The Dusty Shamrock ~ OC RDR2 fanfiction

Chapter 20

(The dress pictured above is the one mentioned in the chapter!!!)

Today was the day of the high stakes poker game. Alvor had a couple of friends to help out. Charles had ridden me out to Riggs Station in the early hours of the morning in order to catch the train to Saint Denis. My associate had notified me that I'd have to have a new set of clothes upon arrival to the poker game because of the high status of the event.

I stepped off the train and onto the platform. Alvor and his companions were awaiting my arrival on the platform. Alvor was wearing a three piece suit and he had a raven balanced on his shoulder. Why did he have a bird with him? I wondered. Next to him, stood a tidy, ebony haired man with a moustache above his upper lip. The third and final man was a slightly Older man, with grey hairs finessed within a mane of, predominantly, light brown locks. They were all wearing three piece suits, the second man wearing a top hat, and the third man wearing a monocle. I waved to Alvor and sauntered over to the three men.
"Good Mornin' - these are my friends; Hans Dredger" He gestured to the man wearing a monocle, I politely tipped my hat to him. "And this is Josiah Trelawny"
"Pleasure to meet you, my dear" Josiah lifted his top hat slightly and smiled at me.
"This, gentlemen, is Miss Bronagh O'Cealleigh" Alvor introduced me to his associates, we all made small talk with each other and discussed our strategy. Hans was to watch me for hand signals on whether to fold, raise or call. I was given a list of the cards that Hans would be given so that in knew what he should do and when. Alvor was going use his raven to cheat the game? Because Ravens can read apparently. Trelawny wasn't to participate in the game, he was just their to introduce us to the staff and officials.

We arrived at the tailors and, before I could utter a word of protest, I was swept into the fitting room to try on a classic burgundy gown. It was Victorian England - upper-class couture, I was told by the tailor. I gathered my hair into a low bun so that a small, baby pink hat could sit atop my head at an angle. I stepped through the curtain of the changing rooms and twirled to show off my dress to the gentlemen who'd accompanied me to the establishment.
"You look absolutely wonderful!" Trelawny complimented me as I finalised the payments for the dress. We thanked the tailor and exited. We began making our way to the poker game, it was to take place at a large establishment opposite a park, it was a big mansion owned by an Italian man. He was notoriously crooked, went by the name of Angelo Bronte. Hans and I would be playing against Leviticus Cornwall, a big oil man who certainly had money to throw about. Alvor was to play against Erwin Steiner, a German businessman, he owned a large gold mining company and was ridiculously wealthy.

As we entered the mansion, the men were stripped of any weapons. Being that I was a woman, they did no such search - they were wrong in doing so as I had my Colt M1877 hidden in my skirt pocket just in case things turned sour. The main hall was filled with tables and chairs ready for the gamblers who were arriving along with us. A large chandelier hung in the centre of the high ceiling, despite the size of the light fixture - the room still had a low lit, demure aura to it. Trelawny introduced us to those who were running the game.
"Ah, you must be my crooks" The Italian man emerged from a room behind the bar. I stared at the others, confused as to how or why he knew we were crooks.
"Yes, yes... but keep it on the low down" Hans winked at Angelo.
"You mus' be Angelo Bronte?" I questioned, he looked at me in confusion.
"What does this woman say? She has a strange accent, no?" He chuckled, I glared and pretended to laugh along with him. Alvor whispered something into the Italian Man's ear which made him seemingly look at me with apologetic eyes. Angelo left us to prepare for the poker game. I turned to the bar tender, seeing as I'd be sat down for half of the night.
"What do y'reccomend?" I asked the bar keep as he cleaned the bartop.
"Well, for you Miss?" I nodded. "I'd perhaps recommend a specialty of mine- called a Pisco Punch"
"And wha's tha'?"
"It's White brandy, pineapple juice and Lemon juice-"
"Hol' up a feckin' second, Pal. What fuck are pineapples an' Lemons?" I looked at the barkeep in bewilderment. He bent down to fetch something from underneath the bar. He then resurfaced with a bulbous yellow item in his left hand, and a large, spiky, brownish-yellow item in his right. He placed the two foreign items on the bar top and looked at me.
"This is a Lemon" he pointed the bulbous yellow item. "This is a Pineapple" He pointed to the other item he'd set in front of me.
"Yes, but what are they? I mean are they vegetables? Some sort of exotic potato? Will it give me an iffy stomach?" The barkeep looked at me with dwindling patience.
"They are fruits." He firmly stated before sighing and slouching his posture a trifle. "Listen, d'you want a drink or not?" I furrowed my brows and swiftly nodded. The bartender mixed up the drink and handed it to me once he was finished. I took a sip of the cloudy drink and let the flavours dance on my tongue for a moment before swallowing it down. It was sweet, the brandy was there no doubt but it sweet and tangy. It was nice, but very different.

My attention was diverted to the men at the tables in front of me. The games were beginning. I turned on the bar stool on which I was seated, I ran over the cards that Hans would have in my head one last time before I nodded to the dealer to signal that I was ready to play. I stared at the whom Hans and I were rivalling and glanced at their cards. I memorised their cards and set to work with helping Hans and I hit the jackpot.

~Time Skip because Poker is Hella boring~

The game had finished, so I finished my third drink since the game had started. Hans gestured for me to follow him with a guard, so I politely excused myself and followed him to wherever he was taking me.
"We have won a rather expensive pocket watch, along with a few thousand dollars" He told me, keeping his voice quiet so that the guard who was escorting us wouldn't hear.
"Really? How much? Did he go all in?"
"Yes, he went all in. All in which left us with around $8,000 and we won that watch - along with the other $4,356 we won from the other components." I gleamed with excitement, we'd won a lot of money with just us alone, who knows how much we'd have after Alvor had finished with his game. We were led upstairs where the valuables that could be placed as bets were kept. It was a safe that was transported from one poker game to the next.
"In here" the guard ushered us into a room where a safe sat on a strong oak sideboard. The guard turned the dial on the safe to input the code, he swung the door open and stared at the inside.
"What?" He breathed. Hans and I looked over the guard's shoulder to see what talking about. When we looked over we'd hoped to see piles of gold and watches, however - we saw nothing. The safe was empty, bone dry was creek of our wealth and hope. I gasped in shock at the sight.
"What should we do?" Hans asked, keeping his voice low.
"We find out who fuckin' took them valuables and we fuckin' shoot them." I replied. I quickly grabbed the rifle from the guard's hands and used the stock to knock him out. I threw Hans my Colt M1877 before cocking the rifle and readying myself for the events to come. We filed out of the room and took our any nearby guards, we decided to try the room that Bronte was staying in first- we were told of how crooked he was. I tried turning the door knob, however it didn't budge. We resorted to shooting the lock off instead. We burst into the room to find Bronte, alone. I aimed the rifle at him, all he did was flash a wicked smiled in my direction.
"Where are the valuables?" I asked, not trying to sound too aggressive as to not rouse any suspision.
"The valuables in the safe? They're in this drawer" he opened the top, left drawer in his desk to reveal the gold bars and watches. He placed all of the items on the desk and pushed them towards us. "here, take it all and get out of here before I call for more men." The Italian man steongly stated, raising his eyebrows and smirking at the two of us. Hans picked up the valuables and held the knapsack bag that they had been kept in close to chest.

We went back downstairs and found Alvor.
"We have to get out of here." I demanded. He seemed confused but nodded and agreed without further question. We gathered our guns at the gate and left for the train station so that we could return home.
"I've arranged for a couple girls I know to come to camp with us, one of them is to be the camp medic - she was a nurse in the Crimean war" Alvor told me.
"An' will Hans be comin' to stay with us? He's been a real help and I think he'd be a good member of the team" I asked.
"Of course, he's a very knowledgable watchmaker - his nickname is Von Cog. He's a fence, also, buys and sells stolen goods, specifically explosives and ammunition"
"Good, it'll be good to have a cover-up business".