He understood that Celeste had her reasons for moving to the west coast. She had some bad experiences as a teenager with the code of conduct, the coven enforced. A couple of her friends had been severely disciplined on one occasion. She swore she would never come back and she had not. She moved to the west coast with her boyfriend at the time. Bart could not blame her. He knew what had happened to her friends.
Celeste and Bart
There has been no word from Celeste and a week has passed. So, here I am following a girl named Merry Anna Flower Tree through the forest. I think, that is the strangest name, so I ask her to explain? Merry smiles and tells me she is from a long line of druids living here in the Pacific Northwest and her two grandmothers gave her the name. They were from a sacred tree clan and they told her that one day as they sang, walked through the forest to the trees, the trees gave them her name. I ask her if he can just call her Merry. She says of course. Merry is a beautiful girl with very, very long reddish blonde hair. She is wearing moccasins and a light blue dress and as we walk she is singing in a high lilting voice. I know she has enchanted me. She tells me she is talking to the forest and that the trees know where Celeste and her friends are camped. She feels confident they are directing her. His coven back east had contacted Merry's group seeking help in locating Celeste. They sent Merry Anna Flower Tree.
Merry had met his plane at Sea-Tac airport and they have been on an adventure ever since. He has eaten at several Raw Vegan restaurants, yesterday and this morning. A first for him and a total surprise, most of the dishes were tasty but you had to really chew. He wasn't totally sold on the vegan thing. Now they were trudging; well he was trudging, she was dancing through the forest. She seemed to know where they were going. It all looked the same to him the city guy. They had been walking maybe two hours deeper and deeper into the thick trees and brush. It was a pretty morning. The air smelled sweet with forest smells; flowers, grass. The dew was still on the ground in places. After a while, he started smelling a new smell, a campfire with something cooking maybe fried potatoes and onions. Off in the distance Bart could see teepees and a few people sitting around a fire. Merry spotted them and sounded a call. It sounded like an owl. They looked up and waved. As Bart approached the camp site he saw Celeste coming out of a teepee. Her eyes grew huge when she saw him.
"Brother, what in the world are you doing here?" says Celeste.
"Well, I just followed my forest maiden friend here, Merry. There's no way I could of found you, otherwise." says Bart
Bart introduces Merry to Celeste and her friends. Celeste thanks Merry for taking such good care of her brother. Bart thinks he's in love; if only he was thirty years younger. Merry is magical and beautiful, both traits he admires in a woman.
Bart pulled Celeste aside and asked her if she had gotten his letter; that he had sent general delivery. She said, yes and that she understood his concerns. Living away from her home for so long she had forgotten how dangerous they could be. She promised not to divulge any secrets and had decided writing a book was probably to much work. The last thing she wanted was contact with the coven. She never wanted to go back. Bart was greatly relieved that she had changed her mind on the memoir; that would have been a disaster. That evening, they had a dinner of fry bread and delicious vegetable soup that had been cooking all day over the fire. Celeste read some of her poems aloud. Bart didn't think they were much but he lied and told her they were great. She was his little sister, and one of the few people he loved. Then Merry Anna Flower Tree sang for them beautiful haunting Celtic ballads. The ancient melodies sounded like fairy music; if you can imagine, such a thing. Bart thought he had never heard a lovelier voice. She was bewitching he thought.
He was a little sad when he had to return home to the east coast. He gave Merry his phone number in case, she ever wanted to come visit. He’d send her an airline ticket. She thanked him and smiled politely. He knew he’d never see her again.
Back home Bart decided he needed another adventure, so he booked the next flight to Monte Carlo. He always had a travel bag packed; a habit from his military days. He loved to gamble and he certainly had lots of money to burn. He needed a distraction. He was still thinking of that little druid girl. She was young enough to be his daughter, maybe granddaughter. What nonsense, he needed to go drink, gamble and find some women and blow off some steam. But he would always remember his adventure in the forest of the Pacific Northwest.
Silas on the road
Silas has been on the road for two days now. What a good feeling it is being back in the south. He stops and buys some boiled peanuts and two baskets of peaches. They are sweet and juicy. He didn't want to arrive at Leeboy’s empty handed. Leeboy has lived in that old houseboat as long as Silas can remember. When a storm is coming all he has to do is just move it further inland. Silas always thought that was real smart; being able to move your house to get out of danger. The boat is pretty big with a bunk room (last time he was here it had two bunk beds). There are two other bedrooms, one is for Leeboy and the other is for his sister, Stookie.
Leeboy gives me a holler and waves his hat as I drive up. "Hey, boy how are you? How was the trip down?" yells Leeboy
"Oh, good, real good Uncle Leeboy." Silas embraces his uncle.
"Hey, Stookie, Silas is here; come on out!" shouts Leeboy
Stookie comes shuffling out from the back of the boat. Her hair is gray and wild looking like she don't know what a comb is. She's wearing white rubber boots, a long tattered dress and a colorful hoodoo necklace around her neck.
"Hey Si boy, good to see you. It's good to see you back in the swamp where you belong!" she said in a strong raspy voice.
She looked old and feeble but scary at the same time; maybe more crazy than scary. She wasn't at all like he had remembered. The dark arts had not been kind to her. He didn't want to spend any time with this crazy old lady. She made his skin crawl so, he nimbly side stepped her attempt to hug him, pretending to smack a mosquito.
The catfish tasted delicious and Silas ate till he was stuffed. He and Leeboy stayed up late listening to the swamp and discussing Leeboy's business. Silas liked Leeboy. He was real rough around the edges but he was a good guy. Now, his opinion of Stookie was another thing. She looked ninety years old and he knew she was only fifty nine and she was downright creepy. He watched her all evening and man was she odd. So, he changed his plans. He would help his uncle and go visit grandma Mercy May but he was staying far away from Stookie.
He lay in his bunk that evening, thinking he'd probably be staying. He is in no hurry to ever return to the north. He lay listening to the swamp sounds and quickly fell asleep. The next morning, he wondered why he ever left. Silas laughs to himself; oh, that's right, I was looking for excitement. He found out he wasn't missing nothing. The people up north, that he had met, were very unfriendly and not just the Hill people but the people in general. He'd take the south with its humidity and mosquitoes. It's home and this is where he wanted to stay. He felt every place had problems but he understood these problems. And there were people here, that would lend him a hand, if he needed it. While he was up north, he felt pretty much invisible.
He wondered if the gator season was over and when that gator fry is going to be held over at Purlee Pentecostal. He asked Leeboy if he could borrow the air boat or his truck so, he could go over and talk to his uncle Jeb tomorrow.
The next day, Silas pulled into Jebs driveway. He noticed Zeke and Jeb were busy emptying the boat. Jeb said they had filled all their tags and that next weekend was the gator fry at the church. It was good to see Jeb and his brother, Zeke. They looked the same as when he left a year ago. He sat on the grass with a glass of sweet tea and a plate of fried gator and visited all day with them. It was sure good to be back with his people. He helped them clean the boat and hang the fishing gear in the garage. He and Zeke started reminiscing about Mercy Mays peach cobbler. They were hoping she would bring some to the gator fry next weekend. Silas told them all about li
ving up north and the terrible people he had meet and how unfriendly people were up there. He felt like he was in a foreign country most of the time. They laughed and laughed at his stories. That night back at uncle Leeboy’s Silas slept soundly and peacefully, as if he’d never left.
Carrie and Roy
Carrie and her husband, Roy was both retired and getting a little stir crazy. They had been traveling since retirement but it just all started looking the same. This morning they were talking over starting a business, a restaurant. Carrie had grown up working in her family's restaurant. She had worked the front of the house and the back; from waiting tables to cooking with a bit of bookkeeping thrown in. She enjoyed the fast pace of the restaurant business and missed it.
Roy had been a chef for a number of upscale restaurants in Boston. He took an early retirement because he was just burned out. Over the years, he'd missed out on so much always working those long hours. But if it was their restaurant, then things could be different. The long hours would be for him and Carrie and he could always hire help.
"Oh, honey I'm so glad you like my idea!"
"Sure, Carrie but we don't know if the idea will take off in this little town." replies Roy
Carrie smiles, "I know there are a lot of vegans and vegetarians who have family and friends who are not. It would be a perfect solution for them to have two menus; one for vegans and vegetarians and the other for the meat eaters. And I've already thought up a name for the restaurant. What do you think of, The Cheating Vegan!
Roy laughs and says, "Well, that's a catchy name but what is a cheating vegan?"
"Well, they are people like me. I eat vegan maybe 80% of the time. It would be a great way to introduce people to vegan and vegetarian food without it being their only choice. The waitress would ask the customers which menu they wanted or maybe we could have just one with different sections. I'd be happy to do the vegan cooking and chopping. A lot of the vegan food is raw and sprouted. You also prepare some of it in a dehydrator. I make some delicious lemon coconut cookies in the dehydrator. I have lots of recipes for vegan dishes that I have perfected over the years. I can make Seitan (a meat substitute made with wheat gluten and spices), homemade tofu, raw veggie and sprouted seed salads and sandwiches. They are all delicious. Oh and I make a really good raw chocolate pie with avocado's and a mixed nut crust." says Carrie.
Roy wrinkled his nose but smiled at her. She reminded him that there were quite a few people at their church who eat mostly vegetarian. So, there are some customer's right off the bat.
They also talked about the possibility of protesters at their restaurant; maybe some hardliner vegans with big gross signs of abused animal. They understood their position and they too despised animal cruelty. They would go out and talk to them if some showed up, hopefully they wouldn't pester them too long; maybe it won't happen. I'm just thinking ahead of all the pros and cons thought Carrie.
For their personal use, Roy and Carrie had been buying all their meat from a large kosher meat supplier out of upstate New York for the last 10 years. So, they would use the same supplier for their restaurant. She had visited their operation a few years ago, when she was in New York. The animals were not in crowded quarters or caged. They had freedom to graze or forage for food. So, she would give them her business rather than the big commercial outfits; where the treatment of the animals was suspect. Roy agreed that’s where they would get all their meat for the restaurant.
The next decision was to find a location. Roy was going to check with a local realtor, maybe find a building of a former restaurant to rent. If the restaurant was a big success they might build down the road, but that was down the road.
So, now that Roy had given his OK on her big idea; she could now tell her girlfriends at church. Carrie was so excited she could hardly stand it; she ran to the phone and called Dilly. Dilly answered on the second ring and listened intently to all of Carries news.
“Well, honey I have never seen that type of restaurant anywhere. I think it might be novel enough that people will want to come at least once and if the food is delicious they will be coming back.” said Dilly.
They talked about all that needed to be done. Carrie knew that many vegetarian restaurants had an Indian theme but she thought she would go one step further and have a Bollywood theme and have the kids dress in Bollywood attire. Dilly thought that sounded fun and told Carrie as they said their good nights that she would help her; just let her know what she needed. Dilly now sits thinking about Roy and Carries restaurant, The Cheating Vegan. She thinks the name is real cute. Well, back to bed; Carrie had woken her but Dilly didn't care. She loved being included in their happy news.
Doron and Calev
Doron and Calev, two of God's holy angels fight ferociously with the dark ones in a realm no humans can see. The battles had been constant and growing in intensity. God the Father or Yahovah, as they called Him had given all the holy angels instructions to be on constant vigilance to protect His people. Doron thought how terrified the believers would be if Yahovah opened their eyes to this realm. Jesus or Yeshua, as they called Him, will soon be returning to the earth. No one knew the day or hour but Yahovah. The signs were obvious and Scripture was being fulfilled. They all looked forward to that happy day, when the fighting would end. The dark ones knew that their time was almost up and they and the Dark Lord will be cast into the bottomless pit. So, the evil ones were causing as much chaos and carnage, as they could to the very end. The demons all had a seething hatred for mankind. Their master, the Dark Lord (Satan) always thought he should be the one being worshiped by the humans and all of the angels. He craved the adoration that belongs to Yahovah. He hates that Yahovah loves the "sniveling humans" (to use his words). The persecution of true believers worldwide has become severe. The U.S.A. believers have not really experienced it yet, but they soon will. Yahovah has put His people worldwide through many trials to prepare them for this time. His purpose is to strengthen their faith, to deepen their dependence on Him and confirm to them, His provision and love.
Calev watched the battle and sighed looking forward to that day, when the battles will be over. One day soon, all mankind will be on their faces before the King of the Universe. They will be praising and grateful for His return or gnashing their teeth with hatred, but they will all be bowing. He love the King. He is worthy of all praise. He is pure goodness with not a trace of evil.
The prayer warriors around the world have caused some big ripples in the spirit realm. They have really been storming heaven, lately. He wondered if they had any idea of the effect their prayers really had. Many were feeble and old sitting in their rockers and praying daily. They were mighty warriors to us in the spirit realm. The prayers of the prayer warriors have weakened the enemy and his armies.
Calev, then suddenly came to attention, The Father was speaking to him. He turned and was gone. He moved as fast as light, traveling to the throne room of Yahovah, for he had been summoned. The throne room hummed with excitement. He saw Velvel and a huge multitude of angels on their faces before the throne worshiping Yahovah. The colors were brilliant, floating through the air and he heard a musical hum everywhere. It was the sound of angels singing mixed with the silent prayers of the saints from all over the world, now being audibly heard. He bowed deeply before his King. He is told of a harsh offensive being planned by the dark ones that will hit the churches on the east coast of the U.S.A. They plan on burning down churches and homes. Calev is to move quickly to suppress the enemy’s armies. He bows before Yahovah and then joins his fellow Angels in their adoration prostrate on the ground and they loudly speak in unison, “Holy, Holy, Holy is Yeshua, the messiah. You are worthy of all praise and honor our Elohim, our God.” Calev then gets up and is gone; back to the U.S.A. to the battlefields. Fires are already being started up and down the east coast, many around Blacknest, Massachusetts. Why so many in Blacknest, he wonders.
Purlee Pentecostal Church
Purlee Pentecostal is alive with p
eople singing and shouting. Service has been going on for about twenty minutes, down here on the bayou. Folks come from up and down the swamp to sing and praise the Most High every Sunday morning. Pastor Tully walks up to the podium and says, "Good morning everyone, I hope you are all well and here to listen. My sermon the dear Lord has given me is a tough one but please listen with open hearts and minds. The title is:
Thank you God, for my suffering
Yes, you all heard me right. Thank you God, for my suffering. I know we all cry and moan and complain when we suffer, but yet we ask Jesus to make us like Him. We say it in our prayers all the time. But the way God changes us is often painful. He uses suffering in order to form us into people He can use. He uses the fiery forge of suffering. Have you noticed that it is those people who have been through the forge by experiencing loss, despair, depression and some of the deepest sorrows, that are the exact same people who put their arms around you when you are suffering? They have become useful servants in the Body of Christ.
Angel Watch at Blacknest: A Supernatural Mystery Page 10