Two Queens, A-waiting on the Jack of Hearts

A short story using lyrics from, & inspired by, the Bob Dylan song: "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts."

The town of Cripple Creek was barely awake when the young man in the bowler cap threw the reins around the head of the large white stallion. Jack had crept across the square where the horses were corralled for the auction. Given the lordly treatment of a great steed, the young scoundrel knew from the previous evening’s card game that the horse would be alone and well-fed early. Which he was, by all accounts.

Jack tossed a blanket across the broad back of the stallion, pulled himself up, and whistled towards the gate where a young lad grinned and let them both ride out to freedom.

“Good luck, mister, they gonna kill you.”

Jack’s smile was large and reflected the power of the sunrise as he headed north, towards the meeting of a lifetime.

---

The festival was over, the boys were all plannin' for a fall, The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall. Lily practiced with the cards at the center table, the leering customers waiting their chance to get close the beautiful and talented maiden.

The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin' wheel shut down, and Anyone with any sense had already left town. But this lone saloon still had a few games, as long as Lily was dealing. That was Big Jim’s decision, and his decision were lay in the old town.

Lily looked at the card he had plucked as the door swung open, He was standin' in the doorway lookin' like the Jack of Hearts. A Jack. Of Hearts.

A salacious smirk crept across her face as he refused to look at him. He moved across the mirrored room, "Set it up for everyone, " he said. Then everyone commenced to do what they were doin' before he turned their heads.

“Well, ya’ll just gonna stare at me, or are ya gonna hurry to the table?” Lily’s southern charmed voice was the spark that started a runaway fire in the room, almost a dozen men tripped over each other in the struggle to move from the edge of the room to the large crescent-shaped table that surrounded her.

---

Full Lyrics from Bob Dylan:

The festival was over, the boys were all plannin' for a fall
The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall
The curfew had been lifted and the gamblin' wheel shut down
Anyone with any sense had already left town
He was standin' in the doorway lookin' like the Jack of Hearts

He moved across the mirrored room, "Set it up for everyone, " he said
Then everyone commenced to do what they were doin' before he turned their heads
Then he walked up to a stranger and he asked him with a grin
"Could you kindly tell me, friend, what time the show begins?"
Then he moved into the corner, face down like the Jack of Hearts

Backstage the girls were playin' five-card stud by the stairs
Lily had two queens, she was hopin' for a third to match her pair
Outside the streets were fillin' up, the window was open wide
A gentle breeze was blowin', you could feel it from inside
Lily called another bet and drew up the Jack of Hearts

Big Jim was no one's fool, he owned the town's only diamond mine
He made his usual entrance lookin' so dandy and so fine
With his bodyguards and silver cane and every hair in place
He took whatever he wanted to and he laid it all to waste
But his bodyguards and silver cane were no match for the Jack of Hearts

Rosemary combed her hair and took a carriage into town
She slipped in through the side door lookin' like a queen without a crown
She fluttered her false eyelashes and whispered in his ear
"Sorry, darlin', that I'm late, " but he didn't seem to hear
He was starin' into space over at the Jack of Hearts

"I know I've seen that face before, " Big Jim was thinkin' to himself
"Maybe down in Mexico or a picture up on somebody's shelf"
But then the crowd began to stamp their feet and the house lights did dim
And in the darkness of the room there was only Jim and him
Starin' at the butterfly who just drew the Jack of Hearts

Lily was a princess, she was fair-skinned and precious as a child
She did whatever she had to do, she had that certain flash every time she smiled
She'd come away from a broken home, had lots of strange affairs
With men in every walk of life which took her everywhere
But she'd never met anyone quite like the Jack of Hearts

The hangin' judge came in unnoticed and was being wined and dined
The drillin' in the wall kept up but no one seemed to pay it any mind
It was known all around that Lily had Jim's ring
And nothing would ever come between Lily and the king
No, nothin' ever would except maybe the Jack of Hearts

Rosemary started drinkin' hard and seein' her reflection in the knife
She was tired of the attention, tired of playin' the role of Big Jim's wife
She had done a lot of bad things, even once tried suicide
Was lookin' to do just one good deed before she died
She was gazin' to the future, riding on the Jack of Hearts

Lily took her dress off and buried it away
"Has your luck run out?" she laughed at him
"Well, I guess you must have known it would someday
Be careful not to touch the wall, there's a brand-new coat of paint
I'm glad to see you're still alive, you're lookin' like a saint"
Down the hallway footsteps were comin' for the Jack of Hearts

The backstage manager was pacing all around by his chair
"There's something funny going on, " he said, "I can just feel it in the air"
He went to get the hangin' judge, but the hangin' judge was drunk
As the leading actor hurried by in the costume of a monk
There was no actor anywhere better than the Jack of Hearts

No one knew the circumstance but they say that it happened pretty quick
The door to the dressing room burst open and a cold revolver clicked
And Big Jim was standin' there, ya couldn't say surprised
Rosemary right beside him, steady in her eyes
She was with Big Jim but she was leanin' to the Jack of Hearts

Two doors down the boys finally made it through the wall
And cleaned out the bank safe, it's said that they got off with quite a haul
In the darkness by the riverbed they waited on the ground
For one more member who had business back in town
But they couldn't go no further without the Jack of Hearts

The next day was hangin' day, the sky was overcast and black
Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back
And Rosemary on the gallows, she didn't even blink
The hangin' judge was sober, he hadn't had a drink
The only person on the scene missin' was the Jack of Hearts

The cabaret was empty now, a sign said, "Closed for repair"
Lily had already taken all of the dye out of her hair
She was thinkin' 'bout her father, who she very rarely saw
Thinkin' 'bout Rosemary and thinkin' about the law
But, most of all she was thinkin' 'bout the Jack of Hearts

---