Four-Footed Angels

by J. T. Livingston

Amanda closed her eyes and inhaled the delicious aromas of some of her favorite foods. Her plate was filled with three large pieces of crispy, buttermilk-fried chicken, mashed potatoes with bacon and cheese, fried collards seasoned with fat back, and large chunks of Max’s famous jalapeno-cheese cornbread. “Oh, my God…do they cook like this in Heaven? Please tell me they do!”

  Bertie laughed as she placed the food, along with a large glass of cold milk, in front of Amanda. “Well, Princess, you don’t require food there, but you can eat anything you want, whenever you want, and never have to worry about gaining weight. However…you might want to consume all the fried chicken you can while you’re here because there won’t be any meat!”

  Amanda’s eyes widened in shock. “Oh, no…please tell me you’re kidding!” No meat? But…I love meat. Meat is…like…protein…don’t we need lots of protein?”

  Bertie punched Amanda’s shoulder and grinned. “Trust me, Princess…you’ll get everything you need, and then some…you won’t miss the fried chicken at all…”

  Amanda nodded and exhaled. “Well then…I guess I’d better do all the damage to my arteries while I can.” She picked up a thigh and bit into it. She licked the juice from her lips and closed her eyes. “You just don’t know how much I’ve missed this…nobody in the Tampa area knows how to fry chicken this crisp…and don’t even get me started on the collards and cornbread!”

  “Well, you go ahead and eat to your heart’s content,” Bertie laughed. “I’ll fix something special for you to take back to Buster for later.” She grinned at Amanda’s raised eyebrows. “Don’t worry, it’s not fried chicken. I boiled some especially for him and Sam.”

  “Who’s Sam…and Buster?” Amos asked politely.

  “Oh, you’ll be meeting them soon enough, Amos,” Bertie informed him. “As a matter of fact, we need to have a long talk with you before you leave today. We might need you to…uh…provide shelter for a couple of our guests.”

  Amos rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, Andrew’s room is empty, Miss Bertie, so your friends are more than welcome to stay there for as long as they needs to. Yes, ma’am…your friends are always welcome in my home.”

  “Hmmm…” Bertie sighed. “You may not want these friends sleeping in Andrew’s bed, dear friend…they have eight legs between the two of them.”

  Amos wrinkled his brows and looked totally confused.

  Amanda swallowed a mouthful of mashed potatoes and patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, Amos…Buster will be staying with me, if that’s okay with Bertie and Max, so you’ll only have one guest. You see…Sam and Buster are dogs.”

  The wrinkle in his forehead relaxed and Amos grinned broadly. “Oh, I sees what you mean. Well, it don’t matter none how many legs they have between ‘em…they are more than welcome to stay as long as you need them to. I promise I’ll take good care of ‘em for you.”

  Bertie touched the old man’s bony shoulder. “You’re a good man, Amos. Max will fill you in on what’s going on. It’s okay if Buster stays with Amanda upstairs, but we might need for Sam to stay somewhere else…off the premises. Only one dog needs to go home with you tonight, but there may, or may not, be another one in a couple of days…before Friday, for sure.”

  Amanda watched Bertie closely. Who, besides Sam, was going to be involved with this adventure her parents had sent her on? “What other dog are you talking about, Bertie? Not my Buster, I know, because…”

  Bertie shook her head. “Don’t be silly, Princess. We would never subject that sweet pup to what needs to be done in the next couple of weeks. No…you see…Spartacus will be returning to the area. I’m not sure of where he will stay, so there’s a chance that he may need to stay with Amos for a few days, too…we’re still not entirely sure of what accommodations might be needed yet.”

  “Do you mean that poor dog that was on the back porch earlier today!” Amanda exclaimed. “God, no! You can’t mean that. Hasn’t that poor animal been through enough?”

  “Amanda…calm down,” Bertie began. “Yes, Spartacus will be a part of the plan. I don’t know how things will play out in the end…I’m not privy to that information…but I do know that he has to be part of it all. Now, go ahead and finish your food…there’s buttermilk cake for dessert…Max will explain everything to you later.”

  Amanda took another bite of collards and chewed slowly. She was deep in thought, and worry, about what roles Spartacus and Sam would play in busting the dog-fighting ring in Thomasville.

  Amos did not appear to be worried about anything. He trusted the angels completely and knew that, whatever lay in store for the dogs, the angels would do their best to ensure their safety. He raised a long finger at Bertie before she turned to leave. “Don’t suppose I could get another slice of that buttermilk cake, could I, Miss Bertie?”

  12. Finding Czar

  Tyler heard the door to the bunk house squeak open. His back was to the door but he could hear boots shuffling toward his bed. He flinched when the toe of one of those boots pushed against his kidneys.

  “Wake up, Jones…” the raspy voice was just above a deep whisper. “You’re coming with me today to persuade Czar’s owner that he needs to sell the dog to Little John. You awake, kid?”

  “Damn…” Tyler thought. “I was hoping to avoid this one…” He rolled over on his back and looked up at Clint Meacham, who was leering down at him with what Tyler swore must have been pure unadulterated contempt. “I’m up, Boss…I can be ready in 15 minutes…”

  Clint resisted the urge to kick the young man again, harder this time. “You’ve got 10 minutes…I’ll be waiting for you outside.”

  Tyler waited until he heard the bunk house door squeak shut before fumbling, in the dark, for his cell phone. He punched in his father’s quick-dial number and hoped he would answer; the voicemail picked up on the third ring, so Tyler left a hurried message. “Hey…it’s me…looks like the man will have a new champion for the next fight. I’ll be gone most of the day…I was hoping to avoid it, but it looks like I have to help bring the dog back here…I wanted to touch base with the people we talked about yesterday, but, I guess that will have to wait. Okay then, I’ll try to call back tonight if it’s not too late…talk to you soon…” Tyler ended the call to his father and slid quickly into the well-worn jeans laying on the wooden chair beside his bunk. He looked around the darkened room and wondered why he had been singled out to go with the foreman to collect Czar. The other workers continued to snore soundly in their own bunks.

  Clint Meacham had never left the bunk house. He had simply closed the bunk house door and waited inside. The room was so dark that he knew Tyler could not see him. He had listened quietly to the phone call Tyler had made. “You little prick…I knew you were bad news…question is…how bad…and what do we need to do about you?” He knew that Little John would want to hear about the phone call, but he decided that could wait until they returned from their mission to obtain Czar. Clint waited until Tyler went into the washroom before he opened the squeaky door to wait outside. He spat a wad of nasty tobacco juice onto the ground and thought, “Your ass is gonna burn, Tyler Jones…and I hope I’m the one to light the match…”

  _____

  Sam lay curled up at the foot of Amos’ bed. He listened to the old man’s snoring with one ear, while the other ear listened to the conversation taking place in the Abbott bunk house. “So…it looks like Czar will be Spartacus’ replacement…that’s going to be tough…Spartacus has already lost one fight to that dog…but, if Abbott buys Czar, then he won’t be able to pit his own dogs against each other…” He lay on the comfortable bed for a few more minutes before sliding off gracefully and walking silently into the kitchen. His body tensed at the moment when he realized that the foreman had only pretended to leave the bunk house. “Great…he was already suspicious of Tyler…looks like I may need to speed up the timing of my arrival.” Sam knew what he had to do, but he had to let Max know about the change in plans. “I’ll talk to Max wh
enever Amos heads that way for lunch today…I’m sure he won’t mind an extra passenger tagging along.”

  _____

  Amanda had put on an apron when she arrived for breakfast Tuesday morning at the Heavenly Grille. She knew that Bertie would say she didn’t have to help, but she didn’t want to feel like she was free-loading off the kindness of the angels. It was true that this was her vacation, her much-needed time off from work, but she also knew that she was there to help with the dog-fighting ring situation. She just wasn’t sure what her role would be.

  The breakfast crowd finally began to diminish when Bertie punched Amanda’s shoulder and said, “Take a load off, Princess. Amos should be in soon, but you can sit at his stool until he gets here. Let me get you a cup of coffee.”

  “I can get my own coffee, Bertie…you don’t have to wait on me, you know…” Amanda smiled at the small bundle of energy that never seemed to slow down. “But, thanks…that sounds good. Hey, Bertie…tell me something?”

  Bertie poured the coffee and placed it on the counter. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, Princess. That’s one good thing about having you and Amos know the truth about us…we don’t have to worry about what we say! What’s on your mind?”

  “Well,” Amanda began. She blew out a deep breath that she hadn’t been aware she had been holding in. “You were married, right? I mean, before you…died?”

  Bertie cocked her head sideways. “You bet I was, Princess…married myself the kindest and sweetest man on the face of the earth. I just wish we would’ve had more time together before that damned automobile decided to plow me down!”

  “But you get to see him…your husband…in Heaven, right? When you and Max go Home to visit?”

  Bertie nodded. “Oh, Hell, yeah…I see him all the time…and I still love him more than anything, but…well…and don’t tell Max I said this…although, I bet he’s listening in on our conversation anyway…but…well…hell, I can’t help but remember the great sex that me and my old man used to have. Man, we use to rock the walls in that old shack we lived in!” Bertie’s laughter filled the café when Amanda’s jaw dropped open and she sputtered hot coffee all over the counter.

  A few customers turned in Amanda’s direction when she started coughing. Bertie waved at them and said, “She’s all right, folks, go on back to your meals.” Bertie waited until Amanda regained control of herself and then leaned both elbows on the countertop. She grinned widely and stared directly into Amanda’s still-shocked eyes. “Best I ever had, Princess…of course, my old man was the only person I ever had sex with, and I died young, so I never had anyone else to compare him to, but…”

  Amanda held up one hand and used her free one to wipe up the spilled coffee. “I get the picture, Bertie…trust me…I get it. Wow…I guess I just never thought of angels having…you know…sex…”

  “Angels don’t have sex, Princess…that desire is gone once you hit the Pearly Gates, but in case you forgot, we were all just as human as you, once upon a time. You young people don’t have a license on the stuff, you know. From what I hear on all those talk shows, folks today are having sex into their eighties and nineties. What about you? Have you had sex yet…or are you a virgin? You can tell me, Princess.”

  Amanda grinned at the Shirley Booth look-a-like bent over with her chin perched in her open palms, and elbows on the counter. “Well…if you must know…and, I am not ashamed to say it…I am twenty-three years old and still a virgin. I made a promise to my Dad…and to myself…that I would wait until I found the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with before I got my…license.”

  Bertie raised her brows and grinned. “Hmm…nope…can’t say that I’m really surprised by that revelation. I bet you’ve taken a lot of heat for that over the years though, huh? I mean, looking like you do and all…people are quick to judge the book by its cover, if you know what I mean.”

  Amanda motioned toward the coffee pot. “Could I get a refill, please? I seem to have spilled most of mine.” She shook her head while Bertie turned to grab the coffee pot. “It really hasn’t been all that difficult. I mean…there have been a few guys who thought they could have a quick roll in the hay and then be on their way…some who have called me a tease because I wouldn’t put out when it got down to the nit and gritty, but…I don’t know…I keep thinking about what my Dad would say if I slipped up and gave in to the temptation. He would be so disappointed, and…well…even in death…I don’t want to disappoint him if I can help it.”

  “So you’ve never met anyone who made your toes curl up?” Bertie poured them both a hot cup of strong coffee. “What about that little hunk that was here yesterday to pick up Spartacus? You forget that we angels can hear anything we set our minds on hearing…”

  Amanda laughed. “So, you heard me tell him that I was probably going to be his wife one day soon, huh?” She covered her eyes with both hands and shook her head from side to side. “Oh, God…I can’t believe I said that to him.” She uncovered her eyes and grinned at Bertie. “I don’t think I got a chance to tell y’all…it is the weirdest coincidence, but…I was at the Foster Farm on Sunday delivering an overflow of rescue dogs to Tyler’s father!”

  “Max knew that…he told us. So…get out of here!” Bertie whispered loudly. “You mean, you’ve already met your future in-laws?”

  Amanda shrugged. “Well, I didn’t know it then, but…you know…I think there might be forces at work here that will be beyond both mine and Tyler’s control. I just hope he’s ready and can handle all this!” Amanda stood up and ran her hands along her sides until they rested on her hips.

  Bertie laughed out loud again and came around the counter to give Amanda a strong bear hug. “Is that what started this conversation, Princess? When you asked if I had been married?”

  “I don’t know, Bertie. I’ve never really had anyone to talk to about these things, you know. I mean…my Dad…well, he tried. He gave me the talk…stumbled through it somehow, but I didn’t dare ask him any questions. I’ve listened to other women over the years and tried to pick up some pointers; Kris has been a big help in that department. She’s like the sister I always wanted and I can talk to her about anything.”

  Kris DeVone-Hall was the young woman that Amanda and the angels had rescued in 2011. She had been seven months pregnant when they first met and had been left stranded and abandoned by her live-in boyfriend.

  “How are Kris and the baby? Is Officer Hall treating them right?”

  Amanda nodded. “Oh, yeah…they are deliriously happy and Charlotte Grace is getting so big. She just turned two, you know…oh, I wish all of you could have been there for her party. It was a blast! We had a bounce house on the front lawn and all the neighborhood kids took turns using it. Yeah…Kris and Dean are very happy. Nobody would ever guess that Charlotte Grace wasn’t his own, biological child. He adores her and is very, very protective of them both.”

  “I’m glad you have Kris to talk to, Princess. Have you called her yet to tell her that you’ve met Mr. Right?”

  “You think you’re kidding, but I wanted to! I really did, but I think I had better hold off on that for a while. So…you don’t think I’m crazy then? I mean…is it possible to know right off the bat, when you meet someone…that you’re going to marry that person?”

  “It’s an old cliché,” Bertie replied. “But, I think they might still refer to that as love at first sight. This should be interesting to watch unfold, yessiree…”

  “Tyler’s part of my adventure, isn’t he, Bertie? Max hasn’t told me all that’s going on yet, but I know that’s why I’m here…why my parents told me it was urgent that I get here as soon as possible. I don’t know how that’s going to work out, though…I doubt if I’ll ever see Tyler Foster again.”

  “I don’t know everything that’s going on either, Princess. All I know is that there is a dog-fighting ring that needs to be disbanded. That’s why Sam was sent back down. Now…what part he’ll play in all this, I don’
t know yet, but…” Bertie’s thoughts were interrupted when she saw a familiar dark truck pull into the parking lot. “Well, well…I’ll be damned…looks like you’re gonna see your future husband a lot sooner than you may have thought. He’s got someone with him, though…”

  Amanda turned to look out the large window beside the café’s front door. Once again, her jaw dropped open and she sputtered coffee…this time on the floor in front of her.

  “Damn!” Bertie laughed. “I hope this fella realizes what a slob he’s gonna be marrying!”

  _____

  Clint Meacham closed the passenger door and stared at the floating halo above him. “What the hell is this place, Jones? Looks like a damn church…I thought you said you knew a place we could grab a quick sandwich…” He spat a juicy wad of chewed tobacco onto the paved lot.

  “It’s not a church, Boss…I promise…and once you smell the food that’s cooked in here, a sandwich will be the last thing on your mind. I found this place by accident when I was out looking for Spartacus. The folks who run it said they saw a dog that matched his description heading south down the side road over there.” Tyler pointed to the curved road that brought people, headed north, to the Heavenly Grille.

  “So you don’t think he died in the woods, then?” Clint asked. That was the story Tyler had told them when he arrived back at the ranch after dark on Monday night.

  Tyler shook his head. “Hard to tell for sure…no…at first, I was positive that he had to be dead, but I checked those woods thoroughly and there was no sign of him.”

  “Maybe the buzzards finished off the loser,” Clint muttered.

  “I don’t think so, Boss. I’m thinking he kept wandering away. Maybe someone felt sorry for him and picked him up…he could be anywhere, but…I don’t think we’ll ever see him again, or, know for sure exactly what happened to him.”

  Clint stared at Tyler without saying anything in response. He hoped his silence would make the kid nervous and scared of what the consequences might be for him, since he had not been able to locate Spartacus.