The Children of Eternity (12 page)

“Wow!” hollered Jonathon. The excited shout was followed quickly by his thundering return. In his hands was something that looked like a weapon straight out of a science fiction movie. “A particle rifle,” he announced, displaying the weapon to the group. “This thing has about three times the punch of my particle pistol. You can even adjust the power setting using this control here on the side. You don’t want to use the maximum power setting if your target is only ten or fifteen feet away. David told me all about it last week. I know Grampa would just love to get a look at this thing.”

Jonathon turned to his great-grandmother. “By the way, where is Grampa?”

“He’s not here,” said Gladys. “He headed off with a group of men to find out what they could about this war. He promised that he would be back tomorrow evening. He fought in Patton’s army in Europe during World War Two. I think he intends to fight in this one too. He has been very upset about what has happened.”

“That’s my great-grampa Bud,” said Jonathon.

“You’re an awful lot like him,” said his great-grandmother. “You’re both warriors for Christ. I don’t intend to sit on the sidelines either, not this time. I plan to get into this war. I asked your friend David if he could make me one of those rifles too. Actually, I was mighty good with a gun in my time. I do not intend to live in a Heaven where Satan rules over the angels. He had his chance. I intend to see that he doesn’t get another. David said that he couldn’t promise that he would have time to make another for us, but he did leave you something else.”

Gladys walked into the living room and to a large wooden desk. She pulled a large, rolled-up paper from the top drawer and brought it into the dining room.

“I’m sorry I didn’t leave this for you in your room, dear,” she said, unrolling the paper on the large table. “David said that these were the plans, schematics, for the weapon. He thought you may want to make one for yourself.”

Jonathon laid the weapon on the table and drew closer to the complex diagram. He studied the plans for about half a minute, then shook his head. “Oh boy, this is way beyond me. I couldn’t even begin to materialize something that complicated. I don’t know anyone other than David who could…” He paused. “Well, maybe someone. Maybe the person who taught me could do it.” He looked at his great-grandmother.

Gladys laughed. “Don’t look at me, honey. I couldn’t do it. Believe me, I tried. I’m pretty good at materialization, but not this good. If I could, I’d make one for each of us. We could charge on out and teach these moth-eaten demons a thing or two, kick their little arseys back to Hell, where they belong!”

That comment elicited a round of laughter from the whole group. There was no doubt about it: Christopher liked Jonathon’s great-grandmother. She seemed a lot more passionate than her great-grandson about this war.

“Ma’am, I take it that you’re really pretty good at this materialization thing…I mean, causing things to appear out of thin air,” said Jerry.

“You don’t have to make it sound so dramatic,” laughed Gladys, “and yes, that’s what I do. I learned how to do it pretty soon after I arrived here, almost thirty years ago. That’s how I made the sandwiches and the lemonade. I really don’t do much cooking anymore, not in the traditional sense anyway. It is also how I make all of the clothes we wear. In a way, I suppose I’ve become a fashion designer.”

Gladys got up from the table and headed over to a nearby closet. She reached in and pulled a rifle from it that looked identical to the one that her great-grandson had already set out on the table. “This is the one I made. It took me most of the morning to materialize it, following the diagram your friend left me. I made it part by part in my sewing room, then put it together. The parts all fit together just fine. It looks real enough, but it doesn’t even power up. I probably made a bunch of mistakes in materializing it. It’s not like materializing a dress or a surfboard.”

The word
surfboard
made Jonathon’s eyes practically light up. “Speaking of surfboards, we should be just about at high tide, shouldn’t we?”

“Just about,” replied Gladys.

“It should be good surfing today,” continued Jonathon. “I could feel the sea breeze the minute I hit the ridge. I was thinking of taking my friends down to the workshop and making some surfboards for them.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Gladys, who seemed just as excited about the prospects of surfing as her great-grandson. “They may even appreciate some quiet time on the beach, but first things first. Don’t you think you should show your friends to their rooms before we head out to the beach…let them get settled in a bit?”

“Oh yeah, that might be good,” confirmed Jonathon.

“In the meantime, I can make swimsuits and beach sandals for all of them. I have a pretty good idea of their sizes,” said Gladys. “You take them on down to the workshop later. It will just take a few seconds for me to clean up here.”

“I’ll help you, ma’am,” offered Jerry.

Gladys laughed. “Oh, no need.”

As the group looked on, the now empty plates vanished from the dining room table, even as Gladys rolled up the diagram.

“Dematerialization,” she said. “I’ll be up in a few minutes. Dear, take that weapon and the diagram up to your room.”

“Yes, Grandma,” said Jonathon, taking the diagram from his great-grandmother and picking up the rifle. “Come on, I’ll show you to your rooms. They’ll be just down the hallway from mine.” The group filed up the steps.

“So nice to have so many children in this house,” said Gladys, watching the last of the kids head up the stairs. She headed for her sewing room. “Thank You, Lord, for answering my prayers.”

“S
OMEHOW THIS ISN’T COMING TOGETHER
quite the way I thought it would,” lamented Christopher, sitting on the very comfortable canopy bed in his new room.

“How do you figure?” asked Jerry from a chair a few feet away. “Jonathon’s great-grandmother seems very nice, and you can’t hardly beat the accommodations.”

“Oh, that isn’t what I mean,” said Christopher. “What I mean is…well…I don’t know, I expected this all to be a bit more intense. I wasn’t expecting this to end up as a trip to the beach. I thought we’d be training.”

“The day is still young,” said Jerry. “I’ve got to believe that the Father knew what He was doing when He sent us here.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Christopher.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. In stepped Jonathon’s great-grandmother.

“I made you two pairs of swim trunks each,” she announced, handing the clothes to the two boys. “There is a blue pair and a black pair. I also made each of you a pair of sandals for the beach and a couple of nice shirts for an expedition in search of the perfect wave or just relaxing. Oh, and I picked up a few towels for you too. Those white robes are fine for a trip to the Holy Place, but not quite so good for the beach.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” said the two boys almost simultaneously.

“Enough of this ‘ma’am,’” said Gladys. “Why don’t the two of you just call me Grandma? I think it’s appropriate. I’m here for you, come what may.”

“Thank you, Grandma,” came the once again almost-simultaneous reply.

“I look forward to getting to know you better,” said Gladys. “I think we’re going to have plenty of time. Well, we’re all going to meet down in the dining room in about fifteen minutes.”

Gladys headed on to the next room, Lilly’s room. It was about half a minute before Christopher spoke.

“Does this girl, Lilly, seem just a bit odd to you?”

“Maybe a little,” replied Jerry. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Christopher. “I guess it’s some of the things she says. It’s like she knows a whole lot more than she lets on.”

“Jedi mind trick?” joked Jerry.

Christopher smiled, though slightly. “Maybe. Well, let’s get ready for a day of fun at the beach.”

Jerry nodded and headed off to his room.

There’s an awful lot of Jedi around here
, thought Christopher, putting his robe in the closet and getting ready for a day at the beach.

About 15 minutes later, the group met in the dining room, all ready to go. Once again, Lilly caught Christopher’s attention. Grandma had made her a modest, orange, one-piece bathing suit. “Very nice,” said Christopher.

“Thank you,” replied Lilly, in a soft voice.

The group made their way down the hallway to a large room, the work room. Here, mounted on the wall, were several different surfboards.

“Grandma and I make them ourselves,” said Jonathon. “My grampa isn’t so much into surfing. He prefers to swim, especially on calm days.” Jonathon looked over at Christopher and Jerry. He pointed at two surfboards leaning up against the wall. “I think these would be about right for you guys. They’re good boards for beginners.”

Then he turned to Lilly. “You may need a somewhat lighter board.” He headed over to a large table in the middle of the room and focused on it.

Christopher was quite impressed as he watched the front tip of a white surfboard begin to appear about an inch above the table. Slowly but steadily ever more of the board materialized. All the while, Jonathon’s gaze was upon the place where the board seemed to be forming out of thin air. It took him the better part of five minutes to complete the task, as the group looked on. When the task was done, Jonathon handed the board to Lilly.

“Thank you, Jonathon,” she said, in a quiet voice.

“Well, surf’s up,” said Jonathon, grabbing his own board and heading out a door that opened to the outside to a path that led toward the sea. The group followed.

The drop-off at the end of the meadow was not nearly so drastic as Christopher had imagined. The incline may have been 30 degrees at most, and a well-worn trail led down the slopes in a sort of switchback fashion, leading to the beach 40 feet below. To their right, the sloping terrain that separated the beach from the meadows above gently curved, giving them a panoramic view of the coastline. The beach itself was composed of a light tan-colored sand with a few rounded boulders here and there. The waves of the Crystal Sea were not particularly big—maybe three or four feet high—but they broke in a very regular pattern from left to right about 100 or so feet away from the shore.

“A perfect day,” said Gladys, pointing to the waves.

“Nice,” agreed Jonathon.

The group dropped their towels about 50 feet from the water’s edge and moved on toward the foaming waves. After just a few minutes of instruction from both Gladys and Jonathon, the group made their way out into the surf.

The water was distinctly chilly to Christopher. It was, at best, 70 degrees. Still, he was up to giving the whole thing a try. They paddled out through the surf.

After about half an hour of falling off of the surfboard, Christopher came to the conclusion that this was clearly not a sport that he was a natural at. The same could not be said about Lilly. She seemed to get the hang of it after two trips in. Perhaps she had done this before. Jerry wasn’t faring all that much better than Christopher, but he seemed to have a bit more determination.

To Christopher, this whole thing was a bit pointless. He couldn’t see how this activity was helpful in achieving their goal. In the end, he retreated to the beach and watched the others from there. About 15 minutes later, Lilly joined him in his vigil.

“You seemed to be doing really well,” said Christopher, turning to Lilly. “I guess you’ve surfed before, right?”

“No,” replied Lilly, “this was my first time.”

“Well, you seem to learn fast,” said Christopher, who had become a bit nervous.

“You want to know about me,” observed Lilly.

Christopher hesitated. “Yes, I guess I do. But I don’t want to pry.”

“You’re not prying,” assured Lilly. “Actually, it’s important that you know.”

“OK,” replied Christopher.

“So, I’ll tell you,” said Lilly, smiling slightly. “We have some time. As the Father told you, I was born in North Korea. My mother was not very popular with the government of his holiness Kim Jong Il.”

Christopher picked up on Lilly’s sarcasm right away, though he decided to say nothing about it. It didn’t seem appropriate. He’d read a bit about this ruthless dictator, enough to realize that living in his country must have been a living hell.