by Mary May
“I can’t believe that I became one of those guys. I swore that would never be me. I used to see them around and I couldn’t stand them! Arrogant and cocky, thinking the world was safer simply because they existed.” He laughed mockingly. “I was the biggest one of all.”
“But, Devon, you did catch a lot of men that were dangerous! So the world is a safer place because of you. You shouldn’t sell yourself short. I don’t see that side of you when you’re home. I don’t know Devon “The bounty hunter” or even Devon “The director.” I know that side is there; I know that there is a darkness that you keep well hidden from me, and the kids. I know you are capable of things that would shock me -- you have to be in order to survive out there. When I look at you, Devon, I see all of you, even the parts that you try so hard to hide. I married the whole man, not just the part that was charming and nice to look at. I won’t candy coat it and say marriage to you has always been easy, but every marriage has its share of problems. I knew in the end you would be worth it.”
Devon smiled down at her, tracing her jaw with his finger. “You think I’m charming and nice to look at?”
Sabrina frowned and slapped his finger away. “That’s all you heard? Really?”
He caught her hand and held it to his bare chest over his heart. “No, darlin’, that was the only part I could comment on without unmanning myself completely and bawling like a baby. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you…I really don’t. I’m making a new vow to you tonight, Sabrina. I vow to be a better Christian, husband and father, in that order. I vow to make up for every night my pride has made you spend alone. I vow to make sure you never say again that being married to me isn’t easy.” Pulling her into his arms, he got started on keeping his vow to make up for all her lonely nights…
Chapter 10
The next few weeks went by smoothly as Devon adjusted to being back home on a permanent basis. He finished all the repairs on the barn and the cabin that needed attending to; he even had the twins helping him. He made them each a small tool belt to carry their own tools as they shadowed his every step. DJ even at the young age of four showed promise of being good with his hands, learning quickly how to hold the hammer and hit the nail correctly to drive it in. Devon had set up a block of wood and partially driven several nails for the boys to practice on. Luke was not as patient and would get frustrated when his nail would start to bend over.
“Here, son, let me show you.” Devon leaned over the boy and wrapped his hand over Luke’s smaller one and together they pounded in a few nails until Luke got the feel for it and drove one in on his own. His smile was huge as he looked up at his dad in triumph.
“I did it! I did it!” he shouted in glee.
Devon smiled back as he patted Luke’s back. “Sure, you did! I told you all it took was a little practice. You will be building barns in no time!”
Luke took off toward the house calling back over his shoulder as he ran. “I want to show Mama!” Of course, DJ had to take off after him, not to be outdone by his twin. Devon laughed as he watched his boy’s race to the house, but he grew somber when he wondered at all the other lost moments he had missed while he was gone.
“No need in putting that bull back in the pen now, son; the damage is done.” Devon looked at Seth, who was leaning against the fence watching him. “I’m sorry…what?”
Seth smiled as he took off his old stained cowboy hat and wiped his brow. “Don’t know why nobody understands that expression. The past is in the past. You can’t change it. No more than you can fix what a bull does when it gets in the pasture with the ladies. All you can do is make sure it doesn’t happen again. Devon, your boys are young. Likely they won’t even remember you being gone so much if you stay home now.”
“You really don’t think they will remember?” Devon asked, his voice full of hope.
“I bet not. Besides, kids are like rubber balls; they bounce right back.”
At the sound of pounding hooves they both looked up to watch Charlie and Stormy coming across the pasture. Devon’s heart nearly stopped when instead of stopping at the gate that divided the pastures Charlie bent low over Stormy’s neck and they sailed over it, landing safely on the other side. Seth laughed at Devon’s look of disbelief and relief.
“That gate has to be over six feet tall! What in the world is she thinking?” Devon started to head over to where Charlie was entering the barn, but Seth’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“Hold on, Devon. Now I know I’m just the help around here and you can tell me to buzz off if you want, but those two have been jumping that gate for over a year now, and they clear it every time. You bred that horse yourself. He is capable of jumping taller gates than that one and you know it. What you may not know is Charlie is just as capable of riding him over taller gates. That girl is one of the best riders I’ve seen in a long time. She is a natural, and on Stormy I don’t think there isn’t anything they can’t do. Why don’t you think on it for a spell before you confront her about it?”
Devon stood there as Charlie looked up from opening the barn door and waved at them before leading Stormy inside. Sighing, he turned back around and sat down on a block of wood.
“I’ve missed so much, Seth. How do I catch up? I still think of her as a child when clearly she isn’t.”
“Just give yourself some time to come know the young lady she has grown into; I think you will like her. She is smart and she has a good head on her shoulders. Miss Charlie isn’t one those flighty young things that goes whichever way the breeze happens to be blowing. No sir, she has her own thoughts and plans, and she follows them. Now that’s not to say she doesn’t need a strong hand to guide her, because she does. She reminds me of a filly I had once. That horse was smart as a whip and tried me at every turn. I soon learned that I had to train her different than the others, I had to let her use all that intelligence so she didn’t become bored.”
Devon smiled. “Charlie isn’t a horse, Seth. I can’t put her in a round pen and work her until she decides to listen to reason. I’m pretty sure her mama would take exception to that.”
Seth guffawed loudly. “Wouldn’t she, though? I know she isn’t a horse, but listen to this. Sometimes when training a horse, especially the smart ones, keeping a tight rein is the wrong course of action. Some respond a lot better to a gentle pressure and a soft voice. I have a feeling that our girl out there might just be such a filly.”
Devon thanked Seth for his advice; then he walked to the barn. Charlie was just removing the saddle from Stormy. Devon took it from her and slipped the rope over the saddle horn that he had hung from the rafters to store the saddles up and out of the way when not in use. Charlie smiled her thanks then poured a ration of oats into the feeder before stepping out of the stall.
“That was some jump over that gate. I must admit you nearly gave me a heart attack, but Seth assures me that you have been doing it for over a year now.”
Charlie laughed. “Umm, yeah, that’s not exactly a new thing. It nearly gave mom a heart attack, too, the first time she saw us. I told her not to worry. I think Stormy could jump anything I asked him to.”
“I’m sure he would try, Charlie, but remember he has his limits, too.” She looked at him and the intelligence that Seth spoke of shone in her eyes, along with a measure of irritation.
“I know that he has limits and I would never ask him to jump something that I truly did not feel he could clear. I wouldn’t risk him breaking a leg or something over a jump that I knew was too high.” She tossed the feed scoop into the feed barrel then walked out of the barn.
“Well, I handled that with all the grace of a battle tank,” he said to Stormy, who eyed him as he ate his dinner. Even the horse had better sense than he did, it would seem. After giving the horse a pat on the nose, he followed her out and headed up to the house. Sabrina was cooking dinner and the smell of roast greeted him when he opened the door. Cleo had actually taken a couple of weeks off and went to Louisiana to visit her fami
ly since Devon would be home to help with the boys. For the first time it was just them. As much as he loved and appreciated Cleo, it was kind of nice to have his family to himself.
“Hey, supper will be done in about thirty minutes,” Sabrina said as she washed up some dishes.
“So how many times did it take for you to see Charlie jump that dividing gate before you didn’t want to cover your eyes?”
“Oh, you finally got to see that, did you? Yeah, I still cringe every time she does it. But they clear it every time, or so I’m told.” She dragged a step stool over to the cabinet to reach a platter when Devon reached over and got it down, handing it to her with a frown.
“Sorry, force of habit,” she said as she took it from him with a smile.
“This is crazy. I feel out of place in my own home,” he said as he sat down at the table.
“Honey, we had to adjust when you were gone and now we have to adjust to you being back. Give us time.”
Devon wasn’t the only one having adjustment issues. Gideon was having a few of his own, having to deal with Zareck on a daily basis once more. He knew the family needed Devon, but he could have lived without his former commander. Why he out of all the angels in the heavens had to be Devon’s guardian was beyond him. Some days he thought God was doing this to him on purpose! Today was one of those days…
The entire family had gathered at Devon’s and Sabrina’s for the July 4th holiday, so Gideon actually had a chance to practice with every guardian in the family. He wanted them all to be prepared in case an attacked occurred while they were all together or if they were attacked separately. Zareck refused to participate in any of the drills, saying it was a waste of time to practice with guardians anyway; they were not warriors.
Gideon glared at him over Leia’s blond head as he showed her an escape move.
“So you are getting caught up on titles? In that case then you’re not a warrior either, not any more, Zareck.”
“I was created to be a warrior,” he growled back.
“Actually, that’s not true. You were created as an angel plain and simple then assigned a position based upon your individual strengths and weaknesses. Once given your assignment, you were then trained to be a warrior; therefore, it stands to reason that if you can be trained to be a warrior, then so can we.” Charlotte delivered her speech holding Gideon’s dagger in her left hand. When Zareck opened his mouth to give what was sure to be a scathing reply, she let the dagger fly, embedding the tip of it deeply into the barn wall a mere half inch from Zareck’s left ear.
He smiled coldly at her and reached up, pulling it free with a yank. “You should be careful with that; you might hurt someone.” He handed it back to her then he turned to walk away.
In a move that was so fast it was hard for even Gideon to track, Charlotte whirled around in front of Zareck, slashed at him with the dagger then resumed her position beside him once more. It took a few seconds for anyone, including Zareck, to realize what she did! But then one glossy black feather fell to the ground followed by another then another and another until a pile of feathers surrounded the angel’s feet. His beautiful black wings now had gaping holes where she had slashed at them with the dagger. Zareck looked at her, his face now a mask of rage and humiliation.
Kavik stepped up, placing himself squarely in front of Charlotte. “Zareck, I will not allow you to harm our sister. Do not test me on this, brother,” he warned.
Charlotte stepped out from behind him. “No! Let him see what I am capable of! He will win, but he will know I was here! Zareck, I know we will never be as good as Gideon or you in a battle, but we can still be good! Better than we are now! Look at what I just did to you and I’m a girl! If we don’t train, then we surely don’t stand a chance; but if we do, if you help to train us, then even if we don’t win we will at least let them know we were there! It’s coming, Zareck…They are coming…Are you truly going to stand by and just watch us get slaughtered?”
Zareck didn’t respond. He stood staring at her and the others as they waited for his answer.
Suddenly Charlotte’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “You’re scared! That’s it, isn’t it? You are afraid to go into battle with us because you’re actually afraid of losing. It has nothing to do with not being able to train us; that’s just an excuse!”
He sneered at her. “Of course we are going to lose…look at you! How can we hope to defeat anyone with a rag tag army of two warriors and nine guardians, three of which are female? I’m not scared; I’m just not stupid.”
“So tell me then, why does Gideon see the exact same odds and choose to train and drill us until we can’t stand up? I’ll tell you why! Because he is the commander of the Lord’s army! Right now we are all the army he’s got! So he does what he does best -- he trains and he drills and he teaches and prepares his warriors to the best of his ability, and in the end when the battle is over and the dust settles, I would place my bet on whatever army he brings into the fight! But you know what, Zareck, just forget it; you would probably only get in our way!” Charlotte pushed past Zareck and flew up to the roof of the cabin. One by one everyone else turned away from the angel and left him standing alone in a pile of his own feathers.
Gideon found Charlotte a little while later sitting on the roof looking like her old self once more. To look at her she appeared delicate and frail. You wouldn’t guess the spine of steel that ran up her back. He watched as she pulled her long hair over one shoulder and started to braid it. It had gotten a lot lighter from being outside training so much it was almost the color of honey now. For the first time he noticed some of the physical changes. Her arms were toned and tight now with new muscle from all the sword practice. Even her shoulders looked just a little bit broader and stronger. Maybe he was pushing them too hard. She glanced up and smiled when she saw him standing there.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey, yourself, are you alright?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess so. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“That was some lecture you gave Zareck. I bet he doesn’t forget that one for a while.”
“A lot of good it does to remember it if he doesn’t listen to it,” she pointed out.
“True. Charlotte, I wanted to thank you for your faith in me. I just hope it doesn’t prove to be worthless.”
She reached out and took Gideon’s hand. His was so much bigger than hers with long strong fingers and calluses from holding a sword for centuries. She opened his up and placed hers within it then took her other hand and closed his over hers until she couldn’t see her hand any more.
“Warrior, guardian, you are both, Gideon. I know what we face. I know that the odds are stacked against us, but I have the utmost faith not only in you but also in our Creator. I meant what I said. I would bet on whatever army you brought into the fight because no other will be more trained, more drilled or more loved than yours. Do you think we don’t see? You train us and push us so hard not only so that we win and protect our humans but to keep us safe as well.”
Gideon looked down at their hands. Charlotte rested hers so trustingly within his. It seemed she had no doubt in his ability to lead them through the battle that he knew was coming. They sat on the roof and watched as the sun began to sink into the western horizon. Another day was drawing to a close. Once the sky grew dark, the family all gathered to set off the fireworks. Brilliant beautiful bursts of color filled the midnight sky as each firework exploded. Humans and angels alike all oohed and awed at the sight. Gideon looked over his “rag-tag” group of warriors as they enjoyed the show and could not remember feeling more pride in any other group that he had commanded. Sure, he had led more skillful ones and stronger ones, but never had he led ones with more heart and determination. Standing next to Baylor, with her bare feet and sweet smile, stood the most determined one of all.
Hours later Gideon was still on the roof when he saw Zareck fly away. He didn’t just fly around the property for some exercise as they were
all prone to do from time to time; he flew away. As in leaving Devon unprotected…away. Gideon quickly went and checked on everyone, finding them all asleep with their guardians close by except for Zareck. He found Charlotte standing by the bedroom window.
“Did Zareck tell you where he was going?”
She turned and shook her head. “He isn’t exactly real chatty with me right now, not that he ever was. Why?”
“Because I just saw him fly away and leave the property.”
Charlotte looked at him with her brows drawn tightly together. “Surely not! Perhaps he just flew out of sight and circled the backside. I mean, the property itself is large and…”
“Charlotte, he left Devon unprotected, and I have a feeling this isn’t the first time,” Gideon interrupted.
“So what do we do now?” She asked.
He walked over to the window, looking up at the night sky. “I don’t know, Charlotte. I really don’t know.”
The next morning Gideon saw Zareck when he flew back onto the property. Wasting no time, he immediately confronted him about leaving his human unprotected.
Zareck was completely unrepentant of his actions. “He was surrounded by Gideon and his band of mighty warriors! What human could be more protected?” he mocked.
“What is wrong with you? The commander that I used to follow would never have left his post like that. I don’t know if your problem lies with me, with your position or what, but none of it was Devon’s fault, and he certainly didn’t ask to get a resentful barely-there guardian. So why don’t you stop feeling sorry for yourself and actually do the job you were assigned to do?”
“Why don’t you do this one for me, too, Gideon the Mighty? After all, isn’t that what you’re the best at? Taking the position of others?”
Gideon crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at Zareck. He wondered when this would finally come to a head. “You do realize that if it wasn’t me then someone else would have taken your place? It had to be filled by someone. The warriors had to have a leader because you were deemed no longer fit to do so. Now you can point a finger at me, at our Creator, at whomever you want, but we all know who was to blame for that, don’t we? No one forced you to disobey your orders. You had a choice then, and you have a choice now. What I truly do not understand is why you keep making the same bad choice!”
