The Challenge(46)

Tom Marshall sat two rows behind her. He wasn’t an old friend, but they were close enough, and had gotten closer when their children were missing. That whole event had made close friends of people he had scarcely known before. He sat next to Pitt. There were several rows of children farther back. Juliet was among them, between Peter and Tim. Justin and Noel were on either side of their mother in the front pew with the casket a short distance ahead of them in the center aisle. Their relatives from Denver were there, although Marlene had said that their parents had died in the last few years. But there were cousins, an aunt and uncle, some in-laws of Bob’s. Tom knew all but one of the pallbearers from among their friends in town.

Bob had bought a big plot in the cemetery for himself, Marlene, the boys, and their eventual spouses, with two additional places for grandchildren, that he hoped they’d never use. He had ordered his own monument in black granite. The final dates had been added in the last two days. Everything about the service was formal and dignified, as Bob had been. He liked everything first-rate and following tradition.

Tom sang “Amazing Grace” with the congregation, and his voice rose with the others as he watched Marlene. She still looked dazed. She clung to Justin’s arm when they followed the casket out of the church, and both boys looked devastated, their faces as pale as their white shirts. They were watched by the entire congregation with deep pity. Rather than having everyone go to their house afterwards for a drink and buffet in his memory, the Pollocks were doing it for Marlene, so she didn’t have to think about it.

There were almost three hundred people in the church. Some had come from Billings, others from Red Sky and Big Lodge, in the neighboring communities, and all of them were handed a slip of paper on the way out by Peter and the Wylie boys’ friends, inviting them to the Pollock ranch for a reception after the service. Because it was given by the Pollocks, they all came.

It was a big gathering, mostly on the patio and in their dining room and living room. The atmosphere was respectful and congenial, with old friends meeting, clients greeting Marlene, and a constant exchange of memories about Bob. Tom stayed close to Marlene. Once or twice he thought she looked as though she might faint and he spoke to her in a low voice.

“Are you okay?” She nodded and whispered thank you. He didn’t see her eat all afternoon. Bob’s closest friends had gone to the cemetery with the family for the interment, but Tom and Juliet had met them at the house afterwards.

All of the children were gathered outside. Their jackets had come off if they had worn one, which many hadn’t, and their shirts had come loose and shirttails were flapping, ties were gone, and they were running around the Pollocks’ back lawn around the pool, playing chasing games. Anne didn’t stop them. They needed the relief. The ceremony had been hard for the adults and even harder for the kids. In many cases it was their first brush with death. It was a sobering experience, and the adults were buffering it with large quantities of alcohol being handed out by ranch hands at the Pollocks’ bar. There were sandwiches and sodas for the kids, and a generous buffet for the adults. Food and alcohol seemed to be the accepted antidote for grief.

Tom saw Peter and Juliet, inseparable as they had been for the past month, sipping Cokes, sitting in chairs by the pool and talking quietly. Juliet had worn the only black dress she owned, with a white collar and pleated skirt, and kitten heels and stockings. Her mother had told her on the phone that it was the right thing to wear. Tom saw Justin wandering around like a ghost, with a bottle of mineral water in his hand. Noel was downstairs in the playroom with his friends playing video games. It would have been a nice party if the reason for it weren’t so sad.

He saw Justin stumble once with his cast on uneven ground on the lawn. As Justin set the water bottle down, Tom suddenly had a question in his mind. He drifted over to where Justin had left it, picked it up, and kept walking until he rounded a bend and was standing near a toolshed where no one could see him. He unscrewed the lid, sniffed it, and took a cautious sip. It was straight vodka. He wondered if it was a unique occurrence for this painful event, or if Justin had done anything like it before. He put the lid back on and dropped the bottle in a nearby trash can. He wondered if he should tell Marlene about it or speak to Justin himself. She had enough on her hands today, and he wondered too if he should let it go unless he saw it happen again. It was hard to know. It was obviously the only way Justin thought he could get through his father’s funeral.

Tom’s heart ached for him, and he hoped it was a singular event that wouldn’t repeat itself. Justin had had a hard month, lost on the mountain, with a dying father who had finally left them. It was a heavy load for a boy of seventeen. And for Noel too, but Noel seemed to have a sturdier and more optimistic disposition. Justin was more of a brooder, and as the oldest son a lot was expected of him.

Marlene herself admitted that she was relying heavily on him. Maybe too heavily, Tom thought. He would have liked to lighten the load for all three of them, but he didn’t want to be presumptuous or intrusive. He decided to just keep an eye on things for a while, especially Justin, without saying anything. Hopefully once he was back in school, he’d be busy dealing with classes, homework, and his college applications, and wouldn’t have time to get into trouble. He hoped so, for Marlene’s sake. It was hard enough losing her husband, without having to deal with problems with her children. Tom couldn’t imagine it, and wished that he could protect her from life’s blows. She seemed so frail to cope with life’s storms. She was an intelligent, educated woman, but Bob had always protected her, and now he was gone. It made Tom want to rush in and help her.