Teri noticed that there were new nails driven into the door. He was trying to keep her in, and it didn’t look like she was going to get anywhere through the front door. The back door was done up in the same way and Teri got through a whole stream of curses before she realized that it wasn’t going to help at all. Teri composed herself and was convinced that the only way forward was to find a way out. She couldn’t lounge around and wait to see what happened with Ben. She had already seen what happened when she did that before. Teri had to be involved. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she wanted to be the one there by his side.
As she looked around the place, she remembered the trap door that led out and came out underneath the cabin. It was the sort of secret that was used to get them out of a bad spot, and Teri was grateful that her hubby hadn’t been thinking that much or he didn’t remember he’d told her about it. Whatever the reason was, Teri was able to get out a few minutes later. She had left a few provisions and a backpack but that wasn’t going to stop her. She was going to go find her husband and help him however she could. Teri wanted the situation to work itself out soon. She didn’t want to wait any longer.
***
Since she didn’t know where he was going, Teri tried to go back to Jill. It was the only person she knew that she could trust besides Ben. She wanted to believe that Ben’s mom would know where he was again. She knew him so well the first time, so there had to be hope.
Jill didn’t know where he was though. She was happy that Teri wasn’t in the cabin. Apparently, James had found out about it from Mark, and they were going to burn it down. Teri thought that she was lucky to get out of there when she did. It was either good luck or really bad luck. Teri honestly didn’t know which way she was supposed to look at it. She never did know how to take her new life with Ben. It was so different than anything she had ever experienced before.
Teri was asked to stay put and though she had refused in the beginning, Jill was adamant. “I can’t have anything happen to you and my grandchildren. I know that Ben would want you to be taken care of. That’s what I plan to do.”
Here she was, thinking that Ben had gotten his pushy ways from his father. That wasn’t the truth. The truth was that he had gotten his stubbornness from his mother. She didn’t argue about it or raise her voice, she just didn’t budge out of the way when Teri wanted to leave. She wanted to go find Ben, but the mom wasn’t going to let it happen. She was very clear with the way she was acting, how it was all going to go down.
“I need to be there,” Teri whined.
Jill shook her head. “He needs to be able to focus, not have to worry about you as well.”
Teri didn’t think that it was true. They had talked about it a lot and though there wasn’t much that could be done, she couldn’t fight his mom. Jill was sweet and she was just trying to help her. It made it impossible for Teri to think ill of her. She certainly had good intentions.
What she didn’t have was an answer though. Jill didn’t know where Ben was anyway. The stones were hidden a long time ago, and she was not privy to the whereabouts.
“He is going there to destroy them,” Teri told Jill.
Jill shook her head. “He always did run in headfirst, no matter the consequences.”
Teri asked her what she meant by that, and Jill shrugged. “He is going to give himself a huge power boost. How funny that it is just what he wants to avoid? If he breaks the Pearls, they will go to him, all of the power. I suppose it is one way to make sure that he is stronger than his father when they go to war. I can’t say that I like the idea of it all too much.” Her voice trailed off and Teri wondered where her mind went. She was trying her best to keep her emotions in check. Teri liked the idea of Ben becoming powerful. That would just mean that he was untouchable, and no one would be able to mess with him and her again. Then, they would be free to live as they wanted, and he would be able to rule as he saw fit. To Teri, it sounded like the perfect way to be.
“Good, if anyone should have power, it’s your son. He will do the right thing always. There is no one better that should have it.”
She looked at Teri and smiled, “I agree. I hoped that he would one day overthrow his father, and it looks like it is finally going to happen.”
Why did Teri get a creepy feeling by the way that she said that? It made her think that something strange was going to happen and there was nothing that could be done about it. “What is going to happen to Ben?” That was literally all she was worried about. Whatever was going to happen to the rest of the world didn’t matter. It was all about what was going to happen to her husband and her unborn children. Since Jill was calm, that helped Teri to feel a bit more relaxed about it all. She still wanted to leave but came to the conclusion that she wasn’t going to be able to. She was just going to have to be okay with that apparently.
***
The wait was more than Teri could bear. She didn’t understand why there wasn’t more that could be done. She didn’t want to stand aside and make sure that everything was okay. She wanted to rush in headfirst like her husband. The waiting was killing her. Jill seemed to take it all in stride, but Teri could not.
“What if Ben goes back to the cabin and meets them there?” Teri wondered aloud. She wanted assurances that Ben was going to be okay, even though there was no way of knowing. She still wanted to hear it though. If he lost, it was bad; but if he had to kill his father and his brother/friend, it was going to be bad as well. There was no scenario where he came out of it without being completely changed. It was hard for Teri to focus on much else. There was no way to save him from the pain that he had coming to him. She wished that it wasn’t true, but it was.
Jill asked a lot of questions, but it was mainly about how she was feeling and if she was having any cravings yet. Teri answered, even if it was hard for her to have a serious conversation about the way things were going. At some point, Teri asked her if her husband was going to come and cause a fuss, but Jill promised her that he wouldn’t. “My husband hasn’t bothered with me in a very long time.”
Teri pressed her lips together. “Why have you stayed so long? I mean, especially now that you know, and Ben is well grown up.” That was the one question that she had wondered about since she found out that Jill wasn’t as naïve about her husband as Teri had feared. She was even worse in some ways. She was willfully ignorant, ignoring it like it wasn’t happening.
She started to get sleepy after a while, part of being pregnant with multiple children. Teri was sure that something would finally happen as soon as she went to sleep, so she did, hoping that it would be brought to her attention. Every second felt like hours and Teri just wanted to lessen the time that she was waiting. She drifted off, sure that she would wake up with news, Ben, something. The anticipation of what was to come was too much for Teri.
Chapter 29
Ben
After Ben picked up the stones, he had to fight his brother. While Mark had been his best friend for a long time, there was a part of Ben that was able to hate him anyway. The plot that he had with his dad, that involved Teri, his kids and all the rest, there was no way that Ben was going to be able to let him live. Maybe at some point in the beginning, but not too long after that, Ben knew that he had to take him out. It wasn’t easy, they both fought hard, but Ben was triumphant, even if it was just because he didn’t want anything to happen to Teri. That was enough to give him all of the strength that he wanted.
Ben wasn’t sure how pissed off Teri was going to be that he had not only took off without her, but also that he had locked her in. Teri didn’t listen and while he knew that she was only trying to help, her intentions wouldn’t stop her from getting hurt. He didn’t regret locking her up, but Ben had to imagine that Teri was going to be pissed when he finally got there. He was going to have to make it up to her in some way. Ben had a smile on his face as he got close to the last stretch. The snowmobile was loud, and he didn’t hear anything off, but his eyes saw something off and he stopped. There was smoke in the air, the acrid smell made his nose wrinkle.
All of a sudden, Ben really saw what was in front of him. The trees were still blocking a view of the cabin, but he already knew that all of the smoke that was coming was from the cabin burning down. Ben was beside himself because he had locked his wife in the cabin. He had made sure that she was safe… Did that mean that he had made sure that she was burned up?
When he got to a point where he could see the cabin engulfed in flames, there was nothing that Ben could do but stare at it for several seconds. There was no way that he was going to get to anyone before they died. He was in shock. He could see that the cabin was almost all the way burned up. It had been burning for a while. Ben just stared ahead, not sure what to do or who to be mad at. He needed one or the other.
Ben tried to get close enough so that he could get inside, see if Teri was still alive, but he knew that it was all a waste of time. It was quite clear to him that nothing good was going to come if he got inside. He would likely get killed himself. Just being there, his face felt hot like he was going to get burned up too. The cabin was up in flames and his wife was in there, his kids, his whole new life that made him happier than he had ever been.
