Retreating to the corner, I collapsed onto the floor, clasping my hands together in prayer, asking the Almighty to please protect me. I did not think I could handle another earthbound introduction. Swiftly, the knocking stopped. A calming breeze blew over me and then high winds ripped through the room and burst out through the door, throwing it wide open. I was in shock, as I saw a black shadow swept away. This was a first for me, having my prayers answered with such immediacy after asking Creator for help. If that’s all I ever had to do, how easy was that? Stunned by my revelation, I could not help but also wonder what was whisked away and where did it go, exactly?
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The True Meaning of the Medicine Bundle
The next morning, I texted Carole again about Kyle’s availability. She quickly responded that he had arrived home late the previous night, and they were coming over in about an hour. I felt a huge sense of relief as I dressed, and then headed to the kitchen to grab breakfast.
Grandpa ambled into the room, and moved slowly towards the sink. He washed his hands, saying nothing until he finished. “Good morning, Paige. So glad to see you’re up and about. I’m also glad to see I am too!” And he laughed.
“Oh, grandpa, haven’t we all been through enough?” I blurted out. “What sins are we paying for? Do you know?”
“Paige, we haven’t done a thing wrong! We are living our lives like everybody else and yet this thing, this evil spirit, feels we have to pay for our ancestors’ wrong doing. I have asked a priest to stop by and he is going to pray for us tonight. Maybe that’ll be the end of this harassment.” Grandpa nearly lost his balance, and then recovered.
“Oh, do we all have to be here when he visits?” I asked, hoping the answer would be no.
“Yes, I would like you to be here, Paige, but if you have something more pressing, I’ll understand.” He glanced at me and then looked out the kitchen window.
“I need to study tonight. I really have ignored my homework. I also need to check on my photos...they’re drying. I snapped some collages and was going to surprise you with them.” I smiled at grandpa and he nodded. “Well, I’m heading out for a walk.”
I met Carole and her uncle at the front door before they rapped on the knocker. Kyle was happy I wanted to walk outside in the fresh, crisp air, while we discussed the subject of hauntings. He walked between Carole and me as we made our way around the east side of the manor towards the gardens and sat on the ‘Dexter’ bench, aptly named in his memory.
“Paige, I’m going to try to explain something to you from my culture, although its meaning sometimes gets lost in translation. I will try my best. Remember the medicine bundle I gave to you?”
I nodded my head and replied, “You asked me to store it and let no one else touch it.”
“What I need to do now is explain its power. It is made of four sacred medicines. Semaa which is tobacco, is in the east. It is offered each day of Thanksgiving and always in prayer. Giizhik or cedar, is in the south. Cedar is used for prayer and also for smudging. It can be used in sweat lodges, too and many other ceremonies. Cedar is best for protection in the home or car. You can drink cedar tea for good health. Mskodewashk or sage, is in the west. It is used at the end of the day, and also to smudge areas used for meetings and events and for cleansing. Sometimes, it can be used for drinking to strengthen the heart and body. Wiingashk or sweetgrass, is in the north. And we use it to smudge our head to clear our minds, eyes, ears and mouth to see, hear and say only good things. Then we smudge our body and prayers are said to remain in good health. We do this for the good of our community. What I am trying to say is this: it is a very powerful gift from my Band — the Aamjiwnaang — to you. If you believe the medicine bundle will help you, it will. If you don’t, it won’t.” Kyle stopped and held my hand. “Your bundle was made for you and you alone. It is customized, if you want to look at it like that. Believe in the power of my nation and my ancestors, and they will be there for you when you need them most. In our ancestry, many believed that our God and yours were different. They called him the Great Spirit and many other names. We believe we are all united under one, the Creator. We must work together to help each other, as this is our test.”
I studied Kyle very closely as he spoke. He had warm, dark brown eyes and beautiful, long, black hair. His sideburns caught my attention this time; they reminded me of those I had seen in Elvis Presley photos. His presence was very strong. I believed every word he said.
“May I give you a hug?” I asked.
Kyle replied, “Of course, Paige.”
I gave him the biggest bear hug I could manage. I did not understand the significance of the medicine bundle at the time it was given; now I felt a sudden connection to the First Nation community like never before.
“Thank you, Uncle Kyle. I guess I was too sick to process what you had done for me. I do believe in the medicine bundle and its powerful healing. How can I ever thank you or your Band? I’m sorry I don’t know how to pronounce the name.” I bowed my head.
Kyle smiled and said, “It is a tongue twister. We are Chippewas of Sarnia or Ojibwe. That is probably more familiar to you. And I live on the reserve unlike my niece. The name Aamjiwnaang means ‘at the spawning stream’. And you have already thanked me, Paige. Your friendship with my niece is like the bond between two sisters. I feel it when I am with you. You are part of us now, Paige. And, I don’t mind you calling me uncle.” He squeezed my hand then stood. “Time for me to go. You will be safe. There is more at work here than your own personal struggle with evil. Others will be helping soon.”
I wanted to ask him who was coming to help but he strode away.
“I am so thrilled the medicine bundle worked!” Carole exclaimed.
“I know what you mean, Carole. I feel very blessed and honoured and quite overwhelmed. Thank you for being my friend. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone as close to me as you are. What would I do without you?” Tears streamed down my face and I realized how vulnerable I had been feeling.
“You are my best friend too, Paige. We are lucky. Some people never have one best friend in their lifetime. Acquaintances, perhaps, but true friendship is accepting each other as we are.”
Brushing my tears away, I asked, “Okay...what are we going to do today?”
“We are going to visit the person responsible for our meeting...Peggy!” Carole cried.
“For sure...I’ve been meaning to visit her. Lead the way.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Angels and Telepathy
We sprinted to Peggy’s cottage, arriving sooner than we had expected. After light knocking, I flung open Peggy’s door. Amidst all of our giddiness, it took a few minutes to notice that the house was in total darkness and there was no sign of Peggy at all. Carole’s face became contorted as if she was being squeezed tightly by someone. She grabbed at her chest and then dropped to the floor. I heard a noise and spun around in a panic. There...lying on the floor, was Peggy, white as a ghost, barely breathing. Her chest moved shallowly, up and down, and I knelt on the floor next to her trying not to frighten her any further and whispered her name.
“Peggy, Peggy, are you all right?” And as anticipated, there was no response. I touched her hand; it was ice cold. If she hadn’t been breathing; I would have run screaming bloody murder from her home. She let out a gasp, and grabbed my arm.
Peggy uttered four haunting words, “Run for your life!” She fell unconscious.
Ashamed as I was, I bolted from the cottage, and ran all the way to the manor, without thinking or remembering how I made it there. What have I done? I left Peggy and Carole, my two dearest friends, behind to deal with whatever evil was haunting Peggy, or all of us for that matter.
Grandpa rang his bedside bell and as I sprinted down the hallway I heard him cry my name aloud, “Paige! Come at once!”
As I entered his bedroom, it looked as if he had
been napping and suddenly awakened. I scrambled to him and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for him to speak.
“What have you done?” he asked. “You left Peggy alone with him. You must return at once to Peggy’s and help her, now, child! Here, take this with you.”
Grandpa shoved a glass cross into my hand and told me not to let go of it, no matter who was in my face. He declared, “Evil will show itself in many different forms — it can hide in helpful Peggy, or your best friend, Carole’s smiling face, or even mine. This is coming to a head on the estate, dear Paige, and you must protect yourself at all times. Promise me you will not let go of it.”
Bursting into tears I replied, “Yes, grandpa, I promise. Are you going to be okay?”
“Yes, child, now go. Help your friends!” Grandpa dropped my hand.
“I’ll return as soon as I can.”
Dashing from the room, I stopped at the kitchen sink and felt compelled to fetch a glass of water. As I downed it, I caught my reflection in the kitchen window, and watched in horror as a shadow appeared. I dropped my glass in the sink; shattering it. I cannot recall much after that, only that I was at Peggy’s, and she was sitting in the drawing room talking calmly with Carole. I looked at the two of them wondering, how could this be? When I had left Peggy, she was lying on the floor, commanding me to run to safety. I was filled with foreboding and it felt like every sensory perception I had was on high alert. Carole and Peggy saw me and then promptly looked away continuing their conversation. Something about this situation was not right. I moved closer and they ignored me still. Faintly, repeating their names, I received no response. I began to scream their names, “Peggy...Carole,” and watched, as they remained engrossed in their discussion.
I heard a tiny voice beside me. When I looked, however, no one was in view. I happened to peer upwards, and saw a glint of light. Then there were several more. Tiny sparkles of white light surrounded me. Feeling suddenly peaceful, I decided this could not be a bad thing. Time stood still and I heard a voice pronounce, “Paige, we are with you always. Not all people have the ability to see angels, you are one of them. You are pure of heart; pure intention. We are happy to help you with whatever you ask. This is important, you need to ask. We are not allowed to fix things. Do you want to ask us something, Paige?”
Intrigued by the sparkling diamond-like shapes, I refrained from answering. My amazement grew as the sparkles appeared larger, overwhelmingly so, with the magnitude of white light emitted. I backed away and crossed my arms over my eyes, wondering if this was for real? After all, would I not be in Heaven, then, if I was talking to angels?
All doubts were pushed aside as I observed a glorious angel appear before me in human form. He was tall and muscular, with wide wings outstretched at his sides; his body and wings the colour of a tie-dyed beige shirt. He had flowing, sandy brown hair, a long forehead, high cheek bones and no facial hair. He was handsome. I felt nervous as his presence was much stronger than the rest, and then I suddenly felt peaceful, on the threshold of understanding how the universe works — as One.
“Help them, please,” I begged.
Without the need for words, he nodded and then showed images of my past, present and future which took merely seconds to receive. I saw myself lying on the ground, remembering the day I fell off my bike for the first time, my knee and shin bled profusely and mom wiped away my tears; the day I received my first place ribbon for competing in the track and field games and dad high-fiving me; the first time I saw my parents exchange an intimate kiss, so tender and caring; then I saw Conall and remembered the first time I met him by the dilapidated cottage wearing his gothic clothes; the same day I met Mackenzie, and her caring and innocent mannerisms; and their mother, the stone angel who came to life right in front of my eyes. The images turned dark, and I saw Bradford yelling at me about our ancestors’ sins; the boy being tortured in the ice vault; and finally, hellhounds joined with wolves united against a real horror that I could not see! The visions portrayed the move to Camlachie as the catalyst of the interface between two worlds on the O’Brien Estate. The spirit world was full of many wonderful people, and it also harboured earthbound spirits. Some earthly spirits were friendly, stuck here because a loved one would not let them go, or the spirit was worried about their family so much they could not bear to leave, or they inhabited a place that meant the world to them. Others, murderers, rapists, and drug lords, refused to leave for fear of what the Creator would do to them. They were told all of their lives that they would be banished to Hell. So they chose to remain on earth, as one of the unseen walking spirits. Unfortunately, they can influence people who are angry, frustrated, grieving, upset, or jaded with their own lives, to do things and say things that are mean and hurtful, or worse yet, to commit carnal sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy or gluttony.
When I snapped out of what I assumed was a vision, there I stood in the kitchen, my reflection staring back at me and the shattered glass beckoning from the sink. In the blink of an eye, I felt a shift within my world that would forever change how I looked at life and people. How lucky was I that the angels cared enough to share secrets of the universe to help me in the battle of good over evil. It shocked me to think that I once lived a one-dimensional life in Scarborough.
Arriving at Peggy’s, I was hesitant as to what I might find. Will Carole and Peggy both be dead? I was relieved to hear her voice telepathically, your friend Archangel Michael saved us, Paige. Thank you for sending him our way. C’mon in. I carefully turned the door knob to the left, and stepped inside. There stood Peggy with Carole, arm in arm. The three of us embraced for several minutes until I broke away and looked up to the Heavens and rejoiced, thank you, my guardian angels.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Epiphany
I had to wonder what was really happening on the estate. I did not feel like I had the entire picture of events. It seemed like a world within a world within another world. The living world was filled with humans and their spirit wolves or spirit animals; walking amongst us were the earthbounds and hellhounds; and then there were the spirits of the Light, Mackenzie and Conall, and our biggest allies the angels, like Sasha Grace, Archangel Michael and his friend Raphael who I had not yet met. If I drew concentric circles around each world, they would overlap and move closer towards the heavens with the earthbound spirits being the lowest circle and the angels the highest. I imagined we were somewhere in between. And then I remembered the library, and all of its books in the abandoned cottage. Perhaps they could help. This would be a difficult adventure as it was challenging enough to walk on level land in the winter, let alone climbing the ridge. It would be an extreme physical challenge.
The next two weeks miraculously brought about an early spring, as predicted on February 2nd, by a groundhog named Wiarton Willie. He did not see his shadow, an age-old Canadian tradition called Groundhog Day. For once he was right. Each weekend I ran to the kitchen and looked out the bay window overlooking the rose garden to see if the snow had magically disappeared. Finally,towards the end of my school break, on the third Saturday in March, I noticed barren but frozen ground — ideal conditions for my task at hand.
Dressed in my long johns underneath my black jeans and turtleneck to brace myself for the frigid weather conditions on top of the ridge, I charged into the kitchen and was happy to find Hanna alone.
“Could you please pack a lunch for me, Hanna? Don’t worry. I have something I need to do.” I tried to avoid her fiery eyes. “Please, stay out of it.”
“Paige, you must tell me. You’ve been through so much and your health seems to be...fragile.” Hanna walked over and placed her hand on my arm.
“I have to return to the old cottage. There are books that I need to find to help figure out the haunting on the estate.”
Although Hanna appeared hesitant, she agreed. “Well, if you must. I know in my heart this is your path.” She packed my lunch and grab
bed a small, first aid kit out of the drawer. “Knowing how clumsy you can be sometimes, perhaps, this will help you.”
I laughed and said, “You know me too well, Hanna. And thank you. I appreciate it.” It was marvellous that the two of us had grown to understand one another so well. “If I’m not back at the end of the day...”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that, Paige. I’ll send out the Mounties.” Hanna smacked me on the back.
I escaped the manor before my grandparents surfaced. Counting the steps to the guest house was a comfort. There were one thousand, one hundred and forty two, and I was back to my old, obsessive-compulsive self. The spring thaw was invigorating with the abundant smell of fresh, moist air. It tickled my nostrils. Tiny buds had formed on the surrounding bushes and the odd remnant from last year’s budding flowers swayed in the gentle breeze. The cardinal’s call was the first to be heard. I watched as a large black bird, with a broad wingspan, flew overhead as I moved along the path. It was too far away for me to see exactly what kind of bird it was, but somehow it felt reassuring to know I had company.
I crept alongside the guest house not wanting to bump into Trixie or Allan. This was my destiny and mine alone. There seemed to be no movement within the small castle and I was happy about that. I started on the path to the portal to the forest and could see clearly now, as the trees remained barren, no leaves to obstruct my view. I saw lots of brown and grey squirrels scurrying about and felt their happiness that spring had sprung. I spied a larger animal that I discovered, much to my dismay, was a skunk as I drew nearer; its horrid stench disgusted me. Luckily the path took me away from it. My heart soared as I heard the babbling brook ahead. Oh, how I had missed that sound! I looked up to the sky and gave thanks for this break in the weather and the picture-perfect day.
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