wrath of the Sea Queen (178 page)

C
a
eli look
ed
at him through pensive eyes.  Ben could tell that she was measuring the amount of wiggle room he left her to sidestep his offer. 
She was quite good at it
, and Ben
ha
d
witnessed
her accomplish
it
on several occasions
. 
Fluidly
changing the subject
to avoid issues she preferred not to discuss was something C
a
eli
did
very
well
.  But
,
Ben
had
experience
dealing with
people who didn't necessarily want to talk to him
.  He knew how to counter such maneuvers, and he
did
n
o
t leave
C
a
eli
any alternatives.  He put her on the spot.  Ben
chose
this
method
to solve two problems.  First, it should take
C
a
eli's
mind off the scary part of her dream.  Second, Ben
truly believed that he
might be able to help her sort through her concerns.  Sometimes an outside perspective could completely change the way you
view
a situation
that
affect
s
you
personally
. 
Ben hoped
C
a
eli
would tell him a little bit about the
events of the p
ast few days.  If C
a
eli decided not to take him up on his offer, there was really only one other topic fresh on her mind.  It was the question
about her dream
,
which
she
had
already twice avoided.
  Whichever
topic C
a
eli
chose, Ben would be making progress.

It took several minutes before she answered him. 
C
a
eli
chose the latter
issue
, but a few of her words
in particular
caught and held
Ben's
attention.  Anything that involved Salma
was a
matter
he would
give his full
consideration
.

"
W
hat do you think it means
if a
key person is absent
from
my dream
? 
Y
ou weren't
in
either
one
.  Yet, you helped me the first time.  Maybe, if you could
help
Salma this time, then Vin would be all right, too
. 
If I knew they would be all right, it wouldn't be so bad.  It
has to be possible
to do both
, doesn't it?
"
 

"
Whoa
!  B
ack up
, Lass
.  You aren't making any sense.  Why don't you start by telling me
about
your dream
?
"

C
a
eli suddenly realized that if she continued, she would have to tell Ben about the choice
s
he face
d
.  She wasn't sure if she should do that.  What if she was mistaken and it was nothing more than a bad dream?  No. 
C
a
eli
was certain
it was more than that. 
Though she would have preferred to discuss it with Vin, C
a
eli
decided that Ben had a right to know. 
C
a
eli
described
her dream to Ben, who rubbed his chin as he listened.
 

"
Ben, what am I going to do?  I cannot make a
decision
like that, and I can't let either of the
m get hurt because of my choice
.  Why would
Rika
send him
to hurt me
again
after
she already took
my child?  Wh
o
would want to hurt Salma or Vin
in such a way
?  Maybe I'm not seeing it correctly, but I can't think of any other explan
ation
.  Can you?
"
  C
a
eli hung her hopes on Ben's insight.  She prayed
that
he would tell her
it was a mistake; that she was w
rong, overreacting even. 
C
a
eli
hoped that Ben could find the
solution
that eluded her.

"
Well, there is a lot happening in the scene
s
you described.  There could be several possibilities
, including your interpretation
. 
However
, there is one
explanation
that seems obvious to me
,
and
i
t doesn't sound like you have considered it.
"

"
What's that?
"
  C
a
eli was
eager
to hear it.

"
Maybe this
dream
is about events that have
already
taken place
. 
You said it yourself. 
Salma has already been threatened
,
repeatedly
.  Vin has been injured
twice
.  The man has already attacked you,
causing you to
los
e
your baby.  Perhaps the dream is your mind's way of helping you deal with your grief and
cop
e
with
all of t
he recent trouble.  Maybe it is
part of the healing process and nothing more,
"
Ben suggested.

"
You're right, Ben. 
I hadn't
considered
that
at all
.  It sounds much better than my
explanation
. 
It
does
seem to
fit, though it doesn't exactly feel like the right answer.  I
think I will
stick with
your answer
, at least
for now.  My head is already hurting trying to think about anything more complicated.
"

"
Don't set aside
your instincts
on my account, C
a
eli.  I'm
merely
offering you one possibility
.  Why don't you get Vin's opinion, too?  And, if you still don't feel right about it, close your eyes and try to recall more details. 
You probably saw more than you realize. 
Sometimes one little item can make all the difference
.
"

"
I
will
do that
. 
Besides,
I really
do
need to talk to Vin.  That's why I
ask
ed
where he was, but it can wait until he
is finished eating
. 
I can always count on y
ou
to have
a
n
answer
for me
.  Thank
you
,
Uncle
Ben.
"

"
Well, now that
we've got
that settled, would you answer a question
or two
for me?  What did you mean when you were rattling on about me being
able to
help
Salma this time
?  How do you think I can help her
?
 
And i
t al
so
sound
ed
like you kn
e
w who did this to you and why. 
I think you should definitely tell Vin, and
I
woul
d like to know, too.  Will you
share that with
me?
"
  Ben asked.

Ben
did
not
overlook
C
a
eli's
suggestion
that he might be able to
help
his wife
.
  Even though C
a
eli
avoided
mention
ing
any specific details
regarding the threat that Salma faced in her dream
,
she indicated that it definitely put
Salma
's life at risk
. 
Ben
was quite certain
that Vin would want to know
more
about
Rika
sending someone to hurt C
a
eli
after already
forc
ing
her to miscarry,
if Ben was interpreting C
a
eli's words correctly
. 
I
f
Ben
could learn
more
specific details
about the dr
eam, it might help him gain additional insight into the reason for the
original
attack
.