Part 7
It was later in the week when Sheriff Coffee showed up at dinnertime. He was a few years older than Ben and the men had formed a strong friendship, both having lost wives and both struggling in their early years. Adam admired Roy Coffee; he had the impression that the Sheriff was an honest, plain-speaking, deep-thinking man and Adam felt he could trust him.
"Roy," Ben said as he held open the door, "come in. Your timing's perfect. We just sat down to dinner. Come join us."
"I don't want to intrude any," Roy said, "but I would like a cup of coffee. I'm getting mighty tired of my own; it tastes more like kerosene than coffee." The two men laughed and Ben led Roy over to the table. Jean and Roy exchanged greetings and Roy made a point of telling both Hoss and Adam, hello. But when Hop Sing saw that he had another guest, he insisted that Roy eat. Roy declined as politely as he could but Hop Sing wouldn't hear of it and piled food on his plate.
"You eat!" Hop Sing ordered. "Man alone need good food!" And after Hop Sing left, Ben told Roy that unless he wanted to feel the wrath of Hop Sing, he had better eat and eat it all.
"If you don't eat," Adam said in a teasing tone, "you sure won't get any dessert!" They laughed and Roy began to eat the hot food. Hop Sing knew that Roy Coffee was a widower and he also knew that a warm, full belly and the friendship of others, people who loved you and whom you loved, were comforts to assuage the loneliness.
"So Roy," Ben asked, "what besides a free meal brings you out here?"
"Oh," Roy said, "I just need to ask you and Jean some questions about the accident, Mr. Edwards' accident. Won't take long."
Jean and Ben exchanged looks and Adam picked up on it-he couldn't discern the meaning but no matter what it conveyed, it made Adam's stomach clench. He suddenly had no more appetite. He asked to be excused and went to his room where he lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling, noticing the wood grain and the knotholes, waiting to hear the door closing that would indicate that Roy Coffee had left.
After dinner, Roy, Ben and Jean sat in the parlor. "Okay, Roy, what is it? What do you need to know other than what I told the doctor about the accident?"
"I was at the Edwards' place before I came here 'cause Doc Stephens came to my office this afternoon." Roy looked down at his hands then looked up at Ben and Jean. "He said that today, when he was out checking on Tom, Tom told him that you shot him in the back, that you wanted to kill him to get his land…and his wife and that's exactly what he told me when I talked to him." Roy looked straight at Ben. Ben just stared back-shocked.
"No," Ben said, "no, I tried to save him. I tried to help him down from the mountain when he hurt his ankle. It was an accident."
"Yes, Sheriff," Jean added. "It was an unfortunate accident. I was there. I will swear to what happened. It is as Mr. Cartwright says. Tom fell, said that his ankle was broken and when Ben was helping him to climb down, they slipped. Ben dropped the rifle to catch Mr. Edwards and when it hit the rock, it went off-it could have shot Ben instead of Tom."
"But it didn't." Roy stood up, "and I guess that's what's eatin' at Tom's craw. But since there were only you three and your two stories are the same, I won't have to call an inquest."
"An inquest?" Ben stood up, upset that Roy might in the slightest think he had intentionally shot Tom Edwards.
"Well, since Tom Edwards said you tried to murder him and attempted murder charges require an inquest, I had to investigate. By the way, apparently he's telling everyone who's stopped by to see him that you shot him in the back; the town's buzzin' with it. They might ask me why I haven't done any investigating, thinkin' that just 'cause we're friends that I let you off. But now I've done my investigating and it's like I supposed it would be." Roy put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Don't worry, Ben. I'm sure that things will settle down. Well, I'll be goin' now. Thank Hop Sing for dinner for me, will you?"
Ben assured Roy he would and walked Roy out but before he left, Roy cautioned Ben to stay away from the Edwards ', to stop going over there as he had been to help out. Ben stated that Mrs. Edwards needed help with Tom, if nothing else. Roy told him that Mrs. Edwards had just hired one of the ranch hands, a man named Dempsey, to help. He was a big man and helped move Tom when needed and helped to feed him and bathe him and change his bandages. So, Roy added, it would be best for Ben to stay away. Seeing how Tom felt right now about Ben, accusing him of trying to kill him and all, Roy practically ordered him to stay away. "And I don't want to hear any arguing, Ben. Just tray completely away and if Mrs. Edwards comes over here, and I hope she has more sense than to do such a thing, well, whatever you do, don't be alone with her."
Adam's bedroom window was open and as he lay on his bed, he heard the men talking in the yard and all they had said. Adam squeezed his eyes shut; "Please, Pa, listen to Roy. Please!" he whispered into the air.
After Roy rode away, Ben walked into the house and sat down. Jean was waiting.
"Mr. Cartwright," Jean said. "If I am needed, I will tell what I saw. You have no need to worry."
Ben heavily sighed. "You don't know the whole story, Jean. I think you should before…well, you should know all of it and why Tom Edwards is saying what he is." Ben rested his head in his hands, holding himself together before he continued. "I do want the land he's been selling off; I want to expand the Ponderosa and he also needs the money. Edwards goes into town nights and drinks and gambles and he's a lousy gambler. He's prodigal and has also taken out his frustrations on his wife after he's been drinking, coming home sodden may a night. But Mrs. Edwards, Joyce, we're in love. I'm afraid that I feel guilty over that even though we swore to never see each other again since the day of the accident; Roy's cautioning was unnecessary. Before I left their ranch that night, the night of the accident, we shared our last kiss and I've kept my promise and so has she. We haven't touched since then. We're now like strangers. And I do feel guilty even though it was an accident. I can't help but wonder if somehow I did cause it."
"But that is foolish to wonder; you could not cause a quirk of fate to happen. If so, you are the most powerful man in the world. And if you are, perhaps you can help me. I too had a quirk of fate that destroyed me, destroyed who I was. Maybe, I always thought, maybe I caused it to happen. I don't know. Had I been home as I should have been…" Jean shrugged and sat back against the chair's worn cushions. "But one cannot change past events, not even God himself."
The two men sat engrossed in their own thoughts, only being drawn back into the world by Hop Sing bringing them coffee.
~0~
It was a hot day and Jean, Adam and Ben were building a barn. They had the frame already hammered together, the roof beams raised, and were now beginning to nail the boards from section to section. Together, Jean and Adam had taken the basic plan of a barn and added some changes. Adam wanted another window in the back so that during the summer, the shutters could be opened and a breeze would run through the whole building. That would help keep the animals cool. Ben thought it was a good idea so they had built a window frame in the back wall. They were working and chatting when they turned, hearing a horse snuffle; the hammering had prevented them from hearing the rider.
A big man was sitting on a horse, watching them. "Can I help you?" Ben asked.
Adam backed up. He didn't like the look on the man's face but there was something familiar about him as well. Then it dawned on Adam; the man was a ranch hand for Mr. Edwards. He had seen him there while working.
"You work for Mr. Edwards, don't you?" Adam asked.
"S'pose I do? What business is it of yours, kid." The man looked at Adam.
"Your name Dempsey?" Adam was guessing but it seemed to make sense now why the man was there. He was the one hired to take care of Mr. Edwards.
"Yeah, my name's Dempsey, kid. But I come to talk to your pa here."
"What do you need?" Ben became edgy. He hadn't brought a rifle out and there wasn't a weapon around except perhaps the saws and hammers.
"Miss Edwards wants you to come to the ranch, so's if you'll just come along with me…"
"Why?" Ben asked. "Why does she want me there?"
"I don't ask questions…I just do what I'm told. Now if you'll just get on that horse over there and come with me, we can leave."
Ben was dubious-he doubted that Joyce had sent for him and yet, she always came to him for help. Maybe she needed his help now. "Tell Mrs. Edwards that I'll be by later." Ben turned to the work at hand but the man just sat on the horse. Ben turned back to him. "Did you hear me?"
The man suddenly pulled his gun and aimed it at Ben. "Now, less'n you want your boy here to see somethin' that might upset him like you bein' cut in half, get on that horse and come with me. I ain't askin' again."
Ben looked to Jean and then began walking to the horse that was saddled and bridled from earlier in the morning. And as Dempsey was watching Ben, Jean shifted the hammer in his hand and just as if it were a knife or a hatchet, threw it end over end at Dempsey. It struck the big man on the forehead and as he tumbled backwards off his horse, Dempsey's gun went off. Adam watched as Jean fell backwards, a look of surprise on his face. Adam dropped to the ground by his friend.
"Jean!" Adam cried as he kneeled next to him.
"Oh, mon ami," Jean said, looking up at Adam with a little smile. "What is to be done?"
Ben checked on Dempsey. The man was dead. Ben rushed over to Jean and Adam. Hop Sing, upon hearing the shot, rushed out of the kitchen, holding a rifle.
"Mistah Ben!" he called out. Ben looked up at Hop Sing who was rushing over. He told Hop Sing that they needed help getting Jean into the house.
"Jean," Ben asked, "is it bad?"
"It is not good." Jean offered a weak smile.
Ben opened Jean's shirt and saw that it was very bad; he had a hole in his chest that exuded blood in accordance with his heartbeat. Ben and Hop Sing exchanged looks. "Jean," Ben said, "I'm going to send Adam for the doctor. We'll get you inside."
"No need for the boy to ride all that way. Another quirk of fate has occurred to diec my life—or in this case, my death. For you see, my dear friend, my wound, as Mercutio said," Jean replied with a half-smile. "'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church door-but 'tis enough, 'twill serve." Then Jean took a deep gasp, shaking from the loss of blood and the shock of the wound, but grabbed Ben's arm, holding tightly. "Listen to me…remember what I say. I have a wife, Marie, Marie D'Vaille Marigny in New Orleans. Tell her that I forgive her. I was wrong and I love her very much, so very much despite... Please, Ben, go to New Orleans, find my wife and my mother. Tell them both that I am sorry for the pain I caused. And please, if you can-find a man, my friend, Marius Angeville. He will help you-he was like a father to me. Promise me, Ben. Promise me." Jean tried to take a deep breath, but failed. He gripped Ben's arm and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "You will go-tell my wife, Marie. Please. Promise."
"I promise." Ben said. "I'll go-I'll tell them in person. I promise, Jean. Now we need to get you to the house."
But Jean wouldn't let go of his arm, only gripped it tighter. Jean then turned to Adam who was sitting frozen, watching his friend die. "Adieu, mon ami. May God be with you always." And Adam heard a sound deep within Jean's chest, a horrible rattling, gurgling sound he would never forget. Then Jean's hand dropped from Ben's arm and his eyes stared blankly at the blue, cloudless sky between the barn rafters.