By Beth Goodman
Copyright 1999
VIII. Off to Eat
While Lieutenant Davies led Cody to Carol's Restaurant not far from the army post, Jimmy and Lou were taking the horses to the livery stable for the night. After seeing that their precious mounts would be well taken care of, Jimmy and Lou planned to meet the others at the restaurant shortly. Davies had also arranged for the riders to have some rooms in the hotel across the street from the restaurant. The three Express riders were happy not to have to spend any more time riding in the storm that raged unrelenting, at least until morning.
"Ah, here we are," Davies said, as he and Cody stood just outside the restaurant in the shelter of the covered wooden walkway.
They entered the restaurant and were seated in the middle of the large dining room.
"Carol's is the best place in town. I recommend you try the roast beef with gravy and potatoes." Lieutenant Davies eyes widened as he thought of the tasty meal that he was about to enjoy. "We'll wait 'til the others get here to order."
Although Cody's response to the thought of eating such a good meal, or any meal for that matter, would usually be similar, he was simply so hungry that he would be content gnawing on a piece of shoe leather. With not a moment to spare on their journey to Fort Kearny, the riders had completely forgotten about the food that Rachel had packed for them.
"We appreciate your hospitality, Lieutenant," Cody stated sincerely.
"Not at all. You've have had a rough ride. The United States government owes you and the Pony Express a debt of gratitude for riskin' your lives to get your message through. Least I can do is make sure you have a good meal in your belly before sendin' you off again in this monstrous weather," Lieutenant Davies responded.
Unbeknownst to Lieutenant Davies and Cody who were busy looking at the menu, waiting for Jimmy and Lou to arrive, their conversation was being overheard by a man and woman who were sitting at a table not more than ten feet away.
IX. A Malevolent Plan
"You hear that, Maggie?" The man leaned across the table to whisper to the woman. "That fella's a rider for the Pony Express."
A malicious grin spread across the man's face. "He must be the one that got away from the the robbery Grady and the boys pulled off. He's here tellin' the army 'bout it."
Maggie smiled, with ill-intent equally present in her red-stained lips. "He's the one we been waitin' for, huh, Jake."
"Yeah, he's here to bring the army back with 'im so's they can get the gold. But we're not gonna let 'im get that far, are we?" Jake's wicked laugh was still quiet enough that the lieutenant and Cody did not notice.
Believing that Cody was the rider who was lucky enough to escape from the scene of the robbery, Jake and Maggie planned to get Cody away from the lieutenant. They wanted to keep him from identifying Grady and the men who bushwhacked the other Pony Express riders. The gold would be long gone, they thought, and the army wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. Furthermore, Jake and Maggie thought Cody was the only Express rider to make it to Fort Kearny, so they believed their job of getting rid of him would be fairly easy.
"Okay, Maggie. Here's what we'll do." Jake looked all around to make sure nobody was within an earshot of them. He continued in a gruff whisper, "From what I hear, these Express boys are somewhat of a honorable bunch." He sneered at this statement. "We'll pretend to be fightin' real bad. I'll yell at ya, and you'll start cryin'...make it look good, ya know. Then I'll slap ya and you start runnin' out the restaurant, makin' sure to bump the table where that rider is on yer way out. Got it so far?"
Maggie nodded in agreement, her interest raised at the thought of doing a bit of play acting. Jake went on with his plan, "Then, him bein' all worried over a lady in distress, he'll offer to help ya. You thank 'im and say how kind he is for helpin' ya and then you'll ask him to help ya over to yer hotel room 'cross the street." Jake paused and scanned the dining room suspiciously once more.
"Now, you just take yer sweet time gettin' to the hotel 'cause I'm gonna be followin' ya. I'll climb in through the window. Bobby's waitin' in the hotel room still, and I'll tell 'im what's goin' on. By the time you bring that Express fella up to the room, we'll be waitin' for 'im. The minute he opens the door he's gonna get a bullet in 'im. Won't know what hit 'im"
X. Damsel in Distress or Devil in Disguise
Cody and Lieutenant Davies continued to patiently wait for Jimmy and Lou to arrive at the restaurant. They had pretty much decided what they wanted to order for supper, but they decided to wait until their friends showed up.
The quiet of the dining room was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a man and woman arguing. Their voices grew louder and louder, causing Cody to wrinkle his brow in confusion as he turned to face the boisterous couple.
"I told you before, I won't do it!" Maggie stood from her chair at the table and screamed.
"You'll do it, woman, or you'll be sorry!" Jake was now standing, holding out his fist in a threatening manner, only inches from Maggie's face.
"I won't! I won't!" Maggie shook her head and sobbed audibly.
With that, Jake opened his hand and slapped Maggie on the cheek. Upon seeing this display of violence against the lady, Cody sprung from his seat and placed himself between Jake, whose his hand was once again raised in anger, and the victim of his brutality.
"I don't think you outta do that again, Mister," Cody boldly declared, grabbing the hand that was to be used to deliver another blow to the woman. Maggie was crying loudly know, and her chest was heaving with each new sob. Yes, she was doing a wonderful job of convincing Cody that she was in danger of getting hurt by this vicious man.
"Ah, just forget it!" Jake shouted as he stormed out of the restaurant, on his way to sneak into the hotel room where Cody was to meet his terrible fate.
Things were working out better than Jake had originally planned. It didn't take much to provoke these Pony Express riders. He had Cody right where he wanted him.
"Oh, thank you, young man," Maggie managed to voice between sobs. "I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't come along." She started crying harder now, trying to lead Cody into believing that if he had not have intervened, she'd be in serious trouble.
"No trouble, ma'am. I'm just sorry this happened to ya. Is there anythin' else I can do?" Cody was earnest in his wish to help the woman, not knowing that this damsel in distress was really the devil in disguise.
"Well, if you don't mind, could you help me over to my hotel room across the street? It's just that I'm feelin' a bit faint, and I'm afraid he might try to hurt me again on the way." The woman held up her lacy handkerchief to her eyes to dry some of the phony tears.
Cody tipped his hat, "It's the least I could do." Maggie batted her eyelashes at the remark.
Cody approached Lieutenant Davies, who sat at the table watching the scene that had just unfolded in front of him. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant, but I'm gonna escort this lady to her hotel room. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"I'll be waitin' here for ya, Mr. Cody," Davies smiled at Cody, proud of the way he had offered his assistance to the young lady.
Cody held his arm around Maggie's shoulder as he helped her outside through the pouring rain and over to the hotel across the street. As they walked up one flight of stairs and down the long corridor to stand outside Maggie's room, Cody was completely unaware of the danger was waiting for him just on the other side of the door.
On to Part Five
