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Again his response was slow and edged with sadness "Of course I res like that"
Anne didn’t feel that way in the least She wanted to do whatever she could to resurrect happy h, will you?"
"If it pleases you, then by all o"
"I know" Her five minutes was up
"I can’t promise you lunch, but I’ll do my best to squeeze you in" With that, the phone line went dead
Anne set the receiver back in its cradle as if it weighed thirty pounds
"Squeeze her in!" Mercy cried, outraged "This is worse than I thought Anne’s histo put up with that kind of behavior?"
Actually, Roy Fletcher was in worse shape than anyone had thought, Goodness mused They had their work cut out for them
"Oh, dear, look," Shirley whispered
Anne Fletcher’s hand re to maintain an illusion of contact with her son Her head fell forward and her shoulders slouched Suddenly, before the other angels could react, Shirley slipped into the ?" Goodness asked, reaching out unsuccessfully to stop her
"Anne needs encouragement," Shirley insisted "She can’t continue like this"
"You’re going to get us pulled off this assignment," Mercy warned "We haven’t been on Earth five minutes That’s a record even for us"
"Don’t you reht I do! One wrong move and we’re out of here"
"No," Shirley countered, "he said sos had to be believed in order to be seen"
"But he didn’t say for us to leap in and do so, however, went unheeded "What’s Shirley going to do?" she asked Goodness
"I’oing to prove to Anne that she should believe," Shirley announced grandly
"But that’s the opposite of what Gabrielit," Shirley said
Sure enough, she stepped through the thin layer of truth that separated angels fro but soak in the earthly environel unfolded her wings, extending theth With the full splendor of the Lord reflecting upon her, she revealed herself to Anne
Anne Fletcher gasped and placed her hand over her mouth To her credit, the human seemed suitably impressed Slowly Anne dropped her hand and stared hard at Shirley, as if she expected her to disappear She blinked once and then again, obviously testing to see if this could possibly be her iht Then, still staring, she reached for a pad and pencil and started to sketch
"Oh, no"
Mercy looked around, certain they were about to lose all visitation rights until the nexthappened
Seconds later, Shirley was back Goodness forced herself to keep quiet and not reprimand her friend Mercy had no such restraint
"How could you?" she wailed
"Anne needed a sign," Shirley said, "and I gave it to her God is working, and I wanted her to know that--to believe"
"But look what she’s doing!" Mercy cried, watching as Anne worked on the sketch, her fingers et everything she’d seen down on paper before it faded from memory
Goodness could hardly wait until Gabriel heard about this
Four
Julie was proud of her father, and so pleased that he’d been granted this opportunity Abrahaht was only a short distance from Fletcher Industries The first day he was scheduled to work, she suggested she ride in with him and then take her bike fro in reverse every afternoon, unless there was a late ame It was hard to find opportunities to exercise, and this see her extra tie of clothes into her backpack, she dressed in her spandex pants and nylon shirt She attached her bicycle to the carrier on the rear of the Ford, then joined her father in the front seat
"Are you excited?" she asked If he wasn’t, she certainly was Her father could use a psychological boost It’d been a long dry spell for both of theed
"Well, I ae, inexplicable way, as if they could finally begin to heal--as if their ti was about to end Not that either of theet Darlene Wilcoff She was alive in their hearts and would forever re her death, this crisp, clear late-Nove seemed filled with renewed promise
"You’re sure about this bicycle business?" her father ine "I don’t like the idea of you riding back in the dark"
"It’s perfectly safe, Dad," she said, half-tee of needing parental supervision "I’ a helmet and a vest that reflects in the dark, plus the bike has a flashing light in the front and the back"