“Got it,” Nancy said.
“Hold us steady,” Jewel said to Patty.
A moment later a flood of white light seemed to fill the aura channels and flood into the large sphere around them.
Jewel held all four of them together and kept her shield up solid as Belle and Nancy worked around the large area, sending the white light into every channel.
After a moment Jewel said, “Enough.”
The white light stopped.
“Belle, Nancy, you two all right?” Jewel asked.
“We’re fine, how are you and Patty?” Belle asked.
Jewel felt fine as well, not tired in the slightest and she could tell that Patty was doing fine as well.
“Any way to tell how much area we flooded from here?” Jewel asked Tommy.
“From what I could tell,” Tommy said, and Poker Boy is checking right now as well, that blast covered every person on the western part of the United States. And some areas beyond.”
Belle laughed after hearing that. “What’s the largest major hub right in the center of the United States?”
“Right over Chicago,” Jewel said, checking in with Patty.
“That white light sphere still working?” Belle asked.
Jewel checked quickly with Patty and it was and would last a while.
“Jump us to that big Chicago hub with that white light on,” Nancy said.
“Headed for Chicago area,” Jewel told Tommy just as Patty jumped them.
The huge central hub above Las Vegas was like a beach ball compared to this central hub. No way could Jewel even begin to imagine the size. Maybe a dozen football field stadiums could fit in this huge sphere.
Or twice that. Impossible to get scale.
“Does everyone on the planet know someone in this area?” Belle said.
“Wow, looks that way, doesn’t it?”
The white light that Patty carried kept all the black magic back and shrinking away from them, but Jewel could tell this time the blast needed to be so much larger.
She told Tommy that and Poker Boy relayed that to Laverne and all the elves.
“Hold on,” Tommy said. “The white light is coming at full flood.”
Jewel braced them all together and got Patty fortified as suddenly white light poured into the vast space from a hundred different directions.
As fast as they could, Belle and Nancy directed the white light back at the millions of aura conduits in the walls, filling the space with intense white light.
The black magic goo just vanished.
This time Jewel let the flood continue for fifteen seconds longer before telling Tommy to shut it down.
Again Jewel checked with all of them to make sure they were all right and they were. This was not even stressing them the way they were shielded.
“How did we do this time?”
“The entire center of the country is clear, almost all of Canada, and most of the upper areas of Mexico,” Tommy said.
Jewel could hear the excitement in his voice and she was feeling it as well.
This was going to work.
“How are the elves doing?” Jewel asked.
A moment later Tommy came back. “Laverne says they are enjoying themselves and are ready all over the world.”
“Where to next, girls?” Jewel asked after she relayed all that from Tommy.
“There is a hub over Washington D.C. and then we go from there,” Patty said.
Belle and Nancy agreed and Jewel had them jump to the huge sphere of merged human consciousness over Washington, D.C.
And as they flooded the sphere with white light, Jewel wondered just how many congressmen and women were going to have a really good day.
THIRTY-EIGHT
BELLE HAD NEVER felt so exhausted and so excited as the moment they arrived back at Poker Boy’s office in the sky. Around the office the sun was just starting to come up in beautiful shades of red and orange out over the desert and mountains to the east.
Belle and Nancy and Jewel left Patty. Patty slumped into the arms of Poker Boy and he helped her to the booth.
Jewel went to Tommy and hugged him.
Belle and Nancy just sat on the checkered tile floor. Nancy leaned into Belle and they just sat like that holding each other up.
A moment later K.J. appeared, looking worried and smiling. “You guys are wonderful. Just amazing.”
“Did we get it all?” Jewel asked.
Belle had no idea if they did or not, but she knew for a fact they had given it their best try.
Laverne appeared, actually smiling. “We had teams of elves, organized by Nick, following you six around the world making sure nothing was missed and making sure that there were no more black magic time bombs planted in anyone’s mind from this.”
“So we got it all?” Jewel asked.
“The threat has cleared,” Laverne said, nodding. “We will be standing watch for any sign of any outbreak anywhere. But let me simply say you all saved a lot of lives today.”
Belle just nodded, not wanting to think about the chance that all those people would have been killed to clear this infection.
Nancy reached around and hugged her and Belle hugged Nancy back. They both needed food and they needed it fast, then a very long night’s sleep.
At that moment Madge appeared from the hidden doorway on the other side of the office carrying a tray of milkshakes and baskets of fries. The fries smelled wonderful, but Belle was far too tired to try to get off the tile floor to go to them.
Madge unloaded the tray and then brought a vanilla milkshake to them.
Nancy took the ghost component and said, “Thank you.”
Madge put the milkshake back on the table and handed them a basket of fries. Belle took the ghost component of the basket of fries from Madge and took one, savoring the fantastic salty flavor in her mouth.
Nancy was making oohing and awing sounds while sipping on the milkshake, so they switched.
Madge looked at them. “Cheeseburgers on the way.”
“Oh, you are heavenly,” Nancy said.
“That’s what K.J. said once in his hot tub,” Madge said, winking at Belle and Nancy and headed for her invisible door.
Everyone laughed and K.J. just turned a very nice shade of pink that matched his pink suit coat.
Poker Boy’s team were all back in the booth. Laverne sat at the end of the table, K.J. sat on a chair beside her, and Jewel and Tommy leaned against the booth.
Belle sipped on the fantastic, cold flavor of the vanilla milkshake, then turned to Nancy. “How did we get so lucky to be a part of this group?” she whispered.
“We died,” Nancy whispered, kissing Belle’s cheek.
“Lucky for a lot of people that we did, huh?” Belle whispered back.
Laverne turned to them and smiled. “Very lucky.”
And when Lady Luck smiles on you, you know it.
Section Six
AND THEN IT WAS CHRISTMAS EVE
THIRTY-NINE
IT WAS THE night before Christmas and all through Belle and Nancy’s wonderful three-bedroom home in the college district of Las Vegas, Christmas decorations and stockings were hung from not only the fireplace, but just about every empty spot that could hold something.
They had gotten a beautiful tree and decorated it with as many ornaments and lights as the poor ten-foot tall thing would hold. It filled a place of importance near their fireplace that at the moment flickered with a wonderful gas flame.
Their home had high ceilings, wood floors, and the most comfortable furniture Belle and Nancy could find.
Nancy had cooked a wonderful ham dinner and Jewel and Tommy and K.J. had joined them, each bringing something special they had liked to eat on Christmas Eve.
Jewel had brought wonderful deviled eggs, Tommy had brought a mincemeat pie that he actually baked himself, and K.J. had brought eggnog that tasted heavenly and had a little bite to it at the same time.
K.J. was dressed in what
he called his Christmas attire that consisted of a bright red coat with long tails, white pants, a green scarf, and a Santa hat with fake diamonds in the ball on top. Tommy accused him of taking the hat from a store Santa and K.J. said it wasn’t from just any store Santa, but a Tiffany’s store Santa.
And the diamonds were real, as much as any ghost element of clothing could be real.
They had finished their dinner and were sitting in the living room enjoying a “nip of the egg” as K.J. called it. Nancy and Belle were cuddled together on the couch, Jewel and Tommy on the love seat, and K.J. in one of the big overstuffed chairs.
Belle had not felt so welcome and with family ever before on Christmas Eve.
Suddenly a voice said, “Knock, knock.”
“Come on in,” Nancy said, shrugging at Belle.
Poker Boy, Patty, and Stan appeared.
Patty and Poker Boy were carrying wonderful-smelling apple pies and a tub of ice cream and Stan had a plate of sugar cookies he placed near the fireplace on a stand there.
Belle was excited to see them, since Poker Boy and Patty had bought this wonderful home, as an investment, of course, and were letting Belle and Nancy stay in it as long as they wanted.
Patty had helped them furnish it with real furniture and had helped them get real Christmas decorations and the tree. Patty and Poker Boy and Screamer and Sherrie had helped them hang everything. Patty was becoming Belle and Nancy’s close friend and it sure never hurt for ghosts to have live friends to do certain things that needed to be done at times.
Belle went with them into the kitchen and after a few minutes of laughter they were all seated back in the living room with helpings of the best-tasting apple pie Belle could remember.
“Since we all saved Christmas,” Poker Boy said, “we figured it would be fun to stop and say hi this evening.”
“We are so glad you did,” Nancy said.
“And you are always welcome,” Belle said. “You guys know that. How about making it a tradition?”
“We just might at that,” Poker Boy said. “Thank you.”
Belle was very, very glad to hear that.
“Where are Screamer and Sherrie tonight?” Nancy asked.
“Spending the evening with friends in Seattle,” Poker Boy said.
“Knock. Knock,” a voice said from out of the air that Belle instantly recognized as Laverne’s voice.
“Got room for two more?”
“I never knock,” another voice said out of the air.
A deeper voice.
“Please come in,” Nancy shouted as everyone again laughed.
Laverne and a man appeared in the middle of the living room. Laverne was dressed down for her, in jeans, a light blouse and light blue sweater. Her hair was long and down over her shoulders and for a moment she didn’t look like the most powerful woman in all of the world.
The very fat man with her was dressed much like K.J. was dressed, in a long red coat with white fluffy trim, black pants and tall black boots, and a Santa hat.
It took Belle a moment to realize that for the first time in her knowledge, she was staring at Santa Claus.
The real Santa Claus.
She was fairly certain her heart stopped and beside her Nancy’s hand just gripped her leg.
“I would like to introduce you to St. Nicholas,” Laverne said.
“Just call me Nick,” he said, bowing slightly to everyone in the room, his voice deep and his smile under his white moustache full.
Belle had no idea what to say.
It seemed that even Poker Boy and Patty and Stan were stunned.
“I wanted to make a special stop here tonight to say thanks to all of you,” Nick said. “You saved my bacon.”
Nick patted his stomach and laughed. “And I got some rolls of bacon, let me tell you.”
Then he spotted the sugar cookies beside the fireplace and shook his head.
“All right, who’s the wise-ass who left those there?”
Stan raised his hand and smiled. “But you don’t have to eat them.”
“Darned toot’n I don’t,” Nick said.
He waved his hands and a sugar cookie was in everyone’s hand.
Belle had one in her right hand. She could feel the sugar crumbs under her fingers.
Nick had one in his hand as well.
He raised the cookie in the air like a toast. “It took two teams of heroes working together to save me, the world, and a lot of lives. All I can say is thank you. You were all very good boys and girls this year.”
He took a bite of the cookie and everyone else did as well.
Then he turned to Laverne. “Got a busy night ahead of me.”
She nodded.
“Thank you for the hospitality,” Nick said, looking back at everyone. And then he laughed. “And the cookie. You know how many of these things I’m going to eat tonight?”
With that he put the rest of the cookie into his mouth and vanished.
Laverne moved over and dropped into an open chair beside K.J., putting her feet up on a stool in front of the big armchair.
“I hear you make a mean bit of the egg,” she said to K.J.
An instant later he was standing in front of her handing her a glass.
After K.J. took his seat, Laverne smiled at everyone. “Thanks also from me. You saved me an ugly alternative I did not want to have to contemplate.
Belle understood as everyone nodded back to Laverne.
Then Laverne took another sip of the eggnog and looked at K. J. “I hear you and Madge are meeting up later in your hot tub.”
“She told you about that?” K.J. asked.
Laverne just smiled. “No, but turns out it was a good guess.”
K.J.’s face turned as red as his jacket.
Everyone laughed.
Belle looked around at the wonderful people in the room, and the wonderful partner beside her, and realized that maybe, just maybe, for the first time in a very long time, she was going to enjoy the holiday season.
How could she not, with friends like these?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith published more than a hundred novels in thirty years and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres.
He wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.
He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.
He now writes his own original fiction under just the one name, Dean Wesley Smith. In addition to his upcoming novel releases, his monthly magazine called Smith’s Monthly premiered October 1, 2013, filled entirely with his original novels and stories.
Dean also worked as an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books. He now plays a role as an executive editor for the original anthology series Fiction River.
For more information go to www.deanwesleysmith.com, www.smithsmonthly.com or www.fictionriver.com.
Look for These Other Titles from Dean Wesley Smith
The Slots of Saturn
Heaven Painted as a Poker Chip
Thunder Mountain
Monumental Summit
Avalanche Creek
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section One
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Section Two
Nine
Ten
E
leven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Section Three
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
Section Four
Twenty-six
Twenty-seven
Twenty-eight
Twenty-nine
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
Thirty-three
Section Five
Thirty-four
Thirty-five
Thirty-six
Thirty-seven
Thirty-eight
Section Six
Thirty-nine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Other Titles from Dean Wesley Smith
Copyright Information
Heaven Painted as a Christmas Gift Page 14