Hi I cranked this chapter out this morning. Hope it meets everyone's
standards.
"Down to the Earth I fell On Dripping Wings Heavy Things don't fly."- Nina Gordon (Tonight and the Rest of My Life)
*-*-*-*-*
With a lot of struggle Agent Daniels managed to shut the emergency exit and after another twenty minutes they passed out of the storm cell. "She jumped," said Gloria to Vivian. "I just can't believe that she jumped into that," she said waving her arm to signal she meant the storm.
"Well if we are lucky the angel went to heaven," said Vivian.
"We aren't lucky," wrote Anthony in a note, "She took the gun with her." As of yet they didn't realize that he had given it to her but that was a good thing.
"What! Weren't you three watching her?" Vivian's eyes were blazing with anger the only thing that kept her calm was the thought of the angel's body splating on the rain soaked earth and breaking her neck.
"Watching her? Watching her," said Gloria angrily to her sister. "I've spent this whole flight so far throwing up. Daniels has been kissing his ass good bye thinking we were going to die as well and him," she said pointing to the Anthony, "He was asleep. Hell who would have thought that she would be crazy enough to jump out into the storm!"
"I would have," replied Vivian waving one finger in the air. "I bet Anthony would have too. Wouldn't you have, Anthony? I suppose the little thing knocking you unconscious didn't let you rest enough, you had to sleep on the flight as well. Well other arrangements will have to be made."
Anthony listened with out emotion to her ranting and the general round of blaming. His mind was elsewhere. His mind was wondering if his angle made it. "Wait a second," he said to himself, "when did she become my Angel?" Another part of him answered, "From the moment she jumped on your back in the alley. You just sealed it with a kiss on the roof top and reconfirmed it before she jumped." He wondered if that part of him was right. He had never really been in love before. Did he love her? Was that love? He had thought he was immune to such emotions. He knew caring but that was different. The nuns had cared. They didn't want to see him hurt any more than the other children, but it wasn't love. He knew admiration. He had admired people, the man who taught him how to wield a sword, the other Angels' fighting skills, people with power, but no, love was new. Love he decided was getting in the way. He had no time for it. It would be better for both of them if she didn't survive the fall.
"Well." finished up Vivian, "We go on and carry out the plan. Anthony it's now your responsibility to kill Getty. I don't care how. I have a feeling though we may, despite everything, be seeing that angel again. They have more lives than cats."
Anthony sat back in his seat and pulled out his sword from its sheath running his handkerchief along the smooth metal cleaning it and trying to gain his concentration back for the coming day. He needed it to be in his usual top form.
*-*-*-*-*
"Homer, Homer," hissed the old woman rolling over and poking her husband with a crooked finger. "Homer!" The old man shrugged her off as long as he could then sat up and saw his wife sitting in bed next to him, her hair wrapped tightly around curlers and tied in a pink scarf which in the darkness appeared a plumb color.
"What do you want I was a sleepin'," replied the man drowsily.
"Did you hear that," she asked clasping the blanket tighter to her chest.
Homer rolled his eyes, "How would I have heard anything? I was sleeping and it pouring down rain out there."
"Something's out there Homer, it riled the pigs up. Can't you hear them?"
Homer listened and he realized he could hear the pigs that were normally asleep this time of night as well, grunting and squealing and banging against their trough. "Probably those blasted teenagers," he said swinging his feet out of bed and slipping on his robe. He headed towards the door stopping to pull on a pair of large black rubber boots and his bright yellow rain slicker with the words "Homer Hudson's Happy Hog Haven" on the back. He grabbed his shot gun and his old mastiff and headed out to the barn.
The outside lights were still on, "That's a good sign," he said to the dog, "at least those kids didn't destroy the bulbs." They opened the barn door and dog ran in first barking which made the pigs squeal even louder. Homer flicked the light switch and saw nothing. He walked around the large building, stopped and looked skywards; rain was falling though a gaping hole in the roof. "Damn. Ruth is going to have my head. I was supposed to replace those rotted boards six months ago." As he was going to get a tarp to pull over the exposed pens he heard a moan. "Did you hear that Kaiser," he asked his faithful dog. He heard the moan again and Kaiser did too because he ran forward and jumped the rail into one of the pens. Homer followed him startled to see Dylan coated in mud lying tangled in the cords of a bright blue parachute. She was unconscious but alive.
Homer wasted no time opening the small low gate and to her side. "Miss? Miss?" He gently patted her cheek as he cradled her shivering form. She didn't respond. "Let's get her back to the house Kai," said the old man picking her up from the floor and carrying her back to the house.
"Homer," called his wife from the kitchen as he entered the house. "Who was that out there?"
"Put a sheet on the couch and get an old blanket too," yelled Homer.
"What in tarnation," exclaimed his wife as she brought the requested items into the living room and saw her husband holding Dylan's lifeless form. She spread the sheet out on the couch and he laid her down.
"Found her in the barn. Looks like she fell through the roof. Why she was parachuting at this time of night who knows."
" Parachuting? And nearly naked too. Homer, this girl is barely wearing any clothes."
Dylan started to stir. Her head hurt but she didn't feel like anything was broken. She didn't want to open her eyes just yet. She tried to remember what happened. "You jumped out of the plane to escape with the virus. You were blown around, and you finally managed to land but through the roof of a building." As she laid there trying to regain consciousness she could smell something strong and pungent. She had to know what it was and so she slowly opened her eyes.
"Well there little lady," said the old man with a smile and kind light blue eyes. "How are you feeling? I can tell you that my pigs were scared but they'll get over it."
Dylan sat up holding her head. "My head hurts. Where am I?"
Homer stood and turned around showing her the back of his rain coat. Dylan gave a small giggle, "Pleased to meet you Mr. Hudson."
"Likewise. My wife is in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. And you are? We just can't go on calling you 'pig girl'."
"I'm Dylan Sanders," she said holding out her hand and feeling perplexed at the surrealness of it all. "You didn't happen to find a plastic case where you found me did you?"
"Cant say I did but I didn't really look either," Homer replied as his wife brought in a pot of coffee.
"Oh you're awake," she said eyeing Dylan who sat on the couch.
"Ruth, I'd like you to meet Miss Dylan Sanders." Homer introduced them and Dylan held out her hand.
"Would you like a bath," asked Ruth. "The coffee can keep."
"What I would like is to make a phone call," she then turned to Homer, "and then I need to find that case I told you about. Then I'll gladly take a bath."
Homer and Ruth exchanged a smile, "Ok sweetie," said Ruth, "The phone is in the kitchen, come with me." Dylan stood and followed the woman to the kitchen. She lifted the receiver and dialed the agency number in LA. Just as she thought she was going to get the answering machine again Max answered the phone "Townsend Agency."
"Max," cried Dylan happily.
"Dylan is that you?"
"Yeah it's me. I need to talk to Alex or Nat."
"They aren't here."
"Bosley then."
"He's not here either. They took the helicopter and are after you and the FBI agents."
"Im not with them anymore. I was tired of the company and jumped out of the plane," she said with a giggle. Ruth was listening and her eyes widened at the thought of anyone jumping out of a plane let alone into a storm. "Do you know how to work the radio? You can patch me through to the helicopter. I need to give them some information."
"I have a basic idea," said the boy taking the cordless and going to the room with the equipment. "But I'm going to need you to talk me through the rest."
"How much do you know," she asked
"I know how to turn it on," he said. Dylan smiled and instructed him through the dials and knobs. Finally she heard. "This is Black Angel- home base, over"
"Nat its Dylan, over."
"Dylan! It's Dylan! Where are you Dylan? Over." Dylan could picture the blonde angel bouncing around in the helicopter excitedly.
"I'm. hold on Nat. over." Then she asked Ruth where she was. "Nat, I am in Grainfield, Nebraska on Homer Hudson's Happy Hog Haven, Over."
"You are in a grain field in Nebraska? Please repeat over." Dylan rolled her eyes and repeated her previous message.
"What's your number there? We will call you back when we have an ETA. Over."
Dylan got the phone number and passed it on then hung up. "Thanks Mrs. Hudson. Could I get that bath now," asked Dylan deciding that she couldn't take the smell of wet pig anymore and that the case could wait a few more minutes.
"Down to the Earth I fell On Dripping Wings Heavy Things don't fly."- Nina Gordon (Tonight and the Rest of My Life)
*-*-*-*-*
With a lot of struggle Agent Daniels managed to shut the emergency exit and after another twenty minutes they passed out of the storm cell. "She jumped," said Gloria to Vivian. "I just can't believe that she jumped into that," she said waving her arm to signal she meant the storm.
"Well if we are lucky the angel went to heaven," said Vivian.
"We aren't lucky," wrote Anthony in a note, "She took the gun with her." As of yet they didn't realize that he had given it to her but that was a good thing.
"What! Weren't you three watching her?" Vivian's eyes were blazing with anger the only thing that kept her calm was the thought of the angel's body splating on the rain soaked earth and breaking her neck.
"Watching her? Watching her," said Gloria angrily to her sister. "I've spent this whole flight so far throwing up. Daniels has been kissing his ass good bye thinking we were going to die as well and him," she said pointing to the Anthony, "He was asleep. Hell who would have thought that she would be crazy enough to jump out into the storm!"
"I would have," replied Vivian waving one finger in the air. "I bet Anthony would have too. Wouldn't you have, Anthony? I suppose the little thing knocking you unconscious didn't let you rest enough, you had to sleep on the flight as well. Well other arrangements will have to be made."
Anthony listened with out emotion to her ranting and the general round of blaming. His mind was elsewhere. His mind was wondering if his angle made it. "Wait a second," he said to himself, "when did she become my Angel?" Another part of him answered, "From the moment she jumped on your back in the alley. You just sealed it with a kiss on the roof top and reconfirmed it before she jumped." He wondered if that part of him was right. He had never really been in love before. Did he love her? Was that love? He had thought he was immune to such emotions. He knew caring but that was different. The nuns had cared. They didn't want to see him hurt any more than the other children, but it wasn't love. He knew admiration. He had admired people, the man who taught him how to wield a sword, the other Angels' fighting skills, people with power, but no, love was new. Love he decided was getting in the way. He had no time for it. It would be better for both of them if she didn't survive the fall.
"Well." finished up Vivian, "We go on and carry out the plan. Anthony it's now your responsibility to kill Getty. I don't care how. I have a feeling though we may, despite everything, be seeing that angel again. They have more lives than cats."
Anthony sat back in his seat and pulled out his sword from its sheath running his handkerchief along the smooth metal cleaning it and trying to gain his concentration back for the coming day. He needed it to be in his usual top form.
*-*-*-*-*
"Homer, Homer," hissed the old woman rolling over and poking her husband with a crooked finger. "Homer!" The old man shrugged her off as long as he could then sat up and saw his wife sitting in bed next to him, her hair wrapped tightly around curlers and tied in a pink scarf which in the darkness appeared a plumb color.
"What do you want I was a sleepin'," replied the man drowsily.
"Did you hear that," she asked clasping the blanket tighter to her chest.
Homer rolled his eyes, "How would I have heard anything? I was sleeping and it pouring down rain out there."
"Something's out there Homer, it riled the pigs up. Can't you hear them?"
Homer listened and he realized he could hear the pigs that were normally asleep this time of night as well, grunting and squealing and banging against their trough. "Probably those blasted teenagers," he said swinging his feet out of bed and slipping on his robe. He headed towards the door stopping to pull on a pair of large black rubber boots and his bright yellow rain slicker with the words "Homer Hudson's Happy Hog Haven" on the back. He grabbed his shot gun and his old mastiff and headed out to the barn.
The outside lights were still on, "That's a good sign," he said to the dog, "at least those kids didn't destroy the bulbs." They opened the barn door and dog ran in first barking which made the pigs squeal even louder. Homer flicked the light switch and saw nothing. He walked around the large building, stopped and looked skywards; rain was falling though a gaping hole in the roof. "Damn. Ruth is going to have my head. I was supposed to replace those rotted boards six months ago." As he was going to get a tarp to pull over the exposed pens he heard a moan. "Did you hear that Kaiser," he asked his faithful dog. He heard the moan again and Kaiser did too because he ran forward and jumped the rail into one of the pens. Homer followed him startled to see Dylan coated in mud lying tangled in the cords of a bright blue parachute. She was unconscious but alive.
Homer wasted no time opening the small low gate and to her side. "Miss? Miss?" He gently patted her cheek as he cradled her shivering form. She didn't respond. "Let's get her back to the house Kai," said the old man picking her up from the floor and carrying her back to the house.
"Homer," called his wife from the kitchen as he entered the house. "Who was that out there?"
"Put a sheet on the couch and get an old blanket too," yelled Homer.
"What in tarnation," exclaimed his wife as she brought the requested items into the living room and saw her husband holding Dylan's lifeless form. She spread the sheet out on the couch and he laid her down.
"Found her in the barn. Looks like she fell through the roof. Why she was parachuting at this time of night who knows."
" Parachuting? And nearly naked too. Homer, this girl is barely wearing any clothes."
Dylan started to stir. Her head hurt but she didn't feel like anything was broken. She didn't want to open her eyes just yet. She tried to remember what happened. "You jumped out of the plane to escape with the virus. You were blown around, and you finally managed to land but through the roof of a building." As she laid there trying to regain consciousness she could smell something strong and pungent. She had to know what it was and so she slowly opened her eyes.
"Well there little lady," said the old man with a smile and kind light blue eyes. "How are you feeling? I can tell you that my pigs were scared but they'll get over it."
Dylan sat up holding her head. "My head hurts. Where am I?"
Homer stood and turned around showing her the back of his rain coat. Dylan gave a small giggle, "Pleased to meet you Mr. Hudson."
"Likewise. My wife is in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. And you are? We just can't go on calling you 'pig girl'."
"I'm Dylan Sanders," she said holding out her hand and feeling perplexed at the surrealness of it all. "You didn't happen to find a plastic case where you found me did you?"
"Cant say I did but I didn't really look either," Homer replied as his wife brought in a pot of coffee.
"Oh you're awake," she said eyeing Dylan who sat on the couch.
"Ruth, I'd like you to meet Miss Dylan Sanders." Homer introduced them and Dylan held out her hand.
"Would you like a bath," asked Ruth. "The coffee can keep."
"What I would like is to make a phone call," she then turned to Homer, "and then I need to find that case I told you about. Then I'll gladly take a bath."
Homer and Ruth exchanged a smile, "Ok sweetie," said Ruth, "The phone is in the kitchen, come with me." Dylan stood and followed the woman to the kitchen. She lifted the receiver and dialed the agency number in LA. Just as she thought she was going to get the answering machine again Max answered the phone "Townsend Agency."
"Max," cried Dylan happily.
"Dylan is that you?"
"Yeah it's me. I need to talk to Alex or Nat."
"They aren't here."
"Bosley then."
"He's not here either. They took the helicopter and are after you and the FBI agents."
"Im not with them anymore. I was tired of the company and jumped out of the plane," she said with a giggle. Ruth was listening and her eyes widened at the thought of anyone jumping out of a plane let alone into a storm. "Do you know how to work the radio? You can patch me through to the helicopter. I need to give them some information."
"I have a basic idea," said the boy taking the cordless and going to the room with the equipment. "But I'm going to need you to talk me through the rest."
"How much do you know," she asked
"I know how to turn it on," he said. Dylan smiled and instructed him through the dials and knobs. Finally she heard. "This is Black Angel- home base, over"
"Nat its Dylan, over."
"Dylan! It's Dylan! Where are you Dylan? Over." Dylan could picture the blonde angel bouncing around in the helicopter excitedly.
"I'm. hold on Nat. over." Then she asked Ruth where she was. "Nat, I am in Grainfield, Nebraska on Homer Hudson's Happy Hog Haven, Over."
"You are in a grain field in Nebraska? Please repeat over." Dylan rolled her eyes and repeated her previous message.
"What's your number there? We will call you back when we have an ETA. Over."
Dylan got the phone number and passed it on then hung up. "Thanks Mrs. Hudson. Could I get that bath now," asked Dylan deciding that she couldn't take the smell of wet pig anymore and that the case could wait a few more minutes.