Rebel Souls and Outlaw Hearts
A North and South US Miniseries Fanfic
Ashton Main/Elkanah Bent Pairing
Chapter Two: Renegades and Rogues
Chapter Summary: Ash and Bent plan a final parting gift for Orry and George (but not the one you think). Orry and George investigate some robberies and solicit an expert. In New Orleans, the Diabolical Duo try a new venture and a new recruit joins the Bent-Main Gang
Author's Note: I know that Ashton and Bent are not the most PC of characters, but their fanfic author is extremely liberal. So, I will make a common ground. The only derogatory terms will come from their dialogue and not from the third person omniscient narration. Certain words will still be in profanity symbols.
Bent finally convinced Ashton that to really let go of the past, they needed to finish their business with George Hazard and Orry Main. They were going to rob the Main-Hazard Company from both ends. Bent pointed at the map of Philadelphia with his knife. "The Hazard Ironworks office is here in Philadelphia and there is the bank…"
Ashton pointed at the Charleston map. "The Mill is here and the bank is here. We intercept them before they get to the bank and make off with the cash," Ashton said gleefully.
"No, I have a better idea." Bent said. "After Baltimore, they will be looking for two thieves, a man and a woman, so we follow military procedure and divide and conquer. There are two locations and two of us. I take one branch and you take the other and we meet at a rendezvous point."
"I see. I'll take the high road. You take the low road and I'll be in Scotland before you." She said quoting the poem, "The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond". "I like the way you think,"
Bent said. "You take the Hazards in Philadelphia and I'll take the Mains in Charleston."
"I should probably take Orry," Ashton argued.
"No, too many people know you in Charleston," Bent said. "You'd never make a clean get away."
"Neither would you if you go anywhere near Mount Royal," Ashton said. She wasn't completely certain that Bent could be trusted anywhere near Orry.
"I'm not going to Mount Royal just Charleston," Bent promised. "Tomorrow, we rob them. Then, we meet here," He pointed to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the exact halfway point. "We meet in two days time. If you're not there, I go to New Orleans without you."
"Same here," Ashton said. They knew that they could hide out in New Orleans for awhile amongst the gamblers, river pirates, and courtesans. That would give them a chance to regroup, refresh, and recreate their new lives.
They reached over and kissed each other. "Josephine " Bent whispered.
"Napoleon," Ashton whispered back.
Stuart Greene, accountant for the Hazard-Main Company office in Philadelphia, put the daily earnings in an envelope and placed the envelope in his pocket. He knew that he had to watch out for predators and thieves. He had plenty of practice in fighting off dangerous men during the War.
A sob interrupted his thoughts. Stuart knelt down to see a beautiful dark haired woman crouched on the ground. "Can I help you,miss?" He asked.
The woman had wild dark curly hair and wore a red provocative dress. "I don't know if you want to help a Southern lady like myself," she said.
"The War is over, ma'am," Stuart said. "And you look like you're in trouble."
"Oh I am," the woman said. "Some Ya-uh gentlemen took advantage of me, then robbed me!"
"Well I would like to help you Miss,but-" Stuart stammered. That only caused the woman to cry harder.
"My leg," she sobbed. "Can you take me to the hospital?" She knelt down.
Stuart leaned down. "Where are you hurt?" He asked as he held her arm.
"Down here," she said as he tried to help her stand. The woman lifted her skirt and pulled a dagger from her boot. "Don't move!" At first, Stuart laughed but then he realized that she was serious. "Now give me your money!" She insisted.
"I can't," Stuart said.
"Give it to me!" Ashton screamed. Then she stabbed the man twice in the chest. As the man collapsed on the ground, Ashton scooped the envelope and hid it on her person.
Tom Kano, cousin of Ezra Kano, accepted the day's earnings from Orry Main. "Thank you, Orry," the tall black man said. "You sure you don't want to-?"
He didn't have to elaborate. They weren't master and slave, but there was still much animosity and mistrust amongst the black and white population of the South.
"That you would ask me shows how little you know me," Orry said kindly. "I trust you." Orry had changed quite a bit since the war. He no longer thought of African-Americans as uneducated children. He recognized their strengths, intelligence, and friendship. He was proud of Madeline for creating the school and he did everything he could to support it. When he wasn't too busy with the business or rebuilding the plantation, sometimes he even engaged in physical education games with the children and taught them self defense. (which they sorely needed because of the Ku Klux Klan hanging around, which Orry was proud not to be a member.) It was like giving his son, Little Orry several siblings or cousins.
Tom smiled and left with the envelope. It was a crowded busy day of people mostly trying to do business and adjust to the new normal that was Reconstruction. Tom didn't see or hear the man follow him until he heard a Georgian accented voice say, "Hey N$# #r!" Hr barely turned around before he was hit on the head by a blunt object. He didn't see the man who hit him, nor did he see him steal the envelope and sneak away.
Orry locked up the office as a shock fell through him. "Oh no, Tom!" He ran towards his African-American employee and knelt down. Blood oozed from his head. "What happened?" He asked. He didn't have to look far to see that the envelope was missing.
From his vantage point next to a corner alley, Bent could see Orry Main kneeling over the black man. He would never get a better chance at killing one of his enemies. The crowded street got a little more crowded as Orry tried to get help for his friend. Bent held his gun back as a couple of people blocked his view. (No need to draw too much attention, he thought.) "Move dammit," he hissed. He waited until they moved then he fired one shot.
A scream and loud commotion got worse as people surrounded the shot man. Bent was about to shoot again just to be sure, but realized that he would miss his chance to escape, so he mounted his horse. "I hope you're dead, Main," Bent whispered. "But if you ain't, you live to fight another day." He clicked his horse to speed out of town just as Orry raised his head long enough to see the backside of the man and his horse retreat out of town.
In a tavern in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Ashton drummed her fingers impatiently. It had been almost two days, so where was he? She stomped her foot in impatience. That no account bastard Elkanah Bent had better not have sold her out! If he did, she had much to say about him. She would give him two more hours and if he didn't show, then she would march herself down to the nearest police station and-
The tavern door swung open as Bent emerged, out of breath from the ride but otherwise alright. Ashton ran into his arms as the two embraced and kissed hungrily. "You got it?" Bent asked. Ashton nodded. "You?" Bent nodded. "No trouble?" Ashton asked. "I had to shake a couple of nosy lawmen, but otherwise nothing," Bent said. He took her hand. "Let's go."
George Hazard was stunned. Stuart Greene, his accountant, had been robbed and the day's earnings had been stolen. The accountant was still somewhat unconscious from the attack but luckily the stab wounds weren't too deep. Who could have done this? A random thief? A former War veteran upset that George was doing business with Southerners? A former disgruntled employee? Hell, his sister in law Isabel was pretty crafty, but he didn't think that she would steal one day's earnings. What could be worse than this?
"Mr. Hazard," said Ben Driscoll one of the employees. "This letter came for you."
"Thank you, Ben," George said. He read it and realized exactly what could be worse than that.
Constance Hazard opened the door and admitted Orry and Madeline Main. She greeted them warmly with hugs. George stood back and also greeted his friends, being mindful of the sling on Orry's shoulder.
"You didn't have to come all this way," George said.
"Two heads are better than one," Orry said. Then he nodded at Madeline and Constance. "Make that four."
"You mean six," another voice called. Orry smiled as George's younger brother, Billy Hazard and Billy's wife, Orry's sister Brett emerged. "How are you, Orry?" Brett asked her brother concerned remembering how he fell into alcohol and self-pity after Madeline married Justin LaMotte.
"Well there's about half of me now," Orry said referring to not only his arm, but the limp from the war wound that he received long ago during the Mexican-American War. "Other than that, I'll live."
"And how is Tom?" She asked concerned about the cousin by marriage of her long time friend, Semiramis.
"He'll be fine now that the swelling is down," Orry said. "Semiramis and Ezra are looking after him."
"Then he will be alright," Brett said confident in her friend's medical abilities.
The three couples sat at the dinner table and talked about the robberies. "It's not a coincidence that they were both robbed at the same time," George said. "One is unfortunate, two is careless but two robberies from the same company at the same time is a conspiracy."
"Who would be so cruel as to do something so awful like that?" Constance inquired out loud.
"Desperate times make people desperate things," Madeline said. "Sometimes criminals choose to act from a lack of understanding. They get backed into a corner and can't see any other way out."
"Yeah, well helping themselves to our money is not going to help them in their quest for understanding," George said dryly. "Did you or Tom see anything?"
"Tom didn't see anything. He thought he heard a Georgian accent and I only saw a man ride off," Orry said. "I can't even be sure that it was him but there was something familiar about his stride."
"Has Stuart said anything about the robbery?" Constance asked.
"Some," George said. "Just that she was dark haired and had big-"He was about to use his hands to demonstrate but remembered that he was in the presence of ladies. "-voluptuous. He also said she had a Southern accent and acted all frail and vulnerable before she pulled a dagger on him."
There was a silence as Brett timidly asked. "I hate to say this but do you think the woman was Ashton?" She and Orry exchanged glances at the thought of their disowned sister stealing from her own family.
"These days, I wouldn't put anything past her," Orry said squeezing Madeline's hand knowing that his wife had been a victim of Ashton's treachery and sharp tongue.
"That would make since but she hardly has the power to quickly transport from Philadelphia to Charleston in such speed," Billy said. "You said so yourselves that the robberies occurred almost simultaneously."
"So she has a male accomplice," Orry said. "She's good at finding those." Billy snorted in agreement.
"I wonder who that is then," George said.
"Well we would have to narrow it down to most of the male population of this side of the United States," Orry joked bitterly. "Except James Huntoon. After their divorce, his exact words were 'The Devil take her!'"
"Smart man," George agreed.
Billy considered. "You got to admit the way that they approached the robberies was pretty smart," the others looked at him. "I mean it's a terrible thing that they did. But to the outside world, they are just two random robberies in two different states with no connection except to us. The fact that they occurred with such precision, it's almost like a military style campaign like the work of a genius or-"
George and Orry exchanged stunned glances. Without speaking, they both had the same thought. George spoke for them. "-,or like a mad man who thinks he's a military genius. Tom said he thought that his assailant had a Georgian accent as in-"
"-the fine sovereign state of Georgia'", Orry finished quoting those words from someone who repeated them. "Now I know why the stride was so familiar."
"Who?" Constance asked.
"Elkanah Bent," Orry and George said at once.
"Elkanah Bent," Madeline asked confused. "But I thought you said he was dead. He died in that explosion at that barn."
"They never found a body," Orry said. "They just assumed that there wasn't anything left of him."
"We can't be sure that it's either of them," Constance reasoned. "I mean it's likely, but they are innocent until proven guilty."
"I know a way that you can find out about Ashton," Brett suggested.
"I already contacted Pinkerton's," George said. "I'll tell them about our speculations. They might have more information than we have."
Orry and George entered the hospital where Stuart lay. Bandages covered his chest and neck, completely pale and ashen. He looked up and winced as he saw his boss enter. "Mr. Hazard," he stammered. "I'm sorry about the robbery, I…."
"It's alright, Stuart," George reassured him. "These things happen."
"I will recover the cost," Stuart insisted. "I will work night and day to repay it."
"Stuart, it's fine," George said kindly. "Did you talk to the police?"
Stuart nodded. "I told them everything."
George nodded to Orry. "Stuart, this is my business partner, Orry Main and he wants to ask you about the woman."
Orry picked up the family portrait that Brett handed him. He pointed at the dark haired woman standing next to Brett. "Now think hard, is this the woman who robbed you?"
As soon as he showed the picture, Stuart Greene nodded. "I don't have to think about it. That's definitely her."
Orry and George exchanged a quick glance. "I'd call that a yes." George said dryly.
Uriah "Jack" Jackson entered the boarding house in Baltimore with a mission. He was always a man with a mission. Everything that he did had a sense of importance. During the war, he served as a spy for the Union under the great Allan Pinkerton. Since, he lost Dierdre and Sally, he felt that he lost his sense of purpose. But when Pinkerton began his detective agency, Jackson rediscovered it. True, he got and killed the lowlife scum who massacred his wife and daughter. But everytime he caught a criminal, he saw Dierdre and Sally's bloody remains and knew the work wasn't finished.
He just investigated a bank robbery in Baltimore and if the letter from George Hazard and Orry Main to his boss were any indication, these robbers were more than likely connected to the ones at the Main-Hazard Company. He glanced at the picture of the West Point class of 1841 and remembered what to ask. He knocked on the door and a woman dressed in simple widowed black opened. "Mrs. Idella Johnson," the woman nodded. "I would like to ask you a question about one of your boarders."
He explained about the bank robbery noting the salacious details. He knew that Mr. Pinkerton wanted him to describe these criminals as dangerous as possible. "The more dangerous they are described, the more people will fear and report them," Pinkerton drilled into him. "The more we catch, the more famous our agency becomes."
Jackson also knew that the more noted criminals became, the more twisted people began to admire and copy them. The notoriety that Pinkerton craved could ironically be the undoing of the real purpose of upholding the law, but he wasn't about to tell Pinkerton that.
Mrs. Johnson mentioned the boarder, Mr. Charles Edwards. "He paid his rent on time and was very polite and well mannered. He was very quiet and kept to himself mostly, but sometimes when he was intoxicated, I could hear him ranting and raving through the door." She talked while her daughter swung from the doorway, curious about the grown up conversation.
"What about?" Jackson asked.
"Something about West Point and Napoleon," Mrs. Johnson replied." I didn't understand but he once told me that he was a soldier so I just assumed that he had some terrible memories of the War. Who didn't," she said sadly.
Jackson nodded at the window weeds. "Your husband?"
"Vicksburg," she answered.
"You have my sympathies. Did this man, Mr. Edwards have any visitors?"
"Not that I'm aware," Mrs. Johnson began but a gasp made her turn her head. Mirabelle Johnson, her young daughter at first looked guilty but then tried to cover it up by shaking her head. "Mirabelle, do you know something?"
"No'm," Mirabelle said.
"Mirabelle Alice Johnson, you will tell the truth at once," Mrs. Johnson said with all the practice of a mother knowing that her child is lying.
Mirabelle sighed knowing the jig was up and approached her mother and the agent. "Mr. Edwards gave me a coin if I sent a note to this lady. Then, he gave me another after I brought her to his room."
"Mirabelle, I have told you before not to talk to or do anything for the boarders!", Mrs. Johnson lectured.
"What did the lady look like?" Jackson asked.
"Well she was real pretty with black curly hair and white skin like Snow White," she said. "She talked 'lyike thayis," She mimicked a Southern accent making Jackson smile. "She was with a man. I think she was a whore"
"Mirabelle," Mrs. Johnson said in shock. "Stop reading those novels! They are much too mature for you!"
Jackson smiled. Mirabelle reminded him of his daughter, Sally very sweet and precocious. She always had a quick wit and smart answer for her mother. "Well she was," Mirabelle insisted. "He made love to her and I think Mr. Edwards made love to her too."
Jackson held up the West Point group picture. "Did this Mr. Edwards look like any of these men?"
Mrs. Johnson pointed at the short man in the front row next to the other drill masters. "That's him, except he had longer hair and a beard."
"You're certain," Jackson inquired.
The landlady nodded. "I remember, because I made a comment about his height. I said that he was rather short and he said that as long as his feet touched the ground."
"The man is Elkanah Bent and his companion is more than likely a woman named Ashton Main. They are wanted for not only the bank robbery here in Baltimore but for others as well."
"Is there anything that we can do?" Mrs. Johnson asked hugging her daughter tightly. "Are they dangerous?"
"Definitely," Jackson replied. "Keep an eye out and lock your doors. If you see them, report them to us and you young lady-" He turned to Mirabelle. "Obey your mother."
Jackson reported his findings to George and Orry. "They apparently got as far as Rocky Mount, North Carolina and the trail went cold. But rest assured, the other agents and I will search for them. We aren't called the Eye That Never Sleeps for nothing." He said referring to Pinkerton's motto. "We also have more less noted means of catching them."
Something about the way Jackson said this made Orry concerned, the same way that he felt when he spoke to a townsman the other day and just knew without saying that he was a Klansman. "What kind of means?"
"Ones that we don't advertise but rest assured get the job done," he said. He shook the two friend's hands and left.
Orry waited until Jackson left before talking to his friend. "Do you trust this Pinkerton fella, George?"
"In the Union Army, Al Pinkerton was second to none at catching spies," George said.
"I am aware of his record, George, I mean do you trust him?" Orry asked.
George understood his friend's real question. Did he trust him on a personal level.
*He's relentless no doubt," George said. "The bigger the capture, the bigger his agency becomes."
"What did that Jackson mean when he said 'less noted means'?" Orry asked.
"Well if Pinkerton's activities haven't changed, he used different means," George said. "He recruited spies, informers, tips from unsavory characters, set up a bounty. The longer that they are gone, the more money will increase."
"So there may be a lot of information from people who are in it just for the money," Orry said dryly.
"Maybe but it works," George said.
"Do some of their methods involve torture and interrogation?" Orry asked.
George stared at his incredulously. "Come on, Orry do you think that I would allow that? I remember Libby Prison!" George's time of being tortured in that hellish Confederate prison was never a distant memory. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone even Ashton Main or Elkanah Bent." He reasoned and joked. "Okay maybe Bent." He considered and shuddered. No, not even Bent, he thought. "What really concerns you about this, Orry?"
"I have seen enough fanatics to know how dangerous they can be. An old childhood friend, Cooper, was like a brother to me growing up. Now, he's a member of the Klan! Charles almost signed up and if not for Gus and that actress girlfriend of his, he would be! When I look at that Jackson, I see that same fanaticism."
"Maybe that fanaticism turned in the right direction is what we need to go after them," George said.
"Maybe we should go after them ourselves," Orry suggested.
"Why?" George asked.
Orry was shocked. "George, how can you ask that after all they did to us? Trying to assassinate Jefferson Davis? Ashton trying to have Billy killed? That blockade and now robbing us? I don't know about you but they took a lot of money from me!"
"I will recompense us for the losses," George said. "There isn't much that we can do. What do we do, traipse across the country looking for them when we don't even know where they are? Why for things that happened in the past? I don't know about you, but I have had my fill of blood. I have Constance and Hope. You have Madeleine and Little Orry. We have a business to run. We have lives to get to and it's time we move on towards them."
"You wouldn't say that if Bent say broke in and hurt Constance or kidnapped Hope," Orry pointed out. "I would be the same if it were Madeline and Little Orry."
George grimaced at the thought of the sadistic Elkanah Bent hurting his wife and daughter. The very thought enraged him. "Elkanah Bent would be pretty stupid to come back here if he knew that law enforcement was looking for him. I doubt Ashton would either." Orry shook his head. "One thing about them, they may be crazy and sit at the right hand of the Devil-"
"-Bent may be at his right
hand but Ashton sits on his lap," Orry said cynically mocking his sister's lacivious nature.
George grinned. "-But they aren't stupid. They wouldn't try to come back here unless they were truly desperate."
"Suppose they get desperate?" Orry asked. Being a former Confederate, Orry had a low opinion of the Federal government and Pinkerton seemed too much like them. "They are our angry dogs and it's our responsibility to go after them."
"Well now those angry dogs have become strays," George said. "They are everyone else's problem. But if they become our problem again, we'll be ready for them. Lock the doors and have guns ready just in case. I'm going to teach Constance how to shoot."
"Madeline already knows how," Orry said. "I taught her myself."
Ashton gracefully walked into the casino room of the Hotel d'Lafayette where the men sat playing an intense game of poker. She purposely made her strides slow and methodical to captivate the men seated. Thanks to the money that she and Bent took, she was glad they had gotten cleaned up and had a new wardrobe. She felt a lot more human, more like herself. She was dressed in a short sleeved red gown with an embellished bodice. The skirt was wide but not as big as the ones of her youth. God, she missed the hoop skirts. But she supposed these would have to do if no one wore them anymore. Her hair was pulled back in a becoming fashionable style that revealed her ringleted curl. She waved her black fan in a hand that glowed with a ruby red and diamond ring. She was practically bathed in rose scented perfume. She couldn't resist smiling at the eyes that were fixated on her.
She took quick notice at the table. Only two men paid her no mind. One was a black man dressed in a violet overcoat and black top hat. He was tall and thin with piercing blue eyes, made bluer by his dark skin. He smiled showing a gap in his front teeth. To Ashton, he seemed to resemble a large spider.
The other man who paid her no mind was of course Bent. He too looked more human than before. He was once again clean shaven and had short hair that was now tinged with slight gray. He was dressed in a fancy black gentlemen's suit. He gave the other players a gregarious grin and exchanged a quick knowing glance Ashton's way. Bent and Ashton were now living under the names of Lamar and Sabrina Powell, brother and sister, but the brief glance Bent gave her was anything but brotherly.
A dark haired mustached man in his early fifties approached the lovely female. "Powell, you were not exaggerating. Your sister is lovely."
Ashton giggled and gently swatted her admirer with her fan. "Now aren't you just the sweetest thing," she said.
"Our late parents always said that she was the family beauty," Bent agreed.
"That you are," the man said. "Allow me to introduce myself, Zane Wister." He kissed Ashton's hand. "Now how would you like to sit on over here and be my good luck charm?"
"Against my own brother?" Ashton said feigning innocent shock.
"Now there is no reason that your brother can't be thrown a patronage once in awhile," Bent smirked at the man's condescending tone.
"I don't think it's a good idea for my baby sister to sit amongst you rapscallions," Bent said.
"Oh my big brother would keep me wrapped in cotton if he thought that it would do any good," Ashton teased. "I suppose it comes from having to act as mother and father to me all these years since our dear parent's passing." They both knew without saying that the more embellished details, then the more credible the story.
"Now we will be perfect gentlemen towards the lovely Miss Powell," Wister said seating Ashton between himself and a fair haired player.
"Suit yourself, " Bent sighed pretending to give in but knowing that this was their rehearsed plan all along. "Better I keep an eye on you here than have you gallivanting up and down the French Quarter doing who knows what," Bent gave an impression of a world weary older sibling tired of looking out for his rebellious sister.
"If you ask me dear Lamar, you'd best keep your eye on your cards," Ashton admonished.
Bent smirked as Wister asked. "Now are we going to play or what?"
Ashton intensely watched the dealer deal and shuffle the cards, mentally recalling the elaborate codes that she and Ben planned and what they agreed on. While Bent was an average card counter, he was very good at observation and noting certain details. Ashton could testify to that seeing how he recognized Madeline Fabray La Motte Main's ancestry just by one look at the portrait of her late mother. "While my 'beautiful unmarried little sister' distracts those greedy fools at the table, I will pay close attention to their cards, tells, and behavior then pull out a winning hand."
Ashton considered, then a childhood memory entered her mind. "I can do more than distract them," she said.
Bent gave a seductive grin. "I know you can." He was about to lean over for a kiss when Ashton gently pulled away.
"I didn't mean that, at least not right away," Ashton said. "You see when I was a little girl, my brother, sister, and I went to a fair and we saw this large colored woman have a blindfold over her eyes. Her partner held up various objects like a watch or a ribbon and had her guess what they were. She got them right every single time! Well, Brett and I were amazed but Orry wasn't. He said there is always a trick behind everything."
Bent sniffed contemptuously. "For once Orry Main and I agree on something." Elkanah Bent was not one to believe in the supernatural. He had enough troubles in this world without bothering with the next. "So what did your all-wise all-knowing brother say was the trick and what does that have to do with the price of eggs?"
"Well he said that her partner gave her verbal cues over the items that were in her hand. For example if he held up a watch, he would say something about time or one of the cliches like "of the essence." The trick was to use those cues, but in a natural way without emphasis or hints, making them sound like a conversation so that she understood but the audience never knew."
Bent understood. "I see so you look over their shoulders and give me words and gestures over what's in their hands while simultaneously distracting them with your many... talents and I pay attention to their expressions and get the upperhand so to speak."
"Any objections?" Ashton asked.
Bent took out a deck of cards. "No, let's get started."
It took a lot of conversation to work out their system of codes and gestures to determine suits, numbers, and possible hands. They decided "sweet", "darling," or "dear" meant Hearts, "fight," "war", or "battle" (including the name of specific battles like Gettysburg) meant Clubs, "money," "wealth," and "riches" for Diamonds, "farm," "poor," and "slave" for Spades ("Naturally," Bent quipped.), "lady" or "woman" for Queen, "gentleman"or "men" for King, "child," "boy," or "girl" for Jack and Knave, "river or "water" for straight, "home" or "family" for full house, "red" or "blush" for a flush, the name of a specific river like the Mississippi or the Red River for a straight flush, and "President" including one's name like Lincoln, Johnson, or Davis for a Royal Flush.
Numbers were difficult to guess, but one look at Ashton's fan gave her an idea. "There are ten pleats on this fan," she said. "I will touch the number with my pinky and touch it twice for the hand such as the second for two of a pair and so on."
Once the codes and gestures were settled on, the two worked constantly to rehearse the terms so they came out in a natural way and make sure that Bent didn't slip up and think that Ashton was referring to a card when she was just simply having a conversation. They decided that if she wasn't talking about a card, then she would tap the handle of her fan with her index finger.
The game was so far non eventful with a few minor hands being won and the occasional announcement of "call." "Looks like someone knows something I don't," one man, Virgil Meade said folding. Another player, Thomas Lee ("No relation to our former general".) also folded.
Bent looked up and held up his empty glass. "A little more Bordeaux if you please, my fine lady." He said to the blond waitress, Amy. He slipped Amy a dollar bill for a tip and she giggled at his flirtations.
"That's my big brother always playing the sweetheart to a lady," She said glancing at the cards and noting the Queen of Hearts belonging to Scott Randolph, a young blond man next to her. Bent also noticed that Randolph rubbed his fingers in a circular motion recognizing it as a tell. Ashton also tapped the second pleat twice noting a two pair of hearts. "He's a real dear."
"What about you, Miss Powell?" Wister asked right after he touched his right temple, a tell for a good hand. "I see no wedding ring on your finger except for that red and diamond one which brings out the color of your fair eyes. Is there a fiance that we should be aware of?"
Ashton giggled, but then turned serious. "I was engaged once, Stephen Kenealey a good man. We were going to have a fine home, the finest in the South with a lovely family." Full House. "Unfortunately, he was killed at Gettysburg." Clubs. She also tapped the first, third and fifth pleats. "I would have been Lady of the Manor and now here I am in poverty instead of riches." Queen of Hearts and Spades. She affected a slight sob. "In fact, I wear this ring as a reminder of my lost love." She held up the ring as Bent buried a smirk remembering that Ashton bought the ring only the day before. He subtly pulled out a King of Spades and placed it in his hand.
"What about you, Powell were you in the War?" Randolph asked upholding a conversation but still had his eyes on Ashton.
"Indeed I was," Bent replied. "I fought the all important Battle of Richmond." Upon the confused looks, he translated. "I was in an advisory capacity. I was called into do favors, say if the Yankees had a blockade and former President Davis needed it taken care of…"
He purposely left the remainder of his sentence hanging in the air.
"You mean that you were a blockade runner?" Meade asked.
"No, I was simply in an advisory capacity," Bent said in a tone that hinted at larger things.
"Lamar doesn't like to talk about the war," Ashton said. "He won't even tell me, his dear little sister." She tapped the handle of the fan.
"It's hard to believe that you two are brother and sister," the black man commented.
"Now why should you say that?" Bent asked warily. He tried to investigate any tells but so far came up with nothing from him.
The man nodded. "Well your accent is from Georgia and hers is from South Carolina. How did that come about?"
"It ain't your business is it boy?," Bent said angrily.
"Well if you must know," Ashton answered. "I studied at a finishing school near Charleston and lived with our maiden aunt. Even now, I have trouble remembering my native Geo-wah-gin accent," She emphasized the Georgian which made the other men laugh and Bent smirk.
"What makes you such an expert on accents, working in the cotton fields," Bent mocked.
The man smiled his white teeth almost ghostly in contrast to his dark skin. "Louis-Philippe Chelfont has never been a slave. I have always been a free man. But to answer your question, my father was a merchant and allowed me to travel with him. So, I have heard many an accent in my time." Even though, Louis spoke, he kept his eyes on his cards and barely looked Ashton's way. This unnerved the couple as they exchanged a quick look of confusion before resuming the play.
The players laid down their hands. Randolph had a two pair. Louis had three of a kind. Wister held down his full house. Bent smirked as he lay down four of a kind.
The game continued. With Ashton's clues and Bent's cheating, they managed to clean up quite a massive amount. Bent even threw a few hands knowing that officials and other players get suspicious if the same player won every time. Ashton managed to make her way around the table and captivated the men, well most of them. Finally, the game whittled down to three players: Zane Wister, Bent, and Louis-Phillippe Chelfont. Bent replaced his hand with one that would make a Royal Flush. Might as well finish the game with style.
Bent was confused about Louis. He barely paid Ashton any mind and asked them questions in a tone that implied that he didn't believe them and already knew the answer. Bent wondered if he was some sort of spy on somebody's payroll and either knew or guessed their real identities. He knew that sometimes agencies did hire black workers to spy on their employers and report on their doings, so it was far from unheard of.
Bent met Ashton's eyes and gave her a slight gesture with his pinky finger and pointed at Louis-Phillippe Chelfont. His eyes said go flirt with him.
Ashton just admired the flowing river, hinting that Wister had a straight in his hand when she sauntered over to Louis's direction. She never flirted with a black man before, so this was a new experience for her. Well, she thought, if George Hazard's frumpy sister, Virgilia can marry one then I can at least seduce one.
She smiled the widest grin that she could and approached Louis. "I have become acquainted with just about everyone at the table except you, Mr. Chelfont," she tried to look at his hand but he kept his cards covered from view. "You say you're a free man, did you buy your freedom? You must be extraordinarily wealthy."
"Well I am," he admitted still keeping his cards from her view. " But my wealth wasn't what bought my freedom. I was born a free man. My black mother was my white father's companion and lover. They could not marry of course, but they were for all intents and purposes living together as man and wife and since I was their only child, I became their heir. That sort of thing is quite common round here in Louisiana."
"And nowhere else," Bent interjected.
Ashton leaned closer. "You seem like a man of good taste and sophistication very unusual," Ashton complimented. "In fact, you are one of the more charming men at this table."
"From a beautiful lady such as yourself, I will take that as a compliment," Louis said with a gregarious smile. "But if you don't mind, I would like to get back to the game." He turned to his cards, paying no further notice to the white woman.
Ashton and Bent exchanged another wordless glance. Bent's face said what's going on? Ashton gave a slight shrug, saying what can I do about it. Figuring that it was a lost cause, Bent shook his head. Ashton then returned to Zane Wister. "I hope you weren't getting too lonely."
Wister, Louis, and Bent all glanced at each other. Bent knew that he couldn't lose. "All in," he said laying his chips down
"You are brave," Louis said. "Maybe foolish, but All in." He lay his chips down as well.
Zane Wister shook his head. "I can't compete with that. I'm out of the game." He threw down his hand. "I'm calling it a night boys. This was just a hobby for me anyway, I have more than enough money to spare."
The dealer gave a dramatic pause. "Mr. Chelfont, Mr. Powell please show your hands."
"Go ahead boy," Bent invited still not trusting Chelfont.
Louis smirked and lay down a straight flush. Bent smiled condescendingly. "Congratulations, that's the best hand that we have had all night….until now." He lay down his Royal Flush.
"Game goes to Lamar Powell," the dealer said as Bent collected the chips.
Louis smirked. "Well, it was a good game and I am gratified to lose to such a fortunate player. No sir, nothing like a good honest game." He stood up and tipped his hat.
Bent was still wary of the other man certain that he knew about the cheating. He started to follow him out of the casino hallway and to the stairs. He looked around, but Louis was gone. He seemed to disappear. Bent shook his head in confusion but returned to the table to collect his chips and cash his winnings.
Ashton approached Zane Wister. "Congratulations, you played a good game, Mr. Wister."
"It is I who should congratulate your brother," Wister said. "He is quite the cardsharp."
"Did you mean what you said about not needing the money?" Ashton inquired.
Wister nodded. "Surprisingly, yes my family is one of the few that Reconstruction hasn't touched. There will always be a need to build buildings even during tough times."
Ashton almost laughed at this pompous fool bragging to a total stranger. "Well I am sorry that fortune wasn't with you tonight," she said.
"Let's just say that the cards did not give me a lucky hand," he said.
Ashton gave a sly grin. "You know there are other ways, you can be lucky tonight."
Bent finished collecting his winnings into cash when Ashton tapped him on the shoulder. "Congratulations, brother dear," she said.
"Congratulations yourself dearest of sisters," Bent returned.
Ashton waved at Wister. "If you don't mind, I have company tonight."
"Now should I lecture you about maintaining your virtue like a good brother should?" Bent teased.
Ashton smiled and whispered in his ear. "You know full well I wouldn't listen."
"That's what makes things more interesting," Bent whispered back.
"I'll return later," Ashton said. She was about to join Wister when Bent held her back. "Watch out for that Negro Chelfont. I'm not sure about him. I think he's a spy or an informer."
"I will," Ashton promised. She then walked towards her lover for the evening.
Bent was about to return to his room when he was stopped by Amy, the waitress. "Congratulations, Mr. Powell," she said. She fixed him with a radiant smile.
"Why thank you, Miss Amy," he said. He held out his elbow. "Would you care to celebrate with the victor?"
"To the victor go the spoils," Amy said holding onto his elbow. She accompanied Bent to his room as he made sure that he would not only have a good time but keep an eye on his newly won riches so they wouldn't get stolen or conned away as he no doubt knew that Zane Wister's money was, even now as he spoke.
Amy left the hotel room rather satisfied and without Bent and Ashton's money, to which he was grateful. He counted the earnings mentally dividing it between himself and his partner. He straightened the bills in the pile when he heard a knock at the door. He warily approached it. "Who is it?" He asked.
"Lamar, it's Sabrina," he heard Ashton's voice. He opened the door a crack to make sure that she was alone. He expected to see Ashton with her usual relaxed saucy demeanor after a satisfying night, but instead she looked nervous. Bent opened the door and let her inside. She gave him a deep kiss. "Ash, what is it?" He asked.
She caught her breath. "I got good news and bad news." She fished into her cleavage and pulled out a billfold of money. "This was a gift from Zane Wister, even if he doesn't know he gave it." Bent placed it with the rest of the money.
"So what's the bad news?" Bent asked.
"Well I also spent some time with Scott Randolph," she said. "Afterwards he left and I pretended to be asleep. When I woke up, I rummaged through his drawer and found a Pinkerton's detective badge!"
Bent cursed. "Pinkerton's, shit!"
Ashton nodded. "My thought exactly, but that's not all. I also found this!" She gave him a folded piece of paper. Bent unfolded it to see sketches of both himself and Ashton staring back at him.
The text read:
Wanted
Elkanah Bent AKA Charles Edwards
Ashton Main AKA Lucinda Edwards
For: Armed Robbery of the First National Bank of Baltimore and the Main-Hazard Company of Philadelphia and Charleston, Murder, and Attempt
Reward is $300.00 for their capture
Considered Armed and Extremely Dangerous
"Only three," Bent quipped.
"He knows who we are, I'm sure of it," Ashton said. Bent already grabbed a carpet bag and stuffed some clothes and money inside.
"Then let's get out of here." He said as he packed. Ashton quickly followed suit. The two loaded their guns. Ashton was about to open the door when Bent said frantically, "No not out the door! The window!" He pried open the window and sneaked out first. Ashton handed him both bags and he set them on the ground. She then leaned out and Bent helped her land on the ground.
The two walked through the hotel grounds and approached a tree near the garden when Bent pulled his girlfriend back. "I hear footsteps." Realizing that they may not outrun their follower, Bent leaned Ashton against the tree and kissed her. The two fooled around, hoping to convince their pursuer that they were simply a random couple giving into passion. They stopped when a familiar voice called "Mr. Powell!"
"Dammit," Bent cursed under his breath. He turned around to face Amy. She looked horrified.
"You-you're brother and sister!" She accused.
"Looks like she guessed our secret," Bent said in a sinister tone. He walked around and patted her on the head.
Amy looked downward and saw the bags full of money. "Wha-? You're thieves!" She turned and screamed at the top of her lungs. "Security, security-" She was cut off by Bent holding onto her and putting his hand on her mouth.
"You were a good lay but have an awful big mouth," Bent said. "Now what shall we do with you?" He stuck out his knife and gently moved it up and down her cheek. "We could cut off your pretty little head."
Ashton grinned and also traced her finger up and down the girl's nose and then roughly slapped her. "We could just shoot her and throw her into the lake." She laughed.
"That is if she's a brave girl, you're not brave are you?" Bent said. "You won't talk will you?" Behind Bent's hand, Amy frantically shook her head. Bent loosened his grip on her as Amy took the advantage to shove Bent out of the way and run.
"Ah the Hell with it," Ashton said as she shot Amy directly in the back. The girl collapsed on the ground. "That's two." She said. Bent stood fascinated.
Suddenly, several people emerged from the hotel including Wister and Randolph. "After them," Randolph yelled. "They're wanted criminals!"
"They also robbed me and I think he cheated," Wister said.
Bent and Ashton ran and fired their guns. Wister went down to Ashton's bullet as Randolph was shot by Bent.
The couple ran from the hotel but must have aroused attention because they were followed by several others. The two escaped hand in hand firing their guns. Ashton and Bent turned a corner coming to a dead end. They caught their breath and stood forward ready to defend themselves against the approaching horde.
"Come on," a familiar voice called. They turned to see Louis motioning them towards a horse and buggy.
"Why should we come with you, boy?" Bent asked as both he and Ashton aimed their guns. Before they could shoot him, Louis quickly drew his gun with lightning speed. He then aimed it at the police officers following them and quickly shot them before Bent and Ashton could fire a single shot.
"Any other questions?" Louis asked. He held the buggy open and Ashton and Bent stepped inside.
Louis drove the buggy for a long time. Ashton and Bent were silent during the trip, their arms around each other but their guns ready. They were tense, but prepared. The buggy then came to a stop.
Ashton was about to say something when Bent put his finger over his lips to shush her.
They overheard a rough masculine voice asking. "What you got in there boy?"
"Nothin' but grain and feedin' supplies Suh," Louis said in an exaggerated servile tone. "Is they some kinda trouble, mistah?"
"You watch yourself," the rough voice said. "There are a couple dangerous people that shot a bunch of people outside a hotel. They are considered armed and dangerous, though I don't know if they'd waste their time on a n$# &r like you."
"Well I be sure to keep an eye out for them Suh," Louis said. "You have youself a good evenin'."
The couple held up their guns in case the other man wanted to look inside the buggy. They waited as they could hear crickets and birds engaging in their usual melody. The heavy footsteps of the other man eventually diminished and then ultimately disappeared.
After several minutes, Louis tapped on the buggy. "You can come out now." Bent first emerged then gentlemanly helped Ashton out of the buggy. Ashton moaned as her feet landed right into the wet lands of the Louisiana bayou. "Oh my shoes and my dress," she complained. Louis faced them wearing a plain gray shirt and brown trousers.
He spoke in his normal cultured Creole voice. "We all look and sound alike to them," he explained. "Most white people don't pay half attention to what we say most of the time."
Bent turned to Ashton as the two took a half second to get their bearings standing in the bayou. "You alright?" Bent asked Ashton who nodded. Together, they drew their guns and pointed them at Louis.
"Alright just who are you, boy?" Bent asked.
"Are you always this grateful to people who save your life or did I just get lucky?" Louis asked sarcastically.
"You'd be surprised," Bent said remembering that the last two men who had saved his life were his future long-time enemies, Orry Main and George Hazard.
"Why are you helping us?" Ashton asked.
"Because I sense that the three of us are in the same situation or soon will be," Louis said.
"You are nothing like us," Bent insisted.
"On the contrary," Louis said. "I know quite a bit about you. I know that you two are no more related than I am to you, Mr. Bent, Miss Main."
They pointed their guns at him again. "How did you know who we are? You hear about the reward?" Ashton demanded.
"That's the last thing that you'll ever hear about," Bent swore.
"Actually, I just saw your picture on a wanted poster and heard tales about the rest," he said. "Word gets around."
"Like what?" Ashton asked.
"Miss Ashton Main is the second child of a rice plantation owning family in South Carolina and your brother, General Orry Main was for the Confederacy and his friend and current business partner George Hazard was for the Union. Parents both dead, sister, Brett, is married and lives up North. Brother, Orry also married and runs the plantation though his wife, Madeline does most of the day to day activities since Orry runs the manufacturing business in Charleston. A business that is doing so well that it shows signs of expansion. You had been married to James Huntoon, first assistant to the Secretary of Treasury to the Confederacy. Ended in divorce no children.
Mr. Elkanah Bent was the youngest child of poor white trash tobacco farmers from Georgia, though there is some doubt about that seeing as the Bents all were fair haired and blue and green eyed and you are dark haired and dark eyed. I guess your family temporarily living up in Ohio at the time of your birth and your mother working as a midwife including to a few unmarried mothers might have had something to do with it. Parents dead, farm burnt down under shall we say mysterious circumstances. Siblings leant out to farm work or service, but you somehow my fine clever friend found your way up North and attended West Point in 1841 because of some benefactor right before the war in Mexico. No marriage, but a close friend to many ladies.
I know Miss Main had just about every man in West Point in the honorable class of 1859. I know that a certain Forbes LaMotte was once your lover and got in a fight with Mr. Billy Hazard who was rumored to also be your lover ending in LaMotte's death and Hazard's marriage to your sister. I know that Mr. Bent got himself expelled from West Point for getting caught with a prostitute "- Bent glared at him about ready to snap but Louis continued. "and somehow he managed to receive a commission to lead a near suicide mission during the Mexican-American War. Let's see I know that the former Miss Madeline Fabray was forced off the plantation of Mount Royal when it was revealed that she had negro blood which I am sure it was just coincidence that Mr. Bent was once a customer of Madame Conti, who was also the employer of the current Mrs. Main's mother and a dear friend of mine nor is it a coincidence that this was about the time of Miss Main's marriage to Mr. Huntoon. Oh yes, I also know that Mr. Bent was a blockade runner during the War and that he and the lovely Miss Main were involved in an attempt to assassinate Jefferson Davis and had you succeeded you would have started your own Confederate empire but alas your dreams went up in smoke." They both glared at him. "Like I said word gets around and it's important to have an eye and ear for everything around you even if it is just news, idle rumors, and gossip."
"You know way too much and are much too smart for your own good," Bent threatened.
"Well we all have our vices," Louis said. "Yours appears to be a short fuse. Our Miss Main appears to be too amorously fond of the gentlemen. Mine happens to be a quick wit and a big mouth."
"Which I aim to shoot off," Bent growled.
Louis laughed. "Fine go ahead shoot me," he said. "I'm sure you can find your way out of the bayou by yourselves."
"No different than the Georgia swamps," Bent insisted.
"Sure they ain't," Louis mocked. "I'm sure you will find your way through here, if you make it." He nodded at the nearby water. "By the way you see those logs moving there? Well, they ain't logs." Bent and Ashton stepped back frightened as they realized that he was referring to a couple of alligators that had slid from the banks down to the water. Thankfully, they paid no attention to the trio and swam away from them. "There are more gators than you have bullets," Louis pointed out.
Ashton and Bent exchanged a quick look. It was clear that they weren't going to make it through the bayou without Louis's help. They withdrew their guns. "Fine, you lead us through the bayou." Bent said.
"I also know someone who can get you two on a boat out of here and into Texas. If you don't mind the further pleasure of my company."
Bent rolled his eyes. "You know if I had succeeded in my empire you would not be free nor would you address me as you are now."
"But you didn't, so I am," Louis quipped.
"What are you going to do when we get to Texas, turn us in for the bounty?" Ashton asked.
"My the lack of trust must be what keeps the love alive between you two," Louis said. "Actually, if it hasn't been made so abundantly clear so far, I was planning on joining up with you."
"Why would you that? You said that you were rich," Ashton said. "A rich free Negro. What's in it for you?"
Louis grimaced. "Past tense. I was rich but now I'm not. What Reconstruction didn't take out of my father's business and our money, the Klan certainly did. Apparently, they don't think that the mulatto bastard son of Pierre Chelfont, a white merchant and Colette Roubideux, his black common law wife was enough to inherit, even if my father claimed me as his own, gave me his name, and said specifically in his will that I was his only heir."
"Yes it's wonderful when fathers do that," Bent muttered so low that he didn't think either of them heard.
"It didn't bother them before when I was considered a free man," Louis said. "Now suddenly, the war's end reminded them of my skin color and suddenly some fools in white sheets and in town council's decided that I was no longer fit to be considered a Chelfont. Ironically, the war that was supposed to free my people did very little to help me personally. So now I get by on my wits, some less than lawful activity, and my abilities at the gaming table, which I often have the advantage. Unlike you two though, I have to get by on my own by card counting and recognizing tells. I was practically unbeatable until this evening. Oh I didn't tell anyone. What would I say, that you cheated better than me? They wouldn't have believed a black man anyway. By the way, wonderful performance you did what with the codes and walking in captivating all the men. I don't think Sarah Bernhardt could have done better." He gave Ashton a lavish bow.
Ashton laughed. "Be careful there, Chelfont, you might make Mr. Bent jealous."
"Since when was I ever jealous of any man who ever got your attention?" Bent said sarcastically.
"Well as lovely as you are," Louis said. "You aren't exactly my type."
Ashton stomped her foot. "Well why not?" Then she realized. "Because you are too afraid or aren't interested in white women."
Louis shook his head. "Not exactly." He looked at Bent. " Mr. Bent," he said and gave him a wink.
It took a moment for it to dawn on Ashton but then she caught it and laughed hysterically. "Oh that explains so much. It's not women, white or otherwise that's your fancy. Perhaps I am the one who should be jealous."
Bent finally understood. "It's not a problem is it?" Louis asked.
"You will have the courtesy to keep your peculiarities to yourself and realize that I am not of the same persuasion?" Bent asked.
"I do now," Louis said.
"Then it won't be a problem," Bent remarked.
Louis approached his friend, Emil who was part of the crew of the Evangeline and slipped him a fifty. "Three passengers, myself, this lady, and this gentleman." He nodded to Bent and Ashton.
The white Cajun man looked at the three. "You sure 'bout this Louis?"
"As sure as I can be," Louis declared. "Have I ever steered you wrong." Emil tried to think before he could answer, Louis finished. "My point exactly."
"Well alright," he said. "Enjoy the voyage."
As the trio embarked, Bent poked Louis on the shoulder. "You sure he won't turn us in for the bounty?"
Louis smirked. "Yes, in the first place even if he saw one of the Wanted posters, Emil wouldn't know what it said. He can't read. Second, he ain't exactly the sharpest knife in the kitchen. He probably already forgot what y'all look like."
The three of them walked down a narrow hallway until they reached their room numbers. "I couldn't get first class, sorry. I could only get steerage," Louis explained. "But I got us two cabins, one for me and one for the two of you. They are adjoining in case we need to talk. But I'm sure you would prefer your privacy as would I." He smiled broadly at a male steward who smiled back. "From what I heard on the ship, they plan on stopping in Biloxi first and afterwards Galveston and Corpus Christi. So, might as well get ourselves comfortable for awhile."
The voyage was mostly noneventful. They talked, slept, and made love. Once Louis stepped into Ashton and Bent's cabin. Ashton admired her reflection in the mirror and styled her hair while Bent was sprawled on the bed looking over a map and taking notes on paper.
"Are you planning a robbery or a battle?" Louis asked.
"They're one and the same to me," Bent said. "I never do anything without planning the strategy and its benefits and disadvantages first. A war cannot be won without the right strategy and the proper battle plan."
Louis shrugged and then sat at a nearby table. He opened a deck of cards and lay them out. Through her reflection in the mirror, Ashton glanced at the black man laying down his cards. "Playing solitaire?" She asked.
Louis grinned. "You can do more with cards than games."
Ashton turned around and curiously peeked at the cards in his hands. "Those are certainly strange cards. What are they for?"
"Why foretelling the future of course," Louis remarked. "They're Tarot cards."
Ashton was fascinated looking at the cards wide eyed. Bent snorted contemptuously and returned to his plans. "You learned that from your Mama?" Ashton asked.
"Actually, no from my Papan," Louis answered. "My father was descended from French and Spanish Gypsies or so he always claimed. My mother was intuitive as well. She used to attend Marie's parties all the time."
"Who's Marie?" Ashton asked.
"Marie Leveau, voodoo queen of New Orleans," Louis replied. "Her get togethers had the best gumbo and tales. She would always help provide spells to help and curses to hurt one's enemies. In fact, she gave me this." He held up the amulet around his neck. "It's a gris-gris. I wear it for luck and protection. I am very intuitive on both sides of my family." Bent scoffed and Louis wryly replied. "In fact, I detect a non-believer."
"You detect right," Bent said sarcastically. "I even barely went to church on Sundays."
"And look at where that got you," Louis mocked.
"Well I happen to find this stuff very fascinating," Ashton said. "Our maid, Semiramis used to scare my sister and me with spook stories. She told us one about a ghost in the attic and I swear I could hear scratches and footsteps."
"The house was probably settling," Bent said.
"She also once told our fortunes," Ashton said. "She said that I would meet a tall dark handsome stranger at an important party who would lead me down a path of great fortune but much destruction that would end in fire." She glanced over at her lover. "Well she got most of that right." She noted Bent's short height.
"Well it's not an exact science," Louis quipped.
"It's not a science at all," Bent remarked.
"There are also these sisters in New York that can communicate with the dead," Ashton explained. "They gather around a table and ask the spirits questions and the spirits answer by knocking."
"And it certainly never occurs to anyone to look under the table for feet or to see if a cohort is behind the door," Bent mocked.
"Now El, even Napoleon and Josephine had their astrologers," Ashton pointed out.
"The one thing that I don't honor Napoleon for," Bent said. "They probably told him that the Battle of Waterloo would be a success."
"There are more things in heaven and Earth,"" Louis quoted Hamlet.
"I'm more interested in the things on earth," Bent replied. "It's all guessing and show. Your brother was right, Ashton which I can't believe that I just said that. There's a trick to everything."
"Then if you don't believe in such things then you won't mind if I do a reading for you," Louis suggested. "After all if it is as you say, just guessing and show, then it won't do you any harm because you won't believe what they say anyway."
"No harm except to my time and patience," Bent replied as he put his notes and map away and leaned back on the bed. As if to make his point clear, he put his hat over his eyes. "Read hers if you want to." He gestured to Ashton. "She's obviously gullible enough." Ashton frowned.
"Would you?" Louis asked.
"I would be honored," Ashton answered mostly to show Bent up rather than believing in it completely herself.
Louis lay the cards face down in one deck. "Okay, first I want you to close your eyes and clear your mind." She obeyed as Louis shuffled the deck three times. "Okay now open them and cut the cards." Ashton opened her eyes and cut the deck into two smaller decks. "Now choose which deck." Ashton chose right. Louis put the other deck back in the box and spread the remaining deck into an arch like formation. "Now select six cards and place them face down on the table." Ashton did so as Louis put the other cards back in the pack.
He then lay the six cards into two rows of three and turned over the first one.
The card showed a beautiful blond woman looking at a golden cup. "This is your signifier card. This is who you are. The Queen of Cups in reverse. It shows a woman of great wealth and beauty." Ashton smiled at the compliment. "But in the reverse position suggests one of duplicitous morals, a lot of pride and vanity, a deceiver."
"Well I can't deny it," Ashton said. "It's so much more fun."
Louis then laid down the next card showing a demonic figure right behind a couple in chains. "This is your influence card, what motivates you. The Devil."
Ashton held up the card to her boyfriend. "Look El, it's you!" From underneath his hat, Bent smiled clearly flattered by the comparison.
Louis continued. "You have been influenced and motivated by trickery, deceit, lust all of the usual vices. Beware, they could entrap and enslave you."
He turned the next card over to show another beautiful woman, this time in a lush garden and wearing a floral gown and a crown made of stars. "This is your ultimate goal. The Empress. To be a woman of great abundance, power, fertility-"
"-Fertiliy," Ashton interrupted. "I-" She didn't finish. She wasn't about to tell a total stranger that she had an abortion and since then had been considered barren. Bent was the only one who knew that.
"It doesn't necessarily refer to children," Louis assured her. "It could mean fertile in wealth, style, influence maybe towards other women."
"Well I wouldn't mind that," She fluffed her hair.
Louis turned over the next card. This one showed a large family surrounded by ten coins. Like the Queen of Cups, it too was in reverse. "This is your past, the 10 of Pentacles. A happy wealthy loving family, but in reverse implies that somehow it was not enough for you. You felt restrained, bound, perhaps by tradition and order of having to fill your place and do what was expected of you."
Ashton was about to object, but she nodded. "You got that right."
Louis turned over the next card, a man and a woman falling from a burning tower. "Here is your present, The Tower. There is great change, rebellion, challenging of values, danger. It's almost too great and too fast. You are liable to get burned."
Ashton pointed at the last one. "This is my Future, I suppose."
Louis nodded and flipped it over. Ashton gasped as she saw the image of a robed skeleton on a horse scything the people around it. It was Death. "My word!"
Louis held up his hand. "Don't worry. It doesn't mean what you think it does. It means Transformation and Change, one form to another. You have to move from one state where you are now to where you want to be. It means rather the death of who you were to become who you will be."
"Like a caterpillar into a butterfly," Ashton related.
Louis nodded. "Exactly."
"Well I am intrigued," Ashton admitted.
Louis doffed his hat and turned to Bent. "What about you?"
Bent rose from the bed. "Well, I'm not. It's all guesswork and superstitious nonsense. You know what makes your fate, not the stars, or the cards, or any supreme being out there but yourself."
When he thought Bent wasn't looking, Louis took out the Fool card and showed it to Ashton. She suppressed a giggle.
"I saw that," Bent said. "Anyway, who's the bigger Fool, the one who leads or the ones who choose to follow him?" He walked over to the deck and flipped through them. "If there was one that revealed my destiny, it would be this one." He held up one showing an older man in armor and in a crown. The Emperor. "This is my goal. This is what I am and this is what I will be because I fought for it, robbed for it, dreamt it, and killed for it. No one makes my destiny. I do!"
He placed the card back in the deck and sat back down.
Ashton turned to Louis. "Have you ever done a reading for yourself?"
"Oh yes many times," Louis said. "Just before you in fact."
"And what came up for you?" Ashton asked.
"Well I will spare you all the details but," Louis held up two cards. The first showed a man holding a wand and wearing a robe. He stood over a table with several magical objects. "This is my signifier card. The Magician. One who is skilled, studies, capable of cunning and transformation, a mystery but one who provides council, an advisor." He then held up another card showing a figure hanging by his feet on a tree. "This is my Future. The Hanged Man, sacrifice and wisdom and transformation that can only come from such sacrifice."
He was so earnest in his words that Ashton couldn't help but shiver at the sudden chill that she felt. Bent didn't say anything, but from the bed, he shivered too.
Author's Note
Even though I thought Heaven and Hell was the weakest of the trilogy, I couldn't resist a few references like Cooper (no longer a mysterious previously unknown brother but instead a childhood friend.) Becoming a Klansman and Charles actress girlfriend.
All of the facts about Pinkerton and his agency are true. He really did gain fame as a spycatcher for the Union Army. Unfortunately, like Jack Jackson predicted that making these outlaws more dangerous and notorious really did make them appear more antiheroic and legendary to some.
The series version of Bent is actually a composite of two characters in the books: Bent who was simply Orry and George's drill master at West Point and Ashton's lover who was planning the blockade run and assasinating Jefferson Davis. (I am not sure who was the one who went nuts in the book to Heaven and Hell or if that was even a thing.) I paid that tribute by having Bent assume the name of his other book half, Ashton's lover: Lamar Powell. I chose Sabrina for Ashton's name because I love the Audrey Hepburn movie.
Except for Louis, poker players all have significant names. Zane Wister is a composite of two Western authors: Zane Gray and Owen Wister. Scott Randolph is an inversion of Western actor, Randolph Scott made famous by the line in Blazing Saddles ("Would you do it for Randolph Scott? "RANDOLPH SCOTT!") Meade and Lee's last names are also those of Civil War generals and I believe Virgil is also one as well.
The mind reading act Ashton describes was a popular one one in the 19th century.
Louis-Philippe Chelfont is meant to be a composite of Sheriff Bart from Blazing Saddles, Lando Calrissian from the Star Wars franchise, and Dr. Facilier from Princess and the Frog
Louis's background really happened often in Louisiana. In fact Marie Leveau's husband, a white man changed his status to a free man of color just so he could legally marry her and their daughter Marie II lived openly as a white man's mistress.
Bent and Ashton's blase attitude about homosexuality makes sense when you consider that Bent was in the military and was probably surrounded by experimentation. Ashton probably knew a few in uppercrust Southern society and may have been familiar with the term Boston marriage. (Also in the book Bent is said to be bisexual.)
It took awhile but I studied to find the perfect Tarot cards for the reading. I am a Tarot reader myself.
I have ideas for chapter three including four new members to the gang and Bent and Ashton show surprisingly parental sides. But After Liberty my Liberty's Kids and Hamilton fanfic will take precedence with their second chapter. These two fics are the highest of inspiration so some characters are going to have to take turns.