Chapter 7 – It's a Miracle

Word got around quickly that the B Bar M had a man with golden hands workin' for them, and that he could make a horse do anything; even the most stubborn of beasts. Soon we had Jim working five, six, seven days a week, and we were turning business away.

It couldn't continue like this. Either Bret or me or Dandy was going to collapse sooner or later, and my money was on Dandy. I had to do something, and I had to do it fast, or we were going to lose Jim. And we'd just got him.

It took me a while to find an answer, and then it was an answer that was right under my nose. Dandy had spent a life dodging work of all kinds, but something had changed since his marriage to Janet. She gave him an air of respectability he'd never had, and he seemed to like it. After her death, he found a way to hold onto it – by raising enough funds to build a school. No one asked how he'd obtained the money; no one cared. He was a hero to the town of Grand Junction, and he was going to have to do something to hold onto that status. Then he grew tired and bored and made his way to Little Bend, where we found he had a skill no one knew of.

So he went 'to work' for the Maverick Ranch and found himself wildly popular. And that's when I remembered what he'd said when he first showed up at the B Bar M - he spoke about his desire for a small farm, with corn and lettuce and chickens, and a friendly poker game once in a while to break the monotony. There was my answer, right in front of me. A friendly poker game.

And so I set about looking for a poker game. I certainly couldn't, wouldn't, take him to Maude's. There was nothing friendly about the games there. Slowly I realized that the best way to find what I was looking for ways to organize one myself. Dave Parker, Lucien Walters, Bily Sunday, Dan Avery, Jimmy Hunt, Simon Petry if nobody was being born that night, me and Dandy, and last, but far from least, any of the Mavericks that cared to show up – Pappy, Uncle Ben, and Bret.

We played one or two tables, depending on who appeared for each game. Just to keep my brother happy, I tried to make sure that he and Dandy never played together. More often than not, Jim was at whatever table I was playing at. It had been a long time since I'd played poker with him, and it took me a while to get used to his style again.

I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but I did start to watch the little things. Dandy won more often when we didn't play together, and that began to bother me. I wondered if he was doing something that I wasn't pickin' up on. So I started to take a closer look.

Weeks went by. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared and I started to think I was imagining things. Then one night I was late and found Dandy's table full and I ended up at the second table. We'd already played two or three games when something caught my eye. I wasn't exactly sure what it was so I kept my focus on Jim's game and waited to see if I'd actually seen something or my imagination was running away with me. I paid more attention to the other game than I should have and never caught another thing. I did, however, lose more money than normal, so much that on the way back to the house Bret asked me if everything was alright.

"Fine." I didn't mean my answer to be curt but it was and I got a reaction from Big Brother.

"You got somethin' on your mind son. I haven't seen you play like that in a long time."

"What does that mean?" I semi-snarled back.

"It means that the kids play better than you did tonight. What's wrong?"

"Sorry," I tried my best to cover up my mood. "I'm worried about that new mare we got this week. She looked kind of sickly earlier this afternoon."

"You sure?" It was hard to fool Bret and he'd heard something he didn't like.

I struggled to settle down my temperament and my voice. "I'm sure. It's like worryin' about a kid."

"You're worryin' for nothin'. I saw her right before comin' to poker and she looked fine."

We said goodnight and I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't really lying; I had been worried about the mare. I just didn't tell him everything I was worried about.

Slowly the need for Jim's services with the horses settled into a more reasonable pattern, and we worked out a schedule of three or four days a week when he would come down to the barn. We'd all gotten used to the weekly poker games and nobody wanted to quit, so we kept meeting on Friday nights. I'd talked to Doralice about taking the night away from her and the kids, but she seemed to think it was a good idea that I spend a night with the game that had been my true love and mistress for so many years. I have to admit I was glad she felt that way; I didn't realize how much I missed poker until we started playing.

Three or four weeks went by and nothing out of the ordinary caught my attention during our weekly games. The participants varied from week to week, but one thing never changed . . . Dandy, me and Bret always played. Once in a while someone new would join us, like the Friday that Lucien's friend Avery Brooks appeared. He seemed like a reasonable enough fellow, but there was somethin' botherin' him most of the night, and it finally came to a head about one in the morning.

It had been a small group that night, just Lucien, Avery, Parker, Dandy, me and Bret, so we only had one game going. Dandy won the hand; the next thing I heard was a very quiet complaint from across the table. "You always play poker like that?" That came from Avery and was directed at Dandy.

"For years and years, old man," Jim answered amiably.

"You always cheat like that?"

The question stopped everyone cold. "I don't cheat," was Jim's reply, said with a smile.

"You dealt that hand off the bottom of the deck."

I saw Dandy tense. Even in the wildest days of Dandy Jim Buckley, he never would have been so obvious as to deal from the bottom of the deck. "You are quite mistaken, sir. " There was an attitude I hadn't heard in Jim's voice in a long time; the sound of anger and a tinge of hostility. Before I could say anything a most unlikely champion came to his defense . . . my brother Bret.

This was one of those rare occasions when the two of them ended up playing poker at the same table out of necessity. Bret casually remarked, "We don't allow cheatin' here, Mr. Brooks, and Mr. Buckley is a highly skilled poker player. He would never be so clumsy to deal from anywhere but the top of the deck. I think you are mistakin' in your accusation, sir, and you owe Mr. Buckley an apology. If you're not inclined to offer one of those, there's the door. I suggest you take it and not come back."

The last person I expected to defend Jim was my brother. Over the years they'd had more clashes, arguments and snide remarks pass between the two of them than should be allowed in a lifetime. I was stunned into silence as we all waited to see the outcome of Bret's missive. After a tense minute or two, Brooks looked at Dandy and offered a quick, "My mistake," then gathered his money and left the table.

Lucien shook his head, then quietly followed his friend out the door. I jumped up and hurried after Lucien, catching him right outside. "Are we okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, boss. I don't know what got into him. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't worry, Lucien. I just wanted to know if you felt the same way."

Another shake of the head. "Nope. Jim was playin' fair and square. Weren't no call for Avery to do that. I'll see you and Jim in the morning. Give him my apologies, would you?" Lucien hurried off after Brooks and I went back inside.

In my absence, the remaining players had decided to call it a night. Jim and Bret had their heads together, something I never would have expected, and I could hear Dandy thanking Bret. Bret had a grin a mile wide on his face. "Don't misinterpret what I said, Buckley. I know you weren't cheatin . . . but don't expect that this means we're gonna be friends."

Jim nodded his head. Normally in a situation like this he would have had a snide remark for Bret. Tonight he let it go as a mere, "Thanks," and walked towards me. "It's a miracle" he murmured as he came alongside me. It was a miracle, indeed.

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