Excellent A meeting With the Dark Angel All In the Night's Work by Cass Carlton Bow your heads contest entry Artwork by eileen0204 at FanArtReview.com

Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of violence. She woke in the middle of the night, as someone banged on the door, calling urgently. "Nurse! Nurse Scott! Are you there? She went to the door in her night gown with a shawl thrown around her shoulders. Before her stood a young man, the son of one of her late husband's army mates from the Boer War. He peered through the fly wire screen to see her , his face crumpling into distraught sobs as he recognised her. She was well into her seventies , but still tall and straight with an air of calm and purpose, bringing a world of comfort and reassurance to those who called upon her. Ruth had followed her mother into nursing and her life had been one of selfless service to the poor and needy. Those who would not trust the services of younger doctors and hospitals still called upon her to bring them into the world ,help them stay in it or ease them out of it. "Please Nurse Scott, can you come to Dad? He's locked himself in the back room with a gun and says this time he's really gonna do it. Mum is beside herself with him kickin' up such a fuss and she don't know what to do. Please Nurse, can you, would you come? The neighbours have threatened to call the Police again and this time I reckon they will .. They reckon he ought to be put away before he does someone real harm." Ruth realised there was a great need for her that night, so she dressed quickly , drawing her large white apron over her warm grey dress. . "Come on then" she said to the young man , and they set off at a brisk walk. It wasn't far, just a few blocks from her modest home in a tree lined street. As they came in the gate they could hear terrible screams and cries of agony sending a chill of dread through Ruth as she approached . Suddenly the front door burst open . "You're too late " sobbed the woman "He's done it this time. He grabbed the carbolic cleaner I use on the stove and drank it down. Now he's out in the shed and locked the door. He won't let me in." She hid her face in her hands, sobbing, while her son awkwardly patted her arm and wept too. "Have you tried to call anyone else?" asked Ruth. "Father O'Flaherty from St Joseph's perhaps?" The woman nodded, but then shook her head. "He won't come because it's suicide. He said he won't give absolution or the Last Rites because Reg won't obey his orders. He said that Reg is damned and now Reg believes it ." Father O'Flaherty and Ruth were old adversaries . She had no time for him and his smug judgements all couched in dogma and sanctimony. She glimpsed the scared face of a young lad from the next street and beckoned . Swiftly she unpinned her badge from her apron and slipped it into his hand." Take this to Father William," she said . The boy grabbed the token and fled . Ruth went to the shed door and knocked loudly. There was a slight hiatus in the noise coming from within as she called out to the deranged man inside. "Reg, Reg it's Ruth Scott . John Scott's wife. Can I come in?" There was a shuffling sound and then the key in the lock turned. Ruth went in and locked the door behind her. Reginald Godfrey Wilson slumped over the bench on the shed wall, his once mild blue eyes glazed with madness and agony. He knew her at once and for a second she saw a flash of his old familiar smile cross his unshaven face. It vanished as another paroxysm of torture swept over him, and he slid to the floor screaming with pain. She went to his side and dropped to the floor alongside him. He looked up into her lined face and wept bitterly, his bony chest heaving with wracking sobs. "I'm sorry," he muttered brokenly" I'm a rotten swine. I didn't deserve her . She'll be better off without me. All I own she can have. I just want to go to Hell where I belong." His face twisted again in a ghastly grimace as the poison seared its way through his body. Ruth felt a flash of horror at his words. Although he felt he had dishonoured himself with loose living, she knew that his wife Annie had forgiven him. Cruelly, his conscience would not let him rest , and he hounded himself mercilessly, dragging himself down into an abyss of self loathing and recrimination until he decided there was no hope of redemption. "But to actually want to go to Hell!" The very thought of it filled Ruth's uncomplicated Christian beliefs with terror. Her concept of Hell was as dreadful and awful as the minister at her local church could describe. There was no way she would let her beloved John's comrade in arms fall into the clutches of Satan himself. The dying man writhed in agony as more pains wracked his body, so Ruth wrapped him in the folds of her apron and held him close to her bosom. She dimly remembered how her children would snuggle in and drowse off to sleep held in the same loving way. The warmth and closeness of her seemed to calm him. His eyes closed and his breathing became slightly less laboured. Ruth sent a desperate prayer out to save this poor lost soul so near death, so far from comfort in his last moments on Earth. Outside there were noises , voices and footsteps on the gravel. Reg's head lifted to listen, then drooped wearily back to her white apron front. "They'll be here soon," he muttered, "I'll be gone by then I reckon". There was a rattle at the door and a loud voice commanded "Hello within, this is Sergeant Henry Fuller from the Police station. Open up at once or we will break the door down." Just as Ruth began to answer. Reg began to speak and so she bent her head to listen. With a great surge of joy, she heard him begin the Ave Maria and joined in with him speaking those timeless words from so long ago. As his faltering voice failed , she began the Lord's Prayer, holding him close to her bosom , her voice echoing in his ears as he attempted to follow her sure, gentle words. There was more noise from outside, but Ruth ignored them , so intent was she in shepherding this lost soul into the arms of his Maker. With a rending crash, the door burst open to reveal two burly police men staggering forward from their efforts . The elder man stood back, staring at the sight before him. The younger man peered over the Sergeant's shoulder and crossed himself reverently. Suddenly there was a flurry of movement as a young priest came running down the path towards them. He pushed past them and knelt by the dying man. He began the words of Extreme Unction, the man on the floor gazing up at him with an expression of utter relief . Then, with no more than a slight tremor, he died, his face lit with a strange glow of other worldly peace. Tears blurred Ruth's eyes as she heard the priest's quiet, sure words of absolution knowing that Reg was safe at last. She sat there for a moment longer , the lifeless form in her arms growing heavy and cold. The young priest got to his feet and turned to the silent police men. Just as they were about to unwrap Reg from Ruth's apron, his wife Annie came running in. "Let me see him," she sobbed "Let me say goodbye before you take him away." She knelt beside Ruth and gazed into the tragic face of her husband. Tenderly she bent and whispered something to him so softly that even Ruth didn't hear what it was. She pressed a farewell kiss upon the cold brow and rose to her feet. Her son came to her side, wrapping his arms protectively around her. "Come away Mother, he's beyond our help now." She gave a sob, but Ruth looked up at them and smiled ."He is safe in the arms of his Saviour" she said and the expression on her face was one of angelic triumph. The young priest smiled down at her , his youthful face lit with relief and gratitude. "Thanks to you, " he said quietly and handed back her nurse's badge. Then he turned to the uniformed men and said, "And now bow your heads and pray for those who die without consolation or reconciliation. Let us give thanks that this man here has been redeemed and returned to the fold." They stood for a minute or so ,the only sounds Annie's choked sobs and her son's soft, soothing voice . .Just as Father William raised his hand and pronounced the blessing ,two more uniformed policemen entered carrying a stretcher. Gently, they disentangled the dead man from Ruth's embrace and laid him upon the canvas ,covering him with a dark rug. The Sergeant chivalrously assisted Ruth to regain her feet, a strong, reassuring arm around her waist as she steadied herself to stand. As the bearers moved towards the shattered door a sense of disgust filled the Sergeant, at the sound of the excited murmurs of the gaping onlookers outside. He stepped in front of the stretcher bearers and faced the crowd, holding up a large authorative hand for silence. "A man has died here tonight" he said. "A good man who fought for King and country .And now his body will be taken away and in due course laid to rest. The men under my command will emerge and carry him past you . Show your respect." The stretcher bearers moved forward with the priest at one side and Ruth at the other. From somewhere came a sharp military command and as if from nowhere men appeared to form a guard of honour to the police van waiting at the front of the house. They were all Boer War veterans and Reg Wilson's comrades in arms. The police van left and with it gone the crowd soon dispersed , leaving Ruth, Father William and Annie and her son in the silent house. A quietly efficient neighbour made tea and toast for them and stood unobtrusively nearby . Just as he finished his tea , A voice called "Father William.! Father William ! A message for you from the hospital! " The young lad that had taken Ruth's badge earlier appeared at the door and Father William rose swiftly to his feet. With a smile and a wave he was gone and Ruth suddenly felt enormously tired as she thought of her quiet house and warm bed. Annie hugged her and her son kissed her hand , murmuring their broken thanks . As Ruth walked home in the early morning pre-dawn, she heard soft footfalls behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a tall, helmeted figure across the street a few doors back. He raised a finger to his forehead and kept walking, turning back only when Ruth reached her front door and closed it safely behind her. Author Notes word count 2082. This is a dramatized account of an event in my grandmother's life. One of the policemen was a friend of the family. It was he who told of the night it happened.

© Copyright 2024. Cass Carlton All rights reserved. Cass Carlton has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.