Friends and Enemies // Chapter Twenty Eight // The Great Library

 

 "Here is the map," Sir Richard offered, handing Willow some rolled up parchment.

   She gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

   As she turned to leave, the Knight caught her by the shoulder and gently turned her around to face him. "Why are you sneaking out to visit the Library and not going with the prince or an escort?" he asked, sounding concerned.

   Willow chewed her lip, trying to find a way to voice the feeling that had been growing in her heart since the battle; a tiny flicker of distrust. "I don't know if I trust his judgement," she replied shortly.

   "But why?" the Knight inquired in his deep voice. "What reasons has he given for you to distrust him?"

   She sighed. "I think he's too naive. He just doesn't get that the enemy doesn't give up that easily."

   Sir Richard gave her a look of fatherly concern. "Perhaps you could teach him? But I know that you do not have all of the answers either, Elvish-grace."

   Those words struck a chord in Willow's mind, but she shrugged and gave him a small wave. "See you when I get back."
  
*************************************

   "Thanks for letting me borrow Shadowlight, Aliatha," Willow grinned at her timid friend as she helped her with the horse.

   "You are most welcome," Aliatha answered, dusting off her hands on her apron. "Remind me where you are going?"

   "Just to the Library. Sir Richard gave me a map of his, so I shouldn't have much trouble finding it," Willow answered nonchalantly.

   Aliatha gave her a queer look. "Why are you not being accompanied? It is not safe, out there in the forest!"

   Willow swung up onto Shadowlight's back. "I'll be fine. Really Ali, you worry too much. I won't get lost. What could happen?"

*************************

   "Okay, I take it back. I am sooo lost." Willow tried to discern the direction she was headed, but the forest had grown too dense, and the warm summer air was making her uncomfortably hot in her long dress.

  "Why did I ever think going to find this stupid library by myself was a good idea," she grumbled, pulling out the map and eyeballing it. "Arg!"

   "Need some help?" Emmeth's voice broke through her thoughts, and she turned around and glared at him.

   "No, thank you." Willow busied herself with the map, pretending not to notice him.

   "You know, there is a shortcut not mentioned on the map," he put in.

   She rolled her eyes. "I've almost got it..... I think...." she trailed off and gave him a sheepish glance.

   Knowing that her expression was the closest thing to a request for help as he was likely to get, Emmeth pointed to the left. "We go that way. It should take us about half a days ride to reach the inn, and then another half day before we reach our destination."

    "Thanks, I guess," Willow offered. Then she grinned. "You know, you really should work on your sneaking skills. I knew you were following me hours ago!"

****************************

   "Wow! Now that's a library!" Willow exclaimed in astonishment. The grey stone building rose high over the tree tops, its columns covered in winding ivy.

   "Who's there?" demanded a voice, strong, but old. A very tall man with long, stringy, salt-and-pepper hair and a beak nose stepped out of the massive engraved doors and challenged them with a sword.

   "Terraneth, is that you?" Emmeth questioned, taking a quick step in front of Willow, just in case the elderly man was a bit lost upstairs.

   The tall man cocked his head, his eyes focusing on the prince's face. "Prince Emmeth? Is that you?" he replied, his eyes bulging.
   Willow had to resist the urge to think that his cheese had slipped off his cracker. "Hello," she greeted warmly, stepping out from behind the prince.

   The wild eyes of the librarian rested on her. "My lady," he acknowledged. "I am afraid that I am lost as to your name."

   "Willow Elvish-grace of the Veil," she answered.

   Terraneth took her hand graciously and shook it. "Terraneth of Tionia, my dear. Now, my dear prince, why have you journeyed so long to the Great Library?"

   Emmeth nodded at Willow. "Willow wishes to examine some of our texts regarding a "Dark Lord"?"

   "Ah!" Terraneth nodded. "An interesting subject, if I may say so. Come along!" He swung open the gigantic door and trotted through it, his age obviously not constricting him. The two young people grinned with amusement at his eagerness and followed.

*****************************

   "Now, what else do you need?" the aging Knight asked as he heaved a stack of ancient books onto the edge of the richly engraved table where Willow was seated.

   "I think this should be good for now," she replied, already flipping through a time worn book.

   Emmeth hovered behind her, unsure of what to do with himself. Willow seemed to have forgotten him, and cheerfully cross-examined each book. "Do you need any help?" he asked.

   Glancing up, she pointed across the room. "Can you grab me that Author's Writ? I left mine at Essgarothe, because it's pretty heavy. I always try to have one on hand."

   Handing her the book, Emmeth wandered over to the tall shelves of books, examining their names.

   "Great Tardis of Gallifrey!" Willow cried, her eyes growing bigger by the minute. "I found something!" she called, waving a hand at the two men.

   "What is it?" cried the library keeper, rushing over.

   "Yes, what?" Emmeth echoed, peering over her shoulder.

   Willow jabbed her pointer finger at a sentence. "I don't believe it!" she cried. "Look!"

 Sorry I didn't post last week, we were at a homeschool conference, and it took all day Friday. It was about 9:30 by the time we got home.

I was planning a Saturday post, but got busy with the rest of the conference and forgot :(

Update on my bracez: I'm getting two toofies taken out this Tuesday, so if you would, please pray that I would be calm and not freak out about it.

Ammie posted her chapter six last Monday, and D posted her chapter twenty three last Wednesday :) Check 'em out!

Don't forget, if you're confuzzled about something in the chapter, ask moi!

Be a friend, not an enemy,

Willow 

The Watchmen Files // File One // Chapter Twenty Three // Waking Up

Hey everybody!

   Well, today's the day :) Well, not the day, this isn't the end chapter of T.W.F.O. I've got another two coming, I think... to tie up loose ends and all.

   But this chapter isn't one of my best, so just hang with me on this one.

   Anyway, Allons-y!

   For a time, the consistent sound of air coming in through his mouth was all that Mason Kruger could hear or feel as he lay half dormant and half awake.

   He wasn't thinking much, and his body was doing most everything for him. All he knew was that he was alive, whether awake or asleep, he didn't know.

   The thing that finally did wake him was a rather loud and equally obnoxious sound of mechanical beeping. It was consistent, coming once every few seconds.

   He didn't know what it was, but since it was the only thing he could hear (other than himself breathing) it was becoming very irritating very quickly.

   Then, for no apparent reason, he took a deep breath of the warm moist air, and quickly regretted it.

   A shot of pain came from his chest, and he gritted his teeth in response. Ow ow ow ow... he mentally groaned. Not good, definitely not good.

   Taking shallow breaths, he found that the sharp pain didn't go away. It hurt every time he breathed in or out. But it wasn't limited to his chest, Mason's entire body ached as well.

   As he was gaining more consciousness, he could feel more of the pain. Also, he could touch his surroundings: whatever he was laying on was soft, but whatever he was wearing was papery and a bit uncomfortable. Something was strapped to his head from underneath his ears. He also could feel something on his face, which wasn't very comfortable.

   He opened his eyelids a peek, just a slit to observe what it was. But his vision was blurry, and all he could see was a haze of white and blue.

   But soon enough his vision cleared (at least partially, though it was still a bit fuzzy) and he could make out a white paneled ceiling above him, and from the corner of his eye he noted a bag of fluid (an I.V. bag) above a screen. The small monitor had lots of numbers on its screen, as well as a thin, green horizontal line that would spike up every few seconds. Every time it rose, an electronic beep would sound.

   With some difficulty and pain, he turned his head partially sideways to observe more of his surroundings. There was a large window covering the upper half of one wall. It viewed a sky of white, covered in clouds and a city below. There were a few specks of trees and shrubs also, but it was hard to make out what was outside from where he was.

   The inside of the room gave its identity away immediately, with the small tray of medicine, shots, small sharp tools and oddly enough, a rather large red button. The walls were a dark tan, a bit orange looking to his eyes. He felt the soft white covers of the bed he was comfortably lying on with the tips of his fingers.
   Looking down, he found a clear mask strapped onto his face, which he could feel forcing air into his lungs. It covered his mouth, but left his nose exposed. There were two thin tubes injected into each nostril, which was quite uncomfortable and felt very strange. His mouth and throat were also dry, and that caused more discomfort with every breath.

   After glaring at his facial decor for a minute, willing it to get off, he turned his head to the left to get a better look at the hospital room.

   Immediately, he spotted a young man with short caramel colored hair sitting in a chair next to his bed. Conner was reading a book and didn't see Mason's eyes get big at finding him there.

   When he tried to call out to his friend, even in his weak and woozy state, the oxygen mask strapped firmly to his face prevented any sound from coming out. Trying to speak hurt his chest, and the pain was gripping, so he halted that approach.

   Attempting to move his hand to catch Conner's attention, Mason found that his wrists were each held solidly in a metal cuff attached to the bed so he couldn't move them.

   He lay there for some time, helpless, discouraged, and still quite dazed. He watched the monitor as the line sharply escalated, beeping consistently with ever ascent. Then his still waking mind realized that it was monitoring his breathing. Every breath he took, the line would shoot up and a beep would proceed.

   Thinking of no other way to catch the attention of his college, he closed his mouth and held his breath.

   Immediately, the constant up-tick stopped and a warning ping in place of the annoying beep sounded in alert.

   Conner jumped, dropping his book to the cold ground below. He turned to Mason, his gray-green eyes glowing with a sense of urgency.

   Once his attention was grabbed, Mason breathed deeply again, and did his best to cover up the wince of pain with a teenager-like smirk.

   Conner sighed with relief and smiled back, his silence just as reassuring as anything else he could have said.

   After a minute of stillness, he spoke in a hushed tone. "You're going to be alright, Mace." He sniffled, and turned to face the window of a few seconds to gather his emotions. "You almost died," he reminded him without looking back.

   Mason gave a muffled reply, one that couldn't be understood from the oxygen mask covering his mouth.

   "Let me help," Conner chuckled, reaching over, undoing the straps that held it in place and carefully removing it.

   Mason gasped twice, coughed hard, then repeated urgently, "Ava, got to save Ava-"

   "She's okay, I wouldn't forget her." Conner reassured gently. "She is safe and sound with Jason at the moment. I would have stayed with her, but I wanted to make sure you were taken care of," he smiled and patted Mason's shoulder, then continued. "But we still don't know what happened back there."

   Mason winced, recalling the incident on the landing-pad. "It was a set-up. Dominik knew I'd go after Dad, so he waited until I was close enough and fired at me. The elevator door was locked, so I couldn't get away. There were these bright lights, and I couldn't see where I was going, and then there was nothing for me to me to stand on. I fell..." He shuttered at the last sentence, recalling the dreadful feeling of his heart jumping into his throat as he plummeted helplessly to the roof, three stories below.

   "So he got away with Doctor Kruger," Conner accurately guessed, shaking his head. "Sven escaped too, by the way."

   Mason scowled at the thought of that kidnapper at large again. He glanced down, and noticed the state of his friend's hands and wrists. "Conner, your hands!"

   He shrugged and clasped them together, attempting to conceal the damage. "It's fine, they're just scrapes and burns."

   "Those are scars," Mason clarified. "They don't heal, not those ones."

   The door opened, and a new but familiar voice entered the conversation. "Then they will serve as a monument to the day you became a real Watchman."

   The partners smiled as their Sargent came in and took a seat. "Feeling better?"

   "Well, he's alive, and that's better than the alternative," Conner added with a smirk.

   They all laughed, but Mason regretted it and immediately tried to stop. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts..."

   "Well, since I wasn't in on your little fiasco, care to tell?"

   Mason informed Graham about what had happened in as much detail as was needed, with the Sargent only interrupting with a couple of questions here and there, and Conner added something that he had noticed every so often. By the time Mason was finished, he found himself worn out and wanting rest.

   "The board is going to need a full report from you on what happened back there," Graham specified as he took a sip of water.

   Mason nodded wearily in return.

   "I think our hero needs a nap," Conner suggested with a smile.

   "I'm hardly a hero," Mason brushed the complement off, then looked down in shame. "I couldn't save him."

   He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Conner, his eyes full of somber and sadness, but also pity. "Hey, you saved Ava's life. You delivered her from Hydra, you rescued her. When they brought you in for surgery, Ava and I were in the waiting room. She was so scared. But we prayed together, and she told God how grateful she was for you. You are her hero. You saved a life, there was nothing else you could have done for Doctor Kruger."

   "I know, I just..." he paused, choking up, then continued. "... I just wish there was something else I could have done. I was so close."

   "He is in God's hands, Mason. You know that, don't you?"

   Mason nodded, thinking of what he had learned from Conner over the months.

   "God kept you alive. His providence sustained you through this," Conner reasoned.

   "I know," Mason nodded, still deep in thought. "When I was out there... when I fell... I thought I was going to die. I thought it was the end. And I didn't know where I would be going."

   "I do," Conner interjected sadly. "You would have gone to hell. And I would have been broken. To know that you would be there for the rest of eternity..."

   "It's a dangerous job," Graham nodded. "We have the threat of death at our tales every day."

   Conner, recalling what had happened that fateful night, continued, "I prayed that God would keep you alive, to give you time. And He did."

   Mason tried to shake off the feeling of emptiness, and he turned to his friend with truthful, carefully picked words. "Conner, I don't think I'm ready to become a christian. There's just so many questions I have..."

   Conner nodded, but persisted. "I can help with that, if you'll let me."

   "I do want you to. I want to learn more about God."

   Conner's eyes brightened and he smiled widely, his dimples showing vividly. "Really?"

   Mason smirked at Conner's glee, but turned back to seriousness. "Really."

   "Oh that's great! Whatever you want to know, I'll do my best to help you with."

   "And so will I," Graham added confidently, a smile on his face.

   After a few more minutes of talking, there was another knock on the door and a man in a white doctor's coat entered. He was pretty old, bald, wore wire glasses, and was holding a iPad in one hand.

   Graham stood up and introduced the man. "This is Doctor Simon, from the science division of the Watchmen."

   Mason cocked his head, trying to remember if he had seen him before.

   "Yes, we've met," Dr. Simon nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I was the first to test him when he arrived."

   "Oh yeah! I remember," Mason thought of the titanium tests he had received at T. Facility 24.

   "Well, you certainly have been through a lot since we met last," Dr. Simon observed, scanning his device and reading a list from it. "You damaged yourself in the three story fall quite extensively. You bruised your ribcage, broke three ribs, received first degree burns in some places, scared your back extensively-"

   "Okay, okay, that's good," Mason stopped him mid-sentence, not wanting to hear all of the details of what had happened to him. "That sounds painful."

   He half-smiled, and put the iPad down. "Right. Well, if you need anything else, just press that red button on the side-table. Would it be alright if Jason and the little girl come it to visit with you?"

   Mason's eyes brightened. "Of course!"

   Then, with a nod of his head, the doctor exited and left the three of them in the small hospital recovery room.

   Mason watched him go, and sighed deeply. He could have met his hero today, if I had rescued him... I'm so sorry, Dad. But I won't give up, you're still out there, somewhere. And I won't stop searching until I find you. Hydra will not keep you locked up forever, not anymore.

   The hospital hallway was long, doctors and nurses were scattered about, walking to and from their patients. There was a row of chairs against one of the drably painted pinkish walls, but only two of the seats were taken.

   A little girl with a head of messy light brown hair sat up in her chair, watching each nurse as they walked by expectantly. She had been waiting to visit a patient there for a week, and she was sure they would let her in that day. They had to.

   There was a man waiting with her, who slumped down in his chair, playing 'Angry Birds' on his iPad. He had short light brown hair also, and was wearing a dress shirt and tie. His name was Jason Grey, and he was pretty nice to her. She thought he was funny.

   She sighed impatiently, then glanced around again. Spotting the man she was looking for, she jumped up in her seat with excitement. "Doctor Simon! Are you gonna let me in now?"

   The old man smiled and nodded, "He is awake, but very tired, so don't get him excited. He needs rest-"

   "Yea!" She jumped up and down, clapping her hands cheerily. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of him!"

   "Okay, I'll take her to his room," Jason informed the doctor and took Ava's hand in his.

   He lead her to a door marked with a do not enter sign. There were two men posted at either side of the door, each looking huge compared to her small six year old form. But she was brave and asked them for passage.

   Jason showed them his badge and then assured her in, and following close behind her.

   Rushing into the room, she came up to a roll-in bed on the far side of the space. "Mason!"

   "Ava!" Her cousin exclaimed weakly and leaned partially out of the bed, his arms open to her.

   She jumped into his arms, wrapped hers around his neck as he lifted her onto the bed, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're okay!"

   "Of course I am," he smiled, touching her cheek gently. "I'm here."


Not the best place to end a chapter, but there we have it :) I love writing Ava scenes, and there will be lots more of her in the following chapters.

On to announcements....

Ammelia Gabriella posted chapter six of Without Cause this week! Yea!

And Willow is planning for her next chapter, too.

And I will probably post a chapter next Wednesday, I've already started writing it (that's a first...). I think I'll call it Crossroads, or maybe something else along those lines.

 Well, that looks like about everything... have a good week, everybody! :)

 Always Watching,

Darrion

// Without Cause // Chapter Six // Allons-y! //

Hello, everyone! Ammelia here with another chapter. Sorry for the delay, much has happened here. (But mostly me just forgetting to post... :) Anyway, hope you enjoy!

//Without Cause//

//Chapter Six//

//Allons-y!//

-Ethan

   The two strangers led us over a hill where a white farmhouse sat at the edge of a field, four cars were parked in the driveway. People milled about in front of the house, looking alert and waiting for something. Beyond the house was what looked like several acres of dense forest.

   “Do you know them?” I questioned, pointing at the house.

   “Yes.” The tall guy responded in a British accent. “We’re friends of your parents, whom are alright, by the way. Speaking of alright, are you?”

   “Pardon?”

“Well, we did just jump out of a moving aircraft.” He smiled. “Not something you get to do every day.”

   “Oh, right. My knees are a little wobbly, but I think I’m fine. It was actually kind of fun.”

Kylie nodded. “Same here.”

   We neared the house and a pretty dark haired girl walked up to us, and talked quickly. “We have massive waves of activity coming from all directions. It looks like they knew we’d be here. I need you two—”  she pointed to Kylie and I “to go into the house, and stay there. Take these.” She handed us each a backpack. She turned to the blond girl. “Show them to the house, then meet us at point three.”

   Blondie nodded, then turned on her heels and led us towards the house. Six other people were standing on the porch. When we reached the porch, I unzipped the backpack. Inside were two bottles of water, two apples, and two sandwiches. Kylie checked her pack and found the same. We both shrugged and Kylie reached for an apple, continuing to follow the girl to the porch.

   From somewhere in the middle of the field, someone screamed, “GET DOWN!”

   A car blew up behind us, sending debris and smoke flying everywhere. I pushed Kylie around the side of the porch, both of us dropping our backpacks. Three gunshots made us cover our heads. Blondie jumped over the side of the porch, landing behind Kylie and I, motioning for us to follow her. I shielded my eyes from the fiery inferno, crawling with Kylie towards Blondie.

   A girl who greatly resembled Kylie stepped around the side of the house, pointing a gun at us. Oh great, not you again. This girl was bad news.

   Two rapid fire explosions jolted the ground, knocking everyone standing off their feet, including Kylie’s look alike. Dirt flew in our direction, and glass broke in a top story window of the farmhouse, falling on us. Kylie’s look alike righted herself and scowled, pointing her gun at us again. Blondie grabbed her own gun and pulled the trigger, which sent some sort of shock wave at the other girl. Okay, let’s get out of the line of fire… I looked around for a safe place to lay low. Everyone around us had hidden or crouched behind something, and began their counter attack.

The other girl and Blondie were now in a wrestling match, so I grabbed Kylie’s arm. “Come on, let’s head for those woods!”

  “Ethan, you moron, no! We can’t just run through the middle of all this! We’re going to be killed!”

   I made a face. “That’s a chance we need to take.” Taking a deep breath, I charged across the field, tugging Kylie along. Another explosion rocked part of the field behind us, making us lose our balance. Kylie landed on her rear, while I fell on my face in the muddy grass. I helped Kylie up, looking back and seeing the whole field covered in smoke and partially on fire. The blonde girl had ditched the look alike, and was running in our direction. “Wait, stop!” she screamed.

   No way! We ran into the woods, choosing our steps carefully.

   It was denser inside than it looked from the outside. The trees were covered in moss, and ferns and berry bushes grew everywhere. We swiftly followed a small dirt path that wound deeper into the forest, until slowing down to climb over a fallen tree

   Kylie stopped. “Wait, wait, wait. Listen.”

   Someone was calling something. “It’s just that girl again, let’s go.”

   “Let’s see what she wants. They could take us back to Mom and Dad. They said they were friends.”

   “You don’t know that. They never told us their names, and we can’t know for sure.” I pulled her into a run again.

   “Ethan, just wait a minute! They want to help us! It could be those Cause people!” A revelation came over me. I stopped to face her.

   “I’d forgotten about them. You could be right. I’ll ask, but we keep our distance.” We jumped off the trail and behind a tree. Beside the sounds of animals, and the noise from the distant battle, everything was quiet. A minute passed.

   Kylie opened her mouth, but I quickly covered it.

   A twig snapped.

   Peeking out from around the tree, I expected to see the blonde girl. What...?  I stocky man, around thirty, with short brown hair, was there instead, squinting and scanning his surroundings. He held a rifle, pointed at the ground. I pinned myself to the tree, and Kylie gave me a concerned look. “What?” she mouthed.

   A gunshot rang out and we hit the ground. Yeah, we’re leaving. Helping Kylie up, and grabbing her hand, we took off again. Several more shots rang out behind us, one hitting a tree to our left.

   “Run faster, would you!” I yelled.

   She gripped my hand tighter. “I’m trying!” She screamed back. “Do you even know where we’re going?”

   “Just keep running!” I had no idea where I was going, but I knew we had to get out of there. 

   Both Kylie and I had done our fair share of hikes, also with Kylie and her soccer playing, and me with baseball and football, but none of our practice or training even cut close to this.

   We rounded a group of trees and I instantly noticed a sharp drop off. “Whoa, whoa!” I skidded to a stop, but Kylie didn’t. I grabbed her left arm with both hands as she teetered over the edge. We paused, scared out of our minds, and stared down into the ravine, which had a large pond of nasty looking water, and a nice number of tree roots.

    Kylie's foot slipped over, but she grabbed my arm and held on while I pulled her back away from the edge. “You okay?” I asked.

   She hesitated , then nodded. “My arm’s a bit sore, but I’m fine.” She pointed into the forest. “Shall we continue?”

   After around ten more minutes of jumping over fallen logs and rocks, avoiding holes, and trying not to trip over anything, Kylie pulled me to a stop.

   “Ethan, I have to stop. Please, just for a few minutes!” she pleaded in a wheezy voice. I nodded, while bending over and resting my hands on my knees. We both sat down, panting, and tried to hide behind a dead tree stump covered in moss. I gave her one of the water bottles from our remaining backpack.

   Kylie took two gulps and capped it. “What’d you see back there? Why’d she shoot at us? I thought we were going to talk to her.”

   “It wasn’t her, it was a guy. He wasn’t one of the people back at that farmhouse, and he wasn’t dressed like they were. I think he was one of the people who started the fight.”

   “What if he was one of the good guys?”

   “Well, he shot at us, so I really don’t care.”

   Several minutes or so passed without us seeing or hearing anyone, so I assumed it was safe to come out. This time, we walked, and found a nice patch of ferns and moss, secluded by two small trees. I informed Kylie she could rest. She nodded and lied down on the ground and promptly fell asleep. “That wasn’t what I meant.” I thought aloud. But soon, I too collapsed on the forest floor and fell into a deep sleep. It had been too long since we’d had a full night’s sleep.

*****

   “*squawk* This is Agent L. Robard, have you sent out the search party? *squawk*”

“This is Agent R. Freeman. I’m about to give the order.” A deep voice replied in a British accent.

   “Alright, proceed. And be careful. I know it’s pretty bad out there right now.”

“Roger!”

   Mr. Robard sighed and returned his walkie talkie to the clip on his belt. He turned to Mrs. Robard, and helped her put on her jacket. “Richard just sent out the search party. They’ll start at each end of the forest and work their way in. David is on his way. He’ll be here in a couple minutes with a chopper. They've only been out there for an hour, I'm sure they're fine.”

   “Ok. You don’t think… I mean, you don’t think they’ve gotten themselves injured or anything? Two days is quite a long time for them to be “cared” for by James. He probably hasn’t even fed them.”

   For a split second, Mr. Robard let his mind wander. Are they hurt? They must be starving! Has someone else found them? Could they—The sound of a helicopter brought him back into reality. He inhaled sharply. “No. They’ll be fine. James needed them alive. He fed them.”

   Mrs. Robard turned to face him. She looked deep into his ice-blue eyes and took his hands. “You’re doubtful. We have to remember to trust, Logan. Trust.” He pulled her into a hug and began to pray silently, then aloud in a quivering voice as the he heard the helicopter land. “Help them see You in all this. Please guide them. Lord… please…” his voice cracked and the walkie talkie squawked. He sniffed and concluded. “We know this is Your will, so let it be done. Thank you, so much. In your name,…” He sniffled and Mrs. Robard finished, “Amen.” She smiled as he wiped away the stray tears that had slipped from his worried eyes, and the walkie talkie continued to squawk. She giggled. “You’d better answer that!”

He smiled back as he pulled the radio from his belt. “Agent Robard.”

   An impatient voice with a British accent sounded on the other end. “Come on, Robard. I’m waiting, didn’t you hear me land?”

   Mr. Robard grabbed Mrs. Robard’s hand as they started for the door. “Coming now.”

*****

 

And that's all, folks! Next Monday, I hope to have chapter seven up, so stay tuned for that. New characters soon to be introduced. :)

For the will of Cause,

Ammelia

Joshua 1:9 -  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.