sandy. He realized that the new discovery did not reduce his regard for her, in fact, he was proud of her spirit and was happy that she still wanted to be his poker partner. They agreed to continue traveling as two men friends and keep up the pretense as long as they could get away with it. They cleaned up their "camp" and put their boots back on. Sandy and Jim went back into the house when they were called for breakfast and ate with the family. Their hosts refused to accept payment, insisting that the good talk of the night before had paid them amply for their hospitality.

They pulled out of the barn into clear weather, though the road was muddy. The horse had to work to pull the carriage through the sticky stuff, so they decided to spend the rest of the day and the night in the town they finally came to. They had made poor time getting to town, so it was already noon. They ate lunch and then started making the rounds among the saloons looking for a likely place for a poker game.