The transport managed to make Lakin before sunset. It was a more settled town than the others they had passed through, and Wyatt found them accommodations at the local hotel. The Fort Dodge soldiers were still guarding Jackson, so they enjoyed dinner away from the prisoner.

Once they had begun to enjoy their food, James said, "I thought you boys might o' been getting ready to have a dust-up on that buckboard outside Pierceville."

Wyatt smiled sheepishly. "Just a little misunderstanding," he said.

James looked at Doc expectantly.

"I reckon it's behind us," Doc said simply.

"Good. Because things will get only more strained once the soldier detail heads back. This whole thing can go sour if we're squabbling among ourselves."

"OK, boss," Wyatt said, giving James a saucy salute.

James scoffed and turned his attention back to knife and fork.

"Wyatt," Doc said a moment later, "you mentioned that you know the country we're heading through, and I believe I saw you consulting a map back in Pierceville."

"Yeah," Wyatt answered.

"I'd like a look at that map if you don't mind."

"Sure. It's in my saddlebags in our room."

"Don't you trust Wyatt's ability to follow a map?" James asked, a small smile showing that he was teasing.

"I just like to know what's ahead," Doc responded.

Wyatt understood the sentiment. The future was uncertain, and a map was one small measure of preparation. It was a picture of journeys others had made before them, the heritage of pioneers. But looking at the map probably wouldn't take long, and they had a couple of hours before they needed to head toward their beds. He wondered if Lakin had much of a night life. "S'pose there's a game to be had around here somewhere?"

"If there is, I'll find it," Doc said.

"Just don't get yourselves into any trouble," James cautioned. "We need to be ready to head out with the stage in the morning."

"No trouble," Wyatt assured him. He would keep an eye on Doc. Maybe both eyes.

"And don't gamble all of your money away. We may run into an unforeseen expense or two."

"You worry too much."

"That's to balance you out."

Doc smirked. "Wyatt's been telling me more of your family history," he said. "Are Virgil and Newton brothers' keepers as well?"

"When they get the chance," Wyatt said. "But Virg was the black sheep before I went to the devil, so he doesn't have much cause to tell me what to do."

"Black sheep?" Doc quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. "You didn't tell me about any scandal. To what can you be referrin'?"

"Maybe we'd better not drown him in the family gossip all at once." From the way James said it, Wyatt could tell his brother genuinely wanted him to slow down. He probably still didn't fully trust Doc.

"Don't worry, Jim. Doc's no blabber-mouth."

"Certainly not," Doc said, putting his shoulders back and looking to the side, the image of a righteous man slightly offended. "Personal information is like a solid hand of poker. You don't show it unless someone calls you on it."

"All the same," said James, "let's pace ourselves."

A little investigation after dinner yielded the discovery of Lakin's only saloon, more of a restaurant, called the Full Moon. Wyatt had his doubts about finding anyone prepared to gamble with strangers, and he did worry a little about the trouble James had implied they might get into.

"No fighting, Doc," Wyatt told his friend as they entered the establishment with James in tow. "No knives, no guns, no killings."

"No knives, no guns, no killings," Doc repeated, crossing his heart in childlike innocence. He stepped up to the bar and offered his weapons - all of them, as far as Wyatt knew - to the bartender for safekeeping. Wyatt and James submitted their guns as well. Then they headed into the group of tables where various people were eating or drinking.

"Good evening, gentlemen," Doc introduced himself to a table of young men finishing their dinner. They had the look of cattle drovers. "I'm John and these are my friends, Wyatt and James. Am I correct in thinking that, like ourselves, you are just passing through Lakin?"

"We are," one of the men affirmed. "I'm Bill, and these are Joe and Alan." He offered his hand to Doc.

"I hope you'll excuse me, sir - I don't shake hands."

Bill let his hand fall. The other young men nodded to Doc and the Earps, looking a little uncertain.

"If you boys are agreeable," Doc said, reaching into his jacket and retrieving a deck of cards, "my companions and I would like to pass the time with a friendly game of chance. What do you say?"

"I'm not here to play," James spoke up. "Just making sure my brother and his friend don't inadvertently cause any offense."

"No offense," Bill said evenly. "I wouldn't mind a round or two of five-card draw." He looked at his companions.

"Sure," said the one called Alan.

"I'm not so lucky," said Joe. "But I'll watch you fellows play."

"That's fine," Doc said, pulling out the fourth chair at the table. "Two-bit ante?"

"Fine by me," said Bill.

Wyatt pulled an empty chair from the next table over up to the cattlemen's table backward and straddled it. James leaned on the other table at the spot vacated by Wyatt's chair. Joe cleared their supper dishes into a pile and returned them to the bar. The players put their coins in the middle of the table.

Doc began shuffling expertly, the cards hitting each other almost one at a time from either side, then fanning back together in a neat bridge between Doc's palms. He offered the deck to Bill to cut before shuffling them again. Then he dealt the cards among himself, Wyatt, Bill, and Alan. He set the deck aside and placed a penny on top of it, a token measure against tampering.

Wyatt picked up his cards and studied them. A nine of spades was his only black card. He had a seven, ten, and jack of diamonds, along with a jack of hearts. He had a chance at a straight, a flush, or even a straight flush if he was very lucky, but he decided to play safe with the jacks.

"I'll add another two bits," Bill declared, tossing a quarter into the pot.

"I see that," Wyatt said, matching the bet.

Alan and Doc also stayed in.

Bill took three cards, which indicated that he probably had a pair of something.

Wyatt also took three, and silently cursed when he realized that if he had kept the seven, he would have had a full house. His new cards were the two of spades and the sevens of hearts and clubs. Even so, two pair was a decent hand.

Alan asked for three cards as well. His face betrayed little, but Wyatt thought he might look a little disappointed.

Wyatt looked up at Doc just in time to catch a quick wink from his friend. What does that mean?

"The dealer takes two," Doc said, and exchanged his cards.

Two? Does he have three of a kind? Or is he trying for a straight or flush? Wyatt couldn't help also wondering, Is he cheating?

Doc looked to Bill. "What'll it be, friend?"

"Another half-dollar," Bill said, confidently adding a fifty-cent piece to the growing pile of coins in the center.

That gave Wyatt pause until he saw Doc directing a smirk his way. Damn it, he is cheating. I forgot to say "No cheating." Did the smirk mean Wyatt could bet with confidence, or that Doc was sure to win this round? He decided it didn't really matter. If Doc was winning, he should stay in to make things seem above-board and to encourage more betting from the other two. I'm going to kill him for this.

"I see your half-dollar," Wyatt said. He pushed a one-dollar coin into the middle and pulled back Bill's fifty-cent piece, making sure to do so with slow deliberation so everyone could see that he was making the correct exchange.

Alan took only a moment to decide before folding.

"I fold as well," Doc said in an affable tone. It would have been a little unnerving if Wyatt weren't used to his friend's odd mannerisms. "Let's see 'em, gentlemen."

"Two pair," Bill said, laying down his hand that included pairs of nines and sixes.

"And two pair here," Wyatt said, showing his jacks and sevens.

"A fine start to the evenin'," Doc said, gathering up the discarded cards and shuffling again. "Wyatt, I think you ought to buy us a round of drinks."

"Sure." Wyatt gathered his three dollars and went to the bar for a bottle of whiskey and six glasses on a tray. Doc, you better be damn careful, he thought with some misgiving.

Doc was coughing a lot from the dust kicked up from the stagecoach by the time they made it to Lakin. He was grateful that Wyatt was honoring his request not to discuss it, though his friend did silently offer him a canteen of water from the supplies in the buckboard. The water helped, and he managed to hide the blood in his handkerchief.

Once in town, they made their way to the modest hotel. Wyatt suggested they all stay together to save the cost of a second room, but Doc quickly declared his intention to pay for his own room. He knew he was likely to cough a lot during the night, and he didn't want to keep the others awake.

Their things safely stored in their rooms, they went down to the hotel dining room and ordered dinner.

Before long, James said, "I thought you boys might o' been getting ready to have a dust-up on that buckboard outside Pierceville."

The conversation had been so intense that at the time, Doc had almost forgotten that James was riding along nearby.

Wyatt smiled sheepishly. "Just a little misunderstanding," he said.

James looked at Doc with an expectant expression.

Doc still felt a bit tense over the situation. He had a feeling that Wyatt hadn't gotten all the answers he wanted, and they might eventually touch on the subject again. But for now, they had a sort of truce, and he certainly didn't want James worrying about them fighting. Of course, if things came to blows, he had no doubt that Wyatt would clean his clock, since he had a good thirty pounds on him at least, and Doc had no intention of pulling a weapon on his friend. "I reckon it's behind us," was all he said.

"Good. Because things will get only more strained once the soldier detail heads back. This whole thing can go sour if we're squabbling among ourselves."

It was a good point, and Doc determined to try to keep the peace.

Wyatt laughed it off with a mock salute and a declaration of, "OK, boss."

Thinking of the next part of their journey, which should see them to Granada, Colorado, Doc said, "Wyatt, you mentioned that you know the country we're heading through, and I believe I saw you consulting a map back in Pierceville."

"Yeah," Wyatt answered.

"I'd like a look at that map if you don't mind." Doc loved maps. He fancied himself a connoisseur of drawings and such, particularly in this part of the country, where institutions of higher education were rare.

"Sure. It's in my saddlebags in our room."

"Don't you trust Wyatt's ability to follow a map?" James asked with a slight smile.

"I just like to know what's ahead," Doc responded, not caring to banter at the moment.

They ate without talking for a little bit. Then Wyatt said, "S'pose there's a game to be had around here somewhere?"

"If there is, I'll find it," Doc said confidently.

James and Wyatt settled into some brotherly banter, causing Doc to smile a little.

"Wyatt's been telling me more of your family history," he said. "Are Virgil and Newton brothers' keepers as well?"

"When they get the chance," Wyatt said. "But Virg was the black sheep before I went to the devil, so he doesn't have much cause to tell me what to do."

"Black sheep?" Doc quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. "You didn't tell me about any scandal. To what can you be referrin'?"

"Maybe we'd better not drown him in the family gossip all at once." James said it lightly, but there was a slight edge to his voice.

"Don't worry, Jim. Doc's no blabber-mouth."

"Certainly not," Doc said with an affronted air. "Personal information is like a solid hand of poker. You don't show it unless someone calls you on it."

"All the same," said James, "let's pace ourselves."

Doc was a little disappointed. It had been some time since someone took him into their confidence with family gossip. Now that he was opening up to discussion of family in general, he realized that he missed that aspect of it. The only family members who tended to confide gossip to him had been his cousins George and Lucy. George was five years older than Doc, so it was sometimes hard to get stories out of him, but he was much more knowledgeable on the subject than Doc could hope to be. Meanwhile, Lucy was Mattie's sister and the same age as him. Where Mattie would only hint at certain things, saying it wasn't right to gossip, Lucy would take him aside and fill him in completely. At the time, he had mainly found it amusing. Now, he yearned for it.

These Earps were causing him all sorts of emotional turmoil. Why did he keep coming back for more?