The Shasta Caper, Chapter Twenty-Eight is now posted on ImagineNation.

Chapter Twenty Eight

"Still thinking!" Jimbo cried out as he plunged ahead like a tiger after prey, with Samuel and Nanny hot on his heels. The walls kept closing in. They almost reached the end of the opening, when the floor suddenly shifted. They plumetted downwards.

They hit a hard surface and began sliding head over heels, over and over, their screams and cries of surprise and pain mingling as they rolled for what seemed like forever.

Finally, the slope evened out and they piled on top of each other.

"Foot!" Jimbo muttered.

"Ankle." Nanny cried out.

Samuel pried free from them and sat up, his right hand glowing. "We're alive."

Jimbo disentangled himself from Nanny and sat up next. "If you can call it that. I have bruises on every inch of my body and bruises on the bruises."

"Speak for yourself." Nanny groused.

"I am." Jimbo growled back.

"Hey!" Samuel said, looking at them. "We're alive."

"Yeah. I suppose so." Nanny grumbled, then she burst into laughter. "Just look at me, I just had the longest free fall slide in the world and I'm complaining about it. People would pay thousands for a fraction of this."

"Where are we?" Jimbo asked, pressing the more urgent question.

Samuel stood up and dusted himself off. He searched the area for awhile and found his backpack, and slipped it on. He found Jimbo's and tried to lift it, but it was to heavy. Jimbo came over and lifted it as light as a feather. "You really need to exercise more, buddy." Jimbo told Samuel.

"I'll remember that if I don't die down here." Samuel said.

"Funny." Jimbo responded with a snort.

"Hey guys! Husband/wifey...remember?"

They both turned on her with glaring eyes. She held up her hands and laughed again. "Seriously,  you guys have some real identity issues."

Samuel shrugged, then pointed his hand towards the opening they had fallen down to. "It looks passable."

"I don't get it, Sam. Why would they try to compress us like a sandwich, then slide us safely to home?"

"Good question. Remind me to answer if when I find out." Samuel answered drily.

Jimbo shook his head, then spotted Nanny's backpack. He shouldered it.

She ran up, then grunted, grabbing at her right ankle. "Damn!"

"What's wrong?"

"I think I sprained it on your jaw."

Jimbo rubbed his jaw. "Ouch! So that was you!"

"Now who's being Mister and Missus Prissy." Samuel teased.

Nanny and Jimbo both shivered at the thought, and turned to look where Samuel was headed. He had gone on, not waiting for them. As they pursued him, they saw that his light was dimming and the corridor of rock was brightening with spots of luminous rock and fern. In a few minutes of walking they found themselves in a wonderland, fantasy of light and color. Spinning rainbows of red, blue green, yellow and orange spun around the petals of flowers unlike any they'd seen before.

Nanny reached out to touch one and it spit at her.

She snatched her hand back. "It's alive."

"Tell us something we don't know." Grumbled Jimbo, rubbing his jaw again. "Are you sure this was an accident?"

"What? My kicking your jaw or the fall?"

Samuel dropped back. "Kids we have bigger problems."

He led them forwards where t he path stopped and dropped for what might be miles below. The strips of luminous rocks and flowering plants trailed downwards, giving it the appearance of a vertical landing strip with running lights.

"It' s beautiful!" Nanny said, her voice filled with the awe of a child.

Jimbo looked at the far end of the corridor, which was a good thirty feet away. "I don't think I can jump that far, Sammie."

"I can." Nanny said. 

She looked at Jimbo, who gave her a surprised look. "Yeah. I almost made the Olympics too."

"Is there anything you can't do?" Jimbo asked humrously.

"Yeah. Fall in love with a guy who puts his jaw on my foot."

"Funny, funny, funny." Jimbo said, then laughed. "I think I'm falling in love."

"Don't bother. I'm engaged." Nanny said back, causing Jimbo's smile to vanish.

"Kidding." She said. "Just testing the waters, big guy."

She poked his tummy lightly and grinned. "You're such a softie, you big marshmallow giant."

"She's got you there, Jimbo." Samuel said, loving the lightheartedness of the moment. "But I'm doing the jump."

Nanny went to Samuel and slipped a hand around his waist and leaned into him. "You really think you're up to handling a woman like me?"

As she did, her right hand caught at the nylon rope that was dangling from his backpack. 

Samuel felt his heart kick into high gear. "Uh."

Jimbo laughed. "Man, you actually got him tongue-tied. Never seen that happen before."

"Oh, I'm full of all kinds of surprises." She said, then ran back the way they'd come, the rope shooting out of Samuel's backpack. 

"Hey!" He cried out.

She laughed, then came running at them as the last piece of the rope caught between Samuel's hands. "Don't let go of it." She warned him and then leapt as high as she could.

"Oh Christ!" Jimbo swore as she arced high into the air, her lithe body as graceful as a gazelle in flight.

Samuel saw Al and M gliding alongside her, blowing at her as she flew upwards, as if trying to give her extra height. Then they fell back and came back to Samuel.

Al looked at Sam. "Grab!" He ordered.

Samuel grabbed hold of the nearest thing. Jimbo. The rope began burning through his hands, causing them to burn like hell, as she plummetted.

Nanny missed the other side and with a high pitched scream fell like a rock.

"Damn!" Jimbo cried out and held on for dear life as her weight started to pull Samuel forward. They dug their heels in and prayed she didn't let loose on her end. They felt the rope jerk suddenly, then stilled.

Samuel ran to the edge and looked down. She was hanging onto something about a  hundred yards down. She looked dead, then he heard a light groan. She rolled over, nearly falling off the ledge she lay upon. She waved. "Come on down, it's just what the doctor ordered."

Jimbo sighed with relief. "What a woman."

"I saw her first." Samuel said.

"Technically, I saw her first." Jimbo returned.

Samuel  smiled, then wrapped the rope around Jimbo's wrists. "See you in hell!"

With that, he dropped over the edge, using the rope to rappel down, until he reached the ledge beside Nanny. She was still laying there. 

"I'm sorry if I don't get up to greet you, but I think I broke something." She said light-heartedly, even as her face showed a lot of pain.

A few minutes later Jimbo came down. He dropped the last few feet, then gave the rope above him a tug and it fell into his arms. He wrapped it up and handed it over to Samuel, who stuck it back into his backpack.

Jimbo stooped down and lifted Nanny into his arms. "Like a lift?"

"Anytime, big guy." She told him, winking at Samuel as he did.

Then they turned to look at what she had seen. It was a very large doorway, carved from marble with intricate spiritual symbols inscribed all over it. The door was made of gold and iron. It was partially open.

Samuel pushed on it. At first it wouldn't budge, then it slowly opened to reveal a staircase, well lit and bright. Lit by a descending series of crystals that glowed a soft blue, casting the stairwell in a kind of stardust glow.

"Well, heaven or hell?" Jimbo asked.

Samuel looked down the stairwell. It seemed to go forever. "I'm not taking any bets one way or the other."

They stepped through the door to begin the descent and the heavy door, which must have weighed easily a ton, slammed shut behind them.

Samuel and the others turned to look back and where the door once stood was an ancient carved stature.

"The symbol of Agharta." Nanny almost whispered.

"Hollow Earth." Samuel stated. "The symbol of the Hollow Earth."

The Adventures of Chaptain Marvel, Chapter Four: Death Takes the Wheel is now posted on ImagineNation.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel Chapter Four

The Shasta Caper, Chapter Twenty-Seven is now postedo n ImagineNation.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

The morning struck like a razor sharp icicle through the heart of the tent, causing everyone of them to awaken groaning. The ground was freezing, even with the campfire, which was blazing in the center of the tent, and even with their sleeping bags pulled tight about them. The window with the view of outside was covered with snow.

"Please tell me we're not buried under an avalanche of snow." Jimbo groaned, wanting to get out and stretch, but protecting his mouth and nose from the cold, cold air by having the bag draped over his face to his eyes.

"We're not." Samuel answered from the other side, but he didn't stir either. Also talking from beneath his sleeping bag cover.

Nina, however, was sitting up and stretching. "Think I'll go out for a snow bath."

"WHAT!" Jimbo and Samuel said at the same time.

She laughed. "Guys! It's only thirty below zero. Perfectly safe."

She got up, pulled, stretched again, then unzippered the tent. Immediately, she froze. "On second thought, maybe we are buried under an avalanche of snow."

Jimbo finally got up. He grabbed his rifle and poked at the snow. It made dents in it, but no light came through.

Samuel got up, shivering violently for a moment, then sighed. "Please God, no dead people in this snows."

He went to the snow and placed a hand on it. The interior of the tent went brighter than the sun for a moment as a bright illumination filled it from his glowing hands, then slowly the snow began to melt away, until the light of the morning sun, scant as it was, was able to come through. 

Jimbo joined him and with mittens on his hands, began pulling the snow right and left, until a large enough hole was made for all of them to exit.

They crawled outside, then marveled at where they had slept. It was covered under about ten feet of snow.

"I don't think we're getting our tent back."

"No problem." Nina said, then went back inside. In a few moments she had the tent collapsed, rolled up and began shoving it and its framework outside. She crawled out and grinned. The snow is frozen like an igloo. 

They grabbed the rest of their gear and Samuel looked to his left where Al and M were standing on a ledge, overlooking the valley below. Al looked back and smiled. "It's so beautiful." He mouthed.

Samuel nodded, then looked at the mountain behind them.

Al sighed, then he and M glided over the snow and along a narrow path of snow that towered in a narrow crevice against the mountain and the old path. Samuel began hiking along it, wary of disturbing the snow, for fear of tumbling it down on them, but it held and there were no accidents. There luck was holding so far.

They climbed silently for what seemed like hours, and it became steadily colder, even with the sun climbing in the sky. A light snow flurry began swirling about them as they climbed. Finally, Samuel couldn't take it any more. He closed his eyes and pressed his hand to the mountain side.

Inside his  vision a door opened up and he could see a narrow opening about fifty yards to their right and about a hundred yards straight up. He groaned. They didn't have any ropes for that, which meant climbing hand over hand and that was dangerous with everything so frozen and icy.

He looked at the others, who gave him appraising looks. "Our both is that direction." He pointed straight up.

Jimbo shook his head. "I knew I should have stayed home to play with my hounds."

Nanny jabbed him with an elbow in his side. He gave her a sharp look.

"A big hunk like you should have no trouble navigating a few hundred feet vertically."

"Shows what you know, Ranger." He growled, not liking her jibe.

She gave him a surprising hug. "Just kidding, Jimmy."

Jimbo's face lit up. No one had called him Jimmy since his last real love. He became all gooey and melty eyed when he looked at her. She smiled and didn't look away.

"Look, this love fest has to become a bit more grounded." Samuel said, interrutping their kumbaya moment.

Jimbo looked over at him. "We don't have any gear for this."

"Don't need it. Get out the rope you have stashed."

Jimbo obliged him, pulling out about a hundred yards of triple wrapped nylon steel reinforced rope. Samuel slung it over his shoulder, then nodded to Al, who began climbing, albeit in a floaty kind of way. Al would stop periodically to point out a place for Samuel to step, or grab onto. M would do the same. 

To both Nanny and Jimbo's surprise, Samuel made the climb in about thirty minutes. He reached a small ledge, checked the opening and then waved back at them. He dropped the rope, then went into the opening. Even though the light cut off about ten feet back, the whole interior was lit up like a Christmas tree with various mosses casting glows of green, blue and yellow. He finally found a spur of rock strong enough to secure the rope and tied it off again and again, making sure it was strong enough, then he looped it over his arm and went back to the edge, and signaled to Nanny. "You first!" He yelled.

A rumbling sound came from behind him when he did so. He looked up just as some snow began to loosen up. It moved several yards, then stopped.

He looked over at Al, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Samuel made a hurry it up motion and held onto the rope as Nanny began climbing it to the ledge. She made it in twenty, but breathing hard. Her face was red as a beet and her eyes wide. "That was harder than it looked."

"Always is." Samuel agreed, then gave her a portion of the rope. "Help me anchor, Jimbo."

She shouldered a portion and they leaned back after Samuel waved at Jimbo.

Jimbo began pulling himself up. He made it in ten, but as he reached the ledge, it broke away for about a foot of it and he began to tumble down. He let out a roar like an elephant in pain. The rumbling of before grew again, but this time more furious and loud.

"Haul! Haul!" Cursed Samuel as he and Nina struggled to help Jimbo get back up, even as an avalanche poured down the moutainside, gaining momentum and weight as it tumbled, growing louder and louder, larger and larger.

Jimbo saw the wave of death tumbling down and redoubled his efforts. He reached the new ledge and Samuel and Nina practically threw him into the cave opening as they themselves dove in after him.

Jimbo rolled over and looked as tons of snow fell past the cave opening. Samuel helped his friend to his feet.

"Indiana Jones has nothing on us, Sammie."

"I'll second that." Nanny grunted, then froze.

"What's that?"

They turned around and were silent. Nothing. Nothing, then the ground beneath their feet began to rise and fall, at first gently, then rougher and rougher, almost tumbling them to the ground.

"Run!" Samuel hollered.

He caused his right fist to light up like a flashlight and they ran down the pathway of the cave, dodging falling rocks and dirt and some stones shaped like spears. And soon they actually were spears, then blades shot from the walls on their left and right. 

Samuel saw them coming even before they left their hidden spaces, and steered them to safety, but one blade caught him slighly on his right thigh and he almost died then and there, if Nanny had not grabbed him and jerked him away in time.

They all froze in place. No more blades and falling spears.

"I think we're safe now." Jimbo uttered.

"Jimbo!" Samuel almost screeched. "Think Jinx!"

"Thinking!." Jimbo hollered as the walls began to rumble loudly and starting closing in on them.

The Adventures of Captain Marvel, Chapter Three is now psoted on ImagineNation.

The Shasta Caper, Chapter Twenty-Six is now posted on ImagineNation

Chapter Twenty-Six

They felt like little kids playing choo choo train as they watched their breathes cast curls of smoke ahead of them as they hiked up the trail that Samuel had found. No one had much of anything to say the first hour, their thoughts were on what had happened the night before. The Snow Beast, and the legend of it sparking their imaginations as well as fears.

Jimbo kept his right hand on his pistol the whole time they climbed, even if it made it somewhat difficult at times as they pushed around boulders, past shrubbery and sometimes through it as Samuel traced the path he had discovered, or rather that Al led them upon.

Al and M...or Marilyn...as her fans had all called her, almost danced the entire way, their feet never quite touching the ground. Even if they had, they were too ethereal to leave a real footprint, but both Samuel and Nanny found it amusing to watch them, as it took some of the tedium of the hike off their minds.

Even though the mountain was splendid to look at and beautiful beyond description with its myriad of evergreen trees clinging to its rocky and snowy sides. Tiny pearls of ice dotted and hung like strings of living jewels from the firs as they passed and tiny chipmunks, still not quite believing it was so cold, peeked out from occassional holes and chittered at them, warning them to button up and fur down or freeze.

They didn't have to be warned about that.

"How much further?" Jimbo asked, actually breathing hard.

Nanny looked back at him. "It's the altitude. You need to take deeper breaths."

"If I took them any deeper, I'd be breathing the snow off my feet." Jimbo quipped, but did so anyway.

They managed another hour, before they were totally bushed.

"Time out!" Samuel said, making a time out sign to Al and M, who nodded and drifted from view.

Samuel and Nanny went looking for wood, while Jimbo strung up a small tent they had brought along for shelter. It was getting colder and colder, and even though it was early still, they knew better than to push their luck with a storm edging its way into view again.

When Samuel and Nanny returned with their arms filled with wood, they found the tent all made up and Jimbo sitting in front of it, digging out a pit for a fire.

"You better do it inside the tent." Nanny warned.

Jimbo nodded and began digging it inside instead.

Samuel looked at Nanny. "You're expecting that strong of a storm?"

"Maybe stronger. This time of year we get the Wendigos."

"Monsters?"

"You could call them that. They sure sound like it when they come ripping past your ears, all shrieking and screaming." Nanny laughed.

She and Samuel dumped their wood inside, then made it a point to zipper the front entrance shut. Nanny looked to the roof where a small vent was and opened it all the way.

"Won't that let rain in?"

"It would if it was rain. Snow might block it a bit, but the wind will pretty much clear it out, so the smoke from the fire can exit. But just in case, because smoke starts low, then builds."

She began making a trough that ran across the center of the tent ground from the fire on either side, and under the tent edges.

"Won't the..."Jimbo started, but stopped on Nanny's look. "Okay. You're boss. But if I freeze my buns off tonight, you're personally going to have to warm them up again."

"Promise." Nanny said with a laugh.

They unwound their sleeping bags and laid them in a circle about the fire, then Jimbo pulled out three cans of black beans. "High in protein. And filling."

He shoved them into the fire they started, then looked at the others. "And easy to cook."

They warmed their hands over the fire. Outside the wind was whipping up, but nothing severe. They could see through the one plastic window the tent allowed, and huge snow clouds were dripping almost to the ground, casting their burden of wet water frozen into tiny fractal crystals of dazzling winter beauty.

Jimbo sighed. "It's so easy to forget how beautiful Mother Nature is when you live in a desert town like Vegas most of the time."

"Don't forget Mother Nature can also be a bitch." Nancy shot back.

Samuel smirked. "And ain't no bitch like a mad bitch."

Both Jimbo and Nanny looked at him.

Samuel sat up straight. "Now where'd that come from?"

He realized that one of his feet was slightly touching the ground outside his sleeping bag. "Oh. That!"

He looked at the others. "I think I must be picking up the impressions of whoever slept here last, or..."

"Whatever." Jimbo added.

"Yeah. Or whatever."

He and Jimbo both knew that stranger things than sleep happened on heaven and earth.

"Done!" Jimbo cried out happily and scratched the cans of black beans out with the help of a crooked piece of wood for the fire. He propped them in front of him, then pulled out a Swiss knife. He grinned. Sometimes, these little babies sure come in useful."

In several minutes he had the lids opened and pried back on the three cans, handed everyone a can and a spoon and dinner had begun.

They finished the cans, and put them in a plastic bag, then all laid down.

The moon was rising outside and casting a silvery, ghostly light through the single plastic window. The wind had stopped, but snow kept falling and sliding from the window. The soft patter of the snowflakes was pleasant to their ears and in moments they had drifted off to sleep.

Samuel woke up once to the sound of a gentle singing and Marilyn was seated across from him by the fire, and singing to Al, whose eyes were closed. He looked very happy.

He opened his eyes once to look at Samuel and smile. "Sweet Dreams, Sam."

Samuel's eyes fluttered shut the same time as he smiled and he drifted off into a cacophony of gentle images and Marilyn's singing. For one night at least the three would have a peaceful sleep. But what came that night might not come again for a long time. Such is the lot of adventurers.

Hammer of the Gods book cover version I designed.

A version of my Hammer of the Gods novel cover. I've changed it around quite a bit since, but this is the base for the final version, which I'll post in the future.

--John--

The Adventues of Captain Marvel, Episode Two: The Guillotine is now posted on ImagineNation.

Talking about losing your head. No pun intended. Maybe a little.

Captain Marvel gets in over his head with the villains and faces quite literally...losing his head.

--John--

The Shasta Caper, Chapter Twenty-Five is now posted on ImagineNation

Chapter Twenty-Five

"In the name of the Light you shall not enter!" Commanded Samuel, holding his hands up before him.

The hands became as bright as small moons, and a nimbus of pure blue and violet energies blazed around them, then shot at the door, enveloping it at the same time as something struck the door again. The door looked like something out of a cartoon as it broke inwards, but instead of shattering into thousands of parts, it pushed outwards like a balloon would stretch as if someone were pushing it from the inside.

In a matter of moments something out of a nightmare had its head forced into the cabin. Jimbo shoved Nanny behind him and aimed his pistol, waiting for a clear shot around Samuel.

Samuel was lost in what he was doing. He pushed forward and as he did, his hands grew brighter in the flames of the energies. The hideous face glaring at them, and the snarling lips opened to engulf him, but he stood his ground.

"You will leave. And you will leave now! We are not what you seek, devourer of souls!" He shouted.

The creature, Jimbo's worst nightmare, howled so loudly that the entire cabin shook, knocking loose anything that wasn't securely tied down, causing Jimbo to drop his pistol and clap hands over his ears the same time as Nanny screamed and he howled in pain at the force of the blow of the creature's terrible frustration.

Then as suddenly as it all began, the door flung backwards and became still.

The light vanished from about Samuel's hands. He turned slowly, his body casting off a faint nimbus of white light as Nanny and Jimbo both looked at him in awe. "We're safe now. I think I need to sleep now."

Samuel lay down on his sleeping bag and collapsed into sleep.

The next thing he remembered was the sound of crackling nearby, and a tasty scent in the air. Soy dogs. Jimbo and he both loved them, and had brought some freeze dried ones along for their meals.

He rolled over. Every muscle in his body felt tense and tight as a coiled spring, but it all loosened up, once he sat up and stretchd. He began doing a series of silent yoga postures, as Nanny watched from nearby, guiding the soy dogs on an antique griddle she had found, the plate burner beneath it casting flames up from the stove below.

Jimbo came opened the front door and came inside with an armful of wood tucked beneath his left arm and dropped them next to the stove. "Good morning, bright eyes." He greeted Samuel, then began shoving the wood into the snow.

He had left the door open and Samuel could see huge drifts of snow outside and Jimbo's footprints. But he could also see another set of footprints.

"Yeah. It was big all right." Jimbo said, catching his glance. "I tried tracking it..."

"That's dangerous." Samuel chided him.

Jimbo pulled out a grenade from both of his jacket pockets. "Maybe."

Samuel laughed. "You never fail to amaze me. Sometimes earthly weapons just won't stop these things."

"Well, if it can leave footprints and break wood, then it can also be broken." Jimbo said with finality, then shut the front door and the swirling thrusts of snow falling from above.

He shivered. "One thing is for sure though."

"What's that?"

"You'll have a popsicle ass if you don't dress warm when you go out there. It's gotta be at least thirty below zero outside."

"More like forty." Nanny said as she scooped a soy dog onto one plate, slathered it with mustard from a tiny can, then did the same thing to two other dogs. She left three more warming up on the griddle and served the men.

Jimbo nodded, accepting his, then got out three cans of Doctor Pepper. "It's always good to have a Doctor in the house."

Nanny giggled. "Your jokes are almost as bad as Sam's."

"Actually, they're much better." Samuel admitted. "I just never tell him so, gives him a fatter head."

"Fatter?" Jimbo asks, glaring at Samuel, then looks away. "Oh. Right. Gotcha!"

Jimbo sits on the right of Samuel and Nanny squeezes between them. "Hope you two don't mind sharing a little body heat."

"Not likely." Jimbo replied with a grin. "Always my pleasure."

Samuel laughed. "And does he mean always."

"Hey!" Jimbo cried out. "Foul play."

"Isn't that what the last girl said?"

Nanny laughed so hard she spit out her piece of soy dog into her lap.

Both men broke into laughter. They spent the next ten minutes in silence, savoring their simple meal and companionship, listening to the sound of snow melting and draining down the pipe above into the simple water cistern inside.

"I wonder who lived here last." Nanny finally said.

Samuel shook his head. "Don't wanta know. Don't wanta ask."

"For a spiritual man. A detective. You sure don't act like one sometimes."

"We've both seen too much." Jimbo answered for Samuel, who was in the middle of another bite of his second soy dog.

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, we've known each other since high school and we've been non-stop pretty much since then with one case or another."

"For money? You must both be rich by now."

Samuel laughed. "That'll be the day."

He looked to his right and saw Al and M dancing in a small circle. Al looked over at him and winked, then Marilyn waved.

"If it was about the money, this partnership would've been dissolved a long time ago." Jimbo said.

"Why? Everyone needs money to live."

"True enough." Jimbo explained. "But not everyone we help can afford us, so we make ourselves affordable."

"In other words you give yourselves away."

Samuel smirked. "Not quite so literally."

"I mean you donate your time."

"And sometimes more." Jimbo acknowledged, revealing a huge scar on his right upper arm, by pulling his thick wool shirt up. "This little badge of honor came from Cambodia. We was helping a village get rid of Demons."

"Demons!"

"Well, they sure looked like them." Jimbo admitted.

Samuel nodded. "Horns, tails and glowing red eyes."

"How?"

Jimbo whipped out his pistol and cocked it.

"Oh!  So they weren't real demons after all."

Jimbo and Samuel exchanged glances. But neither said more.

Nanny went to the door and pulled it open again. "The snow's stopped."

And it had, but the drifts outside were some of them over six feet tall and the path they had followed to the cabin was gone and any other possible path as well.

Jimbo and Samuel came to the door and stood next to Nanny, eyeing the mess they would have to travel through. "Gonna be hard picking out anything throught that, Sammie."

Samuel shook his head. "I've got friends in high places. Let's pack up and go."

They spent the next ten minutes straightening up thee place, bagging their trash and storing it y the door, then making sure the stove fire was completely out by drenching it with fresh snow. It snizzled, crackled and popped for awhile, then the snow and extra heat began to face. In several more minutes they could see their breaths in the air.

Samuel looked at Al, who nodded, then stepped straight through Nanny, followed by M, who did the same. Nanny shrieked two times and shivered violently each time they passed through her.

"Do they have to do that!" She protested.

Samuel smiled. "They never do anything unless they have a good reason. God's got his finger on them and won't let go."

"I thought even angels had free will?"

"Whoever said they were angels?" Samuel asked, as Al turned back and stuck his fingers in his ears and gave them all the raspberry.