“Ready, gentlemen?” Glory asked, seemingly in no rush. She had poured a snifter of brandy and set it down at the edge of the table. A humidor holding her favorite cheroots was to her left.
“The deed?” David looked at the others for support.
“Yes, my dear, we need to see the deed,” Cletus enjoined, avarice overtaking his features.
Glory looked at her opponents and smiled, amused. Cletus was outright hungry and David looked flushed. Mort looked at her resignedly and shrugged his shoulders.
She arose from her chair and went to the wall safe, twirled the combination, and reached in to retrieve a piece of paper. Shutting the safe, she returned and placed the paper in the middle of the table, nodding thanks to Kim for pulling her chair out for her.
“There's the deed, gentlemen,” she said as she moved her chair closer to the table. “Are we ready to play now?”
The men nodded yes and pulled their chairs closer to the table. Mort got a glass of whiskey and returned the decanter to the sideboard. Cletus looked at Mort over the rim of his glass.
“I propose a toast. Here's to Miss Glory. May she always be understanding to us poor men!”
“Here! Here!” There was a clinking of glasses. Mort slowly sipped his drink; David drank half of his, while Cletus threw back his head and swallowed it all.
Glory shuffled the pasteboards and dealt the cards with one fluid motion of her dainty but agile hands.
The game was five-card stud: four cards up and one down, the hole card.
The deal started with a jack of spades down for a hole card to Mort, three of diamonds up. The hole card for Cletus was a seven of clubs and the ten of hearts up. David drew a four of spades down, with the queen of hearts up. For herself, Glory dealt a jack of diamonds down, with seven of diamonds facing up.
“Queen bets,” Glory said, looking at David.
“I bet one thousand dollars,” David said, placing one blue chip in the middle of the table. He had eyes only for the white piece of paper in the pot.
“This is to keep the little boys out. Pardon me, Miss Glory, I didn't mean you.”
He quickly turned, retrieved his vial and took the last snort of his powdery opiate. Breathing heavily, David turned back to the table and smiled. He was ready for anything, come what may. The others just looked at him with some sort of apprehension.
“David,” Glory replied, arching her eyebrows. “I'll see you and I'll bump you another five hundred.” She smiled as she placed a red chip beside her blue one in the pot
.
“And another five hundred dollars,” Cletus said, throwing another blue chip to join his other in the growing pot. He twiddled with his empty glass; considered refilling it.
“I'll add another five hundred and call,” Mort boomed as he sat back and raised his glass to finish off his drink.
The other players threw in their chips. The pot now stood at ten thousand dollars. David's eyes were starting to gleam. Cletus sat back with an amused look on his face. Mort blew a smoke ring into the air.
“Excuse me,” Mort said. He poured himself another drink. He noticed Cletus's empty glass. “Anyone else?
”
The men nodded. Mort replenished their drinks and returned the decanter to the sideboard. Turning to the table, he pulled out his chair and sat down. He looked down at his cards and smiled to himself. Then he placed his cigar in his mouth and started to puff heavily on it. A great deal of smoke filled the room.
“All bets in?” Glory asked, waving her hand to make the smoke whirl away from her side of the table. “Mort, please?”
“Oh, my dear, I'm truly sorry,” Mort said, extinguishing his cigar and helping Glory to fan the air of the noxious smoke.
“Thank you,” she said, flashing a genuine smile at him. Mort always treated her like the daughter he never had. At times it was nice, but tonight was different. Be that as it may. She glanced one more time at her hole card and picked the cards up to deal them. She planned on winning tonight.
The bets were made. Glory began to deal. Mort received a jack of hearts. Cletus got a two of spades, David, a four of hearts. She dealt herself a ten of diamonds.
“Looks like you got the bet, Mort,” Glory said while sipping her snifter of brandy.
Mort, seeing his hole card, smiled at the others and promptly bet five hundred dollars. Cletus's hole card was nothing to get excited about, but he stayed in the game. David had a pair of fours, one hidden. He shrugged his shoulders and placed a chip in the pot. Glory had a possible straight flush going, so she increased the ante another five hundred.
“You people,” Mort said, clearing his throat. He was sure that he was going to win the pot, but he wanted to throw the others off their game. “I'm aware of your ploy, but it'll not do you any good this time.”
“I don't know what you're talking about, Mort,” Cletus retorted hotly as he tugged at his shirt collar. He was starting to feel a tad guilty about having a good hand. In just a moment, he would walk away a winner.
“Me neither,” David quipped, trying to hide the excitement building up in him at the prospect of winning the final game. He could already see himself as the victor. He smiled at his opponents.
“I do.” Glory was talking to the others, but she looked hard at Mort. “He thinks that we're trying to sucker him into the pot in hopes of him folding. I'll tell you the truth, Mort; no one here is trying to make you extend yourself more than humanly possible. Right, gentlemen?”
Cletus and David nodded in agreement.
Glory noticed that David's face was more flushed. She wondered if it was the opium kicking in. He was starting to bet recklessly, heedless of his cards. Either that, or he had a better hand than she'd first thought.
Glory quickly dealt the cards one more time. Mort got another jack. He now had three. Cletus watched as another club fell in front of him, this time a ten. He now had two tens... a strong possibility of two pair, or maybe another ten, for three tens. David saw a third four settle on his cards. He had three fours to bet. Glory dealt herself an eight of diamonds. Together, with the seven and ten and the jack hiding, a straight flush seemed to loom on the horizon.
Mort thought three jacks were not something to scoff at. And two were one-eyed – a spade and a heart. He was extremely proud of his hand.
Cletus groaned inwardly at not bettering his hand, but there still was a chance for him. He may be able to squeeze another ten, or possibly a seven or two. That'd make him two pair, nothing shaggy about that.
David was elated at having another four. He fidgeted as he envisioned wealth, stature and longevity. I can just see myself now. People will be falling all over themselves in an effort to please me...
May have been some misunderstanding on both our parts. The card game was just an excerpt to the whole story. It was 3/4 of one page out of 246! It was an excerpt not a complete story.
A very good play-by-play of a card game with very high stakes… A deed to something of some value. Unfortunately, a story usually has beginning and an end. We get only a whiff of the beginning. A fairly good rendition of the middle action, but no end. The typical come on enticement to get someone to buy and read the book.
But we are all authors here trying to sell our books. Except for my serialized book chapters, I always give the reader a whole story.
Admiral Robert Sheppard and his starship, the Phoenix, are back for their latest interplanetary adventure. Mysteries, new alien civilizations, and danger await the intrepid Star Knight and his loyal allies.
