James Hoch - Heckel Casey

As Sela lay back down and snuggled closer to Heckel, her mind stopped reeling, and she was able to get back to sleep. The morning sun got to work early whipping up hotter temperatures. There wasn't much of a breeze. Heckel already had several small fish frying in a pan.

"Oh, my…that smells heavenly," Sela said sliding out of the tent. She stretched, letting the warm rays of the sun give her a healthy dose of vitamin D.

"You look well rested," Heckel said as he maneuvered one of the small rainbow trout onto a plate.

"I feel good." She sat down near the campfire. Jerky padded her way over and curled up in her lap. "I'm sure there's a little fish for you, my dear," she said, petting the attentive cat.

"How is it?" Heckel asked.

"Manna from heaven," she said, stuffing her mouth.

"Well, it just may be. I mean, there's a couple of fishing holes down that way that are feeding everyone pretty well."

"When are we planning to head out?" she asked.

"Well, I suppose tomorrow. Everyone seems to be itching to leave. They're hoping once we get closer to the coast it won't be so hot."

"Heckel, I was thinking," Sela said sheepishly. "Maybe…um…well…I don't know how to put this, but here goes. What would you think if we didn't go to Oregon and maybe just kept going south…by ourselves? We could hide away somewhere down in Mexico on the coast or something."

He looked at her as if she had sprouted a large turnip out of each ear and corn was spilling out of her nose. Calmly, he put his plate down, put his arm around her shoulder and said, "I understand what you're thinking. We all have doubts and lots of fears…me too, but we can't let those notions build walls in front of us and bring us down. We are strong and have to believe in ourselves. You were the one who said that to me not too long ago. Remember?"

"But the other night…I mean, if poor little Bobby can be seduced into evil, what chances do any of us have?"

Heckel took her hand and kissed it. "We rise above it and let faith in God and the people we trust prevail. Bobby did."

Sela nodded her head and felt better. "I love you so much and never want to lose you. I'm just so afraid of…" she said throwing her arm around his neck.

"You won't ever. I plan to grow old and gray with you and have lots and lots of children. Our love is stronger than any evil twisted knife that Madeline can turn. Once we end her reign our world, the world of love and kindness, will flourish once again. As it was meant to."

"Indeed. You're right," she muttered and kissed Heckel's hand.

After breakfast, Sela found Tempest and decided to go for a ride down to the river. It was warm, but there was a slight breeze that helped cool things down. After a couple of miles, she was getting pretty hot and decided to go swimming. She found a nice spot, stripped down and jumped in. "Oh, this feels so good," she said to Tempest as the horse drank from the water's edge. After swimming for a while and enjoying the cool, clean water, her mind seemed to sharpen and a sense of calm filled her. Suddenly, she stopped swimming, looked at the riverbank and saw a young girl standing near a large boulder. She smiled and waved. I wonder how she got this far away from camp or maybe there were other people camping nearby. Sela swam closer. The little girl held Sela's clothes in her hand and handed them to her as she got out of the water.

"Hello, what's your name?" Sela asked, taking her shorts from her and putting them on.

"Rose, but my friends call me Rosie."

"Well, Rose, it's a pleasure to meet you. Aren't you a little far from camp?"

"I'm not from your camp," she said.

"Oh…where are you from?" Sela asked while she finished putting her top on and ruffling her hair to dry.

"Around. That's not important. There is however something that is much more important that I want to tell you," Rosie said.

Sela bent down to face her better and asked, "What is it?"

Rosie turned away from Sela, picked up a handful of stones, and started skipping them across the river.

"Wow, you're pretty good. I always have a hard time getting them to skip," Sela said standing up.

The little girl continued to skip stone after stone with perfect form. As Sela watched her, she noticed that she had on a crisp, pretty green dress that looked as though it had just been ironed. Small daisy appliques formed a pattern down one side of the dress. Her hair was a soft amber color with long, pretty curls that were tied up with a bright matching green ribbon. Her shoes were white leather and shined with new polish. There wasn't a scuffmark on either shoe. It became evident that the little girl had not just walked several miles away from Sela's camp. Rosie looked as if she had just emerged from a mother's pampering and was ready for a Ladies' Home Journal photo shoot. There was no sweat or dirt on her at all.

"Rose, are your parents nearby?" Sela asked, still trying to get her stone to skip instead of plunking dead in the water.

"No, I'm all by myself."

Now Sela was feeling a bit freaked out. There she was in the desert with a little girl who looked like she had just been dropped there to do a commercial for a children's shampoo.

"Sela, you don't need to be afraid."

Now she was really freaked out. How'd she know her name? She never said it.

"Heckel is very strong now. He will defeat Madeline. We believe in him wholeheartedly."

Sela froze. Was this Madeline herself here trying to trick her?

The little girl took Sela's hand and smiled at her. Sela's insides at first felt like they had turned to ice and she couldn't move. Gradually, she felt relaxed with a pleasant warm sensation.

"Here, try this stone," Rose said. "It's really flat. You can do it. It's easy. Remember to snap your wrist."

Sela took the stone, still staring at the little girl in both awe and fear.

"Go ahead. Try it. It's fun."

Sela looked out across the water and sighed heavily. The little girl nodded encouragement. Sela reared her arm back, remembered to snap the wrist and let the stone whiz out to the water. It began skipping immediately.

"One, two, three, four, five, six…wow, seven times. That's great!" Rose said, clapping excitedly, jumping up and down. "Now you know how to do it. See, it's simple."

Sela laughed the whole time the stone was skipping. Rose handed her another stone and Sela skipped that one even better.

"See, I told you. You just have to believe in yourself."

As Sela skipped another stone, she asked Rose how she knew about Heckel and Madeline. Rose didn't respond, but instead asked, "How come you feel Heckel needs more help?"

"I just feel we are probably outnumbered in this upcoming battle or whatever it is. Madeline's army is-"

"Formidable? Yes, I am sure it is," Rose uttered as she skipped two stones at once, one from each hand.

"Yes, that's a good way to put it I suppose. It makes me tremble just thinking about it."

"Then don't," Rose offered innocently. "Here, try this one. It looks perfect."

They both continued skipping stones in silence for a while.

"Do you believe in guardian angels?" Rose asked bluntly, turning to watch Sela pick up more stones.

"Well, as a matter of fact, yes, I do. I have always felt I had an angel looking over me. There were times when I felt something bad was about to happen and at the last minute…um, I don't know…ah, I moved out of the way or caught myself. Other times I might have been-"

Before she could finish trying to explain her insight into guardian angels, Rose blurted out, "I'm your guardian angel. I've been there to protect you and help you ever since you were born." She smiled at Sela with an air of pride like a little girl showing her mother that she can tie her own shoes.