PART 10

CHAPTER 10

If there was a feeble spark of hope to see their beloved ones again, it had been completely shattered by the second earthquake. To Grace’s parents and Susan’s husband, seeing another part of the school building collapse was like a blow in their stomach and now they couldn’t even speak – their crying was all that could be heard in the place where they were standing.

And sadly, the angel who was supposed to bring them comfort and reassurance walked away from the group and rushed to her Cadillac. Tears were rolling down her face when she opened the car door and took the driver’s seat. Little Joy had been lying on the passenger’s seat so far; the animal hardly acknowledged Tess’ presence, merely raising her head as if, somehow, the small dog could feel the sadness in the air.

Shamefully, the supervisor covered her face with both hands and cried, “Father... if there’s still a chance... please, show me, cause I... I just can’t hold it anymore...”

*

Andrew and Monica cried for help until their voices were hoarse. But, again, there wasn’t any reply.

“I just can’t understand that! They should be looking for us, why can’t they listen to our calling?!” she exclaimed, despair consuming both of them.

“They must be digging far from us...” the blond angel replied.

“And what are we going to do? Father, please, show us a way!” Monica pleaded, crying helplessly. Now that the dust had settled down, it was possible to see what had become of the laboratory. Grace straightened her glasses and looked around her. It was then that something inside the destroyed piece of furniture called her attention. Carefully, but quickly, she stood up and walked over to where it was.

“Grace, what are you doing?! Come back here!” Andrew called. But she was already pulling the closet door to open it completely and, some seconds later, she managed to do so. Inside, there was the strange machine she had constructed some weeks earlier, for her Science project.

“Look what I found!” she exclaimed, showing them the weird looking gadget, “I didn’t know it was here! I thought Mrs Bale had already sent it to the university !”

“What is it?”

“It’s a sort of a transmitter. It emits sound waves that can be heard miles away.

“And can you make it work?” the blond angel asked.

“Of course I can; look, when I gave it to Mrs Bale I left the batteries inside it...” she turned on the strange machine, but, much to the angels despair, they couldn’t hear a sound.

“I don’t understand... It must be broken...”

“No, Andrew. It’s not broken...” Monica spoke, as she already knew how the little device worked.

“Yes, Monica is right; it’s not broken. It’s working just fine, the sound waves are in the maximum volume. It’s just that they’re emitted in a different frequency, not audible to the human ear.”

The sudden hope that Andrew had faded away with the girl’s explanation and both angels exchanged a disappointed and frustrated look, being careful not to let her notice it.

With tears still in the corner of her eyes, Monica looked down at the weeping little baby in her arms and stroked her pink cheeks, “I know, sweetheart, I know you want to get out... But we have to be a little patient, you know... Don’t cry...” she whispered, kissing the baby’s forehead and doing an extra effort not to burst into tears. Andrew could feel the great sadness coming from her heart and felt his own heart clench with sorrow. There was nothing he could do to help her or the others; there was nothing he could do to cease their pain. He sighed deeply and frowned: how would they be able to get out now?

Trying not to think about those issues, the blond angel wrapped his arms around Monica’s shoulder and brought her close to him in a tight embrace, kissing her temple afterwards. Gratefully, she rested her forehead against his and Grace joined their embrace, and the 3 continued to pray for help.

*

Outside, Tess cried for about 10 minutes against the car wheel. But, all of a sudden, the supervisor heard a silent message coming straight to her heart. She wiped away her tears and nodded her head, “Yes, Father. I know my place is together with those 2 families and that I have to comfort their hearts; I know... I just hope you don’t forget to comfort this old angel’s heart as well...”

Only then, she noticed that little Joy was walking around in circles on the passenger’s seat, moaning and nearly frantic, as if there was deeply something bothering her.

“I know you’re missing your mom an dad, baby, but... They’re busy now. But I trust you’ll see them later...” Tess spoke, stroking the puppy’s soft black fur. The angel opened the car door and got out but, before she could close it, little Joy quickly jumped out of the vehicle and started a nearly desperate rush towards the ruins of the school building.

Tess couldn’t grab her in time and started to run after the small animal, “Joy come back here! It’s dangerous out there! Come back here now!” she shouted, but Joy never replied to her callings. Grace’s parents and Susan’s husband watched as the little dog crossed the barrier set by the firemen and headed to the area which they had given up digging on the day before.

“Joy, come back here!” Tess called once more, as she couldn’t cross the yellow banner that isolated the risky area. But again, Joy didn’t obey to her command. Instead, she stopped running and started to sniff around.  Seconds later, she seemed to find the spot she was looking for and, with her tiny pawns, started to dig the debris on the ground.

“This can only be a horrible nightmare!” Tess exclaimed, watching the dog’s unexpected and strange behaviour. But all of a sudden, the supervisor’s eyes grew wide and her heart nearly stopped: only then, did she realise what Joy was trying to do, “Oh Father... Now I understand... I understand your message...” she whispered, and then shouted at the firemen, who were working on a place far from there, “I need help here! Now!!!”

In some minutes, the rescue team was gathered around a talkative dark skinned lady and not really believing in what she was saying. “Madam, in that place there was a laboratory and some corridors and, according to the school inspector, there wasn’t anybody there; the probability to find them...”

“Oh don’t you tell me about probabilities! Take a look at that dog and tell me why she’s digging in that place like crazy!”

The chief of the firemen sighed deeply: although he didn’t believe they would find the victims alive, he knew that a dog would be very useful in a search and rescue mission like that one and during all this time was sorry not to have dogs to help them.

“Bring half of the men, let’s dig here!”

*

“I just hope they don’t take too long to listen, cause the batteries will be over soon!” Grace spoke, never letting go of their embrace. Looking down at the baby in Monica’s arms, Andrew stroked her hair, in the most absolute silence, and placed a kiss on his dearest friend’s forehead. She raised her eyes and met his sad gaze.

“It’s not over yet, Andrew.”

“It’s getting pretty hard to believe it...”

“If the Father sent us here, then we have to believe.” She replied. Andrew nodded his head and gently caressed her cheek.

“Well, I can clearly see why He sent you to work with me...”

A tiny smile was about to appear on the angel’s lips when they heard a noise coming from above them.

“The firemen?! They are looking for us! They heard the signal!!!” Grace exclaimed. They shouted for help as loud as they could and, this time, the rescue team heard their voices coming from under tons of concrete.

“My God... That’s unbelievable...” the chief of the firemen murmured, a perplex expression on his face, and then the man shouted, “We found them!!! They are alive!!!”

Tess, who was holding little Joy in her arms, Mr Bale and Mr and Mrs Turner nearly fainted when they heard the news, and Grace’s mother fell on her knees, “Oh God, thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Is it true, Tess? They’re alive?!” Tom spoke, his voice hoarse with emotion.

“Yes, baby, that’s true! That’s true! The Father didn’t let us down! I knew it!” she replied, equally happy.

*

In nearly an hour, the rescue team managed to dig a narrow hole, finally breaking the lab ceiling and found the victims of the earthquake. That action caused some small pieces of the ceiling and of the walls to fall and Andrew was quick to protect Susan and Grace against them, while Monica held the baby tightly against her chest.

“You’re four people, right?” a fireman shouted, barely seeing them.

“We’re five!” Andrew replied, “Please, get us outta here, Mrs Bale needs help!”

“Five people?” the man was confused for an instant, “I thought they were four...”

Quickly, the lowered a set of cables through the hole, appropriate to rescue victims of landslides.

“Ok, 2 of you get attached to the cables and we’ll pull you up! Be as fast as you can! This is a very risky area!” he shouted. The weight of the many men working right above them, as well as the opening of the ceiling was causing the whole structure to fall into pieces and now the risk of a new collapse was great.

“Oh Father, thank you so much!” Monica spoke, as Andrew took the cables.

“C’mon, we have to do it quickly!”

The Irish angel nodded her head, “Grace, you go first. Come here...” she placed the little baby in the girl’s arms, “... take this wee one with you.”

Feeling extremely responsible for that tiny creature, and decided to do anything she could to help, she nodded her head enthusiastically, “I’ll take care of her, Monica, I promise!”

Monica quickly stroked the girl’s hair with a grateful smile, “Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

Andrew attached them to the cables and shouted, “You can pull it up now!”

The firemen took them out of the hole and finally Grace and the baby could see the day light. Before the men’s perplexed eyes, she showed them the little creature that had been born under the most inhospitable conditions, a miracle that nobody believed could happen in that place.

“Jesus Christ...” the chief of the rescue team whispered.

“She was born down there, earlier than we expected...” Grace told, “Where is Mr Bale? He has to see her!”

A second later, Grace’s parents, Tom and Tess broke through the barrier and Mr and Mrs Turner could finally hold their daughter again, “Oh, thank God, you’re alive!”

“We love you so much, dear!”

“I love you too...” she replied, with a happy smile, and then looked at Mr Bale, who seemed to be motionless with the image before his eyes.

“It’s your daughter, Mr Bale. She’s a little early!” she handed him the little baby and finally tears rolled down the man’s face.

“It’s a girl... My little daughter...” he spoke, his voice hoarse with emotion, which was also evident on the other people’s faces. “What about my wife?”

“Mrs Bale isn’t conscious, the firefighters need to take her out as fast as possible!”

“Call the paramedics! Take them away from here!” the chief of the rescue team shouted, and soon both girls were inside an ambulance, receiving the first aids.

The cables were lowered once again and Andrew held them, “Go, Monica, and take Mrs Bale with you.”

But the Irish angel shook her head, “No, you go with her, Andrew.”

“Monica...”

“Mrs Bale is taller and heavier than me, I won’t be able to hold her straight so that we can go through this narrow passage. You can do it.”

He knew her words were true and made perfect sense: the hole the firemen had opened was narrow and it was necessary to stand up straight to pass through it. Mrs Bale was unconscious and somebody had to hold her in the process and it had to be him.

“Please, Andrew, go with her! I’ll be right behind you!”

Still unsure and frowning with concern, he took the teacher in his arms, “Monica...”

“Go Andrew, I’ll be fine!”

He attached the cables to himself and to Mrs Bale but, before they were raised, the blond angel looked at Monica and stroked her hair, “I’ll be waiting for you outside, my angel.”

“I’ll be with you in a minute, Andrew.” He placed a kiss on her cheek and shouted at the firemen. A minute later, he and Mrs Bale were out of the hole and Tom nearly panicked when he saw her.

“Oh God...”

“Take her and the baby to the hospital, now!!!” the chief of the firemen ordered, and the woman was quickly placed in a stretcher and then, inside an ambulance, together with her baby, and the vehicle left the place on the following minute. Grace, Andrew and Monica would also be taken to the hospital, but in another ambulance, which was parked nearby.

Partially relieved to see her “angel boy”, Tess walked over to Andrew and gave him a tight hug, “Oh, Father, thank you so much! Angel boy, I was so afraid for you and Monica!”

“I’m fine Tess...”

“How can you say that? Look at you! You’re hurt!”

“Just a few scratches, Monica is more hurt than me, she broke her ankle...” he informed, causing the supervisor to frown with concern, “Please, take my friend out of that place!”

His request wasn’t even necessary, as the firemen were already lowering the cables to take away the last victim of the earthquake. But, contrary to what they thought, their nightmare hadn’t come to an end: down in the remains of the school laboratory, Monica didn’t even have time to attach the cables to herself. All of a sudden, the ceiling and walls, which were already falling into small pieces, collapsed all at the same time, not giving her the chance to be pulled out of the hole.