Fallen (38 page)

I
grimaced
. The point
I was trying to make was that
I didn’t need help
, but it was futile.

I climbed back down and
looked at him
,
purposely
,
before reaching to open the scroll
.

He was smirki
ng but gave me what I wanted…
confirmation. “You’re fast.”

“Beat you…” I muttered
,
pulling out
the scroll to review.

I found Tipper McNeal’s information
midway down the page. Reaching out my thumb to drift over the entry,
it
surprised
me
when
Eran took hold of me, preparing to be guided there also. His gentle touch made me
shiver
in reaction.

In
the afterlife
, as on earth, much of the time I
spent
alone with only my thoughts to keep me company. On both planes, I watched people move about their business, holding conversations
and interacting
with others,
while I handled my own duties and
never really
connected
with them. Eran’s simple touch had
emphasized
the void
in me
that I didn’t know had been created.

We moved through several
worlds
until reaching a street on Knob Hill in
San F
rancisco
.
J
udging from the style of cars
meandering
down the hill
through the fog and rain
, it was sometime in the 1940s
.

Tipper McNeal lived well in her
chosen paradise -
inside a large brownstone home
decorated elaborately with artwork that rotated from one famous painting to another, disappearing
instantly
as another
appeared in its place
. She had a butler open the door for us
. He
disappeared after escorting us
into
the
sitting room
where
we found
an old woman
,
draped with a plush blanket, holding a cup of tea
.

She mot
ioned for us to sit and we did. Without speaking, she
drew a circle on the coffee table between us
and it
was instantly filled with a tray holding tea
cups in matching saucers
and long, round cookies. Eran and I
politely
shook our heads
as
she offered them to us
,
so she drifted her hand over the tea set and it faded away.

“How can I help you, dear?” Her voice was soft
and melodic, but jolted me
. Not
because I was surprised at the beauty of it but because I heard her words inside the back of my ears, like Battersbee’s had been. “I’m sorry for
upsetting
you. I couldn’t hear in my last life and
when I came here I felt most comfortable using this
way
of
speak
ing
.”

I replied but not with spoken words. “
That’s alright. I’ve done this once before.” I
then
smiled at her to show I was no longer startled. “I have a message for you…from your daughter.”

Tipper
immediately sat up
, eager
ly asking,
“How is she?”

“She
seems to be doing well. In fact,
she’s pregnant.”

Tipper drew in a breath and slowly placed a hand to her chest in surprise.

“She says she’s going
to name her baby after you
–
Tipper
-
and that she misses you.
”

Tears
suddenly began to well
up at the corner of her eyes but she blinked them back. “I was hoping so…I was hoping…”

I looked at Eran who was now glancing between Tipper
and me
,
curiously. F
rom his expression
I judged that
he knew something was going on but didn’t know
exactly
what. I’d fill him in later.

“Will you tell her that…” she placed a hand to her chest and breathed in deeply, closing her eyes, as emotion overwhelmed her. “Please tell her that nothing could have made me happier.”

“I will. And just so that she knows
…
believes that the message was delivered
…
could you provide some proof? Some
piece of
information that only she would know?”

Tipper thought for a moment
, a smile stretching across her face.
“Tell her that I hope she kept those
stories she wrote as a child…the ones
she secretly hid behind her bed.”

I made a mental note and said,
“
That’s perfect. Thank you
.”

Her eyes widened.
“
I should be thanking
you
, dear.
It was truly a wonderful surprise
…
and
to be told by someone so important,” she said
.
Although
I didn’t hear it, I saw her shoulders rise and fall
with
a sigh.

The last part of her sentence left me
slightly
confused
and
I didn’t want to leave her misguided
,
so I explained, “
I think you have
me confused with someone else.”

Tipper tilted her head to the side, puzzled. “Aren’t you the messenger?”

“I’m the one who delivers messages
to those who have passed on
…” I said slowly enunciating each word in my mind, wondering how she could
mistake
me for someone important.

“I thought so. I’ve heard about you
before
.”

“You’ve heard about me?” I asked, stunned.

“Of course.
”

“
From who
?”

“Oh, well, several others.
You seem surprised,” she noted.

“I am.
”
I had no idea.

“You have a special gift, even when compared to what we can do here,” she re
plied, moving her hand over her blanket
and watching it
change to a quilt
.

“I guess everyone has special abilities,” I said,
noticing that
even the
lint left
by her
previous blanket
vanished
from
the couch
.

“Some more special than others,” she replied, looking
pensively
at me.

A moment passed when neither of us spoke but simply stared at each other, she in a motherly way and me in
uncomfortable
shock.

Finally
able to think straight again, I
said
, “I appreciate you telling me. No one ever has.”

“It was only a matter of time before someone did,” Tipper
replied, smiling warmly
.

When I stood, Eran followed.

“It was a pleasure to meet you both,” Tipper said, though this time she spoke out loud for Eran’s benefit. “
You and your gentleman friend are welcome back any time.”

We thanked her and stepped outside the door
, finding
the rain had stopped. The sky was clear blue and the trees lining the street
,
which had been bare before
,
were now blossoming into thick
bouquets
of color.

“I’m not sure what was said in there,”
Eran mentioned,
confirming that the conversation had been a private one by Tipper’s choice, “but whatever it was,
I think you made her
more content
.”
He motioned to the now bloom-filled trees.

Pausing to watch them, I noted their beauty and
glanced up
to find
Eran
staring down at me in awe. I swelled with pride at that moment
,
knowing that I had impressed him – finally.

Basking in his admiration but not wanting to be obvious,
I
stated, “We should deliver the rest.”

He softly but firmly took hold of my
elbow
and escorted me a few steps. The city around us disappeared and was replaced with the
Hall of Records
.

“That was far faster than usual,” I muttered, already looking for the next scroll.

“What’s the usual?”

“Running…” I said,
moving
along the wall to the Q’s. “I can’t float but I have incredible strength so running is how I
travel here
.”

“It’s settled then,” he
firmly
stated
. “I’ll stick around and help you
with the rest of
your deliveries.”

I was facing
away from him
so I allowed myself the freedom to smile at his decision
. He cleared his throat
awkwardly
,
as if he knew he’d made me happy
,
and launched
into
his new chore, asking for details about the next delivery.