Cassie smiled at the pretty Chinawoman, then sat herself down. “Aint seen your face round these parts, before,” remarked the almost intimidatingly sexy dark-skinned woman that she’d bet was Miss Vickie. “What brought you to Onyx Landing?”<br/><br/>“A bit of this, a bit of that,” Cassie replied evasively, taking a sip of her beer. No need to go into the Danite killers, right?  “Heard there was money to be had in this town, so I figured I’d have a look.”  She offered an amused smile. “They say mint don’t buy happiness, but I’m game to find test that idea out.”<br/><br/>Disappointingly, Miss Vickie excused herself - to go talk to another of her girls, it appeared. But the pretty Chinawomn stayed, which kept it from being<i>too</i>disappointing.  “So,” she asked, resting her chin one one hand, “do you play cards?”<br/><br/>“I’ve been known to indulge,” Cassie replied. “My folks told me gambling’s a sin, but they told me a whole lotta things are sins that ain’t never hurt me none.”  Sipping from the bottle once more, she regarded the other woman. “Name’s Cassie. You?”<br/><br/>-*-<br/><br/>Tom took a final drag on his coffin nail, then ground it out on the dirt and stepped into the saloon. It wasn’t dark, but it was darker than outside and he had to blink a few times to adjust. Not a bad place, he decided. Cleaner than many he’d been in, and pretty quiet. Course, it was still early afternoon. Nights were probably rowdier, with folk blowing off steam.<br/><br/>A couple of pretty girls sat at one end of the bar, one a dainty little foreign woman - like them Celestials working the railroads - and the other dressed like a man. Sure didn’t<i>look</i>like a man, though. Both of ‘em made him remember just how damn long it’d been since he’d gotten laid.  Too long. But the way th Chinese gal was smiling at him, maybe not that much longer.<br/><br/>Just then, some burly fellow covered in dirt and blood burst in, jabbering away in some foreign lingo. Dutch, maybe?  It sounded like what ol Pete van Rees would go on in, when he got worked up over fellas not liking his cooking.  Still, the madam seemed to have things under control. So, trying not to act<i>too </i>eager - even a whore liked a fellah to take ur a little slow - he walked up to the bar at a point not too near ir far from the two women at the end. “Gimme a beer,” he said, thinking about the few dollars he had left.<br/><br/>The bartender plunked down the bottle and took his money, and Tom took a swig. Not bad, he decided. Not bad at all.  A mite lonely, though. A bit of company would go down a treat with the beer, and then two pretty ladies at the end of the bar were shuffling cards. Another swig, and he decided to try his luck. So he scooped up the bottle, and made his way towards them. “Afternoon, ladies. This a private game, or kin a fellah join in?”