Golden Vengeance
Terry Compton
Published by Terry Compton at Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Terry Compton
Cover by Terry Compton
Lucky Dawson knew that he should have kept riding. How could a little conversation, a meal and a card game lead to a hanging. His hanging to be exact. 1875 Montanans didn't like card cheats but he wasn't one. He was just, well, lucky. The other players didn't think so and that started the ordeal.
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This is a work of fiction. All characters or incidents are a figment of the author's imagination and any resemblance to any incident or any person living or dead is purely coincidental.
Lucky Dawson didn't feel so lucky. Here he was in the bottom of a hole with five prospectors watching him dig. If only he'd just kept riding like he knew he should have. It was the fall of 1875 in Montana and the air was already getting very crisp in the morning. The yellow larch and aspens were pretty but they were a big sign shouting that the mountains around here would soon be white. He should have just kept riding. How was he to know that stopping for lunch with these prospectors was going to cause such problems?
Just yesterday -- no, day before yesterday -- he had been on his way to somewhere where he could spend the winter in a warm saloon. No tents or gold camps this winter. He had a nice nest egg stashed in the secret hiding spot in the tree of the pack saddle. He had plenty of food on the pack saddle and life had looked good. Then he'd stopped in the middle of the day for lunch here at Bear Gulch. The five prospectors only wanted to hear about the gold camp at Alder Gulch and if anyone was finding any new strikes. By the time he was through telling what he knew and answering questions, it was supper time. Then it was too late to move on that night.
After he had eaten a good supper of elk stew, "Three Fingers" Bill Williams had come up with a deck of cards. The five had found a little gold dust in their placer mine and wanted some entertainment for the evening. Since he was a gambler by trade, Lucky had been glad to join in. They had played most of the night because Lucky didn't want to clean the prospectors out right away. He got the nickname Lucky because he won a lot, but it wasn't by cheating. He just knew the odds and could read people. Most people's expressions gave them away. They would smile or their eyes would widen just a little bit if they had a good hand or their eyes would narrow or they would tap their fingers when they had nothing. Knowing how to read people had won Lucky more pots than he could count. Other professional gamblers were harder to read but they all had their little signs.
Lucky had won a few little pots and then he let Bull Thurston win. Bull roared, "Ha, ha, my lucks changed now. I'll have all the gold dust in this here camp before long."
Three Fingers Bill didn't like that too much. He said, "Bull, I wouldn't count your chickens before they're hatched. Some of the rest of us might get lucky and clean you out."
"Ha, ha, ha that's funny. You know that I'm the best poker player in these parts. Just you wait."
The next hand seemed to bear out Three Fingers' prophesy. Slim Tatum won that pot and Bull didn't like it one little bit. He glowered at the other players for the next two hands. A couple of hands later, the pot was up to about $50 and Bull thought he had it. He threw down his hand with three aces and reached out to rake in the sticks that they were using as chips.
He was laughing and bellowing, "This here pots mine."
Blackie Keller reached out his hand to the pot to stop Bull as he quietly said, "Now wait a minute, Bull. Don't you want to see what the rest of us have?"
Bowleg Monty said, "He's got me beat. I had two pair."
Slim had already thrown in his hand so he didn't say a thing. Lucky said, "He's got me beat. His luck is really shining now."
Three Fingers Bill said, "He's got me beat." He threw his cards in the pile in a show of disgust.
Bull looked at Blackie and said, "That leaves you 'n' me. What sha got?"
Blackie turned his cards over and he had a seven high straight. Bull cursed and moved his hand back. Blackie raked in the chips and cards. He passed the cards to Three Fingers who had the deal. Bull was furious and his face showed it. He didn't like to lose and he was starting to think someone was cheating.
Bowleg Monty quit about 4:00. He had enough of the verbal abuse from Bull and besides, he had lost about $20. He went over and sat on his bunk observing the players. Lucky knew he should have quit then, too, but there was almost $150 floating around the table. He wanted that to add to his stake.
They continued to play until after daylight. Lucky saw Three Fingers doing some fancy dealing but kept his mouth shut. Cards were coming off the bottom of the deck and wrong cards went to players. Three Fingers wasn't very good at it but he must have fooled his partners here in Bear Gulch because they didn't have a clue. Lucky knew he should have quit then but he was $10 behind.
Finally the big pot came up. Bull was giving the sign that he was bluffing and the other two didn't have much. Lucky had a queen high straight flush and he knew that it would beat everyone at the table. As the betting went round, Lucky would call but not raise. Everyone else was doing the raising until they had all bet everything they had on the table. Bull had a pair of eights and threw down his hand expectantly. Blackie shook his head no and Bull glowered with rage. He didn't like losing. Slim had a pair of jacks and Blackie had three fives. That left Three Fingers and Lucky. Three Fingers was sure his cheating had left him with the winning hand. He gleefully laid down a king high flush. He started to reach for the pile of sticks until Lucky laid his hand on top of the pile. His queen high straight flush was the winner.
Three Fingers eyed the cards suspiciously and then looked at Lucky. He said, "That's mighty lucky, drawing two cards to make a straight flush."
"That's how I got my name. When Lady Luck smiles, I come into my own at the right time."
Bull was so angry he was looking for any excuse. He roared, "Is he cheatin', Bill?"
Lucky wasn't going to let it go any further than that. He started to reach for the pistol in his holster when the lights went out.
Bowleg Monty had snuck up behind him with a pick handle. He thumped him on the head and Lucky was out cold. Bull and the others found some rope and trussed him up. They took his pistol, his hide-out derringer and his bowie knife before they tossed him in a corner of the tent.