Darlene had been waiting inside the glass doors of the Library for a few minutes when Peter and Davy came over. She came outside to greet them.
"Hi Sweetheart." Peter smiled, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "How was work?"
"Not too busy." Darlene replied, "My boss even let me quit a few minutes early, so I went over to the Winterfest." She pointed across the street.
Peter and Davy exchanged looks. Darlene noticed and shook her head.
"Nothing happened and I had my holy water with me the whole time." She said. "In fact, I have a surprise for you, Peter."
"What's that?" Peter asked.
"I'll show it to you when we get back to the pad." She smiled.
When Peter, Davy and Darlene got back to the pad, they found Elizabeth, Micky, Mike and Margaret seated on the living room couch. Margaret jumped up at the new arrivals.
"It's ok, Margaret." Elizabeth said, standing up as well. "They're friends too." The angel quickly introduced Peter, Davy and Darlene to Margaret.
"You're human like me?" Margaret asked.
"Yes we are." Peter replied, then gave Elizabeth a questioning look.
The angel sat Margaret back down, then looked at Peter, Davy and Darlene. "Have a seat, please." She said, "I'll fill you in on what happened today."
Once the three were seated, Elizabeth told them about the visit to Synthea's house; about the empty bier in the basement; and how they found a black kitten, which turned out to be Margaret. The angel also told them Keith was living in Synthea's house too.
"So that blighter is still in the area." Davy said, frowning.
"Yes, and his presence tells me Synthea's going to try out one of those spells in the Black Dragon's book." Elizabeth replied, "And somehow Mike is the key."
"Why me?" Mike asked, "I'm not special."
"You're forgetting your heritage, Mike." Elizabeth replied, "A descendent of St. Thomas the apostle."
"Yeah, but..." Mike trailed off, unable to figure it all out.
"Do you have any idea what spell Synthea might try, hun?" Micky asked.
"Father Matthew told me that book had spells to cause earthquakes, crop failures and other evil events." The angel replied, then suddenly sat back on the couch.
"What is it, Elizabeth?" Margaret asked.
"Father Matthew told me there was one spell in that book that could really cause problems." Elizabeth said.
"What could be worse than causing a famine?" Peter asked.
"Reanimating the dead." The angel replied.
"You mean, bring the dead back to life?" Davy asked. "But only our Lord could do that! Look at the story of Lazarus or the widow's son, or the official's daughter."
"True, but that wouldn't stop Satan from trying." Elizabeth said, "And Synthea's sister Jynger died, in fact she made a point about it at the Vincent."
"It's too much of a coincidence, Elizabeth." Darlene said. "We just don't know what Synthea's planning."
"Yes, so we really need to know where Synthea has that book." The angel replied, then took Margaret's hand.
"We're going to need your help, Margaret." She said quietly.
"My help?" Margaret replied, "But...you're an angel. You don't need me."
"I am only a humble servant of the Lord. I'm not omnipotent." Elizabeth replied, "And you're the best chance of finding out what Synthea has planned."
After a pause, Margaret looked right at Elizabeth. "How can I help?" She said, her voice stronger.
The angel took a breath. "I would like you to let me change you back to a kitten so you can find out Synthea's plans."
Margaret's face took on a look of terror, but she did not back away. She looked at the angel for several seconds before looking down at the floor.
"You want me to go back there, to that cold, evil place?" Margaret said, her voice almost a whisper.
"You won't be defenseless this time, Margaret." Elizabeth replied, "I'll put my blessing on that pentacle charm you wore. Neither Synthea or Keith will be able to harm you."
"I don't know, I need to think about this." Margaret said, then frowned. "Though you could change me back whether I liked it or not."
"I could, but I won't do that." The angel said, "This is entirely your decision. If you want nothing else to do with Synthea, I'll understand. I'll take you home with my blessing and that will be that."
"Can you take me back to my apartment now?" Margaret asked, "I need to call my parents."
"Of course." Elizabeth said, "I'm sure they're worried about you."
"I wouldn't be too sure." Margaret replied. "I'm an only child and they tried to bring me up in the Christian faith, but I wanted nothing to do with it. I always wanted proof that God existed, so I guess you could say I was an agnostic. I left home on not so good terms and came to this area to make a living as a writer. But now..." Her voice trailed off, "Now, after what I've seen, I know for sure. I have to call them and let them know what's happened."
"I know they'll be happy to hear from you." The angel replied. "Come on, I'll take you back."
"Can you stay with me, at least for a little while?" Margaret pleaded. "I just need some company."
"I'll be glad to." Elizabeth replied, helping Margaret to her feet. She looked at the Monkees and Darlene.
"Will all of you be alright by yourselves?" She asked.
"Not to worry dear, we'll be fine." Micky replied.
"Thank you all for your kindness." Margaret smiled, giving Micky, then Mike a kiss on the cheek. Her kiss for Mike seemed to last a little longer.
"You're welcome, Margaret." Mike said, blushing a little.
Margaret told Elizabeth where she lived. The angel took Margaret's hand and the two women disappeared.
After the they had left, the Monkees and Darlene went into the kitchen for something to eat. Darlene decided to wait until later to show Peter his surprise.
Margaret and Elizabeth appeared in the living room of Margaret's apartment. It was dusty, but undisturbed. Elizabeth instantly made the apartment clean while Margaret changed clothes and then called her parents.
After several minutes, Margaret came out of her bedroom and sat next to Elizabeth.
"How did it go?" The angel asked.
"They were very happy to know I believe now." Margaret replied, smiling. "Though I didn't tell them why my sudden change. I don't think they'd believe me."
"Probably not, most people don't believe there really are witches who do evil things." Elizabeth replied, "They think it's just stories."
"If only that were true." Margaret said, then took Elizabeth's hand. "Can you help me get back to the faith once again? I don't know what to say or do."
"Here's a simple prayer to get you started. It's call an Act Of Faith." Elizabeth replied, "Just repeat after me. O Lord God."
"O Lord God." Margaret said.
"I believe in you."
"I believe in you."
"Help now my unbelief. Amen." The angel finished.
"Help now my unbelief. Amen."
The angel led Margaret through several other prayers until Margaret said she wanted to go to bed.
"Do you want me to stay a little longer?" Elizabeth asked.
"Could you?" Margaret asked. "I'm still afraid...they'll come after me."
"They don't even know you're gone." Elizabeth reassured her, "You were just a toy to Synthea. But I'll stay in the living room while you sleep."
"Do you want me to fix up a place for you?" Margaret asked.
"No, I'll be fine. I can go without sleep if I have to." Elizabeth replied.
"Alright, and thank you again for all you've done. I'll give you my decision in the morning." Margaret said, giving the angel a hug.
"It was my pleasure to help you, and ask the Lord to help you make the right decision for you." Elizabeth said, returning the hug.
Margaret and Elizabeth said their goodnights and Margaret went into her bedroom to sleep. When Elizabeth sensed that Margaret was asleep, she waved her hands in a circle and a ball of light appeared on her lap. A second later, a picture of the pad appeared and Elizabeth could watch what the Monkees and Darlene were doing. It looked like it they were getting ready to set up their Christmas tree.
"Here's the last of the tree, Mike." Micky said, carrying an armful of fake fir branches over to him.
"Good, I got the stand all set up." Mike replied.
"So, you boys decided on a artificial tree this year?" Darlene asked.
"Yeah, last year we went out to the woods to get a real one." Peter said, and poor Micky ended up with poison ivy."
"I remember that." Micky said, dropping the branches on the floor.
"Then I fell off the ladder trying to put the star on top of the tree." Davy added.
"Doesn't sound like you had a fun Christmas." Darlene remarked.
"Not at first." Mike admitted, trying to match up the end of a branch with the hole on the tree pole, "We were watching a boy named Melvin Vandersnoot for his aunt and were trying to teach him the meaning of Christmas."
"Did you succeed?" Darlene inquired.
"Not at first." Peter said, handing a branch to Mike, "Everything we tried backfired on us and then Melvin went home. It was Mike who finally realized that Melvin had been given everything except love."
"So we called his aunt back from her trip." Davy said, "And we all gave Melvin the love and attention he really needed." He looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "I've often wondered how he's doing today."
"I'm sure he's doing fine." Darlene said to Davy, starting to hand a branch to Mike, then stopped.
"What's wrong, dear?" Peter asked.
"I thought the long branches were supposed to go on the bottom of the tree." Darlene said.
The Monkees stood back and looked at the tree. Sure enough, the long branches were on top and the short ones on the bottom, making the tree look upside down!
"Uh, I think you're right, Darlene." Micky muttered.
Mike exhaled a long sigh and began to remove the branches.
Elizabeth, watching it all from her ball of light, laughed to herself. Convinced her friends would be ok, she waved her hands again and the light disappeared. She then settled down for a night of prayer.
Back at the pad, the Monkees and Darlene finally had the tree set up properly. Davy and Mike then brought over a large box.
"Here's the ornaments." Davy said.
"Hey guys, I think we should wait until Elizabeth comes back to trim the tree." Micky said. "I want her to be here, I mean, this is going to be our first Christmas together."
"I agree. We should all be together when we do this." Peter added.
Everyone else said the same thing. Then, Darlene realized she hadn't shown her surprise to Peter. She walked over to the table and handed the box to him.
"This is for you, Peter." She smiled.
"For Christmas?" Peter asked, "It's not for several days yet."
"No, it's for now." Darlene replied, "I think it's something that will come in handy."
Peter opened the box, unwrapped the tissue and pulled out the glass ball.
"Golly, what a pretty ornament." Peter said in awe.
"It's not an ornament. The lady at the Winterfest called it a witches' ball." Darlene replied.
"A what?" The Monkees said in unison.
"It's not what you think!" Darlene said quickly, "It's for keeping witches away. It's made with a special powder that witches hate and mixed in with the molten glass. If they try to enter a home where that ball is present, they are sucked into the ball where they shrivel up and die."
"Was this lady from a religious order?" Mike asked.
"No, she was an ordinary old lady." Darlene said, "She also said to hang it in a sunny place, and the light reflecting from it will warn witches to stay away."
The Monkees traded glances with each other. They didn't believe a glass ball would keep anything away, but didn't want to hurt Darlene's feelings.
"If it doesn't work, at least it's a nice sun catcher." Darlene added.
"I think it will, sweetheart." Peter smiled, walking over to the bay window overlooking the ocean. He took the ball by its ribbon and hung it on a small hook on the window frame. Peter walked back over to Darlene.
"Thank you, hun. It was a very thoughtful gift." He gave her a kiss.
"I'm glad you like it." Darlene replied, returning the kiss.
Darlene stayed a while longer, then noticed the time and made to go home.
"I'll take you home, Darlene." Peter told her.
"I'll come with you, mate." Davy said.
"No, that's ok, Davy." Peter said, wanting time alone with Darlene.
"Elizabeth said we have to stay in groups." Davy replied, "You'll be walking home by yourself."
"But..."
"Davy's right, Peter." Mike put in, "We can't take chances."
"Okay, you can come, Davy." Peter said, resigned.
"Don't worry, I'll walk far enough behind you two, you won't even know I'm there." Davy chuckled.
"Goodnight, everyone." Darlene said, shaking her head.
"Goodnight." Mike and Micky replied.
When Peter, Davy and Darlene had left, Micky went to bed while Mike stayed up to wait for Peter and Davy. Mostly, it was out of concern for his friends, but partially because he didn't want to dream about Julia anymore.
Peter and Davy came home a little while later and went to bed. Mike went to bed too...and once again dreamed about Julia.
Chapter 14
Chapter 16
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