No Salvation

Jurnee Evans

BENJAMIN “BEN” HENRY, a 25-year-old cowboy and outlaw. He is taller than average and decently muscular as well as intelligent, cunning, greedy, and deceitful. He has short brown hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin. He is wearing a brown cowboy hat, a green and brown western-style shirt, canvas trousers with brown leather chaps over them, and brown cowboy boots. Around his neck, he is wearing a brown and gold bolo tie. He is also wearing a couple gold rings. There is a belted holster around his waist holding a handgun.

THE RIDER, a mysterious figure of indeterminate age and gender, although their voice sounds similar in maturity to BEN’s and comes across as fairly androgynous. They are the same height as BEN but much slimmer and leaner; they are witty, calm, secretive, and deceptive. Their hair and eyes are hidden by a black cowboy hat with fringe draping down to their neck in something like a veil. While their skin is covered practically from head to toe, what skin that can be seen or might be seen over the course of the play is dark brown. In addition to the fringed cowboy hat, they are wearing a black and red tartan poncho with fringe along the hem, a plain black shirt, black leather pants, a black belt with a ruby-encrusted buckle, black cowboy boots, and red leather gloves.

An autumn night in the Wild West in 1880.

A small saloon. The walls are made of horizontal wooden panels. A bar made of the same wood sits toward the wall upstage but with enough room between that someone can comfortably walk behind the bar. Two cases of shelves, also made of the same wood, are set against the back wall with various bottles of alcohol dispersed among the shelves. In front of the bar are three wooden bar stools; they can be set up neat and equidistant from each other or haphazardly and close together. The wall to the right of the stage has a pair of wooden saloon doors that lead to the wings. To the left of the stage and in centre stage is a round wooden table with five wooden chairs around it. On the table are a few glass bottles and a few worn metal mugs, some of which are empty and some of which have liquid inside. Another wooden round table is in the centre of downstage with only two wooden chairs, one on the left and the other on the right. The table has a blue tablecloth on top that drapes down to the floor.

[The lights on stage come up at once; they are warm and soft but illuminate the whole stage well, making it seem like the saloon is only being lit up by its own lights and not by sunlight. There are ambient bar noises consisting of unintelligible chatter, people moving and walking around, glass and metal clinking together, and maybe some faint piano music. BEN and four other men in similar dress to him are seated at the table to the left of the stage as they play a card game (could be poker, faro, war, tycoon, or any other sort of gambling card game) and drink from the bottles and mugs. BEN is seated at the rightmost chair.]

[The men play cards, drink, talk, and laugh for a few beats. The ambient bar noises cut out suddenly, and THE RIDER enters through the saloon doors dramatically, the doors swinging into each other with a slam behind them. BEN and the other men turn their attention to THE RIDER and look at them suspiciously. BEN has to turn sideways and look over his shoulder to get a glimpse of THE RIDER. He simply looks frustrated while some of the other men look hostilely toward THE RIDER and reach for the weapons at their hips.]

BEN

[eyeing THE RIDER up and down] Who the hell are you?

THE RIDER

[chuckling as they step closer] Call me The Rider, but my name isn’t important. Yours on the other hand, Ben. . . Well, let’s just say it's everything.

[BEN gets out of his chair slowly and stands up to face THE RIDER as they advance until they stand right in front of BEN.]

THE RIDER

A friend of yours sent me to see you. Said you’re the best gambler in the state, that you just wipe people out of cash every night and you’ve never lost a single game. I just couldn’t help but . . . test your mettle.

BEN

[visibly confused] You wanna play a game, then?

THE RIDER

You could say that. What’re you the best at, Ben?

[Silence as BEN continues to appear baffled.]

THE RIDER

[impatient] What’s your poison, boy? Go? Chess? Faro? Dominoes? Draughts? What?

BEN

[squinting with suspicion] I’d say draughts. Pa taught me when I was young, played it with my brothers growing up, kicked their asses every time until they got sick of it and made us play something else.

[Pause as THE RIDER walks to the bar and then behind it. They crouch down and briefly disappear. BEN stands still, staring after THE RIDER, and inhales deeply before sighing.]

BEN

What is actually going on here?

THE RIDER

[standing back up with a wooden box in hand before walking over to the table downstage] Like I said, I want to challenge you to a game of draughts. If you win, you get riches you’ve never even dreamed of. Let’s just say if I win, I get everything from you.

BEN

[visibly struggling to process what THE RIDER has just said] What?

[THE RIDER places the box down on the table and begins setting out the board and placing the black and red pieces where they belong, the red on the left and the black on the right. When THE RIDER is done setting up the game, they set the box on the floor beside the table. They gesture for BEN to sit down on the black/right side while THE RIDER sits down in the chair on the red/left side. BEN hazards a glance back to his friends, all of whom are just staring blankly at what’s happening. BEN then looks away and walks over to the right side of the table and very slowly sits down in the chair. He scoots up to the table.]

THE RIDER

[sticking their hand out across the table for BEN to shake] Deal?

BEN

[scoffing] Like hell. Who even are you? And why do you want to play against me? You know I’ve never lost a game, so why play me if you’re sure you’re going to lose?

THE RIDER

[chuckling, hand still extended] Let’s just say I’ve been looking for someone like you for a long time. Your winning streak is impressive, Ben, and I’ve been…dying for a challenge. A real challenge. I mean, surely, playing your best game will give me that, right?

BEN

[realisation gradually appearing on his face] Oh. Oh! You said one of my friends sent you, didn’t you? Oh, well, I know what’s going on now! Funny little prank to scare me, what with your dramatic entrance and ominous words.

[BEN laughs heartily for a beat. His friends join in on his laughter, only stopping when BEN stops.]

BEN

Sure, you’ve got a deal.

[BEN reaches out and shakes THE RIDER’s hand and then winks at THE RIDER. THE RIDER, though, pulls their hand back and holds themself gravely in all seriousness. When BEN pulls his hand back to his side, the lights on stage black out, and a white spotlight comes up and tightens in on just THE RIDER, BEN, and the table. BEN looks around confusedly and somewhat fearfully at the now-darkened stage.]

THE RIDER

[gesturing to the board] As you know, black goes first.

BEN

[staring at THE RIDER with fear creeping onto his face] What did you do?

[THE RIDER remains silent, and BEN clearly begins to lose it.]

BEN

[panicked] I said…what the hell did you do?

THE RIDER

[calm] Did something happen? [pause] Black goes first, Ben.

[BEN steels himself for a moment; it appears he manages to push his fear down. He concentrates on the board and makes his first move. BEN and THE RIDER go back and forth making moves with their draught pieces, both they and their actions remaining practically inaudible. As the match goes on, an instrumental version of “Feed the Machine” by Poor Man’s Poison plays; it begins quietly but crescendos until it reaches full volume.]

[The match continues with BEN in the lead before THE RIDER overtakes him with having more of BEN’s pieces than BEN has of THE RIDER’s. At this turning point, BEN begins sweating and shifting, visibly displaying his nervousness and desire to win.]

[When BEN captures another of THE RIDER’s pieces, he picks up the piece he captured and, with some sleight-of-hand, transfers another nearby red piece to his shirt sleeve, something the audience can see but THE RIDER presumably cannot. BEN repeats this action during his next turn, then BEN waits for THE RIDER to take their next turn, but they do not move. Instead, THE RIDER seems to only stare at BEN.]

THE RIDER

[disappointed] I knew you were a cheat and a scoundrel. But I had really hoped we’d have a fair game, since there was just. . .so much at stake.

[The spotlight turns red as THE RIDER makes a dramatic pulling gesture with their right hand, and one of BEN’s pieces moves across the board onto the table where THE RIDER’s pile of BEN’s pieces is. THE RIDER repeats the gesture and another one of BEN’s pieces slides across the board and joins the pile.]

[Shock flashes across BEN’s face as he jolts and then stands up so quickly he knocks his chair over onto the floor with a loud crashing sound. By this point, the instrumental version of “Feed the Machine” has begun to decrescendo and gradually soften.]

BEN

What the hell? Who are you? What’re you doing? [pause] Answer me, damn it!

[THE RIDER rises to their feet. They advance on BEN, who is frozen but shaking. THE RIDER reaches up and grabs BEN’s jaw, forcefully.]

THE RIDER

You’re a lying, treacherous, conning bastard, and greed has consumed you whole.

[Silence as BEN can only look at THE RIDER with dread on his face.]

THE RIDER

You’ve taken lives by taking their money first, only thinking of yourself. They sent me here. Old friends, strangers, neighbours, brothers. Their souls cry for justice, Ben, and I will give it to them. [pause] Let’s just say there is no salvation for you.

[The music dies out completely. Everything else is silent as BEN begins crying, sobbing pitifully. THE RIDER continues holding onto BEN’s jaw.]

BEN

[pleading pathetically] Please, I only did what I had to in order to survive. Please! I swear! I swear to God!

THE RIDER

No god can save you now, Ben. Didn’t you hear me? You will have no salvation; I’ll make damn sure of that.

BEN

Please! I swear, I never meant to hurt anyone! I didn’t know!

THE RIDER

You and I both know that’s not true. You are very well aware of what losing money does to someone, especially the kind of money you’ve been cheating out of people. You saw it with your own pa, didn’t you? Saw him gamble everything away after all you kids left home. You know what that did to him and your ma.

BEN

But I—

THE RIDER

Then you condemned your own brother to the very same fate, right? You conned him at draughts, same as you were trying to do to me, right? Took him for everything he had on him that night, and you didn’t care then, right?

BEN

[frantic] Please, I just—

[THE RIDER’s grip on BEN’s face tightens to squeezing, and BEN winces at the pain before shutting up. BEN, horrified, looks at THE RIDER.]

THE RIDER

[through gritted teeth] Let’s just say I know you, Ben. I know who you are, and now, I get to take everything from you. Just like you did to everyone else.

[Everything is still for a beat. Then, slowly, THE RIDER leans their face close to BEN’s. The spotlight blacks out, leaving the stage dark. BEN screams out in pain and terror. After a beat, it is silent again, and the curtains close.]

Jurnee Evans graduated from EIU in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in English, and they now work as the Alternate Media Specialist for EIU’s Office of Accessibility and Accommodations. Their works have previously been published in The Vehicle’s 2022 and 2023 issues, and their play “Cruel Nature” was produced for EIU’s New Works Festival in November 2022. Jurnee is also a visual artist, avid reader, animal lover, horror connoisseur, and ardent activist, all of which tends to bleed into their writing. Jurnee can be found online as @silhouettecrow and on Etsy with their partner as Dove And Crow Art.