Angels Carry Guns

I would like to thank SouthPacific for his editing work on this story, his offer to edit this story was very much appreciated. Any errors in this story are mine and mine alone.

*****

I had been up since just before dawn and, considering it was still dark, I hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. To be honest, mind you, I wasn't looking. I had heard Tessa moving around, so I had her breakfast ready as her bare feet padded down the stairs.

"Daddy, who does the car belong to?"

Tessa was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she walked into the kitchen. My daughter looked at me like I knew what she was talking about, then rolled her eyes and tilted her head towards the kitchen door as I followed her into the day room. It was now light enough to see to the far end of the clearing, where a dark colored saloon car was parked against the barn. Not much else could be seen, since the barn stood fifty yards from the house and the car sat in the shadows as the sun's rays came up on the other side of the barn.

Leaving Tessa to eat her breakfast, I wandered over to the car. As I closed the gap I couldn't see the driver's seat, so I guessed that someone had pulled it down to sleep. My guess was proven correct when I got close enough to see a woman's head sticking out of a blanket. Her eyes opened before I got close enough to knock on the window, and she got out to meet me as I passed the front of the car.

"I know you!" I exclaimed. "You're Savannah Gordon."

The woman looked more intensely at me, recognition failing her, and I knew why. I held out my hand but all she did was watch me do it.

"You have me at a disadvantage, mister. Who are you?"

I smiled, and I think that pissed her off as well.

"Martin Holdsworth. I recognize you from all the pictures that the Gordons had around the house when I bought the place."

She rested against the car as she absorbed the information I had given her. It was clear to me that she knew nothing of what happened. What saddened me the most was that a complete stranger was about to tell her the truth. As Savannah followed me towards the house, Tessa came out and sat on the porch with her breakfast on her lap, watching us move around the back.

Other than open the gate to the family cemetery I said and did nothing. Savannah knelt in front of the graves of her folks. She mumbled something, more to herself and her folks than to me, but she did notice the flowers on both graves.

"My daughter Tessa: every Monday, Wednesday and Friday she comes home from school with flowers for both graves, and has done since we've lived here."

I'm not too sure how much she heard. I suppose if I was where she was now my mind wouldn't have heard all that much either. Savannah lifted herself from her kneeling position and stood in front of me, the sadness clear to see. I recognized it from burying Connie just over two years before.

"How did they die, and why did you come to own the farm?"

Once again I did the thing that seemed to piss her off and smiled. Holding the gate open for her to exit the cemetery, we walked towards the house as I explained that the boiler in the basement was old and simply had had too many repairs done to it instead of being replaced. Both her folks simply went to bed one night and never woke up. Since there was no will, their bank took possession of the farm to cover outstanding debts and I bought it days after it came on the market.

"I was brought up in a small town myself, Savannah, and I respected everyone's wishes. I put a shipping container in the barn and moved all your folks' personal possessions into it. There is only one key and I will give you that as soon as we get into the house."

Even I could see she was on a slow boil, so I continued before she had a chance to say anything.

"No one knew where you were. Your folks told everyone you worked for the Government, but that's all they told anyone. I wasn't about to go through their possessions, so I stored everything. The rest of the money for the farm is in the bank in town under your name."

Tessa watched as we got closer to the house. The day was a lot brighter now, and it was plain to see my daughter sitting with her mouth hanging open, watching us as we stepped onto the porch.

"You're the lady in the photos."

Savannah stopped and knelt next to my daughter. Her hand slowly came out and held onto Tessa's.

"The flowers are lovely. Thank you for looking after my folks like that."

I went indoors and they both followed. Tessa washed up her bowl and headed upstairs to get changed. Savannah sat at the kitchen table, and her eyes scanned the room before they settled on me as I placed a key in the middle of the table.

"The Sheriff tried to find you, Savannah. Old Hank phoned a friend of his at the FBI. He checked a couple of other agencies but came up with nothing; you seemed to have literally disappeared from the face of the earth. Marsha Turnbull took over the funeral arrangements, and almost the whole town turned up."

Although her head nodded, I'm not sure how much she actually heard. When I stopped speaking she just leaned across, picked up the key, and walked out. I watched her walk to her car and, seconds later, pull away. The school bus came by half an hour later and our day resumed its normal routine.

It was the weekend before we saw Savannah again. Tessa called me from out front as her car pulled up by the barn. She got out and walked over to us.

"You asked Jacob and Terri Browner to value the farm at full market value, not a foreclosure. You opened the account at the bank that has my name on it with the Mayor and Sheriff present, and deposited all the money that was left after deducting what the bank and Government were owed in debts and taxes."

She hadn't ask me a question, but simply told me something I already knew, so I just nodded my head. Her eyes narrowed and she looked more closely at me. A little air seemed to leave her before she looked once again at the key in her hand. Savannah asked to see the container, so my daughter walked off the porch and placed her hand into Savannah's before both walked in front of me towards the barn.

It was plain to see that my own daughter wanted Savannah to know she understood death. With the loss of her own mother she wanted to extend that bond to one other, the woman walking with her.

*******

The size of the container gave her a hint, but when she opened it she still took a step back and slowly shook her head.

"Jeez... This is going to take me days."

For a ten-year-old, Tessa was ever the pragmatist. She tugged on Savannah's sleeve until she pulled her eyes away from the contents of the container.

"Then stay. I have a big bed; we can share."

I quickly tried to deflect Savannah having to give an answer. "Honey, I think..."

Savannah knelt in front of my daughter. Tessa wasn't about to give in so quickly.

"I watched Daddy spend a week getting all your stuff in that box. You need somewhere to stay, and I'm strong so I can help you."

Her shoulders lowered slightly and our guest nodded her head a second later.

"OK, but you need to bring tissues so we can both have a cry when we do this."

Tessa bounced up and down, clapping her hands at the same time. It was an odd sort of bond they had between them, and since the death of her mother Tessa hadn't really been close to any woman other then my sister. Yet now a person we only knew from the folks in town, and from pictures that had hung on almost every wall in the house, had pulled more out of my daughter than anything I had managed to do in two years.

When they looked at me all I could do was nod my head. I wasn't about to get in the way. Hell, I had tried a moment ago and was overridden, so perhaps this could be a healing process for both of them.

"I'm going back to the house to make you two some cold drinks. I will also swing by every fifteen minutes or so to see if you need me to lift anything heavy out of the container."

Both nodded, although it seemed to be an automatic reflex since their attention was already on the first box in the container. By the time the first drinks came out a few feet of the inside of the barn already had furniture on it. Savannah thanked me for the drinks and pointed to the first box they pulled out of the container for me to place them on. I stood and watched for a while waiting to see if I was needed. I'm sure my daughter remembered I was there; at least, I hoped she did.

A couple of hours later Marsha Turnbull pulled up outside the barn, waved at me sitting on the porch, and came to join me. This was the happiest I had seen Marsha in all the time we had been here.

"She came to my house in tears. Savannah even told me what you had said to her, and cried in my arms the rest of the morning. I've known that girl over twenty seven years, Martin, and didn't think anything could faze her. She was coming home to stay, Martin - she put her notice in with that job of hers in the Government and was coming home."

Both of us knew how that ended. It just didn't feel right that a perfect stranger should tell someone that her folks were dead. I could understand why Marsha was the first person she went to see afterwards. Marsha leaned over and gripped my hand really tightly, causing me to look at her.

"This is a small town, Martin, and we all know why you're here. What Tessa does with those flowers she buys on the way home softened the blow of her folk's death. We all understand loss in some way, shape or form, Martin - perhaps that yours and Tessa's is still fresh to you both helped her in some way."

I squeezed Marsha's hand a little to let her know that I understood, and pointed to the barn, telling her that Savannah and Tessa were sorting through her folks' stuff in the container.

"Savannah phoned me an hour ago and told me, and even that she had a helper. For a moment I thought it was you until I heard Tessa's voice in the background. Thank you, Martin, if for nothing other than being you. It seems that you were in the right place at just the right time for her."

Marsha leaned over and kissed my cheek before getting up and walking to the barn. Half an hour later a truck pulled up, and two men took a double bed and a wardrobe away. It seemed to be a conveyor belt of cars and trucks after that - men and women would go inside and bring something out, and maybe tie it down before leaving again. I replaced the jug of lemonade and ice twice more: both times I asked if they needed me, but no-one said they did so I left again.

As it started to get dark Marsha came out of the barn, followed by the girls. They locked the barn, and both hugged her before she got in her car and drove off. I sent them both upstairs to shower while I got dinner out of the oven. As I was about to call up the stairs for them both, they came down. Tessa was in her usual PJ's and Savannah in an over-sized tee shirt, shorts and legs - damn long legs!

"Daddy, what are you staring at?"

"Nothing, honey, just spooked at how quick a shower you had! I usually have to take a crowbar to you to get you out of the shower, you take that long."

My daughter went beet red. "I do not."

Savannah noticed and smiled. She didn't say anything, just smiled.

We had started dinner when Savannah spoke. "I went looking for my case and found it in the guest-room. Did you forget my girlfriend and I are sharing?"

Both girls stared at me, waiting for an answer. My first thought was that the only thing missing was the light aimed at my eyes. The idea of who would play good cop and who would play bad cop did occur to me, and I just caught the smile before it fought its way out of me.

This time I held up my hands. "OK, if you want to share then fine by me. I wasn't going to bring up the fact my daughter snores like a camel."

The redness went quickly up her neck, drowned her ears and turned her cheeks the same color as her fingers clenched her knife and fork.

"I do NOT!"

We both laughed at her discomfort, Savannah placing her hand on my daughter's arm.

"So it's not just me, then! I'm glad I'm not the only one."

The attack dog mode my daughter was going for quickly deflated as Savannah smiled back at her. She gently nodded once, and the fire in Tessa's eyes quickly diminished. The look I got from her, however, let me know I should stick to the more playful teasing that my daughter was used to.

Tessa started to wilt soon after dinner, a full day of pulling furniture and memories out of the container having taken its toll on her. I picked her up and took her to bed, Savannah making us both drinks for when I returned. It was clear to me she wanted one of those "clear the air" talks.

"You're worried about me spending so much time with your daughter?"

My first thought was to be philosophical about it, but the look she gave me as she waited for my answer told me something else.

"This is as alive as I have seen my daughter since her mom died. Even when I quit my job and moved here to devote more time to her she never really shared her feelings with me about it. She would talk to my sister of course, but that put Sandy in a position she didn't want to be in. Tessa sensed this and clammed up, and no amount of trying on mine or my sister's behalf opened her up again."

"Where is Sandy now?"

I shrugged my shoulders and told her that my sister was career army, so there were times she simply dropped off the grid for weeks, if not months, but she always came back here to recuperate.

"All I have is a phone number and when she goes away she gives me an email address. Other than that I wait and worry like an older brother should."

I caught the intensity of Savannah's look. Sandy gave me that same one at times, like she was evaluating how much she could share with me about her life in the army. The look seemed to pass a moment later, and she seemed to use the time she took to pick up her drink and take a sip as an excuse. Something was playing on her mind, and she seemed to have a great deal of trouble with trying to figure out just how to put her own thoughts into words.

"Even at the speed I'm going, it's still looking like a week for me to clear the container."

I shrugged my shoulders before answering.

"So what? That's your life in there; it's also memories of your folks. There is no time limit on those memories, so take your time and keep what you want. It's obvious from my seat on the porch that you have a list of people waiting to make use of the stuff you no longer need."

She smiled and nodded her head. The yawn didn't escape my attention either.

"Get to bed - and remember the ear plugs!"

Other than a smile and a gentle punch on my arm as she passed, I got nothing more from her than a "goodnight" as she went out the door. I cleaned up and spent an hour in my home office paying bills before I headed upstairs. Habit made me check out Tessa on the way to my room. She was curled into Savannah, her head resting on her chest and giving out those gentle little noises she makes when she's sleeping soundly.

Savannah's eyes were open the instant I moved the door, and she watched me for the length of time I had it open. Her arm came around Tessa, who then gave off a low moan as she moved slightly and once again made herself comfortable. She saw me smile as I watched my daughter, then I mouthed a "goodnight" and, as quietly as I could, closed the door and headed for bed.

*******

The smell of coffee drifted up from the kitchen as I came downstairs. Savannah was sitting at the table, a fresh coffee placed where I sat last night.

"I heard you moving about," she said, "so I figured it wouldn't take you long to come down. You're an early riser."

"Habit I suppose; more so now we live here."

"You meant what you said last night about taking my time?"

This time I nodded. I had no use for the barn at the moment, which is why I moved the container in there in the first place.

"Same rules apply - if you need anything heavy moving, call me. The drinks will be coming out to you both on the hour."

My daughter walked through the door just then, scratching her head and yawning. I did get a thank you from both for different reasons, Tessa for her breakfast and Savannah for giving her time with her memories - not to mention an incessantly talking ten year old!

That day was a repeat of the one before. Marsha Turnbull came by about mid-day, waved at me sitting on the porch as she got out of her car, and walked into the coolness of the barn. The procession of trucks and cars started around two o'clock and finished about five when all three came out of the barn, and I went back inside to start dinner.

Marsha came in first, the other two still talking about clothes and school. She kept me company as the conversation drifted upstairs, and couldn't keep a grin off her face.

"We opened Ben's writing desk today. As we lifted it out of the container the drawer opened and a bottle of ink rolled out. Tessa went to catch it and Savannah thought she could too, as well as hold her end of the desk up at the same time. You may have to burn their clothes, because there is no way that stain is coming out of what they're wearing."

We laughed, and the talking upstairs stopped for a second as the girls figured out what we were laughing at. I asked Marsha if she was staying for dinner, but she declined on account of the cats she had to get home to. I held the door open for her and we both heard the shower running. This time we both managed to suppress the laugh and kept it to a grin.

The girls came down as I was placing their dinner on the table. A black stain still showed on my daughter's arm, although a lot lighter than it was when she went up the stairs. That ink was sure going to take its time coming off, that was for sure. Once dinner was over, the girls shared the couch to watch a little TV while I was in my home office doing some work.

Little arms came around my neck and a cheek touched mine.

"Goodnight, daddy; I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

Holding her in my arms and giving her one of those goodnight hugs reminded me that this was all worth it. By the time I had closed the computer down and come out of my home office Tessa was at the top of the stairs, where she gave a little wave and disappeared into her room. Savannah was still slouched on the couch, those tee-shirts and shorts seeming to be the only thing she had as nightwear.

The TV was off by time I sat across from Savannah. She watched me for a moment before sitting up and, even though I knew it was just my imagination, those legs looked even longer.

"Leg man, huh?"

I refused to rise to the bait.

"How is the work in the barn going?"

"About a third of the way left to go, and I suspect the hardest part. Marsha plans to bring the women from the knitting club by the day after tomorrow, and they are going to take all mom and dad's clothes to Goodwill for me. That's going to leave me with all the boxes of paperwork and photos, family albums and so on left to get through."

She decided to once again test her theory, and moved her legs - just to get comfortable, of course! My eyes followed the movement and, when my attention was once again on her face, I was met with a smile.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Still getting over the blush of being caught out, all I did was nod my head.

"Are you OK with independently-minded women, or are you a man who needs to be in control over everything?"

Still unsure where this conversation was going, I sat and waited, more confused by her question than anything.

"The reason I ask is, I'm about to get naked and I know you haven't had sex for nearly the same length of time as me. So do you want me to blow you for the first one, or are you going to suck it out of me when we sixty-nine each other?"