Emma snickered. She giggled. Then she laughed. Barney Clark. Who would have thought the real name of her nemesis—in both this world and the spiritual realm—was Barney Clark? No wonder he had made up a title for himself. No wonder he insisted everyone call him His Royal Eminence.
Yet Emma never did. She had her own name for him: Pompous Jack. This nickname, however, wasn’t out of disrespect as much as reflecting his character as a pompous jerk.
Yet with the arrest of Pompous Jack—that is, the arrest of Barney Clark—she was now safe. She could move forward, unopposed, in her new role as High Priestess.
Emma bowed her head. “Thank you, Sovereign, for protecting me and rescuing me from that evil man. Guide me in how to move forward to do your will here at the Temple. Amen.”
She had a plan. With the Sovereign’s guidance, she always had a plan. She pulled out her phone to review her list of projects:
• Divide priests into 3 groups
• Find out what’s happening with Temple donations
• Improve working conditions for staff
• Restart Temple school
• Change rules so Topher and Ashley can date
• Help Topher’s bedridden dad
• Find teaching job for Jennifer
• Find better role for Junior
Yes, it was ambitious, but she could already check off two items: dividing the priests into groups and a teaching job for Jennifer. Then she added a new item to the bottom of the list: Help priests grow in their faith, be less lazy, not as demanding.
Next, she inserted three sub-points under Improve working conditions for staff.
1. More pay
2. Less work
3. Increased respect
These additions matched the three points of the workers’ protest, which she had joined, until the guard attacked her and the evil Barney Clark confined her to quarters.
These weren’t greedy requests from the workers. All three points were legitimate. From what Emma had determined, each Temple employee earned minimum wage and never got a day off. Pompous Jack—Barney Clark—had also compelled them to donate their overtime hours. He didn’t respect them, he didn’t pay them enough, and he certainly overworked them. She needed to fix that. But first she had to find the money to do it. That was the second item on her list.
She added one more line, as prompted by the Sovereign: Reopen health clinic for staff. This was a desperate need because Barney Clark had made sure the Temple was exempt from providing healthcare insurance, even though it was the law for everyone else.
Then Emma entered what she hoped would be a final item: Free the prisoners.
Emma scanned all that she had to do. Even though she had checked off two items, she had added six more lines. Her to-do list was getting longer, not shorter. The enormity of the tasks in front of her filled her with dread. It overwhelmed her. And she had to work all these things around school.
Yet, she remembered that the Sovereign often said, “Trust me.”
Emma intended to do just that.
In a hurry, she showered and dressed for the day. She scurried from her quarters in the Temple Palace and headed down the hill to the cafeteria. Walking in the morning’s cool filled her with joy: inhaling fresh air, spending time outside, and getting her blood pumping. Though she would miss her private time with Jennifer at each meal, she was relieved to no longer have someone waiting on her like she was someone special. It just felt wrong.
As she neared the cafeteria, Junior exited the lower level of the priest compound and walked up to her. Emma had felt an instant connection with him when they first met a couple of days ago. She already had great respect for him, and she’d need his guidance as she sought to reform religious practices at the Temple.
“I thought I’d join you for breakfast.” Junior matched her stride. Though Emma wasn’t tall for her age, she was above average. Junior stood only a couple of inches taller. Yet while she was lean, he wasn’t. Portly might be a polite description. Junior was a portly priest, yet a most endearing one. He seemed like a huggable teddy bear.
“Great!” Emma smiled. Aside from his company at breakfast, it would also mean less work for the Temple staff. “What did your server say when you told her?”
“She was surprised at first and then thanked me.”
“And now she’s got less work to do.” Though this small step wouldn’t allow Emma to cross another line off her list, she was at least moving in that direction.
“Not really.” Junior’s directness deflated Emma’s short-lived optimism...
