Preacher's Daughter

Jon, the head Paramedic was done with his preliminary investigation, and the body of Doris Johnson was placed inside the body bag. As the two ambulance attendants carried the body down the flight of steps in their usual manner, he stepped up to Clark with some paperwork, but he noticed he was video chatting on the computer.

“Can I speak with you for a moment?” Jon asked tentatively.

“Sure,” Clark looked at Rachael on the screen, “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Take your time,” Rachael said.

“The funeral home will get a full report from the medical examiner,” Jon handed Clark some paperwork, “but this is enough to get the ball rolling when you go to Serenity tomorrow. The coroner should basically be confirming my onsite findings of it being a natural death on the paper. By the way, I was already communicating with him, and he has no problem with expediting things, and has moved her to the top of the no autopsy list and will have his report with the people at Serenity by tomorrow afternoon no later than three.”

“Then that’s when I will be there.”

“Your mother’s death is not unexpected,” Rachael commented, as Clark finally turned his attention back to the screen.

“Over the past year, I’ve been moving everything into place, so that when she did die, it would be like triggering one of those perpetual motion machines.”

“And I and that paramedic are all pieces of that machine?”

“If you put it that way,” Clark sighed, as he watched the paramedic and any remaining officers all leave one by one, “yes.”

“Clark, tell me the truth, am I a last minute add on to your machine?”

“I wanted to add you earlier, much earlier, but with “mother” still being alive, I didn’t want to chance it.”

“I see,”

“As if I already didn’t know, I was told, or rather reminded a few minutes ago, when mom died where to look for you.”

“How? By whom?”

“Promise not to laugh or be weirded out in any way?” Clark asked.

“Promise,”

“I somehow was able to communicate with the angel Gabriel he told me that I will find you in Calvary Hill.”

“Gabriel, isn’t that one of the names attributed to one of the Angels of God? The one with the trumpet?”

“Yes,” Clark said, “but I think this was a different angel named Gabriel.”

“This was at midnight? Exactly precisely the stroke of midnight?”

“Yes.”

“I was praying on your behalf that you would be released of your obligations to your mother.”

“At that time, I watched my mother being taken out of her body and towards a door, her spirit said that I was released of any obligations to her.”

“Clark, something strange happened, I think we both had some sort of a supernatural experience.”

“I don’t believe in all of that, and neither should you.”

“Yet it still happened, and maybe calling it supernatural is the wrong term because that is a word that is usually associated with an evil event.”

“And neither of us are evil,” Clark said, “but I do believe in Divine Intervention, which could be more accurate to the situation.”

“Divine Intervention?”

“Accurately, I never should have seen Gabriel, let alone talk with him, let alone like we were friends, but I did, and that’s because I think I was allowed to, to allow me to have both an end and a beginning at the same exact moment.”

Rachael looked at Clark a little strangely, yet not in a bad way. “And from my perspective, I prayed a prayer that seems to have had some sort of an instantaneous effect on you; as the words were being spoken, they were coming to be.”

“Well, the Bible does say “if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain “Move from here to there,” and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.””

“Yes, it does,” Rachael said. “Anyway. What are your plans for after the funeral?”

“Well, that’s one of the things I want to go over with you,” Clark said, “are there any boarding houses or the like in Calvary Hill?”

“There are,” Rachael strained, “and they’re a bit on the expensive side. But I have another idea.”

“Which is?”

“When my father bought this house, he got one with four bedrooms, we only use three, if you know what I mean?”

“And you’re thinking that you can talk your father into letting me use the fourth room?”

“It may take a day or so,” Rachael said, “but yes. Besides, that was the original plan, but that was five years ago.”

“What about me being able to find a job?” Clark asked. “Obviously, my being paid to me my mother’s caretaker will come to an end.”

“Well, if you’re interested, there is a dishwasher position at the diner that I work at that should be opening up by the middle of next week, you can work there until some other opportunities open up for you.”

“How do you know that?”

“Just leave it to me.”

“I think you just helped me set up a few more things on my perpetual motion machine,” Clark looked at Rachael through the screen, “listen I would love nothing better than to sit up all night and talk aimlessly with you, but the past few nights have been…to say the least… interesting, and over the past week I got maybe 2 hours of sleep a night.”

“I fully understand,” Rachael responded, “but if you need to talk with me, I am always here now that you know how to contact me in the proper manner. And don’t worry about what time of day or night it is.”

“OK,” Clark smiled.

“And if you want me to come down and help you out with a few things, I can take a few personal days off of work and come to Philly and help you.”

“Why don’t we do that when I definitely know when the memorial service is going to be, you can come down like the day before the memorial service, which I was told should be next Friday we can do a few things, then afterwards, I will have no need to be here.”

“OK,” Rachael said, “and in the meantime I will talk things over with my father and a few people at work.”

“I wish I could give you a hug right now,” Rachael looked around on her end, there was nobody else with her in the kitchen, “is there anybody else on your end?”

“All of the paramedics and police are gone,” Clark looked worried, “why?”

“Remember what I used to do when I knew you were watching me in my room?”

“Yes,” Clark could remember fondly her exposing herself to him, despite her being in her tomboy mode and wore braces on her teeth, she was still worth looking at. “Err, just keep in mind you’re not in the privacy of your own room, but in what looks like your kitchen.”

“It’s after 1:30 in the morning, mom and dad are in bed, and Dawn could care less, heck she’d probably join me.”

“Dawn?”

“Clark she is 16 now,” Rachael paused, “hasn’t gone through that uncomely stage, and is…well…looking for someone in that arena.”

“Yikes!”

“Ready?” Rachael asked, she got a nod from Clark who began to record this portion of their conversation on his computer, she popped her robe open revealing herself to him.

Clark smiled as he looked at her exposed body.

“Just so you know,” Rachael said, “I don’t do that for just anybody, you’re the exception. The only exception.”

“I see, makes me want to be around you all the more,”

“When I left to come to Calvary Hill, I made a vow of celibacy to keep myself pure for when we finally do come together,”

“And have you? Kept yourself pure I mean?”

“Clark, really?”

Clark looked at Rachael and smiled. “Just making sure.”

“We are coming together, in that way, right?” A look of concern washed over Rachael’s face, the piece of costume jewelry, a tarnished gold painted ring rested on her chest, “or am I being a bit presumptuous.”

Clark sighed. “You are kinda putting the cart before the horse, but it is something that I want to work towards. After all, five years have passed, things might have changed.”

“Things have changed, like I said earlier I am no longer that tomboy you used to hang around with, and we are sort of turning the page, but that love that I had for you then I still have now.”

“OK,”

“And we are going to be working in that direction,” Rachael found herself toying with the piece of costume jewelry that hung around her neck along with her crucifix.

“That’s good,” Clark began to realize how tired he was getting, he tried to say his good nights earlier, but he found himself pulled into this little conversation. “Well, here’s where I have to say goodnight.”

“Want me to call you in the morning?”

Clark shook his head, “I’m going to let myself sleep in until around noon at least. Then I have a few things to do in the afternoon.”

“OK,”

“Love you,” Clark held his face close to the screen.

“Love you too,” Rachael held her face close to the screen. Even though they were over 400 miles apart, with the aid of their separate laptops, they were able to share a gentle kiss, a tear began to make its way down the side of Rachael’s face.

“Everything OK?”

Rachael nodded. “Actually, everything is perfect. God, I hope I’m not just dreaming this.”

“Think of it this way, this could be a dream that has finally come true.”

“Clark,” Rachael smiled, “good night.”

“Good night.”

Rachael raced her way down the hallway towards her bedroom with a loud “Woohoo!”, she took a flying leap across the room and landed in the bed with a giant plop that shook the bed and the room she was in, to its foundations.

Dawn awoke suddenly at the sounds, it sounded like the whole house was coming in around her, until she realized it was centralized in Rachael’s room across the hall; she waddled her way into the room.

“Is everything OK?” Dawn asked, sleepy eyed.

“Dawn,” Carolyn said from behind her, “I think everything is fine, she’s just having an adult moment.”

“You call bouncing up and down on your bed at 1:30 in the morning yelling “woohoo” an adult moment?”

“Sorry!” Rachael winced, as she found herself a comfortable position on the bed.

“So, I assume your conversation with Clark was a good one.” Carolyn asked.

“The best. His mother died--.”

“Someone’s mother died,” mumbled Dawn, “and Rachael is jumping on her bed yelling “Woohoo!”, I would hate to see her at the funeral, and what she would do on the coffin!”

“Dawn,” Rachael said, “you don’t even know what is going on. You were too young to know all of what went on back in Philly. Clark and I grew up together since before you were born, even as kids we sort of knew we were the ones for each other.”

“Which sometimes happens,” Carolyn agreed, “and when we moved from that house to here, it ripped Rachael up inside, because Clark couldn’t follow her.”

“OKAY,” Dawn looked at Rachael, “sad story. But you got over it. You moved on.”

“No. I. Did not.” Rachael shook her head, “Not really. But somehow, I knew that when the time was right for both of us, we would be able to get back together.”

“So…what? Tonight, everything kind of fell into place, and after…what five years he just up and called you?”

“Dawn, there is something very special I want you to do.”

“What’s that?” Dawn asked.

“Shut up and go to bed.”

“I’ll have a talk with her,” Andrew gently moved Dawn to her room.

Carolyn turned her attention to Rachael, “so, tell me all about it.”

“Well…”