The Bond Unbroken Read online

  Katlin sat gazing into the amber liquid in her glass, deliberately not looking up at Ben for fear of what she might read in his eyes as she said, "This might sound crazy, but I've always felt as if I don't belong, as if part of me is missing. And I know I'll never be happy until I find that missing part. The past couple of months, the feeling has been so strong I've felt as if I'm being pulled in some direction, toward something." She looked up then and wasn't really surprised that Ben wasn't looking at her like she'd suddenly taken leave of her senses. He was the one person she knew who understood and accepted her without question or judgment.

  Ben swallowed and found to his amazement that he did in fact have surprising words of wisdom for her, not his words, but something Katlin herself had told him long ago. "Didn't you once tell me you believed there was some sort of universal or cosmic plan or some such thing?" he asked, not expecting an answer as he continued, "I'm not sure I understood it then, or even if I believe it. Lets see, what exactly was it you said?" He paused, thinking back, trying to get the words right. "You said everything in life happens for a reason. Somehow, we are lead to where we are supposed to be so we can accomplish what we are supposed to do in order to become the person we are meant to be."

  "You remembered," Katlin all but whispered, extremely surprised and inordinately pleased by his words. A slight sparkle had entered her eyes, and an unmistakable smile was tugging at her lips. All these years Ben had patiently listened to her somewhat unorthodox belief system and philosophy about life in general. He had never ridiculed nor criticized even though he didn't buy into it himself, and that was okay. Katlin had a deep respect for all religions and beliefs, realizing each person in their own way had to find the path which gave them a sense of peace and comfort. Nor did she believe in trying to force her beliefs on others. They worked for her, and that was enough. To realize her uncle had not only listened but remembered meant more to her than he would ever know.

  "Like I said, I don't know if I understand it or even believe it," Ben continued, pleased he had made her smile. "But, it seems to me, Katie girl, if that's what you believe, practice what you preach. Maybe you don't have to try so hard to find what's missing in your life. Maybe it is trying to find you."

  When the words had come from Katlin, she had somehow made them sound possible, even logical. Now, hearing those same words spouted from his own lips, Ben had little doubt if the men from the department heard him, they'd suggest he put in for an early retirement. Not just today, but for sometime now, Ben had been struggling with his own sense of frustration. He was getting damn tired of fighting a losing battle against the Westfield corruption in his city. So much so that early retirement was sounding better all the time. What he had never been able to figure out was why the inflated Westfield ego hadn't compelled them to change the name of the city from Abilene to Westfield.

  Katlin placed her unwanted drink on the desk then rose to her feet. She walked around the desk and put her arms around her uncle's neck. "Have I told you lately that I love you, Uncle Ben?" she asked and kissed him on the cheek.

  "Not often enough, Katie. Not often enough," he answered and hugged her in return.

  Ben gave her an affectionate swat on the behind then slipped into Captain Thompson mode. "Now, speaking as your superior. Your resignation is hereby refused," he insisted. He picked up her revolver and badge then extended them toward her. "You haven't taken a real vacation in over three years so you have a lot of accumulated time coming to you. Take all the time you need to sort things out."

  After she returned her badge and firearm to her handbag, Katlin slid her mostly untouched drink in front of her uncle with a grimace of distaste. AI don't know how you can drink that rot gut."

  "What can I say," he responded with a grin and a shrug. "It’s genetic, an ability handed down from my great, great, grand daddy."

  "Ben Thompson," Katlin finished for him. "Gunslinger, gambler, saloon owner, etc." Katlin turned toward the wall on which hung her uncle's most prized possession. Handed down through his family for generations, he was the proud owner of the original sign which had once hung on the Bull's Head saloon during Abilene's hey-day as the wildest, wickedest, cowtown in the west. The wooden sign depicted a bull in an obvious and exaggerated state of arousal. As the story went, the more conservative citizens of the town were so offended by the sign they had signed a petition demanding its removal. Wild Bill Hickok, town marshal at that time, had stood beneath the saloon's sign with a sawed off shotgun while the bull was castrated with a paint brush. Now fully restored in all its glory, what had once been considered obscene, was now quite a conversation piece and a treasured piece of history.

  "Katie?"

  She had been so lost in her vision of that long ago time in Abilene the sound of Ben's voice appeared to come from a long way off. The image in her mind had been so vivid Katlin could almost imagine she had been there to witness Wild Bill's handiwork.

  "When you get back, we'll talk again," Ben continued. "If at that time you still want to turn in your badge, I'll support your decision. Whatever it takes to make you happy. Agreed?"

  "Agreed," Katlin responded, then reached up to pat the Bull's Head sign for good luck.

  Ben stared at his good luck sign for long moments after his beloved niece walked out of his office. If the intuitive feeling in his gut was an indication, Katlin McKinnen was about to find more than she bargained for. He picked up the drink he had poured for her and raised it toward the sign in a mock toast.

  "When she finds him, or he finds her, heaven help them both." Thinking he heard someone chuckle, Ben's head snapped toward the door ready to chastise whomever had entered without knocking. Finding it still closed, goose bumps formed on his arms, the hair stood on end, and a chill slithered down his spine. In an attempt to shake off the unsettling sensation of an unseen presence, he tossed back his drink in one fiery gulp.

  Chapter One

  Katlin brought her horse to a halt and stared in amazement at the sight in front of her. Even though Mark Haywood had described this twenty acre wooded tract on his ranch, she hadn't been prepared for this. It looked like a well cared for city park with a huge, crystal clear, five acre pond in its center.

  Located about an hour's ride on horseback from the main house, according to Mark, the original pond had been much smaller, with only a few trees around it. During the past one hundred plus years, family members had cleared the area, planted trees and grass, had increased the size, and stocked the pond until it had become what it was today . . . a lovely, wooded glen used exclusively by family and a select few invited guests.

  Katlin's only regret was that she hadn't taken Mark up on his offer sooner. She'd known the ranch Mark inherited shortly after his retirement from the department was reported to be a large one, but she hadn't expected it to be so vast.

  "A man or woman," Mark had corrected himself, "can ride out to the park and not see another human being for days, unless of course they want to," he'd told her on his last visit. As much as he appeared to love his new life on the ranch, he made frequent trips into Abilene to reminisce with his old friends who were still with the department. So, here she was. Katlin had this idyllic setting all to herself for as long as she chose to remain, with only the company of Bart, her hundred pound German shepherd, her borrowed mare, and pack horse. It was perfect.

  She was aware that most of her friends didn't understand the need she often felt to go off alone and commune with nature as they termed it, but no one ever questioned her doing so, at least not to her face. What they didn't know is that along with the need to get in touch with Mother Earth, she needed the peace in order to get back in touch with herself.

  Turning around in her saddle, Katlin surveyed the landscape around her. Except for the park like area and pond, as far as the eye could see were gently rolling plains of tallgrass and prairie wild flowers swaying in rhythm to the warm June breezes. The only visible sign of civilization was the jet stream cloud overhead that marred
the perfection of the clear blue sky like an unsightly scar.

  "Come on Bart," she called, in an effort to rescue the poor creature her dog was chasing through the underbrush. "The sooner I set up camp, the sooner you'll eat."

  Katlin leisurely circled the pond until she found the camp site. Located on the east side to face the sun which would set in the west, the recently mowed, circular shaped clearing was approximately twenty feet in diameter, bordered by the water's edge in the front, the rest surrounded by trees. In the center of the clearing stood three large pine trees, planted in a "V" formation, their branches overlapping to form a natural shelter from the elements. In the center of the "V," a fire pit had been dug and surrounded by large stones. Whomever had mowed the clearing before her arrival had thoughtfully left a large supply of cut wood and kindling.

  Anxious to set up, she swung her right leg over her saddle and gracefully lowered herself to the ground. In short order, she'd unsaddled the mare, unloaded her supplies from the pack horse, and had the horses grazing contentedly on the freshly cut grass. Once she had the supplies organized, she secured her iron tripod against the rocks surrounding the fire pit and attached her coffee pot to the hook at the top. Katlin poured about a quart of the bottled water she'd brought with her into the pot, then used her disposable lighter to ignite the balled up newspaper she had stuffed among the logs and kindling.

  Glancing over to the German shepherd sitting patiently beside the bag containing his food, Katlin laughed. "I know. You're hungry."

  A half an hour later, the ground beneath her cushioned by her unrolled sleeping bag and a pillow behind her to protect her back from the rough bark of the tree, Katlin sat with her legs stretched out in front of her, sipping a hot cup of instant coffee as she watched the sunshine glimmer on the rippling water of the pond. A deep, contented sigh escaped her as she realized that for the first time in a very long time she felt totally at peace.

  Bart, who had attacked his food like he hadn't been fed in days, trotted over and laid down beside her. As she stroked his silky head, she remembered the day she'd found him. The German shepherd pup, barely old enough to be weaned, was starving and nearly dead in an alley. She'd named him Black Bart because of his color and because of Ben's fascination with gunslingers of the Wild West. At the time, she'd infiltrated a street gang in an attempt to find out who was responsible for a drive by shooting which had nearly killed a three year old girl. That was one perp, she was pleased to remember, who didn't walk away because of a bad verdict.

  When he was old enough, Katlin put Bart through the training designed for police dogs. He'd gone through it with such flying colors, the training officer in charge had tried to talk her into letting Bart be utilized by the department. Katlin had refused. She personally believed Bart had too much of an independent nature to make a good, disciplined, police dog, and she wouldn't allow that spirit to be broken.

  Bart's regular breathing and twitching legs told Katlin he was asleep and probably dreaming about the poor creature he had chased into the underbrush.

  Putting her cup aside, Katlin sat up, crossed her legs Indian fashion, and placed her hands palms up on her knees in a meditation pose. She closed her eyes and began taking deep breaths as she visualized a protective white light surrounding her. In her mind, the circle of light expanded until it encompassed the entire clearing then spread outward to encompass the grazing horses.

  Beginning at her toes, she consciously relaxed each part of her body, one at a time, until she felt weightless. The sounds of the birds and the breeze rustling through the trees began to fade. The air around her began to crackle with static electricity. The hair on her arms stood up, and the hair on her head not caught tightly in her long braid began to rise. Her entire body had the prickling sensation felt after a limb had gone to sleep and the circulation was just beginning to return. In the back of her conscious mind, a warning voice whispered, "The sensation is too intense. Something isn't right. Bring yourself out of it." Katlin fought back the warning, focusing totally on the pinpoint of light she visualized in her mind's eye. The popping and cracking sound intensified, and she felt herself being pulled upward into a swirling vortex of electrically charged energy, surrounded by what looked like a spectacular Fourth of July fireworks display. The fireworks began to flow backward, as if being sucked into the original pinpoint of light. Slowly her senses begin to stabilize. With grim determination she held her focus point until nothing remained except the original pinpoint of light. A pinpoint of light that began to grow and expand until what she saw in her mind resembled a blank movie screen waiting to be filled.

  As if he walked toward her through a dense fog, the image of a man wearing a long white robe belted at the waist with a gold cord began to form on the screen. He was a small, Asian male of indeterminate age, with a long mustache which blended into the snow white beard that hung to his chest. His bald head glistened as it reflected an unseen light source.

  Katlin knew this man. He was a man who had been such an important part of her life . . . until his death ten years ago.

  "LuChen Sing. Is it really you?"

  "It's been a long time, Little One," he answered gently. "A very long time, but you finally made it here."

  "I don't understand. Where is here?"

  Giving her the type of answer she remembered from childhood, when he was her karate instructor and teacher of the Ancient Philosophies and Teachings, he responded, "Where, as well as when, is relative, only as it is necessary to personal growth."

  It was an answer that was no answer, more like an unfathomable puzzle which makes absolutely no sense, no matter how hard you try to figure it out, until somewhere down the road something happens and understanding hits you right between the eyes.

  "Open your eyes, Katlin," he instructed.

  Obeying, she opened her eyes, and there he stood in front of her. "This isn't possible," she stammered. "You're . . . ."

  "Dead?" he finished for her. "Am I? You know better than that. Death as you know it, is merely another plain of existence."

  Katlin's heart began pounding erratically in her chest. She tried to make her body move, but it seemed to be frozen to the spot. She closed her eyes again. "Get a grip, McKinnen," she told herself firmly. "You're still under. Count yourself out. One . . . two . . .three . . . four . . . five. You're wide awake . . . in the here and now."

  She opened her eyes slowly, peaking from under her lids. He was still there.

  "You are in the here and now," he informed her casually as he smoothly sat down before her in a meditation position. "The question is when is the here and now?"

  Her mind was racing frantically, trying to make sense of what was happening. "I must have fallen asleep while I was trying to meditate. I'm dreaming. Either that, or I'm a candidate for the next fruitcake of the month club, and my fruitcake is mostly nuts."

  "I sense a cattle stampede, Katlin," Sing warned in his sternest teacher voice.

  His words released her from her immobility, and she sprang to her feet, startling Bart who hunched beside her in a protective stance. She searched the vicinity and listened for any sign of a stampede, until Sing's chuckle brought her puzzled gaze back to him.

  "Stampede. Of course! The mind out of control." As realization dawned, she was tempted to hit herself between the eyes with the heel of her palm. "Okay McKinnen," she mentally rationalized, "This is one hell of a meditation. If you're still under, there has to be a reason. Something you're supposed to learn." She swallowed and began taking calming

  breaths. "Pull yourself together and find out what it is so you can come out of it."

  Katlin looked down at LuChen Sing. Black Bart, the traitor, now had his head in Sing's lap and was sprawled on his back in doggie heaven, having his belly rubbed.

  LuChen Sing's ageless eyes watched Katlin as if they could reach into her soul and read her thoughts. Sing nodded his head in satisfaction. "Sit down child, we haven't much time."

  With as much control as
she could muster, under the circumstances, she sat across from him as if she were joining anyone else who had dropped in unexpectedly, not the man who's death she had mourned for a very long time.

  "Why are you here?" she asked.

  "I've always been with you, Katlin. The question is, why are you here?" he replied.

  "Please," she groaned wearily, "I'm not sharp enough at the moment to decipher double talk."

  Knowing things were about to get very interesting for Katlin and his time to help prepare her was running short, he took pity on her. In truth, he was proud of how well she had handled his appearance. Understandably, she'd been shaken, but she had pulled herself together rather quickly for one in human form and was now ready to listen.

  "I have been with you, Katlin, through many lifetimes. My purpose has been to teach and guide you, to help you become all that you are meant to be."

  "A guardian angel?" she asked.

  "Guardian angel or spirit guide, both are human terms for one in spirit form who has been sent to earth to aid one among the living."

  Many lifetimes . . . reincarnation. Sing had taught her that philosophy as a child. It was a concept she had always felt comfortable with. Reincarnation and karma was a belief system that offered a sense of absolute justice and order in what seemed to be an unjust world. As you sow, so shall you reap. What goes around, comes around; however many lifetimes it takes to learn what you're supposed to learn, to balance the karmic scales, to get it right. That Sing was her spirit guide shouldn't be so surprising either. From the moment she met him, when she became his student as a young child, there had been an uncanny connection between them.

  As Katlin quickly rationalized these thoughts, she felt slightly more comfortable with the situation, more grounded. It still didn't explain why Sing had made his presence known to her, here and now. Glancing up, she was surprised to see that the position of the sun had altered drastically. She'd been totally unaware of the passing of time. It was then that her eyes widened in dismay. The pond was no longer the same body of water she had camped beside. And the trees! Where were all the trees? Only a few remained. Only the area she had visualized surrounded by the protective light when she went into the meditation remained unchanged.