"Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?" - Fulton J. Sheen

I dressed and went to the kitchen. I wasn't surprised to find Judith, Atsheena, and Gaia hard at work making breakfast. Myra sat near the fire, nursing sweet baby Pavarti, who had stolen everyone's heart. The good smells of warm bread, eggs, and hot coffee perfumed the air around us.

"Today will be our last day here," I told them. For a long moment none of them spoke. Finally Judith broke the silence.

"I love you as much as I ever loved my own children, Simone. I wish I could see what great work is about to happen, but this journey is not mine to make. My days are short, and I'll pass them in this place, spreading the message of love and caring for every weary soul that seeks shelter." Her eyes brimmed with tears and shone with purpose. I hugged her, wishing I could hold on and never let go.

Myra's soft girlish voice carried across the room. "I will stay as well. I feel...," she paused and a sheepish look crossed her face. "I've never talked like this before but I feel it's my calling. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I think this community will thrive and I think maybe I'll make a good leader here."

I hadn't considered how many goodbyes might be involved in this process. My battered heart stumbled a little at the thought. "I think you're right," I told her. I brushed my hand on the silken softness of Pavarti's dark, downy hair. "I'll miss you both very much," I said. I understood their decision to stay was not made of fear, but of strength. They would be women alone in a dangerous world, a young, nursing mother and an old lady, taking on the task of providing refuge for the weary. Their task was immense.

Gaia pulled a pan of rolls from the oven and set them on a towel on the counter before turning her considerable bulk in my direction. "Well, I'm coming with you. I can't think of a thing that sounds better than a nice long walk across the earth!"

"I love you, Gaia," I laughed.

"Well, I love you too, little girl. And each one of these here. And the ones who live out there too. And, don't you think for a second I'm going to miss the moment when the one who tried to destroy it all gets exactly what's coming to him."

I looked to Atsheena. "It could get bad," I told her. Her tunic-style shirt showed a bump much too large for one who'd been pregnant for so short a time. Freyja had explained to me that such a child could grow at any rate. It could be born in a week or a year. It could come into the world in perfect gentleness or tear through its mother to escape the womb. Atsheena's fears were not irrational.

"I'll come," she answered. "I will know a life of peace in this world, or I will let Acedia's minions send me to another. I don't fear them as much as I fear another six hundred years of existence apart from true life."

I told the rest of the group what my plan was over breakfast and the next morning we left our home and began walking west with no fanfare at all. Everyone simply gathered up their belongings and we headed out in a ragtag group of thirty three men, women, and children meandering down the road. We knew that Tesscati had ripped a perimeter in the roads a few miles out of town but it seemed logical to follow the road at least that far. We didn't move fast. There were old people and small children.

It was midmorning when we came to the end of the road. The concrete was buckled and pushed forward, creating a wall no vehicle would have been able to cross, not only across the road but for a considerable distance in either direction. We turned on a straight southwest course and began crossing fields. Our pace slowed even further, but our progress was consistent.

An hour or so past the barrier we came to the first group of others. There were seven of them: fairies that looked very much like Fayette. "Prophet," said the one in front. "We would join you, if you would have us."

"Why?"

"We know you are going west to stand against Acedia and his forces. None of us think that what he has done is right. That Which Is has never been anything but Just and Merciful. Any bad that has come to us has come to us through the failures of our people and ourselves. We would stand with you."

"Come," I said. "But know that I'm not a prophet. I serve That Which Is but I don't speak for him any longer."

"Have you rejected the message you once shared?" he asked.

"Not in the least. I simply came to understand there's no need for the meager voice of a prophet when the mighty roar of the Creator exists in the hearts of every member of His creation."

They seemed to accept this answer. We moved on, together.

Two single women met up with us as we crossed a field a few hours later. That night, as we settled in and made a little camp about twelve miles from where we'd started, five more humans and three angels came to us. They were led by Raziel who approached me with his head bowed and asked to join us in our journey. I welcomed him. I didn't doubt his goodness. My anger with him was my problem to solve, not his. He'd never done less than what he thought was best.

In the morning, we started walking again. We walked until fields blended into hills and days stretched into weeks. Often we could see signs of wind or rain. Sometimes it was so close we could smell it, yet it was always warm and mild and pleasant wherever we were. Around every corner our numbers increased. The newcomers straggled in along the way and met us in huge groups on the edges of the towns we passed. They were humans, angels, and creatures of every sort. They'd dreamed we were coming. Or they'd heard from messengers. Several said they'd just felt "an irresistible urge" to start walking toward the place where they'd met us.

Hermes came one day, with Alex at his side. He said nothing of where he'd been. We didn't bother to ask. Only the future mattered.

A group of orcs approached, led by a familiar, monstrous face.

"He did his worst to you, and you overcame. His kingdom wavers, but your followers grow in number. Your 'That Which Is' is the biggest and the strongest. I would serve Him, if He will have me," he said.

"He created you. He'll neverturn you away. What's your name?"

"I am called Durgash," he said.

We pressed on, surely the strangest assembly of beings that ever existed.

It didn't seem long before I was told our numbers topped two hundred. The night I was told that particular bit of news, we stopped in a town where another huge group, nearly as large as our two hundred plus, met us and told us they'd prepared a place for us to rest. Food was cooking over huge barbecues in the middle of downtown. A festival feeling filled the air. We passed that night eating and drinking and dancing in the streets in celebration of life.

I found myself sitting in a lawn chair with my feet in a bucket of water feeling like a total bum for allowing myself to be catered to, but I was so weary and it felt so good that I couldn't imagine saying no when one of the young women had offered it. She'd also given me a beautiful brand new pair of pink sneakers that I couldn't wait to put my poor weary feet into. Michael was next to me, speaking with one of the other men. The man had postulated that we'd been meant to walk for just this reason--so that we could pick up people along the way. I didn't doubt the possibility. This was, indeed, a strange new world we were living in. Nothing was out of the question any more.

Atsheena sat with a similar bucket, her ankles so swollen that her skin looked shiny and painful. The enormous girth of her pregnant belly was startling on her thin, muscular frame. Dark circles under her eyes were the most noticeable feature on her face. She never uttered a word of complaint, but I worried for her every day. I couldn't imagine the child would be much longer in coming.

Donovan sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. His quick eyes took in every movement around us. He held a rock in his hands and absently broke off small pieces of it. I was sure he wasn't aware of his unintentional display of strength.

"Donny?"

"Yeah, Mom?" He tossed the stone aside.

"Do you still hear?"

He pushed his untidy hair from his forehead, making it stand up even more. "Yeah. Pretty much always."

"Is it useful, do you think?"

Michael and the others around us grew quiet. Donovan took note of them and fidgeted, self-consciously. He was still just a boy inside that powerful masculine body. "I think," his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "I think being a good listener is part of being a good person. We just have more people to listen to. I don't think it's useful like... you know... like being able to build houses or something. It's not a uhm... what's it called?"

"A practical skill?" I offered.

"Yeah. But it's good. It helps us understand other people... er... you know. And understanding is part of loving, right?"

"I think you're on the right track, Donovan," Atsheena said, "but I disagree about the practicality. If your mom hadn't been able to hear, she would never have been able to communicate so well with Raziel. If that hadn't happened there may not ever have been any organized defense against Tesscati."

"If that had been the case, I would have been lost to the darkness forever," Durgash growled from behind me.

"Me too," said the man who'd been talking to Michael. "I'd been on my way to the city where the lights were on when my cousin over there found me and told me about the woman who'd healed her and told her to run for safety."

Andy had wandered over while we were talking.He tapped his chest. He'd been saved, too.

My son and I looked at one another in wonder. Neither of us had given much thought to exactly what we'd accomplished.

"Simone." I looked up and saw Eddie coming toward me. "We need you."

I was glad to know I'd been a help to some, but that knowledge didn't prevent me from wanting to curl up and hide. It was good to be needed. but sometimes a woman can get too much of a good thing.

"A group of raiders was caught trying to sneak in to camp," he shared.

I was amazed that it had taken this long to encounter some sort of opposing force. I stood and went to where they were being held. There were five of them. They weren't human, but I wasn't sure what they were. "Why have you come into our camp?" I asked and one snarled at me.

"Why do you fight?" I asked. "You are obviously outnumbered and overwhelmed. What did you hope to gain by coming among us?"

He snarled again and I sensed that there was more going on here than just what met the eye.

Raziel approached the central fire and stood by my side in his angel form. I noticed that he appeared this way more and more often and wondered if it were somehow more comfortable for him--like well-sprung old jeans.

"They can't speak, Simone. They are as the beasts."

"You came here because you are hungry? In need of something?"

They were silent. I looked into their eyes for a long moment and spoke loud enough for everyone around me to hear. "No one is to harm these creatures in any way," I said. "Give them whatever they need and let them go on their way." I told the ones tied before me. "You are welcome to anything at all that you need but you are not to touch a single man, woman, child, or creature of any kind that lives under the protection of this camp."

This, too, was met with silence, which I took as assent.

"Untie them," I told the ones nearest to them.

"Simone," Eddie started and I cut him off.

"Eddie, there will be no violence or act of hatred from anyone who lives among us. If these creatures are hungry, let them be fed. If they need clothes let them be clothed. There's nothing we have that we can't replace, so long as they make no move against any of us. Too many have been too concerned for too long about what belongs to whom. There is more than enough for everyone."

At that, one of the men came to me, his alien eyes searching mine and pointed at my shoes. My own lovely new sneakers. I felt like crying but what could I do in light of what I'd just said? I handed them to him and he immediately scooped them up and ran off into the camp. Each of them scurried about snatching up bits of food and clothing, a plate, one of our cooking pans and other items they could carry. They began to leave when one of them rushed toward a young girl of fifteen who had been standing near the center with some of our group. He reached for her with a snarl and, just as his fingertips brushed her arm his toe caught on a tree root. He tripped and fell forward into the fire nearest the girl, one of the branches impaling him with such great force that the tip ripped through his back. He was dead, even before his body began to burn.

The other four dropped all they had gathered and fled back into the darkness from where they'd come, chased by the gasps and shrieks of the crowd who had witnessed the horrible incident.

Our camp was protected. Nothing could hurt us while we were on this journey. I was certain of it.

In that place, my husband and I were given a beautiful room with a king sized bed. We took full advantage of the space and the privacy and slept on the luxurious mattress as only sated lovers could sleep. We woke in the morning, refreshed, and decided to spend the early hours making love before we went back out on our crusade. That's how it came to be that we were approaching the gathering place at the center of town around noon when Hermes came jogging in. Every day he scouted ahead and reported what they could expect to encounter over the course of the next day's trek. These reports were usually about the terrain, small groups of wanderers, or a village we were nearing. Today he met my eyes and said only two words. "They come."

I felt no fear, only an iron resolve. "Gather everyone together. Explain what you've seen. There will be no violence on our part. Not a single angry word from anyone. If they can't abide by that they need to leave now. They should know, though, that I doubt there will be shelter to be found that will withstand what is to come."

I knew that Michael was looking at me. I chose not to meet his eyes. It was too much like the day that Ike died. This time would be different, though. I was certain of that. Mostly certain. Hopeful. My fickle heart teetered on the edge of belief. Freyja approached and put a gentle hand on my shoulder. Under her influence, I was certain.

Donovan approached. I told him the news. "They're coming to meet us, Donny. All of them."

He looked like a man now, the accelerated aging process nearly complete. He was dashing and tall with a day's growth of beard on his chin. He moved with grace and confidence he'd never shown as a human boy. He was right. This was who he was supposed to be. It suited him. The wisdom of his words matched the maturity of his appearance. "One way or another, it ends today. Either we win and Acedia and his followers will be destroyed or they win and we all go to the other side. I welcome either option."

"I'm proud of you Donovan. I love you."

He hugged me and I took a moment to wonder at the delight of being able to physically touch my loved ones once again. How much I'd taken for granted in my earlier life!