Princes of Arkwright (10 page)

“
I think I’ve seen him before,” said Tucker. “Does he have a goatee?”

“
That’s the one,” said Victoria.

“
Yeah,” said Tucker, “he owns the tattoo place on First Street. Really nice guy.”

“
Do you have any tattoos?” asked Victoria.

“
Nope. You?”

“
None,” she said. “I’ve thought about it, but I’m too much of a wimp.”

“
How about you?” he said, turning to Aly.

“
None of your business,” she replied.

“
She doesn’t have any either,” said Victoria. “I guess all three of us are pretty boring. Would you ever get one, Tuck?”

“
If it were the right situation,” he said, “I might do it.”

“
Like what?” said Aly.

“
You know,” said Tucker, “if it were World War III and all my army buddies were getting one, then I would too.”

“
So,” said Aly, “you’d get one if World War III breaks out and you wind up in the army?”

Tucker nodded, looking back and forth between
Victoria and Aly, who looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“
Hey,” said Tucker, “if those Nazis come back, they’re not gonna be fooling around this time.”

“
What is a Nazi?” called a voice from the angelic barstool, causing all three to jump.

“
Where the hell did you come from?” said Aly, who was sitting closest to the archangel. “You scared the crap out of me!”

“
I am here,” said Uriel.

“
I can see that!” said Aly, noticing he was dressed the same way he was last time.

“
You want a Narragansett?” asked Victoria, opening the cooler and reaching for a bottle.

“
Yes, please,” said the angel.

“
Do you have any tattoos, Uriel?” asked Tucker.

“
I do not.”

A tinny and unrecognizable tune began to play and
Victoria reached under the bar for her cell phone. “Excuse me,” she said, walking to the other end of the bar to talk. Aly slipped off her barstool and headed toward the ladies room. The archangel stared straight ahead.

“
That was quite an invigorating bath you gave me the other night,” whispered Tucker.

“
It was necessary, Tuckerbromley,” said Uriel. “You were in danger and I had to get you out of here.”

“
But where did you go?” asked Tucker.

“
I am here,” said the angel.

“
But why are you protecting me?” Tucker asked. “And what is this mission you have to do?”

“
Your questions will cease now, son of man,” said Uriel.

“
You know,” said Tucker, “for an archangel, you’re awfully impatient.”

“
You think I am impatient?” said Uriel, as Aly came back, sitting on the stool next to him and reaching for her chardonnay. “Gabriel once struck a man dumb for nine months just for asking him a question.”

Tucker put his hand to his head and rubbed his eyes.

“So, what are you two talking about?” asked Aly.

“
Hey guys,” said Victoria, “That was my father. It’s Lenore. Something’s wrong. I have to go. Aly, if anyone comes in, can you just tell them we’re closed?”

“
Of course,” said Aly. “but do you want me to come with you?”

“
No,” she said, trembling slightly, “the owner doesn’t care if I close early. Nobody comes in here on a Monday anyway. Can you just shut the lights and lock up after you guys leave.”

“
Sure,” said Aly. “I hope she’s OK.”

“
Yeah,” said Tucker. “Good luck. Call me tomorrow and let me know how she’s doing.”

Victoria
’s keys jingled as she scooped them off the bar. She grabbed her purse and ran out the front door.

Aly walked around to the back of the bar and stood looking at Tucker and Uriel. The three remained in silence for a moment. Aly was the first to speak.

“I guess asking God didn’t work,” she said.

“
What do you mean?” said Tucker.

“
We took his advice,” she said nodding toward Uriel. “Of course, maybe we ‘didn’t ask the right question.’ Or maybe we’re ‘just too stupid.’”

Uriel smiled kindly at Aly, his warm
iridescent eyes shining brightly.

“
I’m sorry,” said Aly. “That was mean. We’re both just really upset.”

“
Do not reject the punishment of the almighty,” said Uriel. “For he wounds, but he binds up. He smites, but his hands give healing.”

“
Well, I wish his hands would give healing right now,” said Aly, her eyes glassy with tears. “That’s why I don’t believe in God. Why would he want a 10-year-old girl to suffer?”

“Why would you think he wanted a girl to suffer?” asked Uriel.

“Well, he must if he’s allowing it to happen.”

Uriel sighed, his bright
iridescent eyes burning.

“
Alyson,” he said. “Do you remember when you were 4 years old, your mother took you to Roger Williams Park?”

Aly looked at him quizzically.

“You were having a picnic on an old blue blanket next to a tree when a cardinal came to alight on one of its boughs. You were gleeful in your joy, for you had never seen anything so beautiful. But in an instant it had flown away. You asked your mother to make it come back, and she told you she couldn’t.”

Aly stared at Uriel with her mouth wide open.

“You were enraged. To a 4-year-old girl, her mother could do anything. Nothing was beyond her grasp. Therefore, if she didn’t make the bird come back, she must have chosen not to.”

“
How did you know about that?” whispered Aly. Her face had frozen. “I haven’t thought about that in years.”

“
Now that you are an adult with the wisdom of years, you know that there’s nothing your mother could have done to bring that bird back.”

“
So,” said Aly, “you’re saying God is limited in his abilities?”

“
I am saying,” replied Uriel, “that just as your relationship with your mother is better now that you are an adult, so must you grow in your relationship to everything else that exists. When dealing with God, do not act like a child. For the cardinal will never fly back. Do you remember that man I told you about who asked God not to destroy the two cities?”

Aly nodded.

“God loved him. Men have choices. And this man always chose the right thing. We told God he was just as the other men – that he would choose himself above. So God devised a test – instructed him to kill his only son as a favor to God. We all knew he would not do it. I do not believe even God thought he could do it. But he sent me down anyway to protect the boy, just to be safe. Well, this man, with tears in his eyes, tied up his son and was just about to plunge his knife deep into the little boy’s chest. I had to grab his arm to stop him. He was prepared to give up the one thing on earth that gave him joy. Well, after that, humanity could do no wrong in God’s eyes. And his tolerance has left me baffled.”

“
That’s very interesting, Uriel,” said Aly, “but what does it have to do with Lenore?”

“
You’ll have to be patient,” said the angel.

Aly tried to make eye contact with Tucker, who had been looking down at the bar during this entire exchange. She somehow hoped that a knowing glance or facial expression from him would be enough to answer all the questions she had.

Tucker, for his part, was wondering how long he could go without looking her in the eye. He also wondered where the night was going and how much more the angel would say. He longed for it to be over. To his relief, the lull in the conversation turned into an extended silence. He preferred the awkward quiet to the awkwardness of explanations.

Tucker had two more beers, while Aly finished a bottle of chardonnay. It had been a while since Tucker had had a drink, and he was feeling the effects of it.

“We should go,” said Aly. “Any more and I’ll have to take your keys away from you.”

“
I walked here,” said Tucker.

“
Any more and I’ll have to take your shoes away from you.”

Both Tucker and Aly grabbed the bar and laughed a good drunk laugh. The angel
’s expression didn’t change.

“
Come on,” said Tucker. “I’ll walk you home.”

“
Like hell,” said Aly. “I don’t want you to know where I live.”

Again, they both laughed, and laughed harder still while searching the wall for the light switch. Finally they staggered out of the bar, following Uriel, who was walking as steady as ever. Tucker helped Aly lock the door as Uriel walked forward and gazed at the rushing water of the river below.

“I’m sorry about him,” said Tucker, motioning to Uriel. “I know he’s a little weird.”

“Bullshit.”
said Aly. “Who is this guy? And how does he know what he knows? I never told anyone that story.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you did tell someone and just don’t remember.”

“Not likely,” said Aly, shaking her head.

“Or maybe he’s just nuts and lives his own little imaginary world.”

“Just because someone has an imagination,” said Aly. “That doesn’t make them nuts, Tucker. It makes them interesting. But you wouldn’t understand, since you never had an imaginative thought in your life.”

“
What are you talking about?” said Tucker, grateful that Aly had gone back to insulting him. Anything to take her mind off Uriel. “I have a great imagination.”

“
Prove it,” said Aly, cocking her head to one side and sticking out her tongue.

“
OK,” said Tucker, “I will.” He pointed to the sky, where clouds were floating by the moon, sometimes obscuring it, sometimes revealing it. “You see that cloud up there? It looks just like a rabbit.”

“
Oh, yeah,” said Aly, looking up. “I totally see that.”

“
And that one,” he said, “looks like a snake.”

“
Where?” she said. “I don’t see it.”

“
There,” said Tucker, pointing. “See how it’s coiled up?”

“
Oh, yes,” she said. “I see it now.”

“
And that one’s really cool,” said Tucker. “It looks kind of like a skull with horns, but from the side. Do you see it?”

Tucker turned to look at Aly. Her jaw had fallen open, and the little color in her face had drained out, making her positively glow in the moonlight. Tucker gave a little laugh then slowly turned around to see what she was looking at. Standing on the road in front of him was
a figure that slightly resembled a man, except that he was 20 feet tall, maroon, scaly and hulking. He had three pairs of wings, pointed and charred. One pair reached straight up, forming a kind of triangular crown over his misshapen horned head. Another pair completely covered him from his waist to his feet. The third pair was twice the size of the others and were spread wide as though ready for flight. Around his waist was coiled a long and pointed tail that seemed almost to be an entity apart from the creature. A scowl twisted his face into an ugliness Tucker had never beheld.

Uriel stepped between Tucker and Aly, motioning for them to get behind him.

“Asmodeus!” he said.

“
Friend of yours?” asked Tucker.

“
We’re not friends,” said Uriel, reaching over his shoulder as if to scratch his back. From an invisible scabbard, he drew a sword more than four feet long. The hilt shimmered silver and the blade burst into flames of iridescent fire. Uriel held it straight up with both hands and then squatted close to the ground. Suddenly, he jumped, propelling himself into the air. A pair of wings instantly appeared on his back, strong and powerful, yet as beautiful as a dove’s. Tucker looked over at Aly, who was whimpering at this spectacle with her lips closed tightly.

“
I suggest we let him handle this one on his own,” said Tucker, putting his arm around Aly and coaxing her away.

“
Uh hum,” said Aly, rapidly nodding about 10 times in succession. Tucker guided her down the river bank to a spot under the bridge where he could still see Uriel, now circling the demon with incredible agility, soaring first like an eagle, then darting back and forth like a sparrow, or hovering and flying backwards like a hummingbird.

“
Asmodeus,” said Tucker. “He knows demons on a first-name basis. How cool is that?”

Aly said nothing, but just stared at Tucker with eyes wide open and her lips curled into a comical frown.