Beachton ...
Meg and Benton walked up the back steps of the bed and breakfast together. They discussed their plans for the day-horseback riding. Neither of them had been able to ride for pleasure in years.
"I hope I'm not too sore after last night." Meg whispered, smiling seductively.
"I'm sure we'll work out the soreness somehow." Benton gave her a bright smile as he held the back door open for Meg.
"I'm looking forward to it." Meg purred quietly.
"Good morning, help yourself, most of the others haven't come down yet." Ms. McCoy greeted them, not turning away from a frying pan full of fried, green tomatoes. Biscuits, gravy, hash browns, sausages, bacon, juices and an assortment of jams and jellies waited on the dining room sideboard.
Benton waited for Meg to take a plate and help herself. He followed suit. He'd satisfied his hunger for Meg, now his stomach required attention.
"I'm glad we came alone, but I wish Ben could join us riding." Meg let Benton scoot out her chair at the dining room table.
"He hasn't had the opportunity to go riding yet." Benton seated himself across the table from Meg. He watched her carefully pour them both glasses of orange juice. She looked up into his light eyes. Golden light through the stained glass window highlighted the thickening streaks of silver-white hair at the Mountie's temples. Meg had never noticed them before. Had it really been that long?
"What?" Benton asked, amusement in his voice and blue eyes.
"Just thinking how handsome you are." Meg planted her chin on the heel of her hand, a dreamy smile pulling at her wine lips. Even after so long, he blushed.
"You should be wearing your glasses." Benton teased, dipping his head, smiling.
"No, I can see you just fine." Meg wrinkled her nose. They went back to their breakfasts.
On their way back to the cabin, Benton's phone began ringing, "Thirty-two Down on the Robert MacKenzie" firing up. He stopped halfway up the first flight.
"Hello."
"Okay, I'll be back this afternoon. I love you."
Benton's voice startled Meg. She stopped too short. Benton ended the call then looked at her.
"Francesca had to take Diefenbaker to the veterinarian, they don't expect him to last the day."
Meg watched Benton swallow hard, his eyes moist for a moment before he blinked it away.
"I'll pack, you call Francesca." Meg stepped down.
"Yes, I should." Benton dialed the number from memory. Meg took a step up. Benton caught her arm.
"Thank you, Meg." He tried to smile but couldn't.
"You're welcome." She laid her free hand over his. "He's your best friend." Meg shrugged.
Chicago ...
Meg drove, careful to keep her car at the posted speed limit. She took every short cut she knew but they still drove hours to get back home. Benton sat in the passenger seat, a silent figure looking straight ahead. He held his cell phone, expecting Ben to call with bad news any moment. They pulled into Windy City Animal Hospital after lunch.
"Hey, Frase." Francesca greeted the Mountie first. "Hi, Meg."
"How is he?" Meg asked, lagging behind while Benton rushed into the exam room beyond the receptionist's desk.
Dief lay on his side, an IV running into his foreleg, a thick fleece bed padded the old, half wolf's bones. Benton took a seat on a rolling chair. He began stroking Dief's fur.
"Hello, old friend." The wolf looked up at him, whining in his throat. A shiver ran through the wolf's body. He tried to scoot closer to his human. Ben sat down on the floor beside him. They'd been together through illness before, for both of them
"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling ill?" Benton swallowed hard, trying to keep his voice steady. Dief shrugged and let his tongue loll, down playing it. Benton longed for the wolf to give him a sarcastic reply.
"You always worry me, we've been together this long, that's what friends do." Benton fisted a tuft of Dief's fur. The old wolf whined as he tried to scoot even closer to his human.
"Shh... Shh ..., lay still, lay still." Benton began stroking his fur, moving closer to him. "It's alright, you can let go, I'll be alright." Tears coursed down Benton's face of their own accord. He didn't want to let his best, truest friend slip away. Dief laid still, his breathing labored. "Go, walk with your ancestors." Dief closed his ageless, amber eyes for the last time. Benton felt the wolf's heart begin to slow.
When Ben and Meg walked in, they found Benton at Dief's side, his face buried in the wolf's fur. His shoulders quaked as he wept. Meg and Ben looked at each other, unsure of what to do.
"Dad." Ben began, stepping forward.
"He's gone." Benton raised his head but stared straight ahead, away from them.
Meg stepped up beside him, Ben to the other side. Neither of them knew if they should touch him, talk to him or leave him alone.
"We'll be waiting for you outside." Meg spoke softly, her own tears falling. She hated seeing him so broken.
"I want to take him back to the Territories for burial." Benton spoke before Meg and Ben turned away.
"Okay, I'll make the arrangements." Meg offered. Benton simply nodded.
After a moment of silence, Ben and Meg left the room to let Benton grieve in private.
Frannie sat in the waiting room, her face grave already. She'd known Dief since he and Fraser had arrived in Chicago. Losing him felt like losing a member of the family.
"He's gone, Aunt Frannie." Ben sat down beside her in a hard, plastic chair.
"Oh my." She shook her head. "How's Benton taking it?" Frannie looked up at Meg, standing in the middle of the small waiting area.
"Stoic, as usual." Meg answered, wiping her cheeks dry. "You know how he is." She added, shrugging.
Frannie couldn't begin to imagine Fraser's grief. No one understood the bond he and Dief had shared. They were an example of the truest form of love. It surpassed the barrier between species.
"I've never seen Dad like that." Ben spoke quietly, staring at the tile floor ahead of him.
"I have, before your time, kiddo." Frannie took Ben into a side hug, pressing a motherly kiss against his hair.
"Mom." The boy stated flatly.
"Yeah." Frannie sighed. Those had been some dark days after Victoria skipped town. Frannie and her brother stuck with Fraser until he came back to the light.
"I have arrangements to make, will you stay with Francesca, Ben?" Meg interrupted the heavy silence. The teen nodded and laid his head on Frannie's shoulder.
Sunday night, Benton, Meg and Ben boarded a flight for Canada. Diefenbaker's casket rode in the cargo hold. Meg had pulled strings from her Inspector days. She'd hoped to take this trip under better circumstances.
Benton called ahead to ask a friend to open the cabin he'd re-re-built on his father's land. Other than answering questions with monosyllabic words, he didn't talk. His blue eyes looked haunted and hollow. Just that morning he'd felt on top of the world at Meg's side. All had been right with the world.
Now, he struggled to count his blessings without his best friend. The Mountie considered many people his friend, a few of them best friends like Ray Vecchio, Ray Kowalski, Meg and his son, but Dief had seen him through dark times before coming to Chicago. His loss cut deeply.
Hours later and three modes of transportation later, the small party arrived at the cabin. The only original structure still standing, the barn, leaned a little to the right.
"Thank you kindly, Gregory, I know it's a long way from the village." Fraser thanked the son of an old friend who'd shuttled them from the air field to the cabin via ice cat.
"No problem, nice to have met you, Constable Fraser." The twenty-something waved as Benton slammed the ice cat's door. He and Ben carried Dief's plain casket from the tank-like vehicle to the barn and secured it. Ben noticed how his father's steps dragged. The Mountie acted bone tired. Ben wished he knew how to make his father feel better. Only time would heal his shattered heart.