| "Kate, The Dream Angel" |
| Copyright Francis Blow, 1997. |
| CHAPTER 7 |
| Kate was in Heaven. |
| Or so it seemed, since she was able to luxuriate in a cool morning, enjoying a civilised breakfast with her Grandma Hannah, while watching TV. |
| It was ten am, and nothing to do all day except lounge around in her brother's pyjamas, and maybe ring a few girlfriends to catch up on the latest gossip. |
| "Turn it over to the morning news, Kate, love." Grandma Hannah asked. |
| Kate pressed a button on the remote control, and automatically made another bowl of cereal, as her eyes took in reports of the latest carnage on the roads. |
| "It's terrible, how people seem to drive so crazy at this time of year. Just you remember, when you get your licence, Kate, that it's slow and steady that wins the race." |
| "Yes, Grandma, but that's years away yet." |
| "Don't talk with food in your mouth, child. And you're thirteen, aren't you? So your learner's permit is only three years away, barely the blink of an eye, as time goes. Sean's already asked if he can use my car next year, now that I'm not driving any more. The scamp." |
| Kate allowed the old lady's talk to wash over her, a soothingly familiar sound in the background. |
| Breakfast over, Kate arranged the crockery in the dishwasher, before attending to a lazy shower. Steaming water played over her skin, which was still a little sun-tender in a few places, while thinking whether or not to have a long soak in the bath at bedtime. How wonderful it was to have that as the most important decision of the day! |
| |
| Sated with soap-operas and game shows, Kate lay on the lounge, swathed in an oversized nightie and dressing gown, borrowed from her Grandma, when the six o'clock news came on. As expected, the lead story was the road accident tally to date; footage of the most mangled wrecks played across the screen, and, at first, Kate took as little notice as most people. Then something caught her eye, and she looked closer. |
| "That's our caravan. Our car! What's going on, Grandma?" |
| Near hysteria pitched Kate's voice higher, and the old lady's eyes went wide with shock. |
| Stunned, they listened as the anchorwoman announced three dead in one car, and four people critically injured in hospital. The standard announcement that no names would be released until relatives were contacted, was followed by details of another accident. |
| With a speed and agility belying her age, Grandma Hannah sprang out of her armchair and sprinted for the phone, to call the police. |
| Her voice calm, Grandma Hannah stated who she was and that she might be related to the people involved in the accident mentioned on the news. In precise, level tones, Grandma Hannah answered questions that were put to her for several minutes, while Kate stared, arms hugging knees and tears streaming silently. |
| The handset was returned to the phone cradle, and Grandma Hannah faced Kate. |
| The seconds stretched out, before Grandma Hannah said that a policewoman was coming to talk to them, since it was definite that Kate's family were among the victims. |
| Kate felt the blood draining from her face and that was the last she knew. |
| |
| Kate was airborne and rocketing towards the Queensland hospital which held the survivors of her family's accident. |
| She did not slow even when Bill and Mary matched her speed. Bill reached out a hand and touched Kate's shoulder, ignoring the buffeting of her wings. |
| "Kate, wait. There's more happening than you realise. You'll face very difficult times ahead, but not what you think. Are you listening?" |
| Kate ignored him and tried to increase her speed. All she could think about were her father and mother and brother. |
| Would she get a chance to see them before they went Home, or were they already gone? |
| |
| Without warning, first Mary, then Bill were in front of her and forcing Kate to slow down. Kate screamed at them to get out of her way. |
| "I've got to see them! Please let me by?" |
| Four arms encircled Kate, and she felt waves of emotions wash over her, a mixture of her own and her friends'. |
| "Listen, Kate." Bill insisted. "You will see your parents and brother, but it's not time for that. Not for a little while. You are needed for your grandmother. Let's go back." |
| "Grandma? What do you mean?" Uncomprehending, Kate turned from Bill to Mary. |
| "It's her heart, Kate." Mary's soft answer could not have hit Kate harder. |
| |
| They watched, as one of two policewomen climbed through a window into Grandma Hannah's house, to where the old lady lay on the floor near the lounge on which Kate had fainted. |
| In minutes, both officers were inside and were trying to revive Grandma Hannah, while calling over a portable radio. |
| "We'll need two ambulances, for an elderly lady with no pulse, and a teenage girl with good vitals, but unconscious." |
| Moments later, Mary reached out for Grandma Hannah's hand, and led her away from the scene. |
| Kate went to her and hugged her. "Oh, Grandma! I can't lose you, too. Isn't there some way she can stay?" |
| "It's her time, Kate." Bill replied. "Her husband is waiting. Remember, Kate, how it was with all the other people you took Home? Would you deny that joy to your grandmother?" |
| 'Kate, my darling," Grandma Hannah pulled Kate towards her, "I don't really understand what's happening, but I do know I can't go back to that. Goodness, do I really look like that?" |
| Slowly, at first, and then faster, age washed off Hannah's face and body, until she reverted to how she appeared at forty five. |
| "Oh, my. This is the way I looked when your grandfather died! Where's my Joshua? Please take me to him, Kate?" |
| Her own heart aching, Kate could only nod through her tears, and lifted Hannah in her arms. With a powerful thrust of wings, the Dream Angel carried Hannah to the Gate, and delivered her to the waiting room where a handsome man hovered on the other side of the small door. Kate recognised him, of course, from all the photos in Grandma's house. |
| Beaming with joy, Hannah kissed her grandchild and joined her husband. |
| Numb, Kate turned towards Bill. |
| "Have my... Are Mum and Dad and Sean already on the other side?" |
| "No, Kate. You can see them now." |
| Bill's eyes were filled with something that was not quite pity. "They're still back on Earth. They will all live through this, perhaps with a little pain, but nothing they can't overcome. There'll be two or three weeks where you will have to take on a lot of responsibility, then things will return to normal faster than you might expect." |
| "How do you know?" Kate demanded, angry he had not told her sooner. "Can you see the future, after all?" |
| "No more than you can, should you put your mind to it. No, Kate. A mutual friend has been keeping you in his prayers. Remember the man you thought was an Arabic dream angel? He's neither. He was going to come himself, but we thought it best that I explain. Let's just say you can't judge a book by its cover. Take our hands, little sister, and we'll see you to your family." |
| |
| They flew in silence, and Kate was relieved to see the media had exaggerated her family's condition. |
| As she hovered over her father's bed, she had time to think. |
| People went through so much in their lives, but it meant so little in the end, if it could all be washed away as effortlessly as Hannah's wrinkles, with only the happiness remaining. |
| "Bill." She drifted towards the old, black angel. "I'm a Dream Angel, right? Tell me again, about which part is the dream and which is real?" |
| |
| Kate woke up. |
