The Soul Garden: Volume 4 - Voyages

—Democritus

CHAPTER ONE

Natural Order

Daniel lifted his head and looked away from the computer when Deputy Nate Carson knocked, then walked into his office.

‘Chief, they’re at it again.’ His deputy told him.

Daniel sighed deeply and pushed himself away from his desk and his computer.

He took his weapon from the drawer. Checked it to make sure everything was ready if it was needed. He knew it wouldn’t be needed but the regulations were pretty clear.

‘When did the call come in?’

‘About ten minutes ago.’ Nate told him. ‘I’ve already told Martha that we would be heading into Tree Valley.’

‘OK, let’s go then.’ Daniel tossed the keys to Nate. ‘Here, you need the practice.’

Nate laughed. It was a private joke between the two of them. Nate was actually a very good driver. He had been in the army and had seen combat. He drove a troop carrier. He was always proud to tell anyone who would listen; he’d never lost a man to a land mine.

Daniel was lucky to have Nate as his deputy. He was a few years younger than Daniel but combat had put an edge on him.

The drive would take about forty-five minutes, giving Daniel plenty of time to think.

And thinking was about all he had been doing lately.

Daniel a.k.a. Chief Cole Mason, knew he shouldn’t be here. He was supposed to be dead. He wasn’t supposed to be living an earthly live here or anywhere else. He was supposed to be with his wife. They were supposed to be together in their garden in Heaven.

He had known that something wasn’t right in the garden. He had felt that something was off but he couldn’t get hold of what it was. That was until his wife vanished right in front of his eyes. Then he knew. He knew that Fate had decided to separate the two of them. His wife had been very vocal in her dislike of Fate and Fate had finally decided to strike back.

And Daniel had no idea where she was. He assumed that like him, she was living an earthly life based on Fate’s whims.

Daniel was a Guide in Heaven. It was his job to welcome and receive new souls into Heaven. His wife, Gardener worked alongside him. Daniel had been gifted with empathy, compassion and understanding. Gardener’s gift from Heaven had been the ability to commune and understand nature. Together they ensured that new visitors, tended any issues or problems that they hadn’t tended in their earthly lives. When that was done the visitors were ready to move on to their version of Heaven. This always required a great deal of soul searching on the part of the visitor. It wasn’t easy for some of them to admit to the hurt that they caused. During the process other visitors might arrive. They were friends and relatives and they too were seeking peace and understanding. Some arrived bearing the scars of a hard-lived life. One small boy in particular had captured their hearts. Charlie had been abused then murdered by his own mother. As painful as it was for the both of them, they did the right thing for little Charlie and helped him move onto his own version of Heaven.

What puzzled him was why Fate had allowed him to retain all his Heavenly memories. Another part of the punishment? It was the worst part of the punishment as far as Daniel was concerned. His agony at being separated from Gardener was compounded by the fact that they were entwined souls. Heaven had decreed it. They couldn’t be separated from each other for any length of time. Fate knew that and wouldn’t dare go against Heaven’s decree but she could toss them around and into each other paths in earthly form. It was up to them to find each other.

His missed the beautiful gardens and surrounding meadows, lake and forests that Gardener had created when she first arrived in Heaven. He missed the lovely, little cottage that they called home. But most of all he missed his wife. He ached for the sound of her voice. He ached for the serenity the nearness of her brought to him. His missed making love to her; the feel of her body against his.

Daniel sighed deeply as the pain grew heavier. He would rather that he didn’t know any of it. Because knowing meant missing all of it.

Nate heard him sigh. ‘Getting fed up with them Chief?’

Daniel roused himself from his reverie. ‘Yeah, I have to say I am. It’s a long way to come to sort the same issue out time after time.’

‘Last time we were there Mr. Walker said they were going to do something about it.’

‘Hal Walker says a lot of things.’ Daniel commented wryly.

Ten minutes later they pulled into the Tree Valley Logging Company’s roadway. There were a bunch of people standing around blocking the entrance.

Daniel got out of the vehicle and walked towards them.

‘Hey, Cole how ya doing?’ A very large, unshaved man moved towards Daniel.

‘Bob.’ Daniel shook the hand that was offered.

‘Aw jeez did Walker call you out here again?’ Bob queried.

‘Yes, he did Bob. Do you want to tell me why he would have called me this time?’

The employees of the Tree Valley Logging Company had been on strike for six months. Their union was in the process of negotiating but things were moving very slowly. Both sides seemed to be unwilling to compromise on much. Striking workers with little else to do sometimes got carried away and did some damage. In the beginning it was small things but as the weeks rolled by with no new contract in place; things were starting to escalate.

The company wasn’t behaving much better. They called Daniel anytime there was any sort of vandalism. Rather than trying to show a little compassion for their striking workers, they were trying to strong arm them back to work. Thanks to Hal Walker.

Walker was a numbers man. Daniel didn’t have much use for numbers men. They cared little to nothing for the people that those numbers could hurt. When you started to care more for things than people, well, as far as Daniel was concerned, you were at risk of losing your soul.

‘Young Jimmy over there was cold so he decided to get a fire going in one of the barrels. He’s young, Cole, not a lot of patience. He tossed some gas in there and lit it. Well, there was a good sized boom.’ Bob was chuckling. ‘Scared the shit outta the kid.’

‘But, Walker shouldn’t a called you for that. Jeez, he’s just getting worse. We took care of it and made sure that Jimmy understood what he did was wrong.’

‘OK, Bob. Please make sure it doesn’t happen again. With any of your guys.’ Daniel told him.

Bob shook Daniel’s hand again. ‘Thanks, Cole. We really appreciate you listening to what we have to say. It means a lot to me and all the guys.’ Some the other strikers were nodding their heads in agreement.

‘My deputy and I need through. I have to go to the office and speak with Mr. Walker. Can you move the barricades for us?’

‘Sure thing, Chief.’ Bob and some of the others ran and moved the barricades out of the way.

Nate drove up and Daniel climbed into the passenger’s seat. ‘Let’s get this over with.’

Hal Walker must have heard the car because he was outside waiting to greet Daniel.

‘Chief.’ He offered his hand in greeting. ‘Sorry to have to bring you out this way again. Why don’t we go into my office?’

Daniel followed Hal into his well appointed office. The guy might be a numbers man but he sure didn’t spare any expense when it came to decorating his office.

‘There was an explosion.’ Walker told Daniel.

‘Yes. I know. Bob filled me in on what happened and they have taken measure to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.’ Daniel told him.

‘And you believe him?’

‘I have no reason to doubt him. Bob has always kept his word to me.’

‘Right now. Right now he’s keeping his word.’

‘Hal, these are hard working men. With mouths to feed and bills to pay. They just want to get back to work and I’m sure you want them working as well. Bob will keep his word. Because right now, that’s about all he has to his name.’ Daniel was terse.

‘Well, I think your trust in these men is misplaced.’

Daniel wasn’t going to get into a pissing contest with Hal.

‘The last time I was here, Hal, you told me that the company was going to make arrangements so that my deputy and I wouldn’t have to drive out here ever time there was a problem. My department is doing this as a courtesy to your company. Are they doing anything?’

‘Yes. I was finally able to get the go ahead to hire a private security firm. The company, Oakwood Private Security is sending someone out to see me within the next few days.’

Daniel exhaled. Great private security. That would just add fuel to the fire.

‘Hal, I can’t tell you how to conduct your business but I will tell you this; I won’t have any laws broken by you or your private security firm. Is that understood?’

‘They come with the highest recommendations. I don’t think it’s them you’ll have to worry about.’

His implications were clear. What an asshole, Daniel thought.

Daniel got back into the car and Nate turned down the music he had been listening to.

‘Done?’ Nate asked.

‘For now. But somehow I don’t think this is going to be our last visit here. Let’s go home, Nate.’

Daniel liked Cole Mason’s choice of abodes. It was a log cabin, set back off the main route. It was surrounded by bush and was barely visible from the road. The cabin was small but well built. It had a good sized kitchen which opened up to the living area. A huge stone fireplace dominated one wall. The bedroom was a loft area. Daniel liked the open feel.

When he had first arrived, he combed through the cabin looking for clues to who Cole Mason was. He wasn’t able to find much. Other than Cole had been a big city cop. He lost his wife in a random shooting a few years back. They had only been married a few months. Cole decided that he needed to escape the city and his grief. He quit his job, took the job as Chief and tried to leave his sorrow behind.

Daniel felt a great deal of empathy for Cole. The fact that Cole was a man in mourning, made being him a little easier. Daniel felt like he was in mourning as well. When Daniel became moody and pensive, everyone in the department just put it down