by Joan Hazel
for him to find me.
"Keep talking," he said in a shaky voice.
"That's it. Follow my voice. A little farther," I said.
"I can't...don't leave me!"
Great. He's panicking. I searched my thoughts for his name. Sometimes names come easily to me, sometimes they don't. As fortune would have it, this time, it did. "I'm not going anywhere, Lewis." I tried to sound reassuring. "Not until we can get you out of here."
I really needed a match or something, and I made a mental note to never go on another goose chase without one. Heck, at this point I would take a flint rock and bundle of twigs.
I thought about Harry. Maybe he or one of his officers would have a lighter. I was about to call out to him when I felt a gentle tug on my jacket.
I looked down. Beside me stood a small child that I knew without a doubt it was Angelina. Beautiful blue light pulsed about her, and I squinted from the brilliance of it. As if she could read my mind, the light dimmed slightly, allowing me to see her better.
She looked up at me with big chestnut eyes and pointed toward Lewis. And as much as I hated it, I knew why she was here. Not just here in this moment, standing beside me, but here in this horrible place. It had been Angelina's job to help the others reach the other-side. Now, for whatever reason, only Lewis remained.
I nodded my understanding of the situation. She stepped away from me, permitting the light about her to grow again. Her aura glowed with a fervor unlike anything I had seen before. Angelina became an iridescent beacon against the shadows of the night. Turning her tiny hand over, she offered it to Lewis.
"I...I see you now," he said.
Angelina looked to me, then back to Lewis.
"Good...Lewis," I coaxed. "That's great. Now, just come to me and we can get out of here."
With trepidation, Lewis emerged from the black water. He stopped just short of Angelina. "I don't understand," he said, looking at me.
"She's here to help you, Lewis. You need to go with her."
Angelina reached closer to him, and he stepped back. "I'm not going anywhere with her," he said defiantly. "I just want to go home."
Right then and there, I could have told him the truth. I could have told him he would never go home again. Well, he could, but not in the way he was used to. To tell him would only lead to an argument. Something I had neither the time nor energy to deal with. "Angelina will take you home. She knows the way out of here better than I do."
I could feel Lewis' frustration. But I knew, if I could get him to take her hand and step within the light, he would understand everything. "Just take her hand," I urged.
Taking my cue from Angelina, I refused to say another word. I simply stood there waiting, until finally, he gave in.
The instant he took Angelina's hand, I felt the wave of relief as it washed over him. There was no more anger or frustration, only complete understanding and peace.
The same soft, knowing smile that graced Angelina's sweet face now appeared on Lewis' and as silently as Angelina had come to me, the pair faded into nothingness.
Standing alone on the banks of the swamp, I began to tremble. As usual, the adrenalin rush left me weak, and I was brought back to the reality of what lay before me. Tilting back my head, I stared up at the night's sky. The same cutting, gut wrenching emptiness filled me. Once again, I had allowed a case to become too personal.
Harry has always tried to teach me to stay aloof and to not allow myself to become emotionally involved with a case. I suppose for him that's easy, but for me it is impossible. You see I'm a psychic. Feeling is what I do.
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