Chapter 3

Harold and Thor stood in front of the bridge. They’d been Guardians now for quite some time, and had seen lots of the folks they’d helped go on to do great things, both in Gladstone, and in the world beyond Colorado. He took pride in those he came to think of as his children.

He had a son. Much to his surprise, he learned Carol was with child when he and Thor passed on. He also thought of every person in Gladstone whom he helped or rescued as his children.

The Creator had been pleased with his work, and when Carol passed, she had been allowed to join him in the realm between Heaven and Earth. They had a house that looked exactly like the one they’d built in Gladstone. When things were quiet, he and Carol spent time together.

Today he watched his community. Something was stirring, but he didn’t know where yet. He just felt like the evil one was planning something that would destroy his community and his children, if he wasn’t vigilant. Things had changed so much since he’d passed away. He marveled at the world his children lived in now. Cars, electricity, television, and computers. All strange to him, and yet he knew of them thanks to his choice to be the Guardian of Gladstone. He laughed as he thought of that first trip to save young Toby Campbell. He understood now why the boy had talked about the Ghost of Grandpa Harold and Thor. His help had not gone unnoticed, and he and Thor had become something of a legend by the boy’s time. Now one of his offspring, the leader of the town, was contacting people who looked for proof of those like him, who had passed but hadn’t fully crossed over. He wondered if this was the evil one’s plan he sensed was coming?

He heard a noise behind him and turned to see the man he’d first met here at the bridge. Now he knew the old Guardian to be Jacob; he watched over the people called Israelites and had since he crossed over. Jacob was the only person on this plane to have carried an injury from the earth into the afterlife. He walked with a distinct limp that he said he got from a night wrestling with the Creator himself.

“Jacob, what brings you to my watch station?”

“Trouble.”

Harold’s face pulled into a frown. “You’re speaking of the plan of the evil one, that I sense?”

The old man nodded. “I am. It seems that your town is at the center of a plan he is setting in motion to try to take over from the Creator again.”

Harold shook his head. “Will he never learn?”

“Some day he will be stopped forever, but not yet. I have come to tell you he is targeting your offspring specifically, and those closest to them. I am to show you a few of the lives you are to help guide. Until now, all your work has been as a Guardian; now you will be needed as Guide. Starting with your own great-grandson four times removed.”

“You mean Hal’s son Harry?”

“Yes. The enemy’s plan starts by trying to keep him, and the soulmate the Creator made for him, from successfully coming together. You must learn how to guide both invisibly, and then, when the crucial moment comes, visibly. Are you ready?”