Guardians of the Light

by R L Delaney

  Harrison looked up, a little perturbed. "What is it, Betty?"

  At that instant he felt a cool draft sliding over the back of his head and he shivered. A draft? Had somebody forgotten to close the window? He pushed the swivel chair away from the desk and got up.

  At that instant, and out of nowhere, a searing pain shot through the back of his head and a wave of nausea coursed through his body. The ground underneath his feet began to move. Harrison stared in a daze at the perfectly shaped body of Betty Carrington who was still standing in the doorway, and tried to cry out for help, but no words came. It appeared there was a smirk on her face, but Harrison couldn't concentrate, as the floor of the office now began to rock and reel as if he was standing on a ship in the middle of a violent storm. At last his legs gave way under his body and he crashed to the floor.

  Somebody had knocked him out.

  Justin marveled at the speed and the agility with which Brother Perpetiël was climbing down the rocky mountain. How was it possible that the giant monk, who was even barefoot, could move around with the skill of a mountain goat? For he and Amy, moving was a lot more difficult and quite a dangerous undertaking. The dry riverbed through which they had been able to claw their way up to the cave, was no longer any help as the water rushed through it with great force, and they had to move slowly and carefully along the sides.

  Brother Perpetiël was quite a ways ahead. He turned around on several occasions and lifted his hand in an encouraging fashion to signify they were making good progress.

  "I'll be glad when we are back on the road," Justin stammered with difficulty as he slid down a big boulder. Amy, panting herself, giggled. "It's still better than a chemistry class with Sternfoot."

  Justin wanted to answer her, but something in Brother Perpetiël's demeanor caught his attention. The monk was waving again, but this time it was different. He was frantically waving his hands around as if he wanted to tell them something. He was yelling too, but it was impossible to hear what he was saying, as the rushing waters drowned out his voice.

  "He found something," Justin said to Amy as he shielded his eyes from the light with his right hand so he could get a better look. Just when Amy positioned herself next to Justin, Brother Perpetiël crouched down and his bulky frame disappeared behind a bush.

  "Well," Amy mumbled while she began to climb over another boulder, "we better get down there and see what the fuss is all about."

  It took them a good ten minutes before they came near the place where Brother Perpetiël was waiting. To Justin's relief he could now see the road again that would lead them up to the monastery "What is it, Mr. Perpetiël?" Justin cried out. The monk was standing again and without answering, pointed to the ground. Justin still could not see a thing as whatever was lying there was hidden by rocks, high grass and bushes.

  He hoisted his body over the last boulder, and then he saw. His eyes widened.

  There, on the ground, perched up against a boulder, with a big red gash on his forehead and staring at nothing in particular, sat Alfred Rodeo.

  "Rodeo," Justin cried out, and he looked at Brother Perpetiël with alarm. "D-Did he attack you? Is everything all right?"

  Brother Perpetiël gave him a weak smile. "Couldn't be any better, young Justin. This man has now asked for our help."

  Justin narrowed his eyes and stared at the Shadow Walker who now turned his gaze to Justin and stared back at him with sad, fearful eyes.

  "What happened, Rodeo?" Justin asked.

  "I told the monk," he stammered. "I need help."

  "Help? What do you mean?" Justin did not understand it. "You ran away from us, remember? You are actually a legal prisoner."

  Rodeo's hands began to tremble, and he looked up at the others. Even though he was so muscled he was no picture of strength, but rather one of weakness and hopelessness. "I already told everything to the monk here. I want out."

  "Out of what?" Amy asked who had caught up with Justin and stood next to Brother Perpetiël.

  "Out of the Shadow Walkers," Rodeo stammered. "After what happened in that jail cell and you…" he turned his face back to Brother Perpetiël, "… did something to me, everything has been so different. My thoughts are different, more clear… I can't explain it." He looked down and fumbled with his fingers. "It's like scales have fallen off my eyes, but…" he stopped and looked down.

  "But what?" Justin asked.

  "I am so afraid now. So very afraid. I never was afraid before but after what happened in that jail cell, I feel I no longer have control."

  "What are you afraid of," Amy asked in a gentle voice and crouched down.

  "Everything," Rodeo answered as he began to sob. "The Shadow Walkers, my own life and my sanity… the mistakes I've made. It's all too much to bear."

  Justin frowned. "If you were so afraid, then why did you run away from us on the road?"

  Rodeo's shoulders were drooping. "I don't know… The thought of having to go to prison is not exactly joyful either, but when I was wandering along in the wilderness, my fears became almost unbearable and I tried to find you again. Anything is better than being with the Shadow Walkers." His voice broke as he spoke the dreaded name. "When the storm hit and I slipped and tumbled down, I landed with my head against a rock… This is where you guys found me."

  Amy looked up and stared with big, round eyes at Brother Perpetiël. "Is this still a result of what you did to him while he was in jail in Dewsbury? The man is completely changed."

  Brother Perpetiël smacked his lips and nodded. "Not changed, at least not yet, but at least he's now in his right mind, and for the first time in only God knows how long, this man can think for himself again. This is what I was hoping for and I am confident we can help his mind to start moving around on the right track again."

  "What do we do with him?" Justin queried. "Can he even walk?"

  "Sure he can. We won't leave him here."

  Justin shook his head and marveled. The power that Brother Perpetiël seemed to have was amazing. Simply amazing.

  Brother Perpetiël looked at Justin and wrinkled his nose. "It's not my power, Justin… I told you that already. It's the power of the King of Heaven."

  Justin blushed. He had forgotten Brother Perpetiël was quite good at reading his mind, something that was both comforting and alarming at the same time.

  Chapter Seven

  "What do you mean… he escaped?" Captain Devonshire narrowed his eyes and his face carried an unpleasant scowl as he stared at Father Gálvez, who nervously plucked at his fingers and sat in front of the captain's desk.

  "I…well… as I said… he's gone." Father Gálvez' words were almost inaudible.

  Devonshire slammed his fist on his desk and sat up ramrod straight in his swivel chair. "I should never have let Rodeo go with the monk. How did he escape?"

  Father Gálvez pushed himself as far back in his seat as he could, and without looking up into the angry eyes of the captain, he mumbled, "The truck broke down on the mountain path. While we were discussing what to do… he disappeared."

  Devonshire shook his head in disgust. "I knew it… I just knew it. The man is dangerous. He is a murderer, and he was the only link we had with the death of Brian Ruiz and Ironbark." He stepped away from his desk and paced through his office while he snorted, "And that monk and Harrison's nephew? What happened to them?"

  Father Gálvez shrugged his shoulders. "They walked. They should be at the monastery by now."

  "Unbelievable," Devonshire mumbled. He raked through his hair with a wild move of his hand and stopped in front of Father Gálvez. "And you? How did you get back?"

  The Father licked his lips. "I walked to a garage some 15 miles down the road. They towed my car and I came back in a loaner."

  Devonshire shook his head, uttered a word his wife had urged him never to use and then cried with a loud voice: "Poppy… in here!"

  Seconds later the door swung open and the worried face of Poppy Albers appeared.

  "Why isn
't Detective Ames here?"

  Poppy fumbled with her braid and stammered, "I-I haven't seen him, Captain. He left hours ago to talk to Carl Billows at the Gym, as you had instructed him, but he has not called in since leaving."

  Captain Devonshire grunted. "That detective is getting way too independent." He gave Poppy Alberts a scowl and hissed, "Find him. I need him at the office, and I needed him an hour ago!"

  Poppy Alberts gave a nervous nod and removed her body as quick as possible from the room. After she left, Devonshire sighed and sank down in his chair again. He placed his right elbow on the armrest of his chair and leaned on it with his head, a fine picture of discouraged misery. "You got any words of encouragement, Father?"

  Father Gálvez licked his lips and began to stammer, "There…there's always light at the end of the tunnel. I believe that—"

  "—Thank you, Father," Devonshire interrupted him. "I meant some real encouragement."

  Both men were silent for some time, but then Father Gálvez broke the silence. "Well… I had better be going and—"

  The intercom cut off his words. Devonshire leaned forward and pushed a button on the device standing on his desk. "Yes, Poppy… got any good news?"

  "Not really, Captain," came the crackly voice of Poppy through the loudspeaker. "I just called the Gym and talked to a Miss Carrington. She's the secretary there and keeps a good eye on who is coming and going."

  "And?" Devonshire pricked up his ears.

  "It's about Detective Ames, Sir…"

  "What about him, Poppy?"

  "He never showed up at the Gym, Sir."

  "What do you mean? Maybe that secretary just didn't know who he was, or she was just in the bathroom when he came in?"

  "No Captain," Poppy answered. "She knows who Detective Ames is. Remember, he went there last week too. Miss Carrington claims nobody goes in or out of the Gym without her knowing about it. Actually… I know Betty Carrington personally, as I often go to the Gym. She's not the type to just say things."

  "So?" Devonshire almost shouted through the intercom.

  "Detective Ames just never went to the Gym…"

  Devonshire grunted, pushed the button to give Poppy a piece of his mind, but then decided against it, and without giving Poppy a reply, he stopped the conversation and fell back in his seat. "I don't understand," he growled to Father Gálvez, anger flashing over his face. "He's always been such a dependable man… Where could he be?"

  Father Gálvez shook his head. "Beats me, Captain… but I am going to be on the lookout for him." Then he got up, mumbled a good bye and left the office of the nervous and disgruntled man.

  The walk to the monastery was still long and quite arduous, at least it was for Justin and Amy. Alfred Rodeo, even though he had tumbled down the mountain and his face was full of bruises and scratches, kept pace with Brother Perpetiël without difficulty. The man was well-trained, and Justin almost got jealous when he saw how Rodeo seemed to move almost effortlessly over the ever ascending road. It seemed odd, seeing brother Perpetiël and Rodeo walking together without even the slightest hint of animosity. Rodeo, as wicked as the man was, seemed genuinely at peace around Brother Perpetiël, and it caused Justin to marvel.

  What amazing power and inspiration was steering these warrior monks?

  He could use a bit of that power himself right now as his body was aching and his feet hurt. It surprised him as he had always believed to be in pristine condition. After all he was the quarterback of the Dewsbury High Tigers, the local football team, and did his fair share of exercising. But hiking in the Wintervale Mountains on his brown foam sneakers proved a lot more difficult than he had expected. In fact, he could feel a blister forming on his left foot, and every step became increasingly difficult. It was therefore no small wonder he heaved a sigh of relief when Brother Perpetiël announced they were getting close and would soon be able to see the monastery.

  Amy's face brightened too. "Almost there," she said as she cast Justin an encouraging smile.

  Justin could tell she was battling too, as her sweaty face was a picture of weariness. She literally dragged herself forward on her elegant block heel sandals she had been so proud of the day she got them. They no longer sparkled with the elegance and polished shine as they had on the day she bought them in the Humbletump Fashion Centre, but were now covered with mud and scratches. Poor Amy. That was not the type of footwear to wear on such rough terrain.

  Brother Perpetiël and Rodeo were now some 50 yards ahead, and Brother Perpetiël began to wave and pointed to something that Justin and Amy could not yet see.

  It must be the monastery.

  Justin and Amy gritted their teeth and struggled on.

  And then, when the sun had just sunk behind the nearest mountain top, they saw a most wonderful sight. There, still a good distance away and on an elevated plateau on the mountain, almost as if hewn out of the rocks itself, lay the monastery. The straight walls, in the same grayish color as the rocks, looked massive and impressive, and Justin blinked.

  "What do you think?" Brother Perpetiël asked. "It's been there for over one hundred fifty years."

  Justin just stared, but Amy whispered, "It looks like a picture in a fairy tale book."

  Brother Perpetiël grinned. "It's the next best thing to heaven."

  "If it had not been for the sloped roof that was covered with simple red roof tiles that gave it a warm and friendly appearance, Justin would have believed it was a regular fort, ready to withstand the onslaughts of enemy armies, and it seemed just about right, the place was the home of not just monks, but warrior-monks. It was also much larger than Justin had imagined. Without realizing, he calculated how many times his own home would fit inside. Ten times? Maybe even fifteen? And then to think Brother Perpetiël had told them that in addition to the Abbot there were only twelve monks living there.

  They apparently had electricity, since there was light shining through the mullioned, almost cathedral-like window, even though night had not fully settled yet.

  Brother Perpetiël, seeing the tired faces of Justin and Amy, gave them an encouraging nod. "Soon, you'll be sitting at our table and you will be eating a meal fit for kings."

  "A meal?" That sounded just about right. Justin had not eaten anything since they left early that morning and the thought of having a good, nourishing meal warmed his heart.

  "You're in luck," Brother Perpetiël went on. "Today is Friday…"

  "What's on Friday?" Amy wanted to know.

  "Once a week Brother Josebius prepares a special meal, and that happens to be tonight. We also have a glass of Hopscorch. You'll love it."

  Justin had no idea what Brother Perpetiël was talking about, but at this stage everything sounded great. The prospect of sitting at a comfortable table and being served a special meal that he could wash away with Hopscorch sounded just about right, and in spite of his hurting feet he upped his pace, and motioned for Amy to hurry up.

  Alfred Rodeo appeared nervous. He licked his lips and his left eyelid was twitching. Justin guessed the man was again counting the cost, as his life, starting today, was no doubt going to be one of prisons and courtrooms, but now that the man was in his right mind, it was not hard to figure that anything would be better than to be in the hypnotic grip of the Shadow Walkers.

  About half an hour later they stood in front of a massive oak door. Brother Perpetiël pulled on the cast-iron bell that was hanging on the stone wall right next to it, producing a surprisingly pleasant sound that echoed against the stone wall.

  Seconds later, after they heard somebody jangling with a set of keys, the door swung open and they were greeted by another warrior monk. Like Brother Perpetiël, the man was a giant, barefoot, and was also wearing a judogi, though this one was made of navy blue material, which was held in place by a yellow sash. But this was where the likeness stopped. Unlike Brother Perpetiël the man appeared old and somewhat frail and was bent over, heavily leaning on a cane that was carved out of an oak branch.
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  Brother Perpetiël' eyes lit up as he beheld the older monk. "Brother Gearldoh," he said and he stepped forward to embrace the monk in a gentle hug.

  "Good to see you are safely back," the monk answered and kissed Brother Perpetiël on both cheeks. Then he looked at Justin and Amy and gave them a warm smile. But when he saw Rodeo he frowned and scratched his clerical tonsure. "A Shadow Walker?"

  "A former Shadow Walker, Brother Gearldoh. He's no longer under the evil spell." Brother Perpetiël turned and placed his hand on Rodeo's shoulders. "Meet Alfred Rodeo. We will have to keep an eye on him, but I believe he's quite willing to start a new life."

  Brother Gearldoh nodded and said warmly, "In that case, you are all welcome." He opened the door further and invited the weary travelers inside. "I will let Abbot Hofniel know you have arrived."

  As Justin stepped onto the marble floor and stared into the long corridor before him, he was impressed. The interior, though old and classic, with expensive wood-paneling on the walls and several closed doors that Justin imagined would lead to rooms like libraries with warm, cozy fire places, was everything he had expected the place to be. Obviously, they would have no internet or television here, but there hung a sacred kind of hush over the place, and Justin had to admit that it felt good and right. At the end of the hallway, just before a door that led to what appeared to be a garden, he spotted a staircase that spiraled up to the second floor.

  "You like it here?" Brother Gearldoh had observed Justin with his keen eyes.

  Justin blushed and he realized that this Brother could probably read his mind as well, maybe even better than Brother Perpetiël could. He nodded. "You live in a beautiful place, Mr. Gearldoh."

  "You all are in luck," the Brother continued. "It's Friday evening and Brother Josebius has prepared our special meal. You are just in time as it will be served when dusk is completed." He tilted his head and said, "And that's just about now."

  He had not even finished the words and the sound of a big bell echoed through the monastery, signifying it was time to eat.