The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy

Chapter 37 - Monday at Garmadon Ranch

Chapter 37 - Monday at Garmadon Ranch

Doc Julien had not expected to pay another visit to Garmadon Ranch so soon after Sunday night, but early Monday morning he was standing at the bedside of the unconscious Bansha after Mr. Wu made a special trip into town to summon him. Bansha's medical situation was discovered by Miss Gayle and Sam - they realized that their chatter during Sam's morning back treatment in the bedroom hadn't stirred the septuagenarian one bit.

After examining the motionless woman, the physician slowly took off his stethoscope as Mr. Wu and the two women stood and watched him.

"Let's go into the parlor for a minute," he directed them. Once they had filed out of the bedroom, he shut the bedroom door behind them.

In the parlor, Doc Julien spoke to them in a low voice. "Though Bansha is unresponsive, she may be able to hear what we say, so that's why I brought you out here."

He continued. "Bansha is dying. I've seen this happen before in other patients, where they lapse into a coma before they die. The dying process may take weeks or it may take just hours. I'm guessing Bansha will be gone in seven to ten days. I would keep offering her soup and water, but don't be surprised when she doesn't take them."

Mr. Wu stood in a thoughtful pose, crossing his arms yet cupping his chin with one hand. "I suppose I should contact Pastor Neuro to begin making her funeral arrangements."

Miss Gayle nodded in agreement, then looked at Sam. "I'm believin' she was waitin' to see ye once more before she decided it be time to be movin' on to a better place."

It was agreed among the doctor, the ranch owner, and the two women that Bansha would want everyone's lives to continue as usual and not be disrupted by her, especially since she had just apologized last night for disrupting the lives of Sam and Kai. They made the decision that, for the time being, the plans for the supper on Thursday would continue.

After asking Sam how her back was feeling, and receiving a positive response, Doc Julien left, stating he would return to the ranch tomorrow to check on things. Mr. Wu turned to go to his office to take care of some paperwork before heading into town in the afternoon to see the pastor. He said he'd keep an eye on Bansha while Miss Gayle took Sam outside to wash laundry.

But before the women exited the house, he stopped them for a second. "Miss Gayle, tonight after supper, please come by my office for a few minutes. I have to talk to you about...something."

Once the women were outside, Miss Gayle explained to Sam that on Monday of each week, she took care of washing laundry, including the dirty clothes and linens of the four cowboys. One of the boys would deliver the bundle of items from the bunkhouse to the back door of the main house early on Monday morning, and then the housekeeper would pack up the newly freshened items and leave them at the back door for pickup on Tuesday evening after they had been ironed. Because the boys hadn't been around to do their normal work in the past week, there were no work clothes to wash, but they had spent a whole week on the trail wearing their Sunday-best outfits, so those clothes would definitely need extra attention. And the clothes had indeed been included in the delivery to the back doorstep this morning.

Sam was pleased to be currently wearing one of her own dresses - one that Kai had retrieved from her saloon room - for the first time in a week. The one she wore yesterday - from Morro's house - had been worn for several days, ever since Morro's improvised funeral, and it had collected three days' worth of trail dust, so she was ready to launder it as well. She thought she might even give it away, due to the bad memories associated with it.

Miss Gayle showed Sam how to first fill up the laundry tub with boiling hot water and soap and then scrub the clothes using the washboard. Because Sam's back was not quite healed enough to handle the vigorous scrubbing activity, Miss Gayle took care of that part while Sam rinsed and hung the laundry on the clothesline to dry. She blushed slightly at hanging up the cowboys' union suits. Miss Gayle noticed.

"When ye be washin' union suits a million times, ye don't be feelin' embarrassed anymore," she told the younger woman, based on her own experience.

For the midday meal, Miss Gayle showed Sam how to make flapjacks. This originally was going to be their breakfast food, but when Bansha's medical situation was discovered, the breakfast menu had quickly changed to simple tea and toasted bread. But now there was time for the housekeeper to show the younger woman how to mix the flour and other ingredients and pour the batter to form circles on a prepared griddle, flipping when bubbles formed. Mr. Wu joined them for the midday meal and pronounced Sam's flapjacks to be "fluffy" before he left for Ninjago Town for the second time that day.

After the meal cleanup, the women attempted to feed Bansha some soup, but she had no inclination to swallow. They fed her a few drops of soup at a time so as not to choke her, for a total of a few spoonsful.

Then Miss Gayle gave her another cooking lesson, this one about preparing a beef roast with onions, carrots, and potatoes. Sam practiced the chopping skills taught to her last night. The roast was going to cook slowly in the cast iron oven for several hours.

Next, they ironed the fancy table linens and prepared the china dishes and eating utensils so that the dining table could be set on Thursday for the supper party. Place settings for a dozen people were needed.

At that point, it was time to eat supper. And clean up after supper.

Sam said she would take care of giving Bansha a little soup while Miss Gayle met with Mr. Wu in his office. Once done with the task, Sam lay down on her own bed to wait for the housekeeper to administer her evening back treatment.

When Miss Gayle returned to the room, Sam was fast asleep. It had been an exhausting day for the blonde girl.

As Miss Gayle walked over to the bed to wake her up for the treatment, she smiled, thinking about the exciting plans of Kai and Jay that Mr. Wu had just shared with her. And the preparations necessary to carry out these plans.

Lassie, ye may have thought today be full of activity, Miss Gayle thought, but wait till ye see what the next two weeks have in store for ye!