“There was a cave in, at the mine,” Xia explained, shuffling the deck again. “It’s been shut down, and everyone’s been stir-crazy without work.” Again, cards flicked out, into four loose piles. “Let’s play five-card draw, this time. Don’t want poor Cassie hear getting tired of her hand now.”<br/><br/>Xia hardly had a chance to look at her hand before two men approached the table. One tall and skinny, with stringy brown hair and an empty gap of teeth on the bottom row. The other was heavy-set, with thick arms like a barrel and a shiny bald head. They stood around expectantly for a few moments, and Xia hoped if she ignored them, they’d find another girl to bother. But no such luck, as she crowded even closer to her, and made her wish baths weren’t such a luxury around here.<br/><br/>“Hey, chinawoman, why don’t you put those hands and that mouth to better use, and take us upstairs.” The tall man managed a toothy grin, and a vice grip on her arm.<br/><br/>At some saloons, Xia knew, the girls weren’t allowed to say no to the men, so long as they could pay. Not if they wanted to stay. But Miss Vicki didn’t run it like that here, and that was a lot of the reason Xia had stuck around as long as she did. With a quick motion, she freed her arm from his grip, and rearranged the cards in her hand.<br/><br/>“Go away, I’m busy,” she snarled, not bothering to cover her English.<br/><br/>“Not if you still got yer clothes on, you aint. Or did one of these fellas pay for your time?”<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>Victoria picked up the piece of gold and examined it with a careful eye. Outside of US territory, she saw lots of different currency come through, but this was something else entirely.<br/><br/>“I don’t got that much whiskey,” she answered with a laugh,” but I can make change.<br/><br/><i>"That man, the one who tore your dress, is he loco or drunk?"</i><br/><br/>She shook her head, “Wasn’t drunk, no. But that mine is makin’ everybody a bit loco, ‘round here.”  Gustav’s words, about how the miners killed each other, haunted her mind. Clearing her throat, “Maybe they can open it back up soon, so everythin’ can get back to normal. Not that I mind all the extra coin here, but these men are ‘bout to drink me dry.” With a little laugh, she headed to the bar and poured his drink. Another empty bottle left her sighing, and she collected up his change from the coin box.<br/><br/>“Here’s a drink, and your change. Unless you were looking to hire on some company this evening?”