A Day Later:
"Awright, kid, here's th' first challenge." B.F pointed toward a bank in a nearby town. Kelley chuckled at the objective. "A bank robbery? Please. This is just too easy." But just as Kelley tried riding up ahead, B.F stopped him before explaining the challenge in full "But here's th' trick. Y'have t' git in there cozy-like without bein' spotted by them guards patrollin' the roof. If ya do, then yer disqualified. No cheatin', no tryin' t'cut me off, an' we meet back at th' hideout t' compare th' loot. Got it?" Kelley scoffed at the offer before bucking his horse. "Just so you know, my backwater cousin, I eat train robberies like a cow eats grass. This'll be child's play for one o' my talents." B.F rolled his eyes, before bucking his horse. "Then let's ride t' riches, little dawgie!" And with a flash, the two Coopers headed for the town.
Kelley dismounted just short of the local tavern before looking around himself for cover. Anything that would be useful for sneaking inside the bank. His eye then caught something almost irresistible; a barrel. When he spotted a cart heading his way, he leaped into one of the barrels before he felt the barrels being lifted into the cart. 'Now to play the waiting game, 'til I get to the bank. Then, it's showtime.' Kelley chuckled to himself as he felt the cart taking him closer to the bank.
Meanwhile, B.F arrived closer to the bank. Like an acrobatic bullet, he took off, ducking, bobbing and weaving straight to his target. 'The Thievieus Raccoonus, here I come. Let's see that bratty imposter try t' sneak past me.' Quickly, B.F checked the streets for an easier passage into the Bank. Finally, he found one-a group of praying tortoises were heading from the cathedral to their mission. 'Lady luck, I could just kiss ya!', B.F thought as he slipped into the crowd.
Back at the bank, Kelley felt the cart stop. He peered out of a small crack in the wood, revealing that he was close in proximity to the back door of the bank. He could almost smell the gold coins from the barrel. Suddenly, he felt his barrel being unloaded along with the other barrels. 'Cor! I'm within cooee o' the objective. Now to wait until that door opens and that gold'll be as good as-well, mine.' Once the barrel he was hiding in is placed on the ground, he peeked out of the crack to see a dingo checking each one of the barrels. Silently, Kelley cursed himself. 'Up in the creek, and without a paddle…' When the dingo came over to Kelley's barrel, he looked inside to find….nothing. And the door was still wide open, the pitter-pattering of a gleeful raccoon's footsteps echoing silently up the stairs.
Outside the bank, B.F slipped away from the crowd of turtles like a quick rattlesnake, still undetected even as he slipped past the security guards and entered the storeroom. Suspicious, his eyes twitched slightly, checking around himself for a variety of routes, both upstairs and downstairs, before deciding on climbing an alternate flight of stairs. Quickly, he zipped up the stairs, licking his lips with glee. 'Oh ho, fortune, here comes Pappy Cooper!'
Kelley stopped climbing the stairs when he came across a locked door labelled 'Private'. After picking the lock with his tail, Kelley entered the room to find the vault ripe for the taking. He began filling the potato sack with money from the vault, chuckling as he could practically taste his place as member of the Cooper Family before clearing out with the loot.
Suddenly, B.F arrived in the vault, only to miss Kelley by about a minute. "What in tarnation?" He looked out the window to see Kelley slipping out from the bank on his horse, only for the young bushranger to cheekily blink at his older cousin before riding back to the hideout with his loot.
By the time B.F came back to the hideout, Kelley was already counting his loot before asking his cousin, "G'day cobber. Yer not mad as a cut snake, are ya?" B.F was furious. "Why you cheatin' varmint…." Kelley just laughed his head off, amused by his cousin's red face. B.F sat at the table before issuing a new challenge. "Alright slick, you got lucky that time. But you won't win the next exercise."
The Next Day:
Now came the second challenge between B.F and Kelley. B.F prepared the table, placing a barrel of stolen ale beside the table just as he measured the two pints. 'This'll be sure ta blow th' pantaloons from that kid's waist.' Kelley entered the shack door before spotting the barrel of ale. He looked at it before asking B.F, "Where'd you fetch the lager? Beyond the Black Stump?" B.F chuckled before answering, "Naw, kid, this is MY barrel o' grog. I'm organizing a drinkin' competition for the Book. First one to chug that barrel dry without fallin' over unconscious wins the Book, an' with it official custody o' the Cooper Legacy." Kelley cracked his knuckles eagerly. "Too right!" But just as he sat down, B.F lightly slapped his hand away. "Nuh-uh, junior. You're too young for a man's ale. 'Sides, you get cider." He indicated towards a barrel of Apple Cider, the same size as B.F's barrel of ale.
As soon as the two Coopers sat next to their barrels, B.F set the timer before counting down the minutes. "Five….four…three…two….one! Chug!" As soon as the clock chimed, both Coopers began drinking away. At first it seemed B.F had the advantage, due to his quicker-than-usual metabolism and speed, Kelley dragging behind. But unbeknownst to Kelley, B.F grinned maliciously. 'As if I would let that pint-sized rookie get along scot-free. Hee-hee!'
Soon Kelley felt drowsy from the amount of Cider he had been drinking. His vision went blurry, his throat felt swollen and he could barely continue drinking. But despite that, Kelley kept trying to catch up with his older cousin. He was determined to keep the book, no matter what would happen. He drank his pint dry, before refilling the glass, his cardigan sticky with dried cider.
After twenty-two minutes, empty pint glasses surrounded the table, the barrels were empty….and both competitors were fast asleep, snoring heavily even as the grandfather clock chimed its' conclusion. It didn't matter who won-even if it did, they were both still unconscious.
The Next Day:
The next morning, both B.F and Kelley suffered large headaches from yesterday's drinking game. Despite this, the final challenge had arrived. At seven o'clock in the morning, B.F woke up Kelley with a tap on the shoulder. "C'mon, kiddo. Rise an' shine." Groggily, Kelley pulled his head from the pillow on his hammock before yawning. "Alright, alright. No need to spit the dummy at this time 'o th' morn." Just as Kelley stood up from his hammock, B.F handed him his rifle before pointing to the door. "Git." Kelley sighed before letting his tail open the door. He knew that his luck would change, but then again, lady luck was at his beckoned call.
Outside the hideout, a shooting gallery was arranged around the rock formation near the stable. B.F pointed to the gallery before instructing Kelley. "Perk your ears up, slick, an' listen. See those cans?" At the top of the gallery stood three tin cans. "Three targets in one-score seconds. Can ya do that?" Kelley nodded. A cocky smile reached from ear to ear as he aimed his rifle. Bang! The can in the middle went down in the first five seconds. Pow! Another one went down a second later. Krack! The last one took four seconds-and missed. B.F twirled his revolver before nudging Kelley. "Watch how a real Cooper shoots." Bang! The first one flew away within a second. Blam! Only for the other two cans to fly into the air in under a split-second. B.F twirled his revolver before letting Kelley have another go. "Faster this time!"
Bang! Within a second, the can on the left is blown away. Krak! The second can fell from the gallery like a penny from a coin toss. Pow! The third can is punctured by the last shot. Kelley smiled arrogantly, before blowing away the smoke. "Is this the best you can do?" B.F shook his head. "Nope. But this is." Within a split second, all three cans were blasted away from the gallery….and B.F wasn't even looking at the target. "Guess I win." But as B.F walked away, Kelley fired a shot with his rifle, flooring all three of the cans in a row. The bushranger merrily skipped back inside, satisfied with his somewhat underhanded victory.
Understandably, B.F was peeved with what had happened outside. Just as Kelley sat at the table, B.F confronted him. "Hold just a pete-darn minute! The contest is over, an' you cheated just after you lost." "I believe you've come a gutser, mate. I won fair and square." B.F just kept trading banter with the bushranger, sitting at the table. "Horse-hockey! What you did was dishonourable, low-down and pitiful. I was th' fastest shot, by right o' honour." Kelley rolled his eyes before sighing, murmuring to himself. "Cripes, cut as a mad snake, this one." All of a sudden, B.F shot him a glare. "What did you say, runt? Say it t' my face or pipe down in front a'yer elders." This prompted Kelley to snap, losing his temper for a brief moment, "Look, you're not me bloody father, alright?!" B.F kept his revolver holstered, barely restraining himself. Then….smack! Kelley held his cheek in pain before B.F felt a hint of guilt. But that was masked by silent rage. "Look here. I've had just about enough a'yer yappin'. Just because I don't understand yer language doesn't mean you can treat me like an idiot. Now I will never be yer pop, nor have I ever said that my age meant you have to do every darn thing that comes out o' my mouth. But that does not mean I don't deserve no disrespect." Kelley looked at him, speechless as B.F verbally gave him a piece of his mind. "I get it, yer confused. I can see that look in yer eye. Yer like a drifter, movin' from one place to another. You don't know where you belong, what future ya might have or what yer life is waitin' to tell you. But givin' people th' ol' 'I'm better 'n you, so I can kick sand in yer face whenever I like. Trust me, a lot of us Coopers felt that way, an' some a' them didn't use gunpowder or steal horses. But in the end, sometimes a shred o' kindness can make a man walk fifty miles barepaw. An' they'll expect you to walk that fifty mile road for 'em just as they'll walk it for you." Humbled, Kelley nodded before taking his paw away from his cheek. Reassuringly, he smiled before replying, placing a welcome paw on B.F's shoulder. "Apples, mate. That was one bottler of a yarn. And trust me, I've had cuts with me dad's rusty cleaver more painful than that slap across me chops." Reluctantly, B.F smiled before tussling Kelley's fur. "There ya go, kiddo." Kelley chuckled before mockingly winking. "Careful with the kid talk, mate. Or I'll box your ears like a kangaroo on a hot summer Sunday." Now friends, the two Coopers laughed heartily before finally embracing one another as True Coopers.