Miss Morgan

Seven

April 1887
-Ivy-

Our wagons are packed and Arthur, John, and I mount up to follow along the caravan. We're heading out west. We have an uneventful ride and we make it back to Chicago for our first night. Arthur was the one who suggested it and I know that's only because he's hoping to find Mary Gillis again. They split up last autumn because Mary had a hard time coping with our lifestyle.

I never liked her. She has a brother who's only a couple years younger than me and she wanted me to be close with Jamie but the kid was annoying and whiny. I like John. He's my best friend. He makes me happy and we always have fun riding together.

We camp near Chicago for a couple days, long enough for Arthur to convince Mary to join us once again, before we continue our journey west. Finally we set up camp near Lincoln, Nebraska and Dutch finds it suitable to stay for now at least.

"I'm gonna head into town and see what's what." Arthur announces once we're set up.

"You mean you're going to town for a drink?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Same thing." My brother shrugs. "You wanna come with?"

"Yeah!" I smile as I climb back into my saddle.

"John?" Arthur questions. "You coming?" He knows John and I are basically attached at the hip. Wherever you find one of us, the other is almost certainly close by.

"Sure." John mounts up and we head into town.

"Mary didn't wanna join ya?" I give Arthur a smirk.

"Nah." He grumbles. A man of many words, my brother.

We hitch our horses up outside the saloon in town and the streets are crowded. It's a beautiful day with big fluffy clouds, a gentle breeze, and warm sunshine.

Once we're inside the saloon I get to work. I take my beer and have a seat at a table, listening to conversations going on around the room for any sort of lead Dutch might find interesting. Stage coaches, home robberies, trains, rich bastards worth knowing around this new town, that sort of thing.

I briefly listen from conversation to conversation until I hear two men blabbering drunkenly at the poker table. They both have light sandy blonde hair and look like they could be brothers. One is looking a bit wobbly and judging on the bottles on the floor around him, he could pass out from drinking any moment. The other one has shorter hair and looks a bit younger. His dark brown eyes are wide and he's yelling at some other bastard who seems to think the two blonde men cheated at their poker game,

I watch a moment longer and notice the blonde man who appears to have finally passed out from drinking, he makes a small movement with his hand under the table tapping his brother's leg.

The dealer lays out a card and another man stands up and yells, "you no good cheat!"

The younger blonde man grins at the angry feller, "sit down friend, no one likes a sore loser."

"No one likes a cheater!" The man continues shouting.

"Sounds like an intense game over there." John mutters on my other side.

"Yeah." I reach behind me to nudge Arthur by the bar and give a quick nod to the poker table to tell him I got something.

"I'm watchin'." Arthur whispers back.