chapters 2 and 3

CHAPTER 2

Rose woke up earlier than usual the next day and headed straight to Luka’s little house, which had been transferred from the yard, next to the barn, to inside the main house. The girl’s concern about the dog’s condition was huge and she dedicated part of her time to take care of the animal:

“Hey Luka! How did you sleep that night, hum?”, she stroked the dog’s black fur while the animal covered her face with ‘kisses’. But, suddenly, Luka turned her attention to the door:

“What is it? Do you wanna go outside? Fine...”

The girl opened the door and the dog ran through it in a rush: “Hey Luka, where are you going?!”

Surprised with that unexpected action, Rose ran after the dog and was even more scared to see that Luka found the gate of the ranch half open and managed to pass through it:

“Luka stop! Don’t!...”

But the dog continued running, completely ignoring the girl’s command. In just a minute, she disappeared through the vegetation that surrounded the ranch:

“Luka don’t go in there!”

“Hey Rose, what’s going on here?!”

Tom was coming on his bicycle to take the dog for a walk, as he did everyday, and was surprised to see his friend running outside the house, still wearing her pyjamas:

“Oh Tom, thank God you’re here! It’s Luka, she got away and went in that direction!”

“Gee there’s a road in the middle of the trees there! Let’s get here!”

*

“Are you sure Tess isn’t going to be mad at us because we took her car?...”, Monica asked, sitting on the passenger seat of her supervisor’s Cadillac.

“Well, she told us not to be late, didn’t she?”, Andrew replied, with an ironic tone in his voice, “Besides, you said that you loved this place and I wanted to take you for a ride before we started our work!”, he winked at her and a broad and delighted smile appeared on her face:

“And that was lovely! The first rays of the warm sun gently touching my face and this constant sweet smell of flowers all around...”

The blond angel smiled and, for some instants, looked at her with all the love in the world evident in his eyes:

“Have I told that, well, that’s why this scenario reminds me of you!...”

Slightly blushed, she planted a loving kiss on his cheek, completely forgetting about Tess’ temper:

“Thank you!”

*

“Luka! C’mon girl, I’m not mad at you!”

“Here Luka, come here!”

Rose and Tom started walking through the vegetation but there was no sign of the dog:

“Luka! Come here!”

“C’mon Luka, show up!... Why did she ran away after all?”

“I don’t know what’s come over her, Tom! I opened the door for her and in a second she was gone!”

“Luka!!!”

At that moment, they heard an all too familiar bark in reply:

“Hurry! It’s coming from that direction; it’s where the road is!”

They ran as fast as they could and found not only Luka barking repeatedly but also the reason for the animal’s sudden escape: a car had crashed on a tree and had its front completely destroyed. Inside of it, the driver, a woman, lay unconscious with her head leaning on the steering wheel. She was thin, had shoulder length blond hair and seemed to be in her thirties.

“Oh my God!... Tom she’s badly hurt!”

“So it was that Luka was trying to warn us...”

“We need help!”

“Yes, sure. You stay here with Luka while I go and get some!”

The boy climbed on his bicycle and followed the road that connected the nearby towns. And it didn’t take long before he found a red Cadillac coming in the opposite direction:

“Andrew, isn’t it Tom?”, Monica pointed, and the two angels saw the boy wavering at them.

“Yeah, and it seems that something has happened...”

The blond angel stopped the car and Tom parked his bike next to their car:

“Andrew, Monica, I’m glad I met you!”, he said, breathing hard.

“What is it Tom?”

“You gotta come with me right now, there’s been an accident, a woman is hurt!”

*

There was a little hospital in the city, to where the unknown woman was quickly taken. Andrew and another doctor immediately started to work on her, while Monica and the children waited outside, in the hall for nearly one hour.

“...ok, thank you sheriff.”, Monica hung up the phone on the counter and turned to Tom and Rose.

“Did the police talk to her family?”

“No, they didn’t Tom. The sheriff searched inside her car, but couldn’t find any document or phone number. Besides, there was no car license, it seems that it was taken away...”

“Wow, that’s weird!...”, Rose exclaimed. Mr Schmidt, Rose’s father, arrived at the hospital at that moment:

“Rose, what happened? What’s all this?”, the man was surprised to see his daughter there, still wearing her pyjamas.

“There was a lady on the road, dad! Luka found her and took Tom and I where she was!”, the girl answered.

“Tom and your daughter might have saved a life, Mr Schmidt.”, Monica said. The man looked at Rose with pride in his eyes:

“Is it true sweetie?”

“Well, I guess so...”, she was a little embarrassed by the angel’s comment, “I’m not under punishment, am I?”

He smiled and kissed the girl’s forehead:

“No! The fact that you saved a life more than makes amends! And how is the lady?”

“Andrew is examining her now...”

Monica had hardly finished that sentence when the blond angel showed up in the corridor:

“So is she going to survive Andrew?”, Tom asked, as anxious as Rose. A smile appeared on his face:

“Yes, she will!”, he announced, causing everybody to sigh with relief, “Fortunately the accident caused her some bruises and minor injuries, but nothing serious. She’ll stay under observation for just a couple of days. And more, she’s awake and wants to know you two!”

Andrew took the two children to the woman’s room and she greeted them with a smile:

“So these are my saviours?!”

“In fact it was Luka who found you...”, Tom was as embarrassed as Rose.

“And who is Luka? Where is she?”

“She’s our dog and had to stay out of the hospital...”

“Oh... Then I’ll have to thank her later!”, she joked, “So you two are brother and sister, right?”

“Oh no; we’re friends. My name is Tom; she’s Rose. What’s your name?”

The woman’s smile slowly faded away from her face:

“Well, I’d love to tell you my name, but the problem is that I don’t remember it...”

Rose and Tom looked at each other with amazement:

“You mean you don’t remember who you are?!”

“I have no idea, Tom.”

“How is that possible?!”

“She’s got a temporary amnesia, Rose.”, Andrew explained, “It was caused by the trauma of the accident.”

“The last thing I remember was that I was driving along the road, in a hurry to get somewhere... but I don’t know where or why.”

The two children observed her for some instants:

“Well, you’re not wearing any ring, so you’re not married...”, Rose said.

“And your necklace has the letter M, so your name starts with it.”

“And as you don’t remember it right now, I’m gonna call you Mary, right?”

The woman smiled:

“Are you children or two detectives in disguise?! Mary is a lovely name; thank you Rose.”

A soft knock on the on the half open door interrupted that conversation: it was Mr Schmidt:

“Hey Rose, we have to go now, the lady needs to rest.”, he said, giving a step inside. The girl took his hand and led him inside:

“This is my dad, Mary.”

“I hope you get better soon, miss...”

“You should be proud of your daughter, Mr. I don’t know how to thank these two children for what they did for me.”

He smiled, pleased to hear such comment about his beloved daughter:

“Thank you. I’m very proud of her!”

“She’s got amnesia, dad, and doesn’t remember her name. So we’ll call her Mary!”

“Oh, I’m sorry miss...”

“That will be temporary, I hope.”

“It will”, Andrew interrupted, “Your memory will be back with time.”

A pensive expression appeared on the girl’s face and, after some instants, she spoke again:

“What if you stayed with me, at my house? I live in a ranch and there aren’t many people there, just me, my dad and Monica, our vet, but she leaves in the afternoon.”

“Oh, I don’t wanna be a bother, really...”

“No, you can stay with us, can’t she dad?”

The man was taken by surprise by his daughter’s request, but there was no other way he could refuse it:

“Sure, if she wants, she’s welcome!”

“Great!”

They bid her farewell and left the hospital afterwards.

Monica and Andrew watched father and daughter leaving the hospital and sighed contentedly:

“The Father is really wonderful, isn’t He, Andrew? In a minute, that lady was in the middle of nowhere and without anybody to help her. And then, in a blink of an eye, everything changed!”

“Yes, Rose has even given her a name!”, Andrew agreed.

“I like Rose a great deal, you know. She has such a kind and generous heart...”

He wrapped his arms around her shoulder:

“Yeah, just like somebody I know...”

Smiling, she gave him a tender and loving look:

“Well, besides Rose, I know another person whose heart is kind and generous. It’s a dear friend, who I happen to love very much...”

Slightly blushed, he lowered his eyes for some seconds, turning to face her again:

“See? I knew that taking you for a ride is always a good idea, Angel Girl!”, his eyes were shining with love for the Irish angel. But, at that moment, Monica stopped smiling and a worried expression appeared on her face:

“Oh my Goodness! Andrew...”

“What is it sweetie?”

“We forgot to take Tess’ car back!”

Fearing the consequences of that oblivion, the two angels left the hospital in a rush.

*

On their way back to the ranch:

“You’re not mad at me are you dad?”

“And why would I be mad at you, sweetie?”

“Cause I invited Mary to stay with us without asking you first, and I know there isn’t much money left...”

“Well, you should have talked with me first, it’s true. But the answer would be yes, anyway. I don’t mind if she stays with us.”

“Oh thanks dad! I was so sorry for her, I just wanted to help her. You know, we don’t have much, but Mary has nothing at all and I just felt sorry for her...”

Mr Schmidt smiled and tenderly stroked her hair:

“You’re so much like your grandmother. And your mother too... Always thinking with your heart and eager to help whoever it is!”

“You miss her a lot, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. Very very much.”

*

Tess rang the bell of the orphanage and, some seconds later, Mrs Schmidt came to answer the door:

“Mrs Schmidt, I’m Tess, I’m the new catechism teacher, can we talk?”

“Oh sure Tess. Please, come in.”

Mrs Schmidt brought the angel some tea and the two sat in the living room:

“I’m sorry I didn’t take the children to church myself yesterday. I haven’t been feeling very well in the last few days.”

“I know all about it. Tom told me.”

“Tom is such a good boy. He’s been helping me so much with the younger children. I’m not as strong as I was 10 years ago!”

“In fact, it’s a big house and taking care of 10 children demands strength. Don’t you think you should hire a person to help you?”

The lady’s eyes saddened at that question:

“I would really love to Tess, but... the truth is that I’m doing everything possible not to close this orphanage.”

“Oh don’t tell me that!”

“I’ve owned this orphanage for 15 years and all this time I’ve been dedicating most part of my time to take care of people in need. There are young adults in this city that lived here and whenever I look at them, and see that they are studying and working and have even formed their own families, my heart is filled with so much happiness for them. I’ve invested all my money here and got so much back!”

“Taking care of the ones in need is one of the most beautiful ways to honour God. And I’m sure that what you’ve got back is priceless.”, Tess concluded.

“You’re right, Tess. Unfortunately, we live in a real world and we need money too. My son owns a ranch not far away from here and he and my daughter in law always helped me to keep this house. But she died some years ago and since then, things seemed to get worse each and everyday.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“My son helps me whenever he can, but I know the ranch is on the verge of bankruptcy. He’s sold part of the animals and it wasn’t enough to pay his debts. I’m sure that, in a matter of months, he’ll have to sell that place and it will break his heart, as well as my granddaughter’s, Rose.”

After becoming pensive for some instants, Tess smiled:

“I’m sure that God will help your son and your granddaughter. But I have an idea to help you and this orphanage!”

“An idea?!”

“Yes, a very good idea to be precise!”

*

Two hours later:

“You can set these tables in a row, along the church yard, so there’ll be enough space for people to walk and dance! And those boxes with the games and the prizes you can put inside the church. After I’ll find a place to keep them!”

In the churchyard, Tess commanded about 10 men, who were delivering tables, chairs, stalls and all the material necessary for a church festival. Standing beside her and completely amazed by how fast the religion teacher had arranged all those things was Mrs Schmidt.

But it didn’t take too long before Father Rosenberg noticed all that movement and came to see it in person:

“But what is going on here?!”, an expression of distress appeared on his face when he saw Tess commanding all that, “Oh, no, not you again!”

The angel faced him equally displeased:

“Good afternoon, Father Rosenberg! Yes, we are fine, thanks! Mrs Schmidt here is better, thanks! And she is thankful for your concern about her health, thanks!”

“Mrs Schmidt, don’t you tell me you’ve been doing business with this lady!”

“Well, I ...I...”

“Mrs Schmidt and I became associates and we’ll use the church to help the orphanage! There’ll be a church festival here!”

“A what?!!”

“You heard me very well! Oh, don’t you worry, ‘cause there’s work for you to do too! But right now, I want you to get outta my way, ‘cause you’re disturbing me!”

She turned her attention to the people who were delivering the material. But Father Rosenberg followed her:

“Listen to me, Miss Tess, I didn’t give you permission to transform my church into a circus, you hear me?!”

“Father Rosenberg, in the first place, this is not YOUR church. Secondly, this is not gonna be a circus, this will be a church festival! And finally, I’ve already talked to the Owner of this church and I can assure you He gave me full permission to do whatever I want to, ‘cause He knows it’s all for a good cause! Now, if you excuse me, I’ve got business to finish here, c’mon Mrs Schmidt!”

Mrs Schmidt even tried to apologise for her new friend’s attitude, but didn’t have the chance, as Tess grabbed the lady’s arm and left the old (and very angry) man behind.

CHAPTER 3

“C’mon dad, hurry, we’re gonna be late!”, Rose was standing beside the stairs of the ranch house, neatly dressed and anxiously waiting for her father to come down. Together with her were Monica and Mary, equally ready to go out:

“These clothes suited me perfectly. I don’t know how to thank you, Monica.”, Mary looked at the mirror hanging on the wall for the last time.

“You look very beautiful in them, Mary.”, the angel replied. Rose nodded:

“Yes, that’s true. You’re lucky that you and Monica wear the same size!”

“I guess I was lucky to have crashed my car in that tree, otherwise I wouldn’t have met so many good people!”

“I think luck had nothing to do with it. I believe that there still are many good people in this world and I believe that it was God who put some of these people in your life, Mary, when you needed it most.”

The woman smiled, sensing the truth in those words:

“You’re right, Monica. Meeting so many people to help me so suddenly can’t just be mere luck!”

“Ladies, I’m sorry I made you wait!”, Robert, Rose’s father, finally came downstairs. “I had some papers to read and I really couldn’t do it later.”

“That’s alright dad. Look! Monica lent Mary some clothes, they wear the same size, isn’t it a coincidence?!”

He looked at Mary, noticing how well Monica’s clothes suited her:

“Yes, you look really... really...”

“Beautiful?!”, the girl completed. A little embarrassed, Robert agreed:

“Yes, you look beautiful, Mary.”

“Well, thank you Mr Schmidt.”, she replied, slightly blushed.

“Now let’s go or we’ll be later than what we already are!”

He took the keys of the car and headed to the door, followed by Mary, Rose and Monica, who couldn’t help chuckling at the mischievous smile on the girl’s face.

*

The church was all lit up with small lamps and many stalls were placed in the churchyard, where the townspeople were selling all kinds of products or commanding funny games. There was music and everybody was having a lot of fun. Arriving there, Monica went straight to one of these stalls, to help Andrew.

“It’s good to see that the entire city came to the festival and are helping the orphanage!”, the blond angel said.

“Yes, that’s true. But I really wanted to help more, you know Andrew.”

“You’re already helping enough! Not only here, but also at the ranch, remember?”

“Yes, but I think I could have cooked something, maybe coffee cakes or something like that to sell in here...”

Hearing that, Andrew frowned, choosing his words carefully as he always did when the subject was Monica’s culinary abilities:

“Well... I think Tess has already taken care of it, sweetie. Besides, although you are wonderful, you would be exhausted if you had to cover 3 areas at the same time. That’s why we 3 are together...”

And expression of relief appeared on his handsome face when she smiled at him, pleased with his comment.

But away from all that happiness, inside the church building, Father Rosenberg was arranging the altar alone:

“I can’t believe you are locked up in here while the whole town is outside, having fun and helping the orphanage!”, Tess exclaimed, entering in the place. The man rolled his eyes, not pleased at all with her presence:

“I believe I’ve already helped the orphanage by allowing the festival to be here!”

“Yeah, that can be true, but you are a religious man, you represent the church and are a servant of God here on Earth and should be outside to see how many good people He put in this world!”

“I don’t like noise! Besides, I don’t like parties either!”

“I’ve already realised how sociable you are!”

“And why would I go outside? You said that everything is fine and that people are having fun so I wouldn’t make any difference!”

“Well has it ever occurred you that those people might like you, despite your grouchiness?! Besides, this is a celebration too and you should be happy for Mrs Schmidt and for those children!”

The man stopped what he was doing to face her:

“Miss Tess I’m fully aware of my duties as a religious man, I don’t need anybody to tell me them! When I was a boy, in Poland, I witnessed all the horror a child or an adult should never see. I saw people being killed by other people and could not understand or see any difference between them and me. I woke up one day and my parents and my younger brother, a baby with less than one month old, were gone. But I survived and I, don’t know how or why, I was placed in a train and after in a ship and came to this country. I was taken to a church, where I found good people who took care of me, gave me a home and taught me about God. Then I could understand the present He gave me, how blessed I was to have survived and found somebody to help me when I needed it most. That’s what I try to do here. But don’t ask me to be cheerful and to smile at everyone everyday all the time, because this will never happen. What I saw is still in my memory and will never be erased. And, though I found comfort and reassurance in God’s words, a part of me died in a concentration camp, in Poland, 50 years ago...”

Although Tess was touched by those words, she kept on with a stern face:

“And then you decided to become an old grouchy man, who roars at everyone who tries to come closer!”

“I am a serious man, Miss Tess, and that’s how I’ll be for the rest of my life!”

“There’s a big difference in being serious and being grumpy! God doesn’t want His children to have a thorn in their hearts! And you, Mr, will come with me and take a look at the festival right now!”

“I told you I don’t want to go! As a matter of fact, these people should be ashamed of themselves; they prefer coming to a worldly festival than to the Mass!”

“Ok, then I’ll stay right here, talking with the Lord and praying that He put some sense into somebody’s head!”

Realising that she wouldn’t leave and that he would have to listen to more lectures, Father Rosenberg had no other choice but to agree on going outside and see the festival:

“Alright, alright! I’ll go outside, but don’t you dare asking me to dance and to smile at everybody!”, he grumbled, even more displeased.

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea!”, the angel stated, equally distressed.

*

The festival was a total success and the children and adults had a great time playing games and buying the delicious candies and cakes Tess, together with other volunteers, had prepared; and surely the money collected would help Mrs Schmidt to pay all the bills of the orphanage.

At that time, most part of the game stalls were closed, as all the prizes had already finished. There was music playing in the air and some people were dancing near the small stage built up for the local musicians to play. Monica was watching them when she heard a familiar voice speaking close to her ear:

“Excuse me, Miss. Would you give me the honour?”

Smiling, she turned her head to the right to face her dearest friend:

“I thought you wouldn’t ask!...”, the Irish angel replied, as Andrew took her hand and led her closer to were the musicians were playing:

“That’s where you’re wrong, Miss Wings, ‘cause where there’s music and dance, there’ll always be you and I!”, he said, placing his arm around her waist, to bring her closer to him; all the love in his eyes flowing straight to hers.

“Well, that I’m definitely sure about!”, she had a kind and loving smile lightening up her face.

Tess, Mrs Schmidt and Father Rosenberg (this one with his usual stern face) observed the festival coming to its end with satisfaction:

“Oh Tess, I don’t know how to thank you enough for that!”

“You don’t have to thank me for anything, Mrs Schmidt. I only had the idea; it was the entire city who came in here to help!”

“Yes, but if it weren’t for you, Monica and Andrew organising all this, it wouldn’t have been a success!”

Father Rosenberg cleared his throat, even more displeased:

“Oh, and of course your help allowing the festival to be here was also of extreme importance, Father Rosenberg!”, the lady completed.

Near them, Rose and Tom, eating cotton candy, were observing people dancing and chatting all around:

“It seems like all the people are having fun!”, the girl said, “Except one...”

Rose’s father was standing alone, away from the crowd and staring sadly at the ground.

“He misses you mom a lot, right?”

“Yes. He thinks he’ll never like anybody again.”, she looked at Mary, who watched the festival and seemed to be happy amongst all those people: “But I’ll work it out!”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Watch me!”

The girl headed towards Mary:

“Hey Mary, having fun?”

“Oh yes, Rose. I think this festival was not only a brilliant idea to help the orphanage but also a way to bring happiness to this town; your grandmother told me that she’s never seen the people who live here having so much fun. And she also said that there’s been a long time since there was a festival in this town and that this is the best one she’s ever seen!”

“Yes that’s true... Mary, I’m looking for dad. Did you see him?”

“No, but I can help you to find him.”

“Oh great!”

Of course it didn’t take too long before the two found him:

“Hey dad what are you doin’ here?”

“Well I was... just watching...”

“Funny, I found Mary doing the same thing! So why don’t you two follow Monica and Andrew’s example and go dance too?!”

The two adults smiled with a little embarrassment:

“You seem to have a solution for everything, don’t you Rose?!”

“And I was supposed to ask Mary do dance, young lady, not you!”

“And why don’t you do it?!”

He ran his fingers through his brown hair, even more embarrassed:

“Mary she won’t give up until she sees us dancing... would you like to?”

“I’d be happy to.”, she answered, smiling.

They started dancing and Rose went to stay with her friend Tom, both joining Mrs Schmidt, Tess and Father Rosenberg:

“See? I told you I would work that out!”, the girl exclaimed, extremely content to have accomplished her idea. Tom shook his head in disapproval:

“Rose is trying to put her dad and Mary together!”, he said, causing her grandmother and Tess to laugh:

“Rose! I can’t believe it!”

“C’mon, grandma! All I did was to encourage them to dance! Dad needs some company, you know. At first, I thought about Monica, but I didn’t know she and Andrew were dating!”

Hearing that, Tess looked at her two charges, who were entertained in a good conversation while they danced close together, and, amused, rolled her eyes to the sky. The girl kept on talking:

“So Mary showed up and she seems to be a nice person. I even asked for Monica’s opinion and she found the same thing. Then, I just thought that, maybe, she and dad could become friends...”

Mrs Schmidt and Tess were amused by the girl’s words and kept on laughing.