Alice 1 (18 page)

“It’s convenient, and I know his schedule.”

I joined Brother Timothy in Karla’s office and
went Shadow.

“Let me do Michael in case you are a bit rusty
on Christian iconography,” and Michael the Archangel appeared in a
flash of light. He wore a flowing white robe trimmed with gold, and
had a shining shield in his left hand and a sword of holy fire in
his right.

I walked around him to get a good look and then
did the desire trip and appeared in a magnificent flash. Bet nobody
ever saw two Michaels in the same room before.

“Good, very good. I will go first, and when I am
about to lead her through the Gates of Hell I will bring you in.
Keep your present form and wait here. It will be about 5
minutes.”

He vanished and I got my shield and flaming
sword ready for battle. What do you guys do with that thing? So
awkward. Women are so nicely finished off.

The call came and I appeared beside the woman. A
hideous Devil was on the other side of the bed, hands outstretched,
ready to take the terrified woman to his fiery kingdom. When I
appeared he jumped back and I raised my mighty sword.

“Back you blasphemer of all that is holy. You
will not take this good woman.” The Devil recovered well and shot a
ball of fire I caught with my shield.

“I shall have this pig. She is a fallen woman
and I shall have mine.”

“She will never be yours, evil spawn of the
abyss. She belongs to the Lord God Almighty and the Lord will have
his,” and started toward the Devil with my sword of Holy Fire held
high. He shrank back and covered his face as I advanced. “Be gone
Satan. Be gone. Back to eternal damnation. Back to the everlasting
fires of Hell.”

“
Aaaaaah! No! No!”
he screamed, and
vanished in a very impressive cloud of black smoke. The woman fell
on her knees and wept.

“Arise good woman and weep no more. The Devil is
gone and will not return. A holy monk, Brother Timothy, will guide
you onto the path of righteousness.” Brother Timothy appeared next
to her and put his arm around her. Together they rose into the air,
through the ceiling, into the sunshine.

The next moment I was back in Karla’s office.
How does Brother Timothy space-shift like that?

____________________

Mary and I got together later in the day to plan
the fall semester. I’ll help in the lab and the neuropsychology
course. My job is to handle the paperwork, grading and take over if
she gets sick or something. My French is getting better and better,
and Mary is sure when we get to Paris next year, everybody will
assume I was born there.

Odd though. My accent, cadence and syntax are
late 19th century, and sometimes I come out with the filthiest
French she’s ever heard.

CHAPTER 46

Karla was in his office the next morning.

“Hello Alice, hope your vacation went well.”

“Yes it did. Had a great time. May I ask a
favor?”

“Of course.”

“Do you have information about the Holy Warriors
in Walton, especially when and where they hold their meetings?”

“Yes, I can give you that. In return, how did
the Glacier Gang do working with their Shadows?”

Wonder how to play this. Perhaps we’re reached a
parting of the ways.

“I have a problem talking about what progress we
may or may not have made.”

“
OH?”

“As you once said, I am very cynical about
governments, including my own. If we made progress I would not tell
you because I don’t trust our government to use the information
responsibly.”

“And you believe the Glacier Gang will?”

“Yes I do.”

“Alice, the two Shadows at the Livermore Lab
almost killed you. Our side is at a huge disadvantage if they are
from a foreign government. We need to be able to defend ourselves.
The information you have could be vital to the survival of our
country and I’m not being overdramatic. That may literally be
true.”

“The Crowley group is in immediate danger. The
Glacier Gang needs the information I requested to protect
them.”

He sat for a while looking at me, then went
to his computer, and the printer did its thing.

____________________

That afternoon I sat on a bench near Brother
Timothy and went Shadow. He congratulated me for my fine
performance and I told him he was a very ugly Devil.

“Brother Timothy, do you know about the Holy
Warriors of God?”

“Yes. They are militant Christian groups
scattered around the country. Some do good, some do harm. I regret
the death of the Plattsburgh group. Militant self-righteousness
turns so easily into the Devil’s work.”

“How about the group in Walton?”

“They have made serious mistakes, but have done
more good than harm. The Walton group is considered the leader of
the Holy Warriors in the United States.”

“Are they aware of the Shadow World?”

“They only know how to use their Shadow
hands.”

“Thank you, Brother Timothy.”

“You are welcome, Sister Alice.”

CHAPTER 47

The Walton group meets every Sunday at seven
in the evening, 114 Shepard Street. I called Doris and suggested we
attend their next meeting. Ralph agreed to be peacemaker and we’ll
meet at the airport in Binghamton, either Saturday evening or
Sunday morning depending upon plane schedules.

____________________

It’s a beautiful drive through the rural
countryside. Just over the Delaware County line we went past the
Cannonsville Reservoir which provides water for the City of New
York.

The village of Rock Royal is at the bottom of
the lake, sacrificed for the greater good. Well, at least that’s
how politicians sold it to the good people of Delaware County.
There are ugly rumors those wonderful, civic-minded politicians
were able to afford a very pleasant, early retirement.

Beautiful forests cover both banks of the
Delaware, no fall colors yet. The great River originates in
Delaware County and flows straight south, past Philadelphia, to the
sea.

Walton is a time capsule. People have been too
poor to modernize, so the village looks pretty much as it did a
hundred years ago, and the same number of people live there, around
4,500. We walked along the Delaware, watched fishermen and church
goers, visited a few antique shops, had dinner at a 1930’s deco
diner, and it was time.

____________________

Jennifer opened the door and looked very
suspiciously at our group. White hair, maybe in her early 60’s. She
didn’t much like a bunch of strangers at her door.

“Yes?”

“We would like to attend your meeting tonight,”
Ralph said. “We have important information about the Crowley group
in Berkeley and how the Plattsburgh Holy Warriors died.”

“All right. One of you may come and address the
group. We will be grateful if your information is relevant and
useful.”

“We can’t do that, ma’am. This is very dangerous
for us all. We come in peace, but won’t endanger one of our
members.”

“Then there will be no meeting,” and began to
close the door. Ralph pushed it open and we all went through.

“I’m sorry ma’am, but we must have a meeting
with your group.” The rest of the Holy Warriors came up behind
Jennifer.

“Please, we come in peace. Give us a chance to
give you vital information about what happened in Berkeley. We know
you plan to attack the Crowley group. We need to tell you why that
would be a serious mistake.”

It was very tense as each group carefully
watched the other. No Shadow hands came out.

“All right, we will listen,” and led us to a
large room in the back of the house. “As long as you are our
guests, though uninvited, may we offer you tea or coffee? And Mary
has baked a very nice Brown Betty.”

After we got our tea, coffee, and Brown Betty,
Ralph stood up.

“We regret and apologize forcing ourselves upon
you like this. The urgency required it. We know you plan to attack
the Crowley group in Berkeley. There are two reasons why that would
be a mistake. You misunderstand the Crowley group. Aleister Crowley
on his death bed recanted all the evil he had done, and saw that
his life was empty and meaningless. As he put it, ‘nothing but
dirty straw in the barnyard.’ He embraced the light and died in
God’s grace. His grandson who leads the Crowley group also embraces
the light, and has never worshiped the Devil or any of his
minions.”

“Are they good Christians,” an earnest young
woman asked.

“They honor Love, Beauty, Truth, and...”

“No, No,” an equally earnest young man
interrupted, “if they do not follow our Lord Jesus Christ, they
have no Truth.”

“They may or may not have The Truth, but they
are good people trying to lead decent lives.”

”How can they do that without Jesus Christ in
their heart?!”

Jennifer got up. “Ok, Ok, let’s assume they are
not evil followers of the Great Beast. What is the second
reason?”

“We killed the Holy Warriors from Plattsburgh.
They attacked and we defended ourselves.”

Sudden dark tension.

“Then everything you told us is a lie. If you
have prayers, say them quickly.”

There was a brilliant flash and Michael appeared
in all his glory. The Walton group was stunned and blinded for a
moment, then recognized the Great Archangel and bowed their heads
in reverence and awe. I walked slowly to the center of the room and
turned to the Walton group.

“Stop blessed followers of the Lord! This is not
the time for war! This is the time for peace! This is not the time
for hatred and fear. This is the time for love and joy. These
people tell the truth. The Plattsburgh group was evil.

“Look at each other. Look beyond words and
ritual. Look into each other’s hearts. God does not care what name
you give him or how you choose to worship. You and your visitors
are all good, decent people.

“Feel God’s love!

“Feel God’s joy!

“Feel the love and joy flowing between everyone
in this room.

“Love and joy are God’s gifts to share with all
of creation.

“Embrace one another in God’s great
communion!”

There was another flash and the archangel was
gone.

“Praise the Lord” and “may God be praised.” rang
through the room and we embraced. For the rest of the evening we
munched Brown Betty and sipped tea and coffee. And, as old warriors
will, reminisced about battles won and battles lost fighting evil.
We have much in common and have fought on the same side for many
years.

We invited them to visit Carmel this coming
winter and they invited us to stay and spend the week in Walton.
The Glacier Gang agreed to stay but I had to hurry back to
Binghamton to catch the red eye to San Francisco.

Some of us have real jobs in the real
world.

________________

Maybe I’ll continue to share my life in a
second book. Maybe not.

Fare thee well.

___________________

Yes. I did. Click on the cover.

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ALICE
BOOKS
by Janis Hoffman

The
Alice Trilogy
:
an over-sexed,
super-smart, foul-mouthed brat

*
Alice:
the world of shadow

Alice II
:
the nature of
Reality

Alice III
:
the creation of
Reality

BOOKS
by Ernest Kinnie

*
A Light in the
Darkwood:
two children learn the power of
imagination

60 Psychological
Adventures
:
to explore and create your life.

*
25 Psychological
Adventures
:
experiences, concepts,
strategies.

*
Chasing
Reality
: an adventure into the nature of Reality

Cynical Soup
:
not for the
easily offended, or the ridiculously naïve

*
Thoughts of Old
Man and a Young Woman

Psychological
Maps
:
explore Berne, Perls, Skinner, Pavlov, and
Freud

*
Amoral Science:
Brainless Religion:
two world views

E
ric Berne:
the best of
Games People Play

Fritz Perls
:
out of your
head, into the NOW

*
Skinner Pavlov
Lenin
:
how they turn you into a useful idiot

PLAYS
by Ernest Kinnie