Unlikely Angel

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Susan woke first. She sat up slowly and looked at her protector as he slept. She wasn’t quite sure she understood the instinct that told her he would defend her and not hurt her. But somehow she just knew even though it made no sense at all.

Only the day before she had been at her home and had sat and watched him sleeping for a while. He was so beautiful when he slept, and when he ate and when he spoke and maybe most of all when he smiled. For whatever anyone thought of her, Susan was not a stupid girl. She knew that she was far too young for this man who had come to rescue her. Once her mother had read a story of knights and Susan believed that Johnny would have made a fine knight. She climbed from the bed and took up her pad of paper and sat in the chair in the corner to get a better perspective on her subject. She drew for a bit and then determined that she needed to get closer to get his features correct.

As she drew, she became transfixed on the small cut on his lip. She knew she had been the cause of it and felt terrible that she had done anything to mar that perfect face. Susan couldn’t help herself and extended her hand to touch the small wound. He was surely a very good man to still want to help her after she did that. Her touch woke Johnny and he looked up to see Susan staring down at him and then looking back to her pad and making some marks. She noticed his open eyes and patted his head to try to get him to hold still so she could work at getting those eyes right. For all of the words she could not speak aloud, those eyes spoke all of them and many, many more. It fascinated her that there was so much to be expressed in someone’s eyes. If she was honest, she’d rarely looked much at anyone’s eyes. It made her uncomfortable to make eye contact. It was different with Johnny.

For his part, Johnny laid back down and tried to be still in order to allow the girl to finish her drawing. In truth he felt right uncomfortable and hoped the others never saw him posing for a portrait in this fashion but he was coming quickly to the conclusion that there was nothing in the world he’d not do for this child. It was a peculiar thing. He guessed he’d liked his sisters well enough and he didn’t have anything against children really. He’d gotten on well enough with Carl. But Johnny really hadn’t given children much thought. They were alright but he just hadn’t spent much time around them. He knew he’d defend Carl to his last breath but wasn’t sure that had anything to do with the boy. It was probably more his devotion to Alice. He’d only known Susan a very short while and already he knew he’d lay down his life for hers.

At last Susan finished and turned the paper to face him. The caption read “Sir Johnny” and the picture depicted him on his horse, in armor but with his own hat. She had illustrated his guns holstered to the armor and showed him raising an ornate sword.

“A knight, huh?”

“Knight in shining armor.”

A smile spread across Johnny’s face as he got himself up from the bed.

“I don’t think I know the first thing about knights or being one but if you say so, I’ll take your word for it. If I’m a knight, what does that make you?”

“Da-damsel in d-distress.”

“I guess that’s true enough. Well, my damsel,” he said as he headed out the door pausing only to kiss the top of her head, “I’ll see you for breakfast once you get yourself dressed.”

With that he was out the door.

Minutes later, Johnny sat down for breakfast to questioning looks from his friends.

“What? You all just going to sit there staring at me?”

“We were just wondering where the rest of you was,” said Pat laughing.