Chapter 4
Chapter Four
M oving to her uninjured side, he slipped his arm around her waist, helping her away from the area. “I don’t know how to thank you. You know, your name is very appropriate. You’ve been my angel, helping me against god knows what. I’m sorry you got hurt.”
“I know. I’ll be okay. Rest and I’ll be as good as new. I’m not an angel, though. Far from it.”
He chuckled. “You’ve been too kind to be a devil.” He helped her sit on a large fallen log nearby.
She was grateful for his kindness, sitting and examining her wing to see the full extent of the damage.
Not sure what he was looking at, he also tried to peer at her injured wing. “It doesn’t look broken, but I’m not a doctor.”
“I don’t think it is. I can still move it, albeit painfully. Tell me, why are the fairies so angry with you? What did you take from them?”
Sitting on the log beside her, he sighed, not caring that the dampness seeped into his jeans. “I didn’t think they were real, so I took a stone from a fairy ring we visited just before I left Ireland. ”
“We? Are you married?”
“I was. Divorced. My ex found my best friend a better companion than myself. We were high school sweethearts. A couple of years ago, she developed cancer. I stood by her through all of her treatments, only to have her leave me for my best friend, who also was her doctor. I left Minnesota and came to a suburb outside of Chicago. I decided a trip to Ireland was the respite I needed after such a contentious divorce and the mental anguish that resulted from my best friend and my wife being together without me in their lives.
I thought fairies, and leprechauns were just myths, stories to scare children into behaving. I wanted to prove I was right. Instead, I see how incredibly wrong I am-.”
“One never sees the betrayal of another who is trusted until it is too late.”
“You speak from experience.”
“I do.”
“Want to tell me about it.”
“No,” she gave him a soft smile before turning back to her wing.
“Are you a fairy, too?”
She laughed. “Goodness no. Did you see those wings? A strong breeze would rip right through them.”
“What are you then?”
She turned to him, sobering up. “Let’s just say I’m your good luck charm.” She looked at the sky and then frowned as she turned to Byron. “It’s time for me to depart. I cannot stay any longer, but you’ll be safe now.” Angela stood and headed deeper into the woods, disappearing.