by Mary May
“Gideon, even you have to admit that Devon would never harm a hair on Charlie’s head. You’re grasping at straws here.”
Gideon frowned fiercely at the man across the table from him. “Just how did you know that’s what I was thinking?”
Edgar yawned a jaw-popping yawn then got up to rinse out his cup. He turned and looked back at Gideon. “I’ve had a little time to figure out how you think, angel. I knew you would come to that conclusion. Look, keep an eye on her if it makes you feel better, but stay out of it. Last time I checked, you are a warrior slash guardian angel, not Cupid. Now if you would so kindly go glower somewhere else I would like to return to bed.”
Gideon left Edgar’s room and after checking on Sabrina and Charlie he flew up to the roof of the mansion. Times like this he really envied anyone that could sleep and let go of worries for a few hours. Being immortal was starting to have drawbacks that he had never encountered before. He paced from one side of the roof to the other; suddenly he smiled, thinking about how Sherrilyn would have blistered his ears for keeping her awake if she was still on this side of the heavens. That woman’s hearing was freakishly good! He missed his friend; he missed having her to be able to talk to and spill his worries and concerns to. Edgar was not the most patient listener; even though what he said was usually dead on, his delivery lacked…seriously lacked.
He then wondered what happened to turn him into someone that needed someone to talk to. This didn’t use to be a problem. If a problem came up on the battlefield or with his men, he knew how to handle it, but this assignment was turning out to be more of a challenge than he ever would have thought. Go to Earth, watch over a human child for eighty or ninety years, and then BAM, back to the battlefield. Gideon raised his eyes to the night sky, looking at the millions of stars scattered across it, and wondered if somewhere on the other side, was that the faint sound of laughter?
Sabrina was standing in front of the kitchen sink staring out the window. She was so lost in thought that Cleo had to call her name three times to get her attention. When she finally turned around, Cleo was standing behind her.
“Forevermore, child, where was that head of yours? You was so deep inside yourself I thought I was gonna have to fetch a tractor to pull you out again!”
Sabrina laughed. “I’m sorry, Cleo. I was daydreaming, I guess.”
Cleo smiled and winked. “Must have been some might pretty dreams to hold onto you that hard!”
Sabrina felt her face heat up, so she turned back to the window before Cleo could see it. Truth be told, it was a very pretty daydream, one that included a tall blonde man. Devon had been on her mind pretty much nonstop the past couple of days since the kiss on the staircase. She couldn’t pass the spot on the stairs without thinking about it and feeling her face flush. Devon had taken off the next morning, telling Sabrina he would be gone for a while and giving her a quick peck on the cheek before walking out the door. As usual he told her absolutely nothing about where he was going or what he was doing or when he would return.
She turned and saw Cleo staring at her with her arms crossed. “Did I do it again?” she asked sheepishly. Cleo just shook her head and walked off, muttering something about not being able to compete with her fancy daydreams.
Devon crouched in the dark alley waiting on the man to emerge from the local bar. Stud’s Suds was broadcast in bright red neon, but that’s as far as the upkeep on the place went. The ramshackle building had seen its best days over fifty years ago. Devon shifted, trying to keep his legs and feet from going to sleep in the crouched position he had held for close to an hour. Being six and half feet tall had its advantages and its disadvantages; trying to keep his long frame hidden behind a four foot dumpster was making it a major disadvantage tonight. He checked his watch again, a quarter to three in the morning. The man had been in there for over three hours. Devon had shown up close to an hour and half ago and sat on his bike across the street watching and waiting before he decided to go in for a closer look. He looked longingly at it parked in the shadows and was about to stand up and finish waiting across the street when the door to the bar finally slammed opened.
Three men and one very unsteady woman came out; Devon couldn’t tell from this angle if the man he sought was one of them. The woman tripped and giggled, hanging onto the arm of a dark-haired man in front.
“Dang it, Marilyn, walk on your own two feet and stop stomping all over mine, would ya?” The man tried to shake the woman off his arm, but she just giggled some more, teetering in her mile-high heels, and hung on like a cockle burr. They continued across the gravel parking lot, which was actually more dirt than gravel, and the man and woman got into an old Ford Ranger. The other two men stopped beside a very nice Chevy Silverado with chrome rims and dark windows. The two men waited until the Ranger had pulled out of the lot before they started talking. When the shorter of the two faced Devon’s direction, he saw his face in the red glow of neon and smiled…he had found his man.
Chapter 12
Gideon was pretty much stalking Cleo, trying to find out just what she could and could not sense about him. He really had had enough of being fooled by these people; he wasn’t taking any chances with this one. He watched while she folded laundry and put it away. Then she vacuumed the den and the sunroom. While she was in the sun room, she watered a few plants and pulled a few dead leaves off then continued on to the room in the back that was rarely used. Gideon stayed right on her heels, practically breathing down her neck. Cleo opened the door to the small room and flipped on the light switch. There wasn’t much to see in here. It was really a large closet, that had boxes stacked on one wall and pieces of unused furniture lying here and there. Cleo went into the room, shutting the door behind her. Gideon was looking around trying to figure out why in the world she would come in here when Cleo answered his unspoken question.
“Ok, spirit, I don’t know why you’re tailing me so close today, but you’re working my last nerve! I thought we had agreed to stay out of each other’s way when I first moved in here.”
Gideon raised an eyebrow at that comment. He didn’t remember making that particular agreement at all. “Look, I know you’re the guardian of the family, I respect that, I truly do. I would have thought by now that you would know I don’t mean no one here no harm.” Cleo sighed heavily and sat down on old stool. “We have to find a way to communicate; I don’t suppose you have any ideas on the matter?”
Actually, Gideon did. He looked around for something to write on. While it was in his hand, she couldn’t see it, but after he put it down she did.
When the paper appeared out of thin air, Cleo jumped like a snake bit her! “Oh, saints above, I really was feeling a spirit!”
She looked at the paper and read, “I am Gideon.”
Cleo looked around the room. Her eyes looked like dark saucers. “Why are you here, Gideon?” she asked him.
She watched as the paper once again disappeared for a few seconds then reappeared with more writing. “I am Charlie’s guardian.”
“You’re a guardian angel? I knew I felt something like that from you. Why are you following me so close today?”
This time Gideon took the paper from her hand, making her flinch. In a few seconds it was floating in front of her. She cautiously took it and read what he wrote. “Needed to know just how much you could feel me. Sorry for startling you.”
Cleo smiled. “You’re forgiven. Can I see you?”
The paper disappeared then reappeared. “I can only manifest in times of extreme danger; however, some people can sense me like you do. It’s rare.”
Cleo laughed. “I’ll be dogged; here I sit passing notes back and forth from a real angel! Ain’t nobody gonna believe this!”
The paper disappeared again. “You will need to keep this between us. Like you said, who would believe you?”
She nodded her head. “Ok, Mr. Gideon, old Cleo is real good at keeping secrets, real good!”
A sudden knock on the door mad
e them both jump. “Cleo? Why are you hiding in the closet?” Sabrina’s voice held a trace of laughter.
“Oh, Lord, she gonna think I’m touched in head for sure now. See the trouble you got me into, Mr. Gideon?” Cleo muttered before she opened the door.
Sabrina was standing there looking at her with a smile on her face. “I was… well, I was speaking with the good spirit,” Cleo finally stammered out. Gideon frowned fiercely. He couldn’t believe she had told. She had just promised!
Sabrina looked puzzled for a moment then she smiled again. “Oh! You were praying? I guess that’s as good a use for this big old closet as any. It can be your prayer room; fix it up if you would like.” And just like that the old closet had become Cleo’s “prayer” closet. Sabrina walked on down the hall after calling out, “Your daughter is on the phone!”
Cleo chuckled as she went to get the phone. “I’ll just make sure we have a lot paper and pencils in there.”
Gideon went back inside the closet and picked up the piece of paper he had written on. He crumpled it tightly in his fist for a few seconds, and then he opened his hand back up. All that was left of the paper was a small pile of ashes.
It was almost Christmas, the house was decorated and the tree in the den was piled high with presents. The unusual angel with black wings held the place of honor on the top. Sabrina held the odd angel, stroking the wings before placing it in its spot.
The last thing Sherrilyn had spoken about was this angel. “Oh, I really miss you, my sweet friend, so much!” Sabrina sighed and went to pick up a toy that Charlie had left on the floor in front of the tree. She suddenly felt Sherrilyn’s presence so strong that she spun around expecting to see her sitting in her chair! When the room was empty except for her, she smiled. She knew her friend had heard her and was missing her, too. She also knew that Sherrilyn wasn’t confined to her chair any longer, nor was she blind. She was in perfect heavenly condition. As much as she seriously missed her, Sabrina wouldn’t have her back in that condition if she had the power to do so.
Devon had been gone for two weeks now, and other than a couple of really brief phone calls, she hadn’t spoken to him. She knew he had a super-secret job that was all hush, hush, but couldn’t he at least call and talk to her about other things? She had convinced herself the only reason he didn’t was because he obviously wasn’t missing her as much as she was missing him. She was getting madder and madder the longer she thought about it, so she stopped and prayed over him right then and there. She prayed for God’s protection and for Devon’s salvation. She prayed for wisdom for herself concerning Devon and that the Lord would guide her in this matter that her heart was pulling her into.
Feeling better, she went into the kitchen with Cleo and Edgar to see if there was something she could do to help. Charlie was on the floor with Moppet, who was trying unsuccessfully to nap. The sheepdog was very patient with Charlie as she played with his tail and his floppy ears. He would tolerate her putting ribbons and bows in his long fur and dressing him up like one of her dollies. Sabrina smiled as she watched her daughter scoot closer, lay her head on the dog’s side and drift off to sleep. Edgar still didn’t like the “beast,” as he called him. Frankly Sabrina was surprised that Moppet was allowed in the kitchen. When she asked Edgar about it, he just shrugged and said that Charlie and Moppet were having a tea party and that should take place in the kitchen.
Sabrina smiled and bumped him with her shoulder. “Come on, admit it, you are starting to like Moppet.”
Edgar gave her a dead stare and replied in a stoic voice, “I’ll admit to no such thing. Don’t read so much into my allowing him in this kitchen; I did that for young Charlie.” Sabrina didn’t buy that for a minute, but she let it go. Moppet was working his unique doggy charm on the old butler; he just didn’t realize it yet.
The Sunday before Christmas, Sabrina was once more feeling concerned and frustrated about Devon. Bro. Eddie was preaching on the battle of Jericho. “God’s children prayed their way through this battle; it wasn’t fought with earthly weapons but in the Spirit. How do you suppose they prayed? Do you think they begged God for the answer to their prayer? Did they beg Him for the victory against the enemy? Did they grovel and whine and simply hope that our God would hear them?” Bro. Eddie walked up and down the aisle, stopping at the end of each question and looking at the congregation.
“What is your Jericho right now? What are you believing God for this morning? We all have walls in our lives, something that stands between us and the victory we seek. The children of God prayed and praised and marched around the walls for seven days! For seven days… before the miracle happened and God brought those walls down from around the city of Jericho, allowing them to have the victory. I can promise you that weak and whiney prayers did not win that war! Prayers with faith and obedience to God won it!” Sabrina felt like tucking her toes up under her; Bro. Eddie was dancing on them this morning.
“What if they had only marched and prayed for two days or three? What if on the sixth day they decided in their hearts that God wasn’t going to answer this particular prayer and they all went home? What if on the seventh day twenty seconds before God gave the command to push those walls down, they stopped? I’ll tell you what would have happened; they would not have taken the city that was theirs to take. What day are you on, day one, day four or five? Maybe you’re on day seven and God is just about to give you your miracle or deliver your loved one from addiction or whatever it is that you are praying for. Pray until the miracle happens…pray until the breakthrough comes! Blow your trumpets and cry out to God for your victory! Believe like Joshua did that the Canaanites would be defeated by God!”
Gideon thought back to the Battle of Jericho. He could still see the armies of Israel, around forty thousand, surrounding the walls that were so thick you could ride two chariots abreast around the top. The heat was nearly unbearable. The dust from the endless marching filled the air until the sky was almost hidden from view in the city. The Israelites would march in shifts, pray in shifts and praise in shifts. It never stopped for seven days. Daytime and nighttime they kept up the instructions given to them by God. This affected the Canaanites on many levels, both physically and emotionally. On the seventh day when God had given the command, legions and legions of heavenly warriors pushed on those walls with all their might and watched as they started to crack, lean and weaken.
They pushed even harder with every ounce of strength given to them by the prayers filled with faith and the belief of the saints. With a loud roar the saints all cried out and blew their trumpets. With a mighty rumble the walls caved in and crumbled to the ground in ruins, allowing the Israelites entry into the city and victory over the Canaanites. It was truly something to behold!
“Keep circling your Jericho. It may take longer than seven days, but keep marching and praying and praising until those walls fall to the ground! Please stand with me in prayer.” Sabrina rose with the others as Bro. Eddie ended the service. She didn’t have to ask what her Jericho was this morning. She just asked God for the strength to keep on marching.
Chapter 13
Devon flew down the highway, watching out for cops. It was now Christmas Eve and he was bound and determined to be home with Sabrina and Charlie. He had been gone close to three weeks now. He never meant to be gone this long but this case just wouldn’t break. That night at Stud’s Suds he had come so close to catching this guy, but he wormed his way out, and Devon had lost track of him. Devon swore under his breath; he had NEVER lost a man that he had actually had his hands on, but there was a first for everything, he supposed. He turned his mind toward more pleasant things, and for him that was always Sabrina. He loved everything about that woman. He was done denying what he felt for her. He didn’t deserve her, but he was through trying to convince himself it was something else. He knew Sabrina had a close relationship with God, and that honestly bothered him, not that he didn’t believe in God himself. He did. Very much so. In fact, He just didn’
t think he could ever be what it took to be a true follower of Christ. He knew that Sabrina would want a man that had the same convictions that she did, but he was hoping if he was really nice and treated her like the princess she was in his eyes, she might overlook that small shortcoming. He turned down the road that led up to the estate. Even though he was still a half a mile away, he could see the glow from all the Christmas lights, shining through the night sky leading him home.
Everyone was in the den gathered around the tree; all of the family was there. Catherine and Evan, along with Carl and Keelie, who was starting to have a baby bump. Sabrina had been in a blue funk all day because she hadn’t heard from Devon. She tried to put on a smile and be cheery in front of everyone, but Miss Cleo finally cornered her in the laundry room and had a chat with her.
“Ok, missy ma’am, what is going on inside that head of yours today? You have been off in your own world all day!”
Sabrina sat down on a small table and sighed. “You can guess what is on my mind, Cleo; no need in acting otherwise.”
Cleo nodded as she folded some linen napkins. “Yes, but I was gonna be polite and give you a chance to tell me, but since you ain’t, why don’t you just go call him?”
Sabrina shook her head. “I wouldn’t if I could; I can’t because I don’t have a way to reach him. He never leaves a number for me, and I won’t because I shouldn’t have to!”
Cleo clucked at her. “Child, that man is gonna make you gray before you’re thirty the way you worry over him. If he does show up again, I’m gonna make him leave you some way to contact him. I can’t stand seeing you like this, and on Christmas Eve, too!”
