On Saturday morning, the buckboard was hitched up to the team, and the Regulators mounted their horses. They started up the long, dusty road to Lincoln, with Lee riding beside Dick and Steve, keeping her distance from Billy and Charlie. Upon entering town, Natalie kept her head tilted down, avoiding eye contact with any of the townspeople. They dismounted and hitched up their horses, and John Tunstall took his newest Regulator's arm.
"Would you like to look around for some nice female clothes in the general store?" he asked her. She reacted with a face of disgust. "Natalie, please, don't make this hard for me. Would you rather I didn't give you help and left you on your own? You have been an excellent Regulator thus far, but I think you shall fare even better in life if you accept who you are: A wonderful female person. Now please, shall we? Consider it a gift; I bought each of my boys respectable clothes when they first arrived."
Finally, she had to relent. "Alright, but nothing too frilly." They entered Tunstall's store and looked around. Tunstall talked to a friendly woman employee of his, and she came to Natalie's side.
"May I take your measurements, miss?" She quickly took them and jotted them on a pad. "Oh, you are in luck. I have lots of dresses your size; you'll have lots to choose from. But first, honestly, what's your favorite color?" Lee was taken aback by the question. Favorite color? She hadn't even considered that. Instead, she thought of the prettiest image she could muster.
"I like sunsets," she managed to say. The lady smiled.
"Oh, I have just the thing for you, then." In a few minutes, Lee found herself wearing a gorgeous dress: The bodice front was a pale cream, and the sleeves a deep red, and the skirt was a matching red with the cream for trim. The lady set a cream bonnet with red and orange ribbons on her head, and Lee had to admit she liked what she saw; she also admitted to herself she enjoyed being fussed over. She eventually took off the dress, and it was replaced with a plain black dress with purple piping.
"A good black dress is perfect for church, funerals, court days, anything," said the lady. Lee thought she didn't look as pretty in this dress, but didn't say anything.
When she was finally wearing her normal clothes again, she came up to Tunstall. "Satisfied now?"
He nodded, and let her exit the store. Lee kept her face down as she passed people, not wanting them to give her strange looks, or for any of them to recognize her. A ways from the store, Doc caught up with her.
"So did you find some nice dresses, Lee?" he inquired.
"Yes," she muttered, "but don't expect me to be wearing any of them a whole lot. Dresses just wear you down; I don't know how women can constantly wear them." She looked around the town. "So, where's everyone else?"
Doc looked a little embarrassed. "Well, most of them went to the saloon down the way, but Dick and I are just kind of wandering around."
"A saloon? What's wrong with that?" Doc looked incredulously at her.
"You're a lady; ladies don't belong in saloons."
"To everyone else here, I'm a man. Watch." She turned to a pair of passing women. Lee tipped her hat and said with a lowered voice, "Evenin', ladies."
"Good evening, sir," said one. They walked on, not knowing the difference.
"You see, Doc? Now, show me what saloon they went to. I need a little drink."
"Drinking's not allowed, you know that."
"Well, maybe I want to play some poker. Now, show me." Doc sighed and pointed down the street to a saloon with foul smells and piano music drifting from it. Lee walked off to it, and entered through the swinging doors.
Natalie had been in several saloons before; none of them strayed from the ordinary cigar smoke, loud music, fights, and bottomless kegs of drink. Lee adapted a manly stride and sauntered over to where the other Regulators stood.
"How come you all end up here?" Natalie asked.
"Some of the other saloons don't allow us in," explained Chavez. "Regulators don't have the best reputation around here."
Natalie nodded. Suddenly, she realized a bar floozy was walking up to her.
"Hey, handsome, how you doing?" The blonde asked. Chavez turned quickly, stifling his laughter.
"Uh, get away from me, lady," Lee said gruffly. The blonde huffed and strode over to another patron. Chavez and Lee exchanged looks and they briefly laughed.
"Well, I just want to play some poker; can we play some here?" asked Lee.
"Of course," said Steve. "Grab a table." Lee and Steve walked over to a table where two men sat.
"Excuse me, fellas," she said in her "manly" voice, "Would you be interested in playing a little poker with my friend and I here?"
The men agreed, and the Regulators sat down. One of the men dealt the cards, and took a quick look at Natalie. "What's your name, son?"
"Lee," she answered honestly.
The playing went on for a while, with Natalie winning the majority of the games. She played in a business-like manner, and had a face of stone. A small crowd had gathered to watch the games, and a few more people were dealt in. The Regulators joined, too, cheering on Steve and Lee. Eventually, Billy wanted to join.
"Hey, deal me in," he said. Lee looked up: Billy stood with a blonde floozy on each arm, and for some reason, her heart stung, and she lost her breath for a minute. But, she quickly regained her air and dealt another round with an extra hand. Five minutes passed, and it was down to Lee and Billy. Charlie stood behind Billy, and noticed what he had: The two of clubs, the eight and seven of spades, and the jack and five of diamonds. In other words, nothing. He started signaling to Lee what Billy was holding, but unfortunately, none too subtly.
One of the men who lost quite a sum to Lee noticed.
"Hey! That guy's helping him out!" Lee snapped her head up and saw Charlie's pantomiming. Charlie stopped in the middle of making a diamond symbol with his hands when he felt all the mad eyes staring at him.
"That Lee feller has been cheating all along!" The other men who lost money hauled Lee out of her chair and immediately, a fight ensued. The Regulators tried holding the other men back, and Lee fought her way as well. Soon, though, her hat was knocked from her head, and her long, slightly curly brown hair fell down her back. Now, she appeared as all she really was: A woman in a man's clothing. The men stared in disbelief, and Tunstall's boys came to her side.
"We better get going, Lee," muttered Chavez. They quickly strode out of the saloon and down the street to the buckboard. Tunstall got the impression that the trip would be cut short a bit. The Regulators mounted their horses, and signaled for Dick and Scurlock to mount theirs. They rode out of town, with every one who had been in the saloon angry at Charlie, and with Lee wondering why it had bothered her so much to see Billy with those two girls on his arms.