The Gift of Knowledge (The Gifts Book 2) (18 page)

     With trembling hands, Emily took the letter addressed to her from Ethan. She sat down in a folding chair and carefully opened the cream velum envelope. The letter was hand written many years ago on Mr. Perry’s personal stationary. Emily recognized it and the handwriting immediately. Unabashed tears slid down her face as she took in the words written by the kindest man she’d ever known. The man she called grandfather. She read his letter to herself.

My Dearest Emily,

I have known for a long time that you would be the one to carry on my dream. I knew it would be no coincidence that brought your aunt and then you to Perry House. The Holy Spirit told me you would come and bid me write this letter to you.

     Many years ago when I was a younger man, I learned of an expedition to the Amazon to map out a newly discovered mountain The Pico De Neblina. The story fascinated me, and I had to learn more. So, I arranged for my own expedition. I was young and brash and not even sure what I was looking for. Adventure, I suppose.

     I was not in the Amazon long before I took ill with some kind of fever. My crew consisted mainly of local natives, and since we were so far from civilization when I became ill, my men took me to a nearby tribe of natives and asked them to help me.

     For several days I lingered between life and death. The medicine man of the village did all he could. I know I started praying to God to save me. I woke myself with my own prayers. It was here that I met Liam.

Liam appeared to me in the darkest of my illness in the moments when I knew I would die. I believed him to be the angel sent to take me out of this world. But Liam said, “No, you will not die. Our Lord has need of you here on earth, still.”

     The next day I got better. My fever broke, and it seemed I’d miraculously come back from the dead. The natives were in awe. They’d already prepared for my burial.

     Liam stayed with me the whole time. He spoke to the natives as if they knew him, and they hung on his every word.

I would spend the next two months with the tribe learning their language and their way of life. Liam was ever present. One day, I heard him talking with the village leaders. The tribesmen seemed to want to deny his request, but Liam convinced them to do as he’d asked. Little did I know his request would involve me, personally.

     That evening the tribe came together for a feast around a campfire. They danced and sang, as we all ate and enjoyed ourselves. At the end of the evening, a woman stood at the fire and began to tell a tale of long-lost giant kings. These giant kings were reported to have red hair with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

     I was captivated by the story and wondered if it could possibly be about the giants of the Bible, ‘the renowned men of old.’ But the thing that interested me the most was the part about the hidden burial site of the last three remaining kings. I wondered if I could find it. What an adventure that would be.

     When the woman finished the story the village leaders brought me a very old, wooden box. The box was ornately carved from a solid piece of hard wood and wrapped in sackcloth. The men said the box held something very sacred, and it was only at the order of the servant of God himself that I was to be given the contents.

     I opened the box to find three large, leather-bound journals written in ancient Spanish by a man named
Juan Martinez de Soledad. He was part of the Spanish conquistadors who came in search of gold. As the natives told it, the man died in their village many years ago and left behind the journals. The tribe passed the journals down from one generation to the next for safeguarding. Now they were being passed to me.

     I stayed up all night and tried to decipher the journals. It was no use. I hadn’t the knowledge necessary to translate the ancient writing. But the drawings in the journals were exquisite and told of an adventure lived many years ago. I longed for that adventure, but it was not to be for me.

     The next day, I was asked to leave the village. The tribesmen were polite but informed me that they would be migrating soon, and I was not welcome to go with them. I thanked them for their great gifts and for their care when I was ill. With nothing left to do, I came home.

     I longed many times for the adventure of returning to the Amazon, but I was given more than a great gift. Liam returned with me to Perry House. Over the years Liam became as a brother to me as he watched over Perry House, the Spaniard’s journals, and me.

     You may wonder why I never had the journals translated, and I really can’t say why. Only that there was some measure of warning I took from the natives. The information contained in those journals is sacred and not to be tampered with. Liam removed the pages that, by now, I am sure you know were hidden in my personal journals to safeguard them.

     As I said, the Holy Spirit gave me guidance and told me this is your adventure now. I trust you will use the knowledge contained on those hidden pages wisely.

I remain forever yours, Emily

As only a grandfather can

Miles Perry

     Ethan handed Emily a tissue to wipe her face. The tears continued to flow as she sobbed. There was an ache in her chest for Mr. Perry. He would always own a part of her heart, and she would be forever grateful for his care of her and Aunt Gemma.

     “Tell me about Miles Perry. You must’ve loved him very much. But I wonder if he really was your grandfather.” Ethan knew he needed to let Emily share her story, and he was genuinely interested in the man and how he came by the Spaniard’s journals.

     “Mr. Perry was my grandfather in every sense of the word except biologically. My father and Aunt Gemma were brought up in a Catholic orphanage. After they reached the age of maturity, my father apprenticed as a plumber and Aunt Gemma being deaf and knowing sign language, worked as a housekeeper for Mr. Perry and his brother, who was also deaf. Mr. Perry’s brother passed away not long after my aunt came to live with and work for them, but Mr. Perry asked my aunt to stay on. It was about that time that my mother left my father, and I spent every summer with my aunt at Perry House. When I was thirteen, my father passed away from a heart attack, and I went to live with my aunt and Mr. Perry full-time. Mr. Perry had always been kind to me, but he became my benefactor in more ways than one. It was because of his support my aunt was able to become my legal guardian, and that kept me out of foster homes. When he died, Mr. Perry left my aunt and me everything that he owned, including Perry House. On his deathbed, he made me promise to always think of him as my grandfather, and I always have.” Emily dried her tears and looked up at Ethan who held her hand the entire time she poured out her heart to him.

     “Oh, Emily, what a strong person you are. You’ve endured far more than most. You lost your mother, your father, and then the man who would be your grandfather. It’s no wonder you are so protective of your aunt.” Ethan bent down and pulled Emily into a strong embrace, holding her tight while she sobbed out the last of her tears.

     “Thank you, Ethan. I think I’ll be fine now. It’s just kind of a shock to hear from Mr. Perry again after his death. I always knew he and I had a special bond, but I guess I didn’t know how much I really meant to him until now.”

     Emily blew out a long sigh and handed the letter to Ethan to read. When he finished reading he had more questions than answers.

     “OK, now we know where the Spaniard’s journals were found, but who is Liam? Is he still around? If he is I’d really like to talk to him.”

     “Well… Liam is… What I mean is he’s still around, but I don’t know if you can talk to him directly.”

     “Why not? Don’t you have a phone number for him? We could use your satellite phone and give him a call right now.”

     “You can’t reach Liam by phone, Ethan. You see, Liam isn’t human. He’s an angel.”

Chapter Sixteen

     “See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.

Exodus 23:20

     Ethan’s brain felt numb. He’d been aware for some time that Emily believed she could see angels, but this latest revelation felt like a sucker punch to the gut. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

    “Um…well, that does kind of tank my idea of talking to Liam. But if you can see him, can you talk to him?” Ethan knew the subject of Emily’s gift to see angels and demons would come up again, but he hoped it wouldn’t involve him, at least directly. The thought was intriguing, but he wanted to steer as far away from the notion as possible.

     “I’m afraid it doesn’t really work that way. All I can do is pray and ask the Lord to reveal the knowledge you’re seeking to you. The angels don’t answer to me directly, so I can’t just order them to appear. They carry out the will of God. If what you seek lines up with the will of our Lord, the angels will carry it out. That’s a rudimentary way of explaining it, but it’s as close as I can come.”

     “OK then, let’s just concentrate on the pages from the journal. I’ve taken a peek at them, but I need you to translate.” Ethan was ready to move on and change the subject.

     A few hours later, just as the sun was coming up, Emily pieced together the last of the pages and translated them into what she felt was the missing link. Ethan would be thrilled with the knowledge of where to locate the lost burial site. Tired, she placed the pages of her translations onto Ethan’s lap, as he slept sitting up in the folding chair.

     “Goodnight, Ethan. I hope you find what you’re looking for in these pages, and I pray it brings you peace.”  She brushed a stray lock of hair from his forehead as he slept and sighed.
He looks like the kind of guy a girl could fall madly in love with, but he’s as unattainable as the wind
. She still needed to share Mari’s story of the giant kings, but that would have to wait until both of them got some sleep.

     Minutes later, Emily made her way back to her own tent. All she wanted now was her own cot. Phoebe was already up and dressed for the day, and much to Emily’s dismay, she wanted to talk.

     “Well, it looks like somebody had a late night.” Phoebe crooned.

     “Yup, and now I need some sleep.”

     “Oh, I get it. You’re not one to kiss and tell, huh?”

     “Phoebe, you have a dirty mind, and I’m too sleepy right now to care. I’m going to bed.” Emily started to undress and tried to ignore the smirk on Phoebe’s face.

     “You should know that Ethan never stays with any one woman. He uses them up and tosses them aside. I’ve seen it happen more than once over the last couple of years.”

     “You know what, Phoebe, I don’t care. I don’t care what you think nor do I care what Ethan does with his private affairs. It’s none of my business. You should be careful what you say about him though, he’s your boss, remember?” With that, Emily went to bed and turned her back on a now sulking Phoebe.

***

     “Oh… my aching neck.” Ethan groaned as he woke up in the folding chair inside his tent. While he rubbed his neck, it dawned on him that not only had he fallen asleep in the chair last night, he hadn’t been alone when he did.

     “Emily, you still here?” He called out as he jumped up and looked around the tent. Nope, she must have gone back to her own tent. He took one step and the sound of crunching paper under his feet caught his attention. It was a whole stack of papers. Crouching down, he examined them. The papers were Emily’s translations of the pages from the Spaniard’s journals. He didn’t waste any time, as he ran with the papers, grabbed a cup of coffee, and headed to the work tent.

     Ethan felt a sharp stab of disappointment when he arrived at the tent and Emily was not there. Gary and Russ were preparing to head to the lookout tree, and Phoebe was in a corner digging through some old maps.       

     “Are you looking for something, Ethan? Or someone perhaps?” Ethan thought he detected a hint of sarcasm in Phoebe’s voice but decided to ignore it.

     “No, actually I was wondering what you have planned for today, Phoebe.”

     “I’m planning on staying close to camp today. I thought I could scan some of Gary’s old maps into the computer and come up with some accurate latitudes and longitudes for them.”

     “Hmmm… I think maybe you’ve been cooped up in here too long. Why don’t you go out with Gary and Russ to the lookout tree? Stretch your legs a bit.”

     “You wouldn’t be trying to get rid of me now would you, boss?”

     Since that was exactly what Ethan was attempting to do, he cleared his throat and told her to do as she pleased. Trying to hide his embarrassment, he sat down at his own workspace to read over the papers in his hand.

     Try as he might to focus on Emily’s translated pages, he couldn’t take his mind off of Emily herself.
Why did I kiss her like that? Why did I break it off like that? Why can’t I take my mind off of her? She’s a distraction. If I didn’t need her help I’d have to ask her to leave. That’s it; she’ll have to leave. Now that the journals have been fully translated there’ll be no reason for her to stay, really. Ugghh! Lazar is still after us. But as far as we know, he’s still somewhere out here in the Amazon. Maybe it would be safer for her to go home. Still, I love having her around…
An acute ache hit Ethan in the chest at the thought of being separated from Emily. He’d come to care for her, and try as he might to feel otherwise, he selfishly wanted her with him.