Chapter 3

I washed my face and the rest of myself off with some water in the washbasin. Well, actually I rinsed myself off, it was more in the nature of what I thought of as a whore bath. I was fit to go to town anyway and after I hitched my team to the new wagon I was off.

My first stop was at the small cafe where I bought enough ham, eggs, and biscuits to feed two men and washed it down with plenty of coffee.

The general store was next and I bought washrags, towels, both a single and double bit axe and a couple of splitting wedges, a twelve pound sledge hammer and a three pound single jack. I picked up a couple of cast iron skillets along with half a dozen tin plates and a dozen tin coffee cups and a wad of knives, forks, and spoons. I nearly walked out before buying coffee but I spotted a bunch of Arbuckle's stacked on a shelf and went back to the counter to pay for some of it too.

My next trick was in the same store where I'd bought my bed and such. I picked out a dining table and six wooden chairs to go with it. It wasn't all I needed for the house but it was all the shopping I could put up with for today. I only had one stop left and it was at the bank.

I'd brought all my gold into town with me and I went to the bank to open an account. They weighed out the gold and gave me a receipt for the weight, but said they'd have to have it assayed to convert it to money. When I asked how long it would take they said it should be done by tomorrow.

I decided to take the rest of the day off and headed out to my place. Jim and Johnny, the two hands I'd hired for the week were out fucking around with the cattle but I would need some help moving the table and things into the house so I fired a couple of shots from my Ruger hoping they'd come up.

They came out of the woods near the back and rode up to meet me.

"How's everything this morning?" I asked.

"Fine so far," Jim said.

"Hey, don't I need a bunk house for the two of you?" I asked.

"Well, I'm married and already have my own house, and Johnny stayed in the barn last night," Jim said.

"I guess it's up to you to find those carpenters again Johnny. Fetch the head man out here if he'll come and I'll get the bunkhouse started," I said.

They helped me move my heavy stuff inside and then went back outside to unhitch the team and put the wagon away. I went out, saddled Red, and rode back into town. I stopped by the hotel, looked Lucy up, and asked her for another date tonight and she agreed then I headed out to the cafe for lunch.

The menu was a little sparse so I ordered a steak, potatoes, and coffee. When the gal brought it I dug in and damned if the steak wasn't better than the one I'd had the other night at Lazlo's. If I kept eating like this I'd be fat and slick in no time.

After I finished I headed to the saloon and bought a beer. I nursed it for about fifteen minutes when one of the guys at the poker table called me over and asked me to sit in.

"I might as well," I said, and pulled out a chair.

The deal had just passed to a youger man, he looked to be in his early twenties. I noticed the same type of ring on his finger the last cheater had worn and I figured I'd been called over for the purpose of checking him out since the one who called me over had been playing when the last fuckup happened. After the first hand I folded right away. I'd been dealt two queens and two tens, but I doubted I'd get either one if I called for a card when the draw came to me.

Apparently the young one who was now dealing hadn't heard about the last dust up because I could hear the seconds he was dealing even when he was only giving cards for the draws. I was determined not to get into it with him though so I even skipeed the ante when the deal came to him again. The man who'd called me over to play noticed and he folded right off the bat. He looked over at me and I just winked at him.

The dealer won the pot and I skipped the ante again and this time so did the one who'd called me over to play. This left only two besides the dealer to play the hand. For some reason he dealt the hand straight the rest of the way out and sure enough he didn't win.

I guess the others took this as a good sign and everyone tossed in their ante this time except me. Hell, another man was waiting to play by now and so I gave up my seat and walked back over to the bar for another beer. As soon as this hand was over the one who'd called me to the game in the first place gave up his seat and came over to the bar too.

After he got his beer he asked me," Is that one cheating too?"

"Yep, couldn't you hear it?" I asked.

"Nope, my ears ain't so good after the war. I spent too much time around cannons."

"I was almost sure he was before the first hand. Did you see that ring he had on. It doesn't have a stone in it, that's a little mirror. He uses it to see what the card on the bottom of the deck is," I said.

"Why didn't you call him on it?" he asked.

"Cause I ain't the card sherriff. I didn't want to kill a man today. It ain't as much fun as you might think. Besides, he might be faster than me," I said.

I don't see how that's possible. You were so fast last time I didn't even see you reach for your gun. It was just in your hand when you fired," he said.

"You didn't see me draw because I didn't draw the one on my hip," I said, and then held my jacket open to let him see my Diamondback in the shoulder holster.

"Oh. I guess you're right. I'd have never noticed that," he said.

"It's a lot easier on my hide to just get up when a dealer is cheating." I said.

"It's just a damned shame my ears ain't no good," he said

"We all got our crosses to bear. Just make sure they ain't got nothing on their hand that will let them see the card on the bottom of the deck. If the one on the bottom ain't nothing special it don't help them to deal it and it sure as hell don't help them if they don't know what it is," I said.

Next time I looked up and paid attention the poker game was breaking up, sorta. Everyone but Jingo, the young one I was suspicious of was leaving and he was just sitting there like a Las Vegas dealer at a table waiting for the customers to sit down.

It was obvious Jingo was pissed about things, but he gathered his chips, finished his beer, and then got up himself. Damned if he didn't walk over to the bar and start ragging on me.

"I don't know what you told them others mister, but they all got up and left after you did. I think you said something bad about me to make them quit the game," he said, and even though it sounded stupid to me I was sure he thought he'd made a telling point.