Angels Among Us - Harmony Part 3

She was a Dominion, an Angel of the Second Sphere so it was rather a surprise for Harmony to be summoned to the quick and very capable Serenity’s aid but when He spoke, no Angel dared to argue for if He stepped in, the situation was dire and this time was no different...

Harmony hadn’t glittered herself since she was a wee Third Sphere Angel-in-training - a Guardian Angel as humans liked to call them - but she was embarrassingly doing just that as she shivered gold sparkles with her every move around Brick’s hospital room. And in front of Serenity who was a Third Sphere Angel-in-training no less...although Serenity was hardly noticing much in her condition.

Serenity had spent so much energy protecting Brick in the accident that she’d contracted the Dullwing Flu, a virus no Angel wanted for it meant days of lying around, with every cough and sneeze draining them of their precious glitter. The poor wee thing had sneezed herself down to barely enough glitter to call for help so now it was up to Harmony to convince Brick this wasn’t his time. And as if she wasn’t busy enough this time of year, He gave her another mission...a next to impossible one...but if she ever hoped to make the high level of Seraphim she had better get on it quick!

Harmony knew Brick was tracking her every move as she flit about his hospital room. Perfect!

“You’re awake!”

“Am I? Who are you? Where am I? What happened?”

“My name is Harmony. You don’t remember?”

Brick sat deep in thought and then replied, “The last thing I remember was a beautiful woman standing over me.”

“Oh, that would be Serenity.”

“Serenity? Do I know Serenity?”

“You were in an accident. Serenity tried to save you.”

“What? I don’t...oh wait,” Brick said, “I was driving. I remember a snow plow coming right for me. I...what happened? Did he hit me? Did I hit him? Is he alright?”

“His name is Ronald Jackson. He’s badly shaken up; something went wrong with the mechanism and his left blade wing dropped and seized in place pulling him into your lane. As soon as he could he ran to pull you out of your car. He's is still here waiting for word on how you’re doing.”

Brick's mother had been seated in his room, whispering prayers and words of encouragement from the moment she’d been called to his bedside. When Brick opened his eyes and rapidly looked around his room, flicking from one thing after another, only to stare sightlessly Victoria’s way, she worriedly called for the Doctor, who arrived in time to witness the one-sided conversation Brick was having.

“Brick, Dr Marsh is here with you now. You’re going to be alright,” Victoria said to her unresponsive son.

“He's getting some colour back and is otherwise stable," said Dr Marsh after examining Brick. "We have him under close observation but we may need to go in and relieve the pressure on his brain."

"You mean surgery?"

"We may have to, Victoria. You may want to get Lisa here as soon as possible.”

Harmony shivered more glitter as she watched a distraught Victoria leave her son's room, before bringing her focus back to the task of preparing Brick for what was to come.

To be continued...

Angels Among Us - Harmony Part 2

Where was he?

Daddy wouldn’t have been late for something this important, but then Daddy cared about her happiness as Brick never had. Lisa would deny it now if anyone were to remind her that Brick’s appeal in the first place had been that he was so much like Daddy...but that was then and this was now.

Being late to sign their divorce papers was just another fine example of how Brick didn’t hold dear that which was special to Lisa. Maybe one day she’d find that one-of-a-kind love but until snowballs no longer melted here on earth she’d just have to be happy taking care of Daddy, just the two of them as it always was. Him, she could count on.

“I need to speak to Lisa Madison, it’s urgent”, she heard through the closed door. She’d recognize the voice of Victoria Madison anywhere, even after two years of separation. Hearing the unusual near-panic in that voice had Lisa opening the door and responding with the kindness she’d always been dealt at Victoria’s hands. The fragile look was a new one for the strong, silent Victoria.

“Victoria, what’s wrong?”

“Lisa, its Brick...there’s been an accident. Brick needs you.”

“Surely you as his mother can see to his care, Victoria,” Lisa gently challenged even as her heart did flip-flops.

“I tried explaining about the divorce, but while Brick is still married to you the Doctor needs your consent.”

“Consent? Consent for what?”

“Please, Lisa. You have to trust me! I’ll tell you more on the way to the hospital,” Victoria said as she urged Lisa on with her coat and out the door to the awaiting taxi. 

to be continued...

Angels Among Us - Harmony

He was about to become the jolliest of elves.

Brick Madison’s holiday season was about to get as bright as the snow-covered countryside surrounding him on his late afternoon drive to town. A little ink on some documents, a small price to pay, and he’d once again have control over his own life, his freedom, after spending the five longest years of his thirty-five year life married to Lisa.

Marrying Lisa Madison – nee Bonham, the woman he thought he would love and grow old with - had turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes he’d made. Had anyone told him, and some had tried, that marrying her meant marrying her Daddy he may have saved himself years of ‘but Daddy says’ and ‘but Daddy did’.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like his father-in-law, in fact Brick had enormous respect for Tom Bonham, but a marriage of two was tough enough, a marriage of three next to impossible, at least for him. Well, no point reopening wounds long healed, he thought as he rounded the last bend before town straight into the path of a wayward snow plow.

  It took probably seconds to swerve, go over the guard rail and flip to land wheels first over the embankment surrounded by pines, but to him living it felt like hours. His last coherent thought was of the brilliant, pink-robed angel atop the nearest tree enveloping him in sparkly golden light from her gentle, loving hands as her smile lit the ever-darkening skies.

to be continued...

Here In Spirit - conclusion

The vacant eyes stared out amidst glass jars of what she could only believe were once herbs. Admiring the workmanship of such a beautiful antique, Maggie lifted the doll from its shroud of white cloth. As its eyes blinked open to stare unseeingly, Maggie was swamped by the vision of a young, rash-covered, feverish girl hugging her doll tight as she lay delirious and swaddled in soft linens.

Maggie had forgotten that she wasn’t alone until her daughter’s scream brought her back to the moment, but in those moments when she was focussed on the scene unfolding on the edge of her consciousness, the idea behind Here In Spirit was born.

Try as she might, she couldn’t let go of the haunting feeling she had, prompting her and Thomas to research the history of the house and its former occupants and in so doing had unearthed the existence of six-year old Abigail, daughter of Agatha and Benjamin Harrison.

The hand-written notes - that only to the eye of the ignorant could be mistaken for spells - entombed with the doll and the jars of herbs they’d proven had once belonged to Agatha Harrison.

Agatha Harrison was a woman - a healer in the time of a scarlet fever outbreak, an illness she hadn’t figured a cure for before it struck the only child of the town magistrate – tried, convicted and hanged without ever having had the chance to explain or defend against the accusation of witchcraft, as was the practice in some small towns where, in 1861, such atrocities had not yet been put to an end.

Hanged just days before the disease had ravaged Abigail’s body and had her crying out for her mother to no avail. Death came for Abigail without even the comfort of her mother’s loving arms around her and the loss haunted Agatha’s every ghostly step, as the loss of his wife and his only child had haunted Benjamin’s. He’d buried his reminders of them deep in the recesses of the attic floor, sold the house, never to be heard from in these parts again.

Maggie and Thomas, realizing that Blayne was their connection to the other side, worked many a night to right a wrong committed over a century ago, to bring the Harrison family back together.

Finally free from the chains a frightened society had wrapped her in, Agatha was last seen standing on that Halloween night ten years ago, her husband at her side, happily waving goodbye as they held their golden-haired daughter safely between them. And that made spending every Halloween since sending up prayers for the Harrison’s, and the many other families they’d freed over the last decade, worthwhile for the Bardsell’s.

Every so often Blayne wished for a normal Halloween - like her friends had - but then she remembered the history she’d learned and how good it was to live in a time where people may think her odd, and yes, probably judge her, but she’d never be subject to such persecution as her spirit friends had known in their time...and for that she was truly thankful.

The End.

Happy Halloween! 

Here In Spirit

Heads bowed, they murmured in unison.

How praying one night a year was truly honouring him – or her – was one of the many questions sixteen year old Blayne would like to ask, but as dusk was quickly approaching she also knew the value of the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality.

Halloween night was a unique experience in the Bardsell house. Maggie and Thomas Bardsell – owners of Here In Spirit, and Blayne’s parents – made freeing Spirits their life's work and Halloween was their busiest time of year. Trick or Treat - words Blayne had never uttered as her friends did, as her little brother did – was over for Blayne before it ever really got started.

She’d been six years old the day her mother searched high and low, only to find Blayne standing in the attic as if in a trance, pointing at the floorboards. “She said she wasn’t a witch,” Blayne said to her mother, “and her name is Agatha.”

Maggie could only call it trusting an instinct she’d been born with as, using herself as a human shield to protect her daughter from the unknown, she began tapping at the floor with an old tire iron lying nearby, prying loose the floorboards to expose the hollowed out compartment below. Uncertain just what she was seeing, all she could do for a moment was stare...until the scream let loose by her daughter had her shaking herself back into action. 

To be continued...

Wish It of the Moonlight

Wishes whispered in the night will hold

Gods captured in their thrall,

For in the silence of the moon

your voice and thoughts more clear,

than the loudest cry in light of day

Spoken above the roar.

A Case of Greed - Part Seven

The ensuing hysterics and finger pointing alone made for a better soundtrack than any drama Job could’ve hoped to hear on whatever that show was called...the one about age and restlessness that his mother watched. 

            Job would remember for years to come how Alec had proven to be an invaluable and mutual ally in their quest for justice for Philomena. It was Alec’s charade that had Holly placing the call a short while ago that brought Judge Wright, Kenneth Platz and Dr Price running like trained dogs to Alec’s office in record time; Alec’s insistence that they tap into the building security system that had the cast of characters unknowingly put on the audio-and-visually-recorded show that would be their downfall.

 “Smile for the cameras boys,” Job whispered. “Alec, are you sure you want to continue on with this? It’s not too late to back out; they don’t know they’ve been set up.” Alec’s response was what Job could only believe was a difficult choice since said bastards were some of Alec’s closest friends and colleagues.

 “Oh no, I want these bastards to pay almost as much as you do.”  It almost made Alec feel guilty that Holly believed she had poison streaking like lightning through her veins...until he remembered who gave those chocolates to Philomena.

“What kind of game are you playing now?” Ahh, the smarmy voice of Senator Platz was easy enough for Job to recognize even if they weren’t watching the ferret-faced man on screen. “Your need for attention is quickly growing stale, Holly,” Kenneth replied using his could-care-less tone that he reserved for idiots who opposed him and street urchins.

 “I need the antidote,” Holly said, “and don’t dare pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about Kenneth or so help me, I’ll ruin you!”

 “You’re losing it Holly, pull yourself together,” Kenneth said. Fondling the small vial he kept on him at all times, his mind started working overtime. He’d been looking for a way to dump Holly - she knew too much - without having her turn on him. “I don’t have the antidote; it’s not likely to be something I’d carry around, now is it?” He was elated. Things couldn’t have worked out more perfectly if he’d planned it this way.

 “You...you have to have it...you always carry it!”

 “If you think you can call me away from my nice warm brandy just to -- wait, what did you just say?” Judge Wright turned and pointed at Holly. “Why would you need the antidote?”

“The question should be why would she expect us to believe that she’d be dumb enough to have eaten chocolates we’d laced with belladonna?”

 “That’s right Kenneth, keep talking,” Job and Alec whispered in unison. “Little does he know how much I want to see him hang himself,” Alec said to Job. 

Job felt more than heard the sighs of relief coming from the first floor security station where John and Jerry, who’d had serious doubts about where Alec’s loyalties lie, sat bearing witness to the scene unfolding in Alec’s office.

“Hold it,” Judge Wright held up a hand to stop Kenneth. “Let’s get something straight. There was no we who laced those chocolates, the two of you acted alone there.”

 “I didn’t know Philomena gave the rest of her chocolates to Alec until after I’d eaten a few!”

 “For God’s sake, Kenneth, first Philomena, now Holly?” exclaimed Judge Wright. “Where do you draw the line?” If there was an end in sight he certainly couldn’t see it.

 “There’s no one outside this room who knows your secret. Once it gets out there won’t be a soul around who’d believe you weren’t in on the plan...Judge,” Kenneth said. “That’s right; no one else has been smart enough to figure out why you really let the drug dealers off with a slap on the wrist. By the way, how is your son? Is he keeping himself out of trouble these days?”

Judge Wright had never regretted more than he did at this moment that he hadn’t been there to watch his son grow up, to teach him right from wrong. His wife tended to look the other way on his liaisons as long as he was discreet, but it didn’t bear thinking if she ever found out that a mistress from his past had bore him the son she couldn’t give him.  

“Give her the antidote so we can all go home! I’ll not stand by again and witness what Ms Townsend went through. I won’t do it,” said a very agitated Dr Price, who had been the only silent one in the room until now.

“I wouldn’t be so brave if I were you, Doctor,” Senator Platz responded. “You wouldn’t want the Judge here to have an accident before your case has its final hearing, would you?” Kenneth knew his threat hit its mark when the white pallor of Dr Price’s complexion went even paler.

Dr Price regretted more every minute this went on that he hadn’t trusted his lawyer when she’d told him he stood a good chance of winning the malpractice suit...the one Kenneth had convinced him would be his ruin. He was a doctor, a damn good one at one time, but he could see his life falling apart in front of him. It was long past time to find a way to bring this to an end.

Stay tuned for Part Eight (Final) of A Case of Greed