Can't Love You {Sequel to "Not Sherlock Holmes"}

Chapter Thirteen

Benedict's POV

"I really am sorry about her, I don't know why she's being like that," the woman called Beth apologizes as she wraps the wound on my leg. I shrug.

"It's alright, I understand." She shakes her head, though.

"I don't. What on earth could you have done to make her so bristly toward you?"

"Well, I disappeared for 10 years, that could be it." She drops her hands to her sides.

"Ten years?! Why ever would you do that?" Her old, wrinkled face creases up, and her blue eyes are attentive.

"I didn't try!" I insist.

"Then how did it happen?" Beth and I both turn quickly to face the door, where Martin stands, his arms crossed over his chest.

It's when I realize just how long I've been gone, because his face is so much older, and his voice is so much gruffer, although he still looks good. I imagine all this moving around and living in the woods must keep the man in shape.

"I don't know; it just happened," I whisper, and he nods, looks away, and walks inside to join us.

"Miss Beth, do you mind leaving the two of us alone for a while?" Martin asks politely, taking Beth's hands in his own. She smiles kindly, and is there a little blush on her cheeks?

"Yes, dear. Tell me when you're finished." And she leaves.

Martin comes to stand next to my cot, his arms still crossed.

"You know, Nica's quite upset," he begins. I nod.

"Yes, I did know that."

"Frankly, so am I."

"I knew that, too."

"If we had known you were alive, Ben! If we had known, we would have gone looking for you!" He runs his fingers through his hair like he always does - or how he used to, I correct.

"That's the thing - I don't know what happened. Honestly, I was just with you all a few days ago! Look!" I tug at my clothes. "These are the same clothes I was wearing when we were separated; when we were getting on the boats that day." Martin looks uncertain.

"Well-"

"And come on, you had to have noticed that I haven't aged a bit. That's because only a few days have passed!"

"We've all noticed that, Ben, that's why we're frightened. Well, mostly Ian. That's why he's frightened. I think you know why Nica and I are." Silence fills the tent. I search for some way to break it.

"Your family?" I ask. Martin smiles softly.

"I found Amanda and the kids a few weeks after we found out you died. Well, didn't die." I smile.

"That's wonderful news," I say, but his face falls.

"It doesn't matter much because Amanda died a year later. She got sick." My heart drops.

"I'm so sorry-"

"But it's alright because I still have Joe and Grace. They're older now, obviously. Joe is 18, and Grace is 16." I nod.

"Well, that's fortunate."

"Yes, yes it is."

"What about my family?" Martin looks at me.

"I didn't bother to look for them, Ben, because... I didn't want to see them. I was terribly upset, really, and I didn't want to have to face them and tell them that you had died, or worse, find out that they had died, too." I nod my understanding.

"Veronica and Ian's families?" Martin shrugs.

"We don't know anything about them. There's no way to get to America, not that they really wanted to go. We have a nice group here, now. We've had a few opportunities to communicate with people over there, but we haven't been successful in locating their parents."

"Why haven't things gone back to normal, though?" I ask, my brow furrowed. Martin shrugs.

"Everything just fell apart. Even the army and those soldiers eventually began dropping off like flies. No one knows really why. Everyone is just sort of terrified all the time. Plus, the ice and snow-"

"Ice and snow?"

"Yes, our winters since this whole 'apocalypse' began have become increasingly worse. Ice and strong winds and so much snow. The winters alone have been killing people off left and right, and there's nothing we can really do. Even our summers are cold, but at least there's no snow."

"That's terrible-"

"Yes, but we're getting by," Martin says abruptly.

"I really am sorry," I whisper, and he seems to melt.

"I know you are, Ben. We just missed you."