Angel Fall
Page 36
“But why do we need to be there?” Alex was feeling ill.
Mirick replied, “There are many on your world who are chained to Evil. You know the ways of the Dark Ones. For some, you will be their only hope.”
Tori began to cry. “I don’t want to go back. I’ll miss you too much.”
Gently Mirick knelt and hugged her. Once more she was surrounded by the soft warmth of his wings. “I have brought a gift. Would you like to see it?”
Wiping away the tears, she nodded. Instantly she felt something around her neck. On a delicate chain hung a little golden moth. “Oh, it’s so beautiful. I’ll wear it always and every time I look at it, I’ll think of you.”
“It’s a gift to bring you comfort in times of need. And remember this, no matter what happens, the mark of the King is upon you, and no child of His will ever be alone.”
“What about Alex and Amanda? Are there gifts for them?”
“Your brother will wear his gift as long as he lives.”
“What is it?”
Slowly he lifted his arm. “It’s my scar.”
Bellwind smiled. “The scars, yes, the scars from wounds of the King, are the greatest gifts of all. And yours runs deep and strong.”
“What about Amanda? What’s her gift?” But before Tori’s question could be answered, they heard a honking wheeze. They turned and stared. Clunking and bumping out of the forest was an ancient, rust-red limousine. Creaking to a stop, the door opened and out stepped a gangling old man in a ragged uniform. Tori yelled, “Mr. Hydrogen!” Then she ran and hugged him.
“Well, well, well, I see I got to the right place again. If it was wrong I sure wouldn’t get such a great big hug, now would I? Looks to me like you young folks are about finished with your vacation.”
“Our what?” Alex choked.
“And now that all the fun’s over, it’s time to get home again, is that it?”
“Are we going to ride in old Malleus?” For Tori the thought softened the sorrow of leaving.
“You sure are.”
As Alex looked at the ancient chauffeur, all he could think about was their first meeting. In shame he turned his eyes to the ground.
Smiling, the old man walked over and put his arm around him. “Ain’t nothin’ to worry about, Son. You turned out just fine, just like I told your mom you would. All right, all aboard who’s goin’ aboard. We gotta get. There’s a nice wind startin’ to blow an’ we’re gonna jump on its tail.” Moving to the limousine, he opened the passenger door.
Tori hugged Mirick one last time, then she and Alex started for the car. They were climbing inside when Tori realized that Amanda hadn’t moved. “Come on. If we’ve gotta go back, we might as well get it over with. And I really do want to see Mom.”
But there were tears in Amanda’s eyes. Quietly she said, “I’m not going with you.”
Alex stared at her. “What are you talking about? If we’ve gotta go back, so do you. Come on!” But as he said the words, he felt a touch of fear.
“I can’t.”
Tori rushed over to her. “Of course you can. We’re not leaving without you.”
“Look at me, Tori. Do I look the same as I did before?” She was so beautiful and light was still streaming from within her. “Up on that mountain my body really did die. The one I have now is made for this world. It can’t live on Earth until Earth is changed.”
“No, that isn’t true.” Tears were in Alex’s eyes and there was no holding them in. “You’re coming with us. We’re not going anywhere without you.”
Tori was sobbing. “If you don’t go back, what do we tell Mom and Dad?”
“Tell them I love them. Tell them about the Great King. Tell them I want to see them when Mountaincry comes to Earth and all the worlds are one.”
What followed were a lot of tears, a lot of hugging, and a lot of forgiving. But finally the old chauffeur put his arms around Alex and Tori and drew them away. Before they got into the car, they saw an amazing sight: Bellwind led Amanda to the last empty throne. Quietly she said, “My daughter, though you are not a Worwil, it is the desire of the King that this throne that once belonged to Melania be yours forever. And with it her gift of healing. She believed the lie of Lammortan, that when he ruled the world, she would be crowned the Queen of Heaven. Under the power of his Darkness, she became drunk with blood. You will not be tempted to such evil. Sit down, Daughter of the Mountain, and take your place in a new world.” Slowly Amanda sat down and around her swirled streams of Crimson Glory.
As the limousine rose in the air, the last thing Tori and Alex saw through the window was Amanda waving and blowing kisses. Then suddenly the circle of thrones was filled with Shining Brilliance, and in the center stood the King. Smiling, He lifted His hands toward them.
Then the Brilliance faded and they entered a darkness filled with stars.
EPILOGUE
TWO CHILDREN FROM DOWNED PLANE FOUND IN RAFT AFTER 36 DAYS IN OCEAN
(Reuters)—Two children from downed American Airlines flight 466 were found alive floating in a raft in the North Sea, 500 miles from where their plane had crashed 36 days ago. The raft, sighted by a helicopter crew on their way back from the Aileron Petroleum Platform, was drifting 7 miles off the coast of England’s Lindisfarne Island. After being extracted by a search-and-rescue team from the British Navy, the children, who had traveled alone and whose names are being withheld, were transported to a British naval hospital where they were examined and found to be in excellent condition. From there they were flown to London, where they were reunited with their parents.
That was the story that electrified the world, the miracle that splashed across every front page and babbled its way through all the talk shows from Sacramento to Jakarta. Of course, the members of the rescue team were interviewed endlessly; it was the best that could be done because the Lancaster family refused to be interviewed at all. Along with the interviews, everyone saw dramatic footage of the boy and girl being plucked from the heaving waves. But the video and the interviews didn’t tell the whole story. Because the whole story just couldn’t be told.
Something had happened during the rescue that the team members refused to talk about even among themselves, because what had happened was impossible. Even worse, it hadn’t appeared on the video. Though they had seen it with their own eyes, somehow the camera had refused to record it. So to talk about it would have made them all look crazy.
The girl was inside the helicopter and the extraction of the boy was almost complete—he was dangling in the arms of a diver ten feet under the craft. The pilots and the crew were looking down, making sure that everything was going correctly, when suddenly on the ocean they saw something that hadn’t been there before. Next to the raft was floating a rusted Cadillac limousine up to its wheel wells in sloshing water. That was bad enough, but standing on the hood, smiling and waving in the blinding spray was a crazy old man in a chauffeur’s uniform. All of them saw him. The children saw him too because they smiled and waved back. Then the whole awful vision—limousine and crazy person—simply vanished into thin air. And that was the story that could never be told.
It was Sunday when Alex and Tori Lancaster were pulled from the ocean. It was Sunday and only thirty-six days had passed. Thirty-six days and a lifetime. It was Sunday when they came back to their world.
And the Wind from Heaven was still blowing…toward the last Angel Fall.
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