Another entry from Elizabeth’s journal. This one’s from four days after the last I posted.
Been growing used to Los Valle. It’s quiet. I can barely remember the last time I had the pleasure of experiencing quiet. The room Samuel’s provided me was much nicer than what I had expected; he seems to be trying to run a quality establishment. Shame about the average clientele. Samuel is wasted on them.
My wonderful quiet was disrupted by a new band of travelers who came through the bar yesterday. Saw them sitting at a table, playing cards. Four men, with a very harsh look about them. All the other customers were giving them wide berth, and Samuel was eying them cautiously. Appeared to be a bit of an overreaction, as they seemed content to stick with their cards.
Got an interesting idea as I watched their game of poker go on. My supply of money wouldn’t last forever, and this was starting to look like the perfect opportunity to restock. It’d been a while since I’d done a real, genuine scam….
My plan relied on these men being the greedy, money-loving scum that they looked like, which most fortunately turned out to be the case. Went over to their table, all wide eyed and innocent, laying the “naïve east-coaster” accent on as heavily as I could. When I expressed interest in their game, a light switched on in their heads. These weren’t complicated thinkers; when an obvious newcomer shows the slightest interest in gambling, they fall back on the same old plans. Let the innocent win a few hands. Draw them in. Make them feel greedy. Then, when the newcomer puts in all their money, the veterans throw off the gloves, pull out every cheat they know, and walk away with all the newcomer’s money. But if I knew what was coming…. Well, all I had to do was cheat harder than the cheaters.
First few rounds, I stuck to my role. Acting shocked when I won a round, always asking for help with the rules. The more I put on the table, the more eager they grew, as they realized how much money I had on me.
Then came the moment. Still acting like an ignorant fool, I put all my money in. The greed written across their face was laughably obvious.
They cheated, I cheated, when the hands went down we had six aces distributed amongst the five of us. Dropping all pretense of ignorance, I pointed out that my royal flush beat all their hands, grabbed the money, and got up to leave. I’d planned on their pride stopping them from doing anything to me; what man here would want to admit to being outsmarted by a woman?
Hadn’t expected that they might love their money a bit more than their pride. Guns were drawn and leveled at me. Wasn’t the best situation I’d fallen into. Never gotten the hang of outrunning a bullet, much less four, which was something I really began to regret right there. Several strategies ran through my head, but none were optimal. The only way out I could see would involve killing at least one of them, and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. But it was starting to look like I wouldn’t have a choice this time….
Saved from having to make that decision when the door was thrown open, and a man in black came in. Suddenly the four card players were interested in someone else, and turned their guns on the newcomer. Gave me a chance to make my move; flipped the table over, and attacked during the confusion. Disarmed one quick, and went for the second. The new guy in black didn’t hesitate; he saw the brawl breaking out between me and the four, and he ran forward and punched one of the gunners in the face.
With the two of us against those four, the fight didn’t last long. I think they only got off a single shot, which harmlessly struck the ceiling, before all four were on the ground clutching various injuries. One could almost feel sorry for them, had they not been pointing guns at me just moments ago. The guy in black was leaning down to speak to them. First time I got a good look at him; was surprised to realize that he’s the same age as me. Maybe even a year or two younger. He was talking with quite a friendly tone to the men, saying, “Been hardly four months since the last time we did this, hasn’t it boys? Now, why don’t you four just go and leave this town all nice and fast-like?”
And run they did. Not even a glance backwards as they shot out the door. Their falling over each other as they got out was hilarious. Samuel certainly thought so, as he was laughing as he came out from behind the bar. He and the man in black greeted each other like old friends, and Samuel led him over to me. “This is Dorian Gardner, an old friend of mine.” Samuel told me. “And this,” he said, gesturing to me, “is that Elizabeth girl I told you ‘bout.”
Dorian smiled and mimed tipping a hat to me. “My, Samuel told me he had a girl staying with him who could outfight a man, but he never bothered mentioning that she was beautiful too.”
Flirt.
But a friendly flirt, which is a miracle after all the pigs I’ve dealt with since coming here. Samuel closed the bar early that day, and the three of us spent hours chatting and sharing drinks. You would not believe some of the situations Samuel and Dorian claim to have gotten into. They were quite a pair when they were younger, if you take their word for it. Dorian’s still wandering around having his adventures, supporting himself through “this and that”. Was nice seeing him when he wasn’t all battle ready; with that unruly hair, big brown eyes, and constantly optimistic energy, it was like having a conversation with a hyperactive puppy. As the conversation went on and more drink was consumed, I found myself fighting the urge to pet his head and say, “Whosa good boy?”
That night was probably the most sociable I’ve been in a long while. Felt good to talk with people. Probably will get another chance soon, as Dorian’s going to be passing through the town frequently on “business”. Can’t say I’m not looking forward to the next time he comes by.
And that’s all for today. Tempted to keep going on ahead, but I’m trying to pace these entries. Doesn’t mean I can’t read ahead. Some fun things happen to Ms. Wells here in the next few entries. But that’s all I’m going to say about it for now.
-Lisa
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