Cascade (53 page)

Jacob’s vortex, the vortex she’d taught him
to make just two month’s ago, brought further relief. She was safe!
She was finally safe! Like standing behind an opaque crystal, she
could only make out the vague, blurry images of Jacob and Johansen
fighting.

Then BAM! The explosion in the Chapel rocked
the very foundation of the Castle. Her heart pounded in terror. The
Chapel had been her spiritual home since Celia bought the Castle
for her. Even though Celia assured her that Katy was not inside,
Delphie couldn’t calm her racing heart. Something awful was going
to happen. She just knew it.

Watching through the opaque vortex, she made
out Johansen and Jacob fighting. She’d never expected Johansen to
be so out of control. For the life of her, she couldn’t understand
what he wanted.

“
That’s because you
refused to believe he wants to kill every Marlowe,” Celia said.
“You have to believe there’s some good inside him.”

Delphie nodded. She had to believe there was
some good inside him. After all, he’d been her protector, the only
father she’d had from the time she was six years old until Celia
saved her when she was sixteen. In some ways, she loved him. If he
was pure evil, what did that make her? Was she evil of her
connection to him?

Delphie saw the short blurry person moving
carrying the enormous stick move toward Johansen.

“
That’s Jill,” Celia said.
“You must have gotten through to Jill.”

“
Not me,” Delphie said.
“Must have been Katy.”

They watched Johansen fall. The blurry
figure bent over Johansen and the vortex collapsed.

At that moment she felt a tearing, ripping
sensation in her mind, her eyes filled with the most spectacular
light. The beautiful orange, yellow and white light consumed all
thought and feeling.

She heard herself scream. The light blocked
out the figure of Celia. She vaguely heard Celia calling for her.
She felt her body fall to the floor.

Surrounded in the gorgeous light, Delphie
felt no pain, no loss, only joy. She was enraptured. Life slowed to
a stand still and the light grew from within her and around
her.

She felt soft hands on her head. And Jill
entered the light.

She smiled at Jill. She even said hello. But
Jill couldn’t hear her. Jill looked worried, frightened even.
Delphie tried to tell Jill not to be afraid of the light.

“
Please don’t
leave.”

Jacob. She heard his voice. She’d said those
words to him when he was inside his mother. Don’t leave. She’d
repeated them all of his life and now he was saying them back to
her.

Couldn’t he see the light? Why wasn’t he
with her inside the light?

Jacob was her child. The one she loved the
most. The child she’d saved from certain death. Even Celia, who
loved him completely, said he was really her child, her son, her
prodigy.

Why couldn’t he see the light?

From her position in the light, she watched
Johansen’s soul leave his body. Unnoticed and unloved, he simply
moved on. No one would miss him. No one would even know he’d lived.
There were no bee hives to tell that he’d died. No garden that
would go to seed. No tears, no grief, no loss. He was simply there
one moment — alive and evil — and gone the very next moment. Like
dust, his soul dissipated on the wind.

Filled by the joyous light, she waved to
him. Good-bye old man. May your next life be filled with joy.

Where was Celia? Why couldn’t she see Celia?
She called for her best friend by her earth name – Celia! She
called for her by her soul name – Naomi. Come join me in the
light.

She felt a desperate longing for Celia.

And for Sam. Where was Sam? Sam would love
this light. Sam would tell her all the colors and laugh at her
confusion. Where was Sam?

And Katy? Where was the child she thanked
the Goddess she lived long enough to meet? The baby she’d tricked
Jacob into creating. Katy would never exist if not for her
intervention. Where was her Katherine?

Alone.

She was desperately and completely
alone.

Even the beautiful joyous light couldn’t
take away the horrible knowledge that she was completely and
totally alone.

Where were her dogs? She longed for the
touch of Scooter’s fuzzy ears or to hear Sarah big bark or to feel
Buster’s wet nose. They should be here, right here, with her.

In that moment, longing for the touch of the
dogs, Delphie realized that she was dead. She’d died on the floor
of the Castle. Delphie was overcome with grief.

She had loved life more than anyone else
she’d ever met.

And she was dead.

There would be no one to pray for her
transition. She’d have to make it on her own.

Alone.

Forever.

Until life or good will or some beautiful
Goddess or powerful God would allow her to know Celia, Sam, Jill,
Katy, Jacob, Valerie and Mike again. She keened with grief for the
loss of her own precious life.

A figure appeared on the horizon.

Who are you?

Are you an angel?

Can I stay to say one last good-bye?

Please.

I haven’t seen Valerie or Mike. And my dogs
will miss me. And I need to visit my bees. They will disperse if I
don’t go and say good-bye. And what about my gardens? They haven’t
been turned for the early spring. The grass will overtake them and
in a few months time they will disappear.

Please. May I spend one day or one month or
maybe a year in my Castle?

Don’t make me leave the Castle and all the
people I love.

Please don’t make me leave.

The angel laughed. The laughter was like
crystal bells on some far away church. The sound shattered the
light like loud sound waves through glass. The world came into
view.

“
Sleep now,” the angel
said. “You are safe.”

And Delphie slept.

~~~~~~~~

Friday evening — 6:55 P.M.

Jill shook her head.

“
I can’t… She’s having a
stroke. I can’t stop it.”

Jacob wrapped himself around Delphie’s body
and whispered in her ear:

“
Please don’t
leave.”

Jill did the only thing she could think of
doing. She put Delphie’s head in her lap and placed her hands
around Delphie’s ears. Maybe she could keep the damage from getting
too severe. She blew light and love into broken and bleeding
arteries. Jill didn’t have the heart to give up.

She couldn’t give up.

She wouldn’t give up.

Her entire focus was on Delphie’s brain and
the blood seeping from her arteries. Out of a corner of her eye,
she saw Jacob shift, then felt hands on her shoulders. Her brother
Steve and sister Megan put a hand on each of her shoulders. With
their touch, they pumped their meager healing energy into Jill.

Her capacity rose. And still it was not
enough to save Delphie. This precious woman was beginning to
fade.

Jill felt the jolt of her sister Candy
touching Megan’s shoulder and Mike joining Steve. The siblings
funneled all of their capacities into Jill.

And it still wasn’t enough.

“
Are you ready, Jilly?”
Jill heard.

She nodded. Her mother, Anjelika grabbed
Delphie’s feet. Mike and Candy touched her mother’s shoulders. The
family made a healing circle around Delphie’s prone body.

The power surge was tremendous. Jill could
almost smell her senses burn like bread left too long in the
toaster. Her ears roared with the sound of Delphie’s blood and the
power pouring through her body. Jill held on tight.

She felt the tide shift. The blood began to
seep backward. The torn artery began to heal.

“
We must stop,” Anjelika
yelled. “The police are on their way.”

Two at a time, her siblings let go. Mike and
Candy first. Megan and Steve next.

“
1-2-3,” Anjelika
yelled.

Anjelika and Jill let go at the same time.
They rose to standing. Anjelika took Mike and Candy’s hands. Jill
took Steve and Megan’s hands. Steve took Mike’s hand and Megan
completed the circle by taking Candy’s hand.

“
Take in this healing with
love, for the best use of your soul and body,” they said in
unison.

Crying, Valerie took Jill’s place at
Delphie’s head. Valerie caressed Delphie’s head and hair. She
kissed Delphie’s cheek and pressed her own face to the cool
skin.

“
She’s breathing,” Valerie
said through her tears. “Oh God, she’s breathing.”

“
What are we going to do
with…?” Jacob said over Johansen’s body.

“
Children,” Anjelika
said.

Jill moved to Johansen’s body. Sitting down,
she placed her hands on his head. The wound, created by the hockey
stick, diminished leaving only small gash where he’d hit the floor.
His shoulder healed to full use.

“
Go,” Anjelika
said.

Steve and Candy touched Johansen’s body.
Mike and Megan followed.

“
What are you doing?”
Jacob asked Jill.

“
We’re releasing the
negative effects of the healing into his body,” Jill said. “For
every positive energy, like healing, there is a negative energy,
like illness. If we dabble in one, we get the other. Rather than
take it into our own bodies, we are releasing it into
his.”

“
Your turn, Jill,”
Anjelika said.

Jill put her hands on Johansen’s
abdomen.

“
You will tell them that
this man entered your home and took Delphie hostage,” Anjelika said
to Jacob. “You believe he’s a friend or old friend of Delphie’s but
you don’t know. You confronted him. He fought with you, breaking
everything, then blew up the Chapel. Startled by his own explosion,
he collapsed and hit his head. When he did, Delphie screamed that
her head hurt and fainted. He might have done something to her, but
you’re not sure.”

“
That’s it?” Jacob
asked.

He bent down to help Jill to standing. He
wrapped her in his arms.

“
Yes,” Anjelika said.
“Delphie will need a hospital and surgery.”

“
And Val?” Mike
asked.

“
She should be all right,
but you need to do what makes sense to you.”

“
I’d rather stay with
Delphie,” Valerie said.

“
Get cleaned up,” Anjelika
ordered. “Go now.”

Mike helped Valerie to her feet. They ran
toward the door and up the stairs to Jacob’s bachelor studio. Not
two minutes later, the Denver police ran into through the Castle
through the side entrance. The paramedics arrived moments later.
After stabilizing Delphie in the living room, she was off to St.
Joseph’s with Valerie at her side.

The Police department’s noise and confusion
brought Sandy and the kids from the tunnels. Jill and Sandy took
Noelle, Nash, Paddie and Katy upstairs to the loft. Jill’s family
arrived moments later. Anjelika and Sandy set to work on a pot of
chili and corn scones. Dinner was almost ready when Valerie called
from the hospital.

Mike had asked their friend Dr. John Drayson
to act as their liaison. Dr. Drayson said the doctors had diagnosed
Delphie’s aneurism. The aneurism was significant and on the verge
of bursting. They must operate immediately or Delphie would surely
die. As it was, her chances of surviving were limited. Dr. Drayson
agreed to attend the surgery to keep them apprised of what
happened.

When Anjelika agreed to stay with the
children, the rest of the group left for a long night at the
hospital. Sam arrived just after they descended on the OR waiting
room.

Unaware of all that had gone on that day,
Sam said: “I told her to take care of her blood pressure” then
broke down. Jacob and Valerie held their father until Sam was able
to regain some control. Blane arrived moments later with warm
turkey sandwiches, fresh chocolate chip cookies, and coffee. The
group ate and waited.

No one dared mentioning the obvious. Delphie
had always waited in these rooms for them. Delphie was there for
every operation, broken bone, or illness. With her prayers, spells
and incantations, Delphie was their cornerstone of hope for every
hospital visit. With her crazy bottle red hair tied up in a knot,
Delphie would say, ‘No need to fret. The Goddess loves us.’

Now Delphie’s life hung in the balance.

Together, Jacob, Jill, Sam, Valerie, Mike,
Blane, and Sandy waited through the night for news from the surgery
suite.

Denver Cereal continues at
DenverCereal.com

Glossary of Characters

Aden Norsen:

CEO at Lipson construction; single father of
Nash and Noelle; boyfriend of Sandy.

Alex Hargreaves:

Identical twin to Max
Hargreaves; ‘The Fey;’ the leader of the Fey Team; wife of Dr. John
Drayson; sister to Colin and Samantha
Hargreaves.

Anjelika:

Megan, Mike, Steve, Candy and Jill’s mother;
grandmother to Katy; wife of Perses.

Art Rasmussen:

Member of the Fey team; boyfriend of
Samantha Hargreaves.

Blane Lipson:

Jacob’s ‘cousin;’ raised in foster care;
either the child of Sam Lipson’s father or brother; assistant to
Jacob Marlowe at Lipson Construction.

Bree or
Briana Lipson:
Step-child of Sam Lipson.

Becky Lipson:

Step-child of Sam Lipson.

Candace or Candy Roper:

Daughter of Anjelika; sister to Jill;
partner to Jazmyne.

Celia Marlowe:

Wife of Sam Lipson; mother to Valerie Lipson
and Jacob Marlowe; died of cancer nine years before Denver Cereal
begins.