The Silver Coin, Part Ten

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fan Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

Link to Part One

~

“Five thousand dollars?” David demanded.

Joe swallowed and nodded. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Keep your voice down,” he reminded David. “Adam’s in the other room.”

David swore under his breath. “I can’t believe you fell for a trick like that,” he said. “Those Irishmen deserve five thousand for pulling it off.”

Joe rolled his eyes. “Thanks for making me feel better about it.”

David stared at him for a moment, but then his eyes softened. He even managed a smile. “Sorry. Anyone can fall victim to a trick like that—providing the swindlers are good enough.”

Joe stared at him for a long moment. Then he folded his arms across his chest. “Something tells me that you would know a thing or two about that.”

David grinned outright at that. “True enough—I never could resist an easy mark. But that’s in the past. Now I’ve got both Adam and Abby to keep me in check.”

Joe smiled back at him. “Yeah—I’ll bet that’s an effective way of staying reformed. I don’t like to cross either one of them. But getting back to these men—yeah, they were good.”

“I believe you,” David assured him. “But Joe, if you’d just stayed away from the poker tables—”

“No, it wasn’t the tables. It was just bad luck that I fell in with those men. That’s Friday the thirteenth for you, I suppose.”

David furrowed his brow at that. “It wasn’t Friday the thirteenth yet when you were playing,” he pointed out.

Joe considered that. “Oh yeah—that’s right. Well, it was just bad luck in general then. But that won’t happen again. I won’t be such an easy mark next time.”

But David shook his head. “Even without that swindle, Joe, you would have lost five hundred dollars. That’s a problem.”

Joe knew he had to tread carefully here. David was perfectly capable of refusing him the loan. “I’ll be more careful,” he promised, giving David his best ‘you-can-trust-me-I’m-completely-serious-smile.’

“Don’t waste that smile on me,” David advised him. “You are charming, but I’m capable of resisting you, you know. Save it for the young girls—or for Hoss. He seems to fall for it often enough.”

“Not often enough,” Joe corrected, chuckling softly. “I’d say the odds are about sixty-forty in my favor. But he doesn’t have five thousand to lend me.”

“Adam does,” David informed him.

Joe cringed a little at that. “Yeah, I know.”

“So why not go to him?”

He shrugged. “You know how Adam is with his money. Besides, I can’t stand to tell him that I was swindled like this.”

David sighed at that. “Five thousand is a lot of money, Joe. It’ll set Abby and I back a bit.”

“Could you loan me part of it?” Joe persisted.

David gave him a thoughtful look. “If I get you out of this mess, will you agree to stay away from the tables?”

“Not forever,” Joe told him honestly. “But I’ll stay away for a month.”

“Deal,” David said. “But that two months will start Monday—I may need you to play on Sunday.”

Joe lit up at that. In fact, he didn't realize until later that David had changed the terms from one month to two. Here was one last chance to play before a long dry spell.

But something didn’t sit right. “Why are you giving me a chance to play?” he demanded.

“I may need you to play," David corrected. "That's not a certainty. At any event, I may need you to play because I’m not going to loan you that money,” he explained. “We’re going to win it back from those confidence artists instead.”

“Uh, poker’s not your game, David,” Joe reminded him. “This isn’t whist or chess—those Irishmen are much more skilled at seven-card stud than you.”

“Maybe,” David said with a shrug, “but I’ll bet I’m the better swindler. Trust me, Joe, they’ll cancel your debt by the time I’m through with them.”

Joe took a step back and grinned in admiration. “Adam and Abby won’t like you falling back on your old ways,” he pointed out. “Not that they should ever find out about it, but…” he let his voice trail off.

“It doesn’t matter if they do,” David insisted. “This is a different matter—now I’m using my talents in a worthy cause.”

“Out-swindling swindlers?” Joe asked.

“Precisely.”

LINK TO PART ELEVEN