FOR THE LOVE OF GUILT

by Gabrielle © 2003

PART 1

"Hey, Cody, wake up!!!" Jimmy swatted his friend on the head. He knew the blond rider had just returned from a particularly long run the day before and knowing Cody, he understood his friend's dire need to catch up on his beauty sleep but there were chores to be done, and with Ike and Kid both out on runs there just weren't enough hands around to help Emma. "Come on!"

Cody muttered something and for a second, Jimmy thought he was waking up. But Cody did nothing of the sort; he just rolled over and squirmed. A few seconds later, he was snoring again.

Sighing, Jimmy straightened up. Teaspoon had to run some errands in Fort Laramie and wouldn't be back for a day or two. Until then, Jimmy knew, he just knew, Cody, being the lazybone he was, would take advantage of the whole situation and gave everyone, especially Jimmy a hell of a time just to get him up and going. Well, he definitely wasn't going to let Cody have his way. Not today. Not after he'd been kind enough to let his ungrateful friend sleep until a little after eleven, which was late enough.

"WILLIAM, I WANT YOU TO GET UP THIS INSTANT!!!!" Jimmy hollered. Then he stared down at the sleeping form in amazement. Cody didn't even twitch, his face serene in peaceful slumber.

"Hey, Jimmy, what's all this hollering about?" A voice asked from behind.

"Just look at him, sleeping like a log when the rest of us are breaking backs and bones working," Jimmy fumed. Lou smiled benignly.

"Well, he's had a rough run. Didn't he say that he got caught up in a storm?" Lou asked, going over to her bunk. It wasn't noon yet and she was already tired. She'd spent the whole morning cleaning out the stable and now she was thinking of helping Emma prepare lunch.

"Storm, my foot," Jimmy spat. He prodded Cody's head with a finger. "There's no storm at this time of the year."

"There is too," a voice said groggily from the bed.

"Finally," Lou said, raising her eyebrows.

"If you think I'm waking up, you're greatly mistaken." Cody's hand reached for the blanket at the foot of his bed and with one quick tug, he draped it all over himself. As his blond head disappeared under the cover, he stifled the urge to laugh but he didn't even have time to snicker when suddenly someone snatched the blanket away.

"Jimmy, give that ba-" Cody's words died in his throat. "Uh, Teaspoon."

"Give what back, son?" Jimmy and Lou tried to hide their laughter as Cody scrambled out of bed and clumsily got to his feet.

"Uh, nothing, sir-I ahh.didn't expect you back so soon. Did you, uh, have a nice trip, Teaspoon?"

Teaspoon only shook his head and with a toss of his head, he showed Cody the door. "Up and at it, now."

The three of them watched as Cody scurried out of the bunkhouse like a timid schoolboy.

"Back so soon, Teaspoon?" Jimmy echoed Cody's question just as soon as his friend left. Teaspoon tossed the blanket he'd confiscated from Cody onto his bed and shrugged.

"Decided to cut it short, came back here and just as I expected, that great lump of a bear was still hibernating," Teaspoon said, smiling. "Guess I got here in time, eh?"

Part 2