This took a turn I was not expecting. I wrote all the way to a conclusion, which shall be out in a day or two, and in the process edited out what would have been the opening of this segment. Fed up, Caillie decides to crawl back to her SUV; in the desert, in the dark. Barrett produces a flashlight and shines it down the path she climbed up. The reflective eyes of a mountain lion looked back at them. “The only reason he has not eaten you is he can just make out that I’m here. That has him spooked enough to keep a distance. “Did you – you – really just say ‘spooked’?”

So, instead, things will take a turn for the religious; I mean, the woman is dead, after all. The Four Last Things are “Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell.” We start down that path now. If that’s not your bag, check back later in the week.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

When I broke my ankle, I must have lost my balance and hit my head.  Yes, that’s it.  This is a dream and that man just an hallucination.

She stopped yelling, looked back down, and waited.  If he’s just a dream, he would know my thoughts.

Nothing.  “God, please tell me this is not happening.”

The man – she could bring herself to think of him as a relative – looked around, as if expecting something.  When there were just the sounds of the desert, he shrugged.

“We dead often get glimpses of the future,” he began out of nowhere, “and even some of the living sometimes, too.  A cousin of yours, who I shan’t name.  So, I am curious, Caillie – “

“Please call me Mrs. Pratt or address me as princess,” she demanded, uncomfortable.

“Princess, have you stayed with the family faith in Holy Mother Church?  It will make this easier if you have,” he concluded.

“Yes.  Dave and I were married in the Church, though he’s not Catholic,” she answered what at last seemed like a reasonable question.  “Just before setting out to the Front Range, I also had Confession.  You know… just in case…”

“Something like this happened.  Smart of you.” He leaned forward just a bit.  “Why did you exceed the orders of your mother, the empress, and come to this desolate place?”

A double-edged question, she went for the easier part, first.  “There were rumors there might still be oil patches out here, by Green River.  I have some simple survey equipment in my SUV.”

“That would mean war with the Deseret Republic,” he interrupted.

“That would be up to my mother,” she shot right back, almost at ease talking to a regular human for once, no matter what he claimed.  “While our power grid is fission, all machines need POL.  It makes the empress’ teeth grind to think we import fifty percent from Texas.”

“So,” she concluded, “that is why I crossed the Rocky Mountains without permission or orders.  I, too, am a Crown Princess of House Hartmann and quite capable of thinking for myself.”

“To consider current facts,” he looked pointedly at her ankle, “it would have been better if you had stayed home and worked on a sibling for your son.  Your choice, your consequences.”

At the mention of her little one, Caillie suppressed a sob and once again looked up.  There were only a few wisps of clouds and the dome of heaven was bright enough to read by.  “So, now what?”

“You said you are in a state of grace right now.  I suggest you pray, preferable all night, as if you are going on Crusade.” He made a forced laugh.  “I guess, in a way, you are.  Still, with your ankle the way it is, kneeling is out and trying to prostrate yourself would be painful.  Recall, and recite to me, then, as much of the Bible as you can.  If you want to stop and some points for personal prayer, do so.  But recite now what you can.”

“Can’t I just sleep, you stupid apparition?”

For an unknown reason, he found that funny enough to laugh, with a muttered, “never expected to get called that!”  Back under control, he looked at her and waited.

Caillie started with the easy things:  the main Gospel stories, Paul’s travels and travails.  After a pause and another glance up at the stars, she recited a few lines from Proverbs.  Her voice caught.

“My husband would always tease me with the ones about ‘a good wife.  And for my disobedience, here I am on a ridgetop being told I’m dead.” She began to cry.  “I… I want to say some private things now.”

“Of course.  If you like, I shall ask the Lord to mute my hearing.”

Now it was her turn to laugh.  “You sound like Aunt Fausta, the android who has done so much for our family!”

Now it was his turn to sharply look away to the east.  “I knew her.  She saved my life on more than one occasion.”

“Oh.” Caillie closed her eyes and prayed fervently for her man and boy.  I will never see them again!  After her petitions, she reopened them, looked at the man, and began a Rosary from memory.  Halfway through the Creed, he joined her and kept up for all five decades.  At the last, “worlds without end,” she could not keep her eyes open.