CHAPTER 19

A little more digging, then a flash of dirty color. Pink. Her heart caught in her throat as she continued pawing at the earth, the rock discarded as her hands removed handfuls of soil, still damp from last night’s rain. She could feel the dirt underneath her nails, but she ignored the unfamiliar feeling as she moved quicker, the splash of pink growing wider and a moment later a strangled cry had escaped her lips as she fell back on her hands.

She couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of the blood in her ears, and she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking. It was more than just a sweater. Her fingertips had brushed against bone and she felt as if they had been burned. The remains of what had to have been a child seemed to mock all that she knew to be true as her breathing came in short, panicked gasps, her wide eyes filled with horror and confusion even as they refused to leave what was lying before her.

The pink sweater was missing two buttons.

"No," She uttered aloud, trying to catch her breath, "No, Father, this can’t be… this can’t be!"

She stumbled to her feet and ran back towards the cottage faster than she had ever run before. Branches and thorny underbrush slashed at her face and legs but she never slowed down, and she was still running full speed when she burst into the yard and up the porch steps.

Her breath was coming short and fast but she barely hesitated as she flung the door open and ran into the house. The sight that greeted her was one that made her blood suddenly run cold.

"Adam? Adam what are you doing here? We don’t need you!" she insisted. "Andrew, I need to find Faith. Where is she? Where is Tess?"

The blond angel of death reached out for her but she was already moving past him and into the kitchen. "Monica," he said gently, "angel, slow down."

She refused to look into his sad eyes. "No! Where is Faith!"

Andrew pushed his hands into his pockets and nodded towards the side door. "She’s out on the dock with Tess."

"Monica," Adam tried to stop her.

"Don’t touch me! Leave us alone! We have all the angels we need already!" Monica shouted and she yanked open the door and ran outside, finally feeling some relief as she saw Faith in the distance. She was wrong. She had to be wrong.

"Faith! Tess!" she called out as she approached them. "Oh! You two had me worried!" She fell to her knees in front of the child and pulled her close.

"Monica?" Faith was worried. She had never seen the angel so upset.

"It’s all right, sweet heart. Everything is all right."

"Monica," Tess’ voice was somber and it cut through the small bit of peace that the Irish angel had managed to shroud herself with. "I think Faith has some things you need to hear about."

The younger angel shook her head in denial. She didn’t want to know. She wanted to be wrong more than anything she had ever wanted in her entire existence. More than being free of McArthur, more than changing David’s heart, more than anything.

"Faith, can you tell Monica what you just told me? About your first day here?"

The little girl pulled away from Monica’s warm embrace and gave a little half-hearted shrug. "It was Easter," she said slowly. "I forgot to hide my sweater after Sunday school and daddy saw me wearing it. He said we were going to breakfast, but he was mad. He brought me here."

"Sweetie, you don’t have to…"

"Monica!" Tess tone was sharp, and the younger angel lowered her eyes and concentrated on the small face in front of her.

"He started to hit me and I tried to run away, but I couldn’t run fast enough and he caught me," her voice had grown softer. "He said he was gonna leave me up here and no one would ever find me. I don’t remember much more," she said, but her eyes told a different story. She remembered more than she wanted to. "I hurt all over and I was lying on the ground and then I was asleep and when I woke up he was gone… and the man was here… but he was gonna take me back home and I didn’t wanna go! I ran away… and he couldn’t catch me." She looked up and met Monica’s eyes, then reached out and brushed away the tears she saw there. "He said no one would find me, but you did."

Monica had been shaking her head and willing herself not to cry all the while Faith was talking, but she couldn’t hold on any longer. A sob broke free and she pulled Faith into her arms and stood up, holding the girl as tightly as she could.

"Monica, where are you going?" Andrew and Adam had followed her out to the dock, and once again Andrew tried unsuccessfully to grab onto her arm.

"We’re going inside," she choked out. "It’s too sunny, and Faith isn’t wearing any sunscreen."

"Angel," he whispered.

"She doesn’t know, Andrew! She doesn’t know and she’s not ready to know!" She turned to Adam, careful to keep Faith from seeing him. "Go Home, Adam. Please… go Home…"

The older angel of death looked at her with remorse. "I’m sorry, Monica," he told her. "I truly am," and then in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

*****

The rest of the morning was nothing if not quiet. Monica had seen to it that Faith was busy coloring under Tess’ watchful eye before she gone outside. She had said nothing to either Tess or Andrew and any attempts to speak to her had been met with nothing more than a shake of her head.

It was close to noon as Andrew made his way down to the dock to where his friend had been for the past two hours. The breeze, now tinged with the essence of fall, blew through his blond hair as he approached her carefully, his heart aching at what he saw.

Though she never looked up at him, her eyes were red rimmed from tears and at his very presence, her chin trembled as if longing to break down into fresh sobs.

He knelt down in front of her and reached for her hand, saddened by the fact that it was limp in his own, "Are you all right?" It was a question he didn’t need to ask as he already knew the answer, but he had to start somewhere.

At the gentleness and love in his voice, tears welled up in the brown eyes before she looked down, trying to maintain some semblance of control over her emotions, "No," She whispered, "Not really."

He nodded slightly, wanting and needing to know what she had found out that morning before she had come racing back into the cottage, but he didn’t want to push her, "I’m sorry, angel. I know how hard this is…"

"I found a grave," Her broken whisper interrupted him and he lowered his head briefly, already knowing the rest of the story just from those few simple words, "It was a child. She had a pink sweater…it looked a lot like Faith’s…"

Andrew’s eyes widened slightly at her words, but only briefly, for a moment later, she had covered her face with her hands as choked sobs shook through her. She knew the truth and no matter how much she wanted to deny it, she was unable to. He slowly eased himself in beside of her and pulled her close, relieved when she didn’t pull away, and his hand stroked her hair as she wept up against his chest.

Though they had all found out the same truth at roughly the same time, he could only imagine how it must have felt to find out the way she did. He had heard it from Adam and Tess had put it together by Faith’s words. Monica had seen the cold, cruel truth and thinking about that he held her a fraction tighter.

"I’m sorry," He whispered once more, kissing the top of her head and wishing more than anything he could have spared her that reality. He knew that Jake needed to be called and taken to the grave, but it could wait. Faith, the once human child, was not going anywhere.

"What did Adam say?" Monica finally uttered tearfully, not sure if she really wanted to know, but knowing on some level that she needed to. On top of that, based on the things Faith had said in the past, she already knew pretty much what must have been said.

"He was sent to take Faith Home, but when he mentioned the Father, she became terrified and refused to go with him," He explained softly, never releasing his hold on her.

"He killed her," She whispered, her voice catching in her throat, "It all makes sense now... all the things she said. Her chocolate rabbit was the last thing she had eaten…" Her voice broke and she buried her face against his chest, "Andrew…"

"I know, angel, I know," He soothed, closing his eyes briefly. He hated the pain she was in at the moment and he understood it all too well. He had seen this many times before; innocent children murdered by the hands of those who were supposed to love them. It was the part of his job he liked the least, but it had never been Monica’s job. Hers was usually to help the living and that was what she thought she had been doing this time as well; it was what they all thought they had been doing this time.

"Sweetheart, you know that once Faith understands, she will never hurt again," He offered, wanting to do anything to try to help her forget the images she had seen today.

"She doesn’t even know, Andrew! How do we tell her that her father killed her and then expect her to go with someone else of the same name?"

"The name is as far as the similarities go, angel, and you know that and we will help Faith to understand that. She knows we would never hurt her or lead her into anything bad and the trust that has developed will help."

"I know, but…"

"But what?" He asked gently, resting his chin against the top of her head.

"I just…I just thought we were saving her from her father," Her voice was barely audible, "but that wasn’t the case at all. We were too late, Andrew. We were too late."

He closed his eyes briefly, hating the desolation he heard in her voice, "But not too late to send her to the arms of the Father who loves her and would never hurt her, angel."

*****

Tess looked up as Andrew came in through the door, his arm wrapped securely around the little angel’s shoulders. She could see the distress still lingering in her charge’s eyes and she knew how to alleviate at least some of it, "Faith just went down for a nap," She offered softly.

Andrew led his friend over to the sofa so she could sit down as his eyes met with the supervisors, "She found Faith’s remains this morning."

Tess nodded her head as she wordlessly took Monica’s hand, "We’ll need to call the sheriff then. He’ll need to know."

Monica looked up, remorse evident in her dark eyes, "Tess, about this morning-."

"It’s forgotten, baby," Tess was looking at her closely, trying to determine how rattled the little angel was by what she had seen.

"I shouldn’t have said the things I did," She whispered sadly, "I’m sorry."

Tess caught the younger angel’s chin in her hand, "Enough, Angel Girl. You were upset and I knew that and should have been more sensitive. Besides, you hadn’t even had your coffee yet."

A tiny smile emerged, "No, I hadn’t and maybe I need to do that now," She released Tess’ hand and slowly walked through the kitchen door.

Tess watched her go and then turned to Andrew. "I don't often question the wisdom of God's ways, but I can't help but wonder about Him putting that little angel through this," she said as she shook her head.

"I've been thinking the same thing, but Tess… can you think of a better angel to soothe Faith's fears and lead her to accept God as her Father?"

"No. You're right about that."

"And as hard as this is… I think she's been given something too. She's had a glimpse of the innocence she thought she'd lost forever, and I don't think she'd wish that away, even to avoid the pain she's feeling right now." Andrew looked towards the kitchen. He believed what he had spoken but that didn't mean he didn’t want to take her pain away.

Tess saw what he was thinking and moved to his side. "She'll get through this, just the way she's gotten through everything else. She's strong, that one." She smiled proudly, "and she has the strength of the Father behind her."

He nodded and walked over to the phone. "I guess we can't put this off any longer."