A Prophecy Forgotten
Chapter Eight: December Twenty-Second

The next morning, Tommy woke up just as light started to peek into the windows.

“Why does he wake up so early here? It takes him forever to wake up when he goes to school,” Gabriella muttered as she prepared for a new day of difficulty.

“Tommy knows how much I enjoy watching you in misery,” Zane said with a grin. He hopped onto Jim’s bed and placed his hands over Jim’s ears. “Get him out of here, or he’ll wake up my Jimmy.”

Gabriella stuck her tongue out at Zane just before she followed Tommy downstairs and into the kitchen, where he found Nana cooking bacon, eggs, and sausage. Tommy scrambled up onto a barstool.

“Good morning, Sunshine,” Nana said with a grin. “What

would you like to eat this morning?”

“Bacon and eggs, please.”

Gabriella took a moment to glance around the cabin. Aunt Sophie was drinking one of her health shakes. Uncle Neil, whose feet were toasty warm in those silly bear slippers he always wore, was sitting in the big chair in the corner hammering out blues riffs on his guitar. Uncle Bob was reading the paper. Gabriella turned back to Tommy and watched him take a big bite of sausage and chase it down with a swig of milk. She smiled. She just loved Jim’s family.

Zebedee pulled out his bow and gave Gabriella a wink. “How about a mini-contest before the big one, rookie?” he asked. “That deer head in there.”

Now Gabriella took much more pride in her aim than she ever let on to anyone—even Zane, and Zebedee’s comment ruffled it. She pulled out her bow and said, “Closest to the nose.”

The rest of the guards cheered and began placing bets.

Jim barreled into the kitchen and planted a kiss on Nana’s cheek. “Mother, your food always smells wonderful,” he said. He grabbed a spatula and loaded his plate with eggs, bacon, and sausage—and topped it all off with two pieces of toast. He sat down next to Tommy and proceeded to inhale his food.

“Watch out, Jimmy, or you’ll exhaust the chicken,” said Nana.

“I’m a growing boy, Mom. I need my nutrition!”

Uncle Neil stopped playing his guitar. “Just wait ‘till you turn forty, Jimbo. You’ll start growing out instead of up—just like the rest of us.”

Jim spread a huge dollop of butter on his toast with a smile. “Yeah, but until then, keep feeding the chicken.” He sank his teeth into an oversized bite of toast and grinned at Neil.

Zane noticed drekels changing hands between the other guards. “Hey, what’s the betting for?” he asked.

“If your charge got up earlier, you’d know,” said Gabriella.

“I’m going to humble the rookie, here,” said Zebedee as he inspected his bow.

Zane gave Zebedee a huge, smug smile. “Twenty drekels says Gabs wins.”

“What’s the smile for, Zane?” said Zebedee.

“Oh, nothing. I just enjoy watching you get embarrassed.” Because Neil and Jim were so close in age, Zane and Zebedee spent the most time together as guards and were almost as close as brothers themselves. They argued like brothers, too—just like Jim and Neil.

Zebedee and Gabriella drew lots to see who would start.

Zebedee won the draw. He stepped to the line.

“Best of five?” he asked.

Gabriella nodded.

Following appropriate cherubian form in archery contests, Zebedee turned away from the deer and took a deep breath. Then he whipped around and shot five arrows at the deer. All five hit the deer’s head, and one rested just outside its black nose. The guards who bet on Zebedee cheered, and drekels changed hands as the wagers increased. Zebedee elbowed Gabriella in the ribs as he flew by her.

“So what were you smiling about?” he asked Zane.

“Oh, I just happen to know that the rookie shot a mornacht between the armor this October.” He filled Zebedee in on the rest of the story.

Zane’s news that Gabriella managed to keep her head and shoot a moving mornacht between the armor unraveled Zebedee.

“You could have warned me, Zane,” he said.

“What? And miss out on a chance to make some easy money?” Zane smiled at Gabriella, who had her back to the target.

Gabriella gave Zane a slight nod and took a large breath. Then she whipped around and fired five arrows. All five of them hit the center of the deer’s nose. The guards cheered, and Zebedee threw his bow to the ground. He crossed his arms and flew as far away from Gabriella as he could.

“How often do you practice, Gabs?” asked Zane as she flew next to him.

“Every night for about two hours.”

“Every night!” said Zebedee. “You’re supposed to be guarding him! Not taking time for target practice!”

Gabriella glared at Zebedee. “He’s so active that he sleeps for twelve hours, and I only need seven.”

“So you practice archery?” said Zane.

“And other things.”

“Like what?” said Zebedee.

“Like fencing and low-hovering.” She noticed they both were looking at her like she was crazy. “What?”

Zebedee snorted in disgust, and Zane just shook his head. “You’re such a perfectionist, Gabs.”

“What’s the point of doing something if you don’t do it well?” Gabriella looked at her arms. “Besides, I’d be dead right now if I didn’t practice.”

Down below Jim finished his eggs. “So who are we going to conquer today, son?” he asked Tommy.

“Conquer a good book, Jimmy!” said Zane. “You don’t need to take him out into the woods and act like you’re seven again to teach him military strategy!”

“Today, Jimbo, we get to conquer that leak in the bathroom,” said Uncle Bob.

Tommy scowled. Zane cheered.

“Looks like I’ll have to join you later, son,” said Jim. He noticed Tommy’s forlorn look and gave him a hug. “Get everything ready for me, all right?”

“Okay,” Tommy grumbled. He finished his milk, wiped off his milk moustache, and ran upstairs to change. Not more than two minutes later, Tommy raced back down the stairs dressed in camouflage holding a backpack full of American Heroes. “Can I go outside and play, Dad?” he asked.

“No!” hinted Gabriella, shaking her head back and forth. “Goodness, no, Jim! Not in the woods—alone!”

“Don’t let him go too far,” said Gramps. “My left knee is sore today. That means a storm’s brewing.”

Jim rolled his eyes and ignored his dad’s warning. “Of course you can, son. I’ll come out to join you later.”

Zane flashed Gabriella a Cheshire cat grin. She glared at him.

“Just wait until he joins us,” she said, nodding at Jim. “You won’t be smiling then.”

Zane’s grin stayed put. “Oh, I do believe Uncle Bob has pretty much made my day easy. He’s so anal-retentive, he’ll have them fixing that leak all day. I just love Uncle Bob, don’t you?”

“I was starting to forget how annoying you can be, Zane.”

“Jimmy!” Nana said. “No grandson of mine is going out in this kind of weather without a hat and gloves.”

Tommy’s eyes widened. He tried to run out the door, but Nana still retained some of the energy she needed when she had three boys. She caught him, and he squirmed as she forced on his hat and gloves. He wiggled free and ran outside before she found something else to force on him.

•

Tommy ran far away from the cabin, leaping from rock to rock as he scrambled down the wooded mountain. When he stopped, he took off the hat and gloves and shoved them into his coat pocket. Gabriella chastised him for his disobedience and pointed to the clouds. Tommy continued running all the way to the river until he reached a circle of flat ground nestled between huge rocks. There he began setting up two opposing camps of American Heroes, placing each figure down as though it was made of porcelain.

Gabriella sniffed and glanced around the wood for some sign of a mornacht. “Oh, I’m acting just like a paranoid RSO,” she muttered. She glanced at the foreboding, gray clouds in the sky above and frowned. “Hey, Tommy, you may want to check out the sky.”

Tommy reached for Lieutenant Cobb and glanced at a five-foot rock wall to his left. “Cobb prepared for the most dangerous part of his mission: the HALO drop.”

“Oh, no, Tommy!” said Gabriella. “Lieutenant Cobb is afraid of heights. Please keep him on the ground!”

Tommy climbed to the top of the rock face, and so began another afternoon of hard labor for Gabriella.

Lieutenant Cobb had barely completed twelve HALO missions when snow flurries started to fall.

“The falling snow made Cobb’s assignments more difficult, but his military training made him ready for anything,” said Tommy.

“But Tommy, you don’t have military training,” said Gabriella. “And those clouds look really bad. Get inside!”

“The cold weather only heightened his resolve.”

“Tommy, inside! Now!”

The snow fell harder as Tommy sent his troops into battle. “Cobb tried climbing the steep mountain ravine, only to find it had iced over.”

Gabriella knew this was no ordinary snowstorm, and she feared it might turn into a full-scale blizzard.

“Oh, go inside already!” she said, but Tommy continued to play even as the snowflakes grew.

In Tommy’s game, two enemy guards spotted Lieutenant Cobb. One of them jumped out at him with a knife, but Cobb did not hesitate. He shot on sight.

“You’re dead!” yelled Tommy. “Job well done!”

He sat up and smiled until he finally noticed that the falling snow now covered the ground in a thick, two-inch blanket. The clouds looked almost black, and the wind sounded like a tornado whistling through the mountains.

“Better get inside,” he said, and he began gathering his American Heroes.

“It’s about time,” said Gabriella. She looked around for extra men she might flick in Tommy’s direction to help expedite his exit.

Tommy shouldered his backpack and headed for the cabin. “The snow continued to pile up as Lieutenant Cobb made his way home,” he said. He trudged through the ever-deepening snow and ice that made the path more treacherous than usual, hiding numerous stones and twigs from even Gabriella. Tommy reached inside his jacket and pulled his dad’s dog tags out from underneath the layers of clothing. He took them off his neck and clutched them in his hand.

“He’s definitely scared,” Gabriella said to herself.

Tommy only grabbed Jim’s dog tags like that when he

was frightened.

She wrapped her arm around Tommy and whispered, “It’s going to be all right, big guy. We’ll make it.”

Tommy plodded along until he tripped on an especially gnarly branch and hit the ground dangerously close to the drop off. He released his dad’s dog tags, and Gabriella watched in horror as they fell down the mountainside and landed on a rock that jutted out over the river.

“Not good,” Tommy whispered. “Lieutenant Cobb loses his valuable equipment.” He grabbed a nearby branch that Gabriella had pushed toward him and pulled himself up. “He decides to brave the weather to get it back.”

“What are you doing?” yelled Gabriella as Tommy began to climb down the mountain. She flew beside him. “Are you crazy? Go inside and get them tomorr—ooh, watch that rock.”

She steadied a loose rock as Tommy stepped on it. “Tommy, go inside. Go in—!”

Tommy slipped on the rock and slid five yards down the mountain. Gabriella pushed some branches in his way. They caught his backpack, and Tommy found himself hanging by his backpack on the side of the mountain. “Cobb suffers a slight setback as he attempts the rescue mission.”

“Rescue mission?” said Gabriella. “This is not a rescue mission! This, this is suicide!”

Tommy twisted and turned, trying to grab something to help him break free. Gabriella pushed a branch to his outstretched hand. He grabbed it and slipped out of his backpack to freedom.

“Okay, now go home,” Gabriella said. She pointed toward the cabin. “That way.”

Instead, Tommy continued toward the lost dog tags. “Stalled, but not stopped, Cobb presses on.”

“Young man, this is not playtime anymore!” Gabriella flew to his ear and yelled, “Go back to the house, now!”

No good. The howling wind masked her small voice. Tommy trudged down to the dog tags, and Gabriella resigned herself to keeping rocks and branches out of his way.

Neither Gabriella nor Tommy saw the snow-covered rock a few feet ahead. Tommy stepped on it, slipped, hit his head, and careened down the mountainside toward a cliff.

“Tommy!” screamed Gabriella.

She tried to throw things in front of him to break his fall, but nothing slowed him down. Gabriella found him grasping a slippery rock at the edge of the cliff with his feet dangling over the river. She flew underneath him and searched for something to give him a foothold. Nothing. She flew back up and knelt on the rock facing Tommy.

“Help me!” he yelled. “Somebody help!”

“Somebody help!” Gabriella yelled as well. Maybe, just maybe, Jim might have torn himself away from the bathroom leak long enough to realize his son was still outside in the middle of a snowstorm. Maybe he and Zane were out here right now looking for Tommy! She blew blast after blast on her horn.

•

Just over the hill, Neil and Jim were indeed plowing through the snow looking for Tommy, and Zane and Zebedee heard her horn. Zane soared into the air.

“They’re on the other side!” he yelled to Zebedee. Below, Jim and Neil took a turn in the opposite direction. “Oh, no you don’t, Jimmy!” Zane said. He pulled both sides of the bushes together to prevent Jim from passing.

“That’s not exactly following the Code,” said Zebedee.

“I don’t care. My Jimmy already has enough to deal with. He can’t lose Tommy, and if Gabs is blowing her horn, that means trouble.”

•

Tommy continued to slip. He glanced down, saw the raging water below, and started squirming. He slipped even more. “Help, somebody!” he yelled again, but his voice disappeared into the falling snow.

Gabriella knelt in front of Tommy. “Please don’t fall, Tommy!” she said. “Please!”

She could do nothing else unless she was commanded to morph into a human, she hoped against all that was in the Code that Elysia might command her to morph. That hope faded as Tommy’s fingers began to slip. Soon, he would fall into the river, and he could not swim.

“Please don’t fall, Tommy,” she said. “Please don’t fall.”

Gabriella felt a light tap on her shoulder. She cringed, thinking a herald had come to reassign her. She ignored the tap and grasped Tommy’s hands.

“He’s just a seven year old boy!” she shouted. “He shouldn’t have to die!”

“On your feet, guard!”

Gabriella spun around and gasped when she saw, not a herald, but Seraph Zephor scowling at her. She saluted and knelt. “I apologize, Seraph! I didn’t know!”

“At ease.”

Gabriella stood up.

“Guard, this little one is extremely important to our cause. I hereby authorize you to use any means necessary to save his life.”

Gabriella wiped her tears. “You mean I’m allowed to become human?”

“Any and all means necessary to save his life,” repeated Zephor. Then he disappeared.

Gabriella turned around, but she was too late!

Tommy’s fingers finally gave way. He plummeted into the river, where only a few minutes stood between him and the whitewater downstream, which would either shred him to pieces or carry him under forever. Gabriella ripped off her breastplate and her helmet and flew off the rock toward Tommy.

She took a deep breath and morphed into a human.

Gabriella hit the water and immediately felt as though millions of tiny, cold needles had inserted themselves into her skin. She floated for a moment until the shock wore off, then swam toward Tommy and grabbed him.

“I’ve got you, Tommy!” she said. She towed him to shore and pulled him out of the water. “Stay with me, big guy!”

Tommy’s blue lips murmured something inaudible.

“Steady, soldier,” she told herself. “Analyze the situation before doing anything dumb.”

She examined Tommy. He had no broken bones or head wounds, but he was soaked. She needed something that would keep him warm until she carried him back to the cabin.

“Bless you, Nana,” she said as she retrieved the hat and gloves from Tommy’s coat pocket. She shoved them on Tommy and picked him up. She looked around and realized that she was lost, and her human sense of direction was less refined than a cherubian’s. She scanned the woods until she saw the rock Tommy had fallen from. She could probably find the path to the cabin from there. She bent her knees and tried to fly.

“Oh, blast your wingless human bodies!” she yelled when she landed on the ground and almost lost her balance. She cradled Tommy in her arms and trudged toward the rock.

Unfortunately, Gabriella was only wearing a tunic, a kilt, and thick leather boots, and all of them were soaked. Soon, she could barely feel her feet or her fingers, and the snowflakes covering her eyelashes blocked her vision. The woods began to spin as her human body began to shut down.

“Help, please!” she yelled again.

Gabriella heard a man’s voice yelling Tommy’s name in the distance.

“Over here!” she yelled back.

“We hear you! We’re coming!”

Soon. Jim and Neil waded through the snow toward her. She stumbled to Jim.

“He fell in the river, Jim,” she said as she handed Jim the wet bundle. “You’ve got to get him back to the cabin, or he’ll freeze to death.”

“Who are you?” Jim asked as he grabbed his son. “How do you know my name?”

“I’m a friend. Just take Tommy and go.” She turned to walk away, but her foot slipped. She hit her head on a rock, and her world turned black.

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Copyright © 2006 M. B. Weston. All rights reserved.
Revised: 02/06/09