[Excerpt] Tennessee "Kid" Cooper and Mica in: Incentive

Mica soon found herself at the top of a small canyon that didn't sit too far out of town. Tennessee had walked over to the edge of the Cliff and looked over the steep edge before looking back at an uptight Mica who kept her distance from the gap. “By the looks of it I reckon you ‘aint too fond of heights?” Mica’s ears perked up at the sound of Tennessee’s question.

She stared at the raccoon while biting her lower lip and looking as if she was gathering courage before she sighed, dropped her head, and answered “No…”

“Well I’ll be!” Tennessee chuckled and slapped his leg in amusement causing Mica to frown distastefully. Tennessee saw this and began to stop his laughter before clearing his throat, “Uh-hum, well little lady if you wanna run with a Cooper yer gonna have to move like a Cooper! Lesson one, the rail walk.” With that Tennessee grabbed a long board that was lying next to him and threw it down so it made a bridge between the ledges of the small canyon.

Mica stiffened as she finally understood what she was going to need to do. Tennessee “Kid” Cooper was not only known for his robberies but also for his agile speed and ability to walk and slide across object that ranged from thin planks to ropes. Mica gulped at the thought of crossing the canyon on the bridge Tennessee had just set up, “Erm, Kid? I don’t think-“

“This here technique is simple,” with that Tennessee jumped in the air and landed on the board in a crouching motion. He showed no signs of unbalance as he quickly made his way across the thin board and onto the neighboring cliff which the board’s other side had landed. “See, it’s as easy shootin’ fish in a barrel! Now its yer turn Miss Mica”

Mica stared in amazement at Tennessee as this was the first time she’s ever been able to witness the rail walk personally. Mica felt excitement surge through her as she realized for the first time that the raccoon standing before her was the actual infamous outlaw Tennessee “Kid” Cooper. He made it all look easy which gave Mica a sense of false confidence as she walked over to the board and placed her right foot on it. She crouched down in a ready position and looked at Tennessee for the signal to go.

Tennessee saw the confidence she had a grinned while raising an eyebrow, “Well someone’s pretty darn sure of herself,” he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, “You sure you’re gonna make it across. It’s a mighty long ways down.” Tennessee looked over the edge and squinted as if not being able to see the bottom of the canyon. Mica gave a smile and nodded but doubt began to feel her mind. She looked down as Tennessee did only to find that the ‘long ways down’ appeared to be much longer in her eyes.

Mica quickly stumbled backward and shivered, “Uh, perhaps this isn’t such a grand idea? I mean, this isn’t a proper learning environment for a beginner.”

“And what, in yer opinion, is a ‘proper learnin environment’?” Tennessee enunciated the words in a way to mimic Mica.

“Well,” Mica straightened up and cleared her throat, “Perhaps something that wasn’t so… risky.”

“Risky!? Hah, you crack me up! Bein’ a thief is all ‘bout takin risks. If you ‘aint got no guts then you might as well mosey on home. I ‘aint got no time for some fraidy cat to be tailing me and causin’ trouble.”

“I ‘aint no fraidy cat!” Mica growled and dropped her studious compose as anger took over.

“Now we’re talkin! I think yer ready!” Tennessee showed delight at getting Mica fired up and she, herself, felt that surge of confidence run through her again. Mica went back over to the board and resumed her previous position. She did her best to keep her eyes on Tennessee but she soon found them falling to the space she was about to cross. “Dontcha’ worry none about that there canyon. Just keep your eyes straight ahead and think of it as incentive for gettin’ across.”

“Incentive? That’s a nice way to put it,” Mica muttered under her breath while beginning to take her first step. She soon found herself completely off the safety of the cliff and in mid-air doing her best to balance herself on a thin board. Mica took a deep breath in and continued her way to the other side.

“That’s it, nice and easy!” Tennessee encouraged as Mica took unsteady steps in his direction while shaking to keep herself up straight.
After what seemed like a great distance traveled Mica decided to take her eyes off her feet and look up to see how much farther she had to go. To her dismay she saw an even greater distance ahead of her which caused her mind to suddenly become hazy as her vision seemed to fade in and out of focus. She was panicking and the only thing she could think of other than “I’m gonna fall” was to go faster to reach the end.

Tennessee saw her pick up speed and suddenly worry filled his face as she seemed to forget about keeping balance and clumsily started taking big strides towards his side of the canyon. She began to sway side to side, back and forth, and wave her arms about in flapping motions as she lost more and more control of her ability to think clearly. She saw the distance between her and Tennessee was getting shorter which caused her to almost run before she seemed to misplace her footing and begin to slip off the board. With that Tennessee swung out his cane and grabbed a not too far away Mica around the waist with the hooked end pulling her towards him before she completely fell. He caught her in his arms as she couldn’t help but take deep breaths in as her heart was racing faster than it ever had before.

“You okay Miss Mica?” Tennessee asked concerned as the grey fox moved her emerald eyes upward to look at him and held her breath. Mika began to blush a little then nodded before suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. She pushed Tennessee away and ran behind a small rock face before ‘losing her lunch’ and falling to her knees. Tennessee laughed at her and pointed, “Ah ha ha, you big wimp!” Mica was angered by Tennessee’s comment as she usually was when someone insulted her but was in no mood for a fight. Mica did her best to catch her breath and choke back some tears as she leaned her head against the rock face as her stomach continued to turn.

“Some Incentive….”