by BoJenn
The worst part of the trek was knowing that she was all alone on this deserted road. “Anyone with good human sense stayed at home,” Eleanor thought. Back and forth her mind was acting like a human’s and the gravitational forces of fear were toying with her wisdom, trying every way possible to distract her from the mission. After all, anything is plausible in the game of war.
There were no other headlights to shine as a beacon, nothing to illuminate any parts of the mountain that she could make out. Eleanor just pushed on the gas pedal trying to make good time while she could. Let’s beat the worst part of the storm. Besides, as little as she knew without “Mr. Fear”, aka the weatherman, the storm could be well past her. And, Tadhg wasn’t communicating any updates. “Tadhg, where are you?” He didn’t answer. Eleanor worried for a moment. “Oh, he’ll be back. No worries.” She straightened up and put found a positive outlook, but then, the last part of the climb up the mountainside began with a final right turn that rapidly started an ascension.
The wind picked up with each graduation of feet and climbing; it blew hundreds of icy-wet fall leaves in every direction. Soon, the windshield became covered with a layer of the leaves and twigs. Eleanor wrestled with finding the knob for the windshield wipers. The leaves were sticking to the blades, so she turned the speed up. Back and forth, back and forth, the blades began to catch on the twigs and leaves, slowing the wipers and worsening what little visibility there was.
Eleanor stopped the Jeep in the middle of the road and stepped out. Cleaning the front window in seconds, she hurried back inside and put it in gear. “Tadhg, where are you?” Still, Tadhg didn’t answer. Again she reminded herself, “This mission is more important than a winter blizzard barreling down a mountainside,” so she plodded forward. “I am a loyal servant of The Most High; and I am being sent to fulfill a duty, which I will do.”
Onward, up the winding road she kept going, taking full advantage of no other cars, driving in the center of the narrow road. But now, the snowy, icy leaves were covering all the ground. Slowly she The unfamiliarity, the wind, the leaves and sleet and then hail made blinding, swirling patterns in the headlights. She looked again for a place to pull over but the narrow road had no shoulder at all. “I’ve got to keep going,” she said, “but, Tadhg where are you! You’re supposed to be guiding me. Are you around?” No response.
A fearful crack from behind made Eleanor gasp as a whole tree fell right behind her across the entire road, blocking the way back to town. Already having addressed the incorrigible enemy in fear, her heart rate shot up, and she uttered a low, “Oh, my God!” There was definitely no turning around.
Then, a small owl, trying to escape the winds, zoomed across her line of sight, just inches above the windshield. It screeched before what seemed would be certain impact, just as another owl swooped in, helping what she realized, then, had been a baby owl lost and aimlessly out of control in the wind. There wasn’t a thud from a bird impact—only the beating of Eleanor’s heart from that unexpected fright. “Ahead, to the right!”, Tadhg’s mental voice reached out to Eleanor. “There is a ledge to pull over and adjust the lights to low beams. There, Eleanor, there!”
“Finally, you showed up! Where were you?” Eleanor scolded him.
“I went ahead of you and inspected the road and weather conditions. Back now. No worries.” Tadhg tried his best to reassure her.
The rental Jeep lurched as she stopped. Relieved, Eleanor hesitated. “Maybe there was a break in the weather?” It was too difficult to tell. She took in some deep breaths. “What should I expect ahead on the road?”
“One step at a time. Do not anticipate anything. Just trust. And, yes, Eleanor, I will be with you. You can count on me,” Tadhg spoke into her ear. “Can you hear me? I'm working with you. Just listen. I’ll guide you. Trust. Have I ever let you down?”
Her lack of response worried him, but he continued to speak anyway. “I'm not sure she hears me, but I won’t let anything happen to her,” he said to himself, if no one else.
“Tadhg, your voice is going in and out. Is that you?”
“Yes. It’s me. There must be electrical magnetic interference here.”
Eleanor fiddled with the dash and turned on the radio once more. It was still tuned to the local weather station and another bleak announcement filled the air, “The weather is worsening and a winter warning is now in place throughout a 70 mile radius. All driving should be avoided.”
Eleanor said, “More bad news. Sometimes no news is good news, but I had better stop somewhere. Tadhg, where are you now?”
Tadhg sighed to himself, “It's too late for that. Eleanor is halfway between the beginning and the end. She'll be alright…I think.”
Eleanor looked at the Jeep’s gas gauge. "A quarter of a tank,” she said to herself. “That’s not enough to stay here, I'll run out of fuel. Then no heat. No. I will go on. I must.”
“Eleanor, compose yourself. Now, remember to keep the lights on low beam, so the flurries won't blind you,” Tadhg hinted again.
“What?”, Eleanor asked. Is that you Tadhg? Is it you?”
“Put your light beams on low,” Tadhg repeated, patiently. “And, yes, it’s me.”
“Oh, okay,” Eleanor said. She fiddled with the lights and switched to low beams. She had also turned the radio on to have company. But, it distracted her already pounding heart. So she turned it off again. She slowly pulled back onto the road and felt the tires slip on the ice at the edge of the shoulder.
Now, she thought, she would have to move along even slower. No sooner had she thought that, the rear tires caught in a patch of the ice and fishtailed on the narrow road, but, thank goodness, the four-wheel drive quickly autocorrected itself, and she was moving forward again.
Eleanor had grown up in the English countryside, and much like the present situation, snow and ice were a problem, but she thought she knew how to drive in such conditions—she had done so since the early 1900s. But this was exceeding her skills and she wondered how much further she had to travel. How much longer?
“Fifteen minutes more! You can do it friend!”, Tadhg encouraged.
Up and down, a curve to the right and one to the left she moved slowly, but uneventfully. Then, a hillside bridge sign on the next curve declared a dangerous drop-off to be a hundred feet ahead on the road.
“Oh, dear Lord,” Eleanor murmured, filled with utter dread.
“Do not slam on the brakes. Stay centered; keep the tires away from where ice gathers on the sides of the bridges; and, if you should lose control and start to spin, then turn into the spin,” Tadhg reminded her.
Eleanor had taught herself the rules of driving everything from horses to horse-drawn carriages, to automobiles and even Jeeps. She had thought of herself as an expert maneuverer. But, this was more dangerous than ever before.
She flashed back to a similar circumstance—only she wasn’t the sole driver; and she wasn’t alone. She was a passenger in a runaway horse-drawn carriage over the cliffs of Dover. But, nothing had prepared her for this—bats and owls flying at the Jeep’s windshield.
Accidentally slipping a foot in one direction might be a foot too much and send her over the side of the mountain. Carefully, Eleanor moved her right foot from the gas pedal to the brake. She complained, “American left-side driving.”
The careful maneuvering was exhausting, and, suddenly, a deer and two fawns jumped in front of her. Eleanor swerved to miss them and caught the left bumper on the mountainside. She heard the loud scraping noise just before the Jeep made a complete 360-degree turn and stopped. The three deer had vanished and the tires were set forward on the white covered road. “What road?”, she exclaimed. There was only pristine white snow, lined by ice.
“I wish you were here Tadhg,” Eleanor said.
“I am,” Tadhg answered. “Come on Eleanor, you can do it! There is a narrow bridge not too far away. I’ll be with you. It’s maybe a block or less away.”
“Okay. I can do this
, I can do this, I can do this…I’m getting tired, Tadhg. My human eyes are blurry. You have to see for me,” Eleanor begged Tadhg. “I need your help, please.” Her voice whimpered.
“Yes, you can. You can, and you will. I will be your eyes. No worries, friend. I’m with you all the way. I’m here.”
Slowly, Eleanor drove on. The tires crunched the ice beneath them with every rotation. But soon, Eleanor reached the edge of the little bridge. She almost laughed at her gratitude that no oncoming car would be trying to make it across the bridge first. “And, I could have gotten to where I am going without a vehicle, Tadhg. So, what am I doing?”
“Yes, you could have. But, we decided driving like a normal human was the best plan. You must present like others. Now, Eleanor, listen to me,” Tadhg continued. “Have the Jeep squared in the center of the road as you go over the bridge. No one is coming. Very slowly steer to keep it in the absolute middle of the road.”
“Of course, of course. That’s the only possible way,” Eleanor thought to herself. After all, the center was all the naked eye could possibly see with the fresh silvery white snow utterly covering everything but the railings on each side that flagged the edges. The road had to be in between the two metal and concrete sides, Eleanor thought. But, the bridge, now just a little bit ahead, seemed to go wrap around the hillside, curving and winding for a lengthy distance she couldn’t estimate.
All the proportions were magnified by fear. “I’m certain, in the daylight, this is a small bridge. My mind is playing tricks on me. I’m only imagining a huge long scary twisting road in front of me. Oh, it’s all in my mind,” Eleanor thought, frustrated all the while. “Here goes. There’s nowhere to pull over, so this must be the point of no return. Once I start over the edge of this narrow little road, this is it. There are only two little railings. Deep breath, Eleanor, deep breath.”
Eleanor put her foot ever so lightly on the gas pedal. Maybe she traveled a few feet, but she wasn't certain as the snow continued to fall even heavier, and she knew that ice covered the barely visible road and the steel railing that marked the road's cleft.
Still shaking and trembling, her hands were barely able to grip the steering wheel. “I can’t do this!” But, she knew “Fear’s” names, and she refused to let them win. “Fear of failing, fear of the circumstances, fear of the unknown, fear and trepidation—oh, there are so many little fears, who can name them all? No wonder humans appear so weak; they are bombarded with all the reasons something can’t be done, instead of considering how things can be done. Let me see… Yes, I can do all things through Christ whom strengthens me. No weapon formed against me shall prosper… There is more, there is more… He will not let my foot slip or dash myself upon a rock… Yes, these are good. Keep saying them… My God is my rock and my strength and I will not fear! This is working,” Eleanor said to herself. “YES! Thank you,” she reaffirmed her soul, speaking the affirmations over and over. He will not let my foot slip or be dashed upon the stones. She laughed with joy finding peace in her savior, the One she serves.
Boldly taking the wheel with steadier hands now, Eleanor steered the Jeep with renewed courage. The tires rolled over the bridge. It felt like an ice-skating rink and the Jeep banged against the rails slipping from one side to the other. “Bang, slip, bang, slip, bang, slip, bang…” She worked, panicky and trying to hold the vehicle to the road.
Fighting the Jeep’s movements side to side, sliding, out of driving control, to and fro, Eleanor began to give up. This was unlike her. She wasn’t prone to surrendering. There wasn’t a demon in hell that had ever stopped her, but at this moment, Eleanor thought the devils were winning.
From out of nowhere, but audible within the Jeep, she heard, “You can’t win them all, Eleanor.” Then, the voice laughed. “Got you this time. Prepare to die. Checkmate.” Eleanor did not respond verbally to the threat; however, she did hear its imminent prediction. She was no longer in control of the vehicle. The rails were—from side to side, back and forth, for a distance she couldn’t remember. And, she finally lost total control when the tires skidded, and like an ice-skater who has lost footing, so did the Jeep. Turning a second 360-degree loop for the evening, Eleanor passed out from sheer fright.
When the Jeep came to a stop, the back right tire was caught on the steel railing with the front tires suspended over the side of the cleft. Eleanor had been unconscious, having banged her head on the steering wheel, totally unknowing of her precarious position. She woke for a moment and looked out the window to see the horrific situation. Closing her eyes again at the sheer fear of the present moment, she spoke aloud, “Tadhg, where are you?”
No longer able to cope with her likely human destiny, Eleanor squeezed her eyes shut and prayed that her final death would not be too unbearable. “Dear God, I hope you’ve found me to be a good servant. Oh, and I’m sorry for making the concierge see himself as an old crone. Sorry, Lord.”
As she prayed, angels took their fingers and touched her eyelids. In unison, they whispered a powerful suggestion to her, “Go to sleep.”
Eleanor fell asleep for that moment, just as the suggestion had been issued. She slept. Distant headlights reflected on the snow ahead as a second vehicle slowly approached. The Jeep’s engine was no longer running. There was quietness except for the wind and the blizzard.
Eleanor was unaware of anyone or any help as she was lifted from the car. It was Gail Tadhg who pulled her out, just as the Jeep tipped over the hill and crashed somewhere beneath on rocks below. It tumbled over and over the ledges with trees and boulders. Somewhere in the dark below them, Tadhg heard it stop. It was too dark to see how far it had plummeted. But, he continued to hear it as the echoes followed the crash. Then silence came. Coldness and silence.
Tadhg carried Eleanor with him into the snowplow cab. She woke for a moment and told him, “Thank you, sir; I could have died. I'm not hurt, only frightened.” She passed out again. Eleanor did not recognize Tadhg.
“Wake up! It's me, Tadhg. Wake up,” he said. Eleanor didn’t recognize him out of his normal attire—his preferred Celtic apparel. But, right then, he looked like a West Virginia logger donning a flannel red plaid shirt and a red furry-eared ball cap.
“I was on my way to the home of Elizabeth Dubois,” Eleanor said in a proper British accent, replete with dignified sense of pride.
Even though the accident had shaken her badly, leaving her close to tears, she held them back with the sheer strength of her courage.
“It's not much further; I'll drop you off there,” Tadhg said, relieved to see that she was awake and speaking. “I hoped that you would have made the drive, Eleanor,” Tadhg said, paying attention to the road, but also noticing the laceration above her brow. He noticed it appeared to be deep, with some blood beginning to drip from it onto her eyelid.
“Tadhg, is it you?”, she asked.
“Of course. Do you think I’d let you perish?”, he reassured her.
While driving, he reached over into her tote bag and summoned a white, gauze dressing. It plopped into his hand. “That is a wonderful tote you have,” he said with a grin, using his right hand to place the dressing on the gash. “We’ll be there soon.”
“Oh? You’re not frightened, like the rest of these people?”, Eleanor asked, surprised.
“Frightened? Of what?”, Tadhg asked. He had a twinkle in his eye, and a one-sided smile that was uniquely his, regardless of whether he was dressed as a lion-tamer or a Southern miner. The smile and twinkle were unmistakably his. “Why would I be frightened of the lassie?”, he chuckled in his manner that only he could do. Eleanor stared into his eyes, looking for the stars to twinkle.
Then, she moaned, “Tadhg, why didn’t you simply take me to her home in this machine? Why did you just let me sweat out that horrible drive up here?”
“Determined to do things your way, as always, you weren’t listening. One day, you’ll have learned to follow my directions.” Tadhg smiled, again. “Not only that, you gai
ned some insight you’re going to need while at the home of Ms. Dubois.”
There was a moment of silence between them. The snow was still blowing, and the ice was now covered by the soft powder of white. It was a cold ride up the hill toward the Dubois Manor, as the snowplow truck lacked proper sealing. The icy wind from an opening blew through Eleanor’s hair and snow sprinkled the ends. She looked radiant in the cab.
The image reminded Tadhg of a time when he’d seen that same face in her younger years. He stared for a moment, and then smiled at her. The cold wind felt good on her brow. The blood stopped trickling. Tadhg looked on his longtime friend of a few thousand years, with admiration, respect and the deepest love for the best comrade any being could have.
“Tadhg, dear, what are you looking at?” Eleanor rubbed her forehead. The trickle of blood from her brow seemed to have dried. “What happened here? My forehead is bleeding?”
“Yes, it bled a little. Here…” said Tadhg. He handed her a clean gauze once again, as he drew another from the magical tote. “Blood. Without it, humans die. Funny substance, wouldn’t you say?” He continued, briefly explaining the substance of life. “Yes, it is. For God makes patterns in the blood. He makes all living things unique; and it is there in each living creature’s blood— uniqueness—every living creature unalike from another.” Eleanor held up the gauze again to add pressure to the wound. It started to drip another creeping stream again.
Eleanor couldn’t keep her words in anymore. She fought back tears as she blurted out, “For a minute, I thought that enemy, ‘Fear’ finally won. But, I’m glad he didn’t win that battle—the one on the bridge.”
“Doubting, are you?”, Tadhg replied, raising his eyebrow at her in question of her faith.