The Three Wise Guides Read Free Page A

my partners, Otis
Freeman and Joseph Redfeather.   Gentlemen, this is Mary O’Reilly, our newest recruit.”
    Otis nodded
and smiled at her. “We heard about you,” he said. “And we are honored to have
you in our company.”
    “Your
company?” she asked, sending a quick apologetic glance to Gabe.
    “There
aren’t many people who offer to lay down their life to save another,” Joseph
said. “You’re part of a small club.”
    Shrugging, she
met his eyes. “I just did what I had to do. My brother would have died.”
    “Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” Otis whispered.
    “So, all of
you, you’re part of this club?” she asked.
    Gabe nodded.
“And one day we’ll tell you our stories,” he said. “But for now, we need to get
you ready for your first assignment.”
    “There are
things you need to know,” Joseph added. “Important things.”
    “Okay, I’m
listening.”
    “First
thing, we are all brothers and sisters,” Otis said. “It’s not our job to judge
because we can never have the whole picture.”
    “Only God
gets to judge,” Gabe added.
    “I’m fine
with that,” Mary agreed.
    “Once you
acknowledge a ghost, they are connected to you,” Joseph said. “They can follow
you.”
    Mary rubbed
her arms up and down as a quick shiver ran up her spine. “Okay, that’s just a
little creepy,” she said. “Aren’t there any rules?”
    “You can set
your own rules by announcing what you want out loud,” Gabe said. “A good rule
is no ghosts in the bathroom.”
    Nodding,
Mary said, “Oh, yes, I think that’s a very good rule.”
    “Make sure
you do it when you get home,” Joseph said, “or you might run into a little
company in the shower.”
    “Once you
figure out what is holding a spirit back and you help them resolve the issue,
they might need a little help moving on,” Otis explained. “They’re so used to
being here, they might not know to look for the
light.   Tell them to look around and when
they see a light, they should walk towards it.”
    “Is the
light always a good thing for them?” Mary asked. “Will it be peaceful?”
    “Not always
peaceful,” Joseph said. “But they will understand that it will be a fair result
of the life they’ve lived.”
    “Can anyone
else see the ghosts, besides me?”
    Gabe shook
his head. “Usually not,” he replied. “But occasionally, when there is a special
connection between you and another person, they are able to see ghosts through
you.”
    “Will people
think I’m nuts?” she asked.
    All three
guides laughed. “Yes, they will,” Gabe said. “But it’s far better for others to
think you are crazy, than for you to think it.”

Chapter Five

 
    “I feel like
Ebenezer Scrooge,” Mary mumbled as she got ready for bed. “But in a good way.”
    The guides
had told her that her first assignment would show up in her bedroom later that
night and she should be ready for him.   She dressed for bed in sweats and a big t-shirt, wanting to be prepared
in case she had to leave the house in a hurry.
    She climbed
into bed, pulled the covers up to her chin and waited.  
    The house
was quiet except for the sounds of the furnace blower whirring and the hall
clock ticking rhythmically in the background.   She could hear cars drive down the street in front of the house and, if
she really concentrated, she could hear the sounds of sirens in the distance.
    She looked
up to the ceiling and thought about her day.   The three wise guides had been a wonderful
distraction. They had given her pointers, teased her a little and opened up
about their own stories.   Gabe had been a
high school teacher who had stepped between a confused student with a gun and
an assembly hall of other students.   Otis
had been a firefighter for the Chicago Fire Department who died saving others
in a high rise fire. Joseph had been a cab driver who dived into a flooded
river to save a mother and her children