by Mary May
Sabrina came stomping into the kitchen muttering under her breath about stupid know-it-all men in general and one fool-headed man in particular. She was trying to rein in her temper by deep breathing and counting to ten, but she was about to boil over when Cleo came out from the pantry.
“Well, forevermore, child, what’s got your kettle about to sing? Your eyes are throwing off enough sparks to start a fire!”
Sabrina set Charlie down and laid her head on the counter. “Devon is home,” she said.
Cleo raised her eyebrows. “Does it fire you up like this every time he comes home?”
Sabrina raised her head up off the counter and looked at Cleo over the crook of her arm then busted out laughing. Miss Cleo had no idea the double meaning of her statement. “Not… exactly,” she finally said.
“Well, then what is so special about this time?” Cleo demanded.
Sabrina sighed then boosted herself onto a barstool. “Let’s just say we had a difference of opinion. He will be in here in a minute; he may be hungry.”
Cleo wisely left it alone, turned and started a pot of stone soup and waited for Devon to enter the kitchen.
Devon approached the kitchen cautiously; he could hear Sabrina speaking with another woman who was most definitely a Cajun. He had no idea how to handle this blowup with Sabrina; how would she react when she saw him? Maybe he should just go to his suite and leave her alone for a while. He turned and started to backtrack to his rooms when he caught a whiff of something wonderful. His nose turned his feet back around and he followed it on into the kitchen.
A middle-aged woman was standing by the stove throwing random items into a boiling pot. She was smiling and speaking to Sabrina like they were old friends. He took a moment to observe the way the women interacted with each other. You could learn a lot about someone by watching when they were not aware of it. He studied her body language as well as listened to her words. She appeared relaxed and comfortable and was looking Sabrina in the eye when she spoke to her. There weren’t any sneaky looks to the side or keeping her eyes down, which were both telltale signs of lying. The ladies were chatting about the fast-approaching Thanksgiving holiday.
Sabrina finally looked his direction and gave him a little smile. “Are you hungry?” she asked. Devon walked the rest of the way into the kitchen and chose a bar stool for himself.
The other woman turned and smiled at him. “Well, I would be guessing you’re Mr. Devon?” She looked him up and down and then turned to Sabrina and winked then whispered, “Fired up, I reckon!”
Gideon stood just outside the kitchen watching everyone get to know one another. He was still trying to get control of himself from nearly running Devon through with his sword…AGAIN! When the man kept Charlie from Sabrina and he saw how angry Sabrina was, Gideon saw red. He had no right to speak to her like that! Even though he had to agree with Devon about Sabrina being a little on the naïve side, she shouldn’t be spoken down to, especially from someone who was benefitting from the very thing he was condemning her for. Gideon knew just as sure as he knew his wings were black that Devon Lane was trouble with a capital T, but he knew all he could do was sit, wait and be there to protect his family from the fallout.
Chapter 4
Gideon was trailing Miss Cleo, Sabrina and little Charlie through a local farmers’ market. Miss Cleo declared that the vegetables at the grocery store “wasn’t fittin’ to eat,” so she was dragging them up and down row after row of tables filled with vegetables and different produce, picking up this one and that one, smelling, thumping or poking them with her finger. Gideon was so bored he actually yawned, and that made him stop in his tracks. Angels didn’t yawn…ever! What in the world was happening to him? Was he starting to pick up human habits just from being in their presence day in and day out?
He was so consumed with what might or might not be happening to him that he nearly missed the prickle that went down his spine. He jerked his head up and carefully looked around the outdoor market searching for the source of the prickle. He studied each face carefully, looking for any sign of demonic activity; then he spotted a vendor near the back that was selling odd-looking little bundles of what was labeled as “Spiritual Herbs.” The man didn’t look any different from the rest of the humans crowding the area, but the stench of demon and hell was all over his booth. Sabrina, of course, made a beeline for that exact booth. Gideon whipped out his sword and got ready to transform if it became necessary.
“Hello, what are you selling?” Sabrina smiled her award-winning smile at the vendor and Gideon felt his teeth clench when the man smiled back at her with an evil glint in his eyes. “This is a very special mixture of secret spices, all natural, of course, that will help you relax and to achieve the spiritual connection you are looking for.” The man opened up a pouch and was lifting his hand to allow Sabrina to sniff the ingredients when Miss Cleo knocked the man’s hand away.
“You keep your devil spices away from us, you hear me, JE Kale? I know exactly what you are, bad spirit!” Cleo grabbed Sabrina and led her quickly away from the booth.
“Cleo! What in the world is wrong with you? Why did you do that?” Sabrina turned and looked back at the vendor then gasped. His eyes had turned milky white and he cocked his head then lifted his hand and saluted Miss Cleo mockingly.
Gideon stood between the women and the vendor that was under demonic influence. He didn’t think a full transformation was necessary, but he eyed the demon in the control to let him know he wasn’t going to get near his family.
“Did you get demoted, O Great One?” the demon sneered at him, “reduced to being a mere watchdog for humans, O Mighty Gideon?” The demon smiled, licking his thick black lips, and leered at Sabrina. He could see the demon through the body of the human he was possessing. It was a small demon of greed. Not that size made it any less dangerous, especially to the human it was controlling. Demons, in his opinion, all looked alike except for size or rank, and for reasons that were beyond him the smaller ones always had the biggest mouths! Gideon calmly put away his sword and listened while the spawn of hell spewed all manner of vile words and insults. He didn’t respond, turning his back as if to leave. The demon’s smile got broader, thinking that Gideon was going to leave without a fight. “I see now why you were made babysitter. You have lost your love of battle, and your days of being Gideon the Mighty are ov…” The rest of the demon’s words ended with a gurgle as Gideon whirled and with blinding speed slashed the razor sharp edge of his wing across the neck of the demon.
As the demon turned to sludge then to ash as he deteriorated, Gideon stood over him. “Tell your master that Gideon the Mighty still wields his sword for the King of Kings and that his days are most assuredly numbered.”
Gideon walked behind the ladies as they hurriedly got back to the car. When they were in the car and safely away from the farmers’ market, Sabrina turned sideways in her seat and faced Cleo. “What was that? What did I just see, Cleo? How did you know what he was, and what did you call him?”
Cleo sat in silence for a moment before she turned a raised eyebrow to Sabrina. “Do want your answers in the same order as your questions?”
Sabrina vigorously nodded her head. “Uh, yeah… I do.”
“What you saw was a JE Kale, or a person that was under control by a demon, Sabrina. He was selling drugs to open your mind and allow demons to take control of your mind and body. All it would take was one sniff and it wouldn’t matter if you bought the herb sachet or not.”
Sabrina’s eyes got big and round as saucers. “I’ve never heard of anything like that before. They just let you smell the herbs then take over your body? That’s terrible and scary and we should go back and warn the owners of the market!”
Cleo shook her head then clucked her tongue. “And tell them what, Sabrina? If we tell them what I just told you, we would be the ones being hauled away to the nearest loony bin. Child, you got to be careful how you handle yourself in a situation like this. Not every
one is ready to hear or see the truth even when it’s standing right in front of them. No, ma’am, they are not.”
Sabrina sat and thought over what Miss Cleo had said and decided she was probably right. “How did you know what he was? He looked like a normal person to me.”
Cleo maneuvered the car through the light traffic. “The man was normal; it was the spirit that was not, so you wouldn’t notice anything different. They hide behind the human face.”
Sabrina nodded her head thoughtfully. “Ok, that makes sense, but how did you know what he was, Cleo? How were you able to see behind the human face?”
Cleo was silent for so long that Sabrina feared she wasn’t going to answer her. Finally she heaved a deep breath in and out then replied. “I guess it best that you know now anyway. Sabrina, we all have things in our past that we may not be real proud of. And I have not always been the God-fearing woman that I am now. I was once a Voodoo Priestess, and I could recognize the evil spirit because I used to commune with them daily.”
Gideon sat in the back seat with what he was sure was the same look of shock on his face that Sabrina had on hers. He did not see that coming at all! Would he ever NOT be surprised by these people?
Sabrina stared at Cleo for a long minute. “I’m not exactly sure what all that meant, but honestly it makes me very uncomfortable.” Cleo pulled into the driveway of the estate, stopped the car and killed the motor.
The women sat there in silence, each one lost in her own thoughts, when Charlie spoke up. “Mommy, I’m hungry.”
Sabrina looked in the back seat in relief that this conversation could be put off. “Sure, sweetie, let’s go make a snack, okay?”
Cleo sat in the car watching Sabrina and Charlie walk into the house. “Lord, I may have just messed up whatever you had planned. I knew my past would get me yet…that poor baby is just trying to find a kind way to tell me to scat!” Cleo got out of the car and slowly made her way into the house and went to her beautiful suite of rooms to start packing.
Cleo had emptied her dresser and was starting on packing her toiletries when she heard a soft knock on her door. “Lord, there she is, fixing to send Ol’ Cleo down the road.” Cleo walked over and opened the door, but to her surprise it was Edgar standing there, not Sabrina.
“Miss Cleo, Miss Sabrina sent me to tell you that we are all having a small snack in the kitchen, if you are hungry.” Cleo nodded her head slowly then watched Edgar do his customary head bob and turn around and walk back down the hall like a solider that had completed his duties.
“Well, Lord, maybe she wants to feed me first before she gives me the old heave ho.” She walked into the kitchen where they were all seated around the bar with plates of sandwiches and chips.
Charlie was sitting on her knees so she could reach the bar and her plate. She gave a Cleo a smile and a little wave. “Come eat sammiches, Cleo!” A plate with a ham and cheese sandwich with cheesy curls was just to the right of Charlie. The little girl patted the stool next to her. “Come sit with me!” Cleo knew she was sorely going to miss that precious baby when she had to leave.
With dread filling her belly to the point that she knew she would never get a single bite down, she took her place next to Charlie and proceeded to play with her food instead of eating it. Sabrina and Edgar chatted about getting the holiday decorations out of the shed and what to fix for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Charlie chattered to Cleo about what Moppet had done the day before, dragging a large limb through Edgar’s prized flowerbeds. Cleo smiled and truly tried to enjoy the little dinner, but she was getting sicker and sicker by the minute and really wished that if Sabrina was going to fire her she would do it already.
Sabrina paused from chatting with Edgar and noticed that Cleo wasn’t really eating her sandwich; she had just torn it in pieces. “Are you not hungry, Cleo? Do you want something else to eat?” Cleo was so swallowed up in her misery that all she could do was shake her head. “Cleo, what’s wrong? Are you sick?” Sabrina came around the bar and felt of Cleo’s forehead.
Cleo took Sabrina’s hand, holding it, then looked up at her. “No, child, I’m not sick. But, baby, if you’re going to fire me…please just get it over with.”
Sabrina reared back in pure shock. “Fire you! Why on earth would I do that, Cleo?”
Cleo hung her head. “Because of what I used to be.” Sabrina knelt down so she could look up into Cleo’s face.
“Cleo, we all have a past. When you told me what you used to be, it surprised me, and I didn’t understand it. I still don’t, but I am hoping you will explain it to me so I will understand.”
Cleo dared to hope as she looked into Sabrina’s wide blue eyes. “I will explain anything and everything, Miss Sabrina, but I need you to understand something right from the start. I am no longer that woman. I left all that…that…wickedness behind me, and you truly have nothing to fear from me, you hear me?”
Sabrina rose to her feet and put her arms around the woman who was so earnestly looking for her approval. “Cleo, I never doubted for one moment that you are nothing but a godly woman; I felt it when I met you. What you told me does not alter that fact, okay? I would like to know more about what happened today, but your past is in your past; what kind of example of Christ would I be if I judged you on it?”
Cleo looked up into Sabrina’s blue eyes and saw nothing but honesty; she truly did not hold her past against her. She did worry that Sabrina didn’t have all the facts; she truly did not know everything that Cleo had done. She knew she would have to come completely clean about her past before she could feel at ease about staying.
“Miss Sabrina, I feel that I should tell you everything, not now, of course.” Cleo tilted her head toward Charlie, who was very focused on their conversation while she crunched her cheesy curls. “Later, after a certain someone is in bed.”
Sabrina sat back down and picked up her sandwich, “That’s fine, Cleo, if that would make you feel better.”
Cleo nodded. “Yes, ma’am, it would.”
Later that night after Charlie was tucked into bed with Moppet, Cleo and Sabrina joined Edgar in the den. The three chatted about their day and they filled Edgar in on what happened at the Farmers’ Market that morning. Edgar took it with his usual lack of emotion. He had a few questions about how Cleo was able to discern the spirit, and that question led into the telling of Cleo’s story…
“I was the sixth daughter of a sixth daughter, so I was born with what we call ‘The Sight.’ My grandmother had it and her grandmother before her had it, all the way back for several generations. No one knows exactly just how far back it goes, but it always lands on the sixth daughter. I was dedicated or offered up for the spirits to work through when I was just a baby.”
Sabrina sat up in her seat. “I dedicated Charlie to the Lord when she was about two months old; is it the same thing?”
Cleo nodded. “Yes, very much the same thing except I was offered up for the other team.”
Sabrina looked very upset at the thought of an innocent child being offered like that for evil. She started to ask another question when she heard the front door open. She looked at Edgar, who immediately got up to see who it was. She followed him and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Devon’s tall form walking down the dimly-lit hallway. Her relief lasted until the light from the den hit Devon’s face.
“What happened?” Sabrina quickly walked up to Devon and tried to see the damage. He kept his face turned away from her, and it was then she noticed that he was holding his ribs as well.
“I’m fine, Sabrina. It looks worse than it is,” Devon tried to assure her.
Gideon studied the damage done to Devon’s face and body and knew that he had been in a serious fight with more than one guy, most likely three, and the way he was holding his side, he would bet his right wing he had some busted ribs as well. He knew Devon was trouble and this pretty much confirmed his suspicions.
Sabrina was still circling Devon, trying to get a good look a
t his face, but he would turn with her until she threatened to punch him in the ribs if he didn’t stop. With a sigh he stopped circling but held his head up, looking at the ceiling, and she still couldn’t see his face.
“Devon James Lane, you look at me this instant!” Sabrina punctuated her command with a hard stomp of her foot. Devon finally looked down and let Sabrina see the rest of his face. She drew in a quick breath at what she saw. The whole left side of his face was deeply bruised and swollen, with a deep gash along his left temple.
“Someone done whooped up on you and good, Mr. Devon!” Cleo exclaimed from the doorway of the den. “You best be getting in the kitchen where we can see you proper and see what needs to be done!”
Devon stood his ground. “I said I’m fine. I can clean myself up.” He tried to brush past Sabrina, but Edgar stepped up and laid his hand along Devon’s ribs, which made the tall man hiss in pain and glare daggers at the old butler.
“Mr. Devon, you have a cracked rib, maybe two, and you cannot wrap them tightly enough by yourself.” Edgar turned to the two ladies standing there. “Madam, I’ll wrap his ribs and tend to the wounds that he cannot reach.” With that the two men walked slowly down the hall, leaving Sabrina and Cleo staring after them, wondering what on earth had happened, with Gideon right on their heels.
Devon painfully made his way to his rooms, glad that Edgar had stepped in and offered to wrap his ribs. He could tend to his face himself, but he knew he couldn’t wrap his ribs tight enough by himself, and no way did he want Sabrina to see how badly he was beaten. When he got to his room he tried to pull the black t-shirt over his head, but he felt his ribs shift and he nearly blacked out from the pain. Edgar made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and told Devon to lie down on the bed and be still. Devon gingerly sat on the side of the bed and watched while Edgar went into the bathroom and gathered up what he needed. He came out with scissors and a bed sheet, along with some gauze, ointment and antiseptic wash. With ill-concealed impatience, the old butler ripped the bed sheets into surprisingly even strips and laid them on the table beside the bed.
