Slocum Giant 2013 : Slocum and the Silver City Harlot (9781101601860) by Jake Logan Read Free Book Online Page B

front of Hal’s face to be sure he couldn’t see, then she stepped back.
    â€œAll right, everyone, you watch real close. And watch him so he can’t see how I’m fixing the drinks.”
    She rattled bottles, clinked shot glasses together, and ended up pouring two shots of whiskey from the same bottle. The notion that a fancy drink would be served like a shot worried her, so she rattled more glassware, found a pair of champagne glasses, and poured the shots into them. With a dramatic clink, she touched the two rims together.
    Many of the miners laughed themselves sick, holding their bellies and whispering among themselves, but they were in on the joke. The two closest to Hal shouted at him and shoved him back and forth to keep him from overhearing.
    â€œThe two drinks are in front of you. Pick the Silver Salud and you don’t pay.”
    â€œThem varmints know which is which?”
    Marianne didn’t have to answer. The roar of assent went up and rattled the vigas in the adobe bar’s ceiling.
    â€œAll right. Stand back and let a master do his work.” Marianne reached down and guided Hal’s hand to the first champagne glass. She ran her fingers up and down his wrist just enough to encourage him, then held up her hand for silence.
    â€œGot to be fair. Nobody give him any hints,” she called. Marianne smiled as the miner tentatively sniffed at the drink, then flicked out his tongue to taste it.
    â€œGot a kick to it,” he said, “jist like a real Silver Salud.”
    â€œYou have to try the other one, remember. You have to decide between the pair of them.
    â€œBoth might be Silver Saluds,” Marianne said, egging them all on. This produced a round of new jokes. “Let me put the other one in your hand, Hal.” Again she took his brawny wrist and stroked over it as he slid the stemware crystal glass between his fingers.
    He repeated the same ceremony he had before. Then Hal went to sipping first one, then the other, until both were drained. He finally held one glass high above his head.
    â€œThis is the Silver Salud. This is it!”
    Marianne thought the roof would come off from the laughter.
    â€œYou danged fool,” someone called out. “Them’s both nuthin’ but whiskey.”
    â€œGood whiskey, though,” Marianne said. “The best you’ll find anywhere in Silver City. Which of you boys wants a ‘Silver Salud’? Or should I say, ‘Hal’s Silver Salud’?” She held up the bottle of trade whiskey to a roar of approval.
    Three bottles later, most of the customers were either passed out or moaning about getting back to their claims. Hal clung to the bar to remain upright. After he’d bought a round for everyone, he found the tide of tarantula juice flowing like a river back in his direction. He hadn’t paid for a drink afterward.
    â€œGotta ask,” Hal said, leaning forward as if to share a confidence with her. He didn’t quite shout. “What the hell’s a Silver Salud? I heard of ’em in a dive along the Barbary Coast o’er in Frisco.”
    Marianne fished about under the bar and dropped a copy of
The Yorkshire Bar Guide
in front of the miner.
    â€œLook it up.”
    â€œI cain’t read too good. Need my readin’ glasses, you know.”
    Marianne flipped through the book. Most of the pages were stuck together or so faded from having liquor and beer spilled on them that they were unreadable. She pressed the book flat and pointed.
    â€œYou got a good memory, Hal. This is what goes into a Silver Salud. Equal parts of schnapps, nitric acid, beer, and apple brandy.”
    â€œSounds tasty,” he said. “You mix me up one of ’em next time I’m in?”
    â€œSure thing, partner,” she said. “Right now, I got to close the cantina.” She looked to the door where Tom Gallifrey, the owner, stood surveying the interior.
    He came over,