The Land of Plenty - Chapter 1 - Welcome to the McFee Hierarchy

 

By Toni Walker * tonispywriter@gmail.com

Welcome. Hello there. My name is ToeKnee McFee. And I’ll be your Em-Cee in the Land of Plenty. Okay. I’m not really the MC. Sorry Em-Cee. Trying to get used to this whole rhyming history. Mark ATT will help me mark time as I go about writing this little rhyme. But don’t count on me getting it right all the time. MarkATT lives in Ireland, you see and I live right here in the Land of Plenty. Okay, sue me. It’s not Plenty, not yet, but I am intention setting all over the place to make this town fit.

So the real Em-Cee, that’s Jake at the X-Roads but I’m filling in for him. Right now he is taking the place of his friend, the M-In. Okay, that is Mailman to you and me. He is the guy who delivers out the nudges and little things for the McFee hierarchy. JT is his name but his role is wide, you see. He is a triple deity: the Mailman, Justin Case and Justin Time, he’ll always be there when you need a delivery. Right now Jake is being both Justins you see while JT takes the place of my tier mate, Ron-E.

Let me explain a bit about my friend, JT. He runs the Owlrey from Mount Train, you see. Be aware you will see a lot so you might Cee the words “you see” more than you’d normally see. Do you see what I did there with that Capital C. I’ll explain about it later, She’s the Cee God, Creativity. So along with JT, there is Bill Letters there. He helps out when JT is left unaware. JT gets around, he’s a busy guy. He gives out the little things. He’s a real super spy guy. “Hey, check this out, Just-In Case,” he will say. And if you get stuck, Just-In Time will obey. He will be there just in the nick of time, that McFee. He is part of the Saint Clause, that blessing time where we celebrate JC. (In case you don’t get it, I mean Jesus, you see. That kid born between AD and BC.)

Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself, they’re telling me. So, let's go back to the McFee God Hierarchy. Let me tell you a bit about the God Tier Tree, it’s filled with the family they call the McFees. The true God, the one God, is really my Dad, G. (Call him GAnon, G-man, you decide what to call my dad G. Just know he answers real fast like those humming birds you see.) So, he kind of lost his head last year when his mate, San-Dee took a header and hurt herself and went to the Land of the Lost Mom’s McFee. So now the true God, the one God is really Ron-E my tier mate in the God’s hierarchy. Currently, he is the Pastor of the X-Roads with that busy guy, Jake. Who is leading the kids around the campus singing songs for the pastor’s sake. Ron-E got promoted, you see because he is God’s Fella in the hierarchy. Dad trusts him the most, so he got that stellar post, and it couldn’t be me. I am Goddess ToeKnee over the ADIC. Okay, don’t get yourself in a pickle. Am I a goddess? Yep. Sometimes princess, but titles don’t impress me. I’d rather Ron-E be the front man since he is still training me.

My Dad, the G man got pushed down the tier, you see. He is now part of the Walton Walker royalty. I have to admit they also call it the Foundation, in the Great Mystery. King Arthur lives there with his Knights and JC. Okay, FYI, JC and King Arthur are the same person. I figure I am sure burying the lead, since King Arthur’s knights are also the disciples, you see. Along with my Dad, G, and his lady SanDee, there is her brother, Mike-E who lives with his wife, Trace-E. These are the Elder Tier in the McFee God Hierarchy. There is also my bro A-Ron and his kids, AB and JT, who is a Red Dragon in King Arthur's Infantry. Then we add my Gods Girl BF CC and her uber knowledge of Creativity along with her mom Min-E who now runs the computers at the ADIC.

They recently also promoted me and I am under the Big God G. They call me a Big Girl now don't you see, so they shorten that title to just the BG. Along with my Tier Mate, Ron-E there is JT the Mailman McFee, Bill Letters, MarkATT, the Great Scott Bund-E and that sound guy Stee from SIU-E.

You see, this place, it used to be Nod, the land where all the sleepy people would never applaud. They didn’t, they couldn’t, no, they wouldn’t see the Goddess ToeKnee and her Land of Plenty. Okay, so let’s get one thing straight. This Land of Plenty, it’s always been here. You just couldn't see because you didn’t believe. The Bad State controlled you with this thing called TV. You know how they call their shows “programs,” those shows that you see? It’s all subliminal programming by the Bad State AD. They add things to your brain that they call Advertising. And these things all flummox you and you don’t have a clue of the real Great State that this world is holding on for you.

So ToeKnee decided, Milk and Honey or Bust (kinda funny jumping back and forth between points of view but I think you can see what I am trying to tell you.) We’re about to make this  great land gleam, gleam like Gene Gene the Fancy Dancing Machine.

If you never heard the story, here’s how it goes. We’re really in Tomorrowland, the berg that really glows. We’re on the leading edge of thought and experience, they say. But ToeKnee was more worried about how they would obey.

You see, I am also ToeKnee in the ADIC. Back in the day they called it Unknown Country. It is the office in Heaven that is bound to impart all the funds to the citizens of this globe of pure heart. The funds are supplied so the citizens could create, that really big project, that big dream that just won’t wait. We need these big dreams to be brought into the world. So progress could be made and quantum leaps unfurled.

Let me tell you a bit about the ADIC. It’s really A Dad Incorporated Company to you and to me. You understand what that means, right? Can you really see It’s the Father God’s Company, that big guy, my Dad, G. From the family of McFee in the land we refer to as Plenty.

Chapter 3 - The Author - Release Notes

 

In the course of building this story I have discovered a couple of truths.

1. I don't want to go into the whole financial glitch in the newspaper. It is just not an area I am that interested in defining and want to just let it go.

2. I have discovered that my character has a lot of memory gaps that may lead her to a dark place that I am just not willing to travel down right now. That rabbit hole is just too dark and sullen and makes me want to just run away and hide. This writing journey has triggered me so many tines. I have cried my eyes out so many times writing this series of stories. I am just ready to take a break from it.

I did realize what my TRUE CALLING was. I'll bet you thought it was necromancy. Nope. Red herring. My true calling is singing for God. My Grandpa Bud Marrs knew it all along. He saw it in me when I was just a kid. I used to joke that I was the black sheep of the family. My aunt and uncle Mike and Tracy Walton were missionaries in Africa, my Grandpa did prison ministry for years, was an ordained minister and sang bass in many gospel quartets. I would say... I just sing. Hard to compare yourself to people with such a greater calling than you have.

As I was building this story I realized it would probably send me into a new depression. I recently uncovered that I had finally truly awakened from the previous life struggle.I truly didn't want to dive into a story that would send me reeling again. 

In the course of world building, I had created a whole new Deacon. He was the twin brother of the one in the stories I built originally. The first Deacon was the dark and this one was going to be the light. Deacon Carmichael Powers, DC for short but Faith had met him on an op and knew him as Rafe. I may journey to this character again one day but the surrounding story was going to be SRA influenced and I was just not ready for something of that nature.

I was drawn to my original inspiration for my spy series, The Legacy. It was a Canadian TV show called Poltergeist The Legacy. Their motto was: Faith is in need of the whole truth. Wow, did that say it all for me or what. I kind of had a V8 slap your forehead moment. They also used a scripture in their opening credits that I think really speaks highly of the series as a whole.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:12

I think the whole concept of this series just spoke to me. I could relate to the dark and light struggle. I knew I was true north and so were these folks. They fought for the light. I have so much respect for that.

So, needless to say this story is over before it ever began. I will be taking a hiatus and learning more about a topic I truly need to dig into... Jesus. 

Spoiler alert.... King Arthur was really Jesus. 

Can't you just see the similarities. King Arthur has Knights who go out and fight in his stead. They have high moral character. They are the ones everyone looks up to, the leaders of their communities, so to speak. Jesus had Disciples. 

Interesting huh? So neither of my guys were the real King Arthur. But I did get an interesting insight. This story about King Arthur only comes forward right before a thousand years of peace is about to come upon the earth. I thought that was pretty interesting. My tag line says it all, I think...

Fighting for the side of Light, by writing a fairytale that is not quite right.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at either of my emails: toniwalker@hotmail.com or tonispywriter@gmail.com

Chapter 2 - The Author - Where to Go From Here

 

Chapter 2 - The Author - Where to Go From Here

I have been using an Obedience to God writing style. God calls it a Messy Hair/Don’t Care style. Not everything is going to make sense. Do spy stories ever always make sense? I think not. I will be cherry picking people from other series of mine to make it all more interesting for myself. I have a lot of series to draw from.  Check out my profile link.

I think my biggest failing for my original spy series, The Legacy, was that I never established the true family dynamic of the Fairchild’s. What was their family life like when they weren’t being all spy-like. I tried to be more aware of that in my mixed-up fairytale. That is why I set it at church. But everything is not always peaches and cream at a church either which I discovered along the way in writing Nottingham/Seeking Sanctuary.

I have been considering a whole new concept with my spy stories. I am going to mix them up just like I did my mixed up fairytale. Jared Quinn is from The Legacy story “Ten Little Spies” while Mac and James both come from my Legacy of Spies universe which is set in America. The actual Legacy series is set in London but travels all across Europe.

I have never had a character that was strictly me so I will keep Faith in the forefront. She was undercover for the entirety of the rest of the writing I have done since July kinda pointing out the bad seeds and getting that info to Mac all secret spy-like. Her pendulum board was infiltrated by any number of people while writing this. Demons whisper their manipulation while friend’s subconscious minds told her truths they didn’t want her to see. Being a necromancer does have its benefits. She has known about this power since 1996 but it just came online recently along with a cool energetic bi-location power she is getting a kick out of.

Let me speak more on the "bad seeds" concept above. The people themselves I refer to are not bad seeds. Not at all. Both great men of God. I "based" the characters on them. They are NOT them in reality. I elaborated on their motivations and what might happen if these type of good men went bad and the devil got ahold of them inside their hearts. It was quite a struggle for me to write for them because of this. I hated putting these ideas about them in my mind. So hard to keep character apart from real guy which is ultimately why I had to switch them out for characters. It was hurting my heart to write this because the characters were taking a bad turn in the future and the real men were not.

Right now I am trying to think about where I am going with this story. Mac is being pulled back to his mission where he has been the entire time since July. That is why he never showed up in the stories. I think I am going to bring my Russian gal, Octavia into a Message from Paris type storyline where she is the one they are trying to make into a human AI with nanites. That will surely bring in Taffy from Trouble with UFOs into the story as well.

James, Jared and Faith will insert themselves into the newspaper. I don’t have a name for it yet. Since I work at one, I get all sorts of cool ideas for plotlines. My thoughts right now are The Hearth or The Harken. Since Faith is Maiden Marian at heart, I thought it only right to do a bit of a Goddess Hestia homage to the paper’s name. You can let me know if you think of anything cooler.

We are continuing with the financial glitch concept that is somehow tied to the church Faith attends. Nothing has truly come together yet but a lot of the higher up senior staff are involved. Jared will get a job working as the general manager after theirs up and leaves them in the lurch unexpectedly. I am kind of excited about the direction but I really don’t know the true path it is taking. I have a vague idea but I have to wait for God’s nudgings. I call these nudgings paying attention to the little things. Where is God pointing you. What stuff stands out to you in your day? It can really take the story anywhere.

The two guys from the last story were real people I used to create my characters. God made me reinvent them. I am really sorry if this hurt their feelings. Not my intention at all. Deacon has become like Murdock from MacGyver. He is the bad guy that never really dies. He always comes back to cause havoc or bring insights. We’ll see how that unfolds.

Right now I am wondering… What’s next God? We’ll see where it goes from here.

Chapter 1 - Rudy / Mac / Danny - Wounded by Protectors

Chapter 1 - Rudy / Mac / Danny  - Wounded by Protectors

At an offsite location, Rudy Kent sat in Mackenzie Gray's chair finishing up paperwork on two agents he was so disappointed in. Knights didn't act in the way they did during their last mission. They were supposed to be watchtowers not get involved with the one they were protecting. He regarded the two men standing before him. 

"Mac is so pissed right now," Rudy said to them. Jared Quinn was a man of average height with dark black hair tinged with gray. His sculpted beard was more gray and didn't quite match his hair but the look worked for him. He was in a more tailored outfit than James Carpenter who wore a blue ball cap, jeans and a fitted striped shirt. If Noah Stone and James North had been real people you would never realize they were the same ones standing before him. 

"Oh, come on. It was all in good fun," Jared said. "No harm, no foul."

"You were supposed to be watching her for Mac. We're you not paying attention? She is a manifester. She can't use real people in her stories." Rudy watched them. They both didn't get it. "She is a necromancer. She can speak to the dead and spirits. You two attracted so many demons to her she about lost it. You're both lucky Mac caught on."

Rudy pointed to Jared. "You are totally dead to her right now. And you..." he pointed to James. "You used your real name what were you thinking?"

"It was a coincidence. She had already created the character." James shoved his hands into his pockets. 

"Mac needs time to heal her psyche. Those demons depleted her star energy and nearly drove her cookoo. You both need to stay away from her for the near future. Make sure you don't resemble those characters."

Mac stood in the doorway, a stoic calm presence. Danny was directly behind him. Mac's eyes blazed with the fire of both disappointment and fury. 

"We need you on this op so I can't fire you right now. I watched the footage. You two were vying for her attention. Any reason why you were hitting on my fiancée for months while I was away? Not really a good move to piss off the guy in charge. "

"It was no big deal," Jared stated. 

"It was to her. She is suffering right now. She purposely went undercover on this op with no memory of us.  And who does she draw out? You two. You abused your knight powers which made her writer's mind go bonkers. She was getting so many insights it was incredible. But it cost her. Her eyes are turning to stained glass. Alicia is going to try and help us fix that along with Darien and Robbi." Mac shook his head. "If I ever hear of you two doing something like this again you will pay the consequences." Mac was as serious as a heart attack. 

Danny Cornelius watched them all from the doorway, his mouth set in a hard line. He wasn't happy either. This whole scenario wasn't sitting well with him. 

"Were you watching her 24/7? She kept mentioning a portal in her room." James and Jared glanced at each other. "Was this just a game to you? The woman is as sweet as can be and you treated her like a toy to be mentally poked and prodded."

"No harm, no foul, man," Jared said. James remained silent. 

"Yeah, you said that earlier." Danny shook his head. "There is a thing called karma that may come back and bite you in the ass for doing that to Faith."

He could tell the two if them didn't believe him. And he wondered what would get through to the pair to set them straight. 

Prologue - Faith / Danny / Mac - A Whole New World

Prologue - Faith / Danny / Mac - A Whole New World

Faith was still having a hard time believing what she was seeing. Noah Stone, aka Deacon, was lying dead on the coroner's table. She could see his lifeless body there and still couldn't fathom what had happened to bring her to this point.

Detective Danny Cornelius put a hand on her shoulder. "You couldn't have anticipated this, Faith."

Her hand shook as she placed it on the glass separating them from the coroner's theater. " I really loved them both, you know. There was so much to love about each of them. Their faults just faded away for me. But neither of them wanted to really see me, their agenda was more important, I guess. " Her voice couldn't help but break. Her heart was already broken. Noah's family, the one he had with Kara, they wouldn't be able to understand this either. He was a pastor, a man of God. How could something like this have happened?

"God brought you into their lives to redeem them, Faith. It's not in you to see the bad parts of them. I've watched you go from blissfully happy to so sad I could hardly take it. You are stronger than you know."

She shook her head nodding toward Noah's body. "James did that to him? Beat him down?" Her eyes unconsciously closed. " I don't get it. Why?"

"We may never know, Faith. My boss Mac Gray wants to talk to you about it. He has a proposition for you. Your talents Faith... Your talents, man, they impressed him."

"Talents?"

"You wrote the story, Faith. So many of your insights helped us shut down many involved," Danny paused.

 "But there are still more, right," Faith surmised. 

Danny turned toward the window as the coroner Alicia Scott started the autopsy. "Unfortunately, yes. Mac wants you to go back in."

Faith's forehead crinkled in confusion. "Go in where?"

"The newspaper. Your insights led us there."

"I had no idea, you know. Not really. Who would even believe my family's awful legacy? They practically killed this town on purpose. Was going to kill the paper too... for no reason at all, just pure greed. Practically all the high ups are in on it. But I can't prove anything. "

"We have men inside. We want you to help them get the proof."

"It nearly killed me the first time, Danny. Demon attacks from them, Noah and James. It's not something I really want to relive. They energetically shackled me to the demon there for decades, since I was twenty. Black magic, dark mages, who would believe such things existed and were real right in their own town under their noses? Demon money magic. All kinds of weird things going on behind the scenes." Faith sighed. "How does God even get through to people like that?"

Mackenzie Gray came up behind them. "It's because God has warriors like us to fight for him. We are going to help you, Faith. You and I will be dating. Danny will always be around. You will never be alone."

Faith blew out an uneasy breath. 

Mac continued. "We're taking over the church too. We'll go back to its original name. Build up the congregation again. Your dreams for that church will come alive."

Faith squared her shoulders and turned away from the image of Noah's beaten body. "Okay. When do we start?"

New story - True Calling - A Knight Returns

 

Faith Star Jefferies finds herself with amnesia after a fall and Detective Danny Cornelius helps her find her true calling within the police department. Danny's new partner, Jared Quinn, is a significant help when they all move to a new church in the area and begin serving God again. The Police Chief has a secret past with The Legacy that he is about to dig back into to help Star discover her truth and exactly why Noah and James manipulated people they knew for information they used for personal gain. 

Chapter 16 - Faith/James - On Watch

Chapter 16 - Faith/James - On Watch

She should have anticipated something bad was going to happen. But her one failing in her powers was that she could never see things about herself too clearly. Faith was more focused on getting them to safe ground with James than paying attention to Nick. She should have realized people don't make such quick turn-arounds in their personality, not really, at least not in her world. 

Earlier while talking to Nick and protecting the room she had felt a slight stab in her heart, just a prick, really. She hadn't thought too much about it. In her experience demon attacks were more mental than anything. She had experience with these sorts of attacks. She had been attacked practically all her life. Mostly by family but others too. 

Faith opened the door to the outside when she realized she was in trouble. She could see James and the relief on his face. Then Nick shoved her down and escaped out the back way. 

Faith wasn't sure what had happened. She had felt fine moments earlier. Opening the door had somehow changed her fate. She had made the choice, she realized to give up on Deacon. The evidence was too solid, too damning. Now everything in her was numb.

 James and Danny appeared by her side in an instant. James' voice was distant and frantic. She could tell he was saying her name but had no idea she was so close to death. 

***

James glanced at Danny, the anguish on his face apparent. He had made a choice too. In an instant he knew but hadn't admitted to himself yet. Faith was more important to him than he realized. 

"What do we do? I don't even see a wound on her."

Danny listened to her chest. The shocked expression on his face said it all. "There's no heartbeat. "

James could hear Kara's voice chuckling in his ear "That's because there is no heart in there any more. No more faith in action. No more truth in action. Only Kara in action to bring the Dark Lord to earth. Lord God will reign again."

Dark Lord? Lord God? What was she talking about? James and Danny exchanged glances. 

"Did you hear that?" James asked. 

"Unfortunately, yes."

James felt Faith's hand clutch his and draw it to her chest.  "Heal me," she mentally whispered.  Her inner voice was so soft it filled him with an icy dread. 

"Faith... I..."

" You can. We have a connection. Intend it.  Ask God to do it for you," she said. "Heal me James before it's too late."

James' hands shook. He wasn't a healer. He couldn't do this.

"Please," she whispered. "Try,"

"I'll help you," Danny said.  " I'll pray. You heal."

They weren't sure how long they had stayed like that. The drone of far off machinery pierced the air but they didn't notice. Their minds were only filled with Faith. 

Crickets chirped. It was a lonely sound. "Please God," James whispered. Not like this, he thought. Don't let her go like this. 

"Imagine it, James," said a voice. "Imagine the healing light surrounding her heart. Call her heart back to her. You have the authority. You are the only one who can do it."

"God?" He looked up and saw the north star wink at him. " Please God, let this work,"

He did as God asked and imagined it. The light came out being a green colored with white and silver surrounding her heart center  Star essence. It came to him as a knowing. Then he asked for her heart to return. It was almost like a daydream. He could see it travel through space and land in her chest cavity. 

Her body lurched and Danny jerked back. "Her heart is beating again."

"Oh, thank God, James whispered, his breathing ragged. He pulled Faith to his chest hugging her. It was in that moment he had the realization. Faith had some how snuck into his heart and he hadn't even realized it. 

His entire body quaked as their energy merged. Danny stepped back. "Woah, what was that?"

James couldn't hear him. A spiritual healing was occurring and neither were aware of anything but each other. 

***

Deacon stood back and watched as the men worked on Faith. Beside him was an unconscious Nick Ransom. It was in that moment he realized a choice had finally been made. And it hadn't been made in his favor. 

He should have realized she'd be different. He should have known the Arthur legend would finally come out.  King Arthur wasn't any one special. He should know since he was Arthur. The Robin Hood myth was also him. Deacon had stolen Lancelot's Legacy and claimed it as his own. Deacon's legacy was stealing from the rich and giving to himself. He masked himself as a Merlin but he was the true huntsman in the Snow White legend. Kara was bound and gagged in the back if his SUV. She'd need some magical intervention to get Jax extracted from her energy and get back to the Gwen he loved. He'd try again in another lifetime. This game never got old. 

He had actually been the one to sneak into the author's story. He was good at manipulation. All the demon attacks came from him. Baal was his true name but no one would ever know it. 

He did  know one thing. Faith was his new secret adversary and the game wasn't over yet. 

He drug Nick's body to James' black Jeep and then faded into the darkness. There were new plans to make. "Miles to go, Faith," he whispered. "Miles to go."