Phantom Origins Book 0
George H. McVey
Phantom Origins
Copyright © 2017 by Robin Deeter, Lynn Donovan and George McVey
Cover Copyright © 2017 Fury Designs with stock photos purchased at Bigstock.com
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote brief excerpts in a review.
This book is a work of fiction. The author created names, characters, places, and incidents either from his imagination or using them fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental or used fictitiously.
This book was written by a human author, not an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) This book cannot be used to train an A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) how to write a book.
Phantom Origins is a Prequel story of the Multi-Author Series Phantom Horse Bridge, a series of Romance Novels written by three different authors. Robin Deeter, Lynn Donovan and George McVey. Each author has several love stories to tell in this series. Below, you will find all the titles of The Phantom Horse Bridge Series and links to purchase them.
1. Phantom Politics by George H. McVey
2. Phantom Mystery by Lynn Donovan
3. Phantom Heat by Robin Deeter
4. Phantom Lessons by Lynn Donovan
5. Phantom Rescue by Lynn Donovan
6. Phantom Child by George McVey
Bookapy User License
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to Bookapy.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Chapter One
Harold Gladstone rode around the large open space that was part of his range on the edge of the little community he’d founded. Lately, people had been calling their town Gladstone after him. He’d started it by asking his brother to open a general store, and his cousin a hotel and livery. Soon people started putting down roots along their brief stop, and the town had been born. That winter, several of the men had asked him to be the official mayor of Gladstone, and he’d agreed.
Now, on this first Saturday, when there was no more snow or rain, they’d all gathered to have a hoedown and potluck. He watched as the families of the community interacted with each other. The laughing squeal of a young girl caught his attention, turning him and Thor toward the sound. He saw young Minuette Vaughner running along the bank of the river, trying to escape little Liam Campbell.
As he watched, the bank under her feet gave out, dropping her into the swollen river below. Without a thought for himself or his prized stallion, he raced to the end of the covered bridge, turned sharply back toward the river, and both horse and rider plunged in. As always when working, it was like one thought connected horse and rider. The mighty horse churned against the current, striving to bring Harold close enough to the floundering girl, so that he could reach down and rescue her from the crushing depths of the floodwaters.
Harold felt Thor weakening with every moment they were in the whitewater. The chill of the snowmelt swollen river was leaching into his legs and tiring him as well. The spray, like tiny fingers of icy death, nipped at his face and soaked into his body. Yet, like his steed, he kept fighting, leaning as far forward and down as he could until his massive hand gripped the child’s clothes. He balled it up in his fist and heaved her out of the water. Her hands and face were already turning blue with the loss of heat.
He pulled her close to his body, sharing his warmth with her as he urged Thor to turn toward the bank. The horse struggled and the force of the current was winning, carrying them under the bridge and toward the turn in the river. Thor quit fighting the current and slowly kicked toward the bank, allowing the current to carry him downriver but closer in to the side. The bank here was too steep for Thor to get out and he was tiring rapidly. He started to sink lower in the water. Harold wasn’t sure he or the steed were going to survive much longer. Once Thor went under, the temperature of the water would paralyze his muscles very quickly. He felt the cold even now, sapping the strength from his body.
As they got close to the shore, he saw Minuette and Liam’s fathers racing along the river bank, calling out to him. With his remaining strength, he reached low, grabbed the girl's bloomers through her skirt, and heaved her up onto the bank. Both fathers reached out and quickly snagged her before she could slip back into the river.
It was like Thor knew they’d accomplished their mission, and Harold felt his muscles quit moving as the water closed over his head. Before Harold realized what that meant to him, his head sank below the water's surface, and he was lost to the floodwaters of the mighty river.
Chapter Two
Harold looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Thankfully, Thor was with him. The sky was a strange color, more green than blue. Everything seemed more alive than where he’d just come from. Wait! He’d been in Gladstone, Colorado, and someone had needed his help.
It all came rushing back to him; Minuette, the river, going under. Then he was here. So where was here? Was he dead? If so, was this Heaven? Because it sure didn’t look like what the preachers told them Heaven was like. Where were the pearly gates, the streets of gold, the mansions for everyone? How come there weren’t any angels flying around singing praises? All he could see was this field, and in the distance, a river and a bridge that looked a lot like the one back on his property.
He patted Thor on the neck. “Well, partner, reckon we should go check out that bridge. What do you think?”
The big horse tossed his head up and down, pawing at the ground with one hoof, like he was eager to get going. With a tap of his heels, the two of them started moving toward the bridge. The closer they got, the more familiar the bridge looked. It was almost a carbon copy of the one back home. Only, instead of woods on the other side, there was just a mist.
As Harold drew closer, he saw a man clothed in white standing in the middle of the trail, right in front of the bridge. His face was careworn and wrinkled, and yet there seemed to be a measure of joy and purpose upon his countenance. He held up his hand, either to signal Harold to stop, or in greeting. Thor slowed and walked to a standstill in front of the man.
“I bring you greetings, Harold Gladstone. Greetings and a choice.”
Harold swung out of the saddle and walked Thor closer to the man. “Who are you, and how do you know my name?”
“My name is unimportant. I know who you are, because I was sent here to make you an offer.”
“An offer from who?”
The man smiled. “Where are you, Harold? Who do you think would make you an offer in this place?”
Harold looked around. “I’m not exactly sure where I am. I suspect I’m dead, and if so, then according to the Good Book, this must be Heaven; though I must say, it isn’t much like I imagined it would be.”
The man shook his head. “This is not Heaven; you are, however, dead. This place is special. It is a place of purpose in-between your world and the next. You are here because the Creator has an offer to make to you, and your noble partner there.” The man indicated Thor.
“What sort of offer would the Creator have to make me?”
“A choice. You can mount Thor there, and ride across this bridge, and you will be in Glory, where you will experience everything you imagined that place to be. Or…you may take another path, one of purpose, with a special group of people. Guardians and Guides, you might call them.”
“Guardians and Guides for whom?”
“Look through the bridge, Harold.”
Harold looked through the bridge, and the mists on the other side swirled into a tunnel; and on the other side, he saw a lovely young woman standing in a simple wedding gown, next to an equally handsome young man. They both looked somewhat familiar. Then his breath was sucked out of his lungs at the older woman standing beside them. It was his wife; an older version of her, but she was unmistakable.
The man in white came to stand beside him. “The young woman is the little girl you gave up your life to save. The young man is the boy who chased her.”
“Is that my wife? Why are you showing me all this?”
The man placed his hand on Harold’s arm. “That is your wife. You wish to know why I am showing you this?”
The man waved at the mist, and it swirled and showed various scenes. Some made sense to Harold, others didn’t. “What you are seeing are the places on earth that have a Guardian. Your community doesn’t yet. Your sacrifice caught the attention of the Creator, and He wants to offer you the job.
“You would watch over the people of that community, and when needed, would step through the veil, and assist and protect them from the tricks of the evil one. Also, on occasion, the evil one will try to stop a love story that the Creator has set in motion. In those cases, you would be allowed to guide those below to the path best taken. You can’t force them along the path, but you can counsel and guide them.”
“Will I be able to see my wife?”
“You can watch, but unless her life is at risk, the Creator will not allow you to interact with her. She needs to focus on living, not on what she lost when you sacrificed yourself for another.”
Harold thought about that and realized that the man was right. If he showed himself to her, she wouldn’t move on, and he wished more than anything for her to be happy.
Did he want this opportunity? He loved his community and the people there that he knew. The land was rough and they would need a Guardian; but did he want to be the one?
“How long would I be a Guardian, and what would I be expected to do?”
The man smiled again and pointed to a table with food and two chairs that had appeared beside the trail. “Those are good questions. Let us sit and break bread together, and I will attempt to answer all your questions.”
They sat and ate. The food tasted better than anything Harold had ever eaten. He’d thought he’d tasted before, but now the flavors seemed to be alive on his tongue. There was no describing the freshness everything seemed to have. Just like the colors were brighter. He had never seen a green this green, and the yellow of the corn must be what yellow was supposed to look like. The man smiled as he watched Harold enjoy the food. “We don’t really need to eat, but it is enjoyable just the same. To answer your first question, Guardians serve the Creator and the community until time on earth ends. I have watched over my people since I left them, thousands of years before your country was even known. I will keep watching them until time ends; you would do the same. You would watch them until there is no more community, or till the end of time.”
“Will I be alone that long?”
The man shook his head. “No, of course not. There is a large and growing group of Guardians. Once you accept, you may interact with them when you are not needed. What you will find, though, is most of us spend our time watching our communities.”
“Just what is it I am meant to do as a Guardian?”
“Let me show you. I think that would be simpler, don’t you?”
The man waved at the bridge again, and Harold saw a young boy sitting in the woods, crying and shivering. “This is one of the people from your community a few years from when you left. Time has no meaning here, so you may be drawn to a situation years from when you left, to just days. Never from before you left. Without someone to step in, that young man will die tonight. In doing so, a few years from now, hundreds more will die in a country far from your community. These people are not supposed to die, but because he wasn’t there to save them, they all perish.