Ben Archer

by Rae Knightly

  He nodded in thanks, then accepted one of the backpacks that Laura handed to him. They hugged Maggie and Thomas, then got into the pick-up truck, which was parked next to the veterinary building. Laura took the wheel of the four-door pick-up truck while Mesmo sat on the passenger side. Ben slipped into the back. Tike jumped on his lap.

  “We’ll get the truck back to you somehow,” Laura reassured Maggie.

  “Just be safe,” Maggie replied, squeezing Laura’s hand through the window.

  The screen door slid open and Kimi came running up to them. Ben rolled down his window as she approached. She reached out and placed something in his hand. It was a flat, circular object, the size of his palm, with a finely woven net inside. Some beads and feathers hung below it.

  “What is it?” Ben asked in wonder.

  “It’s a dreamcatcher,” she explained. “I made it with my grandmother on the reservation. It will protect you from bad spirits.”

  Ben felt a wave of gratitude. “It’s beautiful. Thanks!” He stared at the carefully knotted strings that resembled a spider’s web. “But, I don’t have anything for you!”

  She placed her hand on her heart as she stepped away from the truck. “You gave me back my family.” She smiled as she joined Maggie and Thomas.

  Laura revved up the pick-up, and soon their friends disappeared behind the veterinary clinic. She headed down the main street of Canmore as snow began to fall more insistently.

  “Mom!” Ben shouted suddenly, making her hit the breaks with force. Ben and Tike slipped forward into the back of Laura’s seat.

  “What?” she said in alarm.

  Ben rubbed his nose.

  “Put on your seat belt!” she scolded.

  He did so in a hurry. “Your asthma inhaler!” he said. “Do you have one?”

  He saw her eyebrows draw together. She drove slowly for a while as if in deep thought. “No, I don’t have one. Truth is, I haven’t used one in months.” She glanced at Mesmo curiously.

  “Like me!” Ben gasped. “I haven’t had a panic attack either.”

  They both stared at Mesmo as if expecting the alien to explain the mysterious disappearance of their symptoms, but Mesmo pointed ahead. “We are nearing the highway ramp,” he said.

  Ben stretched his neck. In the flurry of snow, he spotted the whirling lights of a dozen police cars in the distance.

  “Where’s that other exit Maggie was talking about?” Laura’s anxiousness was palpable. “Ben, check the map, would you?” She shoved the map to the back and he scrambled to open it wide enough to find their location.

  If only we could use Google Maps like every normal person!

  The vehicle slowed but inevitably neared the ramp. A line of cars was being monitored one at a time before being released to the highway.

  Laura came to a stop. “Ben!” she urged.

  “Uh…” Ben scrunched at the map in his haste. “Turn back, Mom! We missed it. Turn back!”

  The tires screeched on the snow as she made a full u-turn. They squinted at the scattered houses and snow-covered trees.

  “Got it!” Laura exclaimed, swinging the pick-up to the right into a small street they had previously missed.

  Ben glanced through the rear window, and his heart leapt into his throat. A couple of police cars had detached themselves from the main body of vehicles at the ramp. “They’re coming!”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Trapped

  Laura grasped the wheel, the knuckles of her hands turning white from the pressure. The windshield wipers worked wildly to keep the snow out of her vision, but even so, it was becoming harder to distinguish anything on the gloomy road bordered by dense forest. There wasn’t a soul in sight, so she switched on the headlights and pressed on the pedal to pick up speed. The motor sent a satisfying lurch of power into the tires.

  “I thought the storm wasn’t due until later,” Ben echoed her thoughts. She bit her lip and tried to ignore a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. The flashing red-and-white lights pressed her on. There was no turning back now.

  The pick-up truck wound its way through the lonesome road bordering the towering Kananaskis Mountain Range. Laura’s brow beaded with sweat as she checked the rearview mirror, but she didn’t think the police were making any headway on them.

  “Watch it, Mom!” Ben warned. “We should be nearing the crossroad going over the mountain.”

  Laura slowed down reluctantly. They couldn’t afford to miss the exit this time. After a couple of minutes, Mesmo’s sharp eyes found it. “There it is!” He pointed.

  Laura hit the breaks. She switched off the headlights and swerved to the left into an almost invisible crossroad that immediately began to ascend.

  “Stop!” Mesmo ordered. “Let me out of the truck.”

  Laura obeyed without a second of hesitation.

  She watched through the rear-view mirror as the alien ran to the back of the truck and placed his hands on the tracks that the tires had imprinted into the snow. A wave of blue light flowed from his fingers to the bottom of the road, melting the snow until it looked smooth and even.

  He hurried back and said, “That should keep them off for a while.”

  Laura realized he must have turned the snow into a sheet of ice behind them. She revved up the engine again and began the steep climb into the evening sky.

  ***

  Hao placed his hand on the dashboard as if that would make the Sheriff’s car go faster. He leaned in, trying to make out the pick-up truck in the dark tunnel of trees ahead.

  “Don’t lose them!” he urged the Sheriff who was at the wheel.

  After several minutes of tense silence, the police radio crackled. The Sheriff answered, never taking his eyes off the road.

  Hao glanced at him questioningly.

  “It’s Connelly,” the Sheriff said. “He says we need to turn back. He thinks they’re heading into the Kananaskis.”

  “The what?” Hao’s face went red.

  The Sheriff pointed at the looming peaks alongside the road. “The Kananaskis Mountain Range.”

  Hao swore as he whirled to check behind them. Two police cars were still following them, but a couple of others had stopped some way back. “What does he think he’s doing? Tell him to get over here! That’s an order!”

  The Sheriff spoke into the radio, then glanced at Hao. “One of the cars got stuck at the crossroad. They’re on a patch of black ice. But Connelly says he can get through. He’s convinced the fugitives are on their way up.”

  “Black ice?” Something triggered in Hao’s mind. He remembered the unnatural formation of ice at the Vancouver Police Department.

  He squinted ahead. Earlier, he’d been able to follow the pick-up truck in the distance; now there was only darkness and swirling snow.

  “All right! Back up, back up!”

  The Sheriff did so, but he warned, “The storm is picking up strength. It’s going to be hell up there. I may have to pull off the search.”

  “You’re not pulling anything off, Sheriff!” Hao flared. “Or shall I have you reflect on that with the High Inspector?”

  The Sheriff straightened his cap and pursed his lips, but made no comment as he drove carefully along the edge of the crossroad to avoid the slippery patch in the middle. An officer tried to manoeuvre his car off the ice patch. A second police car stopped next to it to help.

  The Sheriff pointed his Toyota back to the middle of the road, which wound steeply between the fir trees. Hao bent forward, taking in the massive form of the Kananaskis Mountain Range that reached for the sky like jagged knives, attracting black storm clouds to their peaks.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he breathed.

  ***

  A heavy silence hung in the pick-up. Laura had switched on the headlights again, but even so, she had a hard time making out the road before her. Large snowflakes hit the windshield. No sooner were they shoved aside by the wipers, than a dozen even bigger flakes replaced them.
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  “They weren’t fooled,” Ben said. “They’re still after us. I think I saw the headlights.”

  Laura tensed as she pressed on the speed pedal, excruciatingly aware that she was going too fast. The truck’s nose pointed upward as she weaved her way further and further up the mountain. The motor strained on the unfriendly path. After hairraising minutes, the pick-up began to level out again, indicating they were reaching the summit, which was squeezed between even higher black mountain peaks. Breathing a bit easier, she glanced at Mesmo, who was focused on the road ahead. “You don’t have to be here, you know?” she told him.

  He met her eyes and his voice was firm. “I do.”

  Laura bit her inner lip, relieved that he wasn’t abandoning them.

  The pick-up skidded. Laura steered the wheel sharply to the right, but lost control of the vehicle. It slid for a heart-stopping moment. There was a crunching sound and the truck jolted to a stop.

  “What is it?” Ben asked fearfully.

  Laura tried to reverse. The tires screeched in protest. “We’re stuck!” She opened the car door, inviting a biting cold inside. She stepped out and Mesmo came around to stand by her side. The front tire was buried in deep snow.

  “Mom! They’re catching up!” Ben rushed up behind them.

  Laura could hear the wailing police sirens approaching too fast for comfort. She whirled to face Mesmo. “Get us out of here! Release the tires!”

  “There’s no time!” he yelled through the storm. “I sense Bordock nearby. The mountain is our best bet. Follow me!” He turned and stepped headfirst into the darkness away from the road.

  “What?” Laura's voice rose in panic. “Are you crazy?”

  “Mom, hurry!” Ben followed Mesmo.

  “Ben!” Laura cried as he disappeared into the flurry of snowflakes. “Come back! It’s too dangerous! Ben!”

  She rushed into the deep snow after him, her breath coming in quick gasps. She hesitated, then backtracked and snatched one of the backpacks from the truck. She wanted to get the other one, but the police cars burst into view behind her. Laura dove after her son just as the first police car slid off the road and collided headlong with the pick-up. The others screeched to a stop just in time.

  “Mom!” She heard Ben’s muffled shout in the swirling snow before her. Behind her, the lights of the police cars offered the only island of safety on the massive mountain.

  “Laura Archer!” A man moved in front of the headlights of one of the police cars. She recognized Inspector Hao’s voice. “Don’t be foolish. You’re heading to your death.”

  Laura walked away from him, though at a slower pace. Her heart beat as fast as a hare’s as she realized he was telling the truth.

  “Laura Archer! Think of your son’s safety!”

  She sobbed and tripped into the snow. “Ben!” she shouted, searching the darkness.

  “Over here!” His voice sounded far away.

  Laura stood again and walked blindly into the storm.

  ***

  “Let’s go!” Hao pressed his hand on the gun at his side as he made to follow Laura.

  The Sheriff grabbed him by the arm. “That’s out of the question. Those fugitives have sealed their fate. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to risk my men’s lives as well.” He shot a glance at Hao. “I’ll let you reflect on that with your High Inspector.” The Sheriff didn’t wait for Hao to answer and gestured at his other men to get back in their cars. One of them panted up the road towards them. “I can’t find him!”

  “Find who?” The Sheriff asked hurriedly.

  The officer pointed at Hao. “His colleague. I saw him run to the pick-up when we arrived, but now he’s not there anymore.”

  Hao felt his blood boil all the way to his face. He turned to the darkness and bellowed. “C-O-N-N-E-L-L-Y!”

  ***

  “Mesmo! Wait up!” Ben shouted as the alien strode effortlessly in the snow. Ben stumbled after him to try and stay in the protective bubble the alien was emitting around him to keep the snowstorm at bay. “Not so fast! I can’t see Mom.”

  They stopped and searched the way they had come. Ben tucked a shivering Tike inside his jacket.

  They saw powerful searchlights on top of the police cars sweeping the area, but they did not quite reach far enough to catch the fugitives.

  “Where is she? She was right behind us,” Ben said worriedly. Then, the light briefly caught Laura’s shape as she stumbled on with a large backpack. She was heading away from them.

  “Where is she going?” Ben frowned, then his voice stuck in his throat as a dark shape loomed before her in the passing searchlight.

  ***

  “Ben? Where are you?” Laura shouted as she raised her arm to protect her eyes from the swirling snowflakes.

  “Over here!” Ben said right before her.

  She let out a breath of relief and stepped forward, only to stagger headfirst into a bald man.

  She opened her mouth to scream, but he clamped a steel hand over her mouth and pulled her down in the snow, just as a beam of light swept over them.

  “Hi, Mommy,” Connelly sneered with Ben’s voice. She saw Connelly’s eyes switch from green to honey-brown.

  She struggled to escape from his grip, but instead, she felt something cold clasp onto her wrist, and before she knew it, they were connected to each other with handcuffs.

  Hao shouted from the road, “Connelly! Get back here!” Several flashlights pierced the flurry of falling snow as the officers called for the missing agent.

  “Let’s go!” Connelly growled, picking up Laura’s backpack and heaving it onto his shoulder. The Shapeshifter pulled at the cuffs, making Laura lurch after him.

  “No, wait!” she yelled, but he held her with an iron grasp, pulling her further away from the road. “Ben!” she gasped. “You can’t leave him! He has no protection! He won’t survive on his own!” She turned her head and shouted, “Ben!”

  “Good idea,” Connelly jeered. “Call him. Let’s have him join our little party.”

  Laura's eyes widened and she fell silent instantly.

  Catching her look of fear, Connelly chuckled, sending a chill up-and-down her spine.

  ***

  “Mom!” Ben shouted, panic surging through his body when he realized what was happening. He dropped Tike and heaved himself up a snowy ledge to rush to his mother’s aid. Instead, his feet slipped beneath him, and he skidded several feet down on his back. Tike bumped into his head as he collided with a tree. He blinked the stars from his eyes and got up immediately, then realized that Mesmo was a little way up with his hands placed in the snow. He had turned the slope into ice.

  “What are you doing?” Ben yelled furiously, trying to get up but sliding back every time. “Bordock’s got my mom! We have to save her!”

  Mesmo reached him with a couple of strides and stared at him intensely. “No! That’s exactly what Bordock wants. If you go after him, that will be the end of us.”

  “But my mom!” Ben shook all over.

  “Calm down!” Mesmo urged.

  “Calm down?” Ben howled. He threw himself at the alien, only to land headfirst in the snow. “Let me go! Let me help her!” he yelled, punching at the air where Mesmo stood. It was useless, of course. Ben gasped for air and let himself drop to the ground. He sobbed into his hands.

  “We’ll save her,” Mesmo said sternly. “But not now. Not like this. We have to get you as far away as possible from the police, find cover, and wait out the storm.”

  Ben’s cheeks were wet with tears. “No!” He felt like a small child who would not listen to reason.

  Mesmo crouched beside him. “You must!”

  Ben stared at the alien, his mind whirling. His heart couldn’t bear to think of his mother spending another minute with Bordock, but his mind knew it was inevitable, for now.

  He glared bitterly at Mesmo, then picked up Tike, tucked him back into his jacket, and stepped into the darkness.

  CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

  Acceptance

  Even Mesmo’s skill was not enough to keep Ben safe from the blizzard. Night had fallen, making it impossible to see far ahead. Mesmo cleared a path before Ben and kept him dry, but even so, the danger that they could be walking beside a precipice without even knowing it became too much of a risk.

  Finally, Mesmo stopped before a cluster of rocks and trees. He placed his hands in the snow and swiftly melted a hole into the ground. Ben watched him disappear into the makeshift cave until he reappeared and nodded for the boy to enter. Ben bent through the doorway and found himself in a large, dry igloo below the snow.

  “Take off your jacket and snow boots so I can dry them,” Mesmo ordered.

  Ben did so numbly. He was shivering uncontrollably, but not from the cold. He was in shock about what had happened, and he could not shake the image of his mother trudging through the blizzard at Bordock’s mercy.

  “Here.” He heard Mesmo’s voice in the dark and saw the alien’s hand emit a blue light above the jacket. “You can lie down on it. You should be warm enough.”

  Ben sat and watched as Mesmo sealed off the doorway, leaving them in silence. He wrapped his arms around his legs and tried to calm his breathing.

  “Don’t worry.” Mesmo’s voice said through the dark. “Bordock may be evil, but he is also smart. He won’t let anything happen to your mother. There is nothing more we can do but wait for the storm to blow over. He knows we will try to get off the mountain and will follow us.”

  “I’m not getting off the mountain,” Ben interrupted. “Not without Mom.”

  “You’re not thinking straight,” Mesmo responded. “As soon as the weather clears, the police will swarm the area. And you may not have noticed yet, but you have no food.”

  Ben's stomach growled at the word and he squeezed his knees tighter.

  “Try and get some rest,” Mesmo said quietly. “I’ll keep watch.”

  Ben lay down reluctantly, holding on to Tike’s warm body as the dog snuggled up to him.