"I couldn't of said that better, if I'd said that myself Teaspoon!" Cody said, putting an arm around Teaspoon's shoulders as they all exited the barn and started back towards the bunkhouse.
Jesse, Noah, Buck, Jimmy and Kid let out a collective groan, while Ike's face crumpled in a silent grimace. Leave it to Cody to take Teaspoon's impersonation of him as a compliment and not as the jibe Teaspoon had meant it to be. Out of everyone who lived at the Rock Creek Pony Express Waystation, Cody was known for having the largest ego. While the other riders tried hard to live down the reputations the outside world gave them due to their dangerous jobs, individual talents and heroic escapades, Cody eagerly accepted his. Cody wanted nothing more than to one day be famous like so many of the frontiersmen, lawmen, and explorers that had helped shape the west he knew. Hezekiah Horne, John Fremont, Wyatt Earp and Teaspoon Hunter being just a few of the men that he held in high esteem. The only problem with Cody was that he was all too eager to have fame seek him out while he was still young enough to enjoy it.
This eagerness to fulfill his life's dream often led Cody into trouble that the other riders had to help him out of. One time he had taken a special run to Ft. Laramie to deliver a packet of documents to the commanding officer, Cody had run into several problems along the way...including burying the owner of a tame bear...fighting off a band of outlaws terrorizing a lone widow.... and being ambushed by a bunch of deserters hell-bent on relieving him of the documents he carried...all to find out that he was never carrying important documents in the first place...but actually the decoy!
"Don't encourage him, Teaspoon. Please. Cody's head is big enough as it is. One more compliment is likely to make it explode!" Jimmy said pleadingly, dropping to his knees in front of an astonished Teaspoon. He held out his hands in front of him, prayer-like, barely able to keep a straight face as he continued. " Please don't compliment him anymore!"
(Yeah, Teaspoon! Watching you scrape Cody's brains off your shirtfront is a sight I definitely don't want to see!) Ike quickly signed.
Jesse and the other riders, minus Cody, roared with laughter at the almost identical looks that crossed over the faces of the grizzly stationmaster and blond rider. Teaspoon's was a mixture of astonished embarrassment, while Cody's was surprised anger. Teaspoon gazed frantically around at the porches of the nearby stores, hoping beyond hope that no one was witnessing such bizarre behavior in one of his riders.
"For Pete's sake, Jimmy, get up before someone sees you! I don't know how on earth I would ever be able to explain the fact that they had seen one of my best riders proposing to me!" Teaspoon exclaimed.
Fresh peals of laughter filled the air around them as Cody turned from glaring at Jimmy to level Ike with a lethal glare. Jimmy climbed slowly to his feet, clasping his arms around his aching sides. The corners of Teaspoon's mouth began to twitch and his eyes to fill with moisture as he fought to control the laughter he felt building inside of him. He glanced around at the other riders and couldn't help letting out a muffled laugh. Noah stood doubled over beside him, Kid leaned against a nearby post, Jesse rolled on the ground, Jimmy clutched at his sides in an attempt to catch his breath, while Buck and Ike leaned against each other for support. If it hadn't been for the enraged look on Cody's face, Teaspoon knew that he would have already joined the other riders in laughing.
"Glad to see how you boys really think about me! I don't see why it's such a crime with you all that I have a high opinion of myself that I want accomplish things that you've never dreamed about! Well, I'll have you know here and now, that one day everyone in these great states is going to know whom William F. Cody is, to bad none of you will be around to share the glory with me!" Cody exclaimed angrily, stalking away from them in the direction of the bunkhouse.
"Aw, Cody, come back! We were only joshing you." Jimmy called out after the blond rider.
"Let him go, Jimmy. He'll cool down soon enough!" Teaspoon told him.
"That'll probably be the moment he steps into the bunkhouse and gets a whiff of whatever Rachel made for breakfast." Noah quipped.
"Knowing Cody, like I do, I wouldn't put it pass him to try and convince her to give him all our extra helpings. So, if you boys are finished carrying-on, we best get to the bunkhouse before we don't get anything to eat!" Teaspoon said.
Teaspoon's words sent another round of laughter echoing down the deserted street, his own laughter mixing in with that of the riders and Jesse.
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