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The studio was cold and dark, and she turned on the light, then hurried into the kitchen toa pristine canvas froainst the wall, she set it on the easel and stepped back No, bigger The angel who’d visited her couldn’t be displayed on such a sh her supplies, Anne looked for the largest canvas she had

She found one in a closet, bigger than anything she’d ever used before, and began to work Thinking she’d soon grow tired, she didn’t pause She painted through the night and didn’t stop until daylight To her alanced at the clock on the wall Alht through the night

"I’ll just take a quick break," she told herself as she went back to bed Exhausted, she climbed between the sheets and closed her eyes Seven hours later, around three, she woke feeling refreshed and revitalized

After showering and changing clothes, Anne resuain Shocked, she realized she hadn’t eaten in nearly thirty hours The refrigerator provided a chunk of cheddar and a srily She made another pot of tea Then it was back to work

When she’d finished the painting, she saw daylight again; for the second night in a row, she’d worked without sleep Stepping back, Anne examined her creation with a critical eye

"Yes," she whispered, awed by the painting before her

This was her best work to date She’d call it…Visitation Sles

The phone rang, startling her, and she hurried to answer it

"Anne, it’s Marta"

"Oh, Marta, hello" Her mind raced frantically as she tried to re she’d missed their dinner appointment--not to mention her lunch with Roy--and sincerely hoped she hadn’t She thought for aNever had she worked on a project in such a frenzied fashion--to the point that she no longer knehat day of the week it was

"I just called to ask if you’d let s"

"Oh, Marta, are you sure?" Anne would never presume to ask her friend for this kind of favor

"I’ve been hearing good things about your landscapes A colleague of mine was on the island last summer--Kathy Gruber--and met you She saw your work at a local exhibit You remember her, don’t you?"

"Yes, of course"

"Since I’m in town this week, I’d like to take a look at soel "I’ll let you see one, but it isn’t a landscape As it happens, I just finished it" Eyeing the canvas, she frowned The painting was too big; she couldn’t bring it into toith her "It won’t fit in my car," she said

"I can make a trip out to your place tomorrow, if that’s convenient"

"Of course it is, but we’re still ht, aren’t we?"

"I wouldn’t miss it for the world," Marta assured her

"Me, neither," Anne said

They spoke for a few er When Anne replaced the receiver, she saw by the clock that she had just enough ti into Seattle to meet her son

Six

"Not bad," Goodness said as she studied the painting She cocked her head to one side and decided that, as a portrait, it was uncannily accurate "It certainly looks like Shirley"

"I had no idea I was so lovely," Shirley said, clasping her hands "Is that truly the way Anne sees azed expectantly at her two friends

"So it seems," Goodness replied

"What I want to know," Mercy began,herself at hoed back to Heaven in disgrace" She glanced pointedly at Shirley "By all rights, we should be standing guard at the Pearly Gates after what she did"

Mercy was the onetrouble on Earth It used to be Shirley who ht and narrow, but apparently the job had--unfairly--fallen to Goodness For this assignive Mercy an answer The Archangel clearly had his own reasons for keeping them on Earth

"We have an important task," Shirley explained as if that should be obvious "Anne and Roy need us"

"Seems to me Julie could use a hand, too," Goodness mental, but the wo less than cooperative

"What do you ht the accident was a brilliant idea! It got Roy and Julie together, didn’t it?"

"All they did was snipe at each other" Goodness wasn’t disparaging her friend’s effort, but it simply hadn’t worked

"I think I was more optimistic than I should’ve been," Mercy said when Shirley ca went very well" Shirley seemed undeterred by Julie’s lack of cooperation--or Roy’s She continued to stare at her portrait with an appreciative eye

"How can you say that?" Goodness cried In her opinion, Julie wasn’t the only one who needed instruction in ro orked and what didn’t That staged accident certainly hadn’t

Shirley sighed "I had real hope when Roy took her to his own physician"