PART 1 - LOSS AND LONELINESS
Monday, October 13,1980 1:30 PM PDT
The mid-October sky was partially obscured by white cumulus clouds and the sun occasionally peeked out from behind them, shining weak rays on the somber group assembled below. A group of approximately 14 people, all dressed in mourning garb, were gathered in a loose semi-circle beneath a canopy of autumn hued tree branches that had yet to shed their leaves. The entire group, with the exception of two of who were seated was standing before a stately marble monument of about three feet, which had the name BENNETT etched on the front. Directly below the family name were the words FATHER – STEPHEN PAUL, a birth date and a death date. Next to that there were the words MOTHER – LOIS SARAH, a birth date and a death date. Directly below, newly etched, was the name DANIEL CHRISTOPHER – SON, also with a birth date and a death date, which was three days ago.
A brass urn was situated on a flat ledge that was located on the top of the monument. Placed on the ground in front of the monument were several planters with red and pink geraniums to decorate the ground, which were the supposed graves. The two mourners in the group who were seated was a slender attractive ash blonde with delicate features in her early thirties; clad in a long sleeved black dress and a young girl of about six also in a black dress; her golden hair pulled back from a piquant face made pale by grief. A man in his early forties with medium brown hair and of average height, the Reverend Matthew Henderson, stood before the monument and solemnly read the 23rd Psalm line by line. The people repeated each line of the psalm that was read, as a prayer to the one who had departed.
The reverend continued, " We are here to pay homage to Daniel Christopher Bennett, loving husband, and devoted father who was taken from his wife Julie and young daughter Melissa tragically three days ago on October 10, 1980. Dan was a good man, a pillar of the community, and an honest, fair businessman whose dealings with others were always done with the utmost scruples. His untimely passing reminds us all that we are but passing here on earth for a short time and will one day meet with the Lord. The Word says 'No one knows the day or the hour the Lord will come' and that is true. But also, it is true that no one know the day or hour the Lord calls us home."
As he continued to offer words of comfort to those clustered around the Bennett monument, Melissa Bennett sobbed softly. She was too young to fully grasp the words spoken on behalf of her dead father... Her finite six-year-old mind and heart only knew of one thing, her daddy was gone. She was only aware that he would never again enfold her in his big strong arms, shower kisses on her cheeks, or pick her up and swing her around as he used to be so fond of doing.
Her mother Julie reached over and gently caressed Melissa's tear streaked cheek...her own grief was held in check as not to further upset her daughter, but evident in the dark circles under her moist brown eyes and the slightly gaunt hollows of her own cheeks. Reverend Henderson went on to speak of Dan's roles as husband, father, friend to all and he spoke with a voice tinged with his own sorrow, for Dan was a dear friend of his as well.
As he finished, Reverend Henderson asked for all to bow their heads and recite The Lord's Prayer. As the prayer was completed, each one of the mourners went up to Julie and Melissa to hug, comfort and otherwise pay their respects. Hank and Hannah Travis, with their boys Josh and Jim, who have worked at the Bennett ranch since Dan was a boy, came to offer their love and support.
Hannah, a warm and loving woman with gold-flecked eyes and auburn hair worn pulled away from her face embraced Julie and said with tears in her voice, "You don't have to worry about a thing, Miss Julie, We'll take care of you and Miss Melissa, you can count on us."
"Thank you Hannah, I knew I could," Julie smiled, squeezing her hand.
Appearing embarrassed Hank, the head trainer added, "And don't you worry about the horses, me and the boys will make sure they get exercised and fed. And when it's time for the foals to drop and the competitions in the spring, they'll be ready."
Julie nodded at him vacantly, for although Dan would have insisted that the ranch continue with business as usual, the thoughts of spring equestrian competitions were the furthest thing from her mind now. The other men who worked with the eighteen horses that belonged to the ranch and lived in the quarters behind the barn came as well to pay their respects and reassure Julie that they too would continue to do their jobs, as long as she needed them. Hank, Josh, Jim, and the other hired men then left and headed toward the stables and barn.
Reverend Henderson and his wife Debra, a petite strawberry blonde with a vivacious personality and sparkling hazel eyes came up to Julie. Debi hugged Melissa and then knelt in front of Julie who was still seated. "If you need anything Julie, Matt and I are a phone call away," she said gently, throwing her arms around Julie's shoulders.
"Thanks, Debi," Julie replied gratefully, eyes shining with unshed tears. "I will."
Both Debra and Matt turned and walked toward the parked cars by the barn.
Ever astute and noticing the difficulty Julie was having hiding her emotions, Hannah went over to Melissa. "Come, Miss Melissa, I'll get you some lunch." She took Melissa's hand and led her toward the main house.
A tall, handsome dark haired man with steel gray eyes was next. It was David Slade, Dan's business partner and best friend. He and Dan had grown up together, went through school together, and at the time of Dan's death were inseparable. He too knelt in front of the grieving widow, and took her cold hands in his. "Are you okay, Julie, did you eat anything today?" he asked solicitously, concern lining his even features.
"I'm not hungry David, but thank you anyway," Julie answered dully.
"You have to eat, girl, you're going to waste away to nothing. Dan would skin me alive if I allowed that to happen. Why don't I take you out to town for lunch?" David coaxed.
With a sigh, Julie rose to her feet. She reached over to take the urn in her hands. "That's very sweet of you, David, but I'm going to take a walk out to the North Field. I want to be alone and then scatter Dan's ashes over by the bluff as he wanted," she stated as she turned and headed toward the bridle path which ran adjacent to the main corral.
David stood and watched her as she slowly made her way down the tree lined path. He was coming close to feeling some guilt, but he rationalized that the feeling would pass with time. Sighing, he strode over to the rear of the barn, where the office was located.
Julie walked slowly, oblivious to the beautiful fall foliage that surrounded her, her destination the only thing on her mind. When she got to the stretch of land known as the North Field, she set the urn down. The North Field was the northwestern corner of the main ranch; a place of sylvan beauty enjoyed many times by her, Dan and Melissa. It was a meadow about an acre and a half, encircled by woods on two sides. The bridle path ran to the right and then looped and headed around the field. But the most exquisite quality of the North Field was at its end. There, a sharp rocky incline of about one hundred fifty feet led to a rapid steam of crystal clear water that ran down from the snow-capped peaks of the nearby mountains. But the view there was truly the most breathtaking sight, the sky meeting the mountain range whose high snowy peaks were pure white in the midday sun and reflected the sunset at day's end.
Nearby, there were three redwood stumps clustered together under a copse of birch trees. It was there just about eight years ago that Dan brought Julie to propose to her, there one moonlit summer night after they were wed that Melissa was conceived. They had many a happy family picnic there, for it was a most private place, only for the family. About one month ago one lovely September evening, Dan had walked with her there to the North Field where they sat and watched the sunset, talking about their future. The conversation drifted toward the inevitable. Dan had told Julie that if anything happened to him, he wanted to be cremated and his ashes scattered here.
"I can't think of a better place on God's green earth to be than here and I'd want my remains scattered right here," Dan declared his arm around Julie as they watched the sun sink toward the mountain peaks.
Julie lifted her head from his shoulder and looked right at him. "Where is this coming from?
"Nowhere really," Dan said in a reflective tone. "Just saying what I'd like when the time comes."
Her suspicions raised, Julie demanded, "Is there something that you want to tell me."
"Hey babe, don't get unglued," he said good naturedly. "It's going to happen one time or another. And I'm telling you what I'd like you to do when it does." He became uncharacteristically sober as he added, "Promise me that when it does happen, you will go on and embrace life and find another love because you deserve it. And make sure whoever he is he sees it as the precious gift it is and you as the amazing person you are."
"Dan, don't talk like that," Julie responded in an alarmed manner.
Dan chuckled, "Why not, sunshine, we can't live forever. Besides, I want you to know exactly what I want should anything happen to me."
Julie shuddered and snuggled closer to him, "I don't even want to think about that. That isn't going to happen for a long, long time," she said definitely, her eyes firmly on his to enforce the point.
Dan gazed lovingly at her. Their eyes were locked for an undetermined time, and somehow Julie felt uneasy as if he wanted to commit forever to his mind the vision of her in the fading light of the sun. "Okay, you're the boss," He said saluting her.
His jokingly casual deference to her broke the tension and Julie relaxed, dismissing the dark mood. She giggled and playfully saluted him back, "At ease, soldier," she intoned in mock severity.
They resumed watching the sunset.
Julie sighed heavily as she relived the memory. It appears that Dan was eerily prophetic in making what was now his last request. Who could have known that three days ago Dan's life would end as he fell two hundred fifty feet from the barn roof, breaking his neck, killing him. He was up there repairing a hole in the barn roof because he had wanted to get the holes covered before the winter came. Julie had begged him to get a professional roofing contractor, but he refused, thinking about the expense, stubbornly insisting he could do it with help from David and Hank. It was nine thirty in the morning that day when a horrified Hank ran in to break the terrible news to her. Julie recalled walking around in a fog as an ambulance was called and once they arrived at the hospital in Salinas, a helicopter to fly a critically injured Dan to General Hospital in San Francisco where the doctors worked feverishly for fourteen hours to try to save Dan's life. After the coroner officially declared Dan dead she came home exhausted but faced with the difficult task to try to explain to her daughter that her daddy was not coming home ever again.
Julie picked up the brass urn that bore Dan's remains and walked over to the end of the field. Standing just above the rock -strewn ledge, she opened the urn and took a handful of powdery ashes and scattered them on the breeze blowing over the brook. She repeated the motion until the urn was nearly empty. She then emptied the remaining ashes in the urn on the three redwood stumps, the breeze blowing them around the leaf carpeted ground. Julie sat disconsolately on one of the stumps and finally gave in to the overwhelming grief that she had tried to keep concealed for Melissa's sake. With a heartbroken sob she buried her tear stained face in her hands and cried bitterly. And the sun, which had been out and shining, as if it sensed the sorrow being shed below, hid behind a large gray cloud.
Later, Julie made her way back down the bridle path, slowly, dolefully towards the house, oblivious to her surroundings. David watched her progress from the barn door where he was leaning so he started over to meet her. She was nearly to the back door staircase when a concerned David approached her.
"Julie, are you okay? You were gone for a long time," he pointed out.
Julie sighed, "I was scattering Dan's ashes up at our place, the North Field. He wanted his ashes scattered all over up there."
"Here, let me help you,"
David reached to take the empty urn from her arms but she pulled away, shaking her head, "Please leave me alone, David. I don't want anyone to help me I just want to be left alone." She climbed up the staircase and let herself in the house.
David watched her as she disappeared into the house. He was filled with concern but respected her need for solitude as he told himself that when she needed to let go, he would be there for her. He headed back to the stable office, almost but not quite hating himself.
Sighing, David let himself into the office and sat behind the desk where he pulled out a sheaf of folded documents from the drawer. He thumbed through them until he found the folder he was looking for. He opened it up and glanced at the documents within. Satisfied, he refolded them and returned the folder and the others to the drawer. He sighed again at the thought of what had transpired the last week and shrugged, realizing that those events were just a means to an end, a very necessary end. Not a pleasant end but necessary, nonetheless.
Monday, November 3, 1980, 1:45 PM PST
It was a gray, drizzle streaked autumn day, the kind of day that reminded one of the approaching winter, bleak and raw. Julie was seated behind the large cherry desk in Dan's study, leafing through a ledger. She sighed as she surveyed the figures entered for the month. Although it looked as if all the monthly bills would be covered, she noticed that there would be little at the end and the following month would be Christmas.
Julie rifled through the pile of bills that had come for Dan's memorial service, the bill from the crematory being the highest. She consulted the ranch expense section of the ledger to see what if anything could be eliminated but it appeared as if that too was cut to the bone. Dan had always taught her that the late fall and winter months were always the hardest on a breeding ranch. This was so because after mating season, foals weren't born until the spring and sales of the foals that brought much needed income wouldn't be final until May when they would be old enough to leave their mothers. So it was at those times, it became necessary to "tighten the belt", as Dan would say. Non perishable food was stockpiled and stored in a room in the basement. Meat was stocked in the large walk-in freezer, also in the basement. Hannah would bake numerous loaves of bread, rolls, and other goods that were stashed away as well. Not to mention paying and feeding the help, heating fuel, animal feed, and other necessities, the winter months were considered austerity program months. This never bothered Julie; having grown up in near poverty with her mother, she had learned to be wise with her money. Even when she was on the police force, working undercover, her paycheck was always enough to pay her monthly bills, and she still managed to save a little here and there even while sending her mother a check when she needed it.
Julie sighed again as she saw the balances in the bankbook and checkbook. Again, using the calculator, she painstakingly subtracted expense after expense until there were no more. And again, she discovered that after all the basic needs were met, the sum left over was miniscule. Discovering that, she began wondering how she would be able to afford Christmas. With a grimace of disgust on her pretty face, Julie opened the desk to see if she had overlooked anything and discovered a pile of folders held together by a rubber band. She took off the rubber band and began to go through the folders. They turned out to be insurance policies, some with both her and Dan's names on them, and some with just Dan's. She glanced through the pile, putting aside the homeowner's policy, automobile policy, health insurance policy, business insurance policy, and then she came across the folder that said LIFE INSURANCE POLICY. Julie opened this folder and read the contents carefully.
This was the policy that Dan had insisted in taking out when, newly married, they returned from their honeymoon eight years ago. She considered it a little too much to be talking about life insurance as newlyweds but he was adamant that both of them take out life insurance policies stating that he didn't want either one to be burdened with expenses if something happened to the other. In addition, that was one expense he refused to trim even in the leanist of times; the prompt paying of premiums on insurance policies. It was why he insisted on doing repairs around the ranch that could have been contracted out to professionals… It was his way of trimming the fat.
Julie read through the initial policy and the annual renewal forms sent from the company. On these sheets, there was found the accrued value on the policy for the year. She was surprised to find that the initial policy taken out on Dan which had had an original face value of $25,000, had according to the most recent statement, increased over the years to the amount of $50,000. She stared incredulously at the figures and to make sure that she wasn't imagining or entertaining wishful thinking, she checked them over. Upon double and triple checking, Julie discovered that the figures were indeed correct. She leaned back in the chair, cast her eyes heavenward and mouthed a silent "Thank you."
She then reached for the phone and called the insurance agent. After a brief conversation, in which she gave the pertinent information requested, and when they had located the copy of the death certificate that had been sent three weeks ago, the agent assured her that the claim would be filed immediately. Julie thanked him and hung up, feeling a lightening of her previous gloomy mood. She picked up the policy and idly noticed that the company, H.C. MUTUAL INDEMNITY Co. had its home office in Beverly Hills, CA. Julie wondered why Dan had a policy with an insurance company based in of all places, Beverly Hills when he had always said that L.A. and its surrounding environs was the capital of crazies. When she would defend Los Angeles, having lived and worked down there, he would say that the only good thing about L.A. was it was there he'd met her. She shrugged and gathered all the documents, including the life insurance policy, stuck them in the ledger and locked them in the desk, thinking nothing more of it.
NEXT…..A FRIEND IN NEED