Ben Archer and the World Beyond

by Rae Knightly

  “Hey, guys,” someone yelled from further up the beach. It was Wilson and Anna. They had placed their own sleeping bags next to Ben and Kimi’s. “Come on,” Wilson said, approaching them and reaching for their buckets. “Get some rest. We’ll take over.”

  Ben almost cried with relief. “Thanks,” he managed, too exhausted to say anything else.

  “Ben-friend.” Wilson stopped him. “You sleep now, ok? Word is spreading. More help will come. And I’ll drive you into town myself tomorrow morning. We’ll get ourselves some fresh tourists. How about that?”

  Ben grinned and nodded, then dragged himself up the beach and crashed on to his sleeping bag without even closing the zipper.

  * * *

  He woke up early, his body sore from the tough labour of the previous day and the hard ground he had slept on. The others lay fast asleep beside him.

  The sky glowed a marine blue, announcing the coming of sunrise and a beautiful day. But a beautiful day was not what they needed right now. Clear skies meant a scorching sun, a deadly element for the orca.

  Ben trudged down to Kana’kwa, who lay suffering helplessly in the sand. Ben’s eyes filled with tears. He couldn’t help it. The transmitted pain felt too raw, even if he had managed to pull up protective barriers in his mind. He picked up the bucket, stepped into the freezing waves and filled it with water. He returned and gently bathed the whale’s skin, knowing full well it was far from enough.

  Thank you, Benjamin Archer.

  The whale’s voice had lost much of its strength.

  Hang in there, Kana’kwa. Help is coming.

  Kana’kwa answered with silence.

  Ben continued to bathe the killer whale, taking note of every scar that ornamented her skin. And he discovered that each had a story: an encounter with a toothy sea creature, a collision with the propellers of a boat, a bump with a sharp rock while chasing for seals too close to shore… Kana’kwa had travelled more miles across the oceans than Ben could ever have imagined, from north to south and back again; and from the surface of the sea to the farthest depths of the ocean floor. Ben could only begin to guess the killer whale’s great age, and he lamented this terrible ending.

  Why? Why did you come to shore?

  Kana’kwa’s thoughts darkened in answer.

  We were chasing salmon. But then the salmon disappeared as if a beast had gobbled them up in one bite. A beast greater than us.

  In his mind, Ben heard the sound of grating claws and deep groans; a dark creature breathing in and out, in time with the waves. He shuddered in recognition.

  Kana’kwa continued:

  We became confused. We were afraid, and we fled, but the land caught us.

  Ben thought about Kana’kwa’s words. Something was out there, something massive and evil.

  Other orca stirred in his mind, and the cries of pain began. Ben directed soothing thoughts at them as he noticed a pale moon dipping behind the fir trees behind him, leaving way for the sun.

  Listen. I will tell you a story. It is the story of Humblefin and Lady Moon…

  He wasn’t sure how much of the story they would understand, but it felt like the right time to tell it, and all the while, he pondered on the fact that Auntie Jen had conveniently told this tale only two days ago. She couldn’t have known that this was going to happen, could she?

  By the time he was finished telling it, Ben found Kimi, Wilson, and Anna waiting for him by the sleeping bags. He didn’t think about hiding his glowing hands this time, and they did not ask any questions.

  “Let’s go,” Wilson said, leading them solemnly to the pickup truck.

  CHAPTER 11 Cornered

  “Where is Einar?” Mesmo asked impatiently. He put his hands on his hips and glanced across the cornfields to the house.

  Amaru, who had been sitting peacefully on a log with his leather hands resting on his knees, said, “Einar arrived in Vancouver this morning. His plane from Oslo landed at dawn.”

  Mesmo shook his head, dissatisfied. “I don’t understand. It’s not in any Wise One’s habit to arrive late. What’s delaying him?”

  The Bolivian native looked up at Mesmo. “Einar has not been delayed, Mesmo. No. Do not kid yourself. Einar is stalling.”

  Mesmo stared at Amaru, realizing the Wise One was right.

  Amaru continued, “Do not expect anything from Einar, amigo[4]. He is not in favour of this irregular meeting you are holding. You may be able to sway us to your cause, but Einar is a whole other matter.”

  Mesmo turned and stared at the other five Wise Ones who had gathered in a circle under a giant maple tree. Crickets chirped in the summer heat, the cornfields basked in the sun, and insects buzzed in the haze. He sighed, “I cannot start the meeting without him. It is against the rules.”

  Amaru gazed at the rolling hills. “Yes. And Einar knows this all too well.”

  * * *

  Ben, Kimi, Wilson and Anna squeezed into the front of the pickup truck and headed down the main road leading to Tofino. No one spoke. No one dared admit that the orca would probably never return to the sea. But they had to do whatever they could, right to the end.

  Their progress was hampered by branches that littered the road, and one time they had to stop for ten minutes as a cleaning team removed a thick log that blocked the way. But they made it into town, eventually.

  “Right,” Wilson said as he parked the truck. “I’m going to find a couple of busses to transport people to the beach. Ben, do you think you could talk up the tourists to come and help? Check out the hotels, they must be having breakfast by now. Tell them to be at the main square by ten. Anna, Kimi: I need you to go to the grocery store. Here’s a list of things we need.”

  He handed a piece of paper to Kimi, but she put her hands to her hips. “How come you get to do the fun stuff, and we’re stuck with the groceries?”

  Ben thought Wilson was going to crack a joke, but this was no time for playful jesting. “Sorry, girls. It’s just that I know the guy who runs the bus company. I know he’ll help us if I talk to him. Since Ben doesn’t know his way around the stores, you’ll be much more efficient at finding what we need. I’ll come and help you carry the stuff as soon as I’m done, ok?”

  Kimi’s shoulders slackened, and she backed down. “Sure, Wil.”

  “Meet here in an hour,” Wilson said.

  They all nodded and headed off in different directions.

  Ben felt a bit nervous at first, entering a hotel and addressing a dining room full of total strangers, but word of the stranded orca had already spread, and everyone was eager to take part in the action.

  He headed out of a fourth inn, his spirits lifting at the thought of busloads of tourists coming to help. Now that the main road was practically cleared, maybe they’d even get a couple of bulldozers.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” a voice said.

  Ben whirled.

  Jeremy Michaels stood behind him.

  “You!” Ben gasped, tensing in unease. Heat rose to his cheeks at the sight of the Provincial Times reporter. “Are you following me?”

  Jeremy carried a hiker’s backpack, wore brown walking boots and his camera hung strapped across his shoulder. He lifted his sunglasses, so they rested on top of his head and gave Ben a quizzical look. “Following you? Why would I be following you?”

  Ben thrust up his chin in defiance.

  Jeremy eyed him scornfully. “What? Am I not allowed to be here? I’m on assignment, kid. Haven’t you heard? There’s a whale beaching in the area. The Provincial Times sent me to write an article.”

  Ben did a double-take. He had not expected that. “You’re lying! There’s no way you could have heard about the beaching on the mainland. Electricity and phones are down.”

  Jeremy sighed heavily. “This is the twenty-first century, kid. There’s long-range radios and ham radios and such. Besides, the mainland is always on alert when a storm hits the island, in case they need to send assistance or something. We found out about the
beaching last night. I flew in at dawn.”

  As he spoke, Jeremy took a few steps forward, forcing Ben to step back. And suddenly the teen found himself in an empty side street.

  He’s trying to corner me!

  Jeremy lowered his sunglasses over his eyes again. “Talking about lying, I could say a thing or two about the subject. You see, I’ve become quite familiar with Chilliwack. I’ve been talking to the locals there, asking questions about The Cosmic Fall. And I don’t know why, but your name popped up, Benjamin Archer. Seems everybody knows the Archer family. They all know about the Archer boy who spent every summer vacation at his grandfather’s house.” He rolled his mouth to stress the words. “Every. Summer. Vacation.”

  He let the words hang, then said, “I became a reporter because I like to uncover the truth about things. So, you tell me, kid, who’s the real liar here?”

  He took off his sunglasses and glared straight at Ben. “Were you, or were you not, at your grandfather’s house on August 26th, on the night of The Cosmic Fall? Did you, or did you not, witness the event?”

  A shadow fell over Jeremy.

  “Hey, you, why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”

  Jeremy spun around. “What the…?” he gaped, finding himself eye-to-eye with Wilson. The two were about the same size and age, though Wilson was muscled and tanned, whereas Jeremy was lanky and pale.

  Giddy with relief, Ben ran to Wilson’s side.

  “I’m not picking on anybody.” Jeremy protested. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Come on,” Wilson said, placing his hand on Ben’s shoulder and leading him away.

  Jeremy lifted his arms in resignation and shouted after them, “Hey, come on, you guys. I’m only trying to do my job.”

  Wilson walked away with quick strides, Ben jogging after him.

  “Are you ok?” Wilson asked without slowing down.

  Ben nodded wordlessly, glad to have the young man take charge without giving in to curiosity.

  They found the girls by the pickup truck. Everything was already packed in the back: large hooks, strong ropes, buckets, towels, shovels… There were all kinds of things that could help them tow the orca back into the sea – things Ben would never have thought of.

  “Get in!” Wilson ordered.

  The girls exchanged a glance at his unusually bossy voice but got into the pickup truck anyway.

  “Aren’t we waiting for the buses to load?” Anna asked.

  “There’s no time,” Wilson said. “The buses will come, eventually, but we need to go.” His eyes met Ben’s briefly.

  Only Kimi caught the look. She stared at Ben, and he knew she knew something was wrong. She nudged him, but he only managed to give her a small smile in return.

  He was not in the mood for talking. A reporter, who knew a lot more about The Cosmic Fall than he was comfortable with, was beginning to join the dots. He had tied Ben’s name to the event.

  That’s not good. Not good at all…

  But Ben’s worries about his encounter with Jeremy Michaels soon vanished when they returned to the beach.

  They found the neighbours hard at work, passing bucket after bucket of water from one to the other, splashing it over the killer whales. Ropes, lashed around the orca’s tails, were pulled by small fishing boats in an attempt to slide the mammals back into the water.

  But what hit Ben was the silence. The whales were no longer screaming in panic. Rather, their occasional cry reflected sorrowful resignation.

  Ben and Kimi found Uncle Pete casting a grim look their way. He did not have any words of comfort for them.

  The tourists arrived about an hour later – Jeremy Michaels among them – along with a dozen other Tofino inhabitants, and for a while, Ben’s heart lifted. But by sunset, his hopes faded again.

  Despite their best efforts, they only managed to free the baby orca and its mother. And although many killer whales were now half-way back into the water, it was not enough to lift them and release their six tons from the banks.

  The weight of four cars…

  Only professional cranes could have lifted such a mass. But they did not have cranes.

  The tourists headed back into town, tired and sunburnt.

  Ben watched helplessly as the locals slowly dwindled. He caught sight of Jeremy, who talked on his mobile phone while clicking away at his camera to catch the last rays of blood-red sun on the beach that would soon turn into a graveyard. They would make for a good headline story.

  Worst of all was Kana’kwa’s silence. Ben dreaded communicating with his new friend. Or rather, he dreaded the lack of communication, because Kana’kwa was unresponsive.

  Ben listened to the orca’s slow, booming heartbeat, wondering if there would be a next one and a next one…

  “Ben!” Kimi came running up to him, her voice flustered.

  He looked up at her, realizing he hadn’t seen much of her all day. “What is it?”

  Her lower lip trembled, and she glanced wordlessly down the beach.

  Ben followed her gaze and saw a group of men in the dusk, walking up to the orca with determined strides. One of the men held a long, straight stick.

  Not a stick.

  A gun!

  CHAPTER 12 Negotiation

  Ben caught his breath at the sight of the gun and glanced, wide-eyed, at Kimi. She did not need to say anything. She already knew.

  “No!” he gasped.

  He broke into a run, Kimi following closely behind.

  The man holding the gun turned out to be the local Sheriff. He stopped in front of the first beached orca and began to load the weapon, while another police officer left the group and combed the beach, shooing a couple of remaining bystanders away.

  “Kid,” the police officer barked as Ben ran straight towards him. “Get off the beach at once. This is no place for…”

  Ben ignored him. He dodged the officer’s reach and ran straight to the group of men, who alerted each other to his presence.

  Uncle Pete detached himself from the group. “Son! What are you doing here? You should be home by now.”

  Ben landed in his grasp. “Uncle Pete, stop them!” he cried in panic. “You can’t let them do this.”

  The five locals, among whom was the Sheriff, watched, their faces stern. The gun clicked as the Sheriff finished loading it.

  “No!” Ben yelled, struggling to release himself from Uncle Pete’s grip. “Please, this isn’t right!”

  “Pieter,” the Sheriff called Uncle Pete. “We can’t have kids in the area. Send him home, or I will have someone take him.”

  But Uncle Pete gave him the tiniest nod, and the Sheriff lowered his gun. Uncle Pete turned to Ben. “Son, you were not supposed to see this.” His face tensed, and he sighed. He took Ben more gently by the shoulders. “We have tried everything we could to get our friends back into the sea. But they are suffering. And we suffer with them. It is cruel to let the pain continue. This,” he gestured to the gun, “is the only humane way to release them of their pain.”

  “No!” Ben shouted. “There has to be another way. More help is coming. There is still hope…”

  Uncle Pete’s empty eyes made tears well in Ben’s own. “Please, Uncle Pete, give them another night. Just one more night.” he begged, “There has to be another way.” He shrugged Uncle Pete’s hands off his shoulders and addressed the men. “Give them more time. Please!”

  The Sheriff eyed him. “I’m sorry, kid. You’re from the city. You don’t understand these creatures’ pain and suffering the way we do. I know this seems harsh to you, but this is the way we do things around here.”

  As the Sheriff finished, two men moved forward and grasped Ben’s arms to pull him away. “No! Uncle Pete! Just one more night! Please! Give them one more night!”

  “Hold it!” someone bellowed. “Leave the boy alone!”

  They turned in unison, scanning the gloom.

  “Pa, please!” the voice spoke again, and suddenly Wilson materia
lized from the tangle of dark bushes bordering the beach. He walked straight towards the Sheriff. “Pa,” he greeted his father, slightly out of breath, then spoke to the Sheriff. “Sheriff Holmes. Forgive my intrusion.” He glanced at Ben. “But, I respectfully ask you to listen to the boy.”

  Another form approached the group, and Ben saw it was Anna.

  One of the men laughed. “Wilson, has love turned your brain into that of a jellyfish?”

  Chuckles bounced around the group.

  Even in the gloom, Ben saw Wilson blush. But it lightened the mood.

  Sheriff Holmes addressed Wilson, “I remember when you were just a child, Wilson. You have returned a man with a voice worth listening to. But I will not let a city boy decide the fate of our killer whales. It is cruel to let them suffer any longer than they have to. The town council has decided.”

  “Then I ask the council to reconsider,” Wilson cut in.

  The men mumbled at his audacity.

  Wilson glanced at Ben, then back at Uncle Pete. He sucked in air, then said in a low voice, “Pa, did you not say this boy was a Zeefluisteraar?”

  Uncle Pete blinked, clearly uncomfortable as he glanced at the other men to make sure they hadn’t overheard Wilson. “Don’t use that name in front of the others, Wil.”

  Wilson lowered his head. “I understand, Pa. However, I stand by my words. I know for a fact that the boy is a Zeefluisteraar. Didn’t Kimimela’s mother tell you something of the sort?”

  Uncle Pete looked at his son, then at the men.

  Wilson insisted. “Pa, I respectfully ask that you listen to the boy, and give the orca one more night.”

  The other men glanced at each other.

  Uncle Pete sighed and nodded. He turned to the group of men and gathered them around him, whispering.

  Ben forgot to breathe as he waited for their verdict.

  Finally, the Sheriff turned to face him. “So be it,” he said. “We will give the orca one more night.” He pointed a finger at Ben. “I don’t want to see you around here by dawn, boy. Is that understood?”