Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
When Ezra heard pounding on the door of his lodgings, he knew it could only be one person. In the split instant following the first impact of a fist against the wood of his door, he immediately discounted either Chris or Mary Larabee as his visitors. Ezra was quick to realise that there could only be one other person who would have reason be so irritated with him on the other side of the wall. Grabbing the pillow at the head of the bed and covering up evidence of his mischief, Ezra was all calm when he went to answer the door. Although he knew he was in no physical danger but it still did not change that the fact that his meeting with the new arrival was going to be anything but pleasant.
Turning the door knob, he had barely chance to pull it open when Julia Pemberton charged into the room, looking not all impressed and almost knocking him over from the force of her entry. A decidedly dark and ominous storm cloud had followed her into the room and Ezra could almost feel the temperature drop a degree or two as he closed the door behind him and turned to face her, preparing for a blast of ice from her white hot fury.
"Good afternoon my dear," he said politely, unable to deny that he was surprised to see her here even though cordialities were not going to be forthcoming if her expression was anything to go by. She did not often visit him in his lodgings because it was exceptionally inappropriate to do so therefore, Ezra surmised he must have been in a great deal of trouble to warrant this personal appearance.
"Don't good afternoon me, Ezra Standish." She glared at him with those perfect emerald eyes; her cheeks flushed red with anger and invisible flames exuding from her nostrils. "Is it true?" She demanded her hands on her hips as she waited impatiently for an answer.
Feigning ignorance for as long as he could, Ezra looked at her with almost wide eyed innocence and answered. "Is what true my darling?"
"That you are Billy Travis are going to be having a card duel over me?" She roared, defying him to deny the accusation even though her fury could only mean that she already knew the answer. Her eyes left him for a moment as they swept around the room, taking stock of everything within the meagre lodgings before pausing at the bed momentarily at the odd positioning of the pillow. After an instant of observation, she returned her gaze back to him in time for his response.
"Well when you put it that way, it sounds positively sordid." He answered as if there was absolutely nothing wrong with the course which he was about to embark upon later this afternoon with young Master Travis. He had to be very careful at how he worded things because Julia did not come here to hear excuses. It was highly inappropriate for her to visiting him in his private room and no doubt this occasion would be set upon eagerly by local gossips mongers who were quick to point fingers at any impropriety.
"Of course it sounds sordid!" She cried out in exasperation. "It is sordid!" Julia started to pace the floor, working herself into an indignant fury. "You're playing poker with an eight year old boy over a woman!"
"You are hardly any woman," Ezra quickly responded, using his most charming voice to assuage her anger. He was certain that this could be resolved with a dimpled smile and a few slick tongued words. "You are Venus to my Olympus, Juliet to my Romeo. If the Greeks had seen you before they set sailed for Troy, I am certain that they would not have even given second though to Helen. They would have cast down their arms and rode sonnets to your grace and beauty." He said crossing the distance between them and slid his arm around her slender waist. Since the town was already going to be talking about her being in his room, Ezra did not see any reason not to hold back.
Julia did not push him away but rolled her eyes in sarcasm, perfectly aware of what he was up to and not buying his flattering words for one instant. "Ezra," she scowled. "Don't try to squirm out of it. You're in trouble," she placed her hand on his cheek. "Accept it."
"Julia, it's a matter of honour!" He insisted deciding to drop all facade since it was obvious that such efforts were not going to have much effect and sometimes it was too much like hard work. He was after all, a gentleman.
"You're talking about honour? You're a thirty year old man playing cards with an eight year old over a woman and not just any woman, me! I think its safe to say that the boat has sailed on honour, not to mention sense or plain sense!" She pulled away at him. "How can you even think about doing this? Mary will kill you the minute she finds out you were playing poker with Billy! Didn't you learn you lesson the last time? This time, she'll hang you by the toes!"
"Fortunately," Ezra quickly returned perfectly aware of the danger to his person should Mary learn of his exploits this afternoon with her young son. "Mrs Larabee and Mr Larabee are on their way to Sweet Water even as we speak so they should be back in Four Corners well after my challenge with young Master Travis has been satisfied. With any luck, she will not even know about it."
"You think you can keep this a secret?" Julia looked at him incredulously wondering if he had lost all sense or at the very least been dropped on his head as a baby. The latter would at least have been plausible. "Half the town knows about this little game you got with Billy! The other half thinks that the man I love is a complete and utter lunatic and as for me, this is bordering on pathetic!"
"It just so happens that Master Travis and I are not playing poker," Ezra said defending himself, not at all happy that his hopes of containing this situation was more or less a moot point and worse yet, Mary would soon learn about this. In any case, he was doomed anyway so there was really little point in fighting it. "We are engaging in a game of 'go fish'."
"And we're passed pathetic." Julia stared at him with disgust and started to feel a massive migraine coming on. Why was it that whenever he got into one of these crazy schemes she always wound up with a sore head? "You're playing 'go fish' with Billy? You're playing for me with a game of 'go fish'!" She asked, needing to hear it so that she could miss the preliminaries of embarrassment and go into the fully public humiliation he was going to cause her because of his juvenile predilections.
"Yes." He said with a smile proudly. "After all, I would never presume to lead the young man astray but this is a matter of honour." At least that would make a good statement to the jury when it came time for the sentencing.
"It's about a stupid birthday present!" Julia growled, losing all ability to contain her anger up to this point and unable to believe she was embroiled in such absurdity. "What is it with you about this rivalry with a young boy!"
"I resent the implication that you think that I am intimidated by Master Travis." Ezra said somewhat offended that she could even suggest such a thing, after all, he was a grown man. He was merely indulging in this game to show the youth how gentlemen settled their differences. If one really considered it carefully, what he was doing could be construed as an attempt to educate the boy on the social intricacies of civilised behaviour.
"Ezra!" Julia stared at him in exasperation before striding over to his bed and lifting the pillow that had hidden his practice session of cards. "You're practising 'go fish'!" She pointed to the cards in disbelief. "Since when do you practice any game before playing?"
"Ever since it became a duelling matter." He cleared his throat, wishing she had not found that since he preferred to appear as if he was partially confident about the game he would be playing. "The young man must learnt that you are my fiancee' and there are matter in which he as a child must step aside. I bought you a perfectly valuable piece of jewellery that is the bonafide product. He must be made to understand that one cannot just buy a fraudulent trinket and expect to pass it on as a genuine piece."
"What does it matter?" Julia groaned, flopping onto the bed in resignation. "I would love anything either of you gave me. I cannot believe that you are propagating this nonsense!" She took the pillow and covered her face with it, still beyond comprehension that this was happening. It was bad enough that Ezra was proving himself to have the mentality of a two year old by this actions but the entire town of Four Corners knew they playing this ludicrous game of cards. Not only was Julia suffering the embarrassment of everyone thinking that this was the most ridiculous thing Ezra had done since he walked down the street wearing nothing but a table cloth (actually she would not have mind seeing that herself). However, being the object of his affections, she was reduced to a laughing stock because she had been the inspiration for all this foolishness.
Julia had a position of respect in the community, one which she had cultivated over a period of time since coming to Four Corners. She was admired as a businesswoman with a good head for commercial ventures. Julia knew that it was this respect that allowed her to continue an affair with a conman and gambler with raising two many eye brows from the more intolerant Christian residents of Four Corners not to mention, the liberties she sometime took with him.
"This is so embarrassing." She groaned and wished the ground would open up and swallow him.
Ezra lay next to her on the bed and pulled the pillow off her face. "My darling, I assure you, I will play the finest game that I have ever played."
"Oh?" She peered out from under the pillow. "Played many games with eight year olds, have you?" She said sarcastically, sarcasm oozing from each word.
"Julia..." Ezra tried to make her understand that it was time Billy appreciated that he had first call on her affections. Ever since Billy had met Julia, the young boy had been something of a thorn in Ezra's side. He was always trying to steal her time and her attention, not to mention the child had the most annoying ability to be present just when Ezra had plans for his lover that did not lend well to having a third party who was not even of legal age present. "I am doing this for you. I am determined that you have a gift worthy of your station."
"Ezra," Julia removed the pillow from her face and rolled onto her side so she could face him. "I love you. I truly do. You are the most charming man that I have ever met and when you make love to me, I can hear music in my head but sometimes you can be such an idiot! You could give me a worthless piece of glass and I'd still think it was the most precious thing in the world!"
"I may hold you to that." He said with a perfectly straight face which only infuriated her more. "Julia forgive me for saying this but this is not really your concern. This is a matter between gentlemen."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ezra winced thinking that perhaps it was not the wisest choice of words he could have used. He could see her eyes narrowing in fury no sooner than the words had escaped him and wondered if there was any way he could recant them without bloodshed.
"A matter between gentlemen?" She hissed, her voice pratically smouldering out of her mouth as she spoke. "You've turning me into the laughing stock of the entire town because of your juvenile pride and you tell me that its not my concern!" She jumped up off the bed and stared at him imperiously. "I'm telling you to sort this matter out right now or I am never speaking to you again!"
"Julia!" Ezra cried out, unable to believe she was getting so upset about a card came. "It's just a game!"
"Oh give me a break!" Julia whirled on him, pausing in mid step following that statement. "This is nothing to do with a game! This is because you are jealous of an eight year old!"
"I am not jealous of that...that...child!" Ezra retorted, offended that she could even believe such a thing. Well okay, perhaps he was a little jealous since he always seemed to be competing with the child for her time but this instance had nothing to do with it! Not much anyway, except that the boy had bought Julia the exact same gift and the entire game was for them to decide which one of them would win the right to present her with it.
"You are so jealous of Billy!" Julia declared. She was not blind to how attached the young boy had been to her since his permanent return to Four Corners. He was always coming for a visit and though she had not confessed it to anyone, one of the highlights of her routine was having that hour where they enjoyed ice cream together in the restaurant in the Emporium. Ever since she had first discovered Billy walking around the store forlorn after he had been given the shock news that his mother and Chris Larabee were to be married, it had become something of a ritual with them. She knew that he had something of a crush on her by how he always seemed to be trying to get in between her and Ezra whenever the seven got together on one of their gatherings but he was after all a child and would outgrow it in time. She could not say she minded it although she had been operating under the assumption that Ezra was adult enough to handle the situation and not behaved like jealous dog.
Of course, this was the man who played poker until he had only a table cloth to his name, so adult really did not figure into the equation.
"I am not jealous!" Ezra insisted, determined to prove to her that he was not. "I am attempting to teach the young man the civilised way of conducting one's self. Trust me, when he is a young man, he will appreciate my efforts."
"You know I can understand Billy being so stubborn because he's eight years old but you're an adult, such at it is. You're suppose to know better." She snapped, deciding that she was not going to convince him to abandon this foolishness and was too mad to remain lest she either kill him on the spot or ended up having mad passionate sex and anger was very hard to maintain in the throes of passion. As it was, Julia was starting to think that they both deserved each other. Getting off the bed, she made her way for the door not trusting herself to remain any longer because she was close to slugging him since it was the more preferrable of her two options.
"Julia," Ezra called out as he saw her starting to leave. "I assure you, I am not playing this game out of some juvenile attempt to gain superiority over a child. The young man challenged me and it would be rude of me not accept." He tried one more time to make her understand.
"I don't want to hear it!" She growled and pulled open the door. "In fact, I'm not even going to be around for this stupidity. If you wish to behave like a child, then I want no part of it!"
With that, she stormed out the door, more or less the same way she came into the room, slamming it shut with a loud bang as it met the frame. Ezra jumped slightly after she had gone and let out a sigh before thinking to himself.
She'd understand after he'd won.
At the same time that Ezra and Julia were having their rather heated discussion about the ethics of playing go fish, Billy Travis was practicing hard in his room. Despite the efforts of Lilith King to convince him to think otherwise about taking on a professional gambler in his field of expertise, the young boy was adamant about pursuing the matter like his older opponent. Like Julia, the young daughter of the local schoolteacher was not having as much luck in swaying her best friend as the Emporium owner was having with her lover. It was bad enough that her spell to make Billy shift his affections did not seem to be working but Billy was just as infatuated with Julia Pemberton as he was this morning when he had issued his challenge to Ezra. Except now, Josiah was looking at her funny, probably because he knew she was up to something she should not be. Fortunately, the preacher had enough troubles to contend with at the moment so he did not take her to task about what she had been doing conjuring after she promised him she would not perform any more spells.
"Billy, this is really a bad idea." Lilith said still trying to coax him as they sat on his bed and played with a set of old cards that Ezra had given him. Billy had carefully hidden from his ma because she would really be mad if she found it after the entire debacle of his gambling at school. His ma was still pretty angry about his playing craps at lunch time although, Billy was secretly unrepentant because he won one of the raspberry tarts that Jimmy Forster always brought to school and would not share with anyone else.
"No its not," Billy retorted, concentrating on his cards and then reminding himself that he could not focus too hard because Ezra could tell if he was concentrating and know what he had in his hand or what he did not. Billy tried to remember every snippet of advice the gambler had given him in the hopes that he would be able to utlise it to its fullest potential later today when he faced the man at the saloon. "You're just a girl Lily," he replied as if that would explain everything. "You don't understand how it is with gentlemen."
"What has that got to do with anything!" She asked annoyed. "And you ain't no gentlemen! You're just a kid!" She pointed out.
"I am a gentlemen!" Billy said defiantly. "And I'm gonna prove it too. Not to you but to Julia too!"
"You ain't got no chance at beating Ezra at cards, Billy. You're just gonna end up looking stupid!" She groaned when she discarded and realised that she had given him what he needed to win the game. Now he was going to be even more convinced he was ready to take on Ezra.
As anticipated, Billy picked it up and looked at her with a triumphant grin before he put down his cards to show her his winning hand. "Who's looking stupid now? You see, I can win!"
"Well that's because I can't play 'go fish' so good." Lilith countered not about to cry defeat just yet and knew that she was probably being a little stubborn but hey, she was almost nine. She was allowed to be, so Miss Julia often said.
In truth, Lilith did not mind the Emporium owner at all with her bright red hair that sometimes looked like fire. Julia was always nice to her and Billy, often treating them to ice cream whenever they went to see her. Other times, Julia would just allow them to follow her around while she walked around the huge store and made sure everything was running smoothly. Instinctively, Lilith reached for the hairpin in her blond locks, remembering how Julia had given it to her after she had admired it in the store. If it were not for the fact that Lilith had to compete with Julia for Billy's affections, she would have liked Miss Pemberton a great deal.
"You can bet Ezra plays better than me." Lilith insisted. "I mean he plays cards all the time and he has to be very good to be so fancy looking. You've only won lunches."
Billy gathered the cards and prepared to deal once more. "That's because I've only never played for money."
"Nobody plays 'go fish' for money." She retorted.
"Go fish, poker, its all the same." He shrugged, unprepared to let her talk him out of the challenge he had issued Ezra. Billy refused to give in on principle because he had worked very hard on his chores to earn the money to buy Julia her present. He had raked leaves, helped ma in the kitchen, helped Chris with his horse and even did some chores around the ranch. It had been time he would have preferred utilising to play with his friends but Billy's determination to buy Julia her gift overrode all those childish consequences.
When he had bought his gift from Mr Wing, Billy had been so proud of himself because the pendant had looked really fancy and just the kind of thing Julia would like to wear. He often noticed her wearing pretty things and was certain that this would fit with her collection. Lilith had liked it plenty enough and Lilith was a girl too, although not at all like Julia.
"Lily, I can beat him." Billy said confidently even though he knew it was more for her benefit than his. He did not like to think that he might actually lose and would have to discard the gift he had worked so hard to buy her just because Ezra had spent more money buying the exact same thing. "I know Julia likes me better anyway."
Lilith gave him a look and shook her head, unable to believe how dense the male gender could be at times. Boys could be so immature. She did not think Miss Pemberton liked Billy any more or less than she did Ezra. It was just a different kind of like that only women of the world (like herself could understand) and boys did not have the slightest clue.
"Whatever you say." She sighed deciding that she was tired of trying to convince him when it was obvious that nothing was going to remove the allure of Julia Pemberton from his mind. "I've got to get going. I'll come back later maybe."
"Okay," Billy replied, dealing the cards once again, barely noticing she had gone.
Lilith looked over her shoulder at him just before she left and could only shake her head once again.
Men.
Ezra emerged from his room to return to the saloon where no doubt the entire place would be filled with talk about his game with Billy. As it was, in an hour or so, they would be having a bird's eye view of the whole challenge, when the young man arrived in the establishment to make their rendezvous. Ezra was aware that his standing as a professional gambler might take a little bit of bruising after this little duel with Billy Travis. However, he was prepared to suffer the loss of prestige just a little when the rewards were letting the boy know who stood where with Julia Pemberton.
He entered the saloon and found it bustling with activity. It was afternoon and so it was to be expected. Rain was behind the counter serving drinks and he could smell the rich, textured flavour of Inez's cooking wafting from the kitchen and immediately felt his stomach leap in response to whatever culinary delights she was preparing for the waiting crowd. It seemed like everyone in Four Corners knew where to come for the best Mexican food in town. At his regular table where he normally paid court to those who would try to pit their skills at cards with him, were Buck Wilmington and Josiah Sanchez. Both men appeared to be in a state of flux themselves.
Buck's eyes seemed to be roaming around the place, checking every window and entrance in quick glimpses before making the entire sweep over and over again. Ezra saw Buck's gaze moving to the entrance where he had come in and held it there for a few minutes, escalating the gamblers curiosity at the new father's odd behaviour. If Ezra did not know better, he would be inclined to believe that there was trouble expected and Buck was watching out closely for it. Shaking his head, he continued further into the establishment, taking note of the same bizarre manner for Josiah.
However, while Buck looked as if he was ready to jump out of his seat with guns blazing at some unknown enemy at a second's notice, Josiah was the other extreme. Wherever the preacher was, he was nowhere in the same vicinity as Buck or the rest of the room. His mind did not pay any attention to the noise taking place around him and Josiah was a preoccupied as Ezra had ever seen him. He merely sat at the table, drumming his fingers against the hard surface of the felt covered table, engaged in secret thoughts that had his usually cool serene face as trouble as the raging storm that was rumbling its discontent in the near distant sky.
"My goodness, you gentlemen appear to be in a worse state than I." Ezra announced his arrival by that opening statement and captured both their attention.
"Ezra," Buck said standing up quickly and greeting the gambler with a hushed voice as if anyone could hear him from the drone of voices around him. "You haven't seen Millie about have you?"
"Millie?" Ezra tried to attach the name to a face and vaguely recalled a rather charming if somewhat unrefined young woman the former ladies' man had a dalliance with almost two years ago. If he recalled correctly she had left town after they had handled the situation that almost saw Four Corners razed to the ground. "You mean the young lady you had an affair with during the period of time when we had ourselves a new Marshall in town?"
"That's her." Buck nodded nervously. He glanced at the kitchen as he prepared to continue, almost terrified that his wife might hear this conversation and draw all the wrong conclusions if she were to hear him. "She's back in town Ezra and she wants me."
"I thought your philandering days were over." Ezra looked at him critically, unimpressed if Buck was attempting to rekindle some kind of affair with this young woman, particularly since he was now married. While Ezra pretended to be indifferent most of the times to Inez's private life, he had a great affection for the woman and if Buck were to even think of hurting her, the gambler would take great exception to it. Inez was like family and despite the fact that he hid it most times, he felt rather protective towards her.
"They are!" Buck hissed, mortified that Ezra could even think of such a thing. He loved Inez dearly and if being married had proved one thing to Buck Wilmington, it was that he was capable of being faithful to her and he had no intention of changing that any time soon. He loved his wife and his daughter, too much in fact to risk losing them for anything. Especially not for a girl he had hardly know before she had left town.
"Good," Ezra said with a charming smile. "Because should I find that you are in anyway contemplating bringing harm to Mrs Wilmington, I can almost guarantee you that Mr Tanner and I will be standing in line to participate in your firing squad."
"Thanks," Buck grumbled, nice to know that his friends had so much confidence in his ability to abstain, as if he had not proven himself enough already in the last few months. "But I'll have you know that I ain't chasing after Millie, she's chasing after me."
"Why?" He exclaimed genuinely mystified.
"Why?" Buck snorted somewhat offended that Ezra could ask such a question. "I am irresistible to woman you know."
"Yes you are," Ezra said with a perfectly straight face. "And we admire how you wield that awesome responsibility but why can you not just tell the young lady that you are now committed elsewhere, so to speak."
"Because I don't want to hurt her!" Buck gushed as if Ezra was dense or something. "She's come all the way back here, looking for me and I don't want to break little ol' heart."
"So you would rather run around and avoid her at all costs instead of making the adult choice and telling her that you are now a person of married state." He asked staring at Buck as if the man was a child even though he was supposed to be a responsible adult these days, not to mention a man with a growing respectability.
"Yes and don't you go pointing fingers about being adult, you're playing an eight year old for your woman." Buck said with a smug smile.
Ezra stiffened with annoyance, wondering if the entire town knew about this. He looked around briefly and took note of the number of people inside the Tavern and wondered if they were all here for lunch or to witness his game of cards with Billy Travis. "I will have you know Mr Wilmington," Ezra said brusquely. "I am merely engaging young Master Travis in this endeavour in order to prove that I not he, hold Julia's affections."
"And you need to play go fish with him to prove that?" Buck gave him a look that said volumes.
Ezra frowned unable to come up with a suitable retort when suddenly he declared out loud. "Mr Wilmington, I do believe I see Miss Millie in here!"
"Where?" Buck quickly dropped behind Ezra for cover and then added in a quiet voice. "To hell with this, I'm getting out of here." With that he kept his head down low as he weaved furtively through the bodies in the saloon and made a fortuitous exit through the kitchen.
Ezra watched the big man make his escape with a small smile of satisfaction and then sat down at the table. Josiah had snapped out of his reverie long enough to see Buck's departure. His eyes scoured the room before he turned back to Ezra. "I don't see Millie."
"That's probably because she is not here." Ezra smiled wickedly as he removed the timepiece from his coat and began polishing it with his handkerchief.
Josiah chuckled slightly and then lapsed back into thought, drawing Ezra's notice with his dazed manner. The preacher was notoriously good natured about everything. It took quite a bit for him to become as contemplative as he was now.
"Mr Sanchez, I detect that you are man singularly preoccupied." Ezra remarked.
"Well you are not the only one who has trouble with the ladies." Josiah confessed and decided that was as much as he was telling Ezra on this subject. His relationship with Audrey was on slow ground and he liked the idea of courting her, especially when she was living in the same town. When he had been infatuated with Maude Standish, there was something safe about knowing that she was not around for any length of time. However, with Audrey was different, she lived in Four Corners and she had a daughter whom he was very fond of. Josiah did not want things to go badly between himself and Audrey only to lose his friendship with Lilith as well.
"I am not having problems with the ladies." The gambler said lying through his teeth as he recalled the rather incendiary conversation he had had with Julia regarding this entire situation with Billy. He wished she could understand why he was doing this but then Julia, when her ire was raised could be extremely unreasonable. He supposed all women were that way at one point or another. "Julia is totally supportive of my attempts."
"I'm sure she is." Josiah replied, perfectly aware that Julia was anything but happy, if his conversation with her earlier was anything to go by. The woman had been practically smouldering when Josiah had run across her in the street.
"Can we drop the subject?" Ezra retorted and then added. "I thought we were discussing your problem."
"We were not discussing anything, I merely said I had a problem. I don't see any reason to go into detail." Josiah said stiffly, not comfortable about discussing the subject with Ezra and rebuked himself about bringing it up in the first place.
"All is not well in the palace of the King?" The gambler probed further, unaware that his interest was not wanted.
Josiah flinched at the reference and replied. "I think you got enough troubles of your own to be concerned with mine." He said with just enough of a hint in his voice for Ezra to get the idea that he did not want further comment.
Ezra rolled his eyes and ordered a drink from one of the passing waiters that Inez had hired to deal with the afternoon crowd, deciding he did not want to get a chair thrown at him by pursuing the matter. Josiah could be extremely volatile when properly provoked and Ezra had enough to deal with today without having to contend with a rampaging preacher with issues about intimacy. Deciding to change the subject, Ezra noticed that JD was conspicuously absent.
"Where is our young sheriff this afternoon?" Ezra asked, deciding this was a far safer subject than asking Josiah any more about his personal difficulties with Audrey King, whatever they might be.
"I think he and Casey went riding." Josiah remarked and then glanced out the window to see that it did not look the weather for such an outing. "Could be wrong though, weather's not looking too good."
"I believe a storm is brewing outside of town," Ezra remarked. "For their sake, I hope they are indoors."
"That's not such a good idea," Josiah said realising that Nettie was not in town and who knows what two hormone driven youngsters could get up to while they were alone. "Nettie is not at the farm." He pointed out.
Ezra's eyes widened and a slow grin crossed his lips. "You mean our little boy might just be all grown up today?"
Josiah gave Ezra a look and shook his head in disapproval. "You have no shame."
Ezra glanced at the clock and realised that it was time to begin.
He had no idea what was running through his head and now that the time had come, wondered how he had landed himself in such a ludicrous situation. He supposed he ought to be grateful that neither Chris nor Mary was in town or for that matter, speaking about parental disapproval, neither was Maude. Ezra could just imagine that horror on her face if she were to walk in here and discover that he was playing 'go fish' of all things with a little boy. Still, it was too late to reconsider now especially since the time had come and withdrawing from the venture would make him look more pathetic then he did already.
Ezra looked around hoping that he might have some moral support from this friends but neither Buck nor Josiah were to be seen and God only knew what JD was getting up to all alone with Casey at Nettie's place. Suffice to say, wild oats were probably being sewn even as he was thinking it and shook the thought of out of his head, since he needed to be concentrating.
Listen to yourself, concentrating on a game of go fish!
Ezra though to himself with disgust, realising just how far he had fallen to this endeavour and decided that the best thing he could do to salvage his dignity, such as it was, was to get this day over and done with as soon as possible. For some reason, while none of his friends appeared to be present, everyone else seemed to be. He wondered how it was possible for the entire town to hear about this and then decided it to be one of those mysteries that seem common only to small communities.
As he sat at his usual table waiting for his opponent to arrive, Ezra tried not to pay attention to the sniggers and jokes that were being made at his expense by the rest of the drinkers inside the Standish Tavern. He kept reminding himself that he was now the owner of this establishment and had the right to eject anyone from the premises who became too annoying. That left a very good feeling in the pit of his soul to be able to refer to himself as the owner of the Standish Tavern. Rain had left the bar tendering duties and Inez was doing the honours for the present time while the young woman took some time to rest. No doubt, Elena Rose was in the care of her father, who was probably running around town trying to dodge his former paramour.
"Mrs Wilmington," Ezra called out to the lady who was in the process of serving. "Do you think that I might have a whisky when you have the time?"
She glanced at him as she handed over a patron his beer and remarked. "I am not serving you anything that remotely has alcohol in it." She replied firmly, taking on that expression of quiet determination that Ezra should have known better than to argue with.
"And pray tell why not?" He asked. "I am after all proprietor of this establishment and technically," he exuded a smug grin. "Your employer."
"Really?" She frowned giving him a scathing glare as he reminded him of the fact. "Aside from the fact you are allowing the son of my best friend into a place like this to play cards with you should be reason enough, I would think. On top of teaching him your bad habits, I will not have you drinking in front of him as well."
"You know you make it sound as if I instigated this nonsense in the first place." He pointed out.
"You are a grown man, that is a little boy." She declared. "I would think that is all the explanation that is needed to understand that you should know better."
"I wish everyone would stop saying that." Ezra grumbled, having come to his senses in the last hour or so to know that everyone had been correct about it. It might have been less tedious if he had just gone and exchanged the gift instead of making the fuss about it that he had which had led Billy to issue this challenge.
"Why?" Inez looked at him critically. "It is true. You are being jealous over an eight year old boy."
"For the last time," Ezra bristled with annoyance hearing that over and over again. "I am not jealous."
"Prove it." She dared him with an imperious look. "Cry defeat and let Billy give Julia his present."
"Madam," the southerner looked at her, not at all happy about that idea. "I do not believe that simply succumbing and allowing the boy an easy victory is any way to teach him good moral standards. I realise that coming from me it is rather amusing but I would remiss if I allowed his delinquency to continue by this action."
Inez rolled her eyes, an indication that he was hopeless and there was no point continuing this debate when it was obvious that he was determined to remain on his course, no matter how ludicrous it might be. Ezra did not think it was ludicrous. He just could not bring himself to cry defeat no matter how much he may loathed the idea of playing in public with Billy Travis for the right to give Julia his gift, even though it was likely she would not accept it once it was all said and done.
"Hey Ezra," someone said from the crowd. "I'll be the kid wins."
"I take umbrage at that." Ezra turned away from the counter trying to spot who was it that had made the remark but no one seemed eager to reveal themselves for that jibe. However, the crowd obviously found the taunt amusing because they were all laughing and Ezra had to clear his throat and force away the rising embarrassment he was starting to feel about this whole thing.
What on earth had possessed him to undertake such foolishness?
Whatever the reason, he had little time to consider the matter to its full extent when he saw young Master Travis entering the bat wing doors. The boy looked rather apprehensive as he entered the place with men looking at him and laughing at the youthful opponent that was meant to take the notorious cardsharp down a peg or two. As he crept past the doors, Ezra could see the child was clearly frightened to be in here and fell worse than ridiculous for pursuing this little competition. He felt like scum and wondered if it were not too late to give in now.
Billy swallowed visibly as he made his way through the faces of strangers, looking at him with a mixture of amusement and derision, not to mention downright disapproval at what he was doing inside a saloon. Billy had sinking feeling he may not be able to keep this a secret from his ma or Chris, neither of whom would be terribly impressed at his being in this place at this time of the day. He finally arrived at the table, his hat in his hand as he looked around nervously.
"Master Travis," Ezra said sitting down and feeling terribly guilty by the waif life expression on the boy's face. "Perhaps we ought to reconsider this."
"No," Billy shook his head, determined to see this though. He was a gentleman after all. He had made a challenge and he was no coward. Chris was always saying a real man didn't walk away from a fight, he finished it and Billy was going to finish it. Of course, Chris probably did not mean this and when it was time to account himself to his parents, who were going to be mad, he reminded himself to use that argument. "I'm here to play. Are you chickening out?"
Ezra did not like the use of the word and replied immediately before his sense overtook him. "What's your pleasure? Master Travis?"
"Go fish." Billy repeated as he took a seat across the table from the gambler waiting for the older man to sit down and began the game. As it was, a couple of people had crowded in on them, anxious to watch the fun.
"Don't you have anything better to do!" Inez barked across the bar, not at all happy that Billy was here but not about to interfere either because this was clearly one of those things that required his mother or his stepfather to deal with. "If you want to drink, order." She said to those planning on watching the game. "If not, pay up and leave. This isn't an entertainment parlour."
Ezra was secretly glad that the woman had disbanded the group watching them, not only for the sake of his eroded dignity but also for the peace of mind of his youthful opponent who was decidedly uncomfortable about being watched by everyone. Once they had left the two combatants alone, Ezra retrieved the deck of cards he always carried upon his person and placed it on the felt covered table.
"Before we begin, I would like to make certain that you have no reservations regarding our little competition. If you wish to withdraw, I will understand." Ezra said gently, wishing to give the boy ample opportunity to save face if he so desired by providing this graceful exit.
"No," he shook his head sombrely. He tried to keep his fidgeting to a minimum because Ezra himself had told Billy on numerous occasions that in games of chances no matter it be poker or black jack or even go fish, he must never let the other opponent know what was on his mind. "I want to play."
Ezra, who was more than capable of seeing through the facade Billy was attempting to maintain, knew that the child was terrified and trying desperately to hide it from him. With the possible exception of the time he had run out on Chris Larabee and the rest of the seven during their first adventure together, Ezra did not believe he could feel so low or disgusted with himself until this moment. However, it was too late for either of them to extricate themselves from the situation now.
"All right then," Ezra let out a sigh as he picked up the cards and started to deal.
Even though she was burning with curiosity, Julia Pemberton was determined not to be present at the debacle that taking place in the Standish Tavern. As it was, she was humiliated beyond belief that her lover was indulging in this gross act of stupidity and atypical male pride. She wondered if it was just the southern variety or did all members of the sex behave in this way. Julia decided she had no intention of finding out and gave the saloon a wide berth, busying herself instead within the confines of her Emporium. There was work to be done and what semblance of dignity she had in this town after those two men played for her approval like she was chattel would still remain inside these walls.
She was passing by the restaurant when she noticed young Lilith King having ice cream alone at a table. Julia was somewhat surprised at why the young girl was not at Billy's side since the two seemed joined at the hip at times. Lilith was a nice child, somewhat bizarre in her behaviour and attitudes but then Julia was hardly conventional in her youth and some of the things she had indulged in still left a bad taste in her mouth, literally. Entering the establishment, the restaurant was full at this time of the day and so the girl at a table alone was something of a stand out and the cause of much speculation. Julia gathered as much from the expressions on the faces of local matrons about who were no doubt commenting at how the King child was left to wander about on her own.
"Hello there." Julia greeted upon approaching the girl's table. Although Lilith was working slowly through a rather large bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with raspberry sauce, she did not seem very enthused about it and deepened Julia's curiosity.
"Miss Julia!" Lilith exclaimed, somewhat surprised to see the beautiful grown up here. Lilith had thought for certain that she would have gone to see Billy and Ezra playing cards. "How come you're here?"
"I might ask the same thing of you," Julia said with a smile. "Can I join you?" She asked, always remembering to treat the children she knew as adults because she knew how much she hated condescending elders when she was a child and had no wish to become the same to either Billy or Lilith.
"Sure, Miss Julia." Lilith replied, dying to know why Miss Pemberton was not at the saloon. "And I asked you first." She pointed out as the older woman nestled herself in the chair next to hers.
"Fair enough," Julia admitted with a smile. "I don't wish to see those two men being stupid at my expense."
"But Billy's playing for you." Lilith declared, wondering if Julia knew how much it meant to Billy to give her his gift. He had worked so hard the last few weeks to save up enough for that present, Lilith felt that Julia should at least be there.
"I know that," Julia sighed regretfully. "I would love nothing more than to be able to say that I'm happy and proud that he's playing for me but I am happy at neither of them at this moment. Ezra is behaving like a child and Billy's trying to be an adult, all to impress me. It's silly. I never asked that of either of them and yet they feel they must compete for my attention."
"Oh." Lilith nodded in understanding, starting to appreciate Julia's situation in all this. She supposed she would not want to be caught in a tug of war either. "I tried to tell him you liked Ezra different than him but he doesn't believe me."
"Well," Julia sighed. "They're men and universally, they're collectively dumb in that respects. It doesn't matter how old they are, they still behave like boys or worse yet they do their thinking with their..." she desisted in continuing with that particular statement, reminding herself that she had a minor audience in her company and Lilith was looking at her waiting for her to finish.
"Their first impulses." She amended her sentence and reminded herself to be more careful in the future. "Ezra is just being stubborn and he ought to know better, so I'm more mad with him than I am with Billy." She confessed.
"I'm more mad with Billy than I am with Ezra." Lilith stated, taking another spoonful of her ice cream. "I told him he couldn't beat Ezra who plays cards real good but he wouldn't believe me. He just that I'm a girl and I don't know anything."
Julia rolled her eyes and said with a little smile. "Lilith, by the time you get to my age, you find out that's what they always say when they can't win an argument, either that or they go shoot somebody which sort of makes me wonder what's going in Mary's house because Chris is shooting someone every second day."
Lilith started to giggle at the thought.
"Look," Julia smiled, thinking the girl looked lovely when she did not have that serious expression on her face. "Billy's just young and he's impressionable and once he understands a little better, I'll just be one of those old friends of his mother's that occasionally shows up. It won't last and when that happens, I am sure he's going to find out what a special girl you are."
Lilith beamed. "You think so?"
"I know so." Julia answered. "Of course by the time he grows up, I'll probably in jail, having killed Ezra for making me go through this embarrassment." She laughed.
"Who do you think will win?" Lilith asked after a moment.
"Honestly," Julia thought about it. "I have no idea." She shrugged her shoulders in response. "Ezra's pretty good with the cards but I can't recall the last time he sat in a game of high stakes 'go fish' so anything could happen. Does Billy play go fish a lot?" She asked Lilith.
"He used to play a lot and then Ezra taught him how to play craps but he got into trouble at school so Mrs Larabee wouldn't let him play cards any more. He has a deck of cards though that Ezra gave him hidden under his bed and he's been practicing with it all morning." Lilith revealed causing Julia to shake her head in disbelief.
She remembered the incident all too well and how Ezra had been persona non grata in Mary Larabee's books for the next week. Somehow, it would not surprise him that Billy would have a deck of cards stored away thanks to Ezra. If she ever spoke to him again, Julia made a point to bring up the subject of teaching children how to gamble. God only knew what he must have been teaching Elena Rose on the few occasions the baby had been left with him. Julia had already caught him playing blackjack with the child.
"So was Ezra." Julia replied, recalling the practise session he had been attempting to hide away from her inside his room this morning. "I think between their skills at go fish and their emotional maturity, I'd say they're evenly matched."
Lilith did not quite understand what Julia was saying but she nonetheless assumed the lady had not paid either Billy or Ezra a compliment with that statement. She felt her stomach start to grizzle from the overload of sugar and pushed the bowl away, deciding that she had enough. "Maybe we ought to see how they're doing." She said meekly, confessing her desire to know how they were faring.
"What say," Julia narrowed her eyes and gave Lilith a look of mischief. "We go have a look see."
"Okay," the young girl nodded eagerly, finding her annoyance at Billy much more palatable when she had a co-conspirator.
Despite the fact that he was playing go fish, Ezra found that this was as challenging as any game of high stakes poker he had ever indulged in. This was mostly because despite Inez's best efforts to keep people from standing by and gawking at them as if they were participants in a three-ringed circus, a large group of people had nonetheless found their way around the table to watch the proceedings. To his credit, Billy acquitted himself quite well in front of their audience, trying not to let them know that their presence was making him nervous.
While Ezra could read the young man and knew exactly what he had before he even put the card down on the table, the gambler found himself admiring the determination being displayed by Billy to prevail against him. While they were evenly matched in this game, since it was something that relied more upon luck than anything else and it appeared that both man and child were in possession of the same fortunes, no clear winner had yet to emerge from their trials.
"Tell me something young Master Travis," Ezra asked as they continued to play, trying to ignore the faces around them. Inez had given up trying to keep them at bay and had retreated to the kitchen in order to prepare the meals for the evening crowd. "That pendant you purchased from Mr Wing cost you two dollars did you say?"
"Yes." Billy nodded picking up a card and putting one down at the same time. "I paid Mr Wing two dollars for it. He said he was giving me a bargain."
I'm sure, Ezra though to himself.
"Two dollars is a lot of money." Ezra remarked off handedly. "That amounts to two days of work defending this illustrious town from brigands and outlaws for me. How did you come by that princely sum?"
"I worked for it." Billy chirped proudly. "I knew Julia's birthday was coming and so I asked ma to let me do some chores around the house for two weeks. I helped her with the washing up and did little things for her at the paper. Chris let me brush some of the horses down at the ranch and even showed me how to put a harness on one of them." He was pleased with what he had managed to achieve in the acquiring of his finances.
Ezra listened to all that and felt immediately worse. "Really." He mused. "You must have been exhausted undertaking such undignified menial labour. Mr Larabee really has no shame."
"Oh it was all right," Billy said brightly, his spirits picking up now that Ezra was talking to him like he was not mad any more. "I didn't mind doing it because I wanted to get Julia something special."
Oh hell.
Ezra groaned inwardly and knew that he could not go through with this. The boy had worked himself to the bone to get that money and all he had done was to fleece the usual morons who came into this place thinking they could take him at the tables, when they never could. It was easy money as far as Ezra was concerned and he did not even need to break out a sweat at having to take it from them. Meanwhile, this little boy who weighed about as much as his saddle had been working diligently to earn the pittance to buy the woman they both loved a special gift. Ezra was mortified by his behaviour. There was nothing honourable or gentlemanly about this and all he had proved to everyone, especially Julia that he was an immature dolt.
As if to add insult to injury, he saw a crown of red hair making its way through the crowd of drinkers at the saloon. The men immediately stepped aside for the beautiful red head who flashed them a radiant smile in appreciation as they made way for her. Next to her was Lilith, who was following closely and immediately made the conversation around the room less raucous as hardened men minded their manners in front of the child. There was something about having a little girl in the room that left more impression on their mind than having a boy child in their presence.
"Julia." Ezra said with unconcealed surprise once she reached the table. "I was under the impression that you would not be joining us during this occasion."
"Lilith and I decided that we needed to see for ourselves how ridiculous you both were." She said smugly and then examined the table. "I see no clear winner yet." She noted.
"Master Travis is quite the opponent." Ezra commented and garnered a look of happiness from the youth at being given such an endorsement to the object of his affections. "I am finding that I may be unable to defeat him as readily as I previously believed." He offered Julia a small smile which she immediately understood.
"Are you saying that you might concede that this was an ill considered venture in the first place?" She asked coolly, not about to let him get away that easily.
"I think you are right on all counts." He said with a sigh and then looked at his cards and decided that this foolishness had gone on long enough and he had should have known better in the first place to have embarked upon it. After hearing what Billy had endured to secure Julia her gift, Ezra had come to the firm conclusion that Billy had always been more entitled to give it to her than himsellf.
"Well Master Travis," Ezra turned to Billy and declared. "I must confess that my hand is not a very good one." Ezra's voice oozed southern charm and a hint of chivalry. "I must concede defeat."
"Defeat?" The boy looked at him blankly. "I don't understand..." He stammered.
"He means you win stupid!" Lilith rolled her eyes and blurted out before Ezra could put it to the young boy more clearly then that.
"Charmingly put Miss King." Ezra flinched at her delivery while Julia merely smiled as if she and the young girl were sharing some enormously funny joke they were not letting anyone share in.
"I win?" Billy exclaimed, still having trouble believing that he could have beaten Ezra at cards as the gambler put down his hand, further evidencing his cry of surrender.
"I believe that is the usual conclusion when your opponent gives up." Ezra smiled and was unable to deny the grin that stole across the boy's face at his victory was more rewarding than actually winning. To his horror, the gambler had this awful feeling that he might be mellowing. Damn, this town was making him go very soft.
"I win!" The boy jumped off his chair exuberantly. "I told you Lily!" He said to the young girl who was beaming brightly at his success. "I told you I could beat him."
"Now Billy," Julia came up to Billy and lowered herself enough to give him a little kiss on the cheek that made him go bright red. "You mustn't be a poor winner." She reminded.
Having won and on a receiving end of a kiss from Julia was more than enough to convince him and Billy turned to Ezra and replied. "Thanks Ezra, playing you was fun."
"We must do it again sometime," Ezra smiled and then glanced around the room before adding. "In a less public surrounding." With that, the gambler stood up from his chair and announced. "A round of applause if you would gentlemen to the boy for a game well played and a free drink on the house for your trouble."
With that incentive, the room broke into a wild applause that almost rocked the foundations of the building but nevertheless, Billy found himself accepting their congratulations quite capably. Meanwhile, Julia sidled next to Ezra and gave him a little kiss on his cheek.
"You do realise of course," she whispered in his ear while Billy was receiving his due from those present. "That there is a consolation prize for the loser."
"Oh really Miss Pemberton," Ezra looked at her with a cocked brow. "And pray tell what might that be?"
Julia smiled wickedly and whispered quietly once again.
"And nothing else?" His eyes widened.
"And nothing else." She replied and sauntered past him, wearing that look in her eye that could mean only thing;
Ezra was going to be able to give her the perfect birthday gift after all and it would not cost him a cent.