"Here, try this stone," Rose said. "It's really flat. You can do it. It's easy. Remember to snap your wrist."
Sela took the stone, still staring at the little girl in both awe and fear.
"Go ahead. Try it. It's fun."
Sela looked out across the water and sighed heavily. The little girl nodded encouragement. Sela reared her arm back, remembered to snap the wrist and let the stone whiz out to the water. It began skipping immediately.
"One, two, three, four, five, six…wow, seven times. That's great!" Rose said, clapping excitedly, jumping up and down. "Now you know how to do it. See, it's simple."
Sela laughed the whole time the stone was skipping. Rose handed her another stone and Sela skipped that one even better.
"See, I told you. You just have to believe in yourself."
As Sela skipped another stone, she asked Rose how she knew about Heckel and Madeline. Rose didn't respond, but instead asked, "How come you feel Heckel needs more help?"
"I just feel we are probably outnumbered in this upcoming battle or whatever it is. Madeline's army is-"
"Formidable? Yes, I am sure it is," Rose uttered as she skipped two stones at once, one from each hand.
"Yes, that's a good way to put it I suppose. It makes me tremble just thinking about it."
"Then don't," Rose offered innocently. "Here, try this one. It looks perfect."
They both continued skipping stones in silence for a while.
"Do you believe in guardian angels?" Rose asked bluntly, turning to watch Sela pick up more stones.
"Well, as a matter of fact, yes, I do. I have always felt I had an angel looking over me. There were times when I felt something bad was about to happen and at the last minute…um, I don't know…ah, I moved out of the way or caught myself. Other times I might have been-"
Before she could finish trying to explain her insight into guardian angels, Rose blurted out, "I'm your guardian angel. I've been there to protect you and help you ever since you were born." She smiled at Sela with an air of pride like a little girl showing her mother that she can tie her own shoes.
Sela wrinkled her brow deep in thought, at first questioning her own sanity. Then the what-ifs began to parade across her mind. She was totally speechless and definitely a bit skeptical. After several minutes of examining what Rosie offered, Sela thought, Hmm, it's not often that people get to talk directly to their own guardian angel. Questions flooded her mind. Before she could even ask a single query, she froze again. Wait a minute. Something is not quite right. This must be a trick or some evil deception from Madeline. The bitch is playing on my…
"Nope, Madeline is not messing with you," Rosie said. "I assure you. I am your guardian angel. I know we aren't suppose to…um…reveal ourselves to you, but these are troubled times, and as you say…help is needed. You asked and you got it."
Suddenly, Sela dropped down to kneel before the little girl. No one knew of my prayer for help, she thought. This must be the real deal. She was in awe of the little girl standing at the edge of the river. Sela felt that she was in the presence of a powerful goodness.
"Really, that's not necessary," Rose said putting her hand on Sela's shoulder.
"I have so much I want to…um…thank you for and talk to you about," Sela said softly, looking into her eyes.
"Perhaps another time. For now, you should be getting back. Heckel's beginning to worry about you."
Sela kept staring at Rose. All the questions she thought of would have to be put aside for now. However, one question surfaced that Sela felt compelled to ask, "What help will we…um…get?"
Rose skipped a big stone, which hit the water twelve times. She turned to Sela and said, "All Heckel's warriors will have their guardian angel at their side fighting to stop Madeline. In California, you will have many more good people join you. Trust in Heckel. Believe and have faith. No more doubts. Doubt is a nasty virus that infects and destroys the soul."
"Will you come with me?" Sela asked, extending her hand.
"I am always with you," Rose said as she gradually morphed into a large hawk. The elegant, graceful bird soared straight up into the air and circled high above Sela.
With eyes the size of dinner plates, Sela watched Rose for the longest time fly in and out of the clouds, gliding on the air currents. Tempest finally broke her trance and nudged her shoulder.
"Okay," Sela said calmly as she threw her leg over the back of the horse. "Did you see that? Holy buckets. That was amazing."
For the entire ride back to camp with a huge grin on her face, Sela recited prayer after prayer and made up new ones as well. She tried to remember all the times she had said that her guardian angel must have been looking out for her. Some of the memories were so vivid. Sela smiled, knowing that she really did have a guardian angel and her name was Rose. As Sela got closer to camp, she wondered if anyone would ever believe her and stopped Tempest. She couldn't just waltz into camp and at the top of her lungs announce that everyone's guardian angel would be joining them for the big battle. They'd think she'd gone bonkers or had been out in the sun way too long. She didn't need more people staring at her as if she'd just sprouted turnips out of her ears again, not to mention corn out of her nose.
"For now, we don't say anything. On the other hand, maybe I could test the waters and tell Heckel what just transpired," she mumbled, petting Tempest. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a hawk, or more accurately, Rose, sitting on a large boulder. The bird flapped her wings. Sela couldn't help but giggle. My guardian angel is with me. How cool is that!
After Sela returned to camp and wiped Tempest down, the horse joined Hope down by the river's edge. When she got to camp, Heckel was gutting and cleaning a large rabbit.
"Look what Jerky found for us," Heckel said proudly.
Wham, like a large two by four upside her head, Sela thought of Jerky. That's got to be Heckel's guardian angel! It has to be. No doubt about it. Sela picked up the large cat and hugged her. Jerky's large, sandpapery tongue licked her cheek and she purred loudly.
"Now there's a picture of love and affection," Heckel said as he put the rabbit on a homemade spit. After he was satisfied with the proper height of the spit and stoked the embers, he came over and hugged both of them.
Jerky squirmed out of Sela's arms and took off running. Heckel kissed Sela softly and stroked her hair.
"How was your ride? Come across anything interesting?" he asked.
Like a kid with a big secret, Sela grinned and said, "Hmm, yeah, I'll tell you later."
Rose drifted down silently and landed on an old gnarled tree nearby. Sela winked at the magnificent bird.
Chapter 28
The saying "If you want something done right, do it yourself" kept running through Madeline's head as the motor home turned onto I-80. All she needed to do was sneak into Heckel's camp, end his pathetic existence and get on with building her empire.
Overall, the RV made good time until it hit the outskirts of a large city. Then Madeline's cleanup crew had to remove debris and burned-out wrecks. Occasionally, the small entourage would encounter bands of desperate people who had no idea who they were attacking. Madeline would usually let her men deal with them; however, at times she would do a bit of target practice.
The caravan had just entered the edge of Cheyenne when Madeline's driver had to stop the Prevost motor home because of a large man-made roadblock. About twenty people came out from behind a large pile of debris. They were armed with clubs, pitchforks and other primitive weapons. They looked like rejects from a remake of Frankenstein or an old Mel Gibson Road Warrior movie. If one combined the two films, the result would be angry townspeople, dressed in ragged leather vests and black-studded collars and waving torches and farm implements into the air. Madeline stepped out of the rig, stretched and said, "You folks should probably move all this shit off the road and let us pass."