The Shasta Caper, Chapter Forty-Five is now posted.

Chapter Forty-Five

Methusaleh sat back down and motioned for Sam and his friends to sit again. Which they did. Nanny couldn't hide her excitement though. "Wait until I tell my Ranger friends I met the biblical giant."

"Yeah. Literally a giant." Jimbo quipped.

Methusaleh leaned forward. "It is my understanding that you seek someone in our kingdom?"

"That's true." Samuel answered. He stood back up and went to the table. 

The other giants watched him with interest.

Even Jimbo could see a slight nimbus of color about Samuel's body now. The air of the inner realm was so pure that even auras could be seen by those who were pure of heart, if not of spiritual sight.

"She is the mother of this girl with us."

Nanny jumped up to protest. "I am...not...a...girl!"

Methusaleh laughed, as did the other giants.

She bawled her right hand into a fist. Jimbo snagged her and dragged her back down. "You out of your mind!"

The giants laughed again, but kindly. Nanny now realized that they were laughing at her character, and not  her ignorance, which she now realized she had displayed in aces and spades a few seconds ago. "Sorry." She squeaked.

"I know, dear heart." Methusaleh said to her. "I am proud of you. Few would be so quick to admit they've made a mistake. You remind me much of your mother."

Nanny popped to her feet again. "You knew my mother?"

"Know your mother."

"Know? Then she's alive?"

The other giants exchanged glances with Methusaleh. They were communicating mind to mind over whether to reveal all they knew or not. Finally, Methusaleh overrode their concerns.

"She needs to know, my brothers and sisters."

The Council settled down again and Methusaleh leaned closer to Samuel. "She has been taken."

"By the ones with the flying ships?"

"By Saran, to be specific. You've met him."

"Unfortunately." Samuel replied. "He didn't quite make the angelic status he purported to be."

"No, he has not."

Jimbo stood up. "Sir, if you don't mind my barging in...."

"Would it make any difference if I did, Jim?" Methusaleh replied.

Jimbo blushed. "Uh. No."

The giants all laughed.

"Very well, speak."

"Why do you let those low down conniving, stinking sonuva bitches live down here?"

"Would you rather they escaped to the surface?" Methusaleh asked.

Jimbo sat back down, dumbfounded.

Samuel looked at his friend. "Not all prisons have bars, Jimbo."

"Evidently." Jimbo sighed. "All this spiritual stuff is giving me a headache again."

Nanny grabbed her backpack to open it. "I've got some ibuprofen."

"Not that kind of headache." Jimbo told her gently.

"Oh. But if you need some."

Jimbo put a hand over hers. "I'll be sure to tell you."

Nanny smiled back.

Methusaleh approved of the exchange with the look on his face, then turned to face Samuel again.

"So you see, you have a slight problem."

Samuel looked over at Al, who was shaking his head.

Methusaleh looked over at Al. "Would you stop doing that, it's making me dizzy!"

Al gave Methusaleh a surprised look.

Methusaleh chuckled. "Angels have been my friends since...well...forever."

Al sighed, then sat down next to M, who was humming a sweet showtune to herself.

"The trouble with some angels is that they think they know everything." Methusaleh went on. "When in fact nothing is that solid in life or in heave. Men and women change. Their thoughts change by the second. Any moment they can go from being a saint to a devil or back again."

Samuel nodded. "Ain't that the truth."

Methusaleh put his hand on Samuel's head and gently held it there.

"Now close your eyes. I am going to show you something."

Jimbo and Nanny held their breath as Samuel closed his eyes.

"Wham for sure." Jimbo muttered uneasily.

Samuel finally touched Methusaleh's hand and he removed it.

"I understand, honored sir."

Methusaleh looked at the others. "Will you help Samuel complete this mission."

"I must find my mother!" Nanny blurted out, her lower lip quivering as she almost broke into tears.

Jimbo stood up. "I would never abandon my friend."

Methusaleh smiled at him. "One day you and I will do great things, Sam."

"I don't intend to kick off the old shoes any time soon, sir, so I hope you're patient."

Methusaleh and the other giants burst into laughter, at the same time as the entire room became filled with a brilliant white light, soaking into every pore and cell of their bodies.

One moment they were in a meeting room, the next they were on the ledge landing platform again, with the Nazis descending rapidly towards them, firing their weapons.

"Oh crap!" Jimbo cried out, pulling Samuel and Nanny back from the edge as bullets raked it.