Chapter 21 – The Late Beauregard Maverick

The day crawled forward, with only minor changes. Almost every hour someone woke Beauregard to make sure he kept drinking water; Ben was finally convinced to try laying down again when he fell asleep sitting in the chair next to his brother's bed. Bret assumed Ben's chair and kept wiping his father's face and neck with the wet cloth to provide some relief from the fever that wouldn't lose its hold on Pappy.

Sometime around noon Althea appeared briefly at the bedroom door. "Any change at all?" she asked quietly, and Bret nodded.

"He's not coughing near as much as before."

"That's a good sign, isn't it?"

"I don't know, Thea. I don't know what's good or bad anymore. I just know it's different."

She waited a minute before speaking again. "Ned came by. That man I wanted to talk to about the ranch foreman job – he's at the house now. I'm going back there for a while to talk to him. I don't suppose you can come with me?"

He shook his head. "No. Sorry. I won't leave here. You've got good judgement – trust your own instincts."

"Alright, I will. Have you slept any yet?"

"No."

She walked over to where he sat and bent down to kiss him. "When Ben comes back, alright?" She ruffled his hair before she turned and left.

"Mmmmhmmm," he answered belatedly.

Shortly after that Lily Mae came in to change the poultice and shooed him out so she could work. He wandered downstairs and poured another cup of coffee before running into Beau. "I can tell from your face the answer to my question," Beau told him before clapping him on the shoulder. "Maybe it means he's fightin', Bret. Better than givin' up."

Bret nodded. "I hope so. Is Uncle Ben asleep?"

"Yeah, I just looked in there. Finally. When Lily's done upstairs, why don't you try to do the same? I'll sit with Uncle Beau for a while."

"Thanks, Beau, but I'm not leavin' him. I promised I'd be there and I'm not goin' anywhere. Just keep an eye on your father, would ya? Simon's worried Uncle Ben is liable to come down with it, too."

"I'll watch out for him, Bret. Althea leave?"

"Yeah. She's lookin' for a ranch foreman and the man she's been waitin' for finally got to town, so she went to talk to him. Life goes on, huh?"

Beau nodded his head. "Heard anything from Bart?"

"Nope, and that's a concern, too. Last I heard he was bein' chased by outlaws and a posse. I need to get a wire to New Orleans to see if I can find him, but I'm not runnin' into town for that."

"Lily Mae needs supplies and I'm takin' her later today. I can send it for you."

"Good. I'll write it out for ya. And Beau – thanks. Hope we got no reason to find him, but I wanna know he's alright."

"Understood. I'll check with you later." Beau wandered back out of the kitchen, and Bret refilled his cup before going back upstairs. He waited outside Pappy's door for Lily to be finished, and in just a few minutes she came out of the room.

"He's awake just now," she told Bret, and he hurried in.

"Pappy?" It was a question and a statement at the same time.

Beau's head turned slowly, minutely, until he could see his firstborn. The corners of his mouth inched upward in his version of a smile. "Bret. My boy." It was whispered and barely audible, but they were the sweetest words Bret had ever heard in his life. Beauregard's eyes closed almost immediately.

"Pappy, stay here, stay with me. Please, Pappy. Don't go back there again."

Beau's eyes didn't reopen, but he got out more words. "Still here."

"Pa, I love you. I'm proud to be your son, do ya hear me? Proud." He reached out and grabbed his father's arm through all the blankets.

Another small smile. "Hear ya."

"I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm so sorry. If I could change it all, I would."

This time, Beau didn't answer and Bret listened carefully to see if he could still hear breathing. After a few seconds he let out a sigh when he determined that Pappy had gone back to sleep. He sat down in the chair and spent long minutes watching the gentle rise and fall of the blankets on the bed. Had Pappy heard him? Did he understand what Bret said? Would he remember it if he lived? Would he live? Oh God, would he live?

'Enough of that' he told himself. 'You've done that before, it does no one any good.' Yet he couldn't stop his mind from going there, to the 'what would happen if Pappy died?' place. It was practically all he could think about. It was the first and last thought on his mind, and when he finally couldn't keep his own eyes open any longer, it was still uppermost in his mind. Bret wasn't given to dreaming very often; that seemed to be something his brother was more inclined to do. But his emotions were in such turmoil that he couldn't help it. He wasn't cognizant of falling asleep, so he was sure that he was awake and it was really happening.

It was cold and windy, especially for this time of year in Texas, and the branches of the desert willow tree blew everywhere while the box was slowly lowered into the ground. Bret's hands were almost frozen, and he held them up to his mouth and blew on them to try to get some feeling back into his fingers. He was standing at the foot of the newly-dug grave, with his brother Bart next to him. Bart didn't look cold; maybe it was just an illusion. The actual burial began as the shovel was passed, one to the other, so that everyone had a chance to throw dirt in the final resting spot for the pine box. He looked around; the little hillside graveyard was crowded with people. Some he'd known all his life, some were fairly new to the valley and had known Beauregard Maverick by word-of-mouth only. All three saloons in Little Bend were closed; everyone was here. Maude Donovan wiped her eyes and threw a flower into the grave, and it was quickly covered by dirt.

By the time the shovel got to Bret it was almost finished. He took half of the dirt still waiting to be redeposited into the ground, and left the rest for his brother. He handed the shovel to Bart and wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. The minister said a few final words and it was over. Pappy and Momma were finally reunited. Slowly the people began to leave, and soon the only ones left at the grave were Bentley, Beau and Lily Mae, Bret and Althea, and Bart. Tears ran down Uncle Ben's face and Beau gripped his father by both arms and took him to the buggy, then came back and got Lily Mae and Althea. Beau drove away without looking back at the three graves that now occupied the plot of land. Bret turned to his brother.

"Bart . . . . . ." he started, and his brother looked at him with eyes full of hatred.

"No, Bret. I told you I'd stand with you until Pappy was in the ground. It's over. Far as I'm concerned my brother's gone, just like Pappy."

"Bart – " this time he reached out and grabbed his brother by the arm. Bart shrugged him off.

"Go to hell. You killed him, just like you'd put a gun to his head. You're dead to me." Bart put his hat on and walked to his horse, tied to the tree; mounted, and rode away.

Bret looked at the newly disturbed ground in front of him and felt his heart rip in two. He'd lost everything – his father and his brother, his uncle, cousin and surrogate mother, and Althea, the woman he loved. He walked to his mother's grave and sat down in the dirt. The tears came then, hot and fast, and all he could do was cry "Why?"

When the tears dried at last, he got up and rode back to Uncle Ben's house. The front door was draped with a black wreath and it was locked. Everything he owned was piled on the front porch. Conspicuous by its absence was Momma's Bible. Evidently Bart had reclaimed possession of the book.

He picked up the bags of his belongings and mounted his horse, heading down to the river. There was only one thing left to do, and he was headed there to take care of it now.

He woke with a start, his heart pounding and in a cold sweat. He sat up quickly and cast his eyes about frantically; it took almost five full minutes for the truth to sink it – Pappy was still alive. They were in his bedroom at Ben's house – he'd fallen asleep and dreamt the whole thing. He let out a relieved breath and sat up straight just as he heard someone at the bedroom door. It was Simon, and he had Althea with him.