CHAPTER 8

What was bothering Monica the most, other than the thunder and lightning, was how terribly alone she was feeling at the moment. She continued to walk, being careful now in watching her steps in the slippery mud, but memories of her recent time in the prison were plaguing her frightened mind. She knew she was away from there now but there was something about being on her own and afraid that made her think of that time, and she kept reminding herself that just like her days in the prison, God was always there and Andrew never far away.

It was raining harder and her auburn hair was now soaking wet against her head and shoulders and she was wet clear through to her skin. The unseasonably hot weather of the earlier morning should have clued her in to the possibility of a storm.

"Oh Father, please, let me find my way back...or help Andrew to find me...and Father, please help him not to worry," The prayer was a mantra in her mind as she kept walking. Another loud CRACK of thunder caused her to lose her footing in the mud and she slipped, her hands breaking her fall somewhat. The tears were back as she rose shakily to her feet and held her muddy palms up to let the rain wash away the dirt, revealing a little bit of bleeding. But before Monica could feel anymore sorry for herself, a bolt of white lightening descended down into the woods just up ahead of her and wrung a scream from her throat.

But it was then that she realized, she was not the only one screaming. There were frightened cries coming from up ahead, where the lightening seemed to have struck. Though still trembling, both from fear and cold, the little angel began to run in the direction of the cries, slipping more than once, but her ingrained need to help anyone in trouble helped her to ignore the little aches and pains.

The source of the crying turned out to be two children and it only took the angel a heartbeat to assess the situation. The lightening had hit a small tree, which had fallen and the younger of the two, a little girl, had her ankle trapped by the fallen tree. The older boy was desperately trying to free her, but wasn't having much luck.

"Hello!" Monica called out, albeit a bit shakily. Though she now knew that her getting lost was no coincidence, it didn't take away her fear of being lost out here to begin with, but she was thankful nonetheless that she had something else to focus on at the moment.

The boy looked up, relief evident in his blue eyes, "My sister...she's stuck and I can't get her out. We're lost."

"There seems to be a wee bit of that going around," the angel answered, before she knelt down next to the little girl, who was looking up at her with both pain and fear written in her eyes, "You're going to be all right, wee one," Monica promised as she touched the child's cheek, "I think that your brother and I can probably move this tree together."

"Sure we can, Hanna!" The boy's wet face broke out into a smile.

Hanna smiled weakly, and nodded her head, "I think so too, Johnny."

"All right," Monica and Johnny both positioned themselves with hands beneath the fallen limb, "On three and Hanna, do you suppose you could crawl out when we lift it?"

The little girl nodded her head as Monica counted to three and when the heavy limb rose just slightly from her ankle, Hanna scrambled out from under it.

"Are you okay?" As soon as he had helped free his sister, his attention was focused entirely on how she was.

"My ankle hurts a little," It was obvious Hanna was trying to be brave but that tears were just beneath the surface as she rubbed her offended ankle.

"Well, let's take a look, shall we?" Monica was making her own attempts at bravery as another roll of thunder boomed through the forest. Tenderly and with infinite care, she felt the child's ankle and the knowledge that it was not broken but only sprained, filled her with great relief, "Not broken," She managed to sound confident as she looked at the two soaking wet and rather scared children in front of her, "But now, what about your parents?"

"We can't find them," Johnny sighed worriedly, "Hanna...well, she loves stuff like flowers and birds, you know, girl stuff, so she wanted to go exploring because it was such a warm day. I went with her, but now we have no idea which way our camp site is. We've been out here for a long time; our parents weren't even up yet when we left so I know they must be really worried."

The little angel would have laughed at how similar her own story was to Hanna's had she not been so cold and now even more worried with not only her lost, but two wee children as well. Add to that the fact that Hanna was going to be unable to walk and Monica knew her problems were even greater. Her own bare feet were cut from not being able to avoid rocks she couldn't see through all the mud and from so much stumbling, but she also had faith that God would help her to help Hanna and Johnny.

"All right, well, I suppose the best we can do is to keep trying to find some shelter," She noticed how Hanna's teeth were nearly chattering from the drastic change in the spring weather and she felt terrible that she didn't have something warm and dry to wrap around the child, "Hanna, I'll have to carry you."

Both children looked a little doubtful, as even though they were young, they could clearly see that their new friend wasn't very big, but Hanna held out her little arms anyway and Monica lifted her into her own arms.

"Don't worry," The angel assured them both, "We'll find help. I know we will." Even as she said the words, she said a little prayer for divine intervention as she shifted Hanna's weight in her arms.

"Monica!"

The sound of Andrew's worried call was like music to her ears.

"Andrew!"

She immediately heard the sound of him working his way towards the sound of her voice and when he emerged through the brush, Monica could clearly tell just how worried he had been.

"Thank you, Father," Andrew murmured, as he immediately took in the situation. Monica was soaked and shivering and somehow she had found herself an assignment during her little outing. Approaching his wife, he carefully helped her ease Hanna from her already aching arms.

His eyes met with hers as he fought to keep him protective instincts intact, "I was worried about you," He stated simply before looking at the two children, "And it looks like you found a few others who probably have people worried about them."

"Andrew, this is Hanna and Johnny and they are lost," Her eyes took on a sheepish expression, "Well, we all were but now that you found us, that makes us un-lost." Relief filled her heart when she saw his lips twitch to try to hide a smile, "A tree fell on Hanna and she sprained her ankle. She can't walk." Noticing the puzzled looks on the children's faces, Monica explained, "Hanna, Johnny, this is my frie-husband, Andrew. He'll help us get back to where we live and then we can call the police as surely your parents have reported you missing by now."

"Absolutely," Andrew agreed quickly, "And we aren't that far. Maybe twenty minutes away," The blanket he had brought for Monica, she was already draping around Hanna's small shoulders, so he was now doubly thankful that the cabin was fairly close, "Hanna, do you mind if I carry you?"

"No," she replied seriously, "I was a little bit worried about Monica doing it. You're lots bigger than she is."

He chuckled as he hoisted her into his arms, easily supporting her with one arm while holding the umbrella with his other hand, carefully sheltering both Monica and Johnny with it. Though the trio was all was completely drenched, at least the umbrella would stop the constant pelting of the still heavy rain.

Taking Johnny's hand into her own, Monica stayed close to Andrew as she tried to gauge if he was upset with her. She knew he had been dreadfully worried; she had been able to tell that just by the look in his eyes when he had found them. She knew he would never be truly angry with her, ever, but that didn't stop her from feeling rather guilty for not waking him to take a walk with her this morning. Had she just done that, they both would have had a much more pleasant morning, even if they had been caught in the rain and had rescued the lost children.

As soon as they arrived back at the cabin, Andrew found towels to begin drying off the children, while Monica bolted upstairs, leaving a trail of water behind her, to find dry clothing for the kids that she knew she would find. The Father always gave them exactly what they needed when they needed it and now was no exception.