Partida Rol por web

Why should I obtain by force that which I can obtain by cheating? - Doc Holiday

The barman refilled the whiskey glass without saying a word to the black man who had walked in this afternoon. Sometimes, a man just had to be alone with his thoughts.

Johny had seen many different men walk in to the Cattleman´s saloon, and to others he had worked in the past. He had learned to judge a man, not by his clothes, or the guns he was wearing. And much less the color of his skin. No, all that was just skin skin deep. Johny could often see man´s soul, he could almost feel what the other person was feeling. His passions. His pain. Whatever drove him and kept him going.

-This one is on the house, he said calmly as he cleaned another glass with a cloth that had seen better days. It was early evening, and only a few regulars were in the saloon, and none had approached the bar in a while. –You ´ere for the poker tournament?, he asked.

Gambling attracts scoundrels, scoundrels use to have information."Off course yes!! I 'ave heard about that poker tournament many times. It must be a very important one!!".

-Yeah, it´s goin´ to be somethin´ special. You can get all the information from Lucas´ saloon across the street, he added.

After finishing his drink, Trinity walked out and checked in the hotel and he was about to walk to this Lucas´ saloon, when he saw a newspaper from the day before:

Trinity went to Lucas´saloon and tried to do his best entry, he wanted to be amazing, the voice or his dead brother sounded inside his head "better look like a clown that let the people see your claws". 

I´m thinking of sweet Lena Fair
with deep blue eyes and corncob hair
Her voice
Some folks like to sigh
Solitude, solitude
Some folks like to die
But that´s not me or you

(composed by Stephen Foster (1826-1864), Original Title: Gentle Lena Clare”)

Trinity entered the saloon. But he did not just walk through the door. He made an entrance that forced everyone to notice him. He stood still for a moment, breathing in the atmosphere, the music playing, the wealthy businessmen… He was not there to blend in, to go unnoticed. Yet his presence was so overwhelming, no one came to disturb him. They simple nodded with respect to his direction, eager for him to get closer and introduce himself.

All the while, the black musician kept playing a never-ending song for everyone to enjoy.

This was clearly the place to be on this day in Sabbath. The Lucas saloon was more a brothel, it seemed. There were a number of saloon girls serving drinks and going from one table to the other. They looked at the new comer from the corner of their eyes, and wondered who this man could be. Trinity noticed a certain tension in the air, as if something had happened in town, or something was about to happen.

The bounty hunter smiled. He was no longer Trinity. Here, in Sabbath, it was time for Mr. Arch Stanton to carry out his business. A wooden board had the names of the participants for this poker tournament:

Then he noticed something. There was only one person who had not turned around to look at him. Not even a quick glance. This man had a table just for him, and he was sitting with his back towards the door. On the table, there was a strange skull, playing cards, poker chips and a gambling wheel. The saloon girls looked at the man every now and then, and he seemed to control everything that was going on. And no doubt he had noticed the sudden change in everyone when Trinity had made his entrance. Yet he had not turned around.

Trinity walked through the saloon until the bar. He asked the barman for a whisky. "Where I have to pay the fee for the tournament?"

-Here you are, the best whiskey in town, the barman said and smiled nervously. The saloon girls were pondering whether to get close or give the big man some space, and all the while music kept playing. –You wanna play in the tournament? Well, just in the nick of time, sir… The man you need to talk to is Lucas, the owner of the saloon…

And then the barman pointed at the man Trinity had noticed before, still playing solitaire. This time, their eyes met.

-Well, good evening, sir. I don´t think we´ve met before, my name is Lucas Decroux. Welcome to my humble saloon, and I hope you enjoy indulging in music, beautiful ladies, good drink and food, and some cards and other games.

He invited the stranger to sit down in the chair in front of him. -It must be your lucky day. Our first annual poker tournament is about to start. You play poker, sir?