CHAPTER 20

The following days passed with painful slowness for Monica, but they served to show how much loved she was as she was constantly visited by Tess, Rafael, Mr and Mrs Snyder and even Brady, who received special permission to remain by her bed foot and therefore help Andrew with the mission of taking care of the most adorable heavenly being that had ever walked on Earth.

Somewhat feeling imprisoned inside her room, Monica spent the following days watching as the bright sun colored the land and wondering how her equine charges were doing without her nearby. Rafael had been the one to inform her about Grace's progress and assure her that the animals were doing just light exercises as she had strongly recommended.

Andrew divided his work between calculations and watching over his dearest friend and his dedication was not left unnoticed by those in the farm, Caroline included. At first, she tried to convince herself that he was different from the other men and Monica was lucky to have him in her life. But in a warm night, the young woman saw the two angels in the porch, talking while he kept his arm around Monica's shoulders, and realized that their relationship was based on affection and respect, bearing some resemblance to her parents' one.

And at the same time, as she rested her head over Andrew's shoulder, Monica wondered if some day she would be able to touch Caroline's heart and make her realize that she was much loved and did not deserve the abuse Ian had inflicted her.

X

Little by little, the little angel recovered from the injuries and felt more confident to risk some short walks until she finally came back to the stables on a bright Sunday morning – only a week from the race day. The reunion with her charges was somewhat moving: Monica greeted each horse by gently stroking their soft fur and speaking affectionate words. She also fed some of them with beautiful red apples previously selected for her little outing. Monica had been careful enough to investigate if Ian would be around and when Mrs Davidson told her that he would be away for the next days she knew that there was no risk for her to go in there.

Coming closer to Grace, she leaned on the animal and gave her a warm hug around her neck. "I missed you too, sweet Grace. I'm sorry I left you alone for so long..." The mare gave her a gentle sniffling in the nape of her neck, eliciting a small laugh from her. "We'll have quite a lot of work to do next week, you see. Caroline needs you to win the race for her so that this farm can continue to exist and you and your friends can stay here. But if you ask me I still think there could be another way to save this beautiful."

The Irish angel resumed her work with Grace having Rafael to give her support and ride the animal while she took care of her injured leg. The race being only a week ahead did not give her the amount time she would like to pronounce that Grace was fully healed and ready to run such an important competition. But Monica had no choice and elected to do what was within her powers to make her able to run, and one of the main measures she took was to spare the horse at most so there was no chance the injury on her leg could return.

Contrary to the previous one, the week went by quite fast and before they knew it, they were just a few hours from the race. Its eve had been busy and quite exhausting for Monica, but she thanked her Father for keeping Ian away from her – he had elected to train Grace in the racing field and Rafael was the one who would run the mare. Monica was a little less nervous about that fact as she knew her friend would not do anything that could endanger or cause suffering to the animal.

With infinite care, Andrew pushed her bedroom door open and entered a second later, glad to see that she was sound asleep and there were no traces of a nightmare on her face. He took a seat on the edge of the bed and reached out to tuck some loose hair strands behind her ear. Then, the blond angel spent a long time contemplating her meek, beautiful features that could be seen through the dim light coming from the bedside lamp. There were moments when she looked nothing less than an angel to him, even being in human form, and he felt incredibly grateful to be able to admire her in all her divine splendor.

Monica had a pure, noble and gentle heart and Andrew loathed anything that could hurt it. For this reason he felt like he was facing a hidden enemy – he could see the strong traces of exhaustion and aguish in those beautiful brown eyes and wondered if the race itself was the only responsible for those.

Very carefully not to wake her up, he touched her arm with his fingertips, examining the remains of the hideous wound on her skin. Then his green eyes scanned her small figure. Monica was lying on her side and all curled up, as if protecting herself from something he could not yet understand but which he had already vowed to fight against. Her being sick right after the strange mark had appeared on her arm, the worried, nearly scared, way she looked whenever they talked about her assignment… All those facts seemed like small pieces of evidence leading to some kind of mystery he was having trouble unraveling.

Sighing deeply, and frowning with concern and with a turmoil of thoughts going on his mind, the blond angel straightened the blanket around her body. Being her eternal protector, he had thought that an assignment on a farm would offer no harm to the little angel, and now it seemed that her suffering had started at the moment they had arrived there. That sudden thought in particular made his heart skip a beat: what if something in that very place was causing her so much distress? What if the source of her pain was coming from a hidden place he himself had not been aware of?

Andrew recalled all the people that had been close to them since that assignment had started. Apart from Rafael, who shared their same essence and who had always been very fond of Monica, there were few humans who had permanent contact with them. Mrs and Mr Snyder were absolutely enchanted with the little angel's loving character and could not treat her better. Despite being a little distant sometimes, mostly due to the administration of the farm, Caroline had always showed respect and admiration when dealing with Monica, as the two of them shared the love for the animals in the farm.

And when the angel turned his thoughts to Ian, he frowned with more concern as for the first time he was aware that he knew very little about the horse trainer, but enough to know that he and Monica had different opinions about the best way to work with the animals. Andrew was also attentive to the fact that she would speak very little about him and now the blond angel wondered why, being so communicative, his beloved friend would not mention him in their conversation. Would this man be the cause of her fears? Had Andrew been so blind that he did not see that?

Shaking his head in disbelief, he let out a tired sigh and ran his hand through his short hair. "Father, please, help me figure this all out… What can be causing her so much suffering? Show me what is doing her so much harm... You know that her suffering makes me suffer just as much, Father. Please, let me be Your instrument to protect and take care of her while we're on Earth."

His whispered prayer ceased and, with infinite tenderness, he lay a gentle hand against her cheek and smiled while many memories of them together started to play on his mind. He wished those happy moments were back soon. "Sweet angel girl… Don't ever forget that I'm here for you, ready to help you whenever you need me. You are much loved… by your co-workers and friends, by the Snyder's family and especially by this angel here."

He bent down and kissed her cheek and noticed how her lips curved in a slight smile. "Sleep well, baby."

Andrew left the room in silence, trying not to disturb her. But he was the one who did not have a peaceful sleep that night, as scary, nearly unbelievable thoughts, kept running on his mind and making him more and more confused about the latest events.

X

Sunday morning started before 4 AM at Safe Haven. Monica and Rafael were soon by Grace's side, preparing the beautiful mare to the so much expected presentation. The local newspapers gave notes about the race and also about the top favorite horses to win it – Grace always among the top five of those lists. However, the articles also pointed out that the animal had been under recovery from a leg injury and raised doubts about whether she would be prepared to run again.

"Acalma-te, angelita. Everything will be just fine." The angel placed a supportive hand over Monica's shoulder, not missing the worried look in her eyes. "You know Who is in charge here."

"I know, Rafael. But I cannot avoid being nervous…" The little angel caressed Grace's head. "And even though I know how important this race is, financially, what worries me the most is Grace's well-being."

"She too will be in good hands, angel."

The third voice was unmistakable and both angels turned to see Andrew standing by the stable door, his eyes tired from the sleep deprived night he had spent.

"Andrew…" Monica was quick walk towards him, noticing his exhaustion and feeling sorry for him. "It's still too early, you should be sleeping…"

"I don't think I would be able to, angel." He said, gently caressing her cheek.

"And it's good you're here cause you're probably the only person who can calm her down!" Rafael approached them, guiding Grace by the harness. "Monica won't relax until this race is over!"

"I have faith that the treatment did help Grace a lot, Monica."

"I fear it might not have helped her enough, you see."

Andrew gave her hand an encouraging squeeze and the trio of angels left the stables heading to the truck that would transport Grace up to the hippodrome. The trip lasted a little more than 20 minutes and once they got there, Grace was taken to one of the stalls prepared for the competing horses.

Monica kept on observing as the mare adapted to the new space, always in Andrew's company. Mr and Mrs Snyder would be there soon too and when the sun started to burst in different colors up in the sky, the Irish angel made a small prayer so that everything would go just fine. She was exactly contemplating the soft sunrays when an image caused a chill to run down her spine: Caroline and Ian arrived in his car. They got out of the vehicle and walked slowly towards the stall and Andrew did not miss Monica's sudden discomfort and nervousness.

"Monica?" He spoke, finding strange that she started to walk away from the place.

"I'm… It's quite warm today, here, isn't it?" She could not face him in the process. "I'm going to get some water in the café..."

"Angel?"

"I'll be back soon …"

She left before he had the chance to say something else, and on the following moment, the couple approached him.

"Good morning, Andrew."

"Hi, Caroline."

The farm owner smiled friendly. "We appreciate your coming here too."

"I hope you don't mind my presence here, and I'll compensate it later." The blond angel apologized.

"Oh, no, it's alright. After all, you've offered Monica so much support these days."

"Caroline is right," Ian spoke, with a short smile. "Plus, I'm sure that after the race we'll all celebrate together!"

Andrew stared at the man for a few moments, his senses alert about something he could not understand, but which made him want to go look for Monica immediately. Besides this, he could not laugh at Ian's little joke, nor even nod in agreement.

"If you excuse me…"

He left in silence, leaving the couple behind. They remained by Grace's side until the announcement that the race would start in twenty minutes. It was only then that Andrew found Monica. She was sitting on a small bench, slightly far from the stables as if she was trying to hide.

"Monica?"

Andrew's voice caused her to tremble. Facing him and not telling the truth was tearing her heart apart. "Andrew… I… I was already on my way to the race court…" She said, quickly looking at him and then facing the ground once again.

He placed a hand over her shoulder. "Is everything alright? I couldn't find you anywhere…"

"I… I intended to find the café but ended up here so I decided to sit down and wait a little…" It was partially true – she did get lost trying to find the small cafeteria. "It is a good place to offer my prayers… far from the race spot."

The little angel reached for his hand even though she still could not face him. "But I was wrong because you were not here."

Andrew was ready to confront her about what was really troubling her but after that statement the words died on his lips and all he could do was sit next to her and wrap his arm around her shoulders.

"I want you to know that I love you very much." Was all that he could say before feeling her resting her head over his shoulder.

"I know… Even if centuries passed by and I never saw you again, I would never forget it…"

He frowned and shook his head at those words, thinking that she was so nervous that she did not know what she was saying any longer. Giving her a gentle squeeze, he kissed the top of her head. "That will never happen, baby. I promise you."

She listened to his words in silence, wondering if he would be able to forgive her for hiding the things Ian did to her while they had been on the farm.

"Do you think you're ready to go back there? The race will start in a few minutes."

"I think I am."

Andrew helped her to her feet and the angels headed to the race court, taking their seats at some distance from the Snyder's and Ian. Mr and Mrs Snyder waved at them and were sorry that, due to their delay, all the seats near them had already been taken, while Monica thanked her loving Father for keeping a safe distance from the evil man who was near the family. She wondered how in the world she would be able to make Caroline see his true nature.