Edit to Death : Myrtle Clover #14

Chapter Eighteen

"Go? No, this is precisely when we need to stay. This is when we need to speak with Rose so we don't have to chase her down on the road when she's dog-walking," said Myrtle. "Or give her that casserole. I've a mind to eat it for my supper."

Miles said, "But look at that line. There's a huge line of people waiting to speak to the family."

"We'll stand up and stretch for a few minutes and then we can sit back down again and wait for the church to empty out," said Myrtle.

"Can't we just go to the funeral reception?" asked Miles, sounding hopeful. "We've done that before, haven't we? Spoken to family at the reception?"

"Yes, but never for a funeral that's this big. Most of the town is here. I doubt we'd get an opportunity to even get close to Rose there."

They did stretch and even walked around the sanctuary, pretending interest in the stained-glass windows. An old man slapped Miles heartily on the back, surprising him and nearly sending him through the aforementioned window. The man guffawed and asked, "Did you have fun at book club? Didn't know it was the place to party. And lots of fillies there, too." He gave Miles a big wink. Seeing Myrtle, he winced and politely said, "Heard you've been under the weather, Myrtle. Hope you're better now." He headed on his way. Miles stared miserably after him and Myrtle glowered.

"Imbecile!" hissed Myrtle. "You won't find him at book club because he barely knows how to read."

"Did you teach him, too?" asked Miles morosely.

"Certainly not! He's older than you are," said Myrtle. "Look, we can start moving to the front of the church."

Finally, the crowd at the front of the church dwindled and Myrtle and Miles hurried to speak to the family before they left for the reception. Myrtle noted that Red was still there, watching the family from a respectful distance. Rose was already in the pew, gathering her purse.

Myrtle said kindly, "It was a lovely tribute to your mother, Rose."

She was surprised as Rose reached out suddenly and pulled Myrtle in for a hug. Myrtle patted her awkwardly on the back as Rose's muffled voice said, "That means a lot to me since you really knew Mama."

Miles cleared his throat. "The entire town was here to pay their respects. That must make you feel good."

Rose said, "If anything can make me feel good right now. It's been such a horrid week. And now we'll have to plan a service for Aunt Nell! I didn't think I'd ever have to figure out two services in a week. And of course, I can't just copy what we did for Mama because she and Nell were so different. What worked for Mama won't work for Nell."

Miles looked vastly relieved at this pronouncement, having no apparent desire to repeat the past hour and a half.

Myrtle said, "I'm sure you'll come up with something simple and splendid. I'm just so sorry about your poor aunt."

Rose nodded. "It's such a shock. I mean, Mama's death was a shock, but then to have Nell's on top of it all?" She sighed. "And I had just seen her. Not that that means anything, really. But it made it that much harder for me to get it through my head that she is actually gone."

"Oh, that's lovely that you could see her before she passed. Was it in the last couple of days then?" asked Myrtle in her best concerned old-lady voice.

Rose quickly said, "Oh, I really hadn't seen her, seen her. I only meant to say that I'd run by her house to help her change a lightbulb that was difficult to access. I wish that I'd had a real visit with Nell, but I didn't. The night she died I was out walking dogs. Tippy's dogs, actually. She's been out of town for a little while," said Rose.