with a name that wasn’t embarrassing.”
“Of course, Momma didn’t want to settle on something easy like John or Mark,” Neil continued. “She said those were too boring.”
“Calling him Jude was a compromise,” Mrs. Pomeroy said as she nibbled her own cookie. “Short, but different enough to be interesting.”
“So we call him Judicious, just to be contrary,” Tad concluded.
Koji smiled at the littlest brother, who was obviously proud of both his name and the story behind it.
Once the conversation moved on, the young Observer nudged Prissie with his elbow and shyly confided, “Koji is my nickname, too.”
“Really? What’s your full name?”
“I cannot tell,” he admitted. “It is a name only known to me and the One who gave it.”
“Only God knows your real name?” she asked, mystified.
The angel searched her face, then nodded once. “It will be the same for you one day.”
Prissie’s brows rose. “Don’t be ridiculous. Everyone already knows my name.”
With a hint of a smile, Koji replied, “You will be given a new one. It is promised.”
“Oh,” she replied blankly. After some thought, she had to admit she was looking forward to finding out what her new name might be.
Later that evening, Prissie stood beside Grandma Nell at the stove, carefully stirring applesauce so it wouldn’t scorch. During harvest time, this was pretty much a daily chore, and the two of them had the routine down pat. The only difference this year was the addition of a new helper. While Grandma Nell ladled hot cinnamon-spiked sauce into gleaming jars, Koji added the lids. When they were done, Prissie’s grandmother tallied up the quarts. “Two more batches should do it, so report for duty again tomorrow night.”
“Isn’t this more than last year?” Prissie ventured as she lugged the big pot over to the sink to wash up.
“We have an extra mouth to feed this year,” Grandma Nell countered, smiling Koji’s way.
Once the kitchen was restored to order, Prissie’s mind turned to homework and the reading she needed to do for the week, but Koji tapped her shoulder. “I am going outside to talk with the others for a while,” he said quietly.
Prissie’s heart sped up. “May I come along?”
The boy’s face brightened. “I would like that.”
Since the evenings were growing chilly, she slipped a sweater over her light dress and followed Koji onto the back porch. Stars were already out, and for several moments, the young angel stared up at them. “They will come to us,” Koji announced.
Prissie often wondered how he knew where his teammates were, what they were doing, and sometimes even what kind of mood they were in. She guessed it was probably the same as her and Grandma making applesauce. He’d learned their routine and knew what to do. Either that, or he’d received a message. It was strange to think that Koji could hear God, and even stranger to think that God would pass along a time and place for a meeting.
Tansy offered a soft meow from the seat she’d claimed on the porch swing, and Prissie soon had a lapful of purring barn cat. Koji sat on the steps, his dark eyes fixed on a point in the distance. “What do you see?” she whispered, hoping she would get to visit with Omri again.
“Jedrick is coming!”
“Is that good or bad?” she asked nervously. Koji didn’t have time to answer before there was a silent explosion of green light just beyond the garden. Though she’d only seen the phenomenon a few times before, Prissie vividly remembered the beautiful shifting patterns of light and color that made up an angel’s wings.
“He is here,” Koji announced unnecessarily.
A towering, armor-clad figure strode up the walk, and as he drew nearer, a second angel slipped out of the shadows just beyond the hydrangeas lining the porch. Prissie tried not to stare and failed miserably. Angelic warriors were huge, fantastical, and actually kind of scary, so it was hard to look away, especially once she realized that even without the porch light on, she could see them quite well. It was as if they brought their own light with them into the darkness. Could this be an angel’s halo?
Rich green fell from Jedrick’s shoulders, flowing almost like a cloak or cape as he strode forward on booted feet. “Are you well, Priscilla Pomeroy?” inquired the stern-faced warrior. Jedrick was a Protector, and he was the captain of the team of angels that Milo, Koji, and the rest belonged to. His light brown hair was cropped close around his head