Devlin's Curse (4 page)

He looked up from behind his newspaper just in time to see Miss Esmeralda Jones sail by him with a tow headed youth carrying her bags. He got up and followed her.

Devlin sat once more at his usual table in the Bucket of Blood saloon. He played poker with an ancient white bearded sourdough named Boots. Boots, with his long white hair and beard, had come to Virginia City in’49 with the first big strike. He knew everything and just about everyone in the town.

Devlin found that whiskey enhanced the flow of information so he had bought a bottle of the finest Old Overholt Straight Rye whiskey for his companion. “Tell me about this Big Jim Diamond,” he asked.

Boots screwed up his face. “He ain’t nothin’ but a vulture that un, rolled into town a year ago this July, been buying up evr’ claim he can git his hands on, an sometimes he don’t pay fer um.”

Devlin poured him another shot. “And why do you say that?”

Boots downed his shot before answering. “He’s got him some hardcases, you don’t sell him yer claim, and well I’m just saying, folks have a way a turning up daid.”

Devlin poured him another shot. “And what do you know of his business with Anderson and the Gilded Bird mine?”

Boots downed his shot then shook his grizzly head. “That there ain’t a story fer tender ears. Big Jim went down into that mine with two others, only he come out and well, all they found of them other two was jus’ pieces.”

“Yet Big Jim survived?”

Boots nodded. A shadow passed over his rheumy blue eyes.

When the sourdough Boots had done spilling his town gossip and was slumped against the wall snoring, Devlin rose and went out to the boardwalk. From the corner of his eye he saw
her,
Bianca Snow; her disguise of a sophisticated dress and red hennaed hair did not fool him for a minute. Her lush body that haunted his waking dreams was still the same one that he saw whisking around the corner at Union and C. He also noticed the dandy in a brown bowler hat that followed her at a not so discreet distance. Curious he crossed the street and intercepted him.

When a dark figure blocked Mr. Leonard White’s view, his lustful musings over a tempting bustle were blown clear away.  He skidded to a halt. “Hey there mister…” He sputtered and then looked up. He saw the lean figure of the gambler dressed all in black. He took in how the man casually placed his hand on his hip near a deadly looking gun.

Oh shit,
he thought.

His voice came out as a squeak. “Stand aside.”

The gambler smiled. “Where are you going in such an all fired hurry?” he drawled. 

Leonard stood up straight and adjusted the lapels of his plaid suit. “It’s – It’s none of your business, mister. Now let me pass.”

The gambler looked though him with cold eyes. Leonard felt a chill as if the stranger could see into his soul and witness all of his nasty misdeeds. Could actually see him as he scoured the steaming, smoke filled battlefield to cut off the fingers dead soldiers for their wedding rings and pull out the teeth from their mouths for their gold fillings.

The gambler sneered. “I am making it my business when I see a low sidewinder like you sniffing around after a lady.”

Leonard felt heat in his gut at those words, and his hand itched for the hideout gun in his vest. “Who th’ hell r’ you?”

“Devlin Winter, and go ahead, yank that hideout.”

Jesus fuck!
thought Leonard.

It looked as if fate had put him face to face with the object of Jim Diamond’s reward.  His taste for the gold nearly made him go for his gun but his sneaky weasel sense of self- preservation stopped him.

Devlin saw his hesitation.  He was mildly disappointed because for a spilt second he had looked into this vermin’s soul and seen its rot. He would’ve liked to blast him straight to Hell.  At the same time he had also sensed a connection and knew that this low character was a part of the events that were about to unfold.

“You don’t know who yer talkin to, who I’m working for,” Leonard said.

Devlin shrugged. “Just turn your yellow tail around the other way and give my regards to Big Jim Diamond.”

Fuming, Leonard stalked away.

As Devlin watched him go, a gust of wind blew down the street. A paper handbill fluttered through the air and came to rest down at his feet.  He picked it up and read:

“Now open for business The Emerald Salon, 22 B Street, Gentleman’s pleasure, Monte, Faro, Poker, fine liquors, music and dancing, featuring Miss Esmeralda Jones, The Queen of Montebank.”

He smiled and tucked the paper into his vest. This was an interesting development.  It looked like he would be paying a visit to the Emerald Salon very soon.

Chapter Five

The Queen of Montebank

E
smeralda hired an army of painters and carpenters to refurbish her house on B Street. It was amazing what a handful of gold could accomplish in 48 hours. She had the outside painted forest green trimmed with gold and violet.  In the interior she had expensive crystal chandeliers put in and, furnished it with fine sofas and chairs.  In the very back of the house she converted a room into a small theater. The gaming tables and roulette wheel were all set up in the front parlor.  The salon was equipped with a billiard table and piano along with a small ornate bar stocked with liquor. 

This was their first night open for business. Eager gamblers already surrounded the card tables and roulette wheel. In the corner by the bay window an olive skinned young man played a lively tune on the piano. 

Esmeralda was dressed elegantly in a patterned silk gown of emerald green. Her hair was curled and piled high and she wore a jeweled comb with a flirty green feather in it.  Smiling, she presided over her own Monte table. Women gamblers, who were rare in the west and often, extraordinary beauties as well, drew men to them like bees to honey. She was immune to their covetous gazes as her hands flew deftly over the cards never missing a beat. She smiled as she scooped up their bills and gold.  All evening a steady stream of gentlemen flowed into her parlor. 

Things are off to a nice start
.

Jamie had spent the last week handing out flyers up and down the boardwalk. He took his new job seriously and now stood just inside the parlor and watched over her.

He is charming
, she thought.

She smiled as she saw him dressed in his fancy suit and boiled collar. She still saw him as a boy of eighteen. It was nice for a change to be the recipient of simple youthful adoration. Most of the men that attended her salons reeked of one sort of avarice or another.

Mr. Leonard White was one of them. She had observed him on the stage ride to Virginia City. He had not gambled tonight but nursed his whiskey and watched Esmeralda from the bar. At a quarter to midnight she glanced up when she heard him nearly choke on his drink. She looked towards the entrance where Leonard White stared.

She saw the gambler Devlin Winter walk into her salon. Her hands faltered with the cards. What was left of her heart missed a beat. What the hell had brought him here? To Virginia City? To her Salon? She felt betrayed by fate because,
he,
Devlin, had not changed at all. He was still as handsome as sin. His eyes the same color of smoky topaz with his raven hair that he wore long and that framed his chiseled austere features. His tall form was accentuated by a long black frock coat with a blood red satin vest and ruffled white shirt. A large ruby stickpin, winked from its snowy folds. She could hear the sighs from the other female dealers as he entered the room.

She continued her play. She didn’t want him to see how rattled she was. She expected him any moment to take the next available seat at the Monte table but then noticed that he hung back. She could not concentrate and rapidly lost two of her plays. Flustered she gathered up the cards.

“That’s all for tonight gentlemen. Have a drink on me,” she said.

The two remaining players gathered up their winnings tipped their hats and left.

Devlin watched her from across the room. In a few strides he reached her table before she could flee. He reached out and grasped her hand. “Do not run from me, Bianca, or is it Esmeralda now?”

She tried to pull her hand away. “Let me go Devlin, you have no right…”

Devlin smiled. “I have every right.”

He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. Esmeralda felt weak and helpless like a fly caught in a spider’s web.

“Let us go to your private rooms, my dear. There is much I would like to say to you.” 

Esmeralda started to protest but reminded of her customers said nothing. She saw Devlin glance around the room as if daring anyone to intercede so she gave in and linked her arm with his and led him upstairs.

At the bar, Mr. Leonard White, his eyes bleary with drink watched the object of his fantasies leave on the arm of Devlin Winter. He pounded down another shot of whiskey. A red mist formed over his vision and his head felt like it would explode. His sweaty hand fingered the hideout gun in his vest.

Once they were upstairs, in her boudoir, Esmeralda pulled away from Devlin. Head held high she whirled to face him. “Why are you here in Virginia City? This is my house and my life and you are not privy to it. Haven’t you done enough? I want you to leave.”

Devlin shrugged then took a seat in a large overstuffed chair.  His dark eyes assessed her, took in her beauty, which she had wrapped, in a new alluring package.

“Esmeralda. Hmmm, somehow the name suits you now. I am not sure though that I might prefer you as you were before when you were so much more, should I say, pliant.”

Esmeralda reached into her bodice and withdrew a playing card. The Queen of Hearts, rumpled and worn. “Your parting gift. I am returning it to you now. Please leave.”

Devlin rose and took the card from her. He leaned close to her and inhaled her intoxicating fragrance. Esmeralda backed away she could feel the air between them thrum with energy. He moved quickly, reached out, and pulled her close. His lips captured hers and he kissed her deeply. For a brief moment she allowed herself to be swept away and consumed by the heat of his passion, she kissed him back.

Yet he was the one to pull away. “It is not over between us, my sweet, but for now I will let you make the choice.”

Esmeralda laughed. “Choice? Between the half- light and total darkness? I thank you, but no, I have survived so far. You need not worry on that score.”

Devlin’s nostrils flared and he leaned closer to her again. “Demotic Blood? I can smell it on you beneath the scent of night blooming ceruse. Very clever trick but one day it will not be enough. I can’t make you a promise to stay away.” 

Esmeralda inched backwards from him, her hand reached for her reticule. She pulled out a small deadly looking pepperbox pistol.  “Stand back Devlin, our association is ended.”

Devlin stared her down his gaze that of a predator with Esmeralda as his prey. He walked forward until the gun rested in the center of his chest. She shook her head.

“Do you think I am a fool? Are you certain these bullets are ordinary lead?”

“Never a fool, my dear, naïve perhaps, but not a fool.” He pushed the gun away. “Let’s have a truce. I have some questions for you.”

“You would do well to save your breath. I have nothing to tell you.”

Devlin’s brows drew together. “No, not even to tell me why you are here in Virginia City? Are you not curious why I am here? Why both of us are here? I wonder what the old witch would think? Not being able to shield you with her roots and potions. I’m sure she would flay me alive.”

Esmeralda sighed. “Wherever you go Devlin
,
death follows. This city has more than enough to offer. I am here for the gold. I don’t want anything to do with your business here. Red Bluff was enough for a lifetime.”

Devlin reached out and touched a lock of her titian colored hair. “Make no mistake, my dear. That flame inside of you burns only for me. You long for my touch and my taste.” He tucked the card back into her bodice, turned away and left without a backwards glance.

Esmeralda sat down heavily on the bed. She needed a moment to compose herself. He had taken her by surprise and she was furious at the emotions he’d evoked. At one time she had seen a glimpse of a soul in Devlin but his past actions had proven otherwise.  She was no longer a scared, desperate farm girl in need of a hero.

A discreet knocking sounded at her door.  “Miss Jones, ma’am, there’s someone here to see you, someone who says she needs your help”.

Esmeralda got up and opened the door. Jamie stood there and next to him was the small, cloaked, figure of a woman. It was her first client. She motioned the woman in and closed the door.

Devlin absent mindedly shuffled a deck of cards. He and Walking Ghost now back at his railcar sat together in the red velvet parlor next to a cozy, warm stove. It was still spring in the northern Nevada territory and there was a chill in the mountain air.

“I am intrigued that Big Jim Diamond hasn’t contacted me. After that encounter with two of his dogs, Laredo and that carpetbagger Leonard White I would’ve expected for him to at the very least sent one of his hired guns after me by now.”

Walking Ghost chuckled. “Your reputation has sent them hiding like scared women.”

Devlin laughed.

“I hardly think so. That mine holds something beyond the silver and gold that Diamond wants. It’s something ‘
he must not’
possess. You and I are going down there tomorrow and find out what it is.”

Walking Ghost shook his head. “This feels like very bad medicine. I would wish for Spider Woman to be here.”

“It is possible that even
she
would be terrified by what that that lies at the bottom of that shaft,” Devlin said. “Anderson hung on as long as he could. Maybe his guilt put iron in his spine but even that didn’t last. It’s up to us to find the source then we can let the dynamite do the rest.”

Jamie silently closed the door to Esmeralda’s private quarters.

The petite woman threw back the hood of her cape. Cobalt blue eyes stared out at Esmeralda. There were dark circles under them. They stood out like bruises on her pasty white face. Beads of perspiration dotted her brow. 

“What is your name?” Esmeralda inquired. 

“Dahlia,” she said.

Her voice sounds high like a child’s, with a piquant face that spells pure mischief,
Esmeralda surmised.

“I need your help ma’am, I ain’t got nowhere else to turn.”

Esmeralda looked her over. She took in the skimpy dress, but most of all, the red ribbon tied around her neck.

It will be interesting to hear the girl’s story, the smoke, and the mirrors,
she thought
.

“And in what way may I assist you, Dahlia.”

Dahlia bent her head down and then looked up at Esmeralda through her lashes. “Why ma’am, I’m a sporting girl, on that I ain’t gonna lie, but I want to leave that behind me an’ turn over a new leaf. “

Esmeralda looked intently at her and read her aura. Images flitted through her mind.  “Why come here? I want the truth this time.”

Dahlia pouted. “Well you might a noticed that I’m in a bad way I’ve got a terrible ague, my last genelmn’ clientele, they was pure evil, cursed, what they would say in New Orleans, Vam Peer Ay. They was like to drain me dry. I ran away, there was word on the Coast that you had special powers, healing powers for them that have been cast in the shadows.”

Esmeralda nodded. “Dahlia I can offer you a tincture, one that will not take the place of blood, but will stave off the hunger and the need for it.”

She got up and walked over to a large Oriental chest. Lifting the lid she took out a small purple bottle. “Tell me Dahlia, are there many like you in Virginia City? And if so, there must be many of them, the Vampires?”

A dark cloud passed briefly across Dahlia’s eyes and she hesitated before answering. “I can’t say as I know how many they are but enough to keep us donors busy.” 

Esmeralda handed her the bottle. 

“Take this, Dahlia. If you need more let me know.  I’ll have no sporting girls here but I do have the need of a Faro dealer.”

Dahlia smiled. The diamond tooth in her mouth sparkled in the lamplight.

“Thank ya, ma’am. You won’t be sorry.”

Afterwards, in the early hours before dawn, Esmeralda undressed down to her corset and stockings then lay down on her bed. She was bone tired after her first day yet she could feel sparks of energy flitting through her blood. She tried to close her eyes to relax but to no avail. She lay awake staring at the shadowy ceiling. The sounds of the town irritated her; it was as if a megaphone amplified them. Her skin tingled, alternating between hot and cold. She had no idea how long she lay there before she heard a light rap on the balcony window.  She sat up and slid from the bed. She could see a shadowy form silhouetted through the lace curtains. She picked up her gun from a marble topped side table before she grasped the handle and pulled the door open.

Devlin stood there just outside of the door. His face was cast in the shadows except for the glowing tip of his thin cigar.  He flicked the cigar into the night. He reached for Esmeralda to pull her close. She started to speak but he shook his head. “No words Angel…you have opened the door to me, that is enough, and this time I will not be denied”

Esmeralda looked up into his dark eyes she let her pepperbox slip from her hand and drop harmlessly to the floor. “Yes, God help me, I have.”

Once inside her room they embraced each other hungrily. Devlin divested himself of his hat and boots. Esmeralda pushed his coat off his shoulders. Devlin kissed her lips and the tops of her breasts. His hands smoothed up the curves of her corset then down over her firm buttocks.