Crimson Palace (16 page)

"Oh, I’m no prospector! Why should I work my tail off with a pick and shovel when I can do much better for myself by dealing cards in a nice warm, dry saloon?

"Actually, I won this place in a card game a couple of years back. I tried selling it, but the man I won it from never had found much of anything on the claim so I couldn’t find anyone who was interested in buying it.

"I started coming up here from time to time and found I kind of liked the place. I keep it stocked with a few day’s worth of groceries and a stack of firewood, along with a few good books, so I can come up whenever I need some time alone. Now, with this last turn of events, I’m more than a little happy that I kept the place."

Shinonn’s heart beat a crazy rhythm when he smiled at her with that crooked grin of his.

"I’m more than a little happy that you kept the place too." She leaned across the table to kiss him lightly on the lips. Her smile was shy, but her eyes glowed with desire.

He sat there for a moment, staring at the beautiful young woman across the table from him. Curly black hair framed her exquisitely formed face. Sapphire blue eyes sparkled through thick black lashes. Her delicately arched lips trembled slightly with anticipation. How could he ever believed her to be male, he wondered? Why, she was more female than any woman he had ever known.

"How do you expect me to behave like a gentleman when you look at me like that?"

"I don’t." Her smile grew more enticing as she began to realize the power she had over him.

"I give up," was all he could say as he reached out for her.

***

The angry wind blew big, thick snowflakes against the window. Although it was still early, they had lit a lamp and heaped extra logs on the fire in the gathering gloom of the raging storm. Though the storm outside raged, inside the snug little cabin the glow from the kerosene lamp and the leaping flames echoed the happiness which enveloped them both.

"It looks like we’re here for a spell, whether you like the idea or not," he teased her.

"Oh, I like the idea just fine. I just hope you won’t find my company too boring."

"You may be many things, my beautiful Shinonn, but none of them will ever be boring."

"Just the same, I think we had better think of something else to do besides,..." with a tiny grin she glanced over at the rumpled blankets that lay scattered before the fireplace, "well, you know. There’s so little I know about you, and I want to know everything."

"Everything? You may not like all that you learn, my darling. I’m far from a perfect man."

"I hardly thought you were perfect. But then, I don’t think I could be comfortable with you if you were.

"I know, why don’t you teach me to play cards? At least we can start out with what you do best. Well, second best, maybe."

"My, you are a brazen hussy, aren’t you?" He grinned as he pulled a deck of cards off the mantle.

"Only where you’re concerned," she laughed.

"Sit down, young lady. You are about to learn the most important lesson of your life; how to play five card stud. Not just ‘play’ it, but how to win consistently yet honestly. I always say, a good poker player doesn’t need to cheat to win."

"I’ve done a lot of watching. It seems a fairly simple game."

"It’s no game, my dear. Those that think of poker as a game have already lost. No, poker is a science.

Poker is figuring the odds of a certain card coming at a certain time. It’s reading the other man’s face, his eyes, the way he sits, the way he breaths. You’ve got to notice every little thing about every player at the table. And all the while, you make sure you don’t give them a clue to what you’re holding."

He poured out two piles of beans to use in place of money, then began to shuffle the cards.

"You pick your own style. Some keep a stone cold face, good hand or bad. The problem with that method is that it’s hard not to get just a mite more hard faced when you get that aces high full house. An experienced player will see those muscles tighten up and know you’ve got something good.

"Now me, I play it kind of easy. I make a wise crack now and then. I kind of slouch in my chair, acting like I might be getting a bit bored. But all the time, I’m watching and I’m thinking. I notice everything about every man at that table. While I’m playing cards, nothing else in the world exists. And that’s the way it’s got to be, or you better keep your money in your pocket."

Hours passed unnoticed as Shinonn took on the role of student and Lincoln that of instructor. He didn’t let on, but he was impressed with how quickly Shinonn caught on to the finer nuances of the game.

"You sure you ain’t played poker before? I’m beginning to think you’ve been pulling the wool over my eyes."

"Nope, never have. What with my da’s weakness to cards, I never wanted to have a thing to do with them. I did do a bit of watching though when things got too dull down in Kicking Mule. I guess I sort of picked up on it then."

"I’ll say you did. You’re a natural, girl. I never thought I’d say it, but I’ve got to tell you, you could be better than me someday."

She laughed at the thought.

"Me a gambler? I hardly think so. I can’t imagine anything more far fetched."

But Lincoln could imagine it. As he sat and watched her graceful hands shuffling the cards an idea began to germinate in his brain. He had always wanted his own gambling house. Suddenly the picture of Shinonn dressed in an elegant gown, dealing poker in their own saloon flashed into his mind.

It wouldn’t be just another shack of a place, he vowed. It would have class - red carpets, gold brocade drapes over stained glass windows, a richly carved bar backed with beveled mirrors. Crystal chandeliers would blaze overhead. He knew he could do it if she were by his side.

He began to unfold his dream to her. At first it all seemed too ridiculous, but as he continued to talk, she began to see what he saw. She could see the beautiful room. She could hear the tinkle of a piano, the clink of glasses, the buzzing of the voices of players at the game tables. Lincoln would look superb in evening dress. Her breath came quickly at the thought of how handsome he would be.

Her eyes glowed with excitement as she began to share his vision. And he wanted it with her! Her breath came quicker. She looked at him with sudden desire.

The cards lay forgotten on the table as they reached for each other. His kiss was wild with passion. She was his woman and always would be. Nothing could keep him from possessing her completely, he resolved as he pulled at her clothing.

Moans of desire came from deep in her throat. She longed to feel his hard body next to hers. She wanted to feel his mouth on her flesh, his hands touching her most secret places. She reached out to feel his throbbing passion, arousing him even more. She wanted to take him into her body, to be filled with his love.

***

The next day the lessons began in earnest. Lincoln’s fantasy of owning his own gambling house suddenly seemed more teal than the four walls of the mountain cabin. They spoke of little else. Together they would see the dream come to be reality.

Lincoln was fascinated by Shinonn’s hands. Although still callused by a life of hard work, he could see a grace in her movements which held him spellbound. The fingers were long and finely tapered. The nails gently rounded. Softened with lotions, they would compare to the hands of any pampered socialite.

He vowed that she would never see another day of hard labor. He would dress her in the most beautiful gowns San Francisco had to offer, cover her with diamonds and sapphires. Men would come from miles around to gaze at her and would feel themselves fortunate to lose their money at her table.

And she would be his. They could look as much as they liked. They could dream of her, as men do. But she would belong to only him.

As the days passed and she became ever more proficient at handling the cards, Shinonn began to glow with the excitement of pleasing him. His dream became her reality. She was willing to work from morning until night if that was what it would take to learn all that he was willing to teach her.

She tackled the job of learning how to win at poker in her typical style - never complaining, never asking to rest. It was Lincoln who called a halt to the lessons for meals. He was the one who would put the cards away when he noticed fatigue bringing a slump to her shoulders.

On bright sunshiny days he insisted that they go for walks in the snow. He fashioned crude snow shoes for them both so they could walk across the heaped up frozen crystals. He knew she needed exercise and fresh air, but would never ask for a break in the lessons.

As each day passed he found himself more and more in love with her. Her determination to learn his trade awed him. Never in his life had anyone ever cared for him as did she. If only he had the words to tell her how he felt! His emotions ran deeper than any mere words could possibly reflect.

Each night they lay together, sharing their bodies and their love. But as beautiful as this time was, Lincoln wanted more. Something deep within him yearned for something that was illusive, that refused to reveal itself, no matter how hard he tried to bring it into focus.

Night after night he lay beside her as she slept peacefully in his arms, trying to pull out the mystery. And night after night, after what seemed hours of hard thinking, he would fall asleep with the mystery unsolved.

Why couldn’t this be enough? She loved him, of this he was certain. And he loved her beyond reason.

Together they would have a better life than he had ever dreamed possible. Could he never be satisfied?

What was this yearning that gnawed at his guts?

And then, in the early hours of one morning, the answer came to him quite suddenly. Shinonn was sound asleep, curled up in her lover’s arms. But, once again, sleep had eluded Lincoln. Cradling her in his arms, he had been awake for hours, trying desperately to reason out his unresolved restlessness.

Suddenly the answer came to him as clearly as if he had read it from the pages of one of his treasured books. He wanted her to be his wife. He wanted to marry her, and he wanted to do it as quickly as possible.

What had once seemed an impossibility now became an absolute necessity. He had never before even considered marriage. A gambler with a wife? Ridiculous! The two simply did not belong together.

But now there was Shinonn. Suddenly he knew he would never feel complete until she became his before the eyes of God and man.

He was possessed with the idea. Now. He must do something to bring it about immediately.

Filled with a sudden energy, he gently pulled away from his sleeping love, being careful to not disturb her. Pacing the small room like a caged wildcat, his mind raced with ideas. Where could they get married? How soon?

He thought of going back to Downieville where he knew there was a preacher, but discarded that idea.

He would not subject Shinonn to the ridicule of the men who had molested her there. And he recalled that the preacher in Downieville had always seemed on the pompous side. He wasn’t about to be married by a man who might look at Shinonn as anything less than the angel she was.

He wanted it to be somewhere special. Someplace that would always hold special memories for them both. Then he had an inspiration. There was nowhere more special than where they were at this very moment! She wouldn’t have to leave the cabin. He would bring the preacher to her.

And he’d bring her a dress, a beautiful dress. A dress that would show her what a beautiful woman she was. He visualized how she would look in a dress with a tiny waist and flaring skirts. He could see the fullness of her bosom covered with fine lace.

He started to wake her, eager to share his thoughts. But she slept so soundly that he hesitated. They had been at the cards until late the night before, and their lovemaking had been no hurried affair.

Glancing out the window he saw that the sky was beginning to lighten. Soon it would be morning.

Why wait, he asked himself? If he started with the first light, he could get down to Allegheny, pick up the town’s preacher and someone to witness the ceremony, find her a dress and be back in a couple of days.

She’d like Reverent Pittsley. He’s always seemed to be a good sport.

Unable to put off executing his plan for even one minute more, he scrambled hurriedly about the cabin, looking for pencil and paper to write Shinonn a note, telling her where he had gone and when he expected to return. He found the stub of a pencil on the mantle, but there wasn’t even a scrap of paper to be found. Searching around frantically, he finally pulled down one of his favorite books and ripped out the title page. He scratched away quickly, telling her that he had gone to Allegheny, a mining camp not far from Downieville, and would return soon with a preacher to marry them.

"I love you with all my heart, my darling. Soon you will be mine forever," he finished the note. With a pleased smile on his lips, he took one more look at his sleeping lover as he slipped noiselessly out the door.

Shinonn woke late to find the fire had died to embers. The air in the cabin was chilled and uncommonly still. Why was it so silent, she wondered? Where was Linc? He had never let the fire die down this low before.

She felt a stab of panic at the thought that he might have left her, but quickly regained her composure. He must have gone out hunting, she decided. It was just like him to try to surprise her with some fresh meat for their dinner.

She pulled the blanket around her shoulders as she stumbled to the door, expecting Lincoln to come walking through it any moment. But when she stepped out on the porch Lincoln was nowhere in sight.

Carrying two logs back inside, struggling to keep the blanket in place, Shinonn’s mind was still in a sleepy fog.

I’ll make a pot of coffee and before it’s done he’ll come walking through that door, she thought. She smiled to herself at how pleased he would be to have a hot cup of coffee after being outside in the chill morning air.

She folded the blankets and stacked them neatly upon the bed. No Lincoln.