Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The following day, Mabel set breakfast on the table as Joey and Felix came downstairs.
“Good morning, my two handsome cowboys…or should I say handsome young men.” Mabel smiled at them. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Yes, Ma.” Felix pulled out his chair and sat. “We slept fine.”
“Breakfast sure does smell good.” Joey sat in his chair. “We’re hungry.”
“Grover will be right in, and then we can eat,” Mabel said.
No meal ever began without Grover at the table unless he was gone.
Joey had never known any other way, and Felix respected the practice of celebrating Grover’s status as head of the family.
In a way, it honored Mabel, too, as that was the way she wanted it.
“Good morning, everyone.” Grover entered the kitchen and sat.
“Good morning, Pa,” said the two best friends in unison.
“What do you two have planned for today?” He asked. He spooned scrambled eggs onto his plate from the platter in the center of the table.
“I’m taking Felix up to my thinking spot,” Joey said. “The one up on the bluff that overlooks the entire ranch and beyond.”
“You haven’t been up there much this summer, have you?”
“Yes. That’s where Felix found me.”
“So he has been there before.”
“Up on the bluff, yes. The rocky outcropping where I sit and think, no.”
“I’m sure Felix will enjoy seeing your thinking spot,” Grover chuckled.
Joey grinned, “Pa, I am glad you agreed to let Felix come and work with us this summer.”
“I know, Joey. I thought you two might become friends by the end of summer. I never thought you would become best friends so fast.”
“I’m glad you agreed to let me come here too, Pa,” Felix said. “It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I think it’s the best thing that ever happened to Joey, too,” Mabel said. “He’s a different man than he was before you arrived.”
“Ma, can you make us a couple of sandwiches to take along?” Joey asked. “It takes half an hour to get up to the top, so it's not an easy ride.”
“Let’s finish our breakfast, and I’ll make the sandwiches while you two saddle up your horses.”
“Watch out for rattlesnakes,” Grover said. “I’ve seen quite a few this year.”
* * *
Sandwiches packed in their saddlebags, they rode out onto the ranch.
“Joey, were you really lonely before I came?”
“After Jacob left, there was nobody for me to talk to. Oh, I could talk with Ma and Pa, but it’s not the same as having someone close to your own age.”
“How much older is Jacob than you?”
“Three years. Two years ago, he went to California to attend Stanford. We’ve not seen him since he left.”
“Then he must be almost finished.”
“I think he is, and he’ll come back after he graduates.”
“He’ll come back about the time we leave for college.”
“Yes, and I am excited about attending college with you, Felix.”
“Me too, Joey.”
They rode on in silence. The climb up to the top of the bluff was a challenge for the horses. The trail was steep at times and followed a winding path that was often narrow. When they reached the top, they dismounted and walked over to an outcropping of rocks.
“You can see the ranch house way down there,” Joey pointed toward the southwest. “And over there is the spring,” Joey pointed toward the southeast.
“Gosh…when I was up here before, I focused on you. Now I see the great view. You can see how the ranch lies out from up here.” Felix took a seat on the ledge. “I didn’t realize the house and the spring were so far apart.”
Joey sat down next to Felix. “I used to come up here and sit on these rocks and wish for Jacob to come home. I missed him a lot.”
“I understand.” Felix put his arm around Joey’s shoulders. “I never had any friends, and my brother is eight years younger, so we were never close. You must have been lonely here by yourself.”
“Until you came along. That’s why I decided we were best friends on the second day. I was glad to have someone here I could talk to, and I liked you from the first time I saw you standing in our kitchen.”
“I’m glad I came along, too.” Felix reached up with his free hand and touched Joey’s chin, pulling his face toward him in a kiss.
“Felix, I love you so much.”
“I love you more, Joseph Sterling,” Felix said as they embraced each other.
“Let’s eat our lunch.” Joey stood to get the sandwiches from the saddlebags. “I’m getting hungry, and we can sit here and look at the ranch as we eat.”
“I’m hungry too.” Felix gazed at the vista. He remembered Pa Sterling telling him about the history of this region. He thought of the buffalo herds that may have grazed below, of the Indians who may have kept an eye on things from this spot.
Felix stood up as they finished their sandwiches and brushed the crumbs from his shirt. He felt a slight tug at his neck and looked down in time to see the gold chain and cross fall between the rocks.
“Joey, my grandmother’s cross fell between those rocks. Can you see where it went?”
Joey stood, brushing the crumbs from his own shirt. He peered down between the rocks and thought he could see the glint of the gold chain in the sunlight that lit a small space between the stones.
“I think I see it, Felix. I’ll get it for you.”
Joey got on his knees and reached down between the rocks. He heard a faint buzzing sound, then a sharp pain in his hand. “Ouch,” he yelled, jerking his hand from the stones. Two baby rattlesnakes came out with his hand and flew off the edge of the outcropping.
“Oh no! Rattlesnakes.”
Felix rushed over to examine Joey’s hand. It had two pairs of bite marks, one on the fleshy part of his thumb pad and one on the back of his hand.
“It hurts, Felix.”
“Joey, we need to get you back to the house. I bet Ma has a remedy to fix you right up.”
Joey stood and staggered. “I’m not feeling good, Felix. I’m dizzy, and I’m starting to feel sick.”
“Can you get to Lightning, Joey?” Felix supported a sagging Joey in his arms.
“I think so, but you'd better tie me on the saddle. I don’t think I can sit up, so you’ll have to lay me over the saddle and secure me so I won’t fall off. I’m feeling terrible.”
Felix noticed Joey was beginning to look pale, and he seemed short of breath. He helped Joey to his horse and boosted him over the saddle. He tied a rope around the saddle horn and looped it around the back of the saddle, securing Joey.
“I think I’m gonna…” Joey passed out, and panic gripped Felix’s gut. He had to get Joey back to the ranch house, but the trail was treacherous, and he knew it would take time. He mounted Sparkle, and taking Lightning’s lead, they made their way slowly back to the house.
As they neared the house half an hour later, Felix began yelling. “PA. MA.”
Grover came running out of the house as he heard the screams and saw Felix approaching and Joey lying across Lightning’s back.
“Pa, Joey got bit by a couple of baby rattlesnakes. He passed out.”
“Oh, my God.” Grover rushed to Joey. “Let’s get him inside.”
Felix dismounted and helped Grover untie the ropes holding Joey. They carried him inside and laid him on the bed in Grover and Mabel’s room.
Joey’s pale skin and shallow breathing terrified Felix. Felix grabbed his good hand and held on tight while Mabel tended to the wounds on his other hand. The bitten hand was very swollen and red. Grover looked on.
“Should I go get the doctor?” Felix looked at Mabel, terror written across his face.
“There is nothing the doctor can do, Felix,” Mabel said, her voice shaking. “There is no cure for rattlesnake bites. We have to hope the snakes didn’t get too much poison in Joey before they let go.”
Felix held Joey’s hand and looked at the pale figure lying there. “Oh, Joey…don’t die. Please don’t die,” Felix pleaded. “I need you, Joey. I can’t survive without you.”
Grover walked up behind Felix and put his hands on his shoulders. He wanted Joey to pull through, too. “You keep holding on to him, Felix. Your strength will help him.”
Mabel did what she could with Joey’s wound. All they could do now was hope and pray. They held vigil through the afternoon, but around 5:00, the room grew quiet. The hand Felix held had already started to grow cold as Joey’s heart rate slowed. When he stopped breathing, Felix became hysterical.
“No, Joey. No!” he shrieked. Mabel broke into sobs, and Grover moved to comfort her. She stood and embraced Grover, and he sobbed as well.
Consumed by grief, Felix wailed at the loss of the only person he ever loved. Mabel looked up at Grover, and even through their own misery, they nodded and moved over to console Felix.
Mabel pulled Felix up into a hug, and the three of them sobbed together, not understanding why such a bright and loving young man was taken from them.
They mourned throughout the night, staying in each other’s arms, trying to console themselves. Their loss was insurmountable.
As the eastern sky brightened, Grover said, “We need to bury Joey. Felix, where would you suggest?”
“Let’s bury him near the spring. That was one of his favorite places.” Felix’s voice cracked as the beautiful moments they shared at the spring came to mind.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Grover said.
“Me, too.” Mabel wiped her cheeks. “Felix, go upstairs and get Joey’s best clothes. We’ll dress him in those for his burial.”
Felix went to Joey’s room and got what he thought were his best clothes.
He knew Joey had clothes he never wore because he considered them special.
He also got Joey’s newest pair of boots.
He went back downstairs and undressed Joey, folding his clothes.
He then dressed Joey in his finest. After he finished, he leaned over and kissed Joey’s lips.
He didn’t care that those lips were cold. They were still Joey.
“Bye, best friend,” Felix sobbed. “I’ll miss you, and I love you.” Felix turned to Grover and Mabel. “He’s ready.”
Grover and Felix carried Joey’s body to the wagon and placed him on a padding of hay Grover had prepared. Mabel covered him with a white sheet. Grover and Mabel climbed onto the wagon seat while Felix mounted Sparkle. They rode to the spring.
“Gather rocks so we can cover him,” Grover told Felix, “and I’ll dig a shallow grave.”
Felix found thirty stones about the same size within fifty yards of the spring.
He piled them near the shallow hole Grover dug.
The two of them wrapped Joey in the sheet, carried his lifeless body to the shallow grave, and lowered him into it.
Mabel came over and watched as they placed Joey in his final bed.
“May the good lord take our son,” she prayed. “He was a good son, a good brother, and a perfect best friend. Amen.”
Grover and Felix laid a stone border around the shallow grave, then covered Joey with the dirt Grover had removed, adding the stones on top. As they finished, they stood there in silence, looking at the mound of rocks and mourning the loss of their precious Joseph.
* * *
For the next two weeks, the house was quiet. The grief felt by Grover and Mabel was inconsolable. Overcome with sorrow, Felix cared little about anything. He did his chores by rote, not paying much attention to details. Mabel cooked meals, but nobody was hungry, so the food went uneaten.
Grover said one morning at breakfast, “Felix, I think you should attend college this fall. You still have time to enroll, and now there is no reason to wait.”
“It was something Joey and I planned to do together,” Felix mumbled, looking down at his uneaten scrambled eggs.
“Felix, the University of Texas opened about fifteen years ago and has done well. Joey would want you to go. You would honor his wishes if you accepted my offer to send you.”
Felix thought for a minute and realized Pa was right. He needed to honor Joey, and this was an excellent way to do it. His world began to brighten a tiny bit.
“Grover is right, Felix. We want you to go, and Joey would have been so pleased to know you went.”
“You’re both right, of course,” Felix sighed. “It’s time to move on. Joey isn’t coming back, and no amount of despair will help.”
Mabel reflected on what Felix said. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you’re right, Felix. We all need to move on with our lives.”
“I’m glad to hear you two coming out of your fog,” Grover said. “We’ve all been gloomy, and Joey would not like that.”
“Okay, Pa. I’ll go to the university.” Felix began to smile. “In honor of Joey.”
“Good boy.” Grover smiled.
Mabel stood to clear the table. “You can use the trunk in Joey’s room, Felix. You pack it, and we’ll take it to your house in Blackfield. You may have a few things here you want to take.”
“Yes, I do, Ma.” Excitement built in Felix about going to college.