wrath of the Sea Queen (177 page)

Ben
had
moved his chair over to
the edge of the bed
when she started tossing and turning.  When she shouted, he
leaned
over
to wake her.

"Ben
!
"

C
a
eli
reached out and
threw her arms around his neck, clinging to him tightly
, completely oblivious to her pain in the grip of her fear
. 
Then, ever so slowly, her
fear dissipated
.
  She was greatly relieved to see his friendly face. 
Ben let her hold onto him for several minutes.  It was l
ong enough to gain a
sense
of security from his presence as she came fully
out of her nightmare
.

"
You were having a bad dream and tossing about.  I was a
fraid you might hurt yourself
further
.
"

"Thank you for waking me.  Your timing couldn't have been better."

Now that she was awake, the pain of her injuries returned
in full force
, and C
a
eli eased herself back
to relieve the pressure on her
cracked
ribs.

"
Are you all right now? 
Would you like some
more
water?  That alway
s seems to make you feel better,
"
Ben offered.

C
a
eli
accepted the
refilled
water
glass
Ben
had
retrieved from the bedside table
. 
She
had
n
'
t see
n
him
get up and refill it when she first started talking in her sleep
;
but
Ben
anticipated
that she would want it when she woke.
  The
glass
nearly slipped from her grasp twice before she was able to drink from it
.  However
, t
he water did
help.  H
er lingering fear
was washed away
as well as her frustration at her own weakness.
  To her own surprise,
C
a
eli
was trembling.

"
Thank you, Ben.
"

C
a
eli
laid
there for several minutes, unwittingly winding and unwinding the cover in her hands.  She remember
ed
details from the unsettling dream. 
She also re
called
bits of Rika's tale. 
It
all
seemed
so
real. 
C
a
eli
even
felt the pain.  She heard the suffering.  She could even smell the
sea
and taste the saltwater
.  Whenever
C
a
eli
experienced
th
ese
types
of bad dream
s
,
they
had a
tende
ncy
to come true, at least in some manner, if not literally.  That is what disturbed
C
a
eli
most.  If her family was in danger, what, if anything, would she be able to do about it?
  If she could barely hold a glass of water, how would she be able to help them?

Ben
sat back in
his chair watching her.  He was familiar with her mannerism
, and
had a discerning eye for such
details
. 
Much like he rubbed his chin when working on a puzzle, C
a
eli twisted whatever was close at hand, whether it be her hair, a telephone cord, a computer cable or, in this case, the bed cover. 
Ben
could tell that she was sort
ing
through her private thoughts, so he waited patiently.  When
,
at last
,
her hands were still,
C
a
eli
spoke
again
.

"
It's odd, you know. 
This trip being an exception,
I almost never have nightmares.  As a matter of fact, you woke me from the last one.  Do you remember that, Ben?
"
 

He could hear the tension in her voice.  The fact that she was no
longer
calling him uncle reinforced his earlier assessment.  C
a
eli had something weighing on her mind, and it
removed
all the l
evity
from
her
normally bubbly
personality
.

"
Yes, I do.  Seems Idaho had a taste for a daring
, young
brunette at the time.  Hawaii isn't after you
now
, is it?
"
  Ben joked, trying to help ease her worry.  He remembered all too well how accurately her last nightmare
had
played
out
.

"
Not exactly…
"
  C
a
eli left the statement hanging in such a way that Ben knew she needed more than a joke.

"
Is there something you want to talk about? 
Want to tell me about that bad dream? 
Maybe I can help,
"
he offered.

"
W
here
's
Vin?"

"
Salma hauled him off to the kitchen about half an hour ago
to find something to
eat
. 
Since he wouldn't leave you alone, I volunteered to keep you company.  I can get him for you if you
prefer
.
"

"No, that's ok.  He needs to eat.  He probably needs to sleep, too.  Knowing Vin, he didn't sleep
at all
last night,"
C
a
eli
voiced
her concern for h
er husband.

"No, he didn't, but his empty stomach was the more pressing issue. 
Don't worry about him.  Vin'
s all right
, and h
e
wi
ll be back soon.  So, do you want to tell me about that dream?  What scared you bad enough to send you clinging to an old buzzard like me?"

"
Ben,
you're not old, and Salma would never allow a buzzard in her home," C
a
eli looked up at Ben's laughter.

"Lass, you certainly
are
a challenge.  You do it with such sweetness, but the end result is the same.  That
i
s twice you
ha
ve avoided my question.  If you don't want to talk about it, all you have to do is say so.  It won't hurt my feelings."

"I'm sorry, Ben. 
That wasn't my intention. 
I don't seem to be able
to
do much of anything right lately." 

The guilt-laden words made
Ben
question whether or
not he was up for this assignment after all.  He didn't really know what to say to make C
a
eli feel better.  That was Vin's area of expertise.  Ben tried to think of what Salma would say, but he could not get away with her
endearing
brashness.  Salma
possessed
a singular gift in that department.  All Ben knew was how to observe details
, finagle information out of the most stubborn of suspects,
and sort out puzzles.  Those were his strong suit
s
.  He needed to find a way to apply them to C
a
eli. 
Ben
quickly
devised
a solution.

"That won't do,
C
a
eli
Harding
.
  You
a
re going to have
to do
much
better than that."
  Ben added a stern tone to his voice.

"What do you mean?"  C
a
eli's shocked response was exactly what Ben wanted.

"I mean that I am not going to accept your apology unles
s you explain to m
e
why you feel
it
is
necessary.  No, don't
look at me like you
don't understand.  I know you do.  I
wi
ll make a deal with you.
  If you tell me exactly
what
you
ha
ve done wrong, then I will try to help you set it right.  Then, and only then, if necessary, will
I
accept your apology.  Until then, I refuse.  So
then
, what do you want to talk about now?"