Sanctuary Among Strangers

by Josie Finch

  Joseph focused on his breathing, letting the voices of the others sound around him without picking up most of the words. Apparently Sophie and Charlton were only going to be there for another day or two. They were going to live in an angel community in Iowa where they grow tulips. The last thing Joseph wanted them to talk about at the moment were tulips.

  Eventually the conversation wended around to preparing a place for Warren, Clara, Joseph, and the baby to stay in the church that night. Clara promptly took the opportunity to stake a spot for them to settle down and dragged Joseph with her to get him away from the others.

  Joseph was grateful. He didn’t realize how much he had needed a break until he was sitting on one of the church ladies’ quilts in a quiet nook in the church. Clara left long enough to fetch them both full, hot mugs of coffee. She handed one to him and sat down in front of him gracefully.

  The coffee was the best Joseph had ever tasted and he had a feeling there had been a small miracle somewhere in the process of making it. The soothing heat melted away the last of the throbbing pain in his throat and Joseph started feeling calm again.

  “Doing all right?” Clara asked between sips.

  “Yes. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten angry. I’m really overwhelmed.”

  Clara gave a reassuring smile over her cup. Her face and voice were nothing but forgiveness.

  “If that was angry, I’d hate to see what would happen if you were to get properly pissed.”

  Joseph couldn’t help but smile. “Me neither, honestly.”

  “Don’t be so rough on yourself,” she said. “You’re allowed to have feelings, especially when it comes to those you care about.”

  “I care about Warren very much,” Joseph whispered, and even that sounded too loud.

  But Clara, as always, knew just what to say. “You don’t have to hide that you love Warren from me. You’re safe with us.” She nodded to the open room. “With all of us.”

  The lump in Joseph’s throat returned and he swallowed it down. His voice trembled when he asked, “Do you think that… Charlton will do a good job?”

  “Yes,” Clara answered. “That’s why the war is so bad. Angels, even the bad ones, always do a good job.” She gazed at him evenly. “But Charlton is definitely a good one.”

  Joseph knew Clara was telling the truth, but he couldn’t help but be worried.

  “Rest up for a little bit,” she said, having reached the bottom of her coffee cup. “I’m going to see to a few things.”

  Clara gently stood and headed into the cluttered church. Joseph took off his coat and hat, and removed his pistol holster. He piled his things up neatly and rested his back against the wall as he took his time sipping the rest of his angelic coffee.

  Joseph had been keeping his empty cup company for a few minutes when Warren came in from outside. Joseph immediately felt better just being able to see him.

  The church ladies descended on Warren, showering him with their best offerings. When they finally let him go, Warren trudged over to Joseph with a quilt slung over his shoulder, a mug full of hot coffee in one hand, and a plate with a gigantic cinnamon roll balanced in the other.

  Joseph jumped up and found a footstool for Warren to sit on. They brought everything back to the corner Joseph had claimed for them and he held Warren’s plate and cup for him while he shed his coat and settled on the footstool.

  “Ah, thank you.” Warren took his coffee cup but pressed a kiss to Joseph’s lips before taking a sip.

  Warren didn’t look tired or anxious at all. The glow of excitement was something Joseph hadn’t seen on Warren’s face before.

  “So… everything’s all right?” Joseph asked tentatively. He shifted to stand up on his knees in front of Warren so they were eye level to one another.

  “Great,” Warren said. “We had perfect timing. Charlton and Sophie are only going to be here another day. They’re heading to an angel community up in Iowa.”

  “Yes,” Joseph said. “Where they grow tulips.”

  “Oh, you heard that part.” Warren traded Joseph the coffee cup for the cinnamon roll plate. “Mm. Want some?”

  “No,” Joseph said. “I just drank my weight in coffee.”

  “Most people could live on angel coffee, but, really,” Warren pinched off a piece of the pastry and shoved it in his mouth. “You have to try this.”

  “I’ll have some for dessert when everything is said and done and I can let myself relax,” Joseph said, trying to keep the hand holding Warren’s coffee from shaking.

  “I took your worry away,” Warren said playfully. “You’re just being stubborn now.”

  “I know,” Joseph said. “I was just wondering…. Can’t Sophie help you have the baby?”

  “No. She’s not the kind of angel to do what we need,” Warren said.

  “Why not?” Joseph asked.

  “She… talks to animals,” Warren answered between bites of cinnamon roll. “That… really won’t help us.”

  Joseph sighed. “It’s just… Charlton looks really young.”

  Warren licked cinnamon off his thumb. “Is that it, just young?”

  Joseph looked into the coffee cup. “Yeah. Young.”

  “Young’s good. Younger angels are faster and stronger. We need both of those things. Especially because when it comes to angel stuff I’m really clumsy and weak and need all the help I can get.” He shrugged. “Besides, I’ve never heard of anyone who could take five souls with them at once. Charlton might actually be a better Traveler than Lettie.”

  Joseph was silent.

  Warren waited until Joseph looked up to him again then said, “You don’t need to be jealous.”

  Joseph’s grip tightened on the coffee cup. “How did you know I was jealous?”

  Joseph saw Warren was trying to hold back a grin. “I can feel it.”

  “I thought you felt fear,” Joseph said sullenly.

  “Jealousy is its own kind of fear,” Warren explained.

  Joseph glared then spouted out, “I don’t like his arms.”

  Warren bit his lip then said, “I’m about to bring a life into this world and you don’t like his arms?”

  Joseph rolled his eyes but let himself smile. “I am only human, after all.”

  “Here.” Warren set the plate and coffee cup down on the floor and took Joseph’s hands in his. “I have faith that everything is going to be all right. Even after all that went wrong, so many things have gone right. I found you. Clara’s here with us. Charlton is the exact kind of angel I need. And Sophie will help with some things. So will Reverend Pendle.”

  Joseph swallowed. “I should be the one reassuring you right now instead of letting all this human emotion get in the way.”

  Warren shook his head. “All that human emotion you have has kept me and the baby safe up until now, so don’t feel upset about that.”

  Joseph nodded and let himself put the worry down for a moment. He leaned in and they shared a long, tender kiss.

  When the kiss ended, a sharp smile broke Warren’s lips.

  “So, I have something to tell you. I was waiting for a special moment, but we’re kind of running out of time.”

  “What’s that?” Joseph asked.

  “Before Lettie threw me back to earth, she told me the baby’s name. It’s Leona-Pearl. Well, in English, it is. Angelic names are hard to pronounce down here.”

  “Leona-Pearl,” Joseph repeated. “It’s beautiful.”

  “It is. And we’re going to meet her soon.” Warren kissed Joseph’s forehead. “Now stop being stubborn and eat the rest of this cinnamon roll.”

  Chapter Nine

  Warren gazed up into the tall, dark wood ceiling of the church. Nestled in quilts, he listened to Joseph’s soft breathing as he slept on Warren’s shoulder. They needed to give Charlton time to get cleaned up and rest. An extra couple hours was a small price to pay for the angel to be in good shape to help them bring Leona-Pearl into the world. At least Warren manage
d to get Joseph calmed down enough to take a nap. The poor man needed it.

  Everything in Warren’s life had changed in a matter of days and he had never felt happier. Perhaps it was the calm before the storm, but Warren was too grateful for everything that had come together to be worried. He knew Lettie was safe, he had his soul mate in his arms, his daughter was on the way, and he had his older sister by his side. All while surrounded by angels able and eager to help him. For the first time since before his parents died, Warren felt like he was a part of a family and that he belonged.

  Warren was about to drift off to sleep himself when Clara appeared over him. Her pale green eyes were gentle and focused.

  “Ready?” she whispered.

  “Yeah,” he answered.

  Just those words roused Joseph from his sleep and in a moment he was alert.

  Warren smiled softly. “Ready?”

  “Yeah,” Joseph said. “Yeah.”

  It took both Joseph and Clara to help Warren get to his feet. He already loved Leona more than anything, but he was very much so looking to having his body back to himself.

  Clara led the way to the front of the church. The church ladies had strung clothesline around the front of the altar and hung quilts over them to make a private room out of the raised stage.

  Warren slipped inside the makeshift room, enveloped in shadows. The patches in the quilt were illuminated from the outside, giving them a subtle glow much like the stained glass windows of the church itself. Warren hoped the pomp of the ritual wasn’t too overwhelming for Joseph. Humans had a strange way with showing off during important events. To angels this was not ritual—it was just practical. The privacy made it easier to concentrate and the altar was the easiest place to dip into another dimension and come back safely. But even Warren had to admit it felt extra special to be at the altar, surrounded by so many people with the hand-stitched quilts wrapping around them like a protective embrace.

  Charlton, Sophie, and Reverend Pendle were already there.

  "All right. So. Um.” Charlton was wearing a clean set of clothes. His sleeves were rolled up but only to his elbows. He gestured awkwardly as he spoke. “We have four extra people here, that's great. Mother, you can stand, yeah, right there. And Revered Pendle on the opposite corner. Miss Harting and Pastor Ellis if you could stand at the other two corners. Great. So, I'll need you all to keep an eye out because I'm really fast getting out. But the return isn't always the easiest. We might... fall off the altar and, well... Someone might need to..." he made a cradling gesture with clawed hands. "Catch one of us."

  Warren knew the other angels were aware that landing back on earth was sometimes rather chaotic. Charlton's instructions were really only for Joseph. Indeed, the angels didn't look a bit surprised.

  Warren could tell Joseph was trying to be calm, but the look behind his eyes was a mix between nauseous and irate. Warren couldn't really blame him. They essentially had to catch a newborn baby that was going to fall from another dimension. It was a big deal.

  Charlton gestured to Warren. “You can join me up here.”

  Charlton hopped up to sit on the altar and gave Warren a hand up to sit next to him, like they were young boys sitting next to each other on the end of a dock for an afternoon of fishing.

  "Great," Charlton said, draping an arm over Warren’s shoulders. "Let's get started."

  The realization that he was about to bring a life to earth hit Warren like an ocean wave. The kindness and love on the faces of the people around him vanished as Warren became obsessively consumed in his own thoughts.

  This is it. You're having a baby, Warren. Right now.

  Charlton placed his other hand on Warren’s chest, over his beating heart like Lettie had done. Warren forced himself to focus on what Charlton was saying.

  “Close your eyes," Charlton said. "It’ll help.”

  Warren closed his eyes, but he wasn’t sure it helped. From that ocean of realization, a cold wave of fear washed over his whole body. Warren knew how to handle other people’s fears. Even as they coursed through his body, Warren considered them a sacred gift. His own fear, however, felt wrong in his body. He had to fight the urge to move, to talk, to do something. He was just a passenger on this train and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Warren, of anyone, should have had faith. But having so much to lose made Warren want to cling to all of it fiercely, not give it all up to faith.

  Warren was just getting used to the feeling of having a baby inside him. He focused on that feeling and the tension in his body began to ease. His jaw unclenched and the fists he had balled at his sides loosened. He splayed his fingers over the old, wise wood of the altar. It warmed beneath his fingertips. The weight of the baby pressed into him—the pressure that had been uncomfortable transforming into the weight of importance and courage. In one moment Warren could feel his legs dangling off the side of the altar, but in the next moment he could not.

  Instead of giving into panic, Warren thought about Leona-Pearl with all his might: We’re going to bring you into this world. And I’m going to do my best. There’s a lot of people here I can’t wait for you to meet.

  Warren’s thoughts began to jumble. Hope. A light at the end of a tunnel. Floating. The warmth in his fingertips spread through his whole body. The weight in his stomach lessened and a weight on his chest settled in. He thought his heart would burst if he lost track of its beats. 1, 2, 3, 4….

  I have a family.

  Warren suddenly felt an aching need to see Joseph. He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn’t.

  From the abyss Warren heard two clocks ticking in sync, then, slowly, out of time… tick tock, tick, tock. Tick—his… tock, an echo—hers. And then… tick, tick, tick… only his own.

  Suddenly, a rush. Warren felt like he was being lifted from a great pool of water and then like two arms gently placing his body in a bed made of freshly cut hay.

  The ground rose under his body. He was laying down now.

  Warren’s senses began to sharpen and he made out his limbs—arms and legs followed by all ten fingers and all ten toes.

  Sharp blades of grass were poking his back, crinkling around his ears, and prickling the back of his neck. He took in deep gasps of what felt like summer air. It held a sweet scent, but he couldn’t name the flora that produced it.

  When Warren opened his eyes, he was looking up into a night sky. It was filled with constellations he didn’t recognize, like trying to read a foreign language.

  Warren pushed himself up on his elbows. He didn’t need to sit all the way up to realize he was no longer pregnant. He took in a deep breath and realized how constricted his body had been. He sat up and wrapped his arms around his middle—slender once again.

  Warren thought this would make him feel happy, but instead he was filled with a type of loneliness he had never felt before.

  Which brought Warren to his first question.

  "Um… Charlton? Where's the baby?"

  Charlton was standing about ten feet away, looking perfectly calm and put together as his gaze cut through the night.

  "Well... I set you both down very gently,” he answered. “I’m just… not sure where.”

  Warren jumped up and the two started looking around behind trees and in bushes. From the corner of his eye, Warren caught sight of a little shrub with bright red flowers and he felt compelled to investigate. He pressed the branches aside and found a gold, glowing orb nested within. When he picked it up and held it in his hands, the empty feeling sunk and a joyful feeling bloomed. The orb warmed with a gentle light like summer fireflies.

  “Oh, yup. That’s her.” Charlton said, jogging up to him. “She’ll, you know. Have a body when we get back.”

  “That’s… good,” Warren commented. He glanced around. “What is this place?”

  “I don’t actually know,” Charlton said. “I found it by accident, but no one else has ever been here. There are little pockets like this you can find if you look hard enough. It
’s not very big. Just a secret place I go. I always said when I got married this is the first place I would take them. It’s beautiful. There are things here you’ll never see or feel anywhere else in the whole Universe. I’m grateful I have it. It’s quiet and safe.”

  Warren smiled. “Thanks for sharing it with me.”

  "No problem,” Charlton said. “Um. I hope I didn't make your husband angry. I know how jealous humans can get."

  "He's not my husband... yet."

  “Still,” Charlton pressed.

  “Just don’t roll your sleeves up any higher and you’ll be all right.”

  Charlton frowned. “Huh?”

  “Nothing. He’ll forgive all his jealous feelings when he sees us get back safely. Promise.”

  “Well, then,” Charlton said. “Let’s get back safely. Hold on tight… but, you know. Not too tight.”

  Warren swallowed. He didn’t really know, but he made a guess, wrapping one arm around Charlton’s waist and cradling the orb securely in his other arm. Charlton placed one hand on the orb and the other on Warren’s chest once again.

  “Ready?” Charlton asked.

  Warren nodded. “Ready.”

  *

  The trip back was not smooth—to put it lightly. After the initial rush everything went completely black and silent. In the next moment Warren was in the middle of a confused tangle of limbs and flashes of color that he couldn’t make out.

  There were hands all around him, one on his shoulder, another grasping his wrist. Warren caught a glimpse of dark wood that matched the church interior and thought he was looking up at the ceiling. But his stomach dropped and he realized he was looking at the floor, hanging halfway off the altar table and laying on top of Charlton.

  Warren shifted thinking he had enough room to get off Charlton and still be on the table but he was wrong. His hand came down with nothing to catch him and he fell off the table.

  But a strong arm caught him around his side as Reverend Pendle caught him. Warren grasped out again, grabbing Reverend Pendle’s shoulder, and the reverend steadied Warren on his feet.