The Woman

In the early morning light, the woman planned her day as she made her favorite tea, and fried some bread. She stroked the mule's neck and fed her an apple, "There you go Muma. I'm going to walk into town to find the owner of the Lady Gay. The man who enforces the law will be busy, so the saloon owner will open early. You can drink from the lake, and graze until I get back."

The mule lifted her head and shoved the woman's shoulder. The woman shook her head, "Muma, I don't want to ride you in on the first day. A woman riding a mule does not get much respect. Now, if you were a tall, white horse it would be different."

Muma bared her teeth and brayed. The woman looked at the mule with sadness, "I know, you do not have the power to change what you are." The mule nudged the woman on the shoulder again, and the woman sighed, "All right, I'll ride you into town. Just try to look dignified."

An hour later the woman was headed to Dodge on the mule. Her clothes were similar to the ones she had worn earlier, but her head was bare and her hair woven into a long braid.

Muma plodded along and stopped in front of the Lady Gay. The woman slid off and walked into the saloon. She looked around and immediately spotted an obese, self-satisfied man sitting in the back smoking a cigar, and knew it was the owner. Without a word she walked over, noisily pulled out a chair and sat across from him. He looked up in surprise at the audacity of the move. "Whoever you are, I'm not hiring."

The woman spoke softly, "My name Adriana."

The man took a puff on his cigar and exhaled a cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared he looked into the woman's eyes and felt oddly uneasy. Her eyes were light violet and her gaze unflinching. He tried to sound dismissive, "Well little lady, my name is Oscar Ryan, and I own this establishment. Like I said, I'm not hiring."

Adriana's eyes didn't move from his face as she reached down and pulled a deck of cards out of her bag. "Oscar, I suggest that you do not call me 'little lady,' it annoys me. Now I will show you what I can do. If you are impressed, you will allow me to sell my skills in your saloon, and I will share the proceeds. If you are not impressed - well there is no point in considering that."

Oscar looked at the deck of cards Adriana held lightly in her hand. The back of the cards were midnight blue, with white stars that seemed to twinkle and move. Oscar blinked his eyes several times, and swallowed hard trying to get his nervousness under control.

Adriana started placing the cards on the table face down, "You've never seen cards like this. It is a unique deck, passed down for generations in my family." When she had 12 cards in three rows of four, she looked at Oscar, "Turn over 3 cards. The first will show a secret from your past, the second a secret from your present, the third an opportunity for the future. I will interpret the cards."

Oscar started to laugh nervously when he jumped suddenly at the sound of glass breaking. He looked in the direction of the sound. Felix, the bartender, looked over, "Sorry boss, I don't know how that glass fell. No one was near it."

Adriana spoke again, "Turn over 3."

Oscar slowly turned over three cards. Adriana looked at the first and whispered so only Oscar could hear, "Yes, 9 swords surrounding a woman. Oscar, that would be the woman you murdered long ago." Oscar's jaw dropped, "I was acquitted."

Adriana nodded, but didn't smile. She looked at the second card, "A hangman with coins. Oscar, it's a shame that your friend lost all of his money and the deed to his land, at your gambling tables - your crooked gambling tables. He hung himself, and as of today you own the land."

Oscar was becoming alarmed, "He was my friend. I cried at his funeral."

Adriana's expression didn't change as she looked at the third card, "Ah, the Empress with her eyes blindfolded. Perhaps she will overlook your faults."

Oscar's heart was pounding in his chest, "Are you some kind of witch?"

Adriana smiled for the first time, "No, just a woman with a deck of cards who will ignore your faults, and share her gifts for a price. A price she is willing to share with you in exchange for a place to practice her talent."

Oscar nodded grimly, "You can have the small table in the back, and we split the proceeds 50-50."

Matt

Matt and Martin Quince rode to the Quince pig farm, and Matt immediately saw that a section of Quince's fence was broken. Quince's neighbor, Jake Smith was standing there. Smith shook his head in disgust, "Quince, why'd you'd bring the marshal out here? All you have to do is fix this darn fence and I'll return your pigs."

Quince frowned, "I want them back now, right now."

Matt interceded, "Quince how long has this fence been broken?"

Quince looked down at his feet and muttered, "Couple a weeks." Smith disagreed, "More like four."

Matt looked skeptical, "Quince, why haven't you fixed your fence?"

Quince looked a little guilty, "I ain't got around to it,"

Smith snorted, "Marshal, that fence has been broke for near a month, and his pigs have been wondering over to my property to eat."

Matt nodded in understanding, "Mr. Smith will you return the pigs as soon as the fence is mended?"

Smith nodded and Matt looked at Quince, "Fix the fence. If you don't get your pigs back then, come and get me."

Next Matt went to Mrs. Trim's to ask about her lost 16-year-old son. She was waiting in her doorway, the smell of coffee wafting out from the kitchen. Matt breathed in the strong aroma, knowing it was as close as he'd be getting to a cup of coffee for a while. The woman rushed over, "Marshal, my boy is still gone. I know he's a big, boy of 16, but still maybe he was kidnapped."

Matt resisted rolling his eyes as he wondered just who would want to kidnap the teenage son of a poor widow, but all he said was, "Maam, I'll look around."

Matt checked some nearby ponds and found the teenager fishing a half-mile away. He called out, "Hello, son. Your mother is worried about you. You should go home and tell her you're all right."

The boy looked at Matt and blushed, "Marshal Dillon, I can't believe she got you out looking for me. I just wanted to go fishing in peace and quiet."

Matt smiled, "I can imagine. Do us both a favor and go home."

The boy nodded and quickly packed up his fishing gear. Matt mounted and rode back to town to look into the theft of Daniel Warren's money.

Matt knocked on the man's hotel room door. Warren opened the door and laughed in embarrassment, "Marshal, I guess I jumped to conclusions. I forgot that I shoved my winnings in a sock last night. Hope I didn't put you out too much."

Matt sighed before answering, "No Mr. Warren. Not at all."

By now it was past noon and Matt was very hungry and terribly out of sorts. He headed for Long Branch and saw Kitty by the bar talking to Sam. She looked up when Matt entered, "Hello Cowboy." Immediately judging his mood she added, "Maybe we should go have lunch."

Matt answered grumpily, "How can I have lunch? I haven't had breakfast yet. Not even a cup of coffee."

Seeing the amused look on Kitty's face, Matt realized how petulant he sounded and smiled as he took her arm, "Let's go to Delmonico's before I starve to death."

They walked out of the Long Branch arm in arm as a white mule turned her head and watched.

TBC