Calling the Shots

by Annie Dalton

  I sensed the Bloomfields didn’t like him either, but they generously took him all the way to Santa Fe.

  That night the family set up camp. Clem wandered around collecting firewood, which was his special chore. After a few minutes, he came trailing back and drooped against Grace. “Mama, I don’t feel so good.”

  She felt his forehead and looked dismayed. “Oh, my stars! The child’s burning up!” I saw her frantically thinking what to do. “Lenny, I know you’ve been driving all day, but we’ve got to find a doctor.”

  Everyone piled back into the truck and Lenny drove for another two hours in pitch darkness, on a narrow road with hair-raising bends. By this time Clem was muttering feverish nonsense to himself. Grace stayed calm but I could feel Honesty silently freaking out.

  We came to a small town called Sweet Rock, perched on a rocky hillside above the river. The Bloomfields checked into a Spanish-style inn called The Laughing Horse and Grace asked them to call the doctor.

  They went up to their rooms and Grace undressed a weak trembling Clem. She lifted her little boy on to the bed and I saw his eyes roll right up into his head.

  Honesty looked scared. “What’s wrong with him, Mama?”

  “He’s just delirious,” said Grace. “Could you fetch me a bowl of water, Rose? I’ll sponge him down while we’re waiting for the doctor.”

  “How are we going to pay for all of this?” Rose said anxiously. “Hotels and doctors cost money.”

  Grace tried to smile. “It’s all right, honey. I still have your daddy’s ring.” She reached into her bag and pulled out the blue silk scarf. She tenderly unwrapped it, then stared in horror at the dirty pebble inside.

  “I am so stupid,” she said in a harsh voice. “I knew Gideon was a phoney and I let him go right ahead and make a fool of me.”

  “You think Gideon stole your ring?” said Lenny incredulously.

  “There is not a doubt in my mind.”

  Grace crouched down beside her open suitcase and started hunting for something.

  “Clem is going to die isn’t he?” Honesty burst out. She was trembling.

  Grace stopped her rummaging. She took hold of Honesty and forced her to look into her eyes. “No, Clem is not going to die. He’s got a high fever, that’s all. Once it goes down, he’ll be better in no time.” She gave a sigh of relief. “Gideon didn’t get this at least.” She held up the cheque her father had written all those weeks ago in Georgia. “The Lord surely works in mysterious ways,” she said gratefully. “I never did understand why I didn’t just tear up that old buzzard’s money. But I am truly glad I didn’t.”

  The doctor came and clicked his tongue at Clem’s condition. “Your son is exhausted and badly dehydrated. He needs fluids, bed-rest and most of all, a calm, stable environment,” he told Grace as he wrote out a prescription.

  After he’d gone, Grace paced up and down the hotel room. She looked totally haunted. “Why didn’t he just come out and say, ‘You are a terrible mother, Grace Bloomfield. You made your little boy ill, by dragging him selfishly all over America’?” she said despairing

  She was unnaturally quiet all the rest of the evening. I wondered if I should try to read her thoughts, but didn’t like to intrude on her privacy. I guessed she was trying to work out what she should do for the best.

  Next morning Grace announced that they were staying put in Sweet Rock, until Clem had recovered. I thought her instincts were totally sound, and made up my mind to do everything in my power to back her up.

  Angels aren’t supposed to interfere with human destinies, but as you know, there are times when a teeny little cosmic nudge can make all the difference.

  I dialled up the GA hotline and asked Orlando for help. “Hi, it’s Mel! Sorry to hassle you, but the Bloomfields need to crash in Sweet Rock, for a while,” I rattled off breathlessly. “Do you think the Agency could find them somewhere to rent around here? Plus it would be helpful if Lenny could get work locally. The way I look at it, we’re just helping them to help themselves, right?”

  “I’ll see if I can pull a few strings,” he promised.

  I never found out what cosmic strings Orlando pulled, if any, but the Agency definitely delivered the goods. The very first time Rose and Lenny went house-hunting, they found the coolest little cottage to let on the edge of town. It was built out of rose-coloured adobe, a kind of local mud, and it looked exactly like those houses in Luke Skywalker’s hometown in the Star Wars movie!

  Rose and Honesty set to work making it homey, leaving Grace free to look after Clem. The day after they moved in, Lenny found work on a neighbouring ranch.

  I can’t explain why New Mexico felt so right for the Bloomfields. Maybe it was all those angel place names? Angel Point, Angel Canyon, Angel Fire. Whatever, I was absolutely certain this was the perfect place for Clem to grow strong and well again after all his weeks on the road.

  And guess what! It turned out to be perfect for Lenny’s love life too!

  Clem was getting better by this time, so when the circus arrived in Sweet Rock Lenny took the girls along for a treat. Naturally I tagged along.

  We filed into the tent and squeezed ourselves on to one of the front benches overlooking the circus ring. The locals were cheerfully turning their circus outing into a major fiesta. Children threw coloured streamers and tooted horns. Mothers kept passing delicious New Mexican goodies to Lenny and the girls. Plump grannies pinched Lenny’s cheek and told him how handsome he was. And the grandpas insisted on giving him swigs of the local hooch which, being macho New Mexicans, they didn’t even bother to hide in paper bags!

  Once again I saw that alert little gleam in Honesty’s eyes as if she was amused despite herself

  It wasn’t the most sophisticated circus in the world: a couple of clowns, some geriatric elephants and a wobbly trapeze artist in grubby pink tights. Then the ring master bawled, “Presenting the one and only, magnificent Ruby Rio!” and I felt that thrilling prickle of angel electricity that means something is going to happen.

  A golden-skinned girl rode into the ring on a palomino pony. She had flashing dark eyes and her glittery scarlet costume left little to the imagination. The pony began to trot faster, and suddenly Ruby Rio stood upright on the pony’s bare back. She gave a whoop of triumph and struck what had to be the sassiest pose the people of Sweet Rock had ever seen.

  Without warning, she let herself fall backwards. But just as it seemed she was sure to hit the sawdust, she casually reached out to save herself, and continued to ride round the ring, but underneath the pony!

  There was a collective gasp and Lenny’s tortilla fell from his hand. Omigosh, I thought. This girl is dynamite! Plus her dress sense was totally slamming! Honesty was mesmerised. So was Rose.

  Ruby and her pony clearly had some telepathic link, because no matter how high she leaped, or how many times she spun around in the air, or how far she slid under its belly, she was always able to climb on to its back. She even rode around the ring standing on her head!

  The audience went mad, clapping, stamping, yelling out in Spanish. The atmosphere was electric!

  When the show was over, Lenny said huskily, “You girls go home.”

  “Why, where are you going?” asked Rose. For someone so clever, she could be quite dense sometimes. Hadn’t she heard of love at first sight?

  Ruby Rio turned out to be half Native American and half New Mexican cow-girl, so you could say she was always destined to be out of the ordinary But what I think is so sweet is that this incredible girl had spotted Lenny in the audience, and instantly fell in love with him at first sight too!

  Can you believe that she and Lenny even shared the exact same dream of going to Hollywood to be famous stunt persons?

  So when the doctor gave Clem the all-clear at last and the family was able to continue on their journey, Ruby Rio came too, bringing her impressive collection of costumes.

  “Next stop Arizona!” Lenny said happily, putting the truck into gear. “In a
couple of days we’ll be the City of the Angels!”

  Oh, right! I thought. City of the Angels. Duh! I’d never actually registered the true meaning of Los Angeles before.

  I have to admit that as we got closer I was getting totally over-excited. I was like, “I can’t BELIEVE I’m going to be in Hollywood at the dawn of moving pictures!” I might see Charlie Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy, or my own personal favourite Harold Lloyd; stars that were like, legends.

  It’s a pity no-one was filming our arrival in Hollywood, because as we chugged into Sunset Boulevard, Mr Mantovani’s faithful truck spluttered, choked and died spectacularly.

  The truck obviously wasn’t going anywhere, so everyone got out.

  I immediately ran up to the Sunset Boulevard sign, going, “Woo, we’re in Hollywood! Oh, wow, this is so cool!” I was fizzing with happiness.

  Lenny whispered to Ruby, “I’ll make you proud of me, you’ll see.”

  I saw Honesty shiver in the California sun. She wrapped her arms around herself, scowling. “None of this is real,” she said. “Not a single thing. They imported the palm trees from Hawaii. It’s all totally, utterly fake.”

  I knew this wasn’t Honesty talking. It was Honesty under the influence of PODS FM. She felt lost and scared and she didn’t even know why.

  She’s going to need my input more than ever, I thought. Being on the road was one thing. Now she’d got to make a new life in completely strange surroundings.

  My mobile rang. Yippee! I thought. Now I can swank to Orlando about being in Hollywood. “You’ll never guess where I am—?” I babbled.

  “I know exactly where you are,” he said. “And now it’s time to come back.”

  All my fizzy happiness drained out of my feet. “But I’m just getting the hang of being a guardian angel!” I wailed.

  “I know, and everyone thinks you’re doing fine but it’s time you had a break.”

  “I don’t want a break!” I fumed. “It totally doesn’t make sense for me to leave Honesty now.”

  Orlando sounded annoyingly serene. “I know seems that way,” he agreed. “But the Agency is generally pretty good on cosmic timing.”

  “Cosmic baloney!” I raged. “They send me to look after this damaged girl, then just when she needs me the most, they tell you to pull me out!’ I was practically yelling into my mobile. “I know Honesty, OK? And she’s still really vulnerable. You’ve got to let me stay!” And I only just got to Hollywood, I screamed silently.

  “Sorry Mel, rules are rules,” said Orlando. “Don’t worry. They’ll have her on twenty-four-hour Angel Watch.”

  And before I had a chance to say goodbye, a blinding beam of light came down and I went blasting back to Heaven.

  Chapter Eight

  My homecoming felt completely unreal.

  I sat in the back of the Agency limo, watching familiar landmarks flow by in the velvety dusk, and breathing the celestial air with its haunting scent which is almost, but not quite, like lilacs. But I wasn’t really here.

  I kept seeing Honesty in the middle of Sunset Boulevard, shivering in the California sunshine.

  Back at the dorm I found a note on my door.

  I hadn’t allowed myself to miss my soul-mate too much while I’d been gone. It would have been too painful. Now I was suddenly desperate to see her.

  I needed a shower and change of clothes but I couldn’t possibly wait that long, so I immediately banged on her door. There was a long pause. Eventually this mad curly bed-head poke out.

  “Tada!” I said, laughing.

  “Omigosh, Boo!” she shrieked. “It feels like a lifetime!”

  We jumped up and down, hugging each other.

  Lola said, “I’m going to give you two options, carita. Option A, you catch up on your beauty sleep like a good sensible angel, or Option B, you, me and Sweetpea hit the Babylon right away and you do the beauty sleep thing later. What do you say?”

  I slapped her palm. “Option B for Babylon! I’m beautiful enough already.”

  Lola sniffed the air. “Beautiful yes, but also strangely stinky.”

  “I’ve been hanging out with hoodlums and hobos,” I said. “What do you expect?”

  “Ooh,” said Lola. “Tell me more.”

  She followed me into my room and we yelled scraps of news to each other as I showered.

  Over the sound of rushing water, Lola told me about the tribal princess she’d been minding in ancient Persia or wherever. “Her tribe breeds herds of fabulous horses and they travel with them from place to place. When they’re not killing people from other tribes, the men are really spiritual and romantic. They give their sweethearts roses and recite love poetry. The women are as fierce as the men,” she explained. “They all ride like demons, even tiny kids.”

  “I met a girl who can ride like a demon too,” I yelled, thinking of Ruby Rio.

  “Was she your human?”

  “Uh-uh. Um, actually my human is kind of complicated,” I said lamely. I suddenly felt unable to put my 1920s experiences into words. I put on my fluffy robe and blow-dried my hair, and didn’t say another word about Honesty.

  Possibly Lola guessed how I felt, because she flung open my wardrobe door and said tactfully, “OK, girl, what are you going to wear?”

  I threw on some jeans, a T-shirt which said Little Miss Naughty (when in doubt go for the classics!) splashed on some Attitude, my fave heavenly fragrance, and I was ready to go.

  Lola and I headed down to the Babylon Cafe arm in arm.

  We found Reuben at our favourite outdoor table.

  I thought he looked a bit tense. As a pure angel, Reuben often finds Earth a real shock to his system, so I said sympathetically, “Was it really tough?”

  He shook his head. “Actually it was great. I’m looking after this little cabin boy who got mixed up in the Napoleonic wars. Um, Mel, before I get into that I’ve got something to tell you.”

  I was busy figuring out which delicious fruit punch to have. The Babylon does about a zillion varieties. “Yeah?” I said vaguely. “What?”

  “Orlando thought you’d rather hear it from me.” Reuben sounded so worried that I looked up. “Brice is back,” he said.

  I put down my menu. “No way!”

  “Yes, way,” said Reuben. “He’s practically the first person I saw when I got back to school.”

  “They actually let a fallen angel back into our school?” I thought I might be sick.

  Reuben nodded unhappily. “I knew you’d be upset.”

  “I’m not upset! I’m sick to my stomach, I’m, I’m…”

  “Upset,” Lola supplied helpfully.

  All my feelings burst out in a rush. “It’s outrageous! Brice can’t just waltz back and call himself an angel after the things he’s done. After the things he did to you, Reuben!” I reminded him angrily. “OK, so we saw a different side to him when we met him in the future. And OK, so he’s not one hundred per cent evil, but that hardly qualifies him to be an angel!”

  I saw Reuben absently fingering his scar under his tunic, a souvenir of the savage beating Brice gave him in Tudor times. The Sanctuary angels could have healed it totally, but Reuben insisted on keeping it. He said he wanted to show all his mates that he was hard but I think it was more of a reminder to stay focused; you know, an angel warrior kind of thing.

  I was still waiting for my friends to show me some sympathy, but there was just a long awkward silence.

  Then Lola said, “Who knows, maybe Brice has changed? Maybe he’s gone through his evil PODS phase and come out the other side, and from now on he’ll be an absolutely incredible celestial agent.”

  “Oh, please,” I snapped. “Are you one of his little groupies now?”

  She looked hurt. “Hey, I’m your best friend but don’t push your luck.”

  “Let’s not talk about this now,” said Reuben quickly. “We’ve only got a couple of days off. Let’s just have fun, OK?”

  It’s all right for them, I thought. Bric
e hadn’t been their cosmic stalker. They had no idea how insecure I felt, knowing I could walk into any one of my favourite heavenly haunts and find my worst nightmares looking back at me.

  When I finally climbed into my economy-size bed, I was still completely freaked. It’s not surprising that I had a really disturbed night. I kept dreaming I was back on Earth. I saw Ruby hanging up her glittering costumes in the new apartment, and Lenny came and gave her a kiss.

  Honesty was standing at the window staring down into a sunny courtyard, and I got the weirdest feeling she was missing me. I tried to tell her I was coming back, but as soon as I heard my own voice, I woke up.

  I must have been doing some unusually hard thinking in my sleep, because I didn’t feel nearly so anti-Brice next morning as I had the night before. You’re such a hypocrite, I scolded. You don’t go riding in on your high horse every time a human makes a mistake. T Caleb Jones must have been into some heavy stuff to get put in Singsing, but he came out of it, and now he’s like this streetwise guru.

  I found myself remembering what Michael said; that we couldn’t be effective guardian angels unless we had flaws, unless we genuinely understood human suffering. Well, Brice was flawed all right and he’d suffered in ways I’d probably never know.

  Maybe one day Brice would evolve into a streetwise guru angel? Or maybe not. Either way, it was his and the Agency’s business, not mine.

  I was just getting dressed, when Lola came to find me. We decided to pick up some picnic goodies from Guru and spend the day on the beach, getting our strength back for phase two of our GA assignments.

  We lay on sparkling white sand in our bikinis, soaking up the rays, and listening to the soft hush-hush of the heavenly waves.

  Suddenly Lola said, “I love being a guardian angel, but have you noticed how you’re never off duty, even now you’re back home?”

  “Even when you’re asleep!” I said ruefully.

  My soul-mate sat up. “Did you dream about yours too?”