by Adam Carter
“Sure. Call,” she said, throwing in more chips.
Darkthorne dealt the flop, laying the three cards face-up. “We have jack of spades, six of clubs and the three of hearts. I’m betting that doesn’t help ether of you.”
“Check,” Kiel said.
“Raise twenty,” Sparky said.
Kiel threw in her cards. “Yours.”
Tarne took the cards and began to shuffle. “Say, anyone heard anything from Mr Karruck lately?”
“Mr who?” Kiel asked. “Sounds like another landlord to me.”
Tarne paused in her dealing and thought about that. “Do you know, I have no idea who Mr Karruck is either. I swear I used to know someone by that name though.”
“Old teacher maybe?” Darkthorne asked. “It would explain why you call him Mr.”
“Probably something you minored in,” Sparky said. “Who knows with those weird occult courses.”
“I did not minor in weird occult courses,” Tarne said defensively. “I just took a course which covered the societal implications of Wicca and its context within the development and structure of modern religion.”
“You got a degree in witchcraft, then,” Darkthorne said, grinning his usual annoying grin. “Could you deal the cards, please?”
Tarne did so, angrily, and said, “Starts with you, Jagrad.”
“Pass. Again.”
Tarne looked at her cards. King-seven, unsuited. “Call.”
Kiel called also, and Sparky raised the pot by another twenty.
“What?” he asked when he received two irate glares. “Can’t help it if you people keep dealing me good hands.”
Both women called the bet and Tarne dealt the cards. A six of hearts, followed by the two red aces. Kiel checked immediately.
“Raise another twenty,” Sparky said, at which point Tarne and Kiel both folded and the deck was handed across to Kiel.
“You know,” Kiel said as she dealt, “I’m beginning to wish I’d taken something interesting like your Wicca studies.”
“Really?” Tarne asked, taking a sip of her Bacardi. Unlike Kiel, she did not need to keep a clear head during the game. “But you passed your archaeology degree, surely that’s worth more to you than anything to do with witchcraft.”
“True,” Kiel said, “although it looks like I’m going to spend the rest of my life on digs which will take me halfway around the world.”
“Fold,” Tarne said. “I thought that was the entire point.”
Kiel shrugged, throwing in some chips as she did so. “Call. I guess you’re right, Heather. I reckon I’m just antsy about going now I’ve passed.”
“Fold,” Sparky said.
“Small blind, remember?” Kiel said.
“Forgot.”
“I’ll check,” Darkthorne said. “Seriously though, Sara, isn’t that what you’ve been working towards for the last few years?”
“Sure,” Kiel replied. “But I can’t help feel I’m going to spend the rest of my days all on my own, living in quarries and wandering through mountain passes like some form of barbarian.”
“Sara of Cimmeria,” Darkthorne laughed. “I’ll check again.”
“Raise ten,” Kiel said.
“Fold.”
Sparky took the cards. “Well, with the engineering degree I just got, I’ll likely be out of your lives pretty soon. I’ll try to come back and visit, of course, but who knows where I’m going to end up.”
“That’s right,” Kiel said as she took her cards, “you signed up for the Navy, didn’t you? Raise twenty.”
“Sure did. I’ve got myself four weeks left in England, then I move out to wherever it is they’re going to send me.”
“I think you’ll probably stay in England for a while at least,” Darkthorne said.
“They don’t tend to send their people out of the country too quickly, you know. Sorry, fold by the way.”
“Call,” Tarne said, having picked up a ten and jack suited. “You’re lucky there’s no war on at the moment, Sparky.”
“There’s always a war on somewhere, Heather,” Sparky said, dealing the flop. “And it’s only really a matter of time before that wonderful prime minister of ours sends us right into the middle of it.” He paused. “Flop brings us the four of diamonds, and the threes of hearts and clubs.”
Tarne checked, Kiel raised the bet, and then both Sparky and Tarne folded.
“Still,” Kiel said, taking her cards as Darkthorne dealt the next hand, “at least you’re going to see some action.”
Everyone called, then Tarne said, “Raise twenty, speaking of action.”
“Fold,” Sparky said. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Darkthorne and Tarne both folded also, and Tarne took the deck. “Do you know anything about your training yet, Sparky?”
“Not much,” Sparky said as he looked at his cards. “Were these even shuffled?”
“Call,” Darkthorne said.
“Decided to play a hand at last, have we?” Tarne asked, also calling the blind. “What’s the ‘not much’ you know then, Sparky?”
“I’m going to be stationed with royalty after my training’s done.”
“Raise thirty,” Kiel said. “How do you mean?”
“Call,” Sparky said. “The ship I’m going to be stationed on, you’ll never guess what it’s called.”
“Fold,” Darkthorne said.
“Nope,” Sparky said with a grin.
“Call,” Tarne said. “It’s not Bastelle by any chance, is it?”
“What makes you say that?” Sparky asked.
Tarne frowned as she dealt. “Not sure. I think I must have heard of a ship or a boat named Bastelle somewhere. Anyway, we have the ten of diamonds, seven of spades and eight of clubs.”
“Check,” Kiel said, as did Sparky. Tarne raised the bet by thirty and the others folded, allowing her to take the pot.
“You win something at last,” Kiel said. “Go on, Sparky, we give up. What’s your ship called?”
“The Princess Aurellia,” Darkthorne said.
“The Princess ...” Sparky paused. “How’d you know that?”
Darkthorne blinked, surprised himself. “I have no idea. You must have mentioned it sometime.”
“Couldn’t have. I only found out this morning and I haven’t seen you all day. Besides, it’s supposed to be classified.”
“Well if it’s classified,” Tarne said, “why are you telling us now? Call.”
Kiel also called the blind.
“Because you’re my pals and I figured you wouldn’t go squealing on me to my superiors,” Sparky said, throwing in his chips. “You sure you don’t know how you know that, Jagrad?”
“Check,” Darkthorne sai. “Look, I’d tell you if I knew, but to be honest the words just came into my head. Wasn’t that the alien girl from Flash Gordon?”
Kiel ignored him. “We have a queen of hearts, and the three and king of clubs, people.”
“Check,” Sparky said. “I’m still disconcerted as to how you knew that, Jagrad.”
“I’ll give you better reason to be disconcerted. Raise twenty.”
Tarne folded. Kiel called the bet. Sparky folded also.
“We get a turn card for the first time this evening,” Kiel said, showing the card.
“A queen of diamonds.”
“Raise twenty,” Darkthorne said.
Kiel called it, then turned over the final card, the river. “Ten of diamonds,” she said.
Darkthorne scratched behind his ear and took another look at his cards. “Check.”
“Raise twenty,” Kiel said.
“Fold.”
“Thought you might.”
“Heather, what did you major in, then?” Sparky asked as Kiel took the deck and began to shuffle.
“Uh, English Lit.”
“That was it, I remember now. You still lining up to become a teacher, then?”
“That was the plan,” Tarne said, looking at her cards and
scowling a little too much at the ten-five unsuited. “I knew a guy who went out on this hand once. He said it was a really good hand.”
“You said that was the plan?” Sparky asked. “Past tense?”
“Call,” Kiel said.
“Call also,” Sparky said.
Darkthorne folded, and Tarne would have followed suit had she not been on the big blind, so she just checked. “I’m not really sure what I’m doing now, Sparky,” she said. “I was all set to go into teaching, but now that I’ve done it and I’m standing at the door, I’m finding other corridors moving in other directions.”
Sparky dealt out the flop. “Nine of diamonds, two clubs, queen of spades. I can see by Jagrad’s face that he had a queen in his hand. So, Heather, what are these other corridors open to you now?”
“Surely you’re not referring to this Wicca stuff, are you?” Kiel asked.
“And what’s wrong with Wicca?” Tarne asked. “Check.”
“Check also. Nothing.”
“Well you must have some problem with it if you’ve raised the point of hating it, Sara.”
“I never said I hated it, Heather.”
“Dealer checks also,” Sparky said, turning over the next card. “Three of diamonds. Can we stop arguing and focus our attention on the cards please, ladies?”
“Check,” Tarne said.
“Check,” Kiel said.
“Something you can agree on,” Sparky said, raising the bet by enough to make them both fold. “Something else you can agree on,” he said, gathering up the cards and handing the deck across to Darkthorne. The cards were dealt, and Sparky raised the bet by twenty.
“Call,” Darkthorne said. “Notice I’m not even mentioning this whole Hallowe’en thing.”
“It has nothing to do with Hallowe’en,” Tarne said. “And I’m folding, by the way.”
“Same here,” Kiel said. “All right, I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m making fun of you. I just ... I don’t want to see you throw away everything you’ve worked towards just on account of some ... well I won’t say what I think of it all, but it’s safe for me to say that becoming an English teacher is somewhat more respectable than becoming ... whatever it is you want to get into with that Wicca stuff.”
“So it’s not respectable now, is it?” Tarne asked.
“There’s more money being a teacher,” Kiel said.
“And longer hours.”
“So you do have a job in mind, then?”
“For those of us still in the game,” Sparky said, “may we have some cards please, Jagrad?”
Darkthorne dealt them. “Queen of hearts, five and king of diamonds.”
“Raise twenty,” Sparky said.
Darkthorne looked at his somewhat dwindling pile and called the bet before turning over the next card. “Ace of clubs.”
Sparky chewed the inside of his lip, then tossed in a lot of chips. “Raise by fifty.”
Darkthorne looked at his own chips before him. He only had sixty left. “Why not?” he said. “All in.”
Sparky threw in ten to match the excess from Darkthorne’s pile and said aloud, “Ladies, you might want to pay attention here. Jagrad’s about to lose everything.”
“Or gain a fair bit,” Darkthorne said.
“Not surprising, since you probably know what I’m holding,” Sparky said jovially.
“I swear I don’t know how I know that Princess thing. Anyway, what have you got?”
“At the moment a pair of kings, but my ten makes for a possible straight if a jack turns up.”
“Well I feel a bit better now,” Darkthorne said, turning over his own hand. “Aces over fives makes for two pair.”
“Jack wins it for me, then,” Sparky said. “Or a king. That’s – what? – six outs?”
“Not good odds,” Darkthorne said, turning over the final card. “And it’s a ... a ... an ace of spades, rubbing your nose right in it as it gives me a full house.”
“And the lead position,” Tarne said, taking the cards to deal. “Blinds please, people.”
“I may not be religious usually,” Darkthorne said as he took his cards, “but I feel as though I’ve been given a second chance.” He noticed Sparky tapping his cards with a finger. “Raise twenty.”
“Call,” Tarne said.
“Call,” Kiel echoed.
“I’m folding this one,” Sparky said. “Too many people playing for my liking.”
Tarne turned over the flop. “Nine of spades, and the two black threes.”
“Getting a lot of threes this game,” Kiel said. “Check.”
“Raise twenty,” Darkthorne said, at which point the two women folded.
“Pushed you over the three hundred pounds mark, hasn’t it?” Kiel said, dealing.
“Clear winner at the moment,” Darkthorne said, “but you know how this game can change at any moment.”
“Too much money to throw in your big blind?” Tarne asked.
“I’m spending too much time admiring my piles,” Darkthorne said, smiling as he tossed in his chips for the blind.
“Nice to find a man impressed by the size of his piles,” Tarne said. “Raise thirty.”
“Big raise,” Kiel said.
“Good cards,” Tarne replied.
“I’m out,” Kiel said.
“Call that,” Sparky said.
“Might as well,” Darkthorne said. “Might as well take another big win.”
“Eight, five, ten, all of hearts,” Kiel said. “So, Jagrad, what are you going to do now? We’ve all said where we’re heading off to, what about you?”
“Raise twenty,” Sparky said.
“Déjà vu as it might be,” Darkthorne said, “but I’m all in. You want to see me, you put what little you have left into the pot, Sparky.”
Tarne looked at the pair of kings in her hand and wished one of them was a heart. “Fold,” she said. “Much as it pains me to do it.”
Sparky sighed. “Really don’t want to do this, but fine. I have another sixty-five.”
“Excellent,” Darkthorne said. “That leaves me still above the two hundred mark.”
“If he takes this, we may as well all go home,” Tarne said glumly.
Sparky turned over his cards. “Highest pair on the board, with a kicker bigger than anything else, and the chance of a flush.” He had a ten in his hand, which gave him the pair, and a queen of hearts which sat nicely with the three other hearts already down on the table.
Darkthorne turned over his own hand with a grim smile. “Seven and three of hearts.”
“He made the straight off the flop,” Tarne groaned.
“Still two cards to go, remember,” Kiel said. “Another heart and the pot’s all Sparky’s.”
Sparky was too busy praying to listen to any of them, so Kiel turned the last two cards over very slowly indeed. “Nine of hearts,” she announced.
“Yes!” Sparky said, leaping from his chair.
“Not finished yet,” Darkthorne said. “A jack or six of hearts will give me a straight flush, since I have the seven, remember. Only two outs, but I live in that slim hope that your prayers aren’t being answered today.”
Kiel tensed. “And the final card is ... the queen of spades. Flushes both ends, but Sparky takes the pot.”
“Which gives me two hundred and eighty quid,” Sparky said, “and brings me nicely back into first place.”
“Your deal, too,” Kiel told him.
“Gladly, mon frère.”
Kiel frowned. “I’m your brother now, am I?”
“I don’t know what sister is in French. I’d’ve said swear, but somehow that didn’t sound right.”
“So,” Kiel said as she took the cards Sparky was dealing, “you never told us what you planned to do with your life, Jagrad. Fold.”
“Fold also,” Sparky said. “I think he was trying to distract us with his good hand and hoped none of us picked up on the fact he’d ignored us all.”
“Whatever,” Dar
kthorne said. “Call.”
“Check,” Tarne said. “Do we get an answer?”
“What was the question?” Darkthorne asked innocently.
“Eight, jack, two,” Sparky said. “All different suits.”
“Check,” Darkthorne said.
Tarne tossed in some chips. “Raise ten.” She took the pot.
Darkthorne took the deck and began to shuffle. “You know, I don’t really feel like going onto much of anything.”
“Well you’re the only one around this table who failed to get his degree,” Sparky said. “Fold.”
“Fold also,” Darkthorne said. “I didn’t fail to get it, I was just unlucky enough to have it escape my grasp.”
“Doesn’t that amount to much the same thing?” Tarne asked, raising the pot by thirty.
“Not much the same thing, exactly the same thing,” Kiel said. “Call.”
“Five, six, seven,” Darkthorne said. “Two spades and a diamond.”
Tarne raised, Kiel folded and Tarne took the cards to deal. “That’s not an answer, Jagrad.”
“No, it’s just not an answer you wanted. Fold.”
“Call,” Tarne said. “So what do you plan on doing with yourself? I don’t think Rianne’s going to be very supportive of you if you lounge around at home all day.”
Kiel called the bet and Sparky checked, and as Tarne was dealing out the flop, Darkthorne said, “Just because I didn’t get the degree, doesn’t mean I still can’t find the future I was after.”
“Four, ace, queen, different suits,” Tarne said. “What, the future in history?”
“That was just what I majored in,” Darkthorne reminded her.
“Didn’t you minor in political tyranny or something?” Kiel asked. “Check.”
Sparky checked also, as did Tarne, and the next card showed the ten of spades.
“Hey, that was an interesting course, that was,” Darkthorne said as once again everyone checked and the final card came out as the seven of clubs. “But no, that wasn’t the one I was talking about.”
Kiel raised the bet by ten and everyone folded. The cards were passed to her. “You minored in something else, then? I don’t remember you doing that.”
“I don’t remember you doing any work at uni, Jagrad,” Sparky laughed. “Maybe that’s why you failed.”
“I didn’t fail,” Darkthorne reminded him angrily. “I just didn’t pass.”