Heading back stage to find Raul, Jamie sees him coming out of a dressing room marked employees only. He greets him warmly and Jamie tells him he has a favor to ask. Raul tells him after hearing the favor that it would be no problem. He’s happy to oblige, because he was asked to play at Jamie’s party that was the reason he was engaged to play tonight. Thanking him Jamie tells him what he wants him to do and hands him sheet music, Raul agrees and Jamie heads back to Tanner.
“Please take my friend in and seat him at the Los Angeles table.” Jamie tells the concierge. “Tanner you go on over to the table and say nothing about me. Just tell them you couldn’t find me.” Jamie explains to him.
“What are you doing now boy, you ain’t skipping out are you?” Tanner asks concern in his voice.
“No old friend, I’m not, just providing some entertainment for a special someone.” He explains putting Tanner’s mind to rest.
Deanna sees Tanner being wheeled in by the concierge and wonders if Jamie is here also. She looks about the room searching with her eyes for him.
Jamie watches her from behind the curtains to one side of the stage. She appears to be looking for someone, could it be him, Jamie wonders? Jamie turns and heads to the other side of the stage to await Raul’s entrance.
The lights go down and the curtain lifts, as Raul stands holding a microphone in his hands.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to welcome you here for the twentieth Annual Horseman’s Banquet, we intend to bring you an international flavor of music tonight, for your listening and dancing pleasure. To start the night off, it’s my pleasure and privilege to present a singer and song writer, who’s written a song and will perform it for the first time ever in public. This song is for someone very special here this evening. Ladies and gentleman, may I present J. D. Thompson singing, Love through the Looking Glass.”
Deanna gasps at the sound of his name, and looks toward where they are playing the spot light. The light illuminates a man sitting at the piano and the notes she heard that day at the Rancho are drifting out over the room. Deanna listens to the words as if hearing them for the first time. She remembers asking herself that day, could he ever love someone again as much as he loved before? Deanna reaches up and clutches the medallion that rests upon her bosom in her hand; she feels heat radiating from it as it pulses against her palm. Mel reaches over and grabs Deanna’s other hand.
The entire room is silent as he sings a country love song about a man who has found his love in a mirror that turns dark with the coming of the day. It shows him a reflection of a woman that he sees only with the setting of the sun.
Come stay with me, not just a reflection
From the looking glass.
Don’t leave me like the fading stars.
Stay with me, for the rest of your days,
Let me love you, for the rest of mine.
Let me love you, for the rest of mine.
The music ends with the last chorus and the room erupts in applause, Jamie crosses the room to stand before her and offers her his hand. Taking it, she rises to his embrace, hearing him say. “I love you, and I want you to spend the rest of your days with me, I promise to try and make you happy. It’s you, I love, and there are no more ghosts. I promise you my life, because it’s now mine to give.” He kisses her and once again time seems to stand still, no sound except the pounding of her own heart, exactly like the first time he kissed her. The difference is, she’s kisses him back and the room appears to spin, the pounding she feels now is from his heart as well as her own.
As his lips leave hers, she whispers to him, “I love you more.” Taking the Medallion from around her neck, she places it around his.
Deanna looks into his eyes no longer lost, saying to him, “Only to one with a pure heart can I give mine.”
Out in the garden two wraiths stand by and watch as the one dearest to both makes his choice.
“Lord Cecht, do you believe he will be happy now?”
“Yes, Mistress Mary he will be happy now, for he embarks on his life’s quest. He will find more of the Children of Danu and guide them to fulfillment as was prophesied long ago.
“All the children, will they be alright?
“Yes, he will retain the power to restore. The descendants gather about him now.”
“I don’t understand, are there more like him?”
“Yes, there are those that carry the Tuatha blood, like Roberto, Eduardo and Dyon.
It is time for us to depart, our people wait at the crossover for the last journey home. Come Mistress, we’ve tarried to long as it is we must not miss the Gateway………
Well, that’s the story, you might not believe it, and by the look on some of your faces, I can tell that you don’t. I swear to you, tis true every word, for it was I, Thomas Scanlon that bore witness to this with them.
The young lass Tara asks me, “What happened to the other’s Father, what of Dyon and Jonah and the girls and all the others what became of them? There wasn’t really an angel was there?”
Father Tom answers her with a smile. “Ah, they’re stories for another time and another place and as to whether Angels walk among us; my answer is, only if you believe.”
INDEX
Agnes Benacourt- Tom Collin’s receptionist
Angel- Adopted American Bulldog, Mary’s former dog
Cerbon- Partner in Southwest Properties
Dagda- King of the Tuatha De Danu
D.C.- Dyon’s palomino show horse
Deanna Gaynor- Reporter for The Palm Beach Pro Horseman’s Photo Magazine
Deanna Quinn- Deanna Gaynor’s maiden name
Dian Cecht- Jamie’s ancestor and Lord of The Tuatha De Dana
Dr. Winmen- Katy Gaynor’s court appointed therapist
Dr. Paterson- Deanna’s Veterinarian
Duenas- Spanish for female chaperone
Dyon Thompson- Jamie Doyle’s ward
Eduardo Sanchez- Jamie’s ranch foreman and Rosa’s husband
Edward Haskell- Ex U.S. Senator, financier and Father-law of Jamie Doyle
Esteban- One of Jamie’s vaqueros at the ranch
Fiona Thompson- Jamie’s deceased younger sister
Father Tom Scanlon- Ex priest and long time friend of Jamie Doyle
Frank Collins- Editor of Palm Beach Pro Horseman’s Magazine
Gila- Marta’s sister and Rosa’s cousin
Hanna- Deanna‘s old Nanny and her mother’s companion and friend
Irene O’Neil- T. J.’s mother and Tom Scanlon’s housekeeper
Jake Clayton- Owner of Jake’s Place and ex rodeo champion
Jamie Doyle- Owner of Rancho de Los Angeles
Jefe- Spanish for Boss or Headman
Jennifer Quinn- Deanna’s mother
John Ellsworth- Owner and Publisher of Palm Beach Pro Horseman’s Photo Magazine
Jonah Flynn- Deanna Gaynor’s son
Katy Gaynor- Deanna Gaynor’s daughter
Ken Axelrod- Palm Beach attorney and friend of John Ellsworth
Marianna Davidson- One of the State Children in Jamie’s program
Marta- Another of Rosa’s cousins
Marty- Security police from the magazine
Melody Ellsworth- Wife of John Ellsworth and friend to Deanna Gaynor
Miguel- Jamie’s vaquero that was killed in the ambush at the Rancho
Moina McCann- Married Edward Haskell Jennifer Quinn’s best friend
Nation Horse Show- One of the premier equestrian events in U.S held each year in Wellington FL.
Pita- Rosa and Eduardo’s daughter
Rancho de Los Angeles- Name Jamie Doyle’s ranch in Wellington
Raul- local band leader and friend of Rosa’s
Red Fox Farm- Deanna’s home in Lynchburg VA.
Reverend Small- Jennifer Quinn’s pastor in VA.
Robert Quinn- Deanna’s father and friend of Edward Haskell
Roberto Diaz- Head of the Columbian Riding Team
Roger Montg
omery- English horse trainer and jumper interested in Deanna
Roger- Security police from the magazine
Rosa Sanchez- Jamie Doyle’s household manager
Rubin- One of Jamie’s vaqueros at the ranch
Rufus Tanner- Jamie’s blacksmith and oldest friend
Segundo- Second in command or Forman
Southwest Properties- Land speculators and developers
Steve Gaynor- Deanna’s ex husband
Storm- Jamie’s Tennessee Walking Horse
Sweetbriar College- Top equestrian college in VA
T. J O’Neil- One of the State children in Jamie’s program.
Theresa- Rosa’s friend and cousin from Mexico
Thomas Flynn- Jonah’s father killed during the Gulf War
Tia Rivera- One of the girls placed in Jamie’s program
Tim Manning- Deanna’s Photographer for Photo Magazine
Trinity Lopez- Jamie’s first wife and barrel racing champion
Vaquero- Cowboy or ranch hand in Spanish
Wade Davis- Jamie’s mentor and friend in his rodeo days
Williams- Partner in Southwest Properties
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wallace Jan Ecklof grew up in a one square mile honky-tonk community on the Jersey shore, and graduated high school in 1965 during the height of the Viet Nam War.
He started working as a Roller Derby skater, a lobsterman, and then a cowboy in South Dakota for two years on a horse and cattle ranch. He then attended college studying for a degree in business and literature. His father wished he follow the path of other male family members and work for Prudential Insurance Company, while his mother wanted him to pursue something scholarly in Art or Literature.
Being married while still in college and the birth of the first of three sons, Shawn, Shannon, and Patrick put his college career on hold: His need to support his family would mean the pursuit of literary interests would have to wait.
He worked in retail and insurance, obtained his real estate license then managed a large real estate office in Middletown N.J. for twelve years. During this time his marriage ended in divorce.
A new chapter emerged in his life. Wallace ran into his childhood sweetheart who encouraged him to pursue his real calling, writing and his intense love of animals. He then remarried and decided to take a chance and purchase a small bankrupt pet store in Red Bank N.J. He used his education in literature and love of animals to write interesting ad copy and his company soon became a small chain. The company extended from New Jersey to south eastern Florida and in 1988 he relocated to Palm Beach County, Florida.
Wallace retired in Nineteen Ninety Six. Since arriving in Florida he had been involved with Horses for the Handicap and experienced what these big beautiful animals could do for people with disabilities especially children. It was at this juncture in his life that the inspiration for the Last Celtic Angel came to him. Training people with physical and emotional handicaps plus his years as a ranch hand and a life long love of everything equine all combined to inspire his writing.
For twenty five years Wallace lived in Wellington, Florida where he honed his equine skills by competing in the many horse events held in one of the nation’s top equestrian areas. With the demise of his wife in 2006 he then returned to New Jersey, where he now resides.
ENDNOTE
[1] Means Gentleman or cowboy
[2] mother
[3] Large Spanish cattle used primarily in Bull Fighting, know for their courage
[4] Cross breed Angus to Braham for hot weather climates, big meat producers
[5] Thank you
[6] comprehend
[7] Hello boss
[8] Bossman
[9] Chaperone
[10] Argentine cowboy
[11] Mexican cowboy
[12] Very much
[13] A very tough or bad man
[14] Extreme great time
[15] mother
[16] With permission
[17] Excuse me
[18] Permit me
[19] Gentleman
[20] Boss or Headman
[21] Many thanks
[22] Famous guitar song
[23] Hello
[24] Tough man
[25] The tiger
[26] Grand party
[27] Very important
[28] The mother
[29] RanchForman
[30] One of the largest rodeos in North America
[31] Agricultural area not zoned for housing
[32] My house
[33] shoes
[34] One moment please
[35] Mother of God
[36] Ancient tribe of Iberia thought to have conquered Ireland Means Family of the Goddess Danu
[37] Ranch foreman
[38] Pardon me
[39] Dogs
[40] Police
[41] My Lady
[42] State Police Troops
[43] Great Irish healer of the Celtic tribe Tuatha De Danu
[44] Irish King known as the “Good God” of the Tuatha De Danu over 2,000 years ago
[45] Good
[46] Companions
[47] My home is your home
[48] Merry Christmas
[49] magnificent
The Last Celtic Angel Page 31