Chapter Nineteen, “Faro vs. Poker”, Saturday, March 11th, 1882,
Around a half-hour after Nanuet, Kate and Ruby have left Wyatt sends Warren off on an errand. The Marshall then wanders over to Jake's cell and says "You can probably stop being worried about your fate. I have a hunch that your girlfriend will take care of the problem." "She's very resourceful," Jake comments dryly. "In your mind, what takes care of the problem? You can tell me, it's not like I'm going to tell anyone or anyone would believe me over you."
He replies, "That's the truth. And that Lieutenant Gamble told me about Martin's dishonorable discharge, nobody's going to believe him either, especially Isby. The problem is that until my brothers and I showed up here the Cowboy Gang ran the County. Back then they were even audacious enough to wear red sashes as a badge of membership. We stopped that, made people see them for the criminals that they were.
The gang was led by this outlaw named Curly Bill Brocius. Turns out he was wanted for cattle rustling in Texas but we didn't find that out until recently. We pushed them underground but they started pushing back. Almost had a big shootout in Tombstone last October but Arcade's Gang intervened and stopped it. I actually started to think that Arcade's Gang was on our side until they gunned down my old friend Doc Holiday the next day.
In December Curly Bill then made two fatal mistakes. First he shot my brother Virgil, crippled his arm and intensified our resolve to end the gang once and for all. Then he made the mistake of recruiting Deadeye Douglas to join the gang and Deadeye killed him.
While Virgil was still recovering, figuring a wounded Marshall made for easy pickings, Deadeye had the gang knock off two Tombstone Stages plus that bank robbery here you know all too well about. We've been trying to catch the gang since then. We've apprehended several members but didn't have enough evidence to make any of the charges stick. Our last two leads are Colby Tucker and Pony Deal. Virgil caught Deal two days ago but he's not talking.
If I can catch Tucker we might be able to get something. Your friend Kale knows more than she's telling, but she may now be more inclined to help. Why she's assisting a robber and possible murderer I can't say, all I can figure is that her late husband may have been involved with the Cowboy Gang too. Said he wanted to start a ranch, that would have made a mighty good cover for rustlers."
Jake says, "I won't argue with you on the Cowboy Gang. I've been shot at by them more times than I care to admit. If it were just about them there isn't much I wouldn't do to see them stopped, shot or hanging by a rope. I just don't see Tucker, or even Kale for that matter, having the spine to join the Cowboy Gang. Or any Cowboy Gang leader with half a wit that would trust either of those two with any real information even if they did have the spine."
Jake leans back on the bed and puts his hands behind his head. "If you had wanted it, you could've had my help with the Cowboy Gang. I have a nagging suspicion that you have more on your mind than that." Jake fixes Wyatt with his eyes. "So what if you can't find Tucker. Or if he got his throat cut in a whorehouse somewhere? What if you do find him and he won't talk or doesn't know squat? What then? The world doesn't turn on Colby Tucker, at least I don't want my world to turn on him."
Earp says, "I've already concluded that we won't find him. Thought he might be one of those bodies they found in the Dragoon Mountains a few days back, but he wasn't. But I do know this. Katherine Kale was the last one to be seen with Tucker, that day back in January when you got off the train in Tombstone. And when my brother Virgil questioned her about Tucker she lied. She can't lie worth a damn Cook, you should know that as well as anybody. So if there's any chance of us finding Tucker it's through her."
Jake replies, "In the mean time, I guess I just sit here and be your leverage on Katherine. I don't know how well that will really work. I don't give a rat's tail what happens to Tucker. I do care quite a bit what happens to me. If this Tucker business doesn't work out for you remember, tell Jake Cook what he should do to avoid going in front of Isby. I can be quite a resourceful guy too." Jake sighs, grabs his hat and places it covering most of his face. "Looks like I have plenty of time to catch up on my rest."
Earp replies, "Don't you go taking that tone with me Cook. You may not approve of my tactics but I'll do whatever needs doing to bring down the Cowboys. After Virgil got shot we sent our wives back to California, too dangerous to have them around. Once these outlaws are done with we can bring our women back and start living our lives again."
"It's not a tone Wyatt, it's a fact. I'm not being smart with you. I'm stuck in here and can't do anything about anything." Jake sits up. "I didn't know you sent your women away. I worry about my woman and all the trouble the Cowboy Gang brings same as you. I'm not going to be slick and say that you and I are alike, because we're not." Jake chuckles. Wyatt replies, "We're more alike than you realize.” Jake gives him a small smile and a nod. "I'll have the good taste not to point that out to folks."
Wyatt says, “No, seriously, I hadn't planned to become a lawman again when we settled here. I consider myself a gambler by trade, although my game is faro rather than poker."
Jack continues, "What I was saying it that this don't mean we couldn't get along over certain goals. Like putting the Cowboy Gang out of business. If we both want the same thing, I could be a whole lot more use out of here than in." Jake watches for his reaction. Wyatt replies, "Well, I enlisted your aid once, but that was back when I thought this town would be willing to pay you. I have to be careful here too, that Merchant's Association pays my salary, and you're not high on their list."
Jake comments, "You have seen that I've tussled with them before. The day on the road when Morgan got shot, the night coming back from the mine when we brought one of the men in for you, and a couple of other times. I already have enemies in that gang. I don't want to wait until they come after Ruby or me on their terms." Again, Jake watches his reaction.
"Since you own the keys, I wait until you get Tucker or not. Why do you think he's part of the gang anyway? What did he do or who was he hanging around with?" Wyatt answers, "Hard for me to say, that was Virgil's investigation. Warren and Morgan have been back and forth but I haven't been to Tombstone in a long time so all my information is second hand. I just know what they've told me."
Chester leans back in his cell, taking in all this information. He thinks to himself, “The Marshals must really want this Tucker guy, if they're willing to frame me and Jake. What did he do? I mean, sounds like they already know Curly Bill Brocius shot their brother. Wait a minute, if Katherine helped him, he must know something about her husband's murder. That's right, Ruby told me she suspected Morgan Earp. No matter what, things are going to be different around here.”
Jake tells Wyatt, "Fair enough. If you decide not to hang me out to dry perhaps we can come to an understanding on what I can do about the Cowboy Gang. I don't give two craps about a couple dollars a day. I'm more interested in keeping them away from Promise City and the silver mine. And both those are worth a lot more that a couple dollars a day."
Jake scratches his beard a couple of times before he says, "Anything in your agreement to be Marshall keep you from dealing Faro in town?" Wyatt replies, "No, nothing at all. Dealt Faro in Tombstone even after Virgil made me a deputy." "Seems ironic to be talking business with my jailer." Jake says after a moment of silence. Wyatt answers, "Not really. Personally, I think you're making a really poor business decision not offering Faro at your saloon. How much do you know about the game of faro compared to that of poker?"
Jake says, “I'm sure you know more, it's your game like poker's my game. I've been around. I've dealt Faro too. In a fair game the odds don't favor the house very much, so for that type of gambling craps is better for the house.” Wyatt says, I beg to differ with you on the point about Faro. Maybe on a Mississippi riverboat, filled with seasoned gamblers, the odds don't favor the house, but I've found that our here in the rough-and-tumble Wild West the opposite it. You just need a dealer with a flair for Faro and your honest game can favor the house."
Jake says, “Well, it is a simple game to learn so it is easier to get new players or those who don't want to spend lots of time learning or aren't that bright. There is more luck involved for the average players than in poker, and less concentration required since you are only playing against the house. It may be simple to play but it is hard to master and the game moves fast. So it's hard to find good dealers. Me, I favor poker because I love playing poker. It was not an economic decision, but a lifestyle."
Wyatt says, "Which is why you're being a fool not offering the game at the Lucky Lady! Who is at the poker tables around town? The town businessmen, those laying down roots. They may enjoy the game and spend some money, but that's not where the real money is to be made in a mining town with lots of potential new claims. This town has at least fifty serious prospectors living right here and probably another two hundred in the hills within an hour's ride. None of them are serious poker players, they're too busy panning, digging or blasting for their fortunes. They're gambling their whole professions on luck. So when they come to town they want a game that relies on more luck and less skill. If you want to run a poker saloon move to San Francisco or Galveston. But if you want to set up shop in a mining town Faro's the game!”
Jake stops talking and rubs the side of his face before continuing. "Ruby and I talked about it. The main reason we don't have Faro is we don't know a good Faro dealer who wants to work at the Lucky Lady. Otherwise we'd be doing it now a couple nights a week. We'll be doing some expansion soon and will have room for it all week if it proves popular. If you know a good Faro dealer send him our way." Earp replies, “Let's see how this whole business pans out with the Cowboy Gang and Tucker, then maybe we can talk further.”
Jake says, "I've got nothing better to do, if you have the time why don't you tell me what kind of information you are trying to find. Maybe I know something of use." Jake suggests and shrugs. Wyatt replies, "I think I'll hold off on that until I have a better idea of the Tucker situation."
Chester just shakes his head at Jake and Wyatt talking shop. Chester thinks to himself, “He's always looking for an angle. But at least, he and the Marshall have something in common. That should make things easier on us.”
Back at the El Parador, Kate sighed. "I already decided, I'm just not sure I can live with it. Over would be good. All over, one way or another." Ruby kept her mouth shut. Kate would learn to live with whatever she had to do, just like everyone else did. She let go of her friend, sure that she would stay in the El Parador, and stood up. "What do you think, Mr. Gonzales?"
He replies, "I think that tomorrow Kate and I have a trip to make to Boston. Ruby, you're welcome to join us if you'd like, although I imagine that we'll be leaving rather early in the morning and I know you're seldom up then. Check with Nanuet to see if wishes to join us as well, I still have some disguises available."
"I'll let you know later or tomorrow. Thanks Mr. Gonzales." Ruby gives him a kiss on the cheek and a 'please watch out for her tonight' look and leaves. She heads back to the Lucky Lady and has a seat at the bar. When Nanuet comes in she asks him, "Any plans for tomorrow? Feel like taking a trip?" "If there is one thing I have learned in my time in this place, it's don't make any plans. Where we going?" Nanuet asks. She says, "Here's not the best place actually, just think about it and I'll give you the details in a bit..."
Kate was quiet for a while after Ruby left. "You know, he's not going to want to come back with us. How are we going to convince him?" Gonzales replies, "I'm not sure we can. I don't even know if we want to. Bringing him could very easily be the same as sentencing him to death. Plus, he might reveal to Isby and others how he got back her, and we don't want my use of magic to be public knowledge.
Kate says, "I've considered that, but not bringing him sentences Jake and Chester. I can't tell Wyatt Earp that Tucker is with my family. And you're right, I don't know how we would even get him here. He already knows about me, but that's a chance I'll have to take. But I don't want to endanger you. As of right now, I think you are the only person I haven't put in danger."
Gonzales continues, “We need to talk to him, not necessarily return him here against his will. Don't worry though my little Sandpiper, we'll figure out something. Ruby doesn't always think everything through, especially when it comes to that boyfriend of hers. She even thanked him for shooting her in the leg. Trust me, we will find a way to make this all right. In the meanwhile, figure out what our specific destination is going to be. Personally, I'm looking forward to meeting your family." "I'm not sure that's possible, making it right. I used to believe that.... Never mind." She took up her pen and began writing again. What they were about to do was not exactly what she had planned, but her affairs should still be in order before tomorrow. Gonzales left to give her some privacy.
It was quiet in the room as Katherine's pen moved across the paper. Her instructions were fairly simple. If something were to happen to her, her share of the ranch was to fall half to Ginnie, and the other half split between Sonoma, Nanuet and Flint. If she wasn't interested, Ginnie was to be given any money in her bank account and set up in a boarding school. Next she began writing notes. One for her friends here in Promise City, one for Conrad Booth, and one for her teacher. She looked around this room where she had first remembered what being happy was like.
Katherine tucked the notes away, hoping they wouldn't be needed. Without a task to hand, she stood and began to walk, eventually ending in the library. She sat in the only comfortable chair and curled up, wishing for a window. And a window appears on the wall Kate is looking at, the bookcase in that section fading away. The curtains are drawn back but there is no image at all in the glass.
Any other day Kate would have marveled at the sudden appearance of that window, but today she just took it as a matter of course. She imagined the garden beyond her window at her parents, the way it would look in the autumn when the rain was falling and everything looked as if it were weeping.
The glass clears and an image fills the window. It isn't her parent's garden in Boston however. She is looking out from a hillside in a wood elvan town. She can see dozens of adobe structures and a few made of wood. Townspeople are passing by, some of the men in western style clothing but most with bright ponchos and sombreros on their head. The women are mostly in brightly-colored dresses. And the children are all playing happily in the streets. She can see a large body of water in the distance, which appears to be an ocean, with a few ships anchored in the harbor.
Kate looked at the image for a moment, thinking this strange window must show only someplace her teacher wanted to see. She wished the bookcase back and closed her eyes. "Your home?" she said quietly, fully expecting Mr. Gonzales to hear and answer. "Yes" his voice replies as he walks up behind her. "I sensed that the window had appeared. I'm curious how you managed to accomplish it?"
"You're looking at what had been known as the village of San Juan de los Esteros. Today it is known as Brownsville, Texas, with a population of near 4,000. This is the oldest part of town, where the elves who have resided here for centuries live." He looks more intently and says "That man, with the long mustache and the blue swirl pattern on his woolen poncho. That is my cousin Carlos. You'd like him, he trains horses too. That boy near him, that would be Carlos's son Ramone. He appears to have grown since I saw him last."
"I just sat down and wished for a window. It was blank, I hoped it would show me something else. I tried to wish it away, that doesn't seem to have worked so well," she paused. "I'm sure I would. Like him, I mean," she said, not really looking. "It's a long time to be away from home."
"Yes, and since the Texas authorities are looking for me it would be dangerous for me to go there. When I first arrived here in Arizona I would spend hours staring out this window. I then forced myself to do it less often. Now that I think of it, the window hasn't been up since you came into my life. It's funny, it's the same window and the same town but I see it differently now. It is now a place of fond memories for me, but I am not longing to be there. This is my home now. Thank you for that Katherine." He makes a hand gesture and concentrates and then the window disappears and the bookshelves filled with book fill the space again.
Kate says, "Thank you. It's good to know that I helped someone here. You know, Conrad said yesterday that I change people, that they are better for my being there," she stopped and shook her head. "Someone should ask Jake, Chester, and Ruby about that." Mr. Gonzales was quiet while Kate sat in the chair for another minute. "I'm sorry," she said finally, getting up. "I'm just.... it's hard to see anything clearly right now. You've helped me as much, or more, than I've helped you. But I am glad, and you're welcome."
Gonzales suggests to Kate that they head downstairs for some of Dorita’s Saturday night dinner specials. Kate agreed saying, "I think this is the first Saturday since I've been here that I haven't worked. I'm not sure if I can eat, but I'll try. I must look a fright," she finished as she checked her hair by touching the knot at the back of her head. Instead of trying to fix it she just pulled out the pins and let it hang loose. "It's still early, perhaps it will be quiet yet,'" she said as they left his rooms and went downstairs.
