by Joy Redmond
Wings and Faith
Joy Redmond
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, events, and locations portrayed in this story are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.
ISBN: 978-1519494016
Wings and Faith
Text Copyright © 2015 by Joy Redmond
All Rights Reserved
Dedicated to my great-grandchildren: Leelyn, Jerrick, Mahkiah, Caitlin, Kaden, Dayton, Noah, Kairi, Xavier, Jetson, Marlon, and Vennie.
And to a special friend, Korry Rhines. Keep your head up and always dream big.
Special thanks to Annitta Roberts and Renee Parker, my beta readers.
Preface
Mandy walked up the old country lane, where she was surrounded by the beauty and sounds of nature. She took a deep breath in the quiet of the evening and sighed with contentment. It was her favorite place on earth, and where she felt closest to heaven. She squatted down, picked up a few rocks, turned them over in her hand and wondered about the people who had walked this path. She jumbled them in her hands as if she were about to roll dice, then tossed them one by one into the middle of the long lane.
Present time floated gently backwards and she remembered the first time she had come here. She was eighteen-years-old, and in a quandary about her upcoming marriage to Jack. She rose from the lane and looked around her. It felt like that time was eons ago.
She looked up the tree-lined lane leading to an abandoned house that looked as if it were standing by sheer will. The first time she visited, she had gotten the impression it had beckoned her to come in and look around. Again, she felt the pulling at her mind and the feeling of urgency, and she was enchanted by the homestead. It wanted her to come to it, to bring life.
She hesitated for a long moment, then walked up on the old porch, hoping she wouldn’t fall through the decrepit boards. She pushed on the front door, wondering if it would fall off the hinges. The door swung open with a loud creek. She stepped across the sill and ventured into what she thought was probably the living room.
She stood for a few minutes. Then she felt strong, warm arms enfold her. She smiled. She knew it was the spirit’s way of telling her the house had once been full of love. She stood with eyes closed, wrapped in the magic of the moment, her breathing slow and contented and her soul at rest. She was basking in the strong feeling of love when she heard the faint sound of laughter. At first she thought other people were in the house, then realized she was hearing the spirits. It was the same laughter she’d heard that Christmas day, so long ago.
A ray of sun came through an old window and lit up the walls, and shadows danced to the tune of her beating heart. Love and peace beckoned her as she saw, buried deep within the shadows, two people dancing.
She stretched her arms straight out to her sides, closed her eyes and turned in circles, feeling the strong energies of those who had lived here. “Thank you for welcoming me into your home. May your souls rest in peace. May you be surrounded by love and laughter through eternity!” she reverently whispered to the dancing shadows.
She made her way outside, where she sat under a tree and looked to heaven and gazed upon the fluffy clouds. It was hard for her to believe she was thirty-three-years old. Where had that eighteen-year-old girl gone? The one who thought she knew it all.
She gazed at the beautiful sky. “Since you talk to me, I guess I can talk to you. Nobody is around to hear us.” She lay back on the grass and a squirrel jumped over her feet and ran up the tree. “Well, hello, Bushy Tail. Are you the same squirrel who winked at me the last time I was here?”
She gazed at the green lush pasture that was covered with black birds hunting for food. Peace filled her soul and she completely let go of all bitterness and hatred. She had always felt as if a ten-ton elephant was sitting in the middle of her chest, squeezing life’s breath from her.
“Trot back to the jungle, elephant. I have no need for bitterness. I’ve let go, and my soul is finally free.”
Her mind flew back through the past two years since Daddy’s death, and her heart filled with hurt, love and gratitude. She thought about Iris and Otis, her adopted parents, and how they were still in a snit with her for being a twice divorced woman. They refused to pay her tuition, and she couldn’t finish her nursing classes. “I nearly held that diploma in the palm of my hand, but it slipped right through my fingers,” she mumbled.
She smiled as she remembered the stolen moments with Dr. Morgan. He had hired her full-time to work in his office during the day, and she still filled out the insurance forms; her moonlight job. He had paid her a nice salary, and he’d given her several bonuses, which she referred to as payment for going above and beyond the call of duty. She dearly loved him and knew he loved her, but they both knew their relationship could never go any further. She loved how he held her and whispered her name, his hands gentle and smooth as he brought her to soaring heights of passion.
She had pangs of guilt from time to time about the relationship, which was forbidden by society. “Love knows no boundaries,” she whispered. She had found love and it had caused her to take leave of her good sense. “Whoever said, ‘love is deaf, dumb and blind’ was speaking the truth.”
Guilt crept in on cat’s feet of remorse as she remembered how wonderful it had been, being in his warm, strong arms. She tingled, remembering how he was capable of sending her into another world. He was the man who had taught her the difference between making love and having sex.
“I’ll always love you. I’ll never forget you. You made me feel like a real woman. And thanks to you, I made a living and I was able to build a nest egg. Thanks to you, I can carry out my plans.”
She wiped her eyes. “Lord, forgive me if it was wrong. But how can anything as beautiful as what we had, be wrong? How can true love ever be wrong?”
She sat for a long time, admiring the beauty of nature that surrounded her. She lay back on the ground, her arms under her head. “Ah, you sweet spirits. You always lead me to greener pastures, but I still have to wade through manure. But that’s life, huh?”
She sat up, bent her arm, propped on her elbow and placed her head in her palm. “I need some assurance that what I’m about to do is the right thing. You know how much hell I have to put up with on a daily basis here in Kentucky. I’ve got two ex-husbands, who are hell-bent on driving me out of my mind. Ex in-laws who are poisoning my children’s minds. Controlling parents who will never let me live my life on my terms. And a forbidden love. In a few months Kati will be fifteen, Tony will be twelve, and Abbie will be five. I’ve got to get them out of this cesspool. ”
She heaved a sigh and looked around. She needed to share her thoughts and emotions, even to unseen spirits. “The five years that I lived in my house, I thought it was in my parents’ name, since they bought it, and were always threatening to take it away from me when I didn’t bend to their will. Then one day I got a strong nudge, look up the deed. So, I went to the courthouse, looked up the deed, and to my amazement and delight, it was in my name.”
She smiled when she remembered how delighted she had been with that information. She sat for a few minutes remembering that day. When she had seen the deed, she wanted to shout out loud. Then she thought, you can’t undo a deed any more than you can undo an adoption. All your threats were for nothing, but you kept me scared and under your thumb and you continually tightened the screws.
It was then that she had gotten another nudge. Sell it.
“As soon as it sells, I’m going to buy a new car. I’ll take the Volkswagen back to Dad, since he’s threatened to take it away from me every time I stepped across his line. When I take off and leave this town, I’m sure I’ll be disowned. They’ll take me out of the
ir will, their way of finally having my adoption annulled. I’ll be on my own. Will I be able to make it? Am I making a big mistake? It’s kind of scary.”
She sat upright, closed her eyes tightly and held her palms toward the heavens.
A spirit whispered, you sprouted wings and flew to Beyond many years ago. Spread your wings and fly on faith.
“Yes,” she softly whispered, and set her mind free.
She kept her eyes tightly closed and a warm glow spread through her body. Suddenly, a vision danced before her. She saw a beautiful county lane with overhanging trees on each side as if they were forming an archway. At the end of the lane was a bright light from the heavens.
“Oh, yes. Lead me to that lane. The light is my happiness at last.” Her heart raced and longing filled her.
Her eyes were still closed as tears of joy ran down her face.
The lane reappeared. This time she saw a young woman, holding the hand of a toddler, walking toward her. They disappeared.
“Come back. Where are you? Who are you?”
Again, she heard a soft whisper on the breeze—Wings and faith.
Chapter One
1976
Mandy floated on air when she walked out of the lawyer’s office. She stroked the check as if it were a newly acquired pet. Her house had sold at the perfect time. It was May, the children were out of school, and there was nothing to hold her back.
She sat in the tiny Volkswagen for a few minutes, staring at the check. “My ticket to freedom,” she mumbled, and a grin made its way across her face.
Two hours later, Mandy drove off the parking lot in a new station wagon. I’ll get Robin to take me back to get the Volkswagen, later. She’s been a great neighbor, and she was the one who told me about the small town in Missouri, where she spent the summers with her aunt and uncle. “Cape Girardeau,” she softly whispered. “My new home!”
She pulled up the driveway, and Kati, Tony and Abbie ran outside to meet her. “Our new set of wheels, kids. No more being cramped in a sardine can.”
The children squealed and jumped inside the car. Mandy laughed as they jumped over the front seat, into the back seat, then over the back seat into the large area that was a big as a playroom
“Take us for a spin!” Tony cried with glee. His face glowed when he looked at his mother.
“All of you get into the back seat, put on the seatbelts and we’ll take a drive. I know the seatbelts are new to you, but they’ll be worn from now on. The car doesn’t roll until the belts have been buckled. And that goes for me, too.”
Mandy drove downtown and pulled into the Dairy Queen. “We’ll celebrate. You can have a hot fudge sundae or a banana split. Or whatever you want. I think you kids will like the house that Robin and I found last weekend when we went to Cape. It’s nothing fancy, but it’ll do.” She sighed, heavily. “I sure hope I find a job, fast, once we’re settled in. But I’m going on faith. I believe we’re going to make it, just fine.”
“Since you wouldn’t let the real estate people put a For Sale sign up, so Grandmother and Granddaddy wouldn’t know you were going to sell, we know not to mention anything about the move. Boy, are they gonna have a conniption when they find out we’re going to move to another state,” Kati said. “I’m excited about going, but I’m going to miss Granny Pearl and Poppa Lester, and I’ll miss Grandmother Iris and Granddaddy Otis too. I know they all make you miserable, but—?”
“Kati, I know you kids will miss your family. However, Cape Girardeau is only a hundred and fifty miles away. Not far enough that we can’t come back in case of an emergency, or holiday visits, but far enough that I don’t have to put up with them every day. You kids can come back and spend your summer vacations with both sets of grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. It’s not like I’m taking you to another country.”
“I think you’ll be happy once we’re out of this town, and maybe you’ll be in a better mood,” Tony said. “I just want you to be the happy mama that you used to be. Well, you were until—”
“Until I made a lot of mistakes, Tony. But, at the time it seemed like the right thing to do. It’s all going to be behind me soon. I’ll be the happy-go-lucky mama, once more. The Salvation Army will be here this afternoon to take the junk furniture. After we eat our treats, I’ll take you kids back home, then I’ll go get a trailer hitch put on the car and pick up a U-Haul. You kids pack the last things in the extra boxes, tape them and set them by the front door. We’ll make pallets on the floor, tonight.”
“When are you going to tell Grandmother and Granddaddy?” Kati asked as she frowned.
“I’m not about to tell them anything until we’re out of the state. When we get to Missouri, I’ll send them a post card. I’m sure they’ll be in Cape Girardeau, the day after they get it. Then I’ll get the tears and sermons and be disowned.” Mandy’s lips tightened as she saw a scene in her mind unfold of her against them—Otis in a rage and Iris’s never ending tears.
“They might disown you, but you know they won’t disown us,” Tony said. “They love us.”
“They love all three of you kids with all their heart. They couldn’t love you more if you were their own blood. And I know they love me as much as if I had been born to them. I dearly love them. I appreciate them. I’ve jumped through hoops for them and I’m tired of being—”
“We know, Mama. We’re not dummies. We know how they dole out orders. And they have a house key so they can pay a surprise visit in the wee hours of the morning. They have to make sure you don’t have a boyfriend. They treat you as if you’re still a teenager. That’s not right,” Kati said.
“Hey, let’s change the subject. This is a happy day. Now, what will it be? Sundaes or splits?”
“Mommy, I just want a little chocolate ice cream cone,” Abbie said.
That afternoon, Mandy and the children sat on the old couch. “I want all of us to sit here just one more time. This is the couch where Pappaw slept the first night he came for a visit, the first time he had seen you, and he told you and your two cousins ghost stories and had all of you piling on top of him.”
Mandy drew in a deep breath. “It warmed my heart more than I can express when he’d come back for visits and he’d have you kids laughing your heads off, telling you about the pranks he pulled when he was in school, and the antics he pulled when he was a teenager.”
Kati and Tony laughed. “Do you believe all those tales he told?” Tony asked.
“He laughed so hard when he was telling them, it was like he was making them up as he went,” Kati said.
“One never knew what to believe when it came to Pappaw and his tales. Back when I was a little girl, before he left Mama and us four kids, he’d tell tall tales and have me, your uncle Don and Uncle Lee laughing all night. Your uncle Evan was too young to understand them, and Mama always said they were lies, but we didn’t care. When he told us ghost stores, he scared Don and Lee, but I just laughed. Somehow, I knew I had nothing to fear.”
Memories flooded through her mind and she saw her and Daddy laughing and having fun and she melted within those memories. She had never been scared when Daddy regaled her of ghosts.
Maybe because ghosts have been visiting me as far back as I can remember, but I call them spirits, she thought, but she wasn’t ready to share the happenings with the children. Maybe when they were older and could understand.
“I don’t remember, Pappaw,” Abbie said.
“I know, sweetheart. Pappaw died when you were just three-years-old. But he was crazy about you. He held you and played with you and had you laughing, too,” Mandy answered. “You’ve seen his pictures and I’ve shown you pictures of my mama, who you were named after.”
“I was named after my real grandma. My middle name is Rachel. I’m happy that I can carry on her name,” Kati boldly stated.
“Yes, I named you after her, but I also name Abbie after her. Mama’s full name was Rachel Wynola. Abbie’s name is Abagail Nola. So you both carry her name.”
Tony looked a little lost when Mandy didn’t say who he was named after. He hung his head for a second and then Mandy said, “And you my big son, you’re named after your uncle Evan. He was my baby brother and the sweetest little boy in the world.”
Tony’s eyes lit up and he smiled. “I like the name Anthony Evan, but I like being called Tony.”
Mandy’s mind flashed the memory of her, Mama and Evan, getting off the bus and walking across the road, then a car plowed into them. She was thrown into a ditch, but Mama and Evan had been killed. Mama was only twenty-eight-years-old. Sweet little Evan was only four. And I had just turned eight, she thought, and shivered.
A flood gate of memories came unbidden to her, and her mind traveled back to Daddy. You left me when I was just six, then you signed adoption papers, giving me away, then you came back into my life for two years, then you up and died on me. Why, Daddy? Mandy thought and she still wondered why to so many things when it came to Daddy.
She was brought out of her revere by a rumbling sound. She looked up. “The Salvation Army truck just pulled up the driveway, kids. We’ll say goodbye to the old couch, but we can keep the memories. Nobody can take them,” Mandy said, and her heart hurt. She could still see Daddy sitting on it. She closed her eyes and she could still see Daddy sitting in the front porch swing, back when they had been a family. Back before Mama and Evan were killed. Back when she still had her other two brothers, Don and Lee. She could still feel Daddy’s strong arms around her as he swung her until she would fall asleep.
Those days are gone and so is Daddy. I keep waiting for his spirit to pay me a visit, but so far, he hasn’t come. Mama still comes and brings me roses. Evan used to come with Mama, and maybe he still does, but I can’t feel him, Mandy thought, but she wasn’t ready to tell the children about the visits, or the other strange things that had happened. She was still trying to understand how the supernatural worked. The only thing she was sure of was that she was a portal to the spirit world. It was eerie and exciting at the same time.
