More adventures of Ace Lone Wolf, the half-Apache gunslinger with the quick draw and the penchant for trouble. When gunmen hired by the wealthy owner of the Hashknife Outfit set out to run the good people of Lily Creek off their land, Ace is the onl...
The six of them settle in to some serious drinking then. As the bottles get lighter, the mood does too. There's yelling and laughing, even some snatches of song from Ike and Luke, though those usually end after a verse or two with the men arguing about what the words are. The drunker they get, the better I feel about my chances of pulling this off. At the rate they're going, I'll be able to waltz on in and take anything and everything I want.
Ike wanders off to take a piss, and when he gets back he says, "You know what this shindig needs? A game!"
Yooko looks up at him. His head looks kind of wobbly and I notice his eyes kind of cross when he tries to focus on Ike. "Game?" he asks. One of his braves rattles off something, probably asking him what the crazy white man just said, and he shrugs.
"It's something you do for fun. You gents know what fun is, don't you?" Ike is still on his feet, weaving slightly.
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"Fun," Yooko says, and nods vigorously. The other braves all start nodding too and a chorus of "Fun" floats up into the air.
"Here's how you play." Ike draws his knife. It's quite the pig sticker, with a blade about as long as his forearm. The Yaquis all look alarmed and hands reach for weapons.
"No, no!" Ike says, holding his other hand out to calm them. "It ain't like that. Here, Luke and I will show you." He turns to Luke. "Get up."
Luke looks up at him blearily. "What's that?"
"I want to show these savages how to play mumbly-peg. Get up."
"Mumbly...?" Luke considers this, then smiles real big. "Oh, you mean foot-sticker. Why sure enough. I'll help."
He clambers to his feet, staggers sideways, and has to grab hold of a nearby sapling to keep from falling down.
"Now, the point of the game is to get as close to the other feller's foot as you can without sticking him," Ike says.
I shift my position so I can see better. This promises to be entertaining and I don't want to miss any of it.
"If you stick him, you lose. An' if he chickens out and moves his foot, he loses." Ike squints at Yooko. "You understand?"
Yooko and the others talk amongst themselves for a minute, then all four nod. They look excited at the prospect of this new game. My opinion of their general intelligence drops a few notches.
Ike takes hold of the pig sticker by the blade while Luke sets his feet. Ike closes one eye to aim, his tongue sticking out a little between his teeth.
Ike lets fly. Unfortunately, the knife doesn't stick in Luke's foot or anywhere else interesting. Surprisingly, it flies true and sticks in the ground only a couple inches from Luke's right foot.
"Gonna have to be a lot closer than that before you see me jump!" Luke hoots. "And now it's my turn." When he bends to pick up the knife he staggers sideways and almost falls into the fire.
