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cover art and interior graphics
by Joyce Wright
www.artbyjoyce.com

ANGELS, ANGELS EVERYWHERE
by Tamar Myers

Chapter One

Jennifer's Angel

Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
for he sent his angel to deliver his trusting servants (from the flames).
—Daniel 3: 28

Jennifer knew it was going to be the worst summer of her life. She didn't mind visiting Grandma Taylor, but staying with her for two whole weeks was far too long.

     "Why do I have to stay that long?" she asked her mother, for what seemed like the millionth time.
     "Because I have to go Chicago for that job-training program. It's really important."
     "But why can't I come with you?"
     Mother sighed. "Because I can't afford it. I've already explained that. And even if I could, what would you do in a hotel room for two weeks?"
     "Watch TV." Jennifer meant it. Watching TV in a hotel for two weeks would be much better than staying in Grandma Taylor's big old house. That place was almost as big as a castle, and probably twice as spooky. Jennifer was sure it was haunted.
     Mother shook her head. "I wouldn't feel right leaving you alone like that in a hotel room. I'll be taking classes until late every day. And besides, Grandma Taylor is feeling especially lonely this summer. Remember, it was only last July when Grandpa died. She could really use the company, you know."
     "But she has other grandchildren to keep her company. What about Trisha? Or Matt?"
     "Trisha is going to summer camp, and Matt is spending the summer with his other cousins in Arizona."
     "That's great," said Jennifer. Under her breath she said, "Some people have all the luck. It just isn't fair."
     Jennifer's parents were divorced. Jennifer had not seen her father since she was baby. In fact, nobody had. After the divorce Jennifer's father went off to Alaska to drill for oil, and had not been heard from again. Grandma Taylor was her father's mother, and although she had always been a part of Jennifer's life, she wasn't Jennifer's favorite Grandma. That was Grandma Miller. Still, Jennifer thought she owed Grandma Taylor something. After all, Grandma Taylor was missing a son, just like Jennifer was missing a father.
     Mother sighed again. "Of course, I could call Alison's mother and ask her if you can stay there."
     "You will?"
     "If that's what you really want. I'm sure your Grandma will be happy to see you another time. But you would have been doing her a favor, you know."
     It was Jennifer's turn to sigh. "No, leave the plans like they are. I'll stay with Grandma." No way was Mother going to make her feel guilty about not staying with Grandma Taylor. After all, even Mother didn't seem to like Grandma Taylor all that much. "She smokes like a chimney," Mother once said, when she didn't know Jennifer could hear her. But it was true. Grandma Taylor always had a cigarette in her mouth. It made everything in her house stink.
     "So it's settled then?" asked her mother. "You agree to stay with Grandma?"
     "It's settled," said Jennifer. Under her breath she added, "But I'm going to have a terrible time, and my whole vacation is going to be ruined."
     "Of course you can take Ariel and Sebastian with you."
     "Of course," said Jennifer. Ariel and Sebastian were her pet goldfish. She had won them at the county fair the summer before and had managed to keep them alive almost a whole year. Jennifer was sure that had to be a record of some kind—or at least close to it.
     There was still a week to go until her mother's trip, and all during that week Jennifer felt crabby. Even her best friend Alison couldn't cheer her up. After all, Alison was going to have two sleep-overs, and a trip to the beach while Jennifer was gone. In the meantime all Jennifer was going to do was spend time with a smoky old lady in a creepy old house.
     "At least I'm going to be doing Grandma a favor," Jennifer kept reminding herself. But it didn't help her mood any. Being nice to someone wasn't going to be nearly as much fun as a trip to the beach and two sleep-overs.
     When the day came for Jennifer to go to Grandma Taylor's, she woke up with a pounding headache. "Great," she told her herself. "I try to do something nice for somebody, and look what I get."
     Even a pill didn't take Jennifer's headache away. By the time her mother dropped her off at her grandmother's house, Jennifer's headache was so bad she thought her head might explode. She had tried to keep her mind off her headache by concentrating on the two fish that swam in the bowl she held in her lap. But even though the road had been smooth, the water in the bowl had sloshed around too much, and Jennifer had found herself getting queasy as well. Imagine getting seasick just from staring at a silly fish bowl!
     "Jennifer!" said Grandma Taylor, who had come out of the house to meet the car. "I am so glad you decided to come!" The old woman hugged Jennifer so tight that her ribs hurt. Fortunately Jennifer's mother had taken the fish bowl from her and was holding it.
     "I'm glad to be here too, Grandma," said Jennifer, who could barely breathe. To herself she added, "Not!"
     Grandma Taylor released Jennifer and took a step backwards. "What have we here," she said, pointing to the fish bowl.
     Jennifer told her Grandmother about winning the fish at the fair.
     Grandma Taylor seemed surprised at first, and then pleased. "Well, I think I just might have a surprise for you." She hugged Jennifer again, and this time Jennifer could smell the smoke that clung to her grandmother's clothes.
     Jennifer's mother handed the fish bowl back to her and unloaded the suitcase from the car, but she didn't stay long enough to come in. She had a plane to catch, she said.
     As soon as Jennifer's mother said good-bye, Grandma Taylor picked up the suitcase and headed back to the house. Jennifer had no choice but to follow after her, carrying the fish bowl.
     The house was just like Jennifer remembered from her last visit; smoky and spooky.
     "I'm giving you a new room this time," said her grandmother. Her voice was scratchy. "Just follow me."
     Jennifer obediently followed her grandmother up a narrow wooden staircase that led to the second floor of the house. The first door on the left at the top of the stairs was her grandmother's room. The first door on the right was where Jennifer usually stayed when she visited. This time her grandmother led her down the long hallway to a room that was all the way at the end.
     "This was your father's room when he was a little boy," said Grandma Taylor as she opened the door.
     Jennifer looked around with interest. She didn't remember ever having been in that room before, which was not at all surprising. The Taylor house was not the kind of place Jennifer liked to explore. It was too easy to imagine skeletons in closets and secret trapdoors in the floors.
     "I thought you might like to sleep in your father's old room. We hardly ever talk about him, you know."
     Jennifer nodded. She was too busy looking around to answer. Her father's room was not what she had expected. Not that she had ever thought about it before. But if she had, she might have imagined it different. She certainly never would have imagined a room with wallpaper covered with fish designs. There were even fish on the bedspread and curtains. The lamp by the bed had an anchor for its base. On the wall next to the closet there was a round little door, which resembled the portal on a ship. It was almost like being under water, Jennifer decided.
     "Well, what do think?" asked Grandma Taylor.
     "It's very interesting," said Jennifer, although actually she thought the room looked kind of dumb. There were just too many fish.
     "When I saw your fish I thought you might like it."
     Grandma Taylor sounded a little bit sad, so Jennifer didn't bother to remind her that Ariel and Sebastian had names and weren't just any kind of fish.

     "What do you want to do first?" asked Grandma Taylor when they were back downstairs. The bottoms of her teeth were very yellow and they reminded Jennifer of candy corn.
     "We could see what's on TV." said Jennifer.
     Her grandmother must not have heard her. She reached into a pocket of her dress and pulled out a battered deck of cards. "You always did like canasta."
     Jennifer started to make a face, but stopped herself just in time. The truth was she hated canasta. It was Grandma Taylor who always insisted that they play the game. At least when Grandpa was alive, they played rummy sometimes.
     Without even asking Jennifer if she preferred another game, Grandma Taylor shoved some newspapers off the dining room table and began to deal out the cards. The visit was going to be worse than Jennifer thought.
     "Just a minute," Jennifer said. She ran back upstairs and retrieved Ariel and Sebastian and set their bowl on the table. If she was going to have to suffer playing canasta with Grandmother Taylor, so were they.
     They played six games of canasta until it was time for supper. After tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches they played five more games. At last Grandma Taylor announced that it was time for bed.
     For the first time she could remember Jennifer was actually happy to be going to bed. And she didn't even mind that it was upstairs in Grandma Taylor's big, spooky house. Jennifer mumbled "good-night," and then before Grandma Taylor could give her a hug, she scooted upstairs, leaving Ariel and Sebastian behind on the dining room table.
     Jennifer was so happy to stop playing cards that she fell right to sleep. All the nighttime creaks and groans that big old houses have couldn't keep her awake. She didn't even dream. But then, sometime in the middle of the night, Jennifer woke up. It was her coughing that did it.
     "This house really is smoky," she said to herself. Her eyes had begun to sting. This was something that had never happened to her before.
     She got out of bed to open the window, and that's when she saw the smoke coming into the room under the door. The first thing she did was to touch the doorknob lightly with one finger to see if it was hot. The sudden burning pain made her jerk her hand back.
     Jennifer knew about fire safety. She had learned about it in school, and her mother had gone over it with her many times at home. She knew that the right thing to do was to get down on the floor and crawl to the window. So at first she wasn't scared at all.
     "Great," she said to herself as she crawled along the floor. "I try to do something nice for my grandmother, and now look what happens to me."
     When Jennifer got to the window she found that it was stuck. Jennifer pushed up on the window has hard as she could, and just when she was about to give up the window came lose with pop. From then on it slid up easily.
     But Jennifer could still not get out of the window, because a pair of a pair of heavy wooden shutters was in her way. No amount of pushing or pulling would open them. They had been nailed firmly shut.
     I'm going to die, she thought. I'm being punished because I really didn't want to come and stay with Grandma. Oh please, God, don't let me die.
     Jennifer lay down on the floor and closed her eyes. She began to pray very hard. She prayed that God would send firemen to rescue her. She prayed that Grandma Taylor would be all right. And even though she thought it might be sacrilegious, she prayed for Ariel and Sebastian.
     Suddenly she felt very calm and peaceful. She opened her eyes and looked around the room again. Maybe there was another way to get out. But by then the room was very smoky and it was hard to see. Jennifer strained to see through the cloud of smoke, but she could barely see the bed anymore. The smoke stung, and Jennifer had to blink every few seconds in order to see anything at all.
     Then suddenly Jennifer saw something she hadn't seen before and her heart began to pound with joy. There was a man in the room, and he looked like a fireman. Although it was too smoky to see his face clearly, Jennifer could see that he was wearing a fireman's hat and coat.
     "I'm over here!" she called.
     But the fireman didn't move. "There is a laundry chute over there on the closet wall," said the fireman. He had the kindest voice Jennifer had ever heard. "It's on your left. Crawl to it. The opening is just big enough for you. Slid down it and you'll end up in the laundry room. There's a door there that will take you straight outside."
     Jennifer remembered seeing the funny looking little door earlier that day—the one shaped like a ship's portal—but she couldn't understand why the fireman just didn't pick her up and carry her out like she had seen firemen do in movies. Maybe he didn't have time because of all the other things firemen did in movies, like chopping holes with axes and spraying water.
     "What about my Grandma? And Ariel and Sebastian?"
     "They'll all be fine," the fireman said. There was something about his voice that made Jennifer believe him.
     "Thank you," Jennifer said, and began to crawl towards the wall with the laundry chute.
     "One more thing," the fireman said.
     "Yes?" she asked without stopping.
     "Love eventually returns to those who love."
     Jennifer thought that was a stupid thing to say at a time like that, but she didn't dare say so. Instead she turned her head to look at him, but he was no longer there. All she could see was smoke.
     Without wasting another second Jennifer crawled to the wall and squeezed her way through the little door. The laundry chute was made out of metal, and it was warm, but it didn't burn her. She landed in the laundry room, near the washing machine, on a big pile clothes.
     A few seconds more and she was out the back door and running around the house to look for Grandma's bedroom window. She hadn't gotten very far at all when she almost ran right into her grandmother, who was carrying the fish bowl.
     "There you are!" cried Grandma Taylor, giving Jennifer another one of her bear hugs. Water sloshed all over Jennifer. "I'm so glad you're all right! I fell asleep downstairs, and I guess—well, the ashes from my cigarette caught the newspapers on fire. I tried to put it out, but I couldn't, and then suddenly the fire was between me and the stairs. I've been scared to death for you!"
     Jennifer felt tears of happiness filling her eyes. "Oh Grandma, at first I was worried about you! But the fireman told me you would be okay."
     "What fireman?" her grandmother asked. "I called them as soon as I heard the smoke alarm, but they still haven't gotten here."
     "But they are here!" insisted Jennifer. "At least one of them is. I saw him up in my father's room. He told me how to get out."
     Grandma Taylor shook her head. "Listen, Jennifer. You can just barely hear the fire trucks now. They're still blocks away."
     "But Grandma, I saw a fireman. He was wearing a fireman's hat. And he spoke to me."
     Grandma Taylor looked hard at Jennifer for a long time. "Then maybe it was angel you saw," she said at last. "They do exist, you know. They are God's special messengers, and sometimes he sends them to show us the way."
     Jennifer could feel the hair on her arms stand up. "Grandma, do you think an angel can disappear, all at once?"
     Her grandmother nodded. "I suppose angels can do anything they want. As long as it's God's will, of course."
     "Then it was an angel," agreed Jennifer, And suddenly she knew it was so. God had sent an angel to show her the way out of the burning house. And even better, the angel had showed her something else. Something almost as important.
     Without minding one bit, Jennifer gave her grandmother a big hug of her own.

copyright © 2004 Tamar Myers

Author Appearances:

February 5, 2005
MURDER in the MAGIC CITY
Homewood Library
Birmingham, AL.

Author website:

www.tamarmyers.com

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