She was settling down to "We Are Marching to Zion" when she heard the sound of an engine off the north, coming down County Road toward her. She stopped singing but her fingers continued to twiddle absently on the strings as she cocked her head and listened…
"Praise God for bringin em through," she muttered hoarsely. Tears coursed warmly down her cheeks. "My Lord, I thank You so."
The pick up, rattling and jouncing, turned into the yard. The man behind the wheel was wearing a straw hat with a blue velvet band and a big feather tucked into it.
"Yeeeeee-haw!" he shouted, and waved. "Hi there, Mother! Nick said he thought you might be here and here you be! Yeeeeee-haw!" He laid on the horn. Sitting with him in the cab was a man about fifty, a woman of the same age, and a little girl in a red corduroy jumper. The little girl waved shyly with one hand; the thumb of the other was corked securely in her mouth.
The young man with the dark hair—Nick—jumped over the side of the truck even before it had stopped. He caught his balance and then walked slowly toward her. His face was solemn, but his eyes were alight with joy. He stopped at the porch steps and then looked around wonderingly…at the yard, the house and the old tree with its tire swing. Most of all at her.
"Hello, Nick." She said. "I'm glad to see you. God bless."
He smiled, now beginning to shed his own tears. He came up the steps toward her and took her hands. She turned her wrinkled cheek toward him and he kissed it gently.
"Where's Angie?" She whispered.
Nick sighed, he had hoped Angie would be here before him, but then shrugged.
"I don't know about the God part, but I know something is working here. Everyone we've met has been moving north. As if you had the answer. Have you dreamed about any of the others? Dick? June or Olivia? Maybe the little girl?"
"Not any of these others. A man who doesn't talk much. A woman who is with child. A man about your age who comes to me with a guitar of his own. And you, Nick."
Nick wondered if the woman she spoke about was Angie. Was she pregnant?
"Oh, I almost forgot about dear Angie…She ain't here yet?" Mother Abagail asked.
"He says that he hoped Angie would be here before him…he wonders if she's alright." Ralph said.
"She's alright, Nick. You can feel it in your heart." The elderly woman said, pointing to his chest.
It was true, he could feel whether Angie was alright or not by the way his heart beats. During the Stovington episode, his heart would accelerate often and he would feel a bit nauseous. Maybe they were soul mates.
"When we get to Boulder, I promise, you will see her Nick. And there's going to be one heck of a wedding!" Mother Abagail cheered, not too loudly.
"Nick's told me about this Angie…is she really his soul mate?" Ralph asked.
"Of course, God told me. He told me that two of His children were meant to be…and that's Nick and Angie…"
When Nick fell asleep, he dreamt only of Angie…