LLOYD, PAUL R. (28 page)

Fritz snarled with a lispy question
mark on the end. He poofed into a cloud of black smoke. Micah looked around for
Fritz when he noticed a bullfrog on the ground next to him. The bullfrog gave
Micah a forlorn look and a short, lispy
dribbit
before it hopped off
into the darkness.

“What did you do to Fritz!” Denise
screamed and hurled a large piece of debris at Micah.

Micah jumped to his feet while
raising his shield to block the crumbled chunk of dishwasher. He searched the
sky. “Now, Father.”

Micah picked up his sword and
charged Denise. Once again a thunderbolt struck him, landing him on the ground.

“Now for my dearie before the sun
rises. Ahhh! Where are you, child. I stole you fair and square. There you are.”

Barbara laughed. “This one is not
for you, Denise.”

Denise flashed with anger. “I’ve
defeated you once before, and I’ll defeat you again despite your goody-goody
knight.” Denise shot lightning at Barbara. Barbara took a direct hit and fell
to the ground unmoving. Denise flashed a second streak of lightning, a tiny one
this time. It knocked the young girl to the ground, but she remained conscious.
“Don’t fret. I’m on my way. Soon your troubles will be over.” She arrived at
the girl and dragged her towards a makeshift altar made of piled debris.

Micah awoke.

Across the lot Detective Lawson crawled
over to his handgun. He aimed and emptied the weapon into the back of Denise
Appleby.

Denise stopped. “Wrong type of
bullets, officer.”

She flicked more lightning at Detective
Lawson, but he managed to scramble out of the way behind the dumpsters.

Micah faced Denise Appleby. “Now, Father.”

Denise abandoned the girl in the
dirt and stepped towards Micah. “I will show you the real power of the wicked.”
Denise raised her hands, and Micah took a firm grip of his shield in
anticipation of another lightning bolt.

Micah jumped out of the way as a
car plowed into Denise Appleby, tossing her like a rag doll into the air.
Denise screamed. She fell silent as a bullet rang out from somewhere behind
Micah. Denise collapsed.  

Pastor Fromritz said, “Can’t you
people dispatch a hag without waking the entire neighborhood?”

“Bet that was a silver bullet,
wasn’t it, Pastor?” Micah turned around to face Pastor Fromritz.

The pastor dropped to his knees.
“You’re wearing the armor of God and carrying his sword of truth. I can see
them. I always thought these things were spiritual, but the Lord has seen fit
to make them tangible. Praise be to his holy name.”

Micah’s armor fizzled and
disappeared along with his sword. He heard a car door slam and turned around in
time to see Barbara by his newest Jag.

Pastor Fromritz stood. He placed an
arm on Micah’s shoulder. “Purchased the bullet as a keepsake at a werewolf
convention years ago. Surprised it fired. Supposed to be a fake bullet.”

“Why’d you bring it out here?”
Micah asked.

“God told me to arise in the middle
of the night and stop a murder.”

Micah took hold of Pastor
Fromritz’s weapon. “So you jumped out of bed, grabbed your trusty silver bullet,
and loaded your gun.”

Pastor Fromritz released his gun
into Micah’s hand. “I told God that was a ridiculous request, and I wasn’t about
to do it. What did he think this was? A horror movie? He again told me to do it,
and we argued. I’m an intellectual, Micah, not a hand-raising, spirit-filled
fanatic. I pray. I read scripture. I don’t believe in medieval hags. Well, I guess
I do now, don’t I? Anyway, God informed me it was not a request and asked
if I understood what a command was about? So here I am. I gave in to God as I
always or almost always do. But only after it occurred to me that I was an
idiot to argue with God in the first place. What a surprise for me to discover
a hag out here waiting for me to shoot her with a fake silver bullet. I’m not
sure the thing was made of silver. She was an evil hag, wasn’t she?”

Micah stared at Pastor Fromritz and
Detective Lawson who was bent over the body of Denise Appleby. He scoured the
area for Barbara and found her comforting the girl. “You saved a little girl’s
life tonight, Pastor. And yes, Denise was an authentic hag, but not the only
one.”

“What do you mean?” asked Lawson.

“Pastor Fromritz said a coven always
has a leader, a high priestess or warlock. She kept herself well hidden, but I
know who she is now.”

“You mean another person has been
involved in these murders? I thought the killer was Denise Appleby with her
sick quest for the fountain of youth,” said Lawson.

“Denise had a coven leader she rebelled
against.” Micah turned away from his two male companions and called, “Barbara,
come here.”

Barbara placed the girl back on the
ground. “See, she is safe now.”

“Barbara,” Micah called again.

“Sorry, Micah, but I know you know.
Goodbye. I would have loved to inherit all your money, but the ten mil you gave
me will do for now. Besides, this way you’ll live longer. Who knows, we may
meet again.” Barbara did a dancing spin and vanished.

“Where’d she go?” Detective Lawson
asked.

“Back to hell?” Pastor Fromritz shrugged.

Micah shook his head. “She’s not
from hell, but she might as well be. She was too good to be true. My perfect
love turned out to be a hag.”

“We’ll find her,” said Lawson.

“I doubt it. She has enormous power
backed by a bunch of friends in her new coven like the couple in West Chicago who
posed as her parents. The father was an especially well-trained actor. But they
forgot their own first names in the middle of my visit to them. We’re not
likely to see them again or Barbara for that matter. At least not anywhere near
Naperville.”

“How did you know?” asked Pastor
Fromritz.

“God wouldn’t tell me so he wanted
me to figure it out for myself. The first clue was the way she avoided prayer
and church.”

“Only proves she’s not a churchgoer,”
said Lawson.

Micah wiped a tear from his eye.
“Her kidnapping was a bit too convenient and she wasn’t hurt. She also showed
no fear when Denise Appleby’s house blew up. It was like she knew she was
protected before I covered her with my shield. Then at the hotel when Ahlman
attacked, she tried to make it sound like she was cheering me on while actually
cheering for Ahlman. Ahlman didn’t do anything to hurt her despite having
threatened her. And her ability to keep from flying out the window was nothing
less than miraculous unless you are an angel or hag. And like I said, her
so-called parents couldn’t even keep their own names straight.

“There had to be someone, and there
didn’t seem to be a lot of choices. Who else could it have been? Peevy? She
would never kill Bob or hurt anyone else. Janice? She was a mixed up,
guilt-ridden liar. So okay, I made an educated guess, but it turns out I was
right, wasn’t I?”

“It pays to guess sometimes.”
Pastor Fromritz patted Micah on the back.

“My father thought so. He didn’t
get rich waiting for perfect information before he made an investment. He said
you go with what you know and make your best guess.” Micah dropped his eyes and
wiped tears with his hand. A shimmering mist rose out of his burned lot next
door. A woman dressed like an early settler floated up to Micah.

“You, my dear, need to learn to
forgive yourself.” Micah said.

The pioneer woman smiled before fizzling
into the morning mist.

Micah opened his eyes to the sun
radiating off the treetops in the distance, dancing like angel fire. He sat up
and took in the fresh air while enjoying the warm sun against a morning chill.

“You’re awake.” Glory handed Micah
a piece of fruit.

Micah did not recognize the type.
“What’s this?”

“It will nourish you for the rest
of the journey. Take a bite.”

“Isn’t the journey over? Ahlman is
gone and so is Denise Appleby.” Micah bit into the fruit.

“That was not your quest, Micah
Probert.” Glory took back the fruit and bit into it.

“It wasn’t? This fruit is tasty.”
Micah retrieved the fruit from Glory.

Bob’s voice rang out in a clear,
true deep resonance. “Think back to when we first met, Micah. What were you seeking?”

“I wanted to know my purpose in
life. Where are you, anyway?” Micah took another taste of the fruit.

“Right here.” Bob appeared in front
of Micah. He smiled as he tilted his head to one side. “And you wanted
something else, too.”

Micah gestured with the fruit. “I
still want to clear my name.”

“And what must you do to have your
name cleared?” Bob took the remaining fruit from Micah.

Micah grabbed for the fruit, but
missed. “Hey! Give me that! Convince the state Janice lied about me.”

Glory placed a hand on Micah’s arm.
“Janice is doing her part to make that happen, isn’t she?”

“She said she was.” Micah shrugged.

“She is, Micah,” Glory said.

“She is doing something important
for you. Now, you must return the favor.” Bob took a bite from the fruit.

“I don’t owe her anything.” Micah
crossed his arms over his chest.

Glory placed her hand on Micah’s
folded arms. “Yes, you do, Micah. Think. Are you perfect?”

“I don’t have to be perfect to stay
out of prison.”

“This is not about prison,” Bob
said.

“It’s about fifteen years in
prison. It’s about my father’s cancer. It’s about my tarnished reputation.”
Micah pounded his right fist in his left hand.

“It’s about none of those things,
Micah. It’s about you,” Glory said.

“You are a sinner, you know.” Bob
took another bite of fruit and tossed the rest to Glory.

“I am?”

“Ever lie, cheat, steal, punch a
fellow inmate in the nose?” Glory waved her hand over the fruit, and it was
whole again.

“No, but I see your point. I may
have lied on occasion. Little white ones. Nothing worthy of prison. And I punched
that guy in self defense.”

“Ever take home a pen from work
that didn’t belong to you?” Glory bit into the fruit.

“I own the company, so they’re my
pens.”

“Ever lie to the guards in prison
to stay out of trouble?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“You’ve done your share of stuff
that God will forgive if you confess them and ask him to forgive you,” said
Bob.

“There’s nothing to forgive. I
haven’t done anything wrong. Nothing worth mentioning. Besides, if I did, I
deserve forgiveness. I’m the one who’s been wronged.”

“You believe in God now, don’t
you?” Glory asked.

“Yes. There’s no denying it.”

Bob placed a hand on Micah’s arm. “Then
you will need to learn about him and his ways. He has laws, you know.”

“Ten commandments, right?”

“Yes, but you can simplify them to
two – love God and love your neighbor like you love yourself.” Bob’s eyes
sparkled with gentleness.

“Sounds simple enough.”

Glory tossed the fruit into the air
where it disappeared. “Micah, you know you’ve done things wrong. Now is the
time to ask God to forgive you.”

“Where do I start?”

“With your lack of faith.” Bob
grinned.

Micah lowered his head. “I am sorry.
God has been showing me he is real for a lot longer than I’ve been believing him.”

Glory took Micah’s hand. “Why don’t
you spend time alone talking to God about your sins? He already knows what
you’ve done wrong, but it helps you to recount them and ask for forgiveness.”

“And that will end the quest? I thought
my purpose was to love Barbara. If I’m exonerated by the state, why, it would
be wonderful. But I’m not expecting my record to be cleared after all these
years.”

“There’s one more thing you must do
after you confess your sins.” Bob walked away.

“What?”

Bob paused a moment before glancing
over his shoulder. “Forgive Janice Gordon.”

“If I have to forgive Janice
Gordon, I’m not going back. I’ll stay here in the meadow.”

“Sleep on it.”
Bob reached up to pat Micah on the shoulder.

***

The summer sunshine danced through
the trees swaying in the breeze outside the church. Micah opened the door and
headed upstairs to Pastor Fromritz’s office. When the receptionist showed him
in, he found Janice and Pastor Fromritz waiting.

“Micah, glad to see you.” Pastor
Fromritz rose out of his chair and shook Micah’s hand. “Sit here. Would you
like some coffee?”

“No thanks.” Micah looked at
Janice. Her eyes were dull and weepy like a person in mourning. “You okay,
Janice?”

“I haven’t been okay for more than
twenty years, Micah.”

“Yeah. Me either.” Micah shook his
head.

Pastor Fromritz said, “Isn’t it
about time you two became okay again.”

Janice looked at Pastor Fromritz
and forced a smile. She turned to Micah. “I spoke with a representative of the
governor’s office. He said the governor told him he would have his people
review the case, and he would make a decision about exonerating you. The
representative said so much time has passed and people sometimes recant their
testimony after years go by so you can’t trust the recanting. People feel bad
about the person they put in prison and begin to question themselves. He said
it’s best for the state to stick with the original verdict. But he also said the
governor might consider your case because it was my word against yours at the
original trial, and my stepfather confessed before he died in prison. And there
was never any hard evidence that you did anything wrong.”

“I’m sorry about your stepfather,
Janice.” Micah wondered how he could feel the sorrow in his heart for a person
who was a rapist and killer. The man was also the person who committed the
crime for which Micah was sent to prison.

“Thank you, Micah. Coming from you,
it means so much to me. More than you will ever know.”