Salt and Wax
(This story was written at the request of a reader, and in response to the photo of the small box of candles used by the saloon girls to keep track of the time spent with a client. Also, I purposely left some parts of the story to the imagination, so it would be appropriate for FF).
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Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry sat at a poker table in a very crowded, very smokey, very noisy saloon. It was nearly two in the morning and they had been playing poker for nearly five hours and had accumulated a sizable profit. But the size of the other player's bets were dwindling and a couple of the players kept checking their watches, wanting to retire for the night, but not willing to be the first to depart.
Kid caught the eye of the only saloon girl still working the barroom. "Eileen, darlin', could I get another glass of beer?"
"Well, gentlemen, I'm afraid I'm going to have to call it a night," Heyes said with a cordial smile as he gathered up his winnings. "You coming Thaddeus?"
Eileen returned with the beer, then leaned down and whispered something in Kid's ear that made him smile and nod his head.
"You go on, Joshua. I think I might be a while longer."
When Heyes departed, the rest of the players left as well. In fact, in the past hour, the saloon had thinned out considerably.
With the table empty except for Kid, Eileen returned and slid into a chair beside him. Kid leaned back in his chair and took a health sip of his beer, while Eileen moved her chair nearer to him, then casually ran her hand down his thigh to his knee. Kid smiled and offered no protest when her hand moved back up to his thigh, then slid down between his legs.
"Before we start giving folks a show they didn't pay for, maybe we should be heading upstairs," Kid suggested.
"Whatever you want," Eileen said and slowly withdrew her hand, giving one particular area a gentle but firm squeeze before reaching for Kid's hand and leading him up the stairs.
Once in the room with the door shut, Kid was quick to untie and unbuckle his holster. As he hung the holster on the bedpost, Kid noticed Eileen placing a small candle into a small pewter candle holder.
"If it's light your wanting, that ain't gonna be big enough to do much good," Kid commented.
Eileen raised her eyes to look across the bed at him. "It ain't for the light, silly."
"Then what's it for?"
"It's a timer."
"A timer? You keep track of who's the fastest in and out? I can tell you right now I'm gonna lose that race, on purpose."
"Client's are charged by the candle. Fifty cents a candle."
"How long does the candle burn?"
"Eight minutes."
"Eight minutes? That means you charge...four dollars an hour? Hope you've got some special moves for that kind of money."
"I've never had a complaint yet."
"What happens if the candle gets blown out?"
"If the client blows the candle out, I consider it done, because he's just trying to stall for free service. If I blow the candle out, it's usually to make some sort of adjustment, or to add some sort of prop to the activity, so that don't add or subtract from the client's minutes."
Kid thought about this for a minute."Eileen, would you excuse me for just a minute? I need to run downstairs."
"If you're thinking of buying a bottle, it's yours to drink. I never drink when I'm entertaining a man."
"I'll be right back. Don't go lighting that candle while I'm gone."
Kid returned two minutes later with a bottle of tequila and a salt shaker.
"What's the salt for?" Eileen asked.
Kid grinned. "You'll see," he replied and quickly stripped down to the buff and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Now darlin, let's see what you got to offer," he said and motioned her to move around the room so she was standing in front of him. He watched her undress, feeling the straining changes in his own body urging him to respond.
Kid quickly moved to the far side of the bed. "Should I light the candle?" he asked.
"If you're ready, so am I," Eileen replied and crawled into the bed.
Kid leaned to his side and slipped the salt shaker on to the table beside the candle. Then he picked up a match and lit the small candle. He waited a moment until a small puddle of liquid wax formed on the candle just beneath the flame, and he sprinkled a liberal amount of salt into this small puddle of wax.
Turning back to Eileen, Kid slid an arm beneath her neck and leaned in to kiss her. As the passion grew, Kid struggled to keep an eyes on the changes of the candle and twice, used his left hand to shake a bit of salt on the candle.
Twenty minutes later, Kid and Eileen lay entwined and panting.
"Looks like that candle ain't quite burnt out yet," Kid told her. "That was the best fifty cents I've spent in a very long time."
"How did you do that?" Eileen asked.
"Do what, darlin?"
Eileen spied the salt shaker on the table. "Salt?" she asked. "But how?"
Kid picked up the salt shaker and held it tight in his hand. "You got your tricks of the trade, and darlin', I got mine."
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Author's note; Adding salt to the liquid wax of a candle has the same effect as freezing a candle before burning. Both make a candle burn longer.