Then Nor called, “Come on, everybody.” She stood at the door, ushering people back into the restaurant.

When the hoses were turned off, the fire chief, Randy Coyne, accompanied by a Madison Village police officer, spoke to Nor, Billy, Sean, and Dennis privately in Nor’s office.

“Nor, your car’s a loss, but it could have been a lot worse. At least the fire didn’t spread to any other vehicles, and I can tell you right now you’re lucky it didn’t spread to the restaurant.”

“How did it start?” Nor asked quietly.

“We think it was doused with gasoline.”

For a moment there was complete silence in the room, then Sean O’Brien said, “Randy, we have some idea of who’s behind this, but it’s a matter for the FBI. They’re already investigating a telephoned threat Billy got this morning.”

“Then call them immediately,” the police officer said. “I’m going to make sure that we have a patrol car stationed here overnight.”

“And one at Nor’s house,” Sean O’Brien said firmly.

“I’ll be glad to know someone’s keeping an eye out,” Nor admitted.

Sean turned to Nor and Billy. “Nor, a piece of advice. The best thing you can do right now is for you and Billy to go out there and conduct business as usual.”

“Wish I could stay for your show,” the fire chief said with a half smile.

“I’ll be outside until I can get someone posted here and at your home, Mrs. Kelly,” the cop promised.

Billy waited until they were gone, then said slowly, “Something happened to me in the subway today. I really thought it was my own stupidity, but…”

Sterling watched the expressions on the faces of Nor, Dennis, and O’Brien become increasingly grave as Billy told them what had happened on the way home.

“The same guy who jostled you at the edge pulled you back,” Sean said flatly. “That’s an old trick with these people.”

The phone rang. Billy answered it. He listened for an instant as the color drained from his face. Then, the receiver still in his hand, he said, “Someone just told me he’s sorry he bumped into me on the platform, and maybe next time I should borrow my mother’s car when I come in to New York.”

An instant later in eternity, but one week later by the earthly calendar, Sterling requested and received a meeting with the Heavenly Council.

He sat in the chair facing them.

“You look as though you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, Sterling,” the monk observed.

“I feel as though I do, sir,” Sterling agreed. “As you know, the events of the past week moved rapidly after the car fire. The police and FBI convinced Nor and Billy that it was necessary to go into protective custody until the Badgett brothers’ trial. The expectation was that the trial would take place in a relatively short time.”

“We all know that won’t happen,” the shepherd said.

“Do you have a battle plan?” the admiral asked imperiously.

“I do, sir. I’d like to move through this earthly year quickly. I’m most anxious to get to the point where I meet Marissa and can start doing something to help her. My hands are tied until then. I’d just like to have glimpses along the way of what I will need to know to assist me in safely reuniting Marissa with her father and grandmother.”

“So you don’t want to spend another full year on earth?” The queen sounded amused.

“No, I do not,” Sterling told her, his voice solemn. “My earthly time is behind me. I’m impatient to help Marissa. She said good-bye to Nor and Billy only a few days ago, and already she’s desolate.”

“We’re aware of that,” the nurse said softly.

“Tell us your plan,” the Native American saint suggested.

“Give me the freedom and the power to move through the year as quickly as I feel necessary, plus the ability to transfer myself from location to location by a simple request to you.”

“Who are you planning to visit?” the matador asked.

“Mama Heddy-Anna, for one.”

The Heavenly Council stared at him in shock.

“Better you than me,” the monk muttered.

“Mama Heddy-Anna has put up with a lot,” the nun said.

“I dread the day she shows up here,” the admiral said. “I commanded ships in battle, but a woman like that, I must say, might just turn me into a coward.”

They all laughed. The monk raised his hand, palm outward. “Go forward, Sterling. Do what needs to be done. You have our support.”

“Thank you, sir.” Sterling looked into the face of each of the eight saints and then he turned his head toward the window. The gates of heaven were so close he felt as though he could reach out and touch them.

“It’s time to go, Sterling,” the monk said, kindly. “Where do you want to be placed?”

“ Wallonia.”

“To each his own,” the monk said and pushed the button.

A light snow was falling, the wind was cold, and the village of Kizkek looked as though it had been unchanged for a thousand years. It was in a little valley, nestled at the foot of snow-covered mountains that seemed to form a protective shield against the outside world.

Sterling found himself on a narrow street at the edge of the village. A wagon drawn by a donkey was approaching, and he stepped aside. Then he got a good look at the face of the driver. It was Mama Heddy-Anna herself, and she was hauling a load of logs!

He followed the wagon around the side of the house to the backyard. She stopped there, jumped down, tied the donkey to a post, and began to unload the logs, chucking them vigorously against the house.

When the wagon was empty, she unhitched the donkey and pushed it into a fenced-off section of the yard.

Stunned, Sterling followed Mama into the stone cottage. It appeared to be one fair-sized room built around a central fireplace. A large pot hanging over the fire was sending out the delicious smell of beef stew.

The kitchen area had a wooden table and benches. Mama’s rocking chair was facing a television set, which stuck out like a sore thumb in its surroundings. A couple of other well-worn chairs, a hooked rug, and a scarred wooden cabinet completed the decor.

The walls were covered with photographs of Heddy-Anna’s two offspring and her incarcerated husband. The mantel over the fireplace held framed pictures of several saints, obviously Mama’s favorites.

While Mama pulled off her heavy parka and scarf, Sterling climbed the narrow staircase to the second floor. It contained two small bedrooms and a tiny bathroom. One room was clearly Mama’s. The other had two side-by-side cots-obviously where Junior and Eddie laid their innocent heads during their formative years, Sterling decided. A far cry from the gaudy mansion on the north shore of Long Island they now inhabited.

The cots were piled with women’s designer clothes, all with the tags still on. Clearly these were gifts from the missing sons, all items that their mother found absolutely useless.

Sterling could hear the faint sound of a phone ringing and hurried downstairs, immediately realizing that the Heavenly Council had given him a gift he hadn’t thought to request. I never thought I’d see the day I could understand Wallonian, he reflected, as he heard Mama tell a friend to pick up some extra wine. Apparently there’d be ten of them for lunch and she didn’t want to run short.

Oh good, Sterling thought. Company’s coming. It’s a great way to find out what Mama Heddy-Anna is all about. Then his eyes widened. She was speaking on a wall phone in the kitchen area. Next to the phone, where most people keep emergency numbers, there was a blackboard with a numbered list.

Probably a shopping list, he decided until he saw the words written in bold lettering across the top of the board:

ACHES AND PAINS

Sterling ’s eyes raced down the list:

1. Bad feet

2. Pains around heart

3. Gas

4. Dizzy spell

5. Threw up twice