Savior of Ages

Never Felt Better

As bills finger tip grazed the Jewel Ben jumped back like he had just hit him and said, “What the fuck difference does it make what it’s worth? It’s fused into my chest.”

 

Bill was taken aback because he was sure he hadn’t said anything out loud. That meant that Ben had read his mind when he touched the Jewel.

Now that Bill wasn’t entranced by the Jewel he could care less about the value of something that could be killing his cousin.

 

Lenny spoke up then, “Come on guys settle down. Ben, Bill didn’t say anything. Bill we need to get Ben out of the sun and to Doc. Pronto.”

 

Once everyone was in the car Bill confessed his greedy thoughts and explained that it didn’t feel like his thoughts at all.

 

“I swear to you Ben, that stone in your chest had my mind enthralled. I would never put greed before the well being of a friend or family member. Never.”

 

Ben new this to be true. Though the family had drifted in the last ten or so years at one time they all lived and worked together on the farm. They had spent their lives working the fields on the farm until first Bill and then Jimmy went to college and got jobs in the city. Ben knew for a fact that Bill didn’t need the fortune that could be gained from this Jewel. He had made his fortunes during the internet boom in the late 1990’s. Bill and his children (If he ever decided to settle down and have some) would never want for anything as long as they lived. So long as all the worlds economies didn’t crash at the same time.

 

Jimmy on the other hand was wealthy but not to the extent of his older brother. Jimmy was a lawyer and a damn good one. The reason he wasn’t rich is that he chose prosecution over defense. He would rather be poor than to help a criminal stay on the streets.

 

Ben and Lenny were a different story all together. They both chose not to go to college and enlisted in the U.S. armed forces. Ben to the Army and eventually the Ranger scouts. Lenny chose the life of a seaman. He ended up with the Navy SEALS after a few years.

 

After many decorations and classified achievements that no one would ever know about, Ben and Lenny came home to the Farm.

 

It wasn’t a happy homecoming. Their father had passed on while they were away and their mother not long after their return. The bank was about to foreclose on the farm, the land hadn’t been worked in years and all the livestock was dead.

 

Ben put in a call to Jimmy to see If he could buy them some time with the bank. It was no good. The bank had a buyer lined up for the land and unless they got paid there was nothing they could do to stop the foreclosure.

Ben tried getting in touch with Bill to beg a lone from him but he was off globe trotting making business deals with every country that had a promising economic future.

 

Then on the day of the foreclosure the bank manager and the buyer came out to see the land. Ben and Lenny were ready to give the buyer a piece of their minds. Then their cousin Bill climbed out of the car laughing the biggest belly shaking laugh they could ever remember hearing. Turns out Bill was the buyer all along. Ben wanted to punch him in the mouth and Hug his neck all at the same time.