Chapter 9: Edwards
"Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man. Washed his face with a fryin' pan. Combed his hair with a wagon wheel. Died with a toothache in his heel."
Isaiah Edwards looked down the hill at the town of Walnut Grove. After getting a letter from Charles Ingalls saying that his Laura was getting married, Edwards had no choice but to take off from work and catch a train up to Minnesota. Strolling through town, Edwards was surprised at the many people out on the streets. Walnut Grove had always been a quiet town, although it did not take him long to figure out why there were so many more people.
"Land-sakes! They got themselves a hotel and restaurant. Now that's fancy."
Edwards walked himself over to Hanson's mill, where he used to work back when he lived in town. He looked around to see the saw blade was running, but no one seemed to be around.
"Excuse me!" Isaiah yelled.
"Yes, sir." Joe Kagan came out from the mill's storage room and ran over to stop the saw. "Can I help you?"
"Yes." Edwards nodded his head. "You wouldn't happen to know if Charles Ingalls still works here, do you?"
"Yes, he does. As a matter of fact, he should be getting off of lunch right now." Joe turned his head then pointed across the street. "There he is."
As if knowing someone had been talking about him, Charles was walking up to the mill after eating his lunch at the Feed 'n' Seed with his future son-in-law.
"Charles!" Isaiah screamed over to his old friend and waved his arms to get the man's attention.
"Isaiah!" Charles called back in surprise, then ran up to the mill to give Edwards a friendly hug. "What on earth are you doing here?"
"What are you talkin' about?" Edwards joked. "You're the one who wrote to me about Half-pint getting hitched. It's like you knew that I needed an excuse to come up for a visit."
"Well, it's great seeing you again." Charles smiled. "Laura and Almanzo are planning on getting married in just a few weeks. She's going to be so happy that you're here."
"Say, do you know where she is? I wanted to surprise her."
"She's teaching over at the schoolhouse, so you better hurry over there before the children finish eating lunch."
"First, I learn Half-pint's getting married. Now, she's a teacher. It seems like only yesterday I was teachin' her how to spit."
Charles laughed as Isaiah strutted through town towards the schoolhouse. After passing by the students eating outside and walking up the staircase, Isaiah walked in to see two women standing at the front of the room. "Excuse me."
"Mr. Edwards!" Laura cheered as soon as she saw him, running up for a hug.
"That can't be you, Laura Ingalls." Edwards said with a wide smile on his face. "You look way too old and mature to be Half-pint."
"Well, it has been awhile since you've last seen me." Laura said, memories rushing back about her favorite pioneer.
"Ain't that the truth. Now, I wanna meet this Almanny Wilder you decided to marry."
"Alright! We can go see him while the students are still at lunch. I'll be right back, Eliza Jane. Come on." Laura took Isaiah by the arm, dragging him out of the school and across town to the Feed 'n' Seed.
"Almanzo!"
The young man stopped his work when he heard his bride-to-be calling for him. "Hey there, Beth."
Laura walked up to Almanzo with Mr. Edwards by her side. "Manly, I'd like you to meet Isaiah Edwards. Mr. Edwards, this is my fiance, Almanzo Wilder."
"Edwards!" Almanzo smiled and he shook the older man's hand. "Laura and Charles have told me about you, sir. It's nice to finally meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too, Almanzo." Edwards replied, trying not to act too happy, just in case he got a bad vibe from the man who was marrying Half-pint. "I was told that you two are set to marry pretty soon."
"Yup! In just a few weeks." Laura told him.
"Well...you know, I was just passin' through town and I thought I'd...uh-"
"Well, you are planning on staying for the wedding, aren't you?" Laura cut in.
"Does that mean I'm invited?"
"Of course you're invited!"
"Well, in that case, I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
They all started laughing together, just as the school bell started to ring in the distance. "I should probably be getting back to class. I'll see you this afternoon, Manly."
"I'll walk with you." Mr. Edwards said to Laura. "It was nice meeting you again, Almanzo."
"Likewise."
Isaiah and Laura started their walk back across town, until something new caught Isaiah's eye.
"Hey, Laura." Mr. Edwards stopped, then pointed over to a building that he had never seen before. "What's that over there?"
"That's the Silver Coin." Laura responded, her happiness dropping as she looked at the building.
"Another hotel?"
The young woman shook her head. "It's a saloon. Been here for about two years. The townspeople hate it, especially pa."
Edwards' ears perked up at the word saloon. Even though he quit his heavy drinking days years ago, that certainly did not mean he was opposed to having one or two drinks every once and awhile. "Interesting that they would put a saloon in Walnut Grove."
Later that night, after getting himself set up at Nellie's hotel, Isaiah decided to take a stroll through town. Although, he did have a destination: the Silver Coin Saloon. He knew going there was against his better judgement, but the establishment was tempting him. Besides, how much could one night out hurt anyhow?
Just like all the others before him, when Edwards stepped inside the saloon, he was taken back by its grandness. He expected a run down bar, not a beautifully decorated room. He noticed a crowd gathered around a table, figuring an exciting game of poker was being played. Isaiah first wanted to grab a drink, then maybe join the players.
Across the room, Andy and Willie were watching Albert gambling against two well dressed businessmen and a dirty Scott from out of town.
"What are you chewing on, Willie?" Andy asked after taking a sip of his drink.
"Tobacco." Willie answered as he bit down. "Took it from the store."
"Hey, you and Albert going out tonight?" The older boy wondered. "Albert told me that he met up with Bret earlier this week."
"I'm not going. The last time I went to the clubhouse with him, I didn't have the best experience." Willie admitted. The first time he took morphine with Albert, he had the most euphoric sensation of his life. But when Albert was able to get his hands on more of the powder and dragged Willie with him, he had a completely different experience. The happiness did not last as long as it did the first time and the comedown hit him so much harder, he even had to miss school the next day on account of how sick he felt.
After that, Willie figured nothing could compare to the first hit of morphine he ever did, so there was no point in doing it again. If only Albert felt the same way. Instead, it seem like his friend constantly wanted more.
Willie then glanced up to see a vaguely familiar face standing across the room. "Oh no."
"What?" Andy responded to Willie's sudden remark.
"That's Mr. Edwards." Willie stated.
"Who?" Andy asked, never having had the chance to know the rugged man.
"A friend of Mr. Ingalls." Willie began to explain, with nervousness building up inside of him. "He was a drunk once, or at least that's what my mother told me about him. If he sees us here, he might say something to our parents."
It was then Mr. Edwards stepped up to the poker table with a large beer in hand. "Mind if I join in?"
"Go right on ahead." One of the men answered with a wave of his hand.
Isaiah took a seat with the other players and got his cash out from his pocket. He happily took his hand of cards and looked around the table to see what he was up against. "I'm surprised you men let some kid play with ya'."
Everyone looked over to Albert, as another man spoke up. "That kid just won five bucks from me."
"Guess my bad luck streak is finally coming to an end." Albert quickly wiped his smirk away.
Luck had nothing to do with it. If someone watched him enough times, they might get the gist of Albert's strategy when it came to gambling. Instead of being offended when people called him a kid, Albert used that to his advantage. He would act naive in the beginning of a game, even throwing a couple hands to get his opponents to drop their guards. Then, the minute they figured Albert would be an easy win, he would go all out, throwing down large bets and start toying with his opponents. Of course, that plan only really worked on strangers.
Edwards was a stranger to Albert, until Andy stepped beside him and whispered something into his ear.
"Hey, now. No cheating." Isaiah joked.
"Of course not." Albert nodded his head as he glanced back down at his cards, formulating a plan in his head.
The bets were placed and it was finally time for Albert to go on the offensive. After reading the rest of the room, he dropped a raise on the table, causing a small stir from the rest of the other players.
"You seem pretty confident with yourself, kid." Isaiah remarked at Albert's play.
"Only when I have a good reason to be."
One player folded, while another ran out of cash to match the rest of the bets. Albert had his gaze glued onto Mr. Edwards, who seemingly took the bait he had laid out for him. Then, it was finally time for the players to reveal their hands over the hefty pot sitting on the table.
"You know, kid." Edwards took a sip of his beer with confidence. "I think you're bluffin'. Pair of aces."
Albert smirked. "I wasn't bluffing this time. Three-of-a-kind."
Isaiah's face dropped in defeat as Albert tossed down his cards. "Well I'll be."
Albert let out a sigh of happiness, feeling proud of himself and knowing that he now had Mr. Isaiah Edwards right where he needed him. "You know what, sir, I'll let you keep your money."
"What?" Edwards paused as he was about to leave the table in defeat. "Why? You won it fair."
"I'll let you keep it, so long as you do me a favor. Never tell anyone that you saw me and my friends here tonight." Then, Albert's expression turned more serious. "Especially my pa."
Edwards cocked his head. "Who's your pa?"
Albert paused for a moment. He loved his father, but being an Ingalls boy made it hard for him to be the gambler he admittedly loved being. "Charles Ingalls."
Edwards almost cursed. Ingalls had told him about the street boy he had adopted, but never in his wildest dreams did Isaiah imagine the son of Charles Ingalls would be in a place like the Silver Coin. Isaiah sighed. "Alright. You got yourself a deal, so long as you don't tell Charles or Laura that I was here."
"Deal." He smiled. "The name's Albert. The Ingalls family adopted me a couple of years ago."
"I've heard. And don't worry. You and your friend's secret is safe with me."
