PROLOGUE, CHAPTERS 1 AND 2

PROLOGUE

It was summertime, the warm sun was shining brightly across the blue sky and many children were playing happily in the park, flying kites, playing with their dolls, balls or swimming in the lake. That time of the year was their favourite one, as classes were over and they had 3 months to have all the fun they could.

But the children were not the only ones who were having a great time: a close look revealed a slim, auburn lady running across the short green grass, surrounded by trees and flowers. She was barefoot, wearing a sleeveless pink shirt and a long flowered skirt. As she ran, Monica was laughing broadly and looking behind her, as if she was trying to escape from someone. And that ‘someone’ was right after her: a tall, blond, handsome green eyed man, wearing a blue T-shirt, beige pants and who was also barefoot. And it didn’t take him too long to reach her and grab her about the waist. She let out a squeal and he gently pulled her down on the ground:

“Oh Andrew, please, don’t!...”, she asked, giggling furiously as he tickled her without mercy.

“You asked for it, Angel Girl! Better think twice before challenging me for a run and leaving me behind!”

“... please, stop it!... I’m sorry!...”

But he ignored her pleading, as the blond angel was having a great fun himself.

“Please Andrew... Mercy!...”, she begged, with tears falling from her brown eyes and her cheeks completely red. Only then Andrew stopped tickling the little Irish angel, and sat beside her. Monica, on the contrary, continued to lay curled up on the grass for some time with the hands on her stomach, and never stopped laughing. Her best friend looked down at her with all the love in his heart:

“You know, Angel Girl, I’ve just realised something: tickling you is such a great fun!”

“Please don’t mention the word ‘tickle’ or I think I’ll have a laugh attack!...”, she replied, still giggling. Andrew couldn’t help chuckling at her wording:

“A ‘laugh attack’?!”

“Yes...”, confirmed the angel, trying to catch her breath.

He leaned down to take some strands of hair off her face and gently stroked her cheek:

“Have you got any idea of how much I love seeing you happy and with a big smile upon that pretty face of yours?”

“Well... I think I have!”

He lay down on the grass beside his best friend and held her close to him. They remained there for some  minutes: she, resting her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeats; he, gently stroking her long auburn hair; both contemplating the beauty of the nature which surrounded them.

“This place is just amazing, isn’t it?”

“It’s wonderful... the sky, the flowers, the lake, the happy people around us... It’s a work of perfection created by God. And I thank Him every single day for letting me share His work with you...”

Monica reached her hand up and caressed his hair. He looked at her with a smile:

“I couldn’t think of a better way to enjoy the Father’s work other than being with you...”, he replied, taking her hand and kissing it, “But I’m afraid we have to go now, Tess is waiting for us.”

He helped her to her feet and, after looking for their shoes, which had been left behind, the angels held each other’s hands and headed to the little dock built up in the lake that stood in the centre of the park. There, a dark skinned woman, with grey hair and wearing a light blue dress, was waiting for them. Monica and Andrew walked towards her with a smile on their faces:

“Hello Tess, isn’t it a lovely day?, Monica said.

“Wouldn’t you like to go round with us while we talk?”, Andrew invited. But the oldest angel and supervisor had sadness in her eyes and an evident expression of concern on her face. Noticing that, her two charges looked at each other, and after to her, already worried:

“What is it Tess?”, the Irish angel asked. Andrew frowned:

“Is there something wrong?”

“Hi babies...”, Tess answered, her voice lower than usual, and with a sad tone, “I... I don’t feel like walking around right now... In fact, I wanna talk to you about your next assignment...”

“Is it a difficult mission?”

“Are we going to deal with a complicated case?”, the two angels wanted to know. After a deep sigh, she continued to talk:

“You’ll be working as instructors at a vacation campsite, which stays in the north, up in the mountains. Green Valley Campsite.”

“A vacation campsite? That doesn’t sound so bad!”, said Monica, smiling slightly. Her best friend agreed:

“Yes, and you know we like working with kids!”

But Tess kept the same worried and sad face:

“This... isn’t going to be as simple as you’re thinking...”

“Why not?”

The supervisor sighed once more:

“All I can say is that you’ll have to be there, together with those children, all the time, until this assignment is over.”

“Well, isn’t it the way it’s supposed to be?”, Andrew asked, even more confused.

“You’ll understand it better when it’s time, Andrew. And I won’t be able to be with you in this meantime, as I have another mission to fulfil.”

The serious tone in her voice was deeply upsetting the younger angels:

“Tess, why are you so worried? Is there any problem concerning this assignment?, Monica asked. The supervisor came closer to them, taking their hands and squeezing them tightly:

“Listen to me, babies. There are times when even angels feel tempted to question God’s plans and even to think that He’s turned His back on them. But just look around you to remember how wise He is.”

“We know that Tess...”

“I’m sure you know it, Angel Boy. And I want to ask you two one more thing: stay close together, you hear me? Never leave each other’s side, not for a minute!”

Realising that she wouldn’t say anything else, but sensing that her words were to be followed strictly, they nodded:

“We promise we will, Tess.”, Monica agreed.

“Yes, we’ll be together all the time”, Andrew tried to take a more cheerful tone, “And I must say that this is going to be a pleasure!”

He looked at his best friend and she returned his smile. But nothing seemed to cheer the oldest angel up:

“I know it’s not necessary to ask this from you, as I know how much you two care for each other, and now, more than never, I thank the Father for blessing you with this feeling.”

Still worried, they looked at each other one more time, and after to the supervisor, who kept on talking:

“You should go now and meet Mrs. Janet Peters. She’s the lady in charge of the camping tour and will explain your work and present you to the group of children you will be taking care of. All of you will be heading to the campsite today, by bus, understood?”

“Yes...”

“So, I have to say goodbye to you now...”

“Wouldn’t you like to come with us until the entrance of the park?”

“No, Angel Girl. I have some minutes left before I go, but... I need to have a conversation with the Father...”

By the expression on her face, the two angels could understand that she wanted to pray in order to chase away all the sad thoughts that were troubling her mind at that moment.

“That’s ok, then... Goodbye, Tess...”

But the supervisor couldn’t hide the apprehension she was feeling, and opened her arms:

“C’mere, angel babies!...”, she urged, and gave them a long hug. On the following minute, they bid her farewell and left. Tess turned to face the lake and its placid water. Then, she conjoined her hands and looked up to the blue sky with some tears in her eyes:

“Oh Father, please, let them be alright. Give them strength to face their fears... And protect them from all the evil and danger they’re about to face...”

CHAPTER 1

Monica and Andrew arrived at the school that was organising the camping in the afternoon. Each one carried a travelling bag, knowing that they would have to spend about a month in the mountains. A noisy and rather cheerful group of children was playing and talking not far away from the entrance of the building, near a big bus. They exchanged a look of amusement:

“This is gonna be funny, don’t you think?”, the blond angel joked.

“Yes, and I’m happy that you’re here with me to share all this ‘fun’...”, she replied, already thinking about the hard work they would have with all those little ones.

A short thin blond woman, who was in her forties, soon realised their presence and came to greet them:

“You must be the new camping instructors, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m Andrew; this is Monica.”, the blond angel said. The woman shook hands with them:

“Glad to meet you, I’m Janet Peters, I run the Green Valley Campsite and I was so lucky that you two appeared in the last minute. The instructor that was supposed to come together with us during the trip became ill and there wasn’t anyone to replace him. I was almost having to take care of the children myself.”

“How many are they?”, Andrew asked.

“30 kids, 15 boys and 15 girls. Their ages go from 10 to 12. They are bit noisy, as you may have noticed, but they’re fine children, I’ve travelled with most of them before.”

“It must be a lot of fun to work with children. It’s like giving your soul an opportunity to renew itself each day of your life.”

Mrs. Peters smiled:

“Oh you are absolutely right, Monica. I can’t imagine my life without working with those kids, as my husband and I have never had the opportunity to have one ourselves.”

At that moment, a little girl, of about 8 years old, with black hair and wearing a pony tail, came near them:

“Mrs Peters, when are we going to swim in the lake?”, she asked, holding a small but cute doll and with excitement evident in her dark brown eyes.

“Oh Sally, dear, as soon as we arrive at the campsite!”

“And is it going to take too long?”, the girl insisted.

“Well, first I have to present the new instructors to the other children.”

She looked at the two angels with a curious face:

“Are you the new instructors?”

They smiled at her:

“Yes, I’m Andrew, this is my friend Monica, and we will take care of all of you during the camp vacation, Sally!”

A young boy, also with black hair and brown eyes, who looked like 12 years old, came closer to them:

“Hey Sally, here you are! I’ve been looking for you!”, he said, “You’ve disappeared again!”

“I’m sorry John, I wanted to know when we’re going to the campsite...”, the girl replied, with a little embarrassment. The boy turned to the three adults:

“I’m sorry, Mrs Peters, she’s been talking about this trip for weeks!”

“Hey John, these are Andrew and Monica and they’re gonna be with us at the campsite this time!”, his sister informed, trying to change the subject.

“So you’re the new instructors! Will you two teach us to swim in the lake?!”

Pondering about her fear of water, the Irish angel looked at her best friend and to them:

“Well, Andrew will teach you this, while I will teach you to play German jumps, O’Larry, Relieve and many other games.”

The little girl was confused:

“I never heard about these games!”

Monica smiled and winked at her:

“So you’re going to be the first one to learn them, and then you can teach the other children how to play. What do you think?!”

Sally’s eyes widened even more:

“Oh really?!”, she said, and ran until the other children, “Hey people, did you hear that? I will be the first one to learn how to swim and play ‘O’Larry jumps’...!”

Protectively, the boy followed her back to the group they were playing with. The three adults laughed at her enthusiasm:

“She’s lovely!”, Monica said.

“Yes, Sally Hudson is the youngest of the group, she’s only 8. But as her brother John is also coming in this excursion I decided to open an exception and let her come with us. But now let me talk to them and introduce you two, because we’re already one hour late. The bus should be leaving by 4 o’clock, but I had to delay its departure because some parents couldn’t bring their children sooner. But I really wish we could arrive at the campsite before it gets dark, I don’t like travelling at night.”

They joined the group and the two angels were presented to them. As Monica and Andrew had already worked with children so many times before, the empathy with the little ones was immediate. Besides this, Mrs Peters was right, they seemed to be nice kids and it was clear that it wouldn’t be difficult to deal with them.

Some time later, all of them placed their luggage in a compartment under the bus and got into the vehicle, which left the city at about 5 o’clock.

*

The first mountains started to appear in the horizon, indicating that they were entering the countryside, and the students were extremely excited not only about the camping and all the fun they would have in the next days but also about the trip itself, as they were going to a distant place, miles away from their parents’ eyes. And to complete this perfect travel, the atmosphere inside the vehicle was very noisy and funny, due to the two excellent instructors that were together with them. And Monica and Andrew seemed to be having a lot of fun themselves, as both of them loved doing these kinds of assignments.

The considerable delay in the departure of the bus made the trip longer, and the night fell upon the Earth right after the driver, Mr. Stokes, reached the mountains. The road, which was winding and narrow, became even more dangerous in the dark, demanding twice more attention, as precipices stood about one meter from the asphalt, and the highlights of the vehicle were the only source of light available in that place.

The group fell asleep eventually, as the day had been a busy one and all the mess they had made caused the boys and girls to feel tired.

Only then, the two angels were able to go sit beside each other, in the front seats. Monica had a tired but happy smile on her face:

“Oh, it seems that the next few days will be anything but monotonous for us!”, she joked.

“Yeah, they have a lot of disposition, that’s for sure!”, Andrew agreed. His best friend turned serious:

“Andrew, I can’t stop thinking about Tess. Why was she that way?”

“I don’t know, Monica. And it’s hard to imagine it has something to do with this assignment...”

“I’ve never seen her so worried about anything like the way she was this morning. I could even say she had a trace of fear in her eyes...”

Thoughtful, the blond angel sighed deeply:

“Well, I think we’ll have to wait to find out what the problem is. And she won’t be with us.”

“I guess that only makes things worse... I love her so much, I miss her advises, her words of wisdom and even when she scolds us.”

Noticing that his best friend was a bit sad, Andrew took her hand in his own and squeezed it:

“Let’s pray for her worries to be washed away and for everything to go well. Remember there’s Someone who will always be taking care of all of us...”

In silence, they rested their heads together and closed their eyes for some minutes, offering their prayers to the Father. When they finished, the angels looked at each other and smiled:

“Feel better?”, Andrew asked. She nodded her head enthusiastically:

“Yes. Thank you.”

The Irish angel took her hand to her mouth and yawned. Her best friend looked at her with his eyes full of love and patted on his shoulder, indicating the best place for her to take a nap. Smiling, she inched closer to him and planted a kiss on his cheek, resting her head on his shoulder afterwards:

“You’re very comfortable, you know...”

“Don’t you mean ‘comforting’?”, he corrected.

“I mean both...”

Smiling, Andrew didn’t miss the opportunity to kiss the top of her head, and also closed his eyes in order to get some sleep. But, deep inside, he was still thinking about Tess’ behaviour early in the morning.

*

The journey from the city to the campsite would take 4 hours and the bus continued to travel through the night, in a desert road with several bends. All that darkness was upsetting the little Irish angel, and even though she felt her friend’s left hand resting on her right one, Monica couldn’t rest peacefully. Half asleep, she opened her eyes once in a while to check up on her surroundings, and always closed them again after seeing Andrew’s gentle face standing right beside her.

It was about 11:30 and, at that time, the only person really awoken inside the vehicle was Mr Stokes. His full attention was turned to the road that lay ahead because he knew that there were 33 people whose lives depended on his ability to guide the bus, and the tension in his heart was growing every minute.

But the man’s worst fear turned into reality after he passed by another bend, this one really dangerous: there was a big hole just a meter ahead and, before the driver could do something, one of the tires passed over it and he lost control of the bus. Everything happened very fast: although Mr Stokes used all his strength to swerve to the left, the bus went to the opposite direction, and a great tragedy took place at that moment.

The vehicle skidded, overturned on its right and started to roll down the hill in an unstoppable spinning; panic spread quickly inside the bus: children woke up being shaken from one side to another, as well as adults, all of them screaming terrified at what was happening.

After descending for some minutes, the vehicle struck many trees, slowing down, and stopped upside down.

But with its back half hanging on the edge of another precipice.

CHAPTER 2

Children’s cries broke the silence of the mountains and could be heard miles away. With her entire body shaking madly, Monica looked around her and saw her best friend lying not far from her:

“Andrew...”, she called, her voice trembling with fear.

“Monica... are you hurt, sweetie?”

“I don’t know... I think not... How about you?”

“I can’t move... My legs are stuck under the seat...”

The Irish angel looked at the other side and saw Mrs Peters lying some meters from her:

“Mrs. Peters, are you hurt?...Can you hear me?”

But there was no reply. The woman stood still, as if she was dead. Suddenly, another voice was heard:

“Monica... Andrew...”

They looked at the other direction: Mr Stokes had a bad cut on the arm, bruises all over his face and was stuck under the front bus panel:

“I think I’ve broken my leg... It hurts so much...”

Watching that horrible scenario, Monica took her hand to her mouth and started to cry, unable to control her panic:

“Oh my God, Andrew...”

Realising that his best friend was in shock and filled with despair, Andrew started to talk to her:

“Monica, dear, listen to me... You have to stay calm, we need to get everybody out of the bus; we two are the only ones who can do that. But, right now, at this very moment, you’re the only person who can take me out of here...”

Seeing that she kept on with steady eyes and that terror never abandoned her face, he insisted:

“Hey, Angel Girl... I depend on you... more than never!...”

Trying to hold back the tears, she took a deep breath:

“You’re right...”, and turned to face the children, all spread inside the bus: “Children... Wait a moment, OK? Andrew and I will take you out of here soon...”, she said, in a loud an more confident voice. The Irish angel crawled until Andrew was and the image of her dearest friend stuck under two smashed bus seats came as a sharp pain into her heart. He had some cuts on his face and had hit his head. She gently stroked his blond hair and shed some more tears:

“Oh Andrew... I’ll take you out of here, ok?

He took her hand and kissed it:

“I trust you with all my heart, Angel Girl...”

She stood up, her body still trembling, and, using all her strength, Monica managed to remove the seats.

“Can you move?”

“Yes... I think so...”

He stretched his legs and, with Monica’s help, stood up:

“It’s not bad, I hit my head and fell on my right arm, it hurts a bit but I think I didn’t break anything...”

Suddenly, the bus moved, as if it was going to fall again. In fact, this could happen at any moment, as half of the vehicle was hanging on the top of a 20 meters fall to the foot of the cliff.

“We have to take the children and the others out of here immediately!”

They broke the bus door and started to rescue the children one by one. All of them were deeply scared and crying with fear. On the other hand, fortunately, nobody was badly hurt, just a few bruises and sprained ankles.

After carrying them in their arms to a safer place, the two angels returned to the bus to help Mrs Peters and Mr Stokes. But, as they entered the vehicle, it moved again, and bent to the side of the precipice:

“We must be fast, Monica. There’s not much time left, this bus is gonna fall at any minute...”

“Please, take Mrs Peters first...”, asked the bus driver. The woman had hit her head, which was bleeding with a cut, and remained unconscious. Carefully, Monica and Andrew removed her out and laid her on the ground:

“Mrs Peters, please, talk to me”, Monica pleaded. Andrew examined the woman for some instants, and finally smiled:

“She’s breathing...”

The Irish angel was relieved:

“Oh, thank God!...”

The bus moved one more time; it was about to fall down in the precipice:

“I’ll go after Mr Stokes, you stay here!”, said Andrew. But his best friend grabbed his arm in order to stop him:

“We have to stay together, remember?”

Although he didn’t want her to risk herself by getting on that bus, the blond angel knew she was right and he would need her help. They entered the vehicle again and started to remove the man. That task, however, was not an easy one, as Mr Stokes was stuck in the front part of the bus, and every time Andrew and Monica tried to pull him out, he let out a cry of pain:

“I have an idea: I’ll try to remove the panel that is on his legs and Monica, you pull him, right?

“OK...”

Using every bit of strength and ignoring the pain in his own body, the blond angel managed to remove the heavy metal panel and Monica dragged Mr Stokes. The two angels grabbed him by the arms and finally got out of the vehicle. A minute after, the bus fell in the precipice and everybody could hear a loud crash followed by an explosion.

*

Still scared, Monica and Andrew took the wounded adults to stay together with the children, who were twice as scared:

“I want my mom...”, whispered a little girl, in panic. Monica held her for a second:

“Oh sweetie, you’ll see your mummy, I promise. But, now, Andrew and I will take care of you and your friends.”

Andrew kissed her little hand:

“Monica is right; and we need you to be close together right now. We are a group, a team, and we’re having a big test on how to behave in the forest, like a real scout would, and I want everybody to pass in this test, ok?

He managed a slight smile and winked at her, and the little girl nodded in agreement.

Some bags containing first aids and other camping equipment had fell from the bus during the accident and were spread in the surroundings. After gathering some of these objects, the two angels walked around the other children, with the flashlights in their hands, giving them the first aids. It was then that Monica realised something terrible:

“Oh my God...”

“What is it?”

“...Sally and John... they are not here...”

Andrew froze as he saw her words were true: the children they had rescued were all there, as well as the adults, but the two siblings the first had met before that disastrous trip started weren’t.

“That can’t be true...”, he murmured, also terrified, “Sally! John! Answer me!”

“Sally! John! Say something!... Oh Andrew, they couldn’t have been in the bus...”

“They weren’t Monica; I checked out myself. Mrs Peters and Mr Stokes were the last ones we took out of it...”

“But... where are they?!...”

“What if they fell from the window?”, suggested the bus driver. Immediately, Andrew started climbing the hill, walking on the trail left by the bus half an hour ago. Many bags and toys were spread on the way, but there was no trace of the children. Where were they? What had happened to them?

“Oh Father, please, help us to find them... Let them be alright...”, the angel prayed.