The van der Linde gang has taken shelter deep in the snowy mountains in an old mining camp known as Colter, following their botched robbery in the town of Blackwater. They are cold, hungry and unsure of what their futures hold. As Arthur Morgan is o...
Charles, Javier and Bill had left camp to go scout out the local town saloon. Arthur decided to take care of a few chores around camp before heading into town to meet up with the boys. It had been a couple hours since his conversation with Charles before he finally rode up to the front of the saloon and hitched Artemis to the hitching post. He could hear the ruckus of a full bar as he tied off the reigns of his horse. A steady stream of patrons were coming and going from the towns larger saloon. The place seemed a bit more lively than one would expect on a Thursday afternoon. Arthur pushed his way into the saloon and made his way up to the bar to find Charles and Javier interacting with a couple of the local working girls.
"Arthur! Come over here! I want you to meet our friends!" Javier invited.
"Pleased to meet you." Arthur replied.
"Well ain't you just the tough as teak....."
"Yeah, yeah, save it." Arthur said, cutting off the redheaded buxom woman as he passed them to step up to the bar and order himself a whiskey. Both women gasped at the rude actions of the large, gruff cowboy and redirected their attention back to Charles and Javier. Charles politely excused himself and made his way over to join Arthur.
"Quite the charmer aren't you my friend?"
"Yeah, I'm not here to find someone to warm my bed. Just lookin' to have a few drinks to get my mind off of the last couple weeks." Arthur stated plainly as he tossed back the first shot before ordering another.
"So what's with the crowd? Awfully busy for a Thursday afternoon ain't it?" Arthur questions Charles as he took another shot to the back of the throat. He pounded his glass on the bar, signaling for another.
"Leave the bottle." Arthur ordered as he slid some coins across the bar to the man serving up drinks to the crowd.
"There's a heated game going on at the poker table." Charles replied. "Started out with a group of four at the table and a handful of others when we first got here. Now the place is packed shoulder to shoulder. The game keeps drawing people in." Charles explained as a loud cheer rose from the crowd gathered around the poker table."....and apparently she's still winning."
"Oh yeah? Who is that?" Arthur asked as he sucked air in through his teeth, trying to cool his throat from the burning amber liquid that he'd just swallowed.
"I don't know her name, but she's been on a hot streak from the minute her money hit the table. Crowd is eating it up, a good looking woman cleaning out a bunch of experienced regulars? I'm starting to think she knew what was coming the minute she walked in." Charles chuckled.
Arthur shook his head and slammed another shot before looking over towards the poker table in an attempt to get a look at whatever all the fuss was about but could see nothing but the backs of a crowd of onlookers gathered around, shoving and laughing while drinking their beers and talking their trash, with the occasional shouts of advice on what they believe was the next best move.
Arthur rolled his eyes and turned his focus back to the bar and the bottle before him. A few moments and a few shots later, the crowd fell deathly silent. A rough, nervous voice broke the silence.... "Eat that. The devil's hand, sweetheart." The crowd waited expectantly, a few growls and hisses could be heard amongst a group of onlookers as they waited to see what counter hand would be presented.
Then a voice cut through the silence and hooked Arthur's attention like a hook in a fish. A woman's voice....
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
