I spun around and saw an attractive woman standing next to Tempest, holding a bottle of wine. Immediately, I braced myself, thinking that Madeline somehow had tricked me.
'Relax, I'm not Madeline. I'm your guardian angel.'
'I thought Jerky was,' I said, still braced for a confrontation.
'Meow,' the woman said, licking the back of her hand and brushing her hair.
'You really are? Prove it,' I said, still having my guard up.
The woman, carrying the bottle, walked away from Tempest. She elongated one of her fingernails, pierced the bottle top and pulled out a cork. She sniffed the bottle and said, 'Nice bouquet. Do you like a good Zinfandel? I do. This one definitely has hints of oak. I found it a while back and had it hidden in one of the bags.'
I stared at her, still not convinced she was the cat that had been following me for most of last year. She took a sip from the bottle and held it out to me. I remained silent and uncertain.
'All right. Let's see, you need more proof. How's this?' the woman said, suddenly morphing back into the form of Jerky.
'I bet Madeline could do that,' I said sarcastically. The cat morphed back into the form of the woman.
'You are a tough doubting Thomas. Remember him? Let's see…what is something Madeline wouldn't know?' the woman asked, walking around and sipping from the bottle. I have to admit the smell of that wine was tweaking my taste buds.
The woman or Jerky, if she really is, stopped and said, 'You have a birthmark in the shape of a bird on your…'
'Well, that's good enough for me. Hand me that bottle,' I said, walking up to her. I took a small gulp. 'Outstanding! It's been ages since I've tasted a good bottle of wine. Most of the liquor stores or wine shops were the first to get scavenged.'
Jerky sat down on the ground and stared out at Madeline's forces. I sat down next to her and passed the bottle back to her. 'Why is my guardian angel a woman?' I asked, staring at her.
'Would you rather I were a man?' she said, taking another hit from the bottle. 'Yum. I've really been missing the taste of wine.'
'Yeah, I bet a steady diet of mice and rats would dull one's palate,' I said laughing.
'Still…they're good protein and I don't think about it much.'
'It's nice to get to actually talk to you, Jerky. You have been awesome. I can't count the number of times you've saved or warned me.'
'Careful, you'll make me blush,' Jerky said. 'Just doin' my job.'
'Well, you're very good at it. Say, do you think we have a chance?' I asked hesitatingly, pointing the bottle toward the ominous-looking camps below. Jerky took the bottle and paused for a moment. 'Depends,' she said, taking another chug from the bottle. 'Too bad we don't have some cheese. I haven't had any cheese in a very long time.'
Jerky passed the bottle back to me. I squinted and tried to read the label. 'I picked it up somewhere in Stockton. I think it's from the Ravenswood winery. It was way under a shelf in some dingy old liquor store.'
'Depends on what?' I finally asked, interrupting Jerky's explanation of her quest for undiscovered bottles of wine.
'You see all those men and women out there prepared for fighting?'
'Yeah, there are an awful lot of them,' I said with a hint of frustration.
Jerky took my hand and said, 'Well, they are in for a bit of a surprise.'
I explained to her that I was confident my people would do well and I was appreciative of her encouraging comment, but the reality of the matter was that they had us clearly outnumbered three to one.
'No, I mean something different. Those poor unknowing, misdirected individuals will all be changed.'
'Can you be a bit less cryptic?' I said. 'Get to the point.'
'Madeline will turn them all into demons. Demons with more strength and single-mindedness.'
I took a huge swallow of wine and then another mouthful to ponder Jerky's last comment. I passed the bottle over to Jerky. As I swallowed slowly, major doubts and fears flooded my whole body and overtook any warm buzz I had gotten from the wine.
Jerky sensed I was upset. 'Heckel, our force is strong…maybe we don't have the magnitude of warriors, but we are smarter, more agile, and-'
'And what…we'll have our butts handed to us on a platter?'
Jerky punched me in the arm.
'Ouch! What did you do that for?'
'To get you thinking straight. You haven't had that much wine to make you goofy and stupid. Look, you are Heckel. You-'
Stopping her from going on a lengthy monologue, I initiated a barrage of questions. 'Why has God let things get so messed up? Why is this happening? Why me? What happens if we lose? What-?
'Whew, stop,' Jerky said, holding up her hand. 'I don't have another bottle of wine to answer all these questions. However, I can't really explain everything, but I do know that you all screwed up down here.'
'Excuse me,' I said glowering at her.
'Well, not all of you. I mean in general mankind, or I should be more politically correct and say humans… though I will add, women probably did less to mess things up so much. You probably should have let them run things. They can do a better job.'
I told her she was digressing.
'Sorry, anyway what I mean is God, the Supreme Being, the head honcho, the main dude…well, He let you all go to see how far you would let evil take over. Not intentionally, mind you. Remember, from day one He gave everyone free will. Humans have made some really crappy choices that have really mucked things up.'
I was about to object and try to list all the wonderful things that have transpired, but she put up her hand and said, 'You and everyone who has followed you are good people. Oh, and there are others overseas who will follow you once this battle is over.'
'Can I get a word in edgewise?' I asked, peeling the label slowly off the bottle. 'You mean all those people who died over the last couple of years were bad? I mean, come on…Madeline messed with them. She planted some crap in them and at a certain time, she pulled the switch to trigger a wave of destruction. I remember. I saw it.'
'She just planted the suggestion. It was their choice to choose the dark path or not. Unfortunately, most did make a horrible decision. She had no effect on you and many others because you had strength inside you, or a barrier against the evil. You made the choice for good.'
As we continued to discuss the whole situation, I got a lot of back-story so to speak. She answered many of my questions. Then she asked the big one. 'Will we win?'
Jerky stretched and put her arm around my back, 'Heckel, that-'
Before she could finish, a soft voice from behind us said, 'Excuse me.'
Jerky jumped up and spun around. As she turned, she had morphed into a seven-foot silverback grizzly. Her roar was deafening. Several critters in the bushes nearby scattered.
'I'm so sorry. I do apologize for startling you,' the voice from the shadows said.
'Who are you?' I asked standing to one side of Jerky. I looked over at her and was impressed by her defensive seven-foot posturing.
'My name is Mr. Barker. I'm here with a proposition.'
I knew it…another deception from Madeline. 'Okay, Madeline, so now you're trying the old English gentleman approach. I'll give you credit for creativity. I whupped your ass once and the next time I'll finish it. Come on let's do it,' I said with my fists clenched in my best fighter stance.
'Please, Mr. Casey, I assure you, I am not Madeline. I am her…hmm…counsel, I guess you could say.'
Jerky jumped down on all fours and waited.
'Well, you should counsel her into surrendering and ending this nonsense. Tell her to go back to hell,' I stated with determination.
He started pacing in front of us. Every few steps he would look up and smile at us.
'I'm afraid that's not going to happen. I can tell you that you will lose. You are clearly outnumbered and after tomorrow, her force will be bigger, stronger and will not show any mercy.'
