9.

As the weeks passed, Edie bought more dresses and accessories. Her wardrobe cost more than her Pa’s farm back home. She laughed softly about the cost of such things.

Sitting at her dressing table late one evening, she was idly playing sol. Her mind was on other things, though she did not know what the other things where.

It was almost time to eat a bit of supper and leave for the Two Aces Saloon. One more time, she idly shuffled the cards and spread out another game. At that moment her life changed forever.

Slowly she picked up one of the cards and looked at the rouge on the edge. She shook her head in disbelief, as she sorted through the deck. Cards of different suits had smudges on the edges and even on the faces. Some smudges were red, her lip coloring, some were blue, her eyes shadow, some black, her eyebrow marker, some were green, another eye shadow and last, some were pink, her rouge.

All she could do was blink. She did not want to entertain the thought, yet it plagued her mind for the rest of the evening. For days she toyed with the cards and looked at the colorings. With all her will she refrained from taking the next step, but the temptation was strong.

Probably, Edie would never have crossed the line if she had not found herself in a different game of cards.

Her playing at the Two Aces Saloon continued late into the fall. She won consistently and enjoyed the notoriety. It was a pure joy to walk through the batwing doors and holler, “Any of you boys want to play some poker?” and hear the response. Sometimes the response was over a new dress or a different color or just the idea of a fun-filled evening of card playing.

On an occasion, Mr. Horace insisted that she come in the back way, climbed the stairs, walk out on the balcony, and let him shout, “Boys, The Two Aces Saloon gives you Miss Edie!” The building shook with the response. She loved that adulation.

For a girl from a dirt farm, who led a life of ridicule, fun being poked at her, and being insulted in many ways, the adulation was like opium. She was hooked and loved every minute.

One night a better-than-average dressed man entered the gaming room after the games were well under way. He shook hands with Mr. Horace. They stood talking for some time and then the man left.

After the game was over that night, Mr. Horace asked Edie, “Do you have a minute?”

“Certainly, Mr. Horace,” she responded.

“Did you see the man I was talking to tonight?”

“Yes, I think so, the one in the split tailcoat?”

“That was him. He is interested in having a poker game of a different sort. He wants to have a playoff in his saloon and then let the winner play you. He thinks you are the champion of the Two Aces.”

Edie only listened, but she did not move. If she could win, she could demand more of a percentage from Mr. Horace. It would be a feather in her hat.

She asked, “When does he want to have this game?”

“As soon as he can have a playoff,” Mr. Horace replied.

Edie asked, “What kind of rules, limits and such?”

“Nothing was determined. He wanted to see if you would play and then set the house rules.”

“Only if I get to help set the house rules,” Edie said.

“What do you mean, Edie?”

“I can make and have made some good money here, but I would like to play in a game that some real money is in the pot.”

“Oh, you mean like ten dollar ante and no limits?”

“Something like that,” she responded.

“I’ll see what he says.”

Two days later Mr. Horace introduced her to a Mr. Longwill.

Mr. Longwill doffed his hat and said, “It is my pleasure to meet you, Miss Edie.”

She only nodded, but did not speak.

Mr. Horace said, “Mr. Longwill has agreed to let you set the house rules, as you are the one that will be playing against his winner.”

Without a blink she said, “Fifty dollar ante and no limit. Bring all you want to the table. No leaving the table during play.”

Both men blinked. Mr. Horace asked, “Did you say fifty dollar ante and no limit?”

She nodded, and again did not speak.

Mr. Longwill asked, “Where do we play?”

Edie interrupted, “Find some neutral place with lots of seats. We will charge a hundred dollars a seat for ring side seats and divide the take three ways.”

Mr. Longwill asked, “What about my champion? Does he get left out of the gate?”

Edie answered with a question, “Did he think of the idea?”

Mr. Longwill said, “Three ways.”

“I know the place,” said Mr. Horace. “We can rent the boxing ring for a night. It will hold about five hundred. Do we serve liquor?”

Edie again interrupted, “No.”

Mr. Longwill asked, “Why, not?”

“I see Mr. Horace having enough trouble in the Two Aces with drunks and there never is over about two hundred. You get five hundred in a building built for boxing, give them drinks, and they may tear the place down.”

“I hate to miss that much business, Miss Edie,” Mr. Horace said.

“Is there a lobby or some room outside the ring?”

Both men grinned and Mr. Longwill said, “Keep the drinking out of the gaming area and if a man gets drunk in the side room, we can throw him out without starting a fight.”

“Good thinking, Miss Edie,” Mr. Horace said.

“Thank you, Sir,” Edie said. “My brain is why you gentlemen are going to cut me in for thirty percent on this event. It is a three way split on everything or no game.”

“But we will be furnishing the liquor.”

“Then take it off the total and make the three way split. I have no objections, but Mr. Horace, do it fair and honest.”

He ducked his head like a little boy and said, “Yes, Ma’am.”

Edie asked when she saw the hall, “Do you really think men will pay a high seat price when they are sitting so far from the table they can’t see the cards, much less what they are?”

“They pay for fights and this will be much more fun. We can have an announcer. He can call out the cards after a play is finished or make some kind of announcements.”

So, the game was set for two Saturdays hence.

Edie arrived in Henry’s best carriage. She was wearing her green emerald dress with the wide ruffles, long sleeves, and square cut neck line. The dress amplified her charms.

She saw the house was packed. She stopped at the door for Mr. Horace to make one of his announcements.

“Gentlemen, if you please. I give you, Miss Edie, of the Two Aces Saloon.” The room rocked with the stomping of feet and the shouting of five hundred men.

In minutes, Mr. Longwill announced, “Gentlemen, I give you, Mr. Frank Faulkner, of New Orleans.” Not one sound was made. No one applauded or called out.

The huge crowd grew even quieter when the first card was shuffled. The men in the back row could hear the call for cards, bets, and raises. Every man leaned forward listening to every word.

It appeared at the onset that Miss Edie was the best player and that luck was on her side. That is until the break. Suddenly, the game turned against her and in a matter of two hours, she lost over twenty thousand dollars. She had lost over half of her savings.

Five hundred men filed silently out of the hall. The winner picked up his winnings, bowed, and left the hall. Mr. Horace and Mr. Longwill slipped out of the room and she was left alone. This was not quite what she had in mind.

Edie started to leave, but turned back. For some reason she raked up the cards and put them in her purse.

“Memento to my stupidity,” she muttered. “I should have known I could not beat a real professional poker player.”

The ride to her casa was one of silence and near grief. She had lost twenty thousand of her hard earned money. She was almost broke and probably the crowds at the Two Aces would be way down. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

She was so despondent that she did not ask for her cut when she went to the Two Aces the next night. She was right. The crowd was off and the excitement of the gaming room was gone. The play was listless and soon over. She walked home that night with Gabriel walking a few feet behind.

Uncertainty filled her heart. It was hard to fall asleep and finally, after thrashing about for a couple of hours, she sat at her dressing table toying with the deck she called her “momento to my stupidity”.

In shock she stopped toying with the cards and ran her fingers along the edges. Her body went rigid. Turning the cards face down, she felt of the edges and in minutes had them sorted by suits, without seeing the faces.

Picking up one suit of cards, in minutes she had the cards in numerical order and again without seeing the faces. Her heart turned to ice.

“I am so smart. I was out-smarted by a card shark. He is probably laughing his head off. Now, it is my turn.”

With that thought, she rolled into bed and went immediately to sleep.

The next evening she went to the Two Aces early and entered through the back way. Finding Mr. Horace in his office, she barged in, declaring, “Mr. Horace, I have a request of you.”

She could see he was down trodden over the loss of business. “What is that, Miss Edie?”

“Set up another game with the same man.”

“Oh, Miss Edie, I hate to see you lose more money.”

“Hey, Mr. Horace, it is my money, and besides, all of those men will love to see a woman beaten again so they can say, ‘See I told you so’.”

“But, Miss Edie,” he started to speak, but she cut him off.

“Look, I hate to tell you this, but we were set up. The cards were marked. I know their system and I can beat them. Now do like I say.” She was furious.

Mr. Horace’s eyes were narrow and he was angry. “Marked cards?”

“Marked cards, but don’t say one word to anyone. Just set it up. You could even offer free seats. If I win, they pay to leave. Otherwise it is a free show.”

She still had not asked for her cut and Mr. Horace forgot it at that time. She stalked out of the office and out into the bar.

She shouted, “Well, boys, I’m here. I am challenging the winner of the other night, if he is not chicken and will play a woman again.”

The room broke into cheers and shouts, “That a girl, Miss Edie. Good, Miss Edie. You go get them, Miss Edie.”

When the shouting died down, she called out, “Now, do any of you boys want to play some poker?”

The room again burst into pandemonium.

Two weeks later it was almost the same scene. The hall was packed to the rafters. Men stood outside making side bets, drinking whiskey and talking. It was, as one man said, “Man against women, fair against the rough, and the weak against the strong.”

When the first card was dealt, the room was unearthly silent. Play was near even at the break. Miss Edie saw the professional gambler ask for a fresh deck of cards. She only smiled, for now it was her turn.

When the new deck was unwrapped Edie only watched for some time. Finally, she asked, “May we have another new deck?”

The old one was laid aside and a new one was handed to her. She broke the wrapper and began to shuffle. She was right. The first deck was marked, but the new deck was clean, that is until she started working on it.

Unlike the night before, when the tables turned on Edie, Edie watched them turned on the professional player. She saw his confusion and she drove him to making wild bets, over playing his hand and falling for her bluffs.

At about three in the morning, her opponent was broke. He’d lost to her, her twenty thousand and twenty thousand more of his money.

When he stood, he had the good graces to bow, kiss her hand and weakly smile. While he was smiling and bowing, Edie slipped the playing cards into her bag, leaving no evidence of her indiscretion.

When she turned to leave, the room burst into applause.