Title: Reservations Confirmed – Pt. 26

By: FanofRandy

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It was a long, fairly silent drive out to the accident site on Reservation Road. Roy drove the rental car as Johnny offered the navigational guidance to their destination from the passenger seat. Unlike Carson and LA, Roy was totally unfamiliar with this area and relied heavily on Johnny's directions. When they approached the actual site, they noticed several things immediately.

Roy pulled off onto the shoulder as Johnny stared straight ahead and swallowed deeply. Brackett leaned up from the back seat to watch his Friend…his Patient…for signs of stress and shock. "You okay, Johnny?" He asked haltingly, placing a hand on Johnny's shoulder.

Johnny nodded slightly as he saw the big black scar in road. There were places where the pavement had buckled from the heat. "It's a miracle I'm alive." He thought as he swallowed hard. He allowed his eyes to move to the side of the road where there were two crosses with flowers placed around them as a makeshift memorial for those who died. "Hm…" Johnny wondered againf. "Only two crosses…but, three people died here." He reached for the door latch with a quivering hand. Roy noticed.

"Hey, Junior…you gonna be alright?" Roy asked. Johnny looked at his Friend and then back to Brackett.

"Yeah…just give me a minute, huh?" He pleaded with the two. Reluctantly, they allowed him to exit the car and survey the scene alone. They had seen Johnny in a similar state and utter nearly the exact words when his Friend, Drew Burke, died a few years prior. The two looked at one another, both showing signs of concern for their Friend.

"Only two crosses?" Roy wondered aloud. The two men remaining in the car nodded as they guessed the ONE who did not have anyone mourning his loss.

They watched their Friend get closer to the site. "Is this a good idea, Doc?" Roy worried.

"Probly' not…but, I have known John Gage long enough to understand that it is necessary for him to do this. And, that once his mind is made up about something, no one can change it." Brackett hoped that he was right that this would help Johnny put his past to rest. Both returned their gazes forward.

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A car wreck had taken his parents from him, and he was spared. And, now…a car wreck had killed his abuser…and, he was spared again. He walked toward the actual site and tried to remember how it looked two days earlier when he came upon the accident scene. The cars were piled on top of one another and the motorcycle Dave Foster had been riding was wedged beneath them all.

He recalled the women he pulled from the wreckage…both were still in the hospital but would recover from their injuries. He stopped and glanced up to the place where he thought he saw the man who had been decapitated. He glanced over to the crosses at the side of the road.

One said, "Loving Father…" and had many carnations and other flowers surrounding it. He didn't recognize the name. The other cross had a decidedly ethnic name, "Charles Greyhorse". He knew immediately that it must have been the man carrying the fuel oil and he was most-likely from the Reservation. He glanced around to the other side of the road and up ahead and behind. He saw the worried faces of his Friends who remained in the car, and smiled and waved to reassure them that he was alright.

He looked back at the black, dipped scar in the road and muttered, "Three men died here…but, only two crosses." He shook his head sadly. No one would be mourning the loss of Dave Foster.

He walked on a bit further toward the spot where he estimated that he must have been trapped. He took his steps with intention and purpose. He was talking aloud without realizing.

"Why was I spared…again? Why put me in a place where I could have died…hell, should have died…but, I lived? Why put me with my worst enemy…the man who nearly killed me…at the final hours of HIS life? Why did it all happen…why here…why now?" He muttered the questions under his breath as he approached the place of his entrapment.

The pavement was scratched and he saw long marks in the blackness…where the cars were dragged away by the tow trucks. The long scars were white…forming "beams" radiating from a central point. When he finally saw it, his breath was stolen from him. He looked down at the ground to where he knew was the place he'd lain trapped. He knelt down and stared at the place…as he brushed his hand over the pavement he saw what looked like the perfect outline of an angel with wings.

"You…" He whispered. "You were there. You protected me…kept me safe…kept me alive. YOU." He looked up at the hazy, snow filled sky with tears in his eyes. He heard his mother's voice as she read to him from the Bible as a child…

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." *

He wiped away the hot tears that threatened to fall with the sleeve of Tim's borrowed jacket. He thought of his life since his parents' deaths…he'd had times of fear and discouragement…he'd wished for death…he'd been overwhelmed with grief…but, through it all, the LORD was with him. As he looked at the white, angelic-shaped mark in the coal black scar of the burned pavement, he whispered, "Rest in peace, Dave Foster…may we all just find peace."

As he finished his small prayer, he saw a car approach and noticed it was the Sheriff cruiser. He glanced at Roy and Brackett and waved for them to join him as the Sheriff and another man got out of the cruiser. Johnny recognized the other man immediately…it was Mr. Walters…Sister M's uncle and lawyer. He stood and waited for the four men to approach him.

"Afternoon." The Sheriff called as he nodded his hello's to Johnny and the others.

"Hello, Sheriff…Mr. Walter's." John replied as he made the needed introductions.

The five men stared at each other for a moment. The Sheriff and Johnny eyed one another as if they held a long-kept secret. Just then, there was a collective gasp from the other three men as they surveyed the ground before them.

"Is this where you were trapped, Johnny?" Roy asked as he stared at the pattern on the ground.

"Yeah…this is about where we were…uh…Dave and me." Johnny answered quietly, in almost a whisper.

"Well, I'll be damned…" Retorted Mr. Walters. "Isn't that somethin'." Johnny nodded his assent.

"We were just comin' from the Res…Mr. Walters was helpin' the Greyhorse family with some legal stuff." The Sheriff explained. Johnny again only nodded.

The other men, sensing his adversity for company veered off toward the cruiser to give him some privacy. Mr. Walters stayed behind with Johnny.

"You, know, John…Mary never stopped caring for you. She often said that she gave you her heart and you just never gave it back." Mr. Walter's eyes misted as he told of his niece's love for the boy she had cared for, who had become the man who now stood before him. "She would tell us stories of how funny and sweet you were. But, also how sad and lonely. She said that she and you were forever linked by a bond of her desperate devotion and your desperate sorrow. And, looking at the pavement underneath us…I would say that bond lasted even into Eternity…" He bowed his head as he finished his thought.

Johnny swallowed hard against the emotion that threatened to spill over. As he felt he had it under control, he said, "I have always known I had a Guardian Angel…my mother used to read stories to me as a child…she told me about my Indian heritage and her Christian beliefs…they didn't really contradict as much as one would think." He took a breath. "I knew Sister M's cared for me…I never doubted it. But, I'm just sorry I couldn't tell her how I felt about her. I was so lost and hurt, I couldn't see past the darkness. I hope she knew that I was grateful." Both men stood facing one another…realizing the wonderful woman that both cared for. One had known her all her life, and the other just a few months…but, both loved her deeply.

"Never doubt she loved you, John…never doubt. She prayed for you every day…faithfully…from the day you met. She prayed that you would have a good life, come to find happiness and peace, and joy again…" His tears flowed. "I hope her prayers were answered."

"They were." John barely whispered as he swept the tears away again. "They were." The two men shared a quiet moment. The Sheriff was the one who finally broke the silence.

"We better get in from this cold…you California boys probly aren't used to this snowin' and blowin'…" He said as a nervous laugh escaped. Roy and Brackett looked on as they determined how his comment would be met.

The men all said their good-byes and walked to their respective cars. Johnny looked at his friends and nodded to Roy who started the car. Brackett was the first to break the silence. He leaned forward from the backseat and gave Johnny's shoulder a squeeze and said,

"Emerson said, 'What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.'" That was all that needed to be said and the three Friends drove back to the Garner's in silence. John Gage had faced the demons from his past and survived once again…with the help of a Guardian Angel and the prayers of a faithful woman.

TBC

*Joshua 1:9—one of my favorite Bible verses