Harry's Angel by David Holmes

Author:David Holmes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Paranormal Mystery, Shapeshifters, Witches & Wizards, hard-boiled mystery, mystery and suspense
Publisher: David Holmes
Published: 2018-11-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

THE TAXI DROPPED HIM off on Bukit Nanas, close to St. John’s Institution, while the monsoon winds whipped through the city, lifting up clouds of red dust from construction sites around the capital, sending the abrasive particles raging down urban valleys and into the hilly forest reserve, one of the few havens from buildings and roads left in Kuala Lumpur. Outside the cathedral Harry looked beyond the square twin bell towers flanking the church to the KL Tower, a tall, needle-like communications structure resembling the one in Toronto.

The sky was pinkish-gray and dark clouds were rolling in from the southwest, promising a late afternoon downpour. The air, despite the breeze, still felt oppressive. Harry carried his sport coat over his shoulder. He had no briefcase or laptop or tablet, hadn’t even bought that all-important cell phone since arriving. He was a man living in the past, he told himself. Out of step then, and hopelessly out of step now. He reached for his Dunhill’s, paused with a hand on the pack, but left them in his pocket.

He swung open the door to St. John’s Cathedral and entered the sanctuary. At the font, he dipped shaking fingers into the Holy Water and made the sign of the cross.

The interior was dimly lit, the natural light augmented by a soft glow off a bank of votive candles. No service was planned for this Friday evening and, scanning the nave, he saw that he was alone. “Bless me Father, for I have sinned,” he muttered, and trudged down the nave. He took a seat mid-way up the left aisle and stared at the white altar and the French-made stained glass windows. Then his eyes misted over and he could not discern the Gospel lessons emblazoned on the colored glass. He wiped at his eyes with a shirt sleeve.

Idly, he picked up a Jerusalem Bible, the Roman Catholic Church’s version of the Holy Scriptures which contained books that Protestant denominations relegated to an Apocrypha, and skimmed over the pages. Between the Old Testament books of Nehemiah and Esther, the fingers of his right hand wavered over the Book of Judith, then flipped back to Tobit. For years he had been drawn to the story, he didn’t know why. As he read silently, he found himself living within a story that took place centuries before Christ in a great city, Nineveh, in the land of the Assyrians.

Tobit was a Jew in exile, as were most of the Israelites in those days. He was a man of God who helped his people with food and clothing, and even buried the bodies of those killed by the Assyrian king. With his wife, Anna, he was blessed with a son whom he named Tobias. Tobit related how, eventually, he lost his sight. Completely blind, unable to work, Tobit’s family fell on hard times. His wife spun wool and weaved cloth which she delivered to customers near and far.

As Tobit lamented the change in his fortune, the story

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