Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN
SCALING NEW HEIGHTS
copyright 2007 Brian Clopper.

He had not expected them to arrive at the footsteps of a church. Graham took a moment to look around. The gray building was impressively tall, rising at least five stories, seven if one counted the steeple. Making its presence even more striking was the fact that it sat at the top of a large rocky hill, overlooking a tiny English village below.

Graham lay sprawled over his grandfather, whose expression betrayed shock and fear. A light drizzle punctuated the scene.

“Graham, what are you doing here?”

He quickly pulled himself off his grandfather, checking to make sure the contents of his backpack had not spilled out. “I’m here to help you.”

His grandfather rose to his knees. “Let’s get you in from this rain first. We’ll talk about your foolishness inside.”

Graham noticed the incredible effort it took his grandfather to stand up, fine dust and grit from his hardened joints mixed with the patches of rainwater that raced down the old gargoyle’s body.

“No, let me help you.”

His grandfather, too weak to argue, nodded. Graham looped the elderly gargoyle’s rock hard left arm over his shoulder, amazed at how cold and rough his grandfather’s skin had become.

Graham held the door open with his free hand as they struggled to enter the church. He helped his stiff grandfather to the nearest pew. Satisfied he was safely seated, Graham returned to close the church door, locking it behind him.

“Why’d you lock a church door?”

“I didn’t want any humans to stumble across us. Isn’t that right? We don’t want them to see us walking around, do we?” Graham flapped his tiny wings, accidentally spraying the hymnal resting in a neat ledge in front of him.

“Yes, that’s so true. You’ll have to excuse me. As my body hardens, so too do my wits.” His grandfather smiled painfully.

**********

Outside, the rain had picked up as the third person to pass through the gate arrived on Earth. Still holding the parchment, he retreated to the shelter provided by a maintenance shed next to the ornate church. He knew where Graham and his grandfather would be heading, the rooftop. He just had to figure out how to get there first.

**********

His grandfather’s whisper echoed in the stark church. “There should be a stairwell or ladder leading to the steeple somewhere. Check up by the front.”

Graham marched up to the front. His wide eyes played over the décor of the country church. He had studied about Earth churches when he was a Level Three. He had remembered asking the teacher why they needed to know so much about Earth churches. His teacher had avoided answering, simply moving on to the next raised hand.

The young gargoyle stopped to admire the large pipes of the organ. Centered on the wall in front of him perched a gold cross. At the altar below, fresh flowers sat in pots framing the portrait of what Graham imagined to be Mary. His grandfather’s coughing stirred him from his distractions. He didn’t have much time. He knew he couldn’t get his grandfather up to the roof by himself. His grandfather needed to have some mobility left. The more he wasted time, the stiffer the aged gargoyle grew.

Graham made a beeline towards the solid oak door to the left of the organ and elevated choir pews he had spotted earlier. Trying the knob, he found it unlocked. He pulled it open to reveal purple carpeted steps winding upwards. “I found it, Grandfather.”

“Check to see that it leads to the roof.” His grandfather winced. “Hurry.”

Graham raced up the steps, bumping into the curved walls several times in his haste. After ascending over 50 steps, he arrived at a stained glass door depicting the parting of the Red Sea. He peered out the relatively clear glass near the top to see that the door led to the steeple. A discreetly small bell stood against the brisk rain that pelted the open steeple and its contents.

Graham raced back down to his grandfather. The very weak gargoyle had managed to reach the pulpit and was crawling up towards the oak door frame Graham stood in.

“Grandfather, I’m sorry.”

He motioned for his grandson to be quiet. “You have broken many rules coming with me.” His eyes danced wildly. “I’m so glad you came.”

Graham smiled as he dropped his backpack to better help his grandfather up the stairs.

“It’s gonna take us a while to get up all those stairs, Grandfather.”

“That’s fine. It’ll give you time to explain to me how you intend to get back to Cascade.” He grunted as his grandson helped pull his impossibly hard and heavy body up past the first few steps.

**********

The rain-soaked native of Cascade had found a rickety ladder in the maintenance shed. He had propped it up against the church and was beginnijng to make his way upwards. Lightning sprang to life around him as he shoved the parchment containing the return spell inside his vest. With one slippery hand after another, he climbed, his thoughts dwelling on what he would say to the foolish gargoyle when he reached the roof.

**********

“I did have the return spell, but Blord took it from me when I was showing Ot. He was going to tell Father I had stolen it.”

“Which you had.” His grandfather’s breathing had settled into a disturbing rasp.

“Yeah, but it was for a good cause. I wanted to help you.”

Instead, you’ve made things worse for yourself. What kind of life do you think you will have on Earth? You’re many years away from your own hardening. You can’t just climb a church and live happily ever after. You climb a church to say goodbye. You have too much life left in you.”

“I’ll manage,” he said weakly.

“I don’t want you to manage. Life is not about getting by. Life is about living. If you stay on Earth, all you’ll do is run from life.”

Graham noticed that a gritty film was beginning to cover his grandfather’s eyes. “Can you still see?”

“Barely. My time draws close. When the eyes go, you know you’re near the final moments.”

Graham pushed his grandfather even harder. “It’s happening too fast. There’s so much I want to say to you.”

“Grandson, it would be nice to have the time to exchange last thoughts, but we can’t.” His grandfather summoned the strength to propel himself forward unassisted. He landed at the top of the stairs on his crumbling knees. The impact had badly damaged his stone joints. “Words are fleeting glimpses into our true feelings. I will know how you feel about me forever. Nothing you will say can add or subtract the gift you have given me.”

Graham allowed a tear to escape as he opened the steeple door to see someone had beaten them to the roof.

He inhaled sharply. The person rushing towards them, backlit by the probing, hungry lightning, was clearly very upset.