Jake’s young face creased in astonishment. He stared at the now silent object hovering a half foot from him.
I placed the object in his hand.
He jumped as though it radiated static electricity, then once again held it to his ear. “Damn.” He punched one of the numbers. “Yeah, dispatch. We got cut off.” His breathing was rapid. “Sure. I’m right here. We won’t touch a thing.” He clicked a button, then swung his flashlight in a circle. “Anita?”
Leaves crackled. She came from behind the mausoleum. “Nada.
Have you looked that way?” She speared a beam of light behind him.
Jake turned. “Just got off the horn. I’ll look around.” As she waited, she swept her light back and forth near the mausoleum.
In a moment Jake returned. “I don’t see anything out there. We need more light to check everything. Anyway, the chief ’s on his way.” He glanced at the metal object he still held in one hand. “Hey, Anita.
Funny thing about my phone . . .”
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Phone! I had expected changes from my day to now, but I never thought I would see a phone without wires that worked in the middle of a cemetery. Why, Bobby Mac would have been in hog heaven out on one of his drilling rigs with a phone.
“Phone?” She stared down at the dead man, her attractive face pulled into a puzzled frown.
“Yeah. It kind of got away from me.” His tone was bewildered.
“And it hung in the air like for a minute.” She turned toward him and I knew she was recalling the wreath and flashlight that I heaved away. She opened her mouth, closed it.
He hunched his shoulders. “Kind of strange.”
“Yeah.” Her tone was thoughtful. “Kind of.” He shivered. “Spooky place for a guy to get killed. What do you suppose he was doing here?”
Anita scanned the ground. “Don’t know. I guess the chief’ll find out.”
Jake looked nervously toward the mausoleum, spoke loudly.
“Bet there’s a hell of a story behind it. Isn’t he the guy you liked to hassle?”
Anita folded her arms. “I enforce traffic laws. So far as I’m concerned, that isn’t hassling. Murdoch thought the rules didn’t apply to him. He drove like he was special. I tried to teach him he wasn’t special.” Her young face was stern. She stared down at the body without a glimmer of pity.
Jake’s bark of laughter sounded odd in the cemetery. “So you gave him enough tickets to—” Sirens sounded. “Here they come.” His relief was obvious.
Anita turned toward the road, walked swiftly toward a tall man in a brown suit. He swung a huge flashlight from side to side.
I was tempted to remain. I’d never seen the beginning of a crime investigation, but I knew there wasn’t much to be learned here.
I hoped relocating the body didn’t pose a special problem for the 35
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authorities. Still, the detectives might as well start from this false location as from the equally false location on the back porch of the rectory.
I wondered if my task was done. If so, it had been a rather short adventure. I hastily recast my thoughts. I was not adventuring, definitely not. A rather short mission was a much more appropriate description.
If I would soon be boarding the Rescue Express for my return to Heaven, there were two stops I couldn’t resist making.
Broad windows on either side of a huge limestone fireplace overlooked a patio bordered by Bradford pears. Dancing flames crackled in the fireplace. Comfortable sofas and easy chairs, a game table, two walls of bookshelves, and shining pegged wooden planks created a warm and lovely room.
However, I was startled when I saw the woman sitting near the fire. For an instant I felt confused. I was here, so how could I be there? She was speaking into one of those curious telephones. Even her voice seemed like mine “. . . be glad to help with the chili supper except Mike and I will be out of town that weekend . . .” Of course. Dil and Mike. I remembered their wedding as if it were only yesterday. She was always young in my memory and now as she talked and laughed, occasionally smoothing back a golden red curl, I realized she was on the sassy side of forty-five. I hoped she hadn’t minded becoming so much like her mother.
I wafted near, bent, touched my lips to her hair.
Dil broke off. In a moment she spoke again. “Sorry, Ellen, I missed what you said. Oh, do I sound odd? No, nothing’s wrong. I had the strangest feeling my mom was here. No.” Her eyes moved to a picture of me and Bobby Mac on the Serendipity. ”No, she died a long time ago. You would have liked her . . .” 36
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. . . .
The thump of the small black ball caroming around the walls combined with hoarse grunts and the scrape of athletic shoes on the floor.
Rob’s thatch of flaming red hair had thinned. He was a little portly but he’d always been built like his dad. His dark eyes slitted in concentration. Muscles tensed as he swung.
My face creased in concern. Rob (Robert MacNeill Raeburn III) was truly a dear boy and a kind man, but he couldn’t help himself when he engaged in a sport. He revved up his motor and gave it his all.
The score was called. I was never too quick about numbers but I gathered the handball game was tied, Rob was serving, and if he prevailed, the match would be over.
His face was frightfully red.
In a flash, I darted into the court, timed my swing and scooped up a ball a scant inch from the floor, and drilled it into the corner, barely escaping Rob’s tardy lunge.
Rob blinked, glanced at his hand, which had missed by half a foot. “Game.”
His opponent blinked, too, then shrugged. “Good shot, Rob.” He stared at the corner. “Kind of miraculous, actually.” He shrugged again, grinned. “Spot you to a brew.” I decided it would only be proper to check on Kathleen. She was my responsibility until I felt she was no longer in peril. That done, I might immediately be on my way back to Heaven if my assignment was completed. Should there be more for me to do, I must return to earthly ways and have a moment’s respite. After all, when on earth even though not of the earth, I was affected by temporal realities. I’d 37
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had a momentary lift from my glimpse of Dil and Rob, but I was tired, hungry, and thirsty from the excitements of my arrival at the rectory and that challenging trip to the cemetery.
I wondered if Lulu’s was still on Main Street next door to the bank. Lulu’s was a single storefront wide and twenty feet deep, with a counter that ran the length of the grill and room for a half-dozen booths. Onion burgers were her specialty, topped by grated longhorn cheese and chili. Mmm. A burger and fries with a frosty root beer would lift my spirit.
But, duty first.
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Acuckoo clock warbled the quarter hour. No wonder I was hungry. Bobby Mac expected his supper at six-thirty sharp and it was past seven. He groused when we had to go out to dinner. As far as he was concerned, dinner at eight was more than late, it was an offense to the natural order. Bobby Mac was big on the natural order. I grinned and hoped the tarpon was giving him a majestic battle. I wouldn’t tell him I’d given Rob’s handball a slight bit of assistance. Men are so sticky about rules.
I adored the new color scheme in the rectory kitchen, lots of orange and yellow and tomato red. A golden oak table overlooked the windows to the back porch. Chairs at either end and two on each side afforded plenty of space. I felt at home when I saw Fiesta din-nerware. Two azure plates topped by butter-yellow soup bowls sat on red woven cotton place mats. The napkins were white and red gingham.