“Robbed?” Ryan asked.
“Sure was. Winning his duel didn’t do the poor sucker no bastard good.”
The thumping of the powerful engines had begun a little after dawn, building up a good head of steam to take them upriver for their night’s scheduled stop at Cairo. Not all that many of the passengers had bothered to rise early to come down for breakfast. From the singing and shouting going on into the early hours of the morning, it seemed as though a lot of them would be suffering hangovers.
“Three killings altogether,” Richard said as he poured out glasses of sparkling ice water for everyone.
“Three?” J.B. repeated. “Who were the other two?”
“Gambler named Sweetwater Rickets and a breed whore. Called herself Baby Martinez. Shared a cabin down the port side, in the steerage class. Purser found them this morning. Word of a shot in the dark. Sweetwater’s knife was in her heart, and a .22 ball from her little pearl-handled over-and-under derringer in his temple. His wallet was open, and a handful of jack was still clasped in her thieving fingers.”
“This paradise of a vessel holds too many serpents aboard it,” Mildred said. “Maybe we should have taken to our other plan and cut and run.”
Nobody answered her.
A wispy young blond woman appeared at their table. “Hi, I’m Sprite and I’ll be serving you breakfast. Assisted by Richard here. You ready to order?”
After consulting the menu, everyone went for the same order. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, followed by the Eye-Opener Starter Breakfast three eggs over-easy, a monstrous mountain of rancheros hash, which was chunks of fried potato with a liberal helping of onions and thick-slicked peppers, red and green and orange; a side order of avocado-cream dip, spiced with chilies; six strips of back bacon and three link sausages, backed up with whole-wheat toast and grape jelly and washed down with several helpings from a bottomless jug of steaming coffee.
“That was magnificent,” Doc said with a sigh. “It has quite eased away all thoughts of that poor murdered man. The Golden Eagle is a wonderfully dangerous craft. A most luxurious, dark ferry that carries us to Heaven or to Hell.”
Sprite appeared again, offering more coffee, but everyoneeven Jakrefused.
At that moment they all felt the familiar rumbling of the huge stern-wheel, starting to thrust them away from their overnight mooring. Water foamed under the stem, and they heard the clanking of the windlass, tugging up the double-fluked anchors from bow and stern.
“On to Cairo,” Richard said, collecting a bowlful of dirty plates and cutlery.
“What’s the forecast for weather?” Krysty asked. “Looked fine and bright this morning.”
The busboy hesitated. “Think I heard of a wind rising from the south. But they tell us not to worry passengers with such things. The Eagle can stand up to most weather.”
THEY MADE GOOD steady progress up the Sippi during morning.
It was a little after noon when the Golden Eagle steamed across the old state line, taking her into Kentucky. The river twisted and turned endlessly, like a sun-warmed cottonmouth, between sandstone cliffs and past tree-lined bluffs. They steamed past cutoff oxbows, occasionally saluting small settlements with the steam siren.
The main rooms were quiet, with only the fruit machines seeing much business. The more serious gamblers stayed in their beds, saving themselves for the evening gaming. Just a few of the hardened players leaned against the poker and blackjack tables, idly turning cards with the weary dealers, counters chinking. The pit bosses endlessly walked around the saloons, their cold eyes darting into every corner of every table, ever alert.
Ryan had insisted on sticking to the plan of not splitting up, leaving anyone alone and vulnerable. He went with Krysty, Jak and Doc, while Mildred and J.B. chose to stay in their cabin for a while.
“Would there be any objection if we were to play a hand or two of poker?” Doc asked.
“Why not? Just don’t get carried away and spend what we don’t have. We’ll sit here and watch.” He gestured to an inlaid beech-and-walnut chaise lounge, situated near the green baize gambling tables.
A bow-tied waiter quickly came to take their orders. Ryan chose a straight malt. Krysty picked a gin and tonic, and Jak opted for a cola and rum.