Ben surveyed the scene…disappointed.
Following his phone conversation with Cardinal Emmanuelle Ben had become increasingly uncomfortable about leaving without confirming that Siobhán’s broken body lay at the bottom of the ravine. For days he had waited for news to surface in the local paper or radio of the tragic death of a young, unidentified young lady. The ravine and river was not easily accessed and a protected area of the local Indian tribe, but the trail head and water fall viewing area above were regular stops for tourists and locals alike – enough traffic that her body should have been spotted within a day or two at the most.
Looking up almost two hundred feet to the top of the ridge where he had watch Siobhán fall, and then back to the water fall pool and then the flowing river towards the Indian reserve…the reason no death and body had been reported was evident – there was no body.
Ben tried to fathom the situation.
He was standing right where her body should have landed, amongst jagged boulders and rocks, and weathered fallen timbers. He was easily twenty feet from the river and over fifty feet from the waterfall pool. He recounted with his eyes the number of feet to the river and calculated again the trajectory of Siobhán fall…there should be a body and it should be right here.
It’s possible, we wanted to believe, that she could have bounced from the impact on one of the large boulders and made the river, and then floated away downstream. Still, the river he had learned is frequented daily by the local Indian men for cleansing rituals. However he continued to process…these cleansing rituals are performed early in the morning…so her body could have floated by unnoticed.
“Not likely…” he said out load growing increasingly unnerved.
The river, he realized, was too shallow at this point and not moving fast enough to carry a body away.
There is no evidence of trauma on any of the rocks or logs…no blood…no evidence of any impact at all. No hair strands or clothing fragments…no human tissue or flesh. If a bear or cougar had dragged her body off, another possibility, there was no evidence of that either.
Ben felt sick to his stomach.
He could feel the rage and anger mounting inside him – the kind of torment that emerges inside your soul when you have failed tremendously but exaggerated a false success with arrogance and announcement. Then with the glaring truth of your failure revealed to you there is an eruption of anxiety, shame and disbelief…which quickly turns to fury and hatred of everything and everyone.
Siobhán he accepted was still alive.
“I will find you…” he said staring down the river.
Ben clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, his body began to sweat and he could feel his heart racing…pounding so hard he thought it might explode out of his chest. He realized for the first time that he was dealing with forces outside his domain…outside his accepted comprehension…that he was afraid. Chills ran down his spine and he trembled.
“…you will die, and I will be free of this burden.”
His own life, perhaps his very soul, depended on it.
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Lawrence Lewis
About Lawrence Lewis
I do a number of things professionally...but most of all and the true purpose of what I do through "my work" is to provide for my family, be a good husband and great father, and try to make a difference as a world citizen...I guess it's not much more complicated than that 🙂