CHAPTER 1

"You’re right. I should always let you do the cooking, or sandwich fixing as the case might be," Monica grinned that afternoon as she and Andrew finished up the picnic lunch he had prepared for their outing.

"Glad you enjoyed it, Angel," He returned her smile as he helped her to pack up what was left of their lunch. The afternoon was beautiful; not too hot with a gentle breeze flowing through the trees and the setting was making his friend appear as if she could easily curl up on the blanket and take a nap.

"It reminds me of that second day with Paul when we went on the picnic. That was a nice day too."

He watched her intently, clearly able to see the fact that she was missing their human friend but he elected to keep things light, "You mean the nice day when you were thrown off Scout?"

She giggled and nodded her head, "That would be the day. I don’t know who was more afraid. The rabbit, Scout or you and Paul."

He chuckled, "It may have been a four way tie," He rose to his feet and extended his hand to her, "C’mon. Let’s take a walk before you fall asleep. We can pick up the basket on the way back."

Monica accepted his hand and when she was standing, she felt him wrap his fingers around her own as they began to walk and she marveled at the way he could always make her feel at peace and safe. She never questioned it, but only accepted it as a gift from God.

They walked in amiable silence for awhile, before Monica stopped abruptly, her eyes focused on a small cabin in the middle of the woods and she felt a wave of trepidation hit her. It seemed out of place somehow as it was run down and very tiny and she felt Andrew squeeze her hand as he saw what was holding her attention.

"It’s probably just a hunter’s cabin, angel," He reassured her as he gently tugged her forward for a closer look. He put his free hand above his eyes in order to try to peer through the dirty window, chasing away cobwebs as he did so. He frowned. The cabin, which from what he could tell seemed to only consist of one room, showed signs of having recently been occupied. There was a moth eaten blanket balled up in the corner of the cot as well as a battered sweater lying on the floor and he was unable to help himself as he headed to the front door to knock.

"Anybody home?" He called out, getting the feeling that if someone were indeed inhabiting the cabin, that they needed help.

His knock was met with silence as he released Monica’s hand to try the door handle, thankful when it turned easily, despite the obvious nervousness that was emanating from his best friend.

Monica stepped back but as she did, she felt something brush up against her, startling her and she stifled a scream as she whirled around, just catching a glimpse of someone racing deeper into the woods. She was quickly able to assess that whoever it was was rather young, judging by height and without thinking, she broke into a run in an attempt to catch up to the person.

"Monica!" Andrew called out, realizing what had just happened and he felt his heart clench with fear.

They were in the middle of the woods and now Monica was off and out of his sight and he hadn’t even seen who or what she was chasing. He knew that he probably had nothing to worry about, but that didn’t stop him from taking off like a shot in the direction he’d seen her run.

"Monica! Monica? Where are you?"

There was no answer but he could hear leaves being crushed underfoot and branches snapping. He kept running.

"Monica! Answer me! Where are you?"

"Over here!" His heart began to slow even as his feet sped up. She was close by and he didn’t want her racing off again.

He found her leaning against a silver birch tree, head back, taking in deep breaths of air. "What happened? Who were you chasing? What were you chasing?"

"I’m not sure," she replied in between breaths. "I thought it was a wee child but I never got a close look."

"A child? Way out here?" Truthfully Andrew thought that a wild-eyed axe murderer was more likely.

She nodded. "That’s what I thought I saw. We should go back to the shack and wait."

Andrew shook his head. "No. There’s no telling when he or she will be back… and it sounds to me as if this is the assignment that Tess has been waiting for."

"But Andrew… a child…" Monica’s dark eyes opened wider and she stared up at him, fully aware of the effect that doe-eyed look had on him.

"Nice try, but no. Tess seemed pretty pleased to have a case all to herself and I don’t think we should interfere if we don’t have to." He still didn’t actually believe that what Monica had been chasing was a child. They were miles from the nearest road, miles more from the nearest town. How and why would any child be out living alone in a tiny ramshackle cabin?

Monica gave one last little pout. "Fine. Let’s get back to the cottage so we can tell Tess. Then she can come out here and get the wee little one and bring her back."

Andrew suppressed a snicker and an eye-roll as he followed after the Irish angel. Even when she was annoyed he found her adorable. He had to move fast to keep up with her as she hurried back towards the cottage.

"Ummm… Monica?" he ventured after a few minutes of walking.

"What?" she replied, a slight edge still in her voice. She stopped walking and turned back to face him. "I’m sorry. What is it?"

"I just thought you might want to know that the cottage is that way," he said as he pointed off to the right, through the trees. He was trying his hardest not to smile, but her narrowed eyes told him that he was unsuccessful.

"It’s not my fault I’m geographically challenged," she said. "It isn’t like there’s a Girl Scouts for angels, after all."

Andrew was about to mention that there wasn’t a Boy Scouts for angels either, but quickly thought the better of it. Monica didn’t make any more wrong turns and within ten minutes they were back at the cottage and the little angel was running through the clearing and up the back steps onto the deck. Tess was sitting there, large sunhat perched on her head, book in hand.

"Where’s the fire, Monica? Didn’t you two have a nice lunch? And where is that basket I packed for you?"

"We left it back in the woods, Tess, but we’ll get it later. We had to run back to tell you we found your assignment!"

"Whoa there… what do you mean you ‘found’ my assignment?" Tess glanced briefly over Monica’s shoulder to meet Andrew’s eyes, but the older angel just shook his head.

"We found a little cabin… and then there was a child running away from it. I tried to catch her, but she was too fast."

"There’s a little girl out there in the woods?" Tess said as she pushed herself to her feet.

"Well I didn’t actually see her… but I think it’s a girl… and I’m sure that’s who you’re supposed to help."

Andrew, who had been standing off to the side, waiting for Tess to tell Monica that it was probably just some little animal, was completely taken aback when the older angel started towards the steps.

"Now I don’t need you two to break off from your afternoon together, but if you can just tell me where this cabin is, I’ll go off and get the girl and get to the bottom of this."

"Tess?" Andrew raised his eyebrows.

Monica shot him a brief glare before turning back towards her supervisor. "Andrew doesn’t believe I saw anything."

"Monica…" Andrew draped his arm around the angel’s shoulders and pulled her closer despite her half-hearted attempt to keep her distance. "I’m sure you saw something, I’m just not sure it was a little girl… and how did it become a little girl anyway? I thought you never got a clear look."

"I didn’t. It’s just a feeling. It was a little girl, and right now she’s out there all by herself."

"Not for long, Angel Girl. If she’s the one I’m meant to help then the Father will lead me to her." She dropped her book off on the deck railing and walked down the steps and towards the edge of the woods. "I’ll be back before you know it."

Andrew and Monica watched her go, and the angel of death could feel the tension flowing through his friend. She wanted to go with Tess and help. It was an instinct that had never been completely buried and over the past year it had grown even stronger.

"Tess is right. If there is a child out there and Tess is supposed to help her then she’ll find her. She will." He gave her shoulder a squeeze and was a little surprised when Monica backed away.

She flopped down into Tess’ abandoned chair and looked up at him accusingly. "We could have helped. You just don’t trust me to know what I saw." Her eyes were staring up at him, but there was a softness around her mouth and he knew that she wasn’t really angry, just a little bit hurt. That was something he could remedy.

"Angel, I trust you more than anyone, on Earth or in Heaven. If you say you saw a girl, then I believe you."

"But you didn’t believe me a second ago."

He sat down on the arm of the chair and stared off into the woods. "To tell you the truth I wasn’t sure what to believe. I was just so relieved when I caught up with you, and maybe I didn’t want to think about it because I wanted to get you out of the woods and safe… just in case it wasn’t a little kid we were chasing."

She turned to face him and saw a look of sheepish remorse on his face. She didn’t hesitate another moment, scrunching herself into the corner of the chair and pulling him down to join her.

"Weren’t we just talking about how you haven’t had to protect me lately?" she said gently.

"Yes, but didn’t I say that doesn’t really stop me from trying?" Her slightly exasperated smile told him that he was fully forgiven and when she leaned her head against his shoulder he sighed with contentment.

"I guess that’s something we’ll have to work on," she murmured.

He chuckled deep in his throat. "Do you really want me to stop?"

There was a slight pause and he looked down to see a thoughtful expression on her face. He smiled even wider when she looked up again and replied, "No, you’re right. I think you’re perfect just the way you are."

He kissed the top of her head, knowing that the gesture would let her know that the feeling was mutual, "So, aside from going back and collecting our picnic basket, what do you want to do for the rest of the afternoon?" He didn’t want to give her much time to dwell on what Tess was doing and whether or not she had uncovered her assignment. The best way to keep Monica from worrying was to keep her distracted.

"Hmm," She appeared thoughtful for a moment as an idea began to form in her mind. The picnic basket was not far from the cabin and the little girl might be hungry. It wasn’t that she still thought that Andrew doubted her, but some proof certainly wouldn’t hurt. Bottom line was that a serial killer would not be interested in her uneaten half a sandwich and some left over potato salad, but a hungry little girl would be. Besides, maybe there were some clues in town as to who the mysterious girl in the woods was.

"You know, there was a lovely little town at the base of the mountain. Do you suppose Tess would mind if we borrowed her car?"

Andrew’s eyes widened at the mere suggestion, "I’m not so sure that is the wisest idea, angel…"

"She told us to enjoy our afternoon," Monica pointed out, "And we can get the basket when we come back."

He continued to look at her as if she had just grown wings, though he had a feeling that there was more to this than was meeting the eye, "You know how Tess is about her car…"

"But we’ve borrowed it before and nothing has happened. I’ll take full responsibility, I promise."

He let out an accepting sigh, knowing he was not only going to give in to her request, but also that he would not allow her to take the fall with Tess alone, "Let me leave her a note to let her know where we are heading." He stood up and gave her a mock stern look, "Even though this is against my better judgment."

She grinned up at him, "Point taken. Hurry and write the note."

Ten minutes later, they were on their way, with Andrew driving and Monica keeping up a lively chatter from where she sat next to him and he couldn’t help but to smile. It seemed the little angel had a comment about everything from the trees, to the stream that ran beside of the road, to the squirrel that jutted across their path before scurrying up a redwood tree. She was happy and it was worth any reprimand Tess may decide to give.

The town was bustling with tourists which only added to Monica’s excitement as Andrew parked the car and they began walking down the busy street hand in hand, which was a good thing as he was convinced his friend would either stumble or run into someone as her eyes were on everything other than where they were heading.

He was reminded of the one and only shopping excursion when she had been in the Witness Protection Program as she darted in and out of shops, often stopping to look at some little trinket, sometimes for longer than he felt was necessary, but he couldn’t deny her anything.

Monica turned around inside of one of the gift shops and noticed that Andrew had lingered at a display, so she walked on ahead, stopping when she came to card display, her eyes immediately settling on a card with a small angel on the front cover, complete with wings and golden shimmery halo. On the inside, the brief message simply read "Halo!" Holding it in her hand, she entertained the idea of mailing it off to Paul at the farm, knowing that the next time he returned there, he would find it. Though it would be impossible for him to respond back to her and sending a card wouldn’t answer any of her questions, she still liked the thought of him reading it and knowing that she was thinking about him.

She was certain that it was highly irregular for an angel to send a past assignment a card, but then again, she wasn’t just any angel anymore than Paul was just any assignment and with that the decision was made. She shot a glance down the aisle at Andrew and indicated that she was heading to the register. She was grateful that he had not questioned her lingering in the shops as she tried to listen to any bits and pieces of conversation that had come up among employees and customers, but so far she had heard nothing about a lost little girl. At least with having found the card, it wasn’t proving to be a fruitless venture.

She waited in line patiently, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to see if Andrew was in sight, but as of yet he had not returned from his browsing. She was just turning around once more to see how many more customers until it was her turn when a gruff voice caused her to look over abruptly.

"I’m looking for my little girl," The man was saying and Monica felt an immediate sense of dislike for him. His clothing was grubby and a bit worn and his face unshaven, but she knew better than to judge someone on those attributes alone. What did bother her was the coldness of his eyes. He didn’t look like a man who had been worrying about his missing daughter, but more like someone who was annoyed with her disappearance.

He was holding a picture out to the woman he was addressing and the little angel strained for a better look as the woman responded, "Such a dear little thing," She said sadly with a shake of her head, "How long has she been missing?"

"Since April," He responded, tucking the picture back into his pocket and Monica could see that the edges of it were well worn, "Name’s Faith."

"Are the police looking for her?" Monica heard herself say the words before she realized they were out of her mouth and she felt completely unsettled as the cold eyes came to rest on her.

"Course they are. Snatched right out of my front yard, she was. Police been all over my property and the woods, but no one can find her."

"May I see the picture?" She ventured, glancing up and seeing there were still two people ahead of her in line. As he handed it to her, she studied the little girl’s face carefully. Blonde hair was hanging limply around her face, which looked rather gaunt to the angel, and Faith’s big green eyes looked a little haunted. It wasn’t hard to see that the little girl in the picture did not appear happy.

"You seen her?" His demanding voice caused her head to shoot up as she debated her answer. She didn’t know for a fact that she had seen Faith, though the odds were that she had, but something in her heart was telling her not to admit that to this man. It wasn’t really a lie, she told herself. There was no proof that the child she had been chasing in the woods today was the same sad little girl in the picture.

She shook her head as she handed the photograph back to him, "No. I’m sorry, but I haven’t, though I will be keeping an eye out for her. I’m sure you and your wife must be very worried."

"Wife’s dead," He stated flatly, avoiding all reference to his being worried over his missing daughter, which only made the angel more uncomfortable and she was suddenly anxious to be as far away from him as she could get.

Looking up, she realized that the cashier was impatiently waiting for her to lay down her purchase and she did so thankfully, watching out of the corner of her eye as the child’s father moved out of her line of vision.