Eve of Redemption (58 page)
Authors: Tom Mohan
Nearing the tent, she paused before entering. She had known this day would be hard, but it had always seemed so far off, like something that would happen in another life. Now it was here, and she had little choice but to face it.
The canvas flap stirred, and Sara’s stepmom slipped out. Raquel had aged gracefully. She was still beautiful, even in her seventies. Sara knew this strong woman was the backbone of the Lord’s Rebels. She reached out to take Raquel’s hand. Raquel had truly loved her father and would mourn his passing as she still mourned her first husband. Sara still heard the songs sung of Josiah, “The Demon Slayer.”
“I hoped you would come,” Raquel said.
“Did you ever doubt?”
Raquel smiled. “No, not really. She wouldn’t have let you stay away.”
“No, she kind of insisted.” Sara heard Red giggle in her mind. “Well? Shall we?” Sara said, gesturing to the tent.
Raquel held the tent flap open and stepped aside, allowing Sara to slip by her. Inside, the tent was surprisingly bright, with three lanterns lit in the interior. The tent struck her as spacious but uncluttered. The Rebels traveled light, and Sara knew the huge tent was only to allow space for those who would visit her father in his final days.
“Sara, it’s good to have you here.” Sara moved to where Tiny sat beside her father’s cot. She put a hand on his shoulder as he began to rise.
“Sit still, Tiny.” She gave the big man a hug. Tiny was much as she had always remembered him. Grayer and softer but still large and strong. His blind face gazed at her, and she knew he was seeing her in his own, special way. They didn’t call him the Blind Prophet for nothing. Much had changed that day all those years ago. The lives of many had been altered.
“He’s been asking for you,” Tiny said.
Sara nodded and turned her attention to the frail figure on the cot.
He looks dead already.
Burke’s face was pale and drawn, his eyes sunken beneath closed lids. She almost jumped when he opened them.
“Hello, Daddy.” She had not called him that in years.
Her father smiled. “Hey, honey.” He lifted a weak hand, and Sara reached out and took it. It felt so fragile and cold. Hot tears fell down her cheeks. “Hey there,” he said. “Don’t cry. We all die someday. It’s part of life.”
“Do we?” The words were out before she could stop them. “I’m sorry, Daddy.” She felt Tiny’s hand rest on her back, but the blind man remained silent.
“It’s okay,’’ he said. ‘’I’m sorry I can’t go on with you. We’ve had quite the adventures, haven’t we?”
“Yes, Daddy, so many adventures. I don’t know if I can keep them up without you.”
Her father smiled, and for a moment, he looked like his old self. “God’s keeping you around for a reason.” His free hand reached up and stroked her face. “Look at you. Not a day older than when I found you.”
“I sure feel older,” Sara sighed, but it was true. She had not aged in over forty years, and, though some days she felt those years, her body was as lithe and strong as that of any seventeen-year-old. Stronger, actually.
“You take care of her, Tiny.”
Sara felt Tiny’s huge hand pat her back. “You know I will, Johnny. You know I will.”
Sara’s father’s blue eyes met hers. She saw no fear there.
“I love you, Sara.” And just like that, he was gone. Sara could almost see his spirit rise from his body as he began his final, grand adventure.
“I love you too, Daddy.”
JOHN BURKE STOOD on a dirt path that stretched through a green meadow as far as the eye could see. A warm breeze ruffled his hair and carried a scent that made him feel more relaxed and alive than he had ever been.
“Lovely, isn’t it?”
Burke looked down to see Red standing before him. Her unruly red curls waved in the breeze, and her dirty potato sack dress still hung over her tiny frame. “What are you doing here? I thought you were trapped inside Sara with Eve?”
The little girl rolled her eyes at him. “You humans have such limited minds. I’d have thought you’d be smarter by now.”
Burke smiled. “No need to be insulting. What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to take you home. What else?”
“Take me home?” Burke felt a raw sense of wonder at the word
home.
“I’ve longed for home, tried to have faith. Long ago I came to believe that God’s demand that I give up my immortal soul to save Sara meant give it to him. Still, all these years a part of me feared I might be mistaken.”
“All these years you’ve been silly.” She reached her little arms out to him, and Burke instinctively picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug before kissing his cheek. “Let’s go home,” she said.
Burke started down the path, the little angel light in his arms. “Yeah, let’s.”
The End
Tom Mohan grew up in rural Missouri, where he learned that reading was a great escape from the restless boredom he often felt. He loved anything scary, and latched on to the writings of Stephen King and Peter Straub. After joining the U.S. Navy in the early 80s, Tom discovered epic fantasy and read as much of it as he could get. Tom currently resides in San Diego.
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