For Mounty
The Gambling Game: The Western Part 1
Dave Belding woke to the smell of fresh coffee. Opening his eyes, he stretched, realizing he'd slept in his clothes again, realizing too, he'd slept at the jail again. He and his deputies had been out until well after midnight trying to chase down the rustlers who'd been terrorizing the local ranchers. It had been different yesterday. Tom Barnes rode in to tell him there'd been shots fired at his place, and not only had the rustlers gotten ten head of his, but he also had three dead calves. He had a small ranch a few miles out of town but left the running of that to his daughter Fran. She was twenty- two, a capable woman in her own right, but instead of following her dreams of moving to San Francisco to be an artist, she'd stayed, after the death of his wife, making sure that the Belding Ranch continued. He felt guilty about that, but Fran never spoke about that, instead, their conversations revolved around the daily life of the farm and his job as marshal of San Francisco. Getting up, Dave stumbled to the front room and poured a cup of coffee. Drinking it, he smelled the aroma of a man too long in the saddle. He needed a bath, shave and some clean clothes.
"Dave? Dave Belding, you open the door right now. I know you're in there."
He cracked the door open to see Betty Anderson holding two plates. Betty worked at the Red Door Saloon down the street. They met one night after Dave had broken up a bar fight and he met her every now and again for drinks and sometimes more. She was an attractive woman, slim, bright green eyes and her red hair tumbling down in wild curls. She was fun to be with, but she wasn't Maggie. No one could ever be Maggie Belding.
"Steak and eggs for you" she smiled putting down a plate. "Fried potatoes, toast, and I see the coffee's just about ready. Afterwards, Louie's got hot water and clean clothes for you at his shop." She sniffed delicately. "You need it. Badly."
Dave smiled as Betty went to the coffee pot, poured two cups and returned, fluffing out her skirt as she sat down. "What brings you to the office so early?"
"I saw that you rode into town just about closing time. Figured you weren't going back to the ranch. Rough night?"
"You taking pity on me?"
"No, I really wanted to talk to you about a problem we're having at the saloon."
Dave forked a bite of egg and potato into his mouth, nodding at her to continue.
Eddie Rogers is in town."
Dave drank some coffee. "Eddie Rogers, the gambler"
"Yes. I think he wants to try to get control of the Red Door."
"How do you know that?" He pushed his plate aside. Eating could wait. Eddie Rogers being in town was more important.