The Angels' Mirror Pack 2: Books Four through Seven

by Harmony L. Courtney

  “As some of you know, Uncle Masao has been kind enough to help translate a short manuscript that was found earlier this year; a Hebrew manuscript we believe was written by Timothy, the apprentice of Paul,” he began, pausing to take a bite to eat. “As some of you also know, he’s had an enlightening conversation with an older couple he, Jason, and Justice met a couple of months ago that has a bearing on what’s been happening with our research.”

  Rose and Mark both shifted their heads in his direction, their attention more focused now. He took another bite, and a sip of his soda before continuing.

  “And Mark, there are some questions we have for you; they may not be easy, but we need to know about your missing-”

  “It wasn’t the mirror, if that’s what you think. It was….” Mark paused a moment, recovering from his blurting response. “There was a kidnapping; a terrible kidnapping. We never saw… the body was never recovered. And I just….”

  The man began to openly weep. “I just… that’s why I looked for so long for Rosemary, I think. And why I stayed in touch with Arthur Reynolds. I thought, somewhere deep inside, maybe he’d tell me… that he would finally admit what he’d done so there would be peace. My family never had… peace never came.”

  Jason and Masao tentatively reached to pat the man on the back, setting their plates aside, and Eugenie stood and moved closer to him.

  Masao offered him a handkerchief, and he declined it.

  So, Mark… he didn’t really know about Rosemary coming through the mirror? Nobody told him?

  “We never had peace,” Mark continued softly, “because the kidnapper, in my family’s case, killed himself. Refused to say where the bodies of any of his victims were; no proof they were dead, but we knew… we knew, deep down. When someone’s really gone… you just… you know.”

  “I’m…”

  Edward hesitated.

  What could he say? If he’d have known, there was no way he’d have….

  “Just move on. What did Masao learn,” Mark said quickly, wiping his face with the backs of his hands, and then wiping his hands on his well-pressed jeans. “I can’t… I can’t think about this. Let’s move on.”

  “Well stated, and understood,” Paloma told him sympathetically. “I can’t even imagine.”

  And so, maneuvering through what they’d learned so far, Masao led them through the conversation he’d had with the Schindlers and the first part of the Hebrew text – as well as how they’d discovered Timothy was the one who’d created the mirror – in short time. Edward continued eating his meal as he watched the faces of his friends and family move from confusion, to awe, to disbelief, to gratitude as Masao spoke.

  “So you’re saying,” S. Gillam spoke up for the first time, setting down his plate. “That Timothy – the Timothy we read about in the Bible – handcrafted that…? Are you kidding me? And that a Red Sox player, then a cousin of Oskar Schindler owned that mirror?”

  “But there’s more,” Masao said. “And this, none of you have heard yet. I got a call from Justice right before we left the house,” he continued, “and we know the name of someone else who moved through time… apparently also with this mirror. From what we know, it seems to have happened in the 1270s. It seems-”

  “Wait, back up,” Edward nearly shouted as Jason leapt from his seat, causing his empty bottle to fall over. He bent to pick it up as Edward continued. “The 1270s, you say?”

  Jason moved to collect other empties, and Eugenie and Angelique began gathering plates, causing him to be distracted. “I ask because we’ve seen a reference to-”

  “Yes,” Masao assured him, bowing his head a moment. “Jason has said as much, and therefore it is my conclusion it had to be the mirror. The woman whose grandfather it was is in the hospital right now, and being assessed… an apparent history of heart problems in the lineage. No way to know, of course, if it was already something he had going on, or if his trip through the mirror mutated the genes he passed on, but… needless to say, it frightened a certain other… transporter.”

  “Another…?”

  Well, who else could there be, Edward thought. He was here, and Rose was here, and… oh. Rosemary! So she’s run into someone who’s got a tie-in, as well!

  “I’ve only been told the woman’s name is Clementina. Her grandfather, Manuel Luis Santos Moralez, arrived in 1917, landing in the home of one,” he paused, pulling a notepad from his pocket, “Peter Abhainn Wishart and his new bride, Angela. Apparently, Rose’s aunt and uncle. From what Justice was able to determine,” Masao continued, “given the few facts he had to work with, he was sixteen at the time and, given that the church closest to where they lived was primarily Portuguese, he fit in fairly well there. He soon married one Anita Maria Abreu dos Santos, and moved from Gloucester, Massachusetts to live with Anita Maria’s great aunt and uncle in,” he checked his notepad again, “Chicago, Illinois in 1927. They had nine children during their marriage, and twenty-six grandchildren. Clementina is the only daughter of her father, Miguel Manuel, and an African-American woman he took up with but never married.

  Jason let out a low whistle. “Wow, I guess…”

  “But if that’s the case, then…,” Edward began.

  “It just seems so… unreal,” Me’chelle said. “Three families so intertwined, and so involved with this mirror. But…”

  Their words collided, and everyone laughed. Edward, for one, was thankful for the change in mood. The day had already been long, and they still had yet to disclose the third reason they’d brought everyone together.

  Forty Four

  Meridian, Mississippi… April 10, 2025

  Calico moved to get more water for Angus when, finally, she saw Prudence and Joel walking toward her.

  “They said she’ll be alright. Some modifications are needed, but…”

  Joel scrubbed his eyes a moment before continuing, Prudence patting his back as Amos and Mario came speed walking over, along with Romeo, holding Angus’s hand. “Basically, Clementina needs to lose some weight; we knew that, and we were working on it, but not enough. We’ll need to be more vigilant,” he continued.

  “I’ve also put in a call to Brice,” he continued as they all walked back over to the sitting area, Angus whining for more water. “Considering what we’re up against now I asked him to get the best computer guy he knows on some of this… not only for her health, but about her past. Her family history.”

  An image of Justice Morrison skittered across her mind and with it, a brief pang of what if. But he was as happily married as she, to different people; she was happy for him; for he and Midge, both.

  Her gaze traveled to Romeo and caressed his face as Joel continued.

  “So, I’m going to stay with her here tonight, and I want the rest of you to go back home. If anything changes, I’ll call Mario, and he’ll contact the rest of you, alright? I want everyone to get a good night’s sleep, because between Clementina’ health and...”

  Joel’s eyes rested on Angus, who frowned at him. “More water,” he pleaded. “And I’m hungry again.”

  “We’ll get you food and water soon, Kiddo,” Joel said, bending down to his level in front of him where he sat on the couch. “And then, I’m sending you all home, okay? I’m going to stay here with Miss Clementina, and we’ll see you tomorrow, how does that sound?”

  “But… I miss her,” Angus said, pouting. Calico could see the bags under his eyes and knew he had to be exhausted.

  “Just one day, and you’ll see her again. I promise,” the man told him seriously.

  Calico’s heart went out to both Joel and her son. Joel, who knew about Angus’s health, and Angus, because he was just too young to understand what was happening to him.

  How do you tell a child that the reason they get tired easy, want to eat and drink a lot, and have nausea with tummy aches is because they have something that won’t ever go away? That they, for some reason, have health issues that, together, keeps them from gaining weight or having a
s much energy as other little boys their age?

  Romeo took her hand and shook his head at her.

  What, she told him with her eyes. I’m not saying a word. It’s bad enough that he’ll find out next week at the appointment.

  He squeezed her hand and moved toward their son, clapping Joel on the shoulder in the process. “We’ll be sure to have a special treat for her when she gets home, won’t we, Angus,” he said lightly. Joel stood back up, and Romeo moved to take the boy by the hand. “But for now, I think tacos sound like a mighty fine idea. And we have all the ingredients for them at home, okay?”

  Calico watched her son nod, then looked around the room.

  While everyone in their little group was watching the father-son interaction, another group of people were sitting on the far side of the room, next to the television. Three of them had plugged into it, and a fourth was reading a book, a grimace on her reddened face.

  “Well, I guess we’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Mario said, giving Joel a firm pat on the back. “And as for the three of you, unless homemade tacos is really what you want, what say we go grab a pizza for you to eat on the way home, or when you get there? Should save time and energy, if you’re interested. There’s a place just up the block.”

  Calico looked to her husband, who shrugged. “I’m okay with that. I’m fine, either way,” he said before hunkering down to look Angus in the eye. “But what do you think?”

  “Pizza,” the boy nearly yelled. “Pizza, pizza, pizza!”

  “Well,” Calico told Mario as Romeo stood back up. “Apparently we’re taking you up on that offer for pizza.”

  The little boy clapped, hugged Mario with a thank you, and hugged Joel goodbye.

  “Tomorrow, I promise,” Joel told him again, tousling his hair. Angus smiled wide and nodded. And then, they were off… finally headed back for a decent meal and, she hoped, a well-needed rest.

  Forty Five

  Vancouver, Washington… April 10, 2025

  “So the other reason we called you together tonight,” Paloma began as she set the last of the dishes aside for later, “is prayer. For several weeks now, both Edward and I have had a sense of being… watched. We aren’t sure what’s causing it, where it’s coming from, who or what it might be… we just know that, together or apart, there is this sense of eyes following our movements. It’s been unsettling, and at times, downright creepy – well, creepy to me,” she said, amending the statement.

  “We don’t think it’s Quentin or anyone he knows,” Edward continued as he pushed his feet up on the recliner, exhausted. “First off, it began three or four days before he was released; he wasn’t even in this part of the state. And second, it doesn’t even feel like a person… not to me, anyway. What do you think, Ma Chère?”

  She shivered as she walked back toward the little group, stopping to grab a shawl from behind the door along the way.

  “Well… that depends. I’d have to say usually, no, it feels more like a something than a someone, but today… that was different. Like whomever or whatever was… closer, somehow.”

  Angelique moved over a little for her to sit on the couch, as the men had traded places, allowing them a bit more comfort. Tawny had chosen to stay in a dining chair, and so she, Me’chelle, Eugenie, and Angelique were clustered together on the couch, just slightly more than was comfortable.

  Livable. Just not ideal for everyday.

  “So, what are you thinking is the cause, then,” Jason asked in the pregnant pause that stretched between them. “Because I don’t think you’ve mentioned this to me at all, and that surprises me. I mean, I thought you two told me pretty much everything.”

  “Well, not everything,” Edward said, smiling at her and giving her a wink. “But a lot.”

  “So maybe we read something first, if I may,” Masao suggested. “If you bring a Bible to me, please?”

  Edward and Paloma looked at one another and, after a moment, she got up to retrieve one from their room. On the way, she let the cat out, since they were finished eating, and headed back to the living room behind the bounding ball of fur.

  “I brought the four-by, since you didn’t mention a specific translation,” she told him, handing the heavy Bible over to him. “I hope that’s alright.”

  “Perfectly acceptable,” he told her, smiling as he began flipping through the pages. “Gives me more to work with.”

  Confetti made her way over to Edward, jumped onto the chair, walked down his leg, and sat at his ankles. Paloma could hear her purring from where she stood, and was thankful.

  “Anything else anyone needs before I sit down,” she asked, looking around the room. Other than Mark, everyone shook their heads.

  “Yes,” Paloma asked him.

  “Oh, no, it’s… it’s nothing. Just thinking, that’s all. I’m sure you don’t have chocolate around here at the moment, and I’m rather… craving some.”

  “Nope; we’ve got hot chocolate; that’s it.”

  He sat straighter in his chair; stopped fidgeting.

  “What kind of hot chocolate?”

  She smiled at him as Masao cleared his throat. “E. Guittard Grande Cacao and Godiva Hot Cocoa Milk Chocolate,” she told him.

  “Well, unless you’re preparing it with milk it’s still cocoa and not hot chocolate. If you have some two percent milk, I’d go for, hmmm… the Godiva, I think,” he told her smiling.

  Not knowing whether he was being smug or simply overly knowledgeable, she headed to the kitchen and began preparations. “Anyone else, since I’m making it anyway?”

  “Well, now that you mention it,” her brother told her, laughing, “it sounds good, but I think I’ll still pass.”

  Once everyone was settled in and Mark had his hot chocolate, Masao spoke once more.

  “I want to read you two passages. The first is Psalm one twenty one, and in the King James, says: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber,” he began, pausing a moment.

  “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”

  Paloma reveled in the passage she had read only days before; read, hoping that, somehow, whatever it was that was watching her would not harm her, but would be beneficial.

  Could it really be that His angels were watching them, and making themselves known? Could it be that they hadn’t allowed their eyes to be opened to see what was right in front of them?

  “The second passage I’d like to read to you is from Daniel ten, verses four through twelve,” Masao continued, riffling through the pages to find it.

  “Now, keep in mind this is after Daniel had been fasting for three weeks. He had been seeking the answer to a very specific query, and added fasting to the prayer, humbling himself before God. Listen to what happened next; again, I read from the King James,” he reminded them.

  “May as well stick to the same version, yes? So, anyway… it says: “And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel; Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz,”” he began.

  Paloma listened as she watched Mark sipping his chocolate and occasionally moving a hand to the seam of his pant leg, shaking his head, and returning it to the cup.

  “His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision
; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength,” Masao continued, his voice growing stronger as he read.

  Paloma tried to imagine the brightness, the boldness of this angel Daniel saw, wondering at the thought. Very different from the angels you saw commercialized in so many forms, both masculine and feminine; both adult and child, the angel before Daniel was more real that she could even imagine.

  This angel was, well, more like a soldier than a winged being; Isaiah had seen wings, and there were six on the seraphim. In Exodus, cherubim were described as two-winged. Ezekiel had seen four-winged creatures, calling them cherubim. In fact, the only reference she could think of that might indicate a female appearance of angels was in Zechariah something or another.

  But Daniel?

  Here, in this passage, Paloma heard nothing of wings and everything of strength.

  “Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.”

  After a few moments – silent, but for Confetti’s purring and Mark’s chocolate sipping – Jason moved to speak, but words refused to come out. Me’chelle, now clasping hands with Paloma, spoke, instead.

  “Some powerful thoughts there; some powerful lessons. So, Masao, what do you suggest? A fast? Or that this presence is absolutely from God? In the time you’ve been reading, I, too, got a sense of being watched. And I, for one, never have before in my life, when it wasn’t the real deal,” she said, sitting up a little higher.