Chapter 11

Oh, shit! John Chambers had a heart attack. This was no pipsqueak of just a twinge, either. John was getting back into bed from a visit to the chamber pot when he was struck by the heart attack. In the process, he fell on the floor, and the noise attracted Mary’s attention.

She was in the kitchen, but the noise was loud enough for her to hear, so she rushed to the bedroom. There she found John lying on the floor, and he was already dead. Mary let out a scream that could be heard in the stable, and a couple of ranch hands ran to the bedroom to see what was the problem. It was obvious from the scream that this was not some piddling occurrence.

They found John on the floor and Mary lying on the bed where she had fallen when she fainted from the shock. One of the men went to find Bill Walters, the foreman, while the other man arranged Mary a bit more comfortably on the bed.

As it happened, Joan had wanted to go into Cheyenne for some shopping, and I went along as her escort. We met a rider on our way beck to the ranch who had been sent to fetch us. We sped up the buckboard that we were riding in and rushed back to the ranch house as quickly as the single horse could pull us.

The first person we met back at the ranch house was Bill, and his first statement stunned me for a moment. “Thank God, Boss, that you got here so soon. You are badly needed by Mrs. Chambers. She has really gone to pieces with the loss of her husband.”

I nodded my thanks to Bill and rushed with Joan to find Mary. She was still in the bedroom with her husband’s body which had been placed on the bed. Mary was crying hysterically and hugging John’s body as if she might somehow bring him back to life.

Joan rushed to her mother and enfolded her in a tender, but forceful, embrace to break her away from John’s body. Mary’s hysterical crying did drop off as soon as she realized that it was Joan who was holding her. Nevertheless, Mary did continue to weep, and Joan joined her. Hell, I almost joined them in the crying session because I had felt very strongly for John, but that would have ruined me for any further dealings with the working men of the ranch.

I could not be seen to be weak, especially now that both Mary and Joan were crying heavily. I shook Joan’s shoulders and said, “Joan, get your mother out of here. There is nothing that she can do to help John, and there are things that have to be done with his body.”

Joan looked at me for a moment as if she did not know who I was, but then some intelligence did return to her through her grief. “Yes, Bart, you are right. Come, Mother, we need to move to another room.” By this point, Mary was so far gone in grief that she did not seem to know what to do, and she was willing to follow any reasonable command.

They went into Mary’s bedroom, and Joan managed to get her to lie on the bed. I lost contact with the two women at that point as I was dragged into giving orders as the head of the household. I went to the kitchen where I found Hester, the head of the household servants. “Hester, I am sure that you know what to do to prepare a body for burial. Please begin to prepare Mr. Chambers’ body. Mrs. Chambers and my wife are not up to the task at the moment, and the work has to start immediately.”

“Yes, Sir. I get right to it.” Hester immediately sprang into action, and I knew that I had at least done one thing right.

The next step was to plan for the funeral. I hated to do it, but I had to get some input from Joan, so I went to her mother’s bedroom. I knocked on the door and said, “Joan, can you come out into the hall for a minute. I need to ask you a couple of questions.”

“Yes, Bart, what do you want from me?”

“All I need to know right now is where should we bury your father? My other question is how should we notify his friends?”

“We have our own cemetery plot in Cheyenne that the family has used for years. That is where he should be buried. You can tell Bill to send hands to the neighboring ranches to spread the word. Bill will handle the details. Now, I need to get back to Mama.”