wrath of the Sea Queen (107 page)

They strolled along
peacefully
for about half a mile
,
enjoying the scenery. 
The walk was relaxing
, and Salma was glad that Ben thought of it.  As they came around a bend, they entered an inlet where a lighthouse sat at the top of a tall, rocky hill.  It was painted white with thick, red stripes, and top
ped with a bright, red
cap.
  There was a small, two story building attached to the lighthouse where the fulltime caretaker
had
lived for many years.  After his death, the building became a makeshift museum and occasional destination for grade school fieldtrips.

"
Here we go.  This is the place,
"
Ben said as they walked toward the lighthouse.

"
The lighthouse?  Do they serve lunch here?
"
  Salma asked, puzzled.

They
took a circuitous route to
reach the top of the hill and walked up to the door of the lighthouse.  Ben pulled out the keys Apela
gave
him and unlocked the door.  He gestured for Salma to go inside.  Ben closed and locked the door behind him as he followed her.  Apela warned him that sudden, strong winds could pull the door off its hinges if he didn't keep it locked.  Ben took Salma's hand and
led
her up the winding staircase as he explained.

"
Apela takes care of the place.  He said that all he really has to do is make sure the lamp is always on.  If it goes out, he replaces
the bulb
.  Other than that, the place doesn't require much attention.  He and Max come by every once
in
a w
hile to clean it up and do
minor repairs.  Sometimes he
will be a tour guide for the
school kids.  Today, we have the place all to ourselves
;
e
xclusive dining with a spectacular view.
"
 

They reached the top and stepped outside to stand by the railing.  The wind was strong here, and Salma
donned
her jacket
as she
look
ed
out over the ocean
with an
unobstructed
view
for miles. 

"
Ben, it
really
i
s
spectacular
!
"
 
Salma rewarded him with a kiss.

Ben
reached over and put his arm around his wife.  They stood there for several minutes admiring the view.

"
Are y
ou ready for lunch?
"
  Ben finally asked.

"
Yes.
  I'm famished.
"

They went inside and down one level where the
y found
a
room large enough to spread
the
blanket on the floor.  Ben opened the backpack and removed several items.  There were two sandwiches wrapped in aluminum foil, a Tupperware container filled with sliced apples, another container filled with fresh pasta salad, and a
tall
thermos.  Ben also pulled out a small red box with a tiny gold bow on the top, which he placed close to Salma.  Lastly, Ben pulled out
two sets of
plastic utensils.

As they ate, Salma kept glancing down at the
red
box.  Ben had
n
o
t said anything about it.  He pretended like it wasn't even there.  When the meal was finished and they
returned
everything
to
the backpack, Salma couldn't
stand the suspense
any longer.

"
Can I open it?
"

"
I was wondering when you would,
"
Ben answered with a smile.

Salma carefully opened the
lid
.  Inside
,
she found
a gold chain with a pendant on the end.  As she looked close
ly
at the pendant,
Salma
realized it was not
exactly a normal
pendant at all.  It was the older of the two bullets that C
a
eli
had
removed from Ben's back
.  It ha
d
been
hammered thin
and
rounded.  T
here was something engraved on
both flat surfaces.  Salma recognized the likeness of herself and Ben on one side and two intertwined hearts on the other.
  Now she recognized the chain as well.  It was one that used to h
ave
Ben's patron saint
medallion
attached to it.  Ben
had
removed
the medallion
, swap
ping it for this new adornment. 
Salma was incredibly touched by the gift, bu
t
also
somewhat confused
.

"
Ben, I don't understand.  Why did you change it?
  You said you've worn that patron saint medal since you were a rookie.
"

"
I changed it f
or you
,
Love
, because you changed me
.  I wanted to give you something to show you how much you mean to me.  C
a
eli sort of dropped the idea in my hand.  I don't need a patron saint to save my life.  You
ha
ve already done that.  Before I met you, I was
merely content to work and find
temporary
pleasure in the sm
all
victories.  I was
missing
out on
real happiness.  You
ha
ve given
m
e that
.  I wanted
to give you something
significant
that
represented me
and the depth of my feelings for you
.  I think if I reached insi
de and pulled out a piece of myself
, that
bullet
is probably what it would look like.  Besides,
for
as long as I carried that hunk of metal around, it really is a piece of me,
"
Ben laughed.

Salma slipped the chain around her neck and wiped a tear from her eye.  She leaned forward and kissed him
again
.

"
I love it, Ben.  Thank you.  When did you find the time
to prepare any of this
?  Did you
etch
this
yourself? 
What did you use to get such detail? 
Have you always been able to draw this well?
"

Ben laughed again as
Salma
rambled on excitedly.  He
had
been given
plenty of down time
since being shot.  In fact
,
he
almost
felt
useless.  He
was
not able to physically help during the road trip, at the hotel, the arena, the levee, or even with C
a
eli
; not really
. 
If not for the distraction of creating this gift for Salma, Ben might have gone a little crazy. 
And
, even still,
it had
n
o
t taken
very long
to
etch
those tiny, amateur images.  But, he was on the mend and
ready to do what he could to help Vin
. 
This outing was the first step
in
Ben's
recovery and
his intent to
en
sure that Salma
would
enjoy th
e remainder of th
is trip
.

They packed up
the blanket and lunch items
and were headed toward the
ground floor
when they heard a banging at the door.  At first, Ben thought it must be the wind.  He mentioned
Apela's warning about the
strong gusts
to Salma.  The banging persisted, and
the rhythm of the pounding became distinct.  It no longer sounded
like
random gusts of
wind. 
It sounded urgent.

Ben stopped at the next window and looked out
into
the parking lot. 
A
gray
truck
occupied
one of
the space
s
, but there was nobody
behind
the wheel.  Perhaps the
truck's
driver was
the one
banging on the lighthouse door. 
Yet, n
o one knew
that they were
here unless they
had been
s
potted
wh
ile
they
stood
outside.  Perhaps it was
merely
a concerned citizen wondering what they were doing there.  If that was the case, Ben could explain and everything would be fine.