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

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nanny and Jimbo met Samuel at the truck. Jimbo had a backpack slung over his right shoulder and a rifle on the other. 

"Rifle?" Samuel asked.

"Since when has anything we've done ever turned out exactly like we thought it would?"

Samuel winced. "How was I to know that that saucer would use machine guns to fire at us?"

Nanny gave them shocked looks. "You've fought a flying saucer?"

"Yes." Samuel and Jimbo said at the same time.

"Sort of." Jimbo added.

"Not really totally saucer shaped." Samuel added next.

Nanny threw her hands up in the air. "Nothing about you two surprises me anymore, why should this. Come on. Let's get rolling we got miles to get between us and this place before we can do any serious hiking."

Jimbo slung her backpack into the back and strapped it down. "Hiking. As in how much hiking? Did I bring enough snacks along?"

Samuel eyed the huge box squeezed behind the front seat loaded with food. "Maybe."

"Okay." Jimbo said, and hopped in next to Nanny who sat in the middle. He slung his rifle behind the seat, making sure it was safed, then turned back around. "How far now?"

"We haven't started yet." She told him.

"Wait until  we've been on the road awhile, you'll get used to it." Samuel sighed with resignation.

"Hey!" Jimbo growled.

Al and M sat on the hood of the vehicle and waved.

"The whole family's going, it looks like." Samuel said, waving back.

Nanny looked at him. "I thought I was going crazy when I saw them hanging around you and acting like they knew you."

Jimbo smirked. "Oh, you'll get used to it after awhile."

"Touche!" Samuel replied with a grin.

"You betcha bottom bippy it is." Jimbo grumbled, but not without a smile.

Samuel put the truck into gear and they shot off down the road to the main strip, then turned onto it. 

They shot past the Ranger quarters on both sides, then past the firestation and the police station.

"Police station?" Jimbo sqwaked. "Out here?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised what happens up here." Nanny explained.

"Don't tell me." Jimbo replied. "Let me live with my fantasies of a peaceful place on the mountain for awhile."

"Granted."

"Sammie, this is a woman after my heart."

"And your soul if you're not careful." Samuel added.

Nanny gave him a grin. "You read me so well."

Samuel smiled, then as they approached a sudden branch to the right, Nanny gestured and he swung the truck hard onto a dirt road. It began kind of smooth, with the occasional rough patch, but as the miles drifted past, and the dirt flying behind them, it began to get more rough and have deeper ruts and holes.

"We haven't upgraded this in a few weeks." Nanny explained.

"Weeks!" Jimbo exclaimed. "This is just a few weeks corrosion. Looks like years."

"Gets rough up here this time of year. Lots of flooding."

"Flooding." Jimbo shrieked. "I can't swim."

"Learn." She advised seriously.

He gave her a nervous glance, then looked to Samuel. "Been telling you that for years, Jimbo."

"Not my fault if I have the swimming abilities of a hundred ton boulder."

"You sure splash like one, right enough." Samuel answered flippantly.

"Easy for you to say, Mister Olympia."

Nanny looked at Samuel.

"I was Swimming champion in high school and college. Almost got into the Olympics, but then two people talked me out of it. He gestured to the front hood, where Al winked at him.

Nanny laughed. "He's funny. Wait! I recognize him. He's..."

"Yeah. And she's her too."

"But why are they hanging around you so much. They're dead."

Al made a face, sticking his tongue out at Nanny.

"Death is badly maligned, I'm afraid." Samuel said with a grin.

Al held a thumbs up.

"Oh, I get it, they're guardian angels."

"Not really. Not a chance in hell of them ever earning wings. Not angelic enough."

Al made another face and he and M, who blew Samuel a kiss, vanished.

"Where'd they go?" Nanny demanded.

"To the beyond the beyond." Samuel answered mysteriously.

"The what?"

Jimbo sighed. "Samuel, would you quit pulling her leg."

"Why so you can instead?"

"Point taken." Jimbo said, relapsing back into his thoughtful mode. All the forests sweeping by were taking him back to his childhood when he spent a lot of time with his father traveling through the woods to their favorite fishing hole. Back before.

He felt his eyes beginning to wet.

Without being asked, Samuel tossed him a kleenex box. Jimbo blew his nose. "Thanks."

Nanny laughed. "Like I said earlier. You two are like a married couple."

That got both Samuel and Jimbo to fall into a moody sulk.

Neither one spoke for the next three hours.

Finally, Nanny shoved her foot past Samuel's and slammed on the brakes. The truck slid to a halt almost running off the road, except for Samuel's swift recovery.

"What are the hell did you do that for?"

She gave Samuel a dark look, then Jimbo. "I can't go another mile with two babies. Either grow up, or get out."

"It's our truck." Jimbo pointed out.

Nanny didn't budge with her look.

Finally, both Samuel and Jimbo raised their hands. 

"Give." Samuel said.

"Sorry." Jimbo added. "Won't happen again."

Nanny gave them both quick hugs. "I like you both, but where we're going we can't be sulking or fighting with each other. Our lives depend on us all being right here and now, and ready to act."

"You make it sound like we're going into a war." Jimbo quipped.

"Maybe we are." Nanny said, without explaining, then she stepped on the gas, sending the truck spilling back onto the road again and weaving until Samuel regained control.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a bit pushy."

"Yes, my last boyfriend."

"What happened to him?" Jimbo asked.

"I shot him."

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

Chapter Twenty-One

Samuel awakened to the sound of a buzzsaw. It was intermittent, but loud. Jimbo.

He turned over on his bed and saw his friend sprawled across his bed, his whole body akimbo, arms one direction, the legs another. He smiled. He and his friend went back a long time. Both had seen good times and plenty of not so good times and lots more of times that both wished they could forget, but probably never would. Such is the life of a detective and more so of one who is finely attuned to the Infinite as he was and Jimbo by default. 

Sometimes he wondered as he looked at the placid face of his friend, if his friend was more psychic than he realized, but Samuel knew better than to push that angle of investigation as his friend would flatly deny any collusion with such higher orders of things, saying it was all a bunch of hokey pokey and none of his business even if he could access it. But Samuel felt that his friend was hiding a lot about himself. He'd always been that way. 

He still remembered the time they were playing baseball and Jimbo had slid to home base after smacking a ball out of the ballpark and landing wrong, breaking his left leg. Rather than admit he was in pain or it was broken, he had stood up and jumped up and down, whooping his head off, not letting a little...or more likely, a lot of pain...get in the way of celebrating or taking away the spotlight on the winning team, which he had been on at the time.

Yes, he was a team player, a best friend and a humble person in a rambunctious kind of way. He smiled, then slipped into his slippers which he had tucked into his luggage and headed for the balcony. He liked the sunsets and sunrises, and Shasta had some of the best from what he'd seen so far. 

He slid open the French Windows, and tucking the belt of his  robe tighter about his waist, dropped into a lawn chair and leaned on the balcony to watch as the morning sun rose over the valley below, at first tinting the edges of the gigantic trees with gold and silver from the moisture of the morning which was reflecting and amplifying the light, until it's head poked slightly above the horizon, casting golden beams of light through the morning mist curling about the deck of their room and the parking lot below. 

In a matter of seconds the scene had become a fairyland of dancing spots of light, arrows of gold effulgence, silver darts of cascading light and rainbows of dancing slivers of reflections bouncing across the mist and treetops.

"Beautiful as the butt of a gorgeous woman." Jimbo said from behind.

Samuel almost jumped. It was the first time in a lot of times recently when he had been surprised by someone sneaking up on him. He was losing his touch, or else his sense of alarm wasn't kicking in because there was nothing to fear. Or else he was just getting oblivious to his surroundings when they weren't trying to attack, swallow, molest, deface, or destroy him.

"Yeah." He muttered back, barely moving from his elbow perch on the railing.

Jimbo sat next to him and stuck his gigantic feet across the railing until his hairy legs dropped over it at the bend of the knees. He scratched his hairy chest. He was only wearing his shorts. He usually slept naked, but since Samuel was with him and they were in a strange place, he was being more humble about his sleeping posture and attitudes.

"So now what?"

Samuel didn't answer. He was absorbed in the light of the dawning sun. As it rose, so did another. The Shasta Angel, only this time it was the opposite sex. Last night it had been a female, this morning it was a huge, handsome male with the body of a Hercules, holding a blazing sword in its fists, a smile spreading like the light of the sun across its gigantic face. 

It wasn't threatening anyone. The sword was symbolic of the power of God, the Light and its size was an illusion, just to signify that it took its job seriously and was expected to help all those within its shadow, which basically was all of Shasta, or at least all about the mountain.

Samuel suspected from past visions of such that this angel was dedicated specially to the mountain because of its mystical potentcy, and that other and perhaps lesser angels took care of the people living about the mountain, but not on it.

Finally, the sun had risen into full view, edging all the clouds in the sky, and there were plenty, with golden and burnt red edges. The Shasta Angel lowered his sword, then looked directly at Samuel. Samuel felt this huge pressure in his heart, as if the entire universe were trying to squeeze into it for a moment, then the angel vanished and the pressure.

Samuel sat back, rubbing his chest.

"Something wrong, Sammie?"

"No. Nothing at all." Samuel said.

"Now..." He said as he rose from the lawn chair. "We eat and then we find a guide to take us up the mountain."

"Why up?"

"Because the entrance wouldn't be easy to access or the Rangers would've found it by now."

"What entrance?"

"The one that we're seeking."

Samuel headed inside, trailed by Jimbo, who shut the French Windows and blinds, then began climbing into his usual jeans and cowboy shirt, quickly buttoning it up as Samuel slipped into his own more dressy pants, Air Jordans, gold and rust colored sweatshirt and baseball cap with the name Mickey Mouse on it.

In a few minutes they'd both performed their morning ablutions and were ready to exit, check out, then have breakfast.

"So who do we ask?" Jimbo asked as he shot a sizzling hot sausage down his throat, followed by half a glass of orange juice, then a huge slice of pancake oozing with maple syrup and butter.

Samuel winced at the sight, but smiled. "I'm thinking..." He paused, then gestured to the Park Ranger they had met last night. Nanny.

Jimbo's lips curled into a smile. "She turned me down."

"Yup." Samuel replied without comment.

Jimbo looked at him searchingly. "You knew?"

"A little birdie told me." Samuel replied, waving at Al who was walking beside Nanny as she approached their table.

Jimbo slid over for her, but she sat next to Samuel instead, but without touching him.

Jimbo gave her a slight hurt look, but said nothing.

Samuel thanked his friend inwardly for showing some decorum, then turned to look at her. "You'll be our guide?"

"Of course. It's what you wanted, isn't it?"

He said nothing.

"Look." She said. "I'm not stupid. You're oozing vibes all over the place." She looked at Jimbo. "Even your hairy Paul Bunyon here."

"Hey! Who you calling Paul Bunyon?"

She smiled, then tapped his right hand gently with a finger and withdrew it. He blushed, but said nothing more. She turned her attention back to Samuel.

"Another area of expertise I am familiar with is pyschic phoneomena. I have a Doctorate in it."

"Who would have figured." Jimbo blurted out a bit too quickly. "Sorry. I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

She laughed. "I know the pants and cap make me much more macho appearing than soft and sensitive."

"Not to me." Jimbo said with a kind voice.

Her turn to blush. She looked quickly away. 

"So, am I?" She asked.

"Sounds like an offer we can't refuse. Right, Jimbo?"

He nodded, afraid of blowing his cover with any more outbursts of conversation. Unusual for him, but appropriate at that moment.

Samuel was about to say more when something dark and humanoid rushed across the restaurant floor in front of their booth, then dove out the front door as it was opened by two entering Park Rangers. Neither one stopped, though both shook as if a sudden cool air had struck them.

Jimbo knew the look on Samuel's face. "You saw something?"

Nanny spoke up instead. "We saw something."

They both looked at her and she was trembling like a leaf. 

"It's the shadow of death. The Waka sends Sergeant Sambo, a Shasta Indian chief, who was over a hundred and ten years old when he died, to warn those about to cross over to the Wigwam in the sky."

"How do you know this?" Samuel asked.

"Because my mother was of the Shasta Tribe. She used to whisper late at night to me such stories to get me to agree to go to bed on time, so I wouldn't try to sneak in late  night TV as I usually did anyway until..."

"Until what..." Jimbo asked, suddenly anxious.

"Until he came into my room one night, his face all dark and sad."

"Waku?"

"No, silly. Sergeant Sambo. The Indian Chief. He's an agent of Waku...the Supreme Deity...the Great Spirit."

"What happened?" Samuel asked, already knowing the answer.

"My mother died. I woke up the next morning, after having stayed up until almost dawn to hear my father weeping horribly. I ran into the living room and he was holding my mother in his arms. "Waku. Waku. Waku." He said over and over.

She looked at Jimbo then, her eyes misting. "I blamed myself for her death. He had come for me, but because I stayed awake, he took her instead."

Jimbo put a hand over hers and shook his head. "Waku. God. Would never do such a thing."

She sniffled. Jimbo hurriedly pulled out a kleenex from his shirt pocket and handed it over.

She blew into it, then looked down into her hands.

"I see him regularly."

Samuel felt this coldness settle into his heart. "Why?"

"I don't know." She said, looking up. "People are dying. But I don't know where. One night, about two nights ago..."

Samuel and Jimbo exchanged looks.

"About two nights ago I felt myself rise out of my body during my sleep and appear in this strange cafe I'd never been to before. I saw two men there."

Her eyes widened. "They looked like both of you. That's why I introduced myself right away when I saw you."

"Holy Crap, Samuel." Jimbo uttered.

"Holy it's not." Samuel pointed out.

Nanny waved at the Waitress as she passed. "Abby, can you get me some strong coffee?"

"Double or triple, sweetie." Abbie asked back.

"Triple triple."

"That bad, huh?"

"Oh yeah!" Nanny replied. "That bad!"

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

Chapter Twenty

Samuel sat on the edge of his bed, looking out the window at the soft drift of snow that was falling as Jimbo came into the room, gently shutting the door behind him. He looked bushed. 

"Man, that woman is something else." Jimbo sighed, as he almost dropped like a rock onto his own bed.

"I bet." Samuel agreed, still looking outside.

Jimbo shrugged out of his warm jacket and heavy sweater, then grabbed his suitcase and unzipped it. He tore out a pair of thermal pajamas, then headed for thee bathroom. He shut the door and several moments later Samuel could hear the shower running.

Samuel felt a slight presence sit beside him and turned to see Al seated there.

"It's her, isn't it?" Samuel asked.

Al nodded, smiling brightly.

"But how come she acts as if she never met us before?"

Al arches an eyebrow. Samuel frowns, then gets it.

"Jimbo and I were seeing another incarnation of her."

Al nodded.

"But Jimbo never sees those things."

Al shrugged. "Things change."

Samuel brightened. "You mean he's opening up to the Light more."

Al shrugged again. "Perhaps."

Samuel laughed. "Quit playing Yoda with me. Is he or isn't he?"

Al vanished.

Outside a bright light shone into the room. 

Samuel stood up, bathed in the radiance. He moved slowly to the window and then his eye widened in awe. The Angel of Shasta Mountain was standing outside, holding a bright star clapsed between her hands, over her head. Her eyes were as bright as moons and focused on him.

Her gigantic wings, which were really huge whorls of beautiful, radiant energy, swirled behind her, giving them the feeling of motion or movement.

Samuel stood there bathing in the Light and feeling that somehow everything was going the way it should be.

"Samuel, can you throw me my robe, please?" Jimbo shouted from the bathroom door.

The Shasta Angel became a twisting whirl of energy and shot up into the sky, then vanished.

Samuel turned around, grabbed Jimbo's robe and tossed it. Jimbo caught it, then froze a moment as he noted Samuel's expression.

"You look like you just seen the devil."

Samuel laughed.

The Shasta Caper, Chapter Nineteen is now posted on ImagineNation blog.

Chapter Nineteen

Samuel waited for the shock wave to strike the restaurant, but it didn't happen. The light was gone as quickly as it  had come, leaving the skies outside dark and thick with the mystery of what had happened. And one other thing. Every single vehicle in the parking lot was beeping their horn or alarms. Even the interior of the restaurant. Every alarm, even kitchen stove alarms were going off. Even watch alarms and phone alarms.

It was totally bedlam for about ten minutes until the alarms ceased as suddenly as they had started.

Samuel and Jimbo sat down, stunned, along with many others.

Then Samuel remembered Lady Marantha. He looked over and she was gone now. Where, he couldn't know because the flash had so completely diverted his attention.

"I'm getting the feeling we're being watched." Jimbo muttered, grabbing at the rest of his milk shake and the fresh fries that were coming complimentarily from the kitchen for everybody. There wasn't a person there that could fathom what had just happened and all were somewhat weak now, though not understanding why.

Al and M sat across from Samuel's table conversing animatedly, gesturing outside, then looking at Samuel, as if for a comment. He shrugged. Jimbo looked the way he was looking. "Which ones?"

"Both."

Jimbo grunted and heaped ketchup on his fries and mashed about ten of them into his mouth at the same time. "Figures."

Samuel had no reply. What could he say. Nothing made sense at that moment. Not even his invisible friends. So he did the only thing he could think of, he reached for his plate of fries and began dunking them in ketchup and eating.

After about two refills of fries, six burgers for Jimbo and a baked potato and yogurt for Samuel, then shoved back their plates and eyed the dark outside. The skies dotted the skies like piercing, hot points of fiery arrows, blazing brightly across the horizon.

"Stunning." Jimbo said softly.

"The best part of our work." Samuel agreed.

Finally, he looked over at Jimbo. "I saw her again."

"Who?"

"Lady Marantha."

"You're crapping me."

"No. Really. Wierdest thing..."

"What?"

"She was wearing a Park Ranger uniform and coming from the Lady's Restroom."

Jimbo chuckled. "Where else could a ghost come from in such a grand manner?"

"No. Seriously."

Jimbo waved the Waitress over and she pulled out her order pad. "Still hungry?"

"Like the bottom pit of Hell."

She grinned at him. "I like a man with a big appetite."

Jimbo looked her over a bit more closely. She wasn't really that bad looking.

He felt Samuel kick him lightly on the ankle.

"Uh. Just more fries."

"Got 'em coming." She said, closing her pad.

"And an apple pie."

"With or without ice cream?"

"No. I mean a whole pie."

Her eyes went round as moons. "Jesus in heaven, young man, you eat more than a bear craps in the woods."

"Not where I come from." Jimbo quipped with a grin on his lips.

She smiled. "I don't know where you come from, but I'd sure like to meet your Daddy."

"Me too." Jimbo said sadly.

"Oh. I'm...I'm sorry." She said, then hurried off.

Samuel patted Jimbo on his arm. "She meant well."

"Yeah. They always do." He sighed, then became quiet for a long time. Even when a hot apple pie was plunked down in front of him, already cleanly cut into sections for easy removal and a half gallon of ice cream, he remained quiet.

Samuel commiserated with him. Parents were special and neither one of them had had much luck with parents that stayed alive or home.

"Do I know you?" Lady Marantha asked to the left of Jimbo.

Jimbo and Samuel both looked at the same time.

Jimbo's mouth dropped open and a piece of the pie he had been eating tumbled out onto his plate.

She laughed. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to ruin your dessert."

Jimbo hurriedly wiped at his mouth, shoved his plate back and made room for her. He sat next to Samuel, who scooted over for him. She sat down in front of the half eaten pie. "Apple. My favorite. Auntie here is the best pie maker in all of Shasta county."

"I bet." Jimbo answered blithely, confused, but buying into the play going on.

Samuel leaned forward. "You're not her."

"Not who?" She asked, puzzled at his words.

Jimbo covered for Samuel by shoving an empty plate in front of her, and dropping a fork and napkin beside it. "Help yourself to the pie."

As she did, he added. "And the ice cream. It's vanilla."

"You're a mindreader, big guy." She told him as she heaped a generous portion of ice cream onto the pie she had scooped onto her plate.

She dug into it a moment, while they watched politely, pretending to be looking at their own plates instead. She noticed and wiped at her lips. "I'm being rude."

She put out her hand to Jimbo. "Name's Nanny. Kind of a generic thing I picked up from the guys because I babysit a lot of their kids when they're up on the mountain for extended periods of time."

Jimbo shook it. He was surprised. Her grip was like iron. He knew what was coming next, and wanted to spare Samuel the grief. So he held onto her hand and scooted a bit closer. "I'm kind of interested what got you into the Park business, that is if you don't mind telling?"

She didn't try to remove her hand. Something Samuel noticed, but didn't comment on. He was used to Jimbo taking over when it came to the lookers. He wasn't as driven as Samuel about the opposite sex. It wasn't that he hated them, disliked them, or didn't desire to be with one, it just wasn't on the top of his priorities to do list. Some might call him gay for that, or strange, but he knew it was just because he wasn't karmically driven to mate or have sex, or to have children as most were. He had figured that out a long time ago in High School when he and Jimbo had competed for women and he had begun losing again and again, not because he wasn't interested, but because it just took more energy than he wanted to give up.

She looked over at Samuel, as if reading his mind, then smiled. "Actually, it's my ninth year in this biz. Started right out of college. Always loved nature. Started when I began rescuing lady bugs from the spider webs, graduated to saving fallen baby sparrows, then grew to hugging trees and wanting to plant and save them."

"Pretty impressive credentials." Samuel commented.

"I also have a Master's in Foresty and a Doctorate in Vulcanology."

"The study of vocanoes?" Jimbo asked.

"Not just volcanoes." Samuel added. "But the way they're formed, where they come from, what they're made of. Right?"

"By the numbers." She agreed with a nod of her pretty head.

Jimbo, again caught his breath. This gal was hotter than the Hostess he had gotten the number from on the flight here. "I still don't get it. Why would you want to live here all alone so high up on the mountain?"

"Oh, I'm not alone." She gestured to the men and women at the various tables, conversing lowly and talking about their work and familes. "They're my friends and family. I'm far from high and dry, and...alone." She added.

"Got another question." Samuel said.

"Shoot!" She told him, a crinkle in her eyes.

"That light. Ever happen before?"

"What light?"

"I saw you standing in the hallway outside the bathroom. You had to have seen it."

"Oh that light. No, I was in the lady's room. You know..." She left the rest unsaid.

Samuel and Jimbo exchanged looks, but Samuel said no more.

Samuel leaned forward on his elbows. "Would you recommend staying here for the night, or would we be safe to go up the mountain and camp out?"

"Stay here. Warm shower, good food, and great beds."

She said the last word as she turned to look at Jimbo, who almost grunted in surprise. She was hitting on him. At least he thought so.

Samuel didn't feel that at all. He knew it was just Jimbo's hormones kicking in. Every woman he met was date bait as far  he was concerned. He laughed lightly.

Jimbo looked over at him and scowled, as if reading his mind.

"Still..." Samuel said.

"Oh, you'd be safe. But plan to freeze your asses off, because the temps going to drop a good forty degrees tonight."

"Popsicicle me." Samuel noted.

"Exactly."

He looked over at Jimbo. "I guess we're staying."

"Sounds great to me." Jimbo said,  his eyes on Nanny.

Samuel nudged Jimbo and he scooted out, so Samuel could get to his feet. Samuel nodded to Nanny. "It was nice to meet you. Jimbo, I'm going to scout the cabins here and reserve one for us."

"Okay. I'll bring the gear up as soon as I hear from you." Jimbo replied, his eyes still on Nanny.

Nanny watched Samuel exit into the hotel portion of the restaurant, then looked back at Jimbo.

"Tell me about yourself."