The Guardian's Wildchild (48 page)

Danik grabbed his arm and very nearly flung him toward the chopper’s open door. He looked up at Sidney’s face. It was wild with excitement, and her hair whipped around her face with the force the wind currents created by the choppers rotors.

“Let’s go home,” she called out.

Sam hoisted himself into the chopper and sat down in the seat beside the pilot. Danik closed the door and jumped into the pilot’s seat and revved up the engines.

The modern chopper was quick to respond to Danik’s touch on the joystick. Almost instantly, the craft lifted off the deck.

“Sam, you know anything about chopper guns?” Danik asked.

“Some. Give me the cook’s tour.”

“Hell, I was hoping you’d know. Just see if you can scare these boys off. I think that thing over there … yes, that. Grab hold and see if it has any juice. Sidney, are you strapped in? We’re going to fly like a bat out of hell!”

Sidney, feeling weak, assured him she was firmly strapped in her seat. Danik maneuvered the chopper like it was a toy, making it climb and dip in quick succession, twirling this way and that. The other choppers approached with their guns firing. Just as they were within range, Danik veered and dipped, fast. Sam, unable to calm himself to affect the attacking choppers’ engines, grabbed onto the gun trigger and fired warning shots. Closer and closer they came, bullets just off to one side, then the attack broke off.

U.S. naval fighters, in the air and on the sea, had arrived. Madame’s band of killers dispersed and quickly vanished. Sam and Danik cheered. It was almost too good to be true. They had escaped unharmed.

Once they were sure the danger was past, Sam relaxed. “How long to the island?”

“Let’s see, it should be about another hour at this rate of speed. Lot faster than the chopper we use. Probably get there about the same time as Ryan and your boys.”

Sam was relieved. Soon they could all return to some sort of a normal life. He turned to look back at Sidney. She had fainted. He suddenly noticed the blood stain on her shirt.

“Oh, my God, Sidney.” He got up and lifted her shirt to find a bullet wound near her left breast, nearly sealed over. “Sidney!”

She opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She was weak. “I’m cold, Sam.”

“Danik, she’s been shot. You’ve got to help her.”

Sam went to the controls while Danik checked Sidney. He sat beside his sister and put his hand over her wound while he breathed deeply and closed his eyes. After a few moments, a tear rolled down his check. He opened up his eyes and saw she was gazing back at him.

“Sidney, no. Please, not now.”

She nodded. “Just get me home, Dan.”

Danik put his arm around her shoulders to support her. He took her hands and held them firmly to his chest.

“You’re going to be always in here,” he said, pressing her hand over his heart.

“I know, Danik. Me too.” She was nearly breathless. “Much farther?”

“Another half an hour and you’re home.”

Danik wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Danik, what? For Christ’s sake, tell me she’s okay!” Sam shouted.

“You have to come back here, Sam.”

He switched places with Sam, who immediately took Sidney into his arms. Danik checked the chopper’s controls and ensured the aircraft’s heading was true before he swallowed and tried to find the words that were too painful to utter.

“Sam, Sidney has a bullet in her heart muscle.”

“Oh my God. Danik, do something. Help her.”

“Sam, I could telepathically move the bullet into the heart sac but that would cause almost instant death. There’s nothing I can do. If there was anything, I’d give my life for her. I’m going to have to fly this chopper. You stay with her and do what you can. When we get home, maybe Greystone can help her.”

Sam heard the words but they seemed distant. A numbness permeated his mind and body. It was impossible to take a breath. The walls of the chopper vanished into a gray abyss.

Sidney shifted in his arms. “Sam, take a breath,” she said in a commanding tone of voice. “Don’t go back there, please.” She gasped for air and reached to touch his face. “This isn’t over. I love you, Sam.”

Sam looked into her face. Love reflected back onto him as it had when he’d opened her cell door earlier that day.

“That’s right. It isn’t over. Greystone will help you.”

“No, Sam. Greystone can’t help me now, but he can help her.”

“Sidney, you’ve survived worse. Don’t give up, damn it!”

Sidney ushered up what little reserve she had and tried to hold her head up. “Sam, we’re not over.”

Sam began to tremble and weep.

“Listen. You and I are so strongly connected, death can’t separate us. When you’ve given up your anger and sorrow, you’ll find me. I’ll be standing there, right in front of you, waiting for you to see me. I promise you, Sam. It’s that simple.” She stopped to catch her breath.

Sam gently brought her to his chest and caressed her face while tears flowed down his face. “Simple but impossible, my love. If you die, so do I.”

“Sam, put your hand on my chest over my heart.”

He didn’t hesitate to follow her request. “Now close your eyes and … take several slow … deep breaths.”

“Sidney, I … ”

“Slow … deep breaths. I want you … to know … that I’m … not afraid. I’ll … take you … to where I … will be waiting.”

Sam reluctantly closed his eyes and breathed. Time and space faded as did the torment. He felt himself become more than a physical being. His physical nature became lost in the spiritual ecstasy of merging into a higher dimension. His old limiting emotions slipped away, revealing joy and love as being his true nature. He discovered the essence of his soul, complete and glowing with abundance and Light. In fact, he became aware of the Light shimmering and dancing in, around, and within all he perceived as being near him. As his clarity increased, so did his understanding of where he was.

“What do you think, so far, Sam?” said the voice from behind him. He turned around. Her face was no longer pale. The glow of love on her face radiated as brightly as morning mist.

“Sidney, this is … ”

“My home. Your home too, when it’s time. But you need to take care of her first.”

She softly touched his face, smoothing over the lines showing his confusion, and waved her other hand toward the curtain of golden haze. It melted away. Before them was a sailboat, rocking on the gentle waves of an endless sea. “I’ll be here, Sam. And when you call for me, I’ll be there with you. I’m only a thought away. I love you so.”

He looked tenderly into her eyes. In spite of the realization that they’d be separated in the physical world, while in this place, he felt that time span was nothing more than a brief interlude. He was aware, though, that he’d have to endure the painful transition once he returned to the world of time and space. Sam then noticed a small pair of hands grasping onto Sidney’s shorts. A small child peeked out from behind Sidney’s legs. He recognized the little girl. She was exactly the same child he’d encountered at the school grounds. “Savannah?” he asked.

She grinned sheepishly. “That’s me,” she said, glancing up at Sidney. Then the grin was quickly gone and replaced by disappointment.

Sam looked back at Sidney with a startled look on his face. “She’s ours?”

Sidney nodded. “But unless Greystone can perform one of his rare miracles, her physical life will have been little more than a few days.”

Sam embraced Sidney.

“I love you more than words can express, Sidney. I always will.”

He heard her reply, “I know,” as the sound of the chopper returned to his consciousness. The motor was winding down. They had landed. Danik tugged at him to release Sidney.

“Sam, this is Greystone.” Danik pointed to a man in the chopper’s opened doorway.

“Bring her into the cabin, my friend.”

Sam picked up Sidney, whose body was completely limp. He barely detected any breathing from her. Danik jumped out and Sam handed Sidney over to him. Quickly, she was carried to a nearby cabin and placed on a bed. Greystone and the Elders surrounded Sidney and placed their hands on her body. They looked at each other and shook their heads. Their hands had provided some support, and her breathing became somewhat stronger.

Sam called out to her, “Sidney, you’re home now. Sidney! Sidney!”

Excruciating pain returned with its horrible, strangling grip on his heart. He tried to steady himself, to remember the place he’d been, to be strong for her. He hung onto the belief that the Guardian Elders would perform their magic and keep her alive.

Greystone approached Sam and put his arms around him. Sam stiffened. The soft touch made him want to completely surrender to the grief. But he believed that if he let the overwhelming sorrow overtake his heart, his sanity would come to an end.

Greystone spoke softly and yet with a sense of urgency. “Sam, we must act fast to save Savy.”

All he heard were the words of encouragement, not the name. He was elated to hear that there was hope for Sidney.

“Yes, yes, I understand. Whatever it takes. Save her. I’d give my life. Just do it.”

“You’re sure? This won’t be easy for you.”

“Please, save her. Nothing else matters.”

Greystone nodded. “Come over here, Sam. Sit down on the bed.” Greystone patted Sam’s shoulders. He looked into Sam’s eyes with affection. “You’re truly a courageous man. I understand why Sidney loves you so much.”

Greystone placed his fingertips on Sam’s forehead. The world around him fell away.

Epilogue

Four Years Later

Sam tried to recall exactly how long it had been since Sidney’s transformation to the spirit world. Sitting on her ledge above the valley, he had to think hard about whether it had already been almost four years. Time had little meaning on Hawk’s Island. The Guardians didn’t track time in measures of hours, days, or years. Their lives carried on in a sequence of moments, treasured and then released to the universe.

Sam’s daughter squirmed to be released from his lap.

“Savannah, sit still. Just a few more minutes, please Savy.”

She lay back in his arms and gazed up at him. Without expressing any words, she conveyed to him that he was pushing the limits with her patience.

“Two minutes.” He tweaked her small nose.

She grinned and closed her eyes.

Sam recalled how difficult that first year had been. The grief of Sidney’s loss, the abrupt change in his identity from that of a man of the sea to Guardian — not to mention acting as host for his unborn daughter for eight months.

Sam now remembered how the Elders had gathered around Sidney’s mortally wounded body. Greystone’s hand had rested lightly on Sidney’s chest, sharing his energy with her body. Sidney’s wound was fatal and her healing was beyond even the Elders’ powers, but her baby could likely be saved. She would only continue to breathe for a few minutes, so a solution had to be found quickly. A vision of a kangaroo and the way it could carry its developing embryo “joey” in a pouch struck Greystone. He shouted, “Sam has to become like a kangaroo!”

Livingstone had frowned. “Greystone, what … ” He paused and then understood. “Yes, we can make a pouch on Sam’s belly. It will take more than a simple transfer of the embryo, though. Sam has no womb to provide the environment necessary for a human baby to develop.”

“The answer,” Greystone had said, “is the Holy Membrane. It will surround the baby’s body and will be the conduit through which the baby receives the Universal Life Force.”

Birthstone’s eyes lit up. “Yes,” she said. “But it is empowered by and responds to the intent and thoughts of the being it surrounds. Until Savannah takes her first breath, we would have to be in continuous contact with Savannah’s Holy Membrane. Through our intent we can empower it to convert energy to nutrients and cleanse her body.”

Greystone placed his hand on Sidney’s abdomen. With great tenderness, his index finger traced a line and the tissues parted, exposing the nearly invisible embryo in her sac. Combining their powerful mystical energies, the Elders created a bond with the embryo. Still within Sidney, an energy field developed that separated her from her mother. The energy field swirled around the tiny body that had been growing weak from being starved of blood. In seconds, the energy field became a transparent membrane. It shimmered with iridescent colors, and the fluids within bathed Savannah’s cells until they glowed with new life.

At that moment, Sidney took her last breath.

Birthstone went to Sam, still unconscious on the adjacent cot. She connected with Sam’s Universal Life Force energy and asked, “Samaru Waterhouse, do you accept responsibility for the hosting of your daughter?”

Sam opened his eyes in shock, trying to understand what he was being asked. Host his daughter? In his stupor, the request made no sense to him, and he frowned in confusion and disbelief.

Birthstone continued to explain. “You recall that Sidney was with child — your child. You will only be carrying your child for the next eight months, and you will not be harmed or changed in any way. The Elders will help make it work. There is no other way to save Savannah.”