The blizzard rolled angrily on its way without the Hamiltons really noticing its departure. The first light of morning brought a new stillness. The rescue parties had begun the search for what they believed would be three bodies lying frozen in the snow.
When Jenny spotted them on a nearby slope, David knew it was time to go. But there were no long goodbyes. He promised a lifetime of visits and tossed them all one last energy ball. Being as mischievous as ever, he playfully filled his father’s mind with images of him on skiing posters. Rob was impressed.
Shane called to David as he floated off. ‘How did you know we were in trouble anyway?’ he asked.
‘Hey!’ said David smugly. ‘I’m an angel, aren’t I?’
Shane nodded slowly. ‘Yep,’ he said, grinning. ‘You’re an angel all right.’
David spun twice around Shane. ‘I’ll see you, Shane,’ he called.
Rob bounded off towards the search party as if he’d spent a night on a warm beach. ‘We’re here! We’re over here!’ he yelled, waving his arms above his head.
The search party radioed their position back to the resort. They looked at the little shelter and then at the remarkable condition of the Hamiltons.
Shaking his head, one of the searchers looked at Rob. ‘I tell you what, mate, you must’ve spent the night with an angel on your shoulder,’ he said. ‘You must’ve.’
Rob shrugged, he didn’t know what to say.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Sue had kept herself busy. She spent the night baking, decorating the house and singing along with the all night rock’n’roll show on the radio. She’d had no news of them, but she knew they were safe. David would’ve seen to that.
She was looking forward to giving them a rousing welcome home party. One of her all-time favourite songs came on so she rushed over and turned the radio up very loud. As she spun herself across the room, an overwhelming surge of warmth and energy rushed through her body. She tossed her head back and laughed. She knew she was dancing with an angel.
The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the South Australian Government through the Department for the Arts and Cultural Development.
Phil Cummings lives in the Adelaide Hills and divides his time between teaching and writing. He loves listening to music, trying to play the guitar and daydreaming. He is married with two young children. Sharing the house are two goldfish, one guinea pig and a crazy dog called Misty.
Phil’s favourite places are beaches, national parks and his front lawn on a sunny day. His books for young readers include the picture books Midge, Mum and the Neighbours, Marty and Mei-Ling and Tully and Claws. Angel is his first novel.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity, including internet search engines or retailers, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying (except under the statutory exceptions provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968), recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written permission of Random House Australia. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Angel
9781742746722
Published by Random House Australia 2012
Copyright © Phil Cummings 1997
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
A Random House Australia Book
Published by Random House Australia Pty Ltd
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First published in 1997, reprinted 1998
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication Entry
Cummings, Phil, 1957-Angel. [electronic resource]
ISBN 9781742746722 (ebook: epub)
ISBN 0 09 183285 3. (pbk)
I. Title
A8233.3
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