Frank swiveled suddenly in his saddle, looking wildly about.
"Did you hear that?" he asked urgently.
Anselm and Avilina looked at him, and then their surroundings. They heard nothing but the twittering of birds, the horses, and the wind rustling the trees.
"What, exactly, are we listening for?" Avilina inquired.
Frank looked perplexed. "It sounded like Joe."
The angels exchanged looks while, Anselm began, "Frank-"
"There it is again!" Frank interrupted.
They all listened carefully. Anselm thought he heard something, but wasn't quite sure. Avilina heard absolutely nothing. Frank nodded.
"It is Joe! He-he's telling me to wake up!"
Anselm closed his eyes and concentrated. Very, very faintly, he heard it. The younger Hardy was saying, "Prove them wrong! Wake up!" Joe said this over and over.
Opening his eyes, the angel looked at Frank. The boy was looking up, tears running down his face. Anselm glanced toward Avilina. In an instant, she knew what happened, and she turned her horse down the road and went ahead of them.
Anselm dismounted, and walking over, touched Frank's arm to get his attention. "Frank get down; let's walk for a moment."
Numbly, Frank nodded and obeyed.
As they began walking, Frank spoke. "He sounds so sad. I think he was crying."
The angel nodded, allowing his charge to continue.
"I wish I could wake up- I don't want him to cry. Anselm, how do I wake up?"
Anselm took a breath before answering. I'm afraid that is not you're choice to make. Think about it Frank, you're unconscious. Have you ever made decisions when unconscious?"
"But can't I at least decide if I want to live or not?"
Anselm turned, surprised. "Frank. That is the Father's choice! He decides when your time is over."
Frank faced his companion, slightly frustrated. "Then why are we running? If it's God's choice, why can't we just face this Morte guy?"
"Life."
Abruptly, Frank stopped. "What? Life? What's that supposed to mean?"
With a somber look and gentle eyes, Anselm explained," Life is a precious gift from the Father. The enemy knows this, and it infuriates him. That's why every chance he gets, he'll try to take it away. Sometimes he tries in ways like this, sometimes he tries just by leading people away from the Father."
This confused Frank. "What do you mean? I know I haven't been the model Christian when it comes to being close to God, but I know He exists! I mean, all other evidence aside, I'm talking to my guardian angel! What more could one possibly need?!"
Anselm was silent for a moment as they started walking again. Then he said, "In this situation, Frank, you, as a Christian, can not really lose anything. If you die, you will go home, and I don't mean your earthly home. I mean heaven. So, the enemy won't have much to celebrate, except for the fact that you may not have influenced as many people for Christ as you could have.
"However, just because you will not suffer, does not mean that others won't. The death of a loved one is extremely hard to get over. I've seen grief in families too many times to count. Not everyone continues to lean on the Father. They think that he has abandoned them. In those times of grief, people are much weaker. All the more reason to go to the Father. But it's also the time that the enemy attacks more than usual."
Frank looked down. He really hadn't thought about it that way.
"That's not the only way people are led astray by death," Anselm continued.
"How do you mean?" Frank inquired.
A sad look came into the angels eyes. He sighed. "I know that most of the time, humans tend to think of looking after others as a burden. For us it isn't. It is such a joy to watch all of you grow up and discover things about the Father's creation. The light in your eyes, especially, when you find out that he made everything special and unique. I guess you can say that creativity, curiosity, and learning are the favorite things that we angels have about you humans.
"To be quite honest, we enjoy your 'firsts' in life just as much as your parents do. We love to watch you take your first step, laugh for the first time, even cry when you're born. We love it because you're taking in the gift of life on earth from the Father. You may not realize that, but you are. These are the things we look forward to the most, especially when we're waiting to get back to earth. Like I said, it's a joy to watch you all.
"However, we can not always do that." At this, Anselm's voice became softer, more full of sorrow. "Once, not too long ago, I was preparing to go back down. It was only a few more months on earth. Just a few. A young woman, newly-wed, was pregnant. She and her husband had a successful job that they loved. The woman's guardian angel was looking forward to watch her charge throughout motherhood, and I was looking forward to watching the baby throughout life. It was only a few months away. She had an abortion."
Frank looked over. Silent tears ran down his guardian's face, and Anselm's shoulders sagged slightly.
The angel began again. "I was given the privilege of showing the child heaven, after witnessing their meeting with the Father."
"But," Frank began, "isn't it a good thing that the baby didn't grow up on earth? It didn't sin, and it didn't hear about all the bad things on earth."
Anselm nodded. "Yes. But the enemy delights in taking away one's life. There is life before birth, Frank. There is something about watching a child of God grow up on earth and then come to heaven and have an even more abundant, joyful life. I'm not quite sure how to explain it." Anselm fell silent.
After a minute or so, Frank spoke up. "What about the people who aren't Christians?"
Again, Anselm sighed. "Watching them…it's hard. I don't know what the day will bring. If they will accept salvation, or throw it away. If they will die, or not. But each moment, I desperately hope that they will see the light. And it doesn't always happen."
Frank looked at his friend. Only hours earlier, the angel had looked the same age as himself, but that changed drastically. Now, the angel looked old and haggard, a clue to how much he had seen in life.
After a moment, Frank broke the silence. "Thank you for talking to me about it."
Anselm managed a smile. "You're welcome. I'm actually quite happy to talk to a child of God like this."
"Well, then," Frank began as he mounted. "What say you about a race to catch up to Avilina?"
Anselm also mounted. "I would enjoy that very much. But one question: would you like me to let you win?" He asked innocently.
"Ha, ha."
They both urged their horses on at the same moment. In mere seconds, the ground was trembling under the thundering hooves. With manes and tails streaming behind them, the horses galloped at full speed. Both riders could feel the muscles of their powerful mounts contract beneath them. Lengthening their stride, the horses went faster and faster, ears pinned back, nostrils sucking in the air, hooves pounding at a swift and steady rhythm.
Frank hugged his mount's neck, grabbing both reins and mane, not daring to loosen his grip. The horses were going at such a speed, it was nearly impossible for their riders to stop them. Frank had never felt such a thrill in his entire life. Nothing was as tremendous as feeling all this power and might beneath you and almost becoming one with it.
Frank did not know how much time had passed when they came upon Avilina riding her palomino Arabian. Both the human and the angel pulled up hard. By the time the horses stopped, they were well ahead of Avilina and had to turn their horses around.
Smiling, Avilina greeted them. "Having fun?"
"Yes," they both said, breathless.
"Good!" She laughed. "How is your little wound, Frank?"
"It's better, thanks. But, can't you just heal it? Like, don't you have a healing power or something?"
This time, both the angels laughed. This, of course, puzzled Frank.
"No," Avilina finally said. "Miraculous healing is something only the Father can do. No, actually anything we do is ingenuity and orders from the Father."
Frank nodded. "Y'know, the upside of this coma is that I get to hang out with angels."
"Yes," Anselm added, "and we get to talk to a human who still lives on earth."
The companions laughed together as they continued on their way.
Further ahead they heard a roaring sound, indicating that they were near a river. After a few more minutes of riding, they sighted it. The river was grayish in color and about one hundred yards across. On the shore was a beached ferry that ran across the river by a rope. The ferrymen were dozing on the deck as the three riders approached.
About two miles behind, a young hare sat beside the road, occasionally twitching it's whiskers. Suddenly it tensed. It could feel slight trembling in the ground. An ear swiveled. Then it dashed into the undergrowth.
Watching from the bushes, the hare saw fifteen men gallop past, their horses covered in sweat and frothing at the mouth.
"I must depart here," Avilina announced. "I am being called elsewhere."
Frank and Anselm nodded.
She smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Frank."
He nodded. "It was nice meeting you too."
"I'll see you soon."
Again, Frank nodded. They boarded the ferry, holding their saddles and things while the horses were tied to the back. Avilina began to leave, and the ferry was pushing off, when Avilina suddenly turned.
"Anselm!" She cried. "Morte's men! They're coming! I'll try to hold them off as long as I can!"