Brendan saw Stephanie sitting on the porch as he pulled his black F250 up behind her Pathfinder. Parking the truck, he got out and looked over the hood as she watched.

She seems unsure of what to expect. Good.

He turned back and opened the door to the passenger compartment. He grabbed a duffel bag that he had stuffed some newly-purchased items into and made for the front steps.

Stephanie wasn’t saying a word and probably wouldn’t either.

He could feel her stare as he took each step. He wouldn’t acknowledge her yet. She had to understand the deep disappointment that he was feeling.

Opening the door, he walked into the house. The screen door closed behind him with a loud smack of metal against wood. He walked up the stairs to their bedroom and placed his duffel on the bed. Opening it, he retrieved his journal and put it back into the bedside drawer. He left it open.

He would now play a waiting game with Stephanie. He sat on the edge of the bed. It was a waste of time, of course, but it was essential in order to draw her out. She would apologize to him and resubmit to him with the whole of her being. And that would suffice. He would let that be the end of it.

Things were being taken care of in town that would assure that there would be no entanglements with outside law enforcement agencies. Uilliam, using the authority that came with being the Pittston police chief, would make sure that the Millsville sergeant kept his distance.

Brendan heard the screen door open and close. Good. He slouched over, hands clasped before him, elbows on his knees. He heard her footsteps take her through the living room and into the kitchen. He heard the refrigerator door close. She retraced her steps back to the landing, where she apparently hesitated, and then she began walking up the stairs.

STEPHANIE STOOD WITH a cold beer bottle in each of her hands. She sighed, hoping that his foul temper had somehow been regulated. She began to walk up the stairs. Halfway up, she flashed back to Tara and stopped.

Who am I, really, to this man?

Were the words that both she and Tara had expressed true? Was she just a trophy? A whore? She wanted to turn around and head back down the stairs so she could think things through. But instead, she took a deep breath, released it slowly, and began climbing the stairs once again.

Turning the corner into the bedroom, she saw Brendan sitting, fingers interlaced before him, looking quite depressed. Stephanie’s heart began to pound with a combination of anticipation and hope.

As casually as she could, fighting to display no emotion, she reached out her right hand. “Would you like a beer?”

He looked up at the bottle, then up to her. He looked sad.

A slight smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he said, “Sure. I’d like that, Aileen.”

Aileen!

She was Aileen again! She tried to acknowledge the use of her name with only a soft smile that said thank you, but once again, the rawness of emotion, triggered from her dinner with Tara, began to surface. Moisture pooled in her eyes.

Brendan reached out for the beer, took it, and placed it on the ground beside his right foot. He extended both of his hands out to her. She placed her cold right hand, wet with condensation, into his left and sank to her knees in front of him. Placing her own beer on the floor, she placed her left hand into his right. The warmth of his hands spoke a welcome to her heart.

A tear streamed down her left cheek.

“Now, now, Aileen. None of that. We are strong, you and I. We don’t cry.”

Stephanie fought back the tears, but a dam burst and she began to sob. She rested her forehead on Brendan’s left knee and began to shake.

BRENDAN LET GO of her hands and placed them on Stephanie’s head. He wanted her to feel his sympathy, his forgiveness; what little there was of either, anyway.

He considered that maybe all of the troubles that had taken place leading up to this moment had been orchestrated by Cailleach. Maybe Stephanie needed to understand her dependence on him. She needed to know at her core that she wasn’t his equal. Important to the cause? Certainly. But never, ever his equal.

“Aileen,” he said again. “My love, I’ve missed you. I needed time, though, to get past my anger. I didn’t want to lash out further. You understand, don’t you?”

She lifted her head, both cheeks wet with tears. “Yes. I do. I’m sorry for the disappointment that I brought into your heart and mind.”

“I know,” he soothed. “You need to know that you are important to me. Aileen, you are crucial to what we are going to accomplish as a culture and as a religion.”

“You’re not just saying that?”

“Dear woman, you have no idea how important you are.”

Brendan’s words couldn’t have been more sincere. Her worth was greater than her weight in gold.

STEPHANIE REVELED UNDER the touch of her lover. All of the doubts about Brendan’s love and her importance, in which she had been awash, were now seeping away. How was it that she had actually struggled for the past two hours rehashing the conversation she’d had with Tara?

She was angry at herself, now, for doubting Brendan’s love and his concern for her. To think, I had almost been taken by the idea of some ultimate God of love! I have love and I have it without needing to consider something so vile.

Once again in her priest’s embrace she had all the assurance that she needed.

She could trust in that love to see her through.

She looked Brendan in the eyes. Surely, I can trust you. Can’t I?

7:16 P.M.

BRENT AND TARA were sitting down with all three of their children in the family room. The evening light was beginning to wane, the final sun beams making their way through all of the west-facing windows.

Jenna, Jamie, and Amy all sat on the couch while Mom and Dad sat on the edge of two folding chairs that they had brought in so they could interact in a circle.

“That is why we’re going to teach you the things that you most need to know. Not just for now, but for all the rest of your lives.” Brent hoped his introduction had helped even Amy to understand what they were going to be learning.

Jamie’s eyes lit up! “Sounds scary and cool!”

Brent looked at Tara who just shook her head and shrugged.

“Daddy?” began Amy, “Is Jesus really bigger than the whole world?”

Brent didn’t know exactly where that question came from, but he answered. “Yes, Sweetie. Bigger than the sun and the moon and the stars, too.”

“But those are all tiny. Is he bigger than Mammoth Cave?”

Tara’s hands covered her mouth for a moment as she began to laugh. “Sweetie, I love you,” she said.

Brent couldn’t help but chuckle. Amy’s ability to say things that made him laugh were one of the joys of being a dad. Though he didn’t need to consider the question, he did reflect on the vacation that had taken them through South-central Kentucky and to Mammoth Cave National Park. Lots of lessons had been taught about God during their hike through the monstrous caverns.

“Much, much bigger than Mammoth Cave,” replied Brent.

A thought struck Brent at that moment. If she hadn’t asked that simple question, he might not be able to describe the scale of the Enemy that they all faced.

“But, guess what? The devil is much, much smaller. He tries to trick us into believing that he’s a huge roaring lion.”

“Like Aslan?”

Tara took this question. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was a movie that seemed to have a continuous presence in their DVD player. “He sure wants to be like Aslan, but he will never be. He is like the White Witch. Remember her? Remember how at the end of the movie she didn’t have the power that she thought she had and wasn’t able to beat Aslan or Aslan’s people?”

Amy gave a vigorous nod and smiled. “Aslan ate her!”

All of them laughed.

Jenna chimed in. “Jesus is Aslan, and Aslan is Jesus.”

Amy’s eyes got wide as she looked from her sister to her mom and dad. They nodded.

“Wow!”

“And just like Aslan comes to the rescue of those who love him, Jesus comes to our rescue in the same way.”

“Nicely said, Jenna,” agreed Brent. “Okay, with that out of the way, all of you need to know that things could get a bit scary around here for a little while. Some people, that don’t like your mom and me, may try to be mean to us. And we want all of you to know that you are going to be safe because of Jesus.”

Tara added, “If you ever feel anything weird going on, we want you to immediately start praying. Use the name of Jesus like a sword.

“Jenna and Jamie, we can’t force you, but we want you to start reading your Bibles. We want you to learn about who Jesus is and who our Enemy is. Begin to pray in the name of Jesus for your own protection and for that of us all.”

Jamie interjected, “What kind of stuff might happen? Are bad guys going to come to our house?”

Amy got a scared look on her face.

“Look,” said their dad, “all we’re doing is preparing just in case. Remember how we taught all of you how to use the fire extinguishers and to stay low to the ground and how to climb down from the second story if there is ever a fire in the house? Well, a fire has never happened, but you still need to know all of that just in case. Make sense?”

All three of the kids nodded.

“Same thing here. You’ve also got your awe-inspiring mom and dad here for you.” Brent gave them a wink. “We can pray about anything. If you’re ever scared, all you have to do is let us know.”

Amy’s hand went up in the air. Brent smiled.

“Yes, Amy-bug?”

“I’m scared now.”

“Then it sounds like the perfect time to pray, doesn’t it?”

Amy nodded.

They prayed.