The saloon was absolutely still. Not a soul breathed, not a glass clinked,
not a fly buzzed.
All eyes were glued to the only occupied table and its two occupants.
More specifically, all eyes were glued to the five cards spread on one
side of the tabletop, jauntily beckoning for one and all to come and see
what they held.
What they held was a royal flush.
"Hallelujah," someone whispered in awe, but nobody even looked his way.
As one, every head turned to stare first at one player, then the other,
both of whom looked pretty shocked themselves.
A slight murmuring suddenly arose from the crowd of onlookers.
The kid beat the gambler at his own game! they said quietly.
The kid?
Who'd 'a' thunk it?
What's happening now?
Shhhh.
How could this happen? Ezra Standish wondered in dismay. He peered
with unbelieving eyes at the royal flush, then at his own cards. Finally,
he looked across the table at his opponent, JD Dunne, who wore a silly
grin on his face as he, too, stared at the cards.
Someone sniffled noisily, and Ezra looked up. It was Buck, wiping a
tear of pride from the corner of his eye. Finally, the mustached lawman
broke into a wide smile and gave a wild whoop of joy, pounding JD happily
on the back. "Damn, JD! I ain't never thought I'd see the day!"
JD, who had been in somewhat of a stupor until then, laughed delightedly
and started to rake the pot over to his side of the table. "Ha! I did it!"
he said excitedly.
The room was soon filled with hearty congratulations from the remainder
of the seven and cheers from the rest of the crowd.
How could this happen? Ezra wondered again.
I'll tell you how it happened, said an obnoxious voice. You've
spent too much time teaching that boy the secrets of the trade.
A sudden thought invaded Ezra's mind, and he almost gasped in horror.
Dear Lord, had JD managed to read his tells?
Don't be absurd, you don't have any tells. Your mind just wasn't
on the game, is all. Preoccupied.
Still unsure, Ezra reached out blindly with his right arm and plucked
Vin Tanner's mug of beer from his grasp, bringing it to his own lips and
taking a deep draught while he stared contemplatively at his ludicrous
hand of cards. Surprised, Vin snatched it back with an indignant, "Hey!"
"You all right, Ezra?" Chris asked, amused, noting that Ezra's hand
still maintained the position it had while holding Vin's beer.
That caused JD to look up from his chatting with Nathan and Buck, and
the young man smiled again. "Hey, Ezra, no hard feelings, right? I mean,
you win all the time."
Shaking his head to snap himself out of his ponderings, Ezra half rose
from his chair and offered his hand to JD. As they shook, Ezra smiled wryly
and said, "None at all, none at all…"
JD nodded happily, and then turned to Buck. "Hey, Buck, what should
I do with all this money?"
Buck wrapped a friendly arm around JD's shoulders and said, "Well, it's
obvious! You can buy us fellas another round!"
JD grinned in what seemed to be agreement to that suggestion. He and
the others crowded around the bar, and Ezra sank back down into his chair
and gathered the cards into his hands, shuffling them absently.
Am I slipping? he wondered. First Lester Banks and now JD…
But Lester Banks had been cheating. And Ezra sincerely doubted that
JD had been.
Appearances are everything, son, said that obnoxious voice again,
and he realized that it sounded like his mother.
Go away, he said.
You're not losing your touch, are you? You're not getting soft, are
you?
You're not helping here, he said.
"Hey, Ezra! Hellooo?"
Ezra looked up, and found JD waving an arm in his direction, motioning
him over. JD said, "Are you gonna sit there all day or come have a drink?"
Ezra inclined his head in acceptance of the offer, then looked down
at the cards in his hand. With practiced ease, without really thinking
about it, he drew one card from the interior of the deck and nimbly flipped
it over.
The ace of spades.
He grinned.
No, not losing my touch.
Setting the cards back on the table, he stood and joined his friends
at the bar for a drink and a whole lot of good-natured teasing.
The End
