Kate Logan took a deep breath as the boy strained under her and she swayed her hips into him. They were laid out on top of a couple blankets in the empty barn. At this point, the young man under her looked like he was in the process of dying of thirst, and Kate enjoyed keeping that glass of water just a degree away from his lips. She had to stifle a laugh as Ricky started moving desperately below her and she imagined the possibility of her jeans catching fire from the friction. That'd be an interesting trip to the doctor's office. She'd only just started to reach up and remove her shirt when the gunshot rang out behind her.

She quickly rolled off the boy in the direction she'd tossed her belt and she cursed loudly as another shot struck the ground in between her and her gun, freezing her in place with the shooter behind her back. Slowly, she checked her shirt and slid it back down over her hips. Ricky looked like he'd been struck by lightning, lost 50 IQ points, then got struck by lighting again. Kate tried to find some sort of balance between rage, embarrassment, and amusement as the thin, reedy voice droned behind her. 

"Told you to always keep your gun within reach. If I was an enemy instead of your father, you'd be lying in this barn for all eternity with only this sad sack here and a bunch of hay to keep you company. Say goodbye, Ricky."

Without a glance at anything other than his own feet, Ricky awkwardly waddled out of the barn, breaking into an even more awkward run when he was outside.

"How many times have I told you to always keep your gun within reach, girl? In the bath, in the can, when you're fucking some-"

"Jesus Christ! I wasn't going to fuck him, I was-"

"Fine, make love. Whatever."

"NO! I wasn't going to do... we are not having this conversation."

"We are having a very important conversation- again- about keeping your goddamn gun within your reach at all times. The next time I send that empty-headed boy in there I'm aiming closer, and you'd better be ready. You know I don't see so good anymore."

"You... sent...? You are.... so fucked up."

Kate stared up at a cloud as her father ignored her most recent statement and continued to speak.

"We're going for a ride. A long one. You've been here on the ranch a long time. Probably my own fault you're rolling around in barns. You've been shooting so many bottles and cans there's probably none left in the county. You've hit birds and rabbits and rocks and just about everything else I can throw at you. You've had more goddamn training with a gun than anyone I've ever met, but you're still wet behind the ears. Time to get you some real world-

His speech was interrupted by a long sequences of coughs that racked him up for the moment. Kate just looked down, seeing her father's long gray hair fall down around his face as he bent forward. She'd tried to help him once and gotten a backhand for her concern. Some men would rather die than accept help. He finished coughing and spit on the floor of the barn.

"We're goin'. Saddle up."

They arrived in the town after riding for several hours, with only a couple breaks along the way to water the horses, drink from their canteens, and have a quick portable bite to eat. Kate was feeling sore from all the time in the saddle, but she kept her mouth grimly shut, knowing that if she so much as made an offhand comment she'd probably be reminded about how she shouldn't have ridden Ricky so hard or some other goddamn thing.

Still, it was a blessed relief when they finally rode into town in the late afternoon. It wasn't the town closest to the ranch, which was Carlton, although Kate suspected that the extra distance might be the point. This was a town she'd never been to, named "Dublin" according to the signs, and probably farther from home than she'd ever been in her life. She was curious why she'd been dragged out here, but doubted she'd get too many answers. Not yet, at least.

Kate followed Dan's lead as he dismounted and tied his horse outside of a small stretch of buildings. There was a general store, a bar, a doctor's office. A bunch of other buildings that were probably houses. Didn't seem like anything too special. Maybe a couple thousand people in the town, at most. A nice enough place.

She stood next to her father as they both drained the last of their water from their canteens. 

"Feeling comfortable and rested, girl?"

She just nodded.

"Good. Time for you to play some poker, like we practiced. You're going to walk into that bar and tell the giant guy serving drinks that Pat sent you to play. Use this money to buy in. This isn't a particularly wealthy town, but there's a few gamblers who toss around more money than you think. I taught you everything I know, and I know you've been sneaking out to play cards in the barn with some of the ranch hands. Do your best. Try to win some money. You've got your pistol if anything goes wrong- and you know how to use it. I'll see you later."

And with that, he headed off towards the doctor's office. Kate watched him go for a moment before tucking the envelope of cash in her back pocket and turning to make her way inside the bar and drop this Pat guy's name. The bartender seemed excited to see her, which was something Kate was still getting used to. The gangly, awkward girl of fifteen had been slowly transformed into a beautiful young woman. She often wondered what her life would be like if her mother was still alive. No doubt she'd be receiving expert tutoring in how to catch a worthy husband- although in retrospect perhaps her mother could have used more help there- but these days she mostly spent her time  drawing her gun, shooting her gun, and cleaning her gun; between that and taking care of the horses, there wasn't much time for anything else. Well, some cards. Maybe a couple boys from town. 

She'd spent so much of her early life on the ranch; the workers there hadn't really looked at her like a woman, since they'd been there since she was a kid. But now, following the bartender upstairs to a back room, she saw five pairs of eyes swing her way and linger. The men, based on the clothes they were wearing, were the moderately wealthy ranchers she'd been told about. One of the younger ones spoke after a moment, addressing the bartender and chuckled.

"Joe, entertainment is for later. We're in the middle of the game now."

She tried to nonchalantly smile, resting a couple fingers on the handle of her revolver as she replied.

"Not here for entertainment. Well, not like that at least. Here to play."

An older rancher scrutinized her and spoke in a deeper voice.

"Listen, little lady. We're pretty experienced players here. Why don't you head downstairs and buy us all a round of drinks instead?"

The were a few laughs, but Kate walked over and sat down, placing the wad of bills in front of her on the table. The men looked at her curiously- but then the dealer shrugged and gave her a couple cards. 

The game was No Limit Texas Hold 'em and the stakes were higher than she'd ever played for by a long shot. She'd learned how to play from the workers on the ranch and, rarely, her father would join them for a game. It was one of the few times he seemed to relax, and she'd learned a lot by losing to him. At this point, she was pretty damn good. Sure, you needed some luck- but she'd also been well trained. She lost her first couple hands, bristling internally at the shared laughs of the men who opposed her, but over the next hour or so she'd managed to string a few wins together- including a couple big ones. She'd just about doubled her original buy in when a man whose face was covered by a bandanna walked into the room pointing a gun at the table. Kate's hand moved the fastest out of any of them, but she couldn't win a draw against someone with a gun already pointed at her. A single shot crashed into the ground next to her and she froze as she heard her father's thin, reedy voice.

"All the money in the bag. Now."

The men slowly placed all the cash on the table into the bag the intruder had tossed at them. Kate just glared. When all the money had been gathered, the man spoke again.

"Now, one of you is coming with me as a hostage. Any volunteers?"

The men at the table dropped their eyes, although three quickly glanced at Kate.

"The girl? Brave little shits, aren't ya? Come on, honey. You're coming with me- and if anyone sends the sheriff after us, they'll find your body lying in the road."

Her father grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her to her feet. She was pissed off enough to fight back- but he still had the gun on her. She was dragged from the room, barely seeing the bartender cowering until she was out in the sunlight again. Their horses were right there and, before she knew it, they were out of town. They'd made it several miles before they hit a river and gave the tired horses a break. Dan Bogan looked at his daughter as they stood on the bank of the river.

"Well, lets have it. You've been stewing the entire goddamn ride."

"What the hell was that?! Why didn't you tell me... why don't you EVER tell me anything?!"

"That was a robbery. I didn't tell you because I'm trying to teach you to think on your goddamned feet and you're not going to do that without experience. What I saw today is that you've made progress. Your draw was fast- and it's getting faster. If I didn't already have you in my sights you might've got me."

"Why the hell was I ever there?!"

"Sometimes there's a marshal who joins in the game. I needed back up in case he was there. Didn't think those other guys would be trouble, but it never hurts to have an ace in the hole."

He paused for a moment, coughing lightly, before he continued.

"Also, we're running low on time. I needed some cash. You needed some actual experience, even if it was just a little. Now come on. We're going."

She didn't say anything. She never did. She just got back on her horse and followed. For now.

A few years later, Kate angrily tossed her cards onto the table of a seedy gambling den in Detroit. These assholes had been leering at her all night, and she'd hoped to clean them out, but things just weren't going her way. She'd even lost on K-8 suited, which was usually her lucky hand. Even if her father had cursed her out every time she'd gone all in with it. She rose from the table, thinking about going for her gun and really, truly cleaning these bastards out... but she did enjoy playing here, most of the time. And her new boss probably wouldn't appreciate mowing down this many people for a relatively small amount of cash.

Maybe she'd get a drink or five, and find someone to take her mind off things. She was smiling again by the time she hit the sidewalk and glanced up at the moon.