Suited for Luck

by Daniel Schinhofen

  Daf gave him a bright smile, her hands still held in his. Pulling one up, she kissed his knuckles, “Thank you, prophet.”

  Doc shook his head as he let go of Daf’s hands. “Not a prophet. I’m Luck’s Voice. She called me so herself.”

  Lia blinked, her eyes going a little wide at the phrase. “I... see. Very well. Anything you need is on the house, Doc. You’ve paid for your room, but all other services will be covered by me.”

  Doc chuckled, “Good thing I’ve already settled on Fiala, or that might have bankrupted you.”

  Lia’s light laughter filled the room. “That’s a good point. Good day to you.”

  “I need to get back to work,” Daf said, getting to her feet hurriedly. “Madam.” Daf opened the door for both of them.

  With them gone, Fiala and Doc were left with two full plates of food and a full pot of coffee. Doc poured for them before he started eating. Fiala ate slowly for a bit, clearly thinking.

  “Doc? What happened with the barber’s daughter?”

  “She declared a blood debt,” Doc said, making Fiala jerk in her seat. “I gave the debt to her father.”

  Fiala exhaled heavily, and the relief was evident in her tone, “Oh? What made you do that?”

  “Don’t know her and wasn’t about to become responsible for her.”

  “She’s pretty. I had thought maybe you’d accept her,” Fiala said softly.

  “Already got a pretty woman,” Doc replied, giving her a wink when she looked at him.

  Smiling happily, Fiala let the subject lapse as they went back to their brunch.

  Posy came into the room when they were finishing their meal. “I came to get the plates if you’re done.”

  Doc scooped up the last bite of his egg and stacked his plate on top of Daf’s empty one. Adding Lia’s and then Fiala’s to the stack, Doc placed the cups on the top of the pile. “There you go,” he said, having finally cleared his mouth of food.

  “Thank you, sir.” Posy gave him a curtsy. “Thank you for Momma, too.”

  “You’re welcome. Ah, I’ve been meaning to ask, do you study?”

  “We study in between work,” Posy said, coming over to take the dishes. “I study less than the others, so I work more.”

  “Five plus six?” Doc asked.

  “Eleven,” Posy replied with a grin. “I know all my numbers, sir.”

  “Seven times six?” Doc asked.

  Posy scrunched her face up for a moment, thinking before replying slowly, “Forty-two?”

  “That’s right,” Doc grinned, pulling a penny out and setting it on the table. “You can have this if you answer one more for me.” Posy nodded, and he asked, “Ninety-nine divided by three?”

  Posy frowned, her brow furrowing. After a long moment, Doc started to drag the penny back. “Thirty-three?”

  Pushing it back to her, he smiled, “Indeed it is. Want to go for double or nothing?”

  Posy hesitated, then shook her head. “No thank you, sir.”

  “Smart girl,” Doc chuckled. “Knowing when to quit is also a measure of intelligence.”

  Posy beamed and took the penny, then the dishes, and left them alone.

  Fiala watched her go with a smile, “She really likes you. Normally, she’d huff and not answer when asked to do math problems.”

  “Knowing the basics is good,” Doc said, rising to his feet. “I need to go to Otto’s. Got a meeting there.”

  “And I have to rouse Lotus and Jasmine to teach them hold’em,” Fiala said, getting to her feet. “See you tonight?”

  “Of course,” Doc smiled. “See you before that. I’ll likely sit and play a bit.”

  “Hopefully, there will be a seat,” Fiala smiled, kissing his cheek before she left the room.

  Doc followed after her by a couple of paces, watching her tail sway happily side-to-side.

  ~*~*~

  Reaching the barber shop, Doc entered to find Otto working on Grange’s mustache. “Morning, gentlemen,” he greeted them as he took the seat beside Grange. “A shave only today, Otto.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll get you started after I finish with the sheriff.”

  “Heard you went out in third,” Grange commented when the razor was removed from his face for a moment.

  “Can’t win them all, no matter how hard I try.”

  Grange snorted, waiting for Otto to pause again. “My deputies said it was calm during the tournament.”

  “No one tried to cheat. I was shocked, myself. Figured at least one person would.”

  “Too low of stakes,” Grange grunted when Otto finished. “The monthly tournament will be an issue, but the yearly one I’ve heard about will be the worst. Word of that already left town, so we’re sure to get a few sharks in.”

  “It’ll be the following year when the real problems will start,” Doc said. “At that point, word will have spread farther and there will be enough time for travel.”

  Grange grunted as he got up, put his hat on, and tossed Otto a quarter. “I’m thinking it won’t last that long. The Lily will end up with Goodman before then.”

  Doc smiled, “Care to put a wager on it?”

  Grange stared at Doc before sneering, “No. Can’t collect from a dead man and with the way you’ve been making enemies, I’ll never collect from your corpse.” Turning his gaze to Otto, Grange gave the dwarf a small nod. “See you next week.”

  “Of course, Sheriff,” Otto said, walking him out. “My thanks for keeping the town in good order.”

  Otto shut the door once Grange was gone and motioned toward the hallway. “Second door on the left. He’s already here.”

  “Guess we’re both early.”

  “If you want the shave, I’ll get you afterward,” Otto said.

  “Works.”

  Doc knocked once on the door before entering the room. “Afternoon. I’m Doc Holyday.”

  The dwarf in the room stood up, barely clearing four feet in height, and was almost that wide with his heavily muscled arms and torso. A full black beard completely obscured his lower face. His hair was similarly black, thick, and messy, while twin points of light-blue appraised Doc. “Rangvald Oresmelter,” the dwarf replied.

  Doc extended his hand. “A pleasure, Oresmelter. May I call you Rangvald?”

  “If you become my boss. Otto said you had a claim and needed miners and a foreman.” After shaking hands, the men sat at the small table in the room.

  “I’m registering it after this meeting,” Doc said. “I spent just a couple of hours near the stream and came away with this.” He tossed the small bag to the dwarf.

  Rangvald checked the contents and nodded as he examined the bits of gold. “Looks promising. Not big on sifting, but a job is a job.”

  “I’ll be registering for lodes, too,” Doc said. “There’s a promising cave the river dumps into.”

  Rangvald nodded slowly, “That might be better. How many you thinking you need?”

  “You’d know better than I do,” Doc shrugged. “I want to hire you to run the claim. Hire as many as you think can be sustained. Figure I’ll take you and three others this time next week out to it. That should get things started… oh, and I’d like a list of equipment you’d need, too.”

  “How far out?”

  “Less than five days, to the west.”

  The little bit of Rangvald’s face that Doc could see paled. “West?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not many will take a chance on a mine to the west.”

  “It’s a risky area,” Doc agreed. “Taking that into account, how much are you asking to foreman?”

  “For a month, it’d have to be a hundred-fifty.”

  Doc whistled softly, “That much? Because of the danger?”

  “The miners will all want fifty, at least,” Rangvald said firmly. “If what you showed me was just a few hours, you’ll be fine. We just want to make sure the reward is worth the risk.”

  “How about ten percent of the monthly profit for you and
sixty dollars for the miners? Or they can have ten percent to split, if that is higher.”

  Rangvald stroked his beard, considering the offer. “Hundred-fifty or ten percent for me, whichever is higher.”

  Doc grinned and pulled out some paper and ink, having stopped by the general store before going to the barber shop. “Contract for five years, with the chance to renew every five years work for you? The miners who are hired are your call. I’ll get you set up to deposit into the bank and for the wages to be drawn monthly for you to disperse. I’ll also set a line of credit so you can get the supplies you need. If you make us a lot of money, I’ll make sure there’s a bonus for you and the miners at the end of the year. Sound good?”

  Rangvald’s beard scrunched up at the corners of his mouth. His smile was audible in his words, “I’ll sign that. I’ll need a few days to gather everyone.”

  “This time next week, we’ll head out. Once you sign, I’ll get you the money to get the equipment to start with.”

  “One question,” Rangvald said. “Why?”

  “Why what?” Doc asked as he started to write up the contract.

  “Why me? All the other mines have human foremen, so why allow a dwarf to be your foreman?”

  “Because fuck them,” Doc said simply. “Bigotry is wrong. Life is hard enough without it. I don’t care what race a person is as long as they can do the damned job.” Doc stopped writing and looked up to meet Rangvald’s eyes. “You saying you aren’t fit to be foreman?”

  Rangvald’s eyes narrowed, “I’ve been a miner longer than any of those idiots have been alive. I’m not only going to do my job, I’m going to make them understand how badly they’ve erred. You’re fine with other dwarves, right?”

  “Hire the best you can. Bestial, elf, dwarf; race doesn’t matter as long as they’re the best you can get. But I don’t want you doing what those assholes are doing to you, either. If a human is a better miner than a dwarf, hire them. If the bestial is, hire them instead. Clear?”

  “Clear enough, Boss.”

  Doc chuckled, “Just call me Doc. How many do you think you’ll have?”

  “Ten at least, possibly up to twenty. How big a claim are you making?”

  “Twenty acres along the river, and then the cave.”

  “What about security for the mine?”

  Doc snickered and looked up, “Are you serious?”

  “Hard for us to do both.”

  “Since when is a dwarf not his own security?”

  Rangvald laughed, “Fair, but I’ll need a few dedicated security for the transports, if nothing else.”

  “Fair. Make them miners and give those who do the transports a bonus. I have a feeling the mine is going to be so much more than anyone suspects.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’ve got Luck on my side,” Doc chuckled as he stood up. “Let’s go get this contract witnessed by the recorder. Then I need to see the assessor about the gold, set my claim, and open an account. It’s going to be a busy day.”

  Rangvald got to his feet. “I know an elf that used to be part of the tribe around here. Best damned scout I know. I’ll want her as security, too.”

  “How much?”

  “Hundred a month, but she’ll also hunt and bring us food while we’re out, so what we’d need for rations will be lower.”

  Doc hesitated, “Can you use a few camp boys?”

  “Always use a few gophers,” Rangvald said. “You have people in mind?”

  “Maybe. Find at least one and I’ll see if I can’t find more. What do they normally get?”

  “Ten, maybe fifteen because of the danger. If they’re capable, we can teach them the trade, too.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  The paperwork for the contract didn’t take long to fill out, but it did require a fee. After shaking hands on the courthouse steps and promising to meet again tomorrow at the Lily, Doc parted ways with Rangvald, setting off to get the gold assayed for the claim paperwork.

  Assayer is in the bank... makes sense if Goodman wants to keep everything under his thumb, Doc thought.

  Doc walked into the bank, making his way to the desk that had a small plaque for the assayer on it. A dwarf sat behind it, reading a book. Doc stopped just short of the desk and waited to be acknowledged.

  Glancing up, the dwarf blinked at him. “Can I help you, sir?”

  “Need some gold assayed for a claim.”

  The dwarf set the book aside with a deep sigh. “Sure, let’s see what we can do. Do you have the paperwork?”

  Doc pulled out the forms and set them on the desk before taking a seat. “I believe the last thing I need is your portion.”

  The dwarf sat up straighter and picked up the papers. Going over it slowly, he nodded, setting aside the ones he had to fill out. When he finished, he gave Doc a respectful look. “Seems like you know how to conduct business. I just need the gold to test.”

  Doc pulled out the pouch of gold, setting it on the desk before gathering the rest of the documents together again. “I know this takes some time. When should I come back?”

  Opening the small bag, the assayer took the biggest chunk of gold, closed the bag, and handed the rest back to Doc. “At least an hour. All of that was from the same claim?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be back in two hours to make sure you have time to test and do the paperwork. What’s the fee?”

  “Twenty-five dollars.”

  “I’ll bring it back with me,” Doc said. “Have a good day.”

  “You as well, Mr. Holyday.”

  Doc shook hands with the assayer before walking back to the middle of the bank lobby. He quickly found the plaque for accounts and stopped in front of the desk. A beautiful woman, dressed in a business suit instead of a dress, was sitting behind it, looking bored.

  “How can I help you, sir?” the woman asked with a professional smile.

  “Need to open an account with the bank,” Doc smiled as he took the seat across from her.

  “Of course. There is a minimum deposit of fifty dollars to open an account. Do you have that?” she asked, opening a drawer and pulling out a stack of paper.

  Doc pulled three twenty-dollar gold coins from his pocket and placed them on the desk. “Are there any required minimums after the account is open?”

  “Just keeping a positive balance,” the woman smiled. “Name?”

  Doc walked through the paperwork with the woman. It didn’t take long, and she was pleasant enough to speak with. Once they had his account opened, Doc asked about starting up a business account.

  “Do you have the business registered?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Once you get the forms from the clerk signed, just bring them back here and we can do that for you. There is a minimum two hundred dollar deposit to open for a business.”

  “Understood,” Doc sighed. “Another round of paperwork.”

  “What kind of business are you going to open?” she asked as she finished off the paperwork for his personal account.

  “Mining, to start with,” Doc replied. “The assayer is working on the sample now.”

  “Friedrichsen is good at his job,” the woman replied. “He told you an hour, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He’ll have it done in half that; he likes to overestimate.”

  Doc pulled out his pocket watch. “Means he’ll be done by the time I grab the business paperwork from the clerk.”

  “More than likely.”

  “Thank you very much.”

  “Always happy to help a customer of Emerita First National Bank, sir. That’s all we need to do. We’ll have the identification for you tomorrow. You only need one copy, right?”

  “Do I need it for deposits as well, or just withdrawals?”

  “Both.”

  “Need two, at least,” Doc said.

  “Very well. The first is free with the account. The other will be five dollars.”

  “Ta
ke it from the account,” Doc chuckled. “I’ll be back tomorrow for them.”

  “Very well. Have a good day, Mr. Holyday.”

  “You as well, miss.”

  Doc left the bank behind and went back to the courthouse to find out about business licenses. The clerk was the same cold, clinical person she always was, but did get Doc the paperwork he needed. Looking it over, he realized he would need to finish filing his claim before he could complete the paperwork for the business. He thanked the clerk and made his way back to the bank, hoping Friedrichsen was finished.