Once Upon The Prairie (The Brides Of Courage, Kansas, Book 1)

by Lenny Davis

Chapter 11

  It was late in the afternoon when Dr. Dickerson's buggy finally rolled into the courtyard of the ranch. Mamie was waiting for him on the veranda.

  "Come quickly, doctor," she said. "Mr. Neville has turned to stone."

  She held the door open for the doctor to enter.

  Mina met them in the parlor. She greeted the physician and led him over to the dining room, where Neville was still sitting like a statue. He hadn't moved all day.

  Dr. Dickerson knelt down by him. After a cursory examination of his patient, he reached into his bag and took out a stethoscope. He unbuttoned Neville's shirt, put the stethoscope to his chest and listened with closed eyes.

  "His life is still in him," he said after a minute.

  "But what is the matter with him, doctor?" Mina said.

  The doctor rose while he kept his eyes on Neville. Many thoughts went through his mind. He took his time pondering them and coming to a conclusion while Mina cast anxious glances at him.

  "It's like his heart stopped, but not completely. There is still a heartbeat there. Very faint, but I could hear it." He turned towards Mina. "The proper name of this condition is catatonic schizophrenia. It's where a person suddenly freezes in place. Many times people like that have mental issues. One factor in this present case is surely your husband's drug abuse. He's drinking way too much and he is probably abusing the opium I have prescribed. Let's go check in his bedroom. I wouldn't be the least bit amazed if he hadn't already inhaled today."

  Mina and the doctor went up into Neville's bedroom. On the way there she asked, "What will happen now, doctor?"

  "Oh, he'll probably come to in a while."

  "How long will that take?"

  "Nobody knows for sure. May be a couple of hours or even a couple of days."

  "What about his bodily functions in the meantime?"

  "There will be none," Dr. Dickerson said. "This disorder is most peculiar in the changes it effects. It's like he's gone to a different place and left his flesh behind. This condition is most unusual, but it's not unknown."

  What a strange sickness!

  Mina had never heard of anything like it. She wasn't sure what to think of it.

  What if Neville never came back?

  What if he'd just keep on sitting there, on his chair in the dining room, forever?

  They had arrived in Neville's room. Dr. Dickerson went over to the little round table by the window. He immediately spied the drug utensils. On the table lay a long pipe with a small head.

  "See this?" he asked Mina. "Look at the crumbs in that tray. This is fresh ash. And there's the packet with the opium. I bet he used it even this morning."

  Mina cast him a worried glance. "Doctor, what are we going to do?"

  "Wait," the physician said. "There's not much else we can do right now."

  Neville didn't come to that day and Dr. Dickerson had to leave before the sun went down. He came again the next day and the following, but the rancher's condition remained unchanged.

  He sat on his easy chair as if cast in lead.

  For four days Neville Morlock neither ate nor drank nor moved. He just sat.

  Mina tried to keep the news of her husband's peculiar condition secret, but it couldn't remain hidden. All Mina could do after a few days was to keep the gawkers away from the mansion as they tried to look in the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the rancher who had turned to stone.

  On one occasion Dr. Dickerson brought Rev. MacFarlane and Sheriff MacRaven with him from the nearby town of Courage, so they could have a look at his most prominent patient firsthand and didn't have to rely on rumors. Both men marveled as they studied Neville from every angle. They'd never seen anything like this either.

  On the seventh day, only Mina was present in the dining room with Neville — when her husband suddenly jerked like he had done in the beginning. Mina sat in a chair across the room, doing needlepoint, when Neville suddenly sighed and slumped back without opening his eyes.

  Her needle and frame fell away as she quickly stood and rushed over to her husband. But one glance was enough. She could see the change. This was no longer Neville Morlock sitting there. This was just his shell.

  The rancher had departed.