<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">---------- Forwarded message ---------<br>From: <strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto"><a href="mailto:cokane8116@aol.com">cokane8116@aol.com</a></strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:cokane8116@aol.com">cokane8116@aol.com</a>></span><br>Date: Mon, Jun 26, 2023 at 10:41 PM<br>Subject: Re: Rimme's new part<br>To: Indagare <<a href="mailto:brenner.mike@gmail.com">brenner.mike@gmail.com</a>><br></div><br><br><div><div style="font-family:arial;font-size:16px"><div></div>
<div dir="ltr">"It ain't normal to keep winning like that," Jerrod snarled. "You hav to be cheating somehow. I just don't how."<br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> "Prove it or quit whining," the boy said. "And play. Not my fault if you are such a poor player."</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"> "Are you using magic?" Jerrod asked. "Got to be it!"</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div><br></div><div>******************</div><div><br></div><div><br></div>
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On Saturday, June 24, 2023 at 06:28:34 PM EDT, Indagare <<a href="mailto:brenner.mike@gmail.com" target="_blank">brenner.mike@gmail.com</a>> wrote:
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<div><div id="m_6270375920971084132ydp91bd33b3yiv1708253996"><div dir="ltr">The Jolly Collie was a very nice inn. And thanks to Misha's ownership, it<br>was much cheaper than it had any right to be. Jerrod liked that quite a<br>lot. It made him more confident with his bidding.<br><br>With Rodrick by his side, he'd managed to gather a small fortune, enough<br>for him to split from the caravan and make his own way south. Rodrick<br>wanted more. He wanted enough for both of them. So they picked a new target.<br><br>Jerrod knew a trick or two when it came to gambling. He knew his deck. He<br>knew the four kings and the four deuces. He knew how to shuffle to force<br>them into his hand or his opponents'.<br><br>But this kid they sat down with... it was like Lady Luck were by his side.<br>Where Jerrod got a two pair, the kid got a three-of-a-kind. Where Jerrod<br>tried to force a four-of-a-kind, the kid would get a straight flush. The<br>kid must have been cheating, but how? He only touched the cards to cut. He<br>must have been bluffing the other times, but the kid was unreadable,<br>smiling blankly whether he betted or folded.<br><br>Jerrod's confident bids all dried up, and he was forced to bid his own<br>knife and spear and armor to win back his earnings. And now those were gone<br>too.<br><br>"Well, gee," the kid said, scrubbing his lip with ale-soaked fingers, "I'd<br>love to keep playing, maybe help you win back your stuff, but I see you<br>have nothing left to bid."<br><br>Jerrod wished he'd bought more than one drink at the start. This little<br>child was humiliating him at cards with a full pint. He needed another. He<br>wouldn't leave until he did. He looked around the inn. Rodrick had left the<br>instant he'd struck out, to be replaced by a frog morph who was also in<br>dire straits, but still a ways from going broke. There were no other guards<br>watching them.<br><br>"You know," Jerrod said slowly. "I'm in a caravan that's got some extra<br>carpets in stock. We always lose one or two of them during transport."<br><br>The kid quirked an eye. "You're trying to pay me with a cheap rug?"<br><br>"They're not cheap," Jerrod almost hissed. "They're in great condition, all<br>the way from Pyralis." He forced a smile. "You're not going to win anyway.<br>Your luck won't last forever."<br><br>The kid seemed conflicted... or was it an act? Finally, the kid put down<br>twenty gold crowns, at least five of which had once been Jerrod's. "Call,"<br>he said.<br>-------------- next part --------------<br></div>
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